Thailand Tonight

Owning property in Phuket Thailand

2010-06-13T01:59:00.001-07:00

How long can I stay in Phuket?

If you own a property and do not have a work permit you are - as a rule of thumb, generally allowed to stay for 90 days on a visitors entry stamp at the immigration check point on arrival. Be advised that if you leave and return again and expect to get stamped in - you will be using the remaining time allotted from the initial 90 days provided .

Plan ahead - if you are sure you will be traveling and residing here for longer then 90 days, apply for a visa from abroad before entering the Kingdom. This will ensure that you can maxmise your stay within any given 12 month period.

For more information please visit www.PhuketWest.com

• Can I retire here?

Phuket is great place to retire. For retirement purposes - a non-immigrant "O" visa is required and it must be obtained outside Thailand.

General Requirements: Age 50 or older, reasonable health (the health check can be done in Thailand for B40-100 and is cursory at best), a police clearance from your home country or embassy (just noting that you are not an international criminal on the "lam"), Bt800,000 deposited in a Thai bank (or proof of a certain minimum level of income certified by your embassy) - and the document from the Thai bank showing the money came from outside the country.

You may draw down and live on the B800,000 over the year, but it must be "topped up" again when you extend your visa.

• How do I pay the utility bills?

Most Thai banks now have internet banking available allowing you to take the money out of your local account. If you are renting, most property managers will ask you to keep a currency float with them for miscellaneous items that fall due for payment when you are not in Phuket.

It's a good idea to find out the cost of utilities before you move in so that can check the costs. For example, most utility bills can be paid direct from your bank account and the receipts sent to your residential address.If you need property management then we will of course have no problems recommending you our partner's services (Phuket Island Property Services).

• How safe is Phuket?

Phuket has an enviable reputation as a safe place to visit and live. Even more so, when Westerns consider the disposable income and comparative (economic) well being of many people that they come into contact with.

Thai's are proud and on the whole, friendly, and there is little crime against foreigners. Much of this stems from Buddhist values (not to mention) solid family values, instilled from a very young age. However, like many societies, there is always the potential for confrontation and crime. Its always best to be prudent and sensible. Avoid ostentation - if possible, be weary of money and jewelry and for the most part, keep a level head. Thai's generally won't commit crimes for no reason and most crime, acts of violence etc... can be traced back to instances where there has been a "loss of face" or public humiliation - especially confrontation.

Again, be cool and at all times be respectful. This will not only earn you respect, but will give the perception that you are a sensitive well rounded individual.

• Will I need to bring my own furniture?

There are plenty of fully furnished apartments and condominiums available. If you don't plan to stay in Thailand permanently, it may be better to leave your furniture in storage. It will probably be too heavy for the tropics anyway. Even if you plan to rent or buy a house, you can always get one fully furnished. If you prefer to furnish it yourself, we can advise you on the best places to shop. Why not ask us for advice once you decide where you want to live?

• How do I get around the Island?

If you are going to live on Phuket - the only viable option is to own your own car, truck, or motorcycle. People who plan to stay on the island for a long time will probably choose to buy a car or truck.

Phuket has an organized transportation system consisting of converted buses know as "songthaews" that operate around the island. The service usually operates in the daylight hours and you are reliant on "tuk tuks'", motorcycle taxis and metered taxis - thereafter.

If you want to buy a car in Phuket, you can do so if you have a "non-immigrant" visa and a work permit, a retirement visa, or a Thai guarantor.

Renting is the best option - if you are only for one or two months. A long term car rent will start from about Bt. 20,000 for a comprehensively insured Toyota Vios or a Honda Jazz.

• Is flooding a problem?

That's really a Bangkok question. However, for all intents and purposes Phuket is not prone to flooding as the roads and drainage systems in place have been upgraded and are well maintained, so that there is not a hugh drain on the infrastructure resources like you have in big cities.

• What is the minimum rental contract, and what are the terms and conditions?

Most long term rental contracts are for one year, although some shorter terms are available such as four or even six months. In most cases you will need to pay a two month deposit, and one month in advance - when you sign.

The deposit is refundable when you move out, although the landlord may deduct expenses for any damages to the property during your tenancy.

• Do I as the buyer need to pay you a fee?

No.We collect a standard commission of 3% (of the purchase price) from the seller (vendor). It is know that some agents in Phuket will collect a 5% fee for their services, which may also include an advertising to help promote the development etc. If you are renting a property, a commission is taken from the property owner. Rental contracts in Thailand require the renter to pay a deposit of 2 months rent, and one month in advance. (i.e. 3 months in total)

For more information please visit www.PhuketWest.com

Cumbria shootings: Drunk rage at pal got Derrick Bird barred from flight - Exclusive

2010-06-04T18:46:00.001-07:00

By Patrick Mulchrone 5/06/2010

Derrick Bird was deported back to Britain for erupting in a drunken rage at an airport.

He lunged at his pal after being teased about money.

The taxi driver was on his way to Thailand with a group of friends when security guards in Qatar banned him from his connecting flight.

Officials at the airport in the capital Doha put him in a secure area to sober up after the departure gate outburst.

Security officers refused him entry to his flight to Bangkok because they considered him a violent drunk and a “flight risk”. They later put him on a plane back to the UK.

The group of single taxi drivers from Bird’s Whitehaven rank – all in their late 40s and early 50s – travelled to Thailand together for a holiday three times a year.

One said yesterday that Bird, 52, was drinking heavily before the argument began.

The friend, who asked not to be named, said: “When they all arrived in Doha it seemed like everyone was getting on.

“It all kicked off though when Birdy mentioned that he loved Thailand because it was cheap and someone made a joke about him being cheap.

“Birdy saw red. He went mad and went for him and officials had to step in.

“They’d never seen him flip before and it really shocked them. He must have had a lot of stress just bottled up.

“He was taken off and the next thing they knew was he wasn’t allowed on the flight and was flown home.”

Honda forecasts it will sell 1.18 million motorcycles this year

2010-05-25T19:24:00.000-07:00

Honda halts bike production on safety concernsHonda temporarily suspended its motorcycle production for the safety of its staff due to political violence in Bangkok.

However, car production in Ayutthaya continued as usual and it will add an extra shift today to keep up with back orders for certain models, said a spokesman for Honda Automobile Thailand.

A senior executive of Thai Honda Manufacturing, manufacturer of Honda motorcycles and power products at Lat Kra Bang in Bangkok, decided to stop production two days _ Thursday and yesterday _ for the safety of its workers after violence in the capital escalated.

The curfew also made it hard for employees travel to and from work. The facilities, which usually close on the weekend, will resume production on Monday.

The executive said the production suspension would not affect the supply of motorcycles and power products. He said Honda could add shifts later to make up any backlog.

Honda forecasts it will sell 1.18 million motorcycles this year.

Honda's automobile production capacity is 2.4 million units per year. In the first four months, it produced 29,739 vehicles, an 18.8% increase year-on-year for 13.3% market share, ranking third.

On The Road to Mandalay

2010-05-23T01:03:00.000-07:00

Theo Underwood searches out the mysteries of the Orient on a luxury cruise on Burma’s Ayeyarwady River
Published: 22/05/2010
The spectacular Ananda Pahto temple, Bagan
More Pictures
IT’S more than 100 years since Rudyard Kipling painted a famous portrait of the East in his poem, Mandalay – and when you sail down the Ayeyarwady River in Burma on a luxury cruiser, you feel that little has changed since then.
It is hardly, of course, a coincidence that the boat we are travelling on carries the same name as Oley Speaks’ later song adaptation of the poem.
The 300ft Road To Mandalay carries 82 passengers in old colonial grandeur and five-star cabins. To catch the boat, you fly to Singapore and on to Yangon before catching the rackety plane which hovers above dense green jungles with Burmese military men taking all the front seats.
After that, the creature comforts of The Road To Mandalay are a soothing surprise.
A £4million refurbishment has created an elegant restaurant with teak wall carvings from Amanpura. Also, 34 new state and deluxe cabins have en-suite bathrooms with Burmese jade wall tiles and walk-in showers.
Now we can sit on deck as Kipling’s vivid vision of dawn breaking like thunder and temples shimmering in the sunlight comes to life before our eyes.
Children splash in the shallows, playing tag among themselves while their mothers wash the family’s longyis – traditional Burmese robes – in the river’s thick, khaki-green water.
Fishermen, armed only with bamboo sticks for rods and the bottoms of plastic bottles for goggles, hunt their daily catch from long-tail boats.
On the river’s eastern bank, small villages of rickety bamboo huts have sprung up to house workers dredging for sand, which will be turned into cement. Their cargo is pumped on to half-sunk barges sitting below the waterline, their engines gurgling under the weight of their load.
Beyond the river’s banks, hundreds of pagodas – some made of red sandstone, others gilded with gold leaf – are scattered across the rice fields.
Burma, for much of the time, seems to have missed out on the 20th century – or perhaps it is a trick of the strange, ethereal quality of the light.
Before setting sail from Mandalay, I took a rowing boat out on Taung Tha Man lake. The light at dusk broke through the teak struts of U Bein’s bridge – a 1,300m long skeletal structure rising from the water.
Ghostly forms appear beneath the surface of the water, creating an eerie calm which is punctured only by the sound of creaking oars and the light chatter of villagers crossing the 200-year-old man-made causeway.
However, one of the most exhilarating experiences which Burma can offer awaited us 120 miles downstream.
A hot-air balloon whisked us 2,000ft above the ancient city of Bagan for a breathtaking view of its 4,000 temples, stupas and pagodas.
The city itself no longer exists, but its shrines to Buddha, built over hundreds of years on a stretch of delta the size of Manhattan Island, appear one by one at sunrise to form an intricate, crimson patchwork on an ochre landscape.
Our bumpy landing eased by champagne, we joined a bicycle tour for a close-up view of Bagan’s temples.
Many are adorned with frescos telling the story of Buddha and, although most have decayed into ruin or are awaiting restoration following the devastating 1975 earthquake, there are a few murals worth seeing – thanks to the intervention of Unesco.
Ananda Pahto, on the north plain, stands out from the others. Besides its brilliantly colourful frescos, it also has four 31ft gold Buddhas – which sit facing outwards from the temple’s inner sanctum and date back to the 11th century. The most recent icon was, however, built just 60 years ago.
Bagan has few visitors, so it was easy to find solitude on one of the pagoda’s west-facing terraces. The spot offered a perfect vantage point to watch the sunset – giving Bagan’s temples a chameleon-style quality of constantly changing colour.
It is easy to be overawed by spectacular monuments to Buddhism in Bagan. While a temple, stupa or pagoda can be found at every turn, Burmese people deeply respect the religion and the monks – even if they are not committed Buddhists.
In Yangon, many monasteries teach English and visitors can be accosted by football fans in orange or crimson tunics keen to discuss the English Premier League. Many monks can be seen studying the football results in one of six weekly newspapers dedicated to the game in Europe.
Their accommodation is sparse. As many as six monks share one room in which they study, sleep and eat without electricity or running water.
During your river voyage – the company’s billing of river “cruise” hardly does it justice – you can try on your own longyi and have your face painted with Thanakha – a traditional yellow-paste made by grinding the Thanakha tree against sandstone.
It is still widely worn by women and children and, as well as protecting their skin from the sun, it supposedly bestows a youthful complexion on those who wear it.
The Governor’s Residence, in Burma’s capital, Yangon, where you stay on the first and last night of your trip, is a match for both the boat and the best hotels.
The old colonial mansion – made entirely from teak – comes into its element at dusk as you sit by the pool with a G&T to watch bats skimming the water’s surface.
Chef Olivier Guilman finds the best local ingredients for menus, combining western classics with variations on Burmese favourites.
Anything with seafood is worth trying, especially after an afternoon’s sightseeing around the magnificent Shwedagon Pagoda and the reclining Buddha – the latter close to where monks held peaceful demonstrations against the military government in summer 2007.
Given the tense political situation, many travellers avoid Burma. However, Orient-Express argues that its involvement preserves jobs – about 150 on the boat and 110 at The Governor’s Residence.
Square your own conscience before you depart. Repression may enable Burma to preserve the mystery of the Orient lost beneath tourist hordes in other parts of south-east Asia.
TRAVEL FACTS
Theo Underwood was a guest of Orient Express, which offers the five-night journey in Burma from £1,960, including return flights Bangkok-Yangon-Bangkok; two nights’ B&B at The Governor’s Residence in Yangon and three nights’ full board in a superior cabin on The Road To Mandalay; a half-day sightseeing tour in Yangon, and all internal flights and transfers.
Orient Express reservations: 0845 077 2222 and www.orient-express.com
International flights costs extra, from about £745 return.

Read more: http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1712527/?UserKey=#ixzz0ojnfnoY5

Thai boss to take over at Siemens Thailand soon

2010-05-16T19:48:00.001-07:00

Once Ralph Hasselbacher leaves Siemens in Thailand for a new, challenging assignment in Germany, Katrat Upayokin will become the first local to be promoted to a high-ranking position, effective on June 1.

Hasselbacher, 46, who is the senior vice president and general manager of Transportation Systems Group in Thailanld, seems to have had success in building up local people to the managerial level with "succession planning".

"My main achievement during my time [three years and three months] is strengthening the organisation in Thailand," he said.

As also head of Mobility, covering the transportation and mobility business in Asean, he has been able to share resources and knowledge among Siemens' people working at its units in countries such as Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.

Apart from the subway and airport link projects in Bangkok, Siemens, the world's largest rail system supplier, won a contract in February to install a highly efficient traction power supply for the "downtown line", Singapore's new driverless metro line. It also won a contract last month for a double-track, main line project in Malaysia.

"We built up local experience in Thailand. Meanwhile skilled people in Thailand were sent to work at our unit in Singapore," he said.

Foreigners on the first day he started working at Siemens in Thailand amounted to more than 70 per cent of the workforce, as some expatriates were sent here. Now, the proportion of foreign workers is less than 50 per cent.

"We have tried to put local people at the manager level like Katrat to oversee rolling stock in Thailand - succession planning to be continued," he said.

Katrat, 39, now head of sales for Industry Mobility, who will be the new head of Industry Mobility, has been working for 17 years.

Before starting with Siemens, in 1998 he was responsible for the maintenance of rolling stock and the workshop for the Skytrain - Bangkok's first mass transit line - for four years and six months.

He then took a three-year break from mass transit to join the Siam Paragon shopping mall as the project director, eventually becoming its general manager.

Since July 2006, Katrat has worked for Siemens and is now in charge of sales, marketing and strategy for Thailand, Cambodia and Burma as well as functions within the Asean cluster.

He is also looking after rolling stock, turnkey and all business units related to sales activities for his own business in the cluster and supports headquarter-driven business in the cluster. "My ultimate goal was to maintain Siemens' position as the No 1 supplier for mass transit in Thailand," he said.

His first priorities are to win the next mass transit project in Thailand and keep a good and close relationship with his customers.

Hasselbacher said Thailand had a very good plan for rail system development. Bangkok could also rise to the status of a world-class capital in the 21st century in 40 years, compared with Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Jakarta, which are grouped among emerging countries.

Thailand had the best railway 150 years ago with 100 kilometres of track. But, no more major lines had been developed since then, he said.

"Meanwhile, the railway operators [KTM] in Malaysia are not only talking, but they are doing," he said.

Vietnam was slower in starting to develop its railway system than Thailand, but it now has more modern locomotives than Thailand has, he said.

"Although there have been no lines [under the government's plan to build 10 lines in greater Bangkok] as yet, we haven't lost it. We just keep on waiting," he said, referring to the mass transit electric train projects.

He suggested commuter lines were needed to convey people from inner Bangkok to the city's outskirts.

"However, Siemens' Thai unit is now stronger than before and we are confident we have very good chances for upcoming projects," he said.

Siemens Ltd Thailand was established in October 1995 to position itself as a serious player in its own right, offering an entire range of products, systems, solutions and services. It now has a workforce of 1,800 employees.

Special Report: Royal Ploughing Ceremony

2010-05-14T00:14:00.000-07:00

Phra Ratchaphiti Phuetchamongkhon Charot Phra Nangkhan Raek Na Khwan or the Cultivating and Ploughing Ceremony, consists of two ceremonies which are Phra Ratchaphiti Phuetchamongkhon or the Cultivating Ceremony and Phra Ratchaphiti Chaarot Phra Nangkhan Raek Na Khwan or the Ploughing Ceremony. The ceremony is rooted in Brahmin belief, and is held to ensure a good harvest.

The Ploughing Ceremony can be traced back to the Sukhothai period, over 700 years ago. The two royal ceremonies are related to each other which aim at bringing propitiousness to the nation’s crop, boosting farmers’ morale as well as announcing the start of the rice growing season.

These annual events had been observed until 1936, but were temporarily suspended after that. The Cultivating Ceremony and the Ploughing Ceremony were again retrieved in 1947 and 1960, respectively, and have been held together since then with His Majesty the King regularly performs the function every year.

Nowadays, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives serves as Phraya Raek Na or the Lord of Ploughing. The four Celestial Maidens or consecrated women who carry silver and golden baskets containing rice seeds for scattering during the Ploughing Ceremony are deliberately chosen from the single females of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. They all have performed the functions overseen by their Majesties the King and Queen.

This year, the Cultivating Ceremony is held during the afternoon of 12 May at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, inside the Grand Palace. The ceremony is presided over by His Majesty the King or his representative. He performs religious rituals and prays for the nation’s crops. Then, the Chief Brahmin reads the proclamation on the Cultivating Ceremony, which seeks to bring propitiousness to the crops.

The Ploughing Ceremony is held in the morning of 13 May at Sanam Luang, in front of the Grand Palace. At the beginning of the ceremony, Phraya Raek Na performs a rite to predict the amount of rainfall during the coming season by selecting one of the three pieces of cloth in different lengths. Phraya Raek Na together with his entourages then leave the ceremonial pavilion in order to start the Ploughing Ceremony.

Two chosen oxen pull the wood plough and they plough a furrow in the ceremonial ground, while rice seed is sown by Phraya Raek Na. After the ploughing, the oxen are offered plates of food, including rice, corn, green bean, sesame, fresh-cut grass, water, and rice whiskey. Depending on what the oxen eat, the Brahmin makes a prediction on whether the coming growing season will be bountiful or not.

-- NNT 2010-05-13

Four Thai police wounded in blasts near Bangkok business area

2010-05-07T18:46:00.001-07:00

BANGKOK, May 8 (Reuters) - Four policemen were wounded after three explosions near a Bangkok business district early on Saturday, police and hospital sources said.

STOCKS

Police officials told Reuters they suspected the loud blasts, near Bangkok's heavily guarded Silom road area and close to an encampment of anti-government protesters, may have caused by grenades. Police were unable to give further details and said an investigation was underway.

Just over an hour earlier, one policeman was killed another wounded along with two civilians in a drive-by shooting in the Silom area, about 50 metres from the front lines of an encampment occupied for four weeks by "red shirt" demonstrators. (Reporting by Ambika Ahuja; Editing by Martin Petty)

THAILAND: FACING LOSSES IN TOURISM BUSINESS 2010

2010-05-07T18:45:00.001-07:00

Thailand’s tourism industry is severely hit by weeks-long protests. The losses are estimated at $1 billion.

After the images of deadly protests flashing around the world the Federation of Thai Industries fears that the political conflict could cost the Thai tourism industry more than $1 billion.

Thailand is one of the developing world's most popular tourist destinations, alluring to both jet-setters and backpackers. Rising tensions between anti-government protesters and the troops in Bangkok – which are described as Thailand‘s bloodiest political violence in nearly 20 years – now might lead to Thailand missing its target of hosting 15.5 million visitors this year.

In recent years Thailand‘s economy has held up remarkably well despite its many problems including the tsunami in 2004 and a multi-day shutdown of its international airport in 2008. But Thailand‘s current political situation may cause a lasting damage to its economy and international reputation.

According to the Bangkok Post Online, the government earlier expected the country's economy for 2010 to expand 3.5 to 4.5 per cent while international agencies even predicted a 6.2 per cent growth. Finance minister Korn Chatikavanij now predicted that tourist arrivals will be “decimated,” and warned that the country could lose 2 % off its projected 5% GDP growth for the year if order is not restored promptly.

The tourism industry, which accounts for roughly 7% of Thailand's economy, is perhaps the most vulnerable industry. The protests could cost Thailand THB20.8 billion in lost tourism income this year, according to the Fiscal Policy Office.

The tourism sector was heavily hit after more than 40 countries have issued travel warnings for Bangkok. Hong Kong, China and Taiwan accounted for some of the largest groups of international tourists traveling to Thailand in 2009 and belonged to the countries which issued travel warnings for Thailand. Alone in the Thai New Year holiday week all 100 charter flights due from China have been cancelled, said the Bangkok Post.

The protesters – largely supporting the former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra – are occupying Bangkok‘s main shopping and business district resulting in hundreds of popular shops being forced to close over the past weeks. Several hotels in Bangkok are running at roughly 30% occupancy, which is about half their normal rate, while luxury hotels like the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel or the Four Seasons are running at zero occupancy.

While Bangkok is a heavily frequented city destination suffering from the protests Phuket and other holiday hotspots away from Bangkok have been largely unaffected by the political situation in the capital. Particularly tourist destinations like Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phuket and Koh Samui were not affected by the anti-government protests so far.

By Wiebke Wohlfahrt

Thai Internet users turn to e-commerce

2010-05-05T19:24:00.001-07:00

Thailand's growing number of Internet users are, at last, beginning to feel comfortable with e-commerce.

Major online traders are forecasting annual growth in e-commerce ranging from more than 20 per cent to as high as 40 per cent, despite the country's recent political turmoil.

Tarad.com's managing director Pawoot Pongvitayapanu said that Thai Internet users had changed their behaviour to accept online trading and make purchases over the Internet. This is because companies doing business online have made Internet transactions safe and created an atmosphere of comfort for users.

He said consumers were changing their lifestyles and spending much more time online. Traditional businesses are also changing to online operations in order to expand their customer bases. Having adopted information technology, companies are also using enterprise-resource planning to support their operations and are becoming more involved in business-to-business (B2B) trading.

Moreover, a major factor driving e-commerce in Thailand is a trend of empowerment among Internet users, both in cities and rural areas, to make purchases over the Internet, he said. Businesses are able to provide pre-orders to Internet customers and to provide online catalogues.

Pawoot said e-auctions, laws relating to e-commerce transactions, logistics, network infrastructure and the behaviour of Internet users were all playing an important role in driving e-commerce, which should grow by about 30 per cent this year.

According to the National Statistical Office, total e-commerce transactions in 2008 were valued at Bt527.9 billion. Of this, business-to-government (B2G) transactions were worth Bt290.8 billion, or 55.1 per cent; business-to-business (B2B) transactions were valued at Bt190.8 billion, or 36.2 per cent; and business-to-customers (B2C) were worth Bt45.9 billion, or 8.7 per cent of the total.

Fashion and computer and electronic devices are popular categories in which individual customers spend money online.

Pawoot said Tarad.com now provided an online premium mall and a market place, and had a customer base of 1.5 million Internet users.

There are 170,000 online business entrepreneurs with 26 product categories running their businesses via Tarad.com. The firm provides a new e-commerce business model for start-ups that runs both offline and online e-commerce transactions. It also provides an augmented-reality product search, making it easier for customers to find products.

The company now has six channels for online transactions or online payments, including bank transactions, credit cards and mPay - which allows users the convenience of shopping and doing business via the e-commerce business model. All of this creates confidence among customers, Pawoot said.

Talad.com is also planning to provide cross-border e-commerce, with links to Japan, Taiwan and China in the near future.

"E-commerce offers an opportunity to encourage Thai business - which is now in a transition period - to adapt to online business and compete on international markets," Pawoot said.

OfficeMate's managing director Worawoot Ounjai said e-commerce business in Thailand was continuing to grow by at least 30 per cent per year because local Internet users had changed their behaviour and lifestyle and were now buying products over the Internet.

"I think that e-commerce business will continue to grow for more than five years at around 30 to 40 per cent per year, since e-commerce in Thailand is just starting up. New infrastructure such as 3G will enable companies to launch online businesses at lower cost and will give customers much more convenience and comfort in shopping online," he said.

Worawoot said his company expected its e-commerce operations to grow by more than 40 per cent this year because the political turmoil was driving Internet users to access products and services online. During March, when the red-shirt protests began in Bangkok, his company achieved revenue growth of about 15 per cent, year on year.

However, he said the quality of some products and online businesses were an obstacle to growth in the e-commerce market.

"He suggested that small- and medium-sized businesses that planned to offer products and services over the Internet should first register with the Department of Business Development and receive a "trust mark" certificate identifying their online business. There are now more than 100,000 online businesses in Thailand and only about 7,000 of them are registered and certified by the department."

Worawoot said his company provided an online business platform for about 80,000 businesses and organisations around the country at www.officemate.co.th. They offered about 20,000 products.

The company also provides an e-commerce platform for home users and individuals at www.trendyday.com.

"I try to do new business that is related to existing business, so that these businesses run smoothly without spending a lot on resources. They save the costs of investment. As a result, these businesses are able to run with high efficiency," Worawoot said.

The company is developing an e-procurement customisation system to support paperless procurement for its customers. It is expected to be able to support 80,000 customers in the near future. It is also developing an intelligent selling process that will enable companies to increase sales revenue per transaction.

Worawoot said OfficeMate expected to reach revenue of about Bt1 billion this year, representing year-on-year growth of about 20 per cent from last year, when revenue reached Bt914 million.

It also plans to expand it business into Indochina next year. Vietnam will be its first foreign market, where it intends to run its business with local partners.

"I think we have an opportunity to expand into Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, and then expand to other Asian countries over the next several years," Worawoot said.

Phuket Gains Daring US Navy Visitors

2010-05-04T19:34:00.000-07:00

USS Shiloh launched six cruise missiles in Operation Desert Strike

By Phuketwan Reporter

Monday, May 3, 2010

TWO US Navy ships are due to anchor off Phuket on Friday, latest in the continuing friendly invasion of warships and their relaxation-seeking crews.

It seems that the Thailand-wide travel alerts, imposed by the US and many other countries in response to the red rallies in Bangkok, do not apply to military personnel.

Crews visiting Phuket are usually advised not to use tuk-tuks or hire jet-skis, cars or motorbikes, but local taxi drivers have been accused of demanding extortionate fares from navy visitors and cruise line passengers.

Both ships have interesting histories. The USNS Earhart is named after aviatrix Amelia Earhart, who vanished over the Pacific Ocean in 1937.

The ship named in her honor is purpose-built to deliver ammunition, food, fuel and other dry cargo to US and allied warships at sea. It is crewed by 124 civil service mariners and, at times, will include an additional compliment of military personnel and carry two helicopters.

The other ship, guided missile cruiser USS Shiloh, has a record of hot engagement in the Middle East and is capable of facing and defeating threats in the air, on the sea, or underneath the sea. She also carries two Seahawk multi-purpose helicopters, mainly for anti-submarine warfare.

The Phuket Navy League has organised a couple of welcomes. The first is a wardroom welcome party consisting of buffet and drinks at the BBQ Hut on Rat-U-Thit Road in Patong for officers and selected crew of the two ships. Entrance fee is 200 baht for Navy League members, 400 baht for visitors, no cost to ship's crew and media, from 6pm.

An all ships' crew BBQ buffet with 100 baht beers will also be held at Community Affiliate member Malibu Bar in Soi Eric, on Soi Bangla in Patong, from 6pm, with free bbq and a cash bar. Live music.

Phuket Navy League members are also invited to sign up for a special tour of the USNS Earhart, probably on May 8.

Thai Protesters Storm Major Hospital In Bangkok

2010-04-29T21:09:00.000-07:00

Major Bangkok Hospital Evacuates Patients After Break-in By Thai Anti-government Protesters
(AP) BANGKOK (AP) - A major hospital in the Thai capital evacuated patients and suspended all but emergency surgery Friday after anti-government protesters who occupy a nearby zone stormed in to hunt for security forces they suspected were positioned there.

A group of so-called Red Shirts broke into Chulalongkorn Hospital late Thursday despite pleas from its director, then withdrew back into their enclave after not finding soldiers or police within the sprawling compound.

The Red Shirts, who began their protests March 12 in their campaign to force immediate elections, have defied authorities at every turn, entering the Parliament building, laying siege to a telecommunications complex, blocking roads and staging mass motorized rallies in the Thai capital. At least 27 people have died and nearly 1,000 have been injured in outbreaks of street violence.

Security forces have in almost every instance been unable or unwilling to stop the Red Shirt forays, including the incursion into the century-old public hospital, which feared a second break-in Friday.

However, Weng Tojirakarn, a Red Shirt leader and medical doctor, issued a "deep apology" for the raid staged by up to 100 protesters. He called it "inappropriate, too much, and unreasonable."

In the face of such incidents, Thai pro-establishment activists have demanded military action against the protesters and an end to "anarchy" in the capital.

The re-emergence of the so-called Yellow Shirts - notorious for shutting Bangkok's airports for a week in 2008 - added to the volatility on the streets of Bangkok.

Chamlong Srimuang, a top Yellow Shirt leader, suggested that martial law be imposed, handing over most state functions to the military, and warned that civil war might ensue if the rival "Red Shirt" protesters are not stopped.

The Yellow Shirts represent Thailand's business and bureaucratic elite, whose pervasive influence is deeply resented by the Red Shirts, who largely are drawn from the country's many rural and urban poor.

The unrest is the result of a political standoff over a 2006 military coup that ousted populist Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on corruption allegations. He is a hero to the Red Shirts and is loathed by the Yellow camp. The Red Shirts are demanding current Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva dissolve Parliament, triggering new elections, because they consider his government illegitimate.

The crisis has hurt business in the capital and devastated Thailand's vital tourist industry, which accounts for 6 percent of the economy.

Parts of Bangkok's commercial heart have become a barricaded Red Shirt protest camp, forcing the closure of some of the city's ritziest malls and hotels. The "occupied zone" flanks Chulalonkgorn Hospital and abuts Silom Road, the capital's "Wall Street" which has become a camp ground for military and police units.

A hospital announcement said patients were being sent to other hospitals or to buildings farther away from the Red Shirts. Almost all outpatient services were being suspended along with surgery, except in emergency cases.

Government forces clashed with Red Shirts on Wednesday as they attempted to hold a rally in a Bangkok suburb. Heavily armed troops fired rifles and threw tear gas at the motorbike-riding protesters and took cover behind terrified commuters' cars. One soldier was killed - apparently by friendly fire - and 18 other people were wounded during the hourslong confrontation.

The crisis spilled into the diplomatic arena Thursday, with Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya censuring some foreign diplomats for meeting last week with Red Shirt leaders.

"We do not want to see that happening again," Kasit told reporters during a visit to Jakarta, Indonesia. Kasit said he had earlier met with Philippine Ambassador Antonio V. Rodriguez, dean of the Bangkok diplomatic corps, to express his concern.

In a note to other diplomats based in Thailand, Rodriguez said Kasit accused some ambassadors of voicing opposition to the constitutional monarchy and criticizing the government's handling of the crisis. Kasit was a public supporter of the Yellow Shirt movement before becoming foreign minister.

"These actions have gone beyond the limits of diplomatic practice and were unacceptable to the Thai government," Rodriguez summarized Kasit as saying. "The envoys' opposition to the government and to the monarchy was inappropriate and will not be tolerated."

Thailand's king is nearly universally revered, and laws severely restrict discussion of him.

The United States and European Union both said they have met with opposition figures and called for a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

Though they have been critical of the Red Shirts' tactics, the Yellow Shirts opened the door to mass street protests with months of anti-Thaksin rallies that ended in the coup that ousted him. When pro-Thaksin politicians later came to power, the Yellow Shirts took to the streets again in 2008 - taking over the prime minister's office for three months and occupying Bangkok's airports for a week. They retreated after Abhisit's arrival in late 2008, but many fear their return could lead to head-on clashes with their rivals.

Scores of Thai hotels reel from plunge in guests

2010-04-29T19:20:00.000-07:00

HOSPITALITY SECTOR

Published on April 30, 2010

About 300 hotels who are members of the Thai Hotels Association (THA) have shut their doors or cut down the number of available rooms and services to cope with the steep decline in guests.

The number of affected hotels account for 30 per cent of THA's 1,000 members. The number represented hotels that have reduced their services by 30 per cent or more. THA is estimating the total damage before seeking government help, said Supawan Tanomkieatipume, chairman of marketing.

Since April 27, Novotel at Siam Square has closed its operations, without announcing a timeline for resumption of service. Since yesterday, Twin Towers Hotel has offered for occupancy only 240 rooms of 640. It plans to resume full service on May 3. Banyan Tree and other big and small hotels located in outer Rajprasong area such as Sathorn, Phya Thai as well as Sukhumvit are reportedly shutting down partial operation.

Earlier, hotels in the Rajprasong area like Grand Hyatt Erawan, InterContinental Bangkok, Holiday Inn Bangkok, Four Seasons and Renaissance closed operations while Dusit Thani closed three restaurants. On April 28, Thailand Convention and Exhibition issued an advisory to business travellers, telling everyone to avoid Rajprasong and Sala Daeng.

Supawan said that at least 300 temporary staff working in hotels in the Rajprasong area are already out of job.

"If the political situation spreads to other parts in the next three months, we would see more people walk out of business," she said.

The average occupancy rate at hotels in Bangkok is 35 per cent, lower than the 65 per cent at the same time last year.

As analysts prepare to revise downward the earnings forecast of Minor International, which owns Four Seasons Bangkok in the Rajprasong area, the company's CEO, William Heinecke, insisted that Minor was mostly unaffected by the antigovernment protests.

In an interview with Bloomberg Television, he said "Ninetyfive per cent of Bangkok remains unaffected" and Minor's operations in the rest of the capital have offset losses from businesses closest to the protest site. He insisted that the company's earnings will meet or exceed analysts' expectations in the first quarter. The company owns 30 hotels in 14 countries.

THA said that hotels in other areas like in Sukhumvit, Rama IX and near Suvarnabhumi Airport are enjoying higher occupancy rate, as many guests were transferred from affected hotels.

"More than 40 countries have issued warnings to their citizens about visiting Thailand. And travel agents overseas are currently not offering Thailand on their menu," she added.

Supawan said some incentive groups have also cancelled trips to Phuket, while tourism and hotel businesses in Pattaya, Ayutthaya and Chiang Mai are also facing a tough situation as in Bangkok.

The number of visitors at Thai Theater Alangkarn has dropped from 8001,000 per day to 200300 per day. The operator is considering reducing the showtime from six times a week to four.

The Professional Tourist Guide Association will today call a meeting on how to assist unemployed tour guides, as thousands of them are expected to be unemployed.

Thailand's international arrivals plunge drastically in wake of red-shirt turmoil

2010-04-27T18:57:00.000-07:00

International arrivals plunge drastically in wake of red-shirt turmoil

Published on April 28, 2010

Foreign tourist arrivals at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport, the Kingdom's main international gateway, have plunged dramatically, due to the protracted anti-government protests.

The average number of arrivals is now about 20,000 a day, down from 30,000 prior to the start of protests at the Pan Fah Bridge on March 14, Tourism and Sports Minister Chumpol Silapa-archa said yesterday.

The situation has worsened since Silom Road, in the heart of the city's central business district, was also sealed off in addition to protesters' occupying the Rajprasong area, a major tourism and shopping district.

The Tourism and Sports Ministry is seeking Bt1.6 billion to stimulate tourism in both domestic and international markets, with plans for joint promotional packages in cooperation with foreign airlines and travel agencies.

As well, visas will be issued free of charge to prospective foreign visitors, including 5,800 Chinese tourists who will arrive from May 6-10, while tax incentives will be given to Thai firms holding seminars and meetings at domestic tourist destinations.

In cooperation with foreign travel agencies, the ministry may also provide extra insurance to foreign travellers in Thailand.

Tourism Council of Thailand chairman Kongkrit Hiranyakit said the political conflict would likely reduce tourist arrivals 10 per cent year on year.

"If the Cabinet approves the Bt1.6-billion budget, we should be able to engineer a recovery in the fourth quarter, which is the high season," he said.

In addition to this budget, the government has been asked to provide another Bt5-billion soft-loan facility to help businesses in areas directly hit by the protest.

The council also proposed the government pay compensation to workers in the Rajprasong area, covering 75 per cent of their wages from March 14 to the end of next month.

The council expects the number of tourists to drop 10 per cent to 12.7 million this year, from 14.1 million last year.

In conjunction with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the council will issue a statement clarifying the political situation for those foreign markets now warning their citizens about travelling to Thailand.

TAT governor Suraphon Svetasreni said his agency would join hands with foreign business partners, especially international airlines, to sell Thailand more aggressively, in order to counter the downturn in tourism.

Meanwhile, major German tour company TUI yesterday announced it would suspend all tour packages to Bangkok and northern Thailand until next Monday while offering alternative destinations to its customers.

In a statement, it said all present visitors would be sent to Phuket, in the South.

British Woman Arrested in Thailand Over Passport Forgery

2010-04-27T18:56:00.001-07:00

A 21-year-old British national has been arrested attempting to leave the Kingdom of Thailand, after Immigration police had become aware that she was travelling on a forged or suspected fake passport.

Bangkok, the 27^th of April 2010 [PDN]: At approximately 11:00am on Tuesday, police Major General Witsanu Prasartthong O-Sot (Deputy Commission of theImmigration Police) along with the Superintendent of the Crime Suppression Division, successfully apprehend British national Miss. Katherine Anne Neville-Gliddon [21]. Miss. Neville-Gliddon was suspected of travelling into the Kingdom on a fraudulent passport.

The joint taskforce pounced on Miss Neville-Gliddon whilst she was waiting at the international departure terminal in Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport. A check of the suspect’s passport revealed several irregularities with the document, leading police to immediately arrest and detain her from leaving the country. Miss Neville-Gliddon was due to board a flight to Dubai on Emirates Airline flight EK 373.

According to police, Miss Neville-Gliddon had faked several Royal Thai Immigration stamps in her passport and had used or is part of an illegal document fraud organisation. Several entry and departure stamps were found to be fakes, with both errors in the name of the airport printed on the stamp and the size of the insignia. Miss Neville-Gliddon’s passport spelt the Bangkok Airport as SUVARNABHUM as opposed to SUVARNABHUMI, missing the I at the end. Along with the incorrect size of the stamp, police were able to arrest and detain Miss Neville-Gliddon for further questioning.

Miss Neville-Gliddon has since admitted to using the fraudulent document; however information regarding the forgery, such as its origin, has not been divulged to the media at present. In addition to Miss Neville-Gliddon’s case Thai immigration officers also rejected 20 Indian nationals from entering the Kingdom on Tuesday, after they could not provide suitable evidence of financial means to support their stay in the country or subsequently any proof of a pre-arranged location to reside at whilst visiting Thailand.

Note: Passport forgery and counterfeiting is nothing new to Thailand or the surrounding regions, with thousands of confiscations occurring each year. Black market passports are most commonly used by international criminals, fugitives or terrorists, however; some people have been apprehended in possession of fraudulent documents for relatively minor infringements such as Visa overstays. During 2008 and 2009 Thai Immigration officers seized over 30,000 fraudulent passports, 20,000 of which were confiscated from an organised counterfeiting ring consisting of Thai, Indonesian and Burmese nationals.

Thailand's beaches

2010-04-24T19:50:00.000-07:00

Best beaches to visit in Thailand as recommended by
www. MyThailandHome. com
Ko Samui – Ko Samui is very well known and the two best known beaches there are Chaweng and Lamae But there is a more secluded beach known as Silver Beach, better known by its official name, Tong Takien. It’s suitable for families and well worth a visit if you’re on Ko Samui Island, which is located in the Gulf of Thailand.
Phuket – Phuket is highly developed, and if you’re on a beach the chances are that you will be surrounded by scores of other holidaymakers and plenty of touts selling you anything from squid, friend chicken, shrimp, watches, clothes, and much more. Most of these items are going to be a lot cheaper if you take the time to go to a proper market, particularly in Bangkok, but if something catches your eye there and then, they’ll be pleased to oblige. Surin beach is one to watch out for in particular, where you can enjoy a nice swim in the sea.
Ko Phi Phi - Ko Phi Phi is comprised of two islands, and not far from Krabi on the Andaman Sea. It’s about a two-hour ferry ride from Krabi. The beach to look out for is Tonsai Bay, which is extremely stunning.
Ko Samet – Ko Samet is about an hour past Pattaya on the Gulf of Thailand, and it has a famous beach known as Diamond beach, with a second name of Crystal Sand Beach. It’s a really beautiful beach not far from Bangkok, and popular with city dwellers on the weekends who need to escape the bustling metropolis to enjoy sand and sea.
Krabi – Krabi has its own excellent beach, called Ao Nang. You need to get to the southern part of it to enjoy the best scenery there. Krabi has all the restaurants and services you would ever need, and faces the Andaman Sea. Venture further south and you will find Noppharat Thara, which is a national park with its own spectacular beach scenery. This is an ideal family beach, and you can walk to three islands just offshore when the tide is low.
Ko Tao – This is the island to get away from it all, and also a diver’s paradise. The beach to visit here is Sairee beach, where you can feel like you really are in another world.
Prachuap Khiri Khan – Near the border of Myanamar is one of the best and least tourist visited beaches in Thailand called Ao Manao, or Lemon Beach. Great for family holidays this beach is well worth a special visit, and one of Thailand’s jewels.
Ko Chang – Elephant island as it is called is the second biggest island in Thailand and located near the border of Cambodia. There are a great selection of beaches on its west coast. The White Sand beach is one of the most popular on the island.
Pattaya – the beach in Pattaya is not one of Thailand’s finest by any stretch of the imagination, but you can take a short ferry ride to one of the nearby islands and enjoy much better beaches for swimming and splashing about. Pattaya is well known for other things that may or may not appeal: be fully aware of what to expect before setting out.
Hua Hin - Hua Hin is a developed resort with some fine hotels and a long stretch of beach. The more commercial beach isn’t that great, but it is still highly popular among visitors and suitable for families. There are some other nearby prettier beaches to be discovered, and Hua Hin is a great place to relax in one of its fine resort hotels. People come to Hua Hin because it’s a great town and it’s well maintained, as it’s the main residence of the King of Thailand.

Rebellious Mood Takes Root in Rural Thailand

2010-04-24T19:47:00.000-07:00

Red-shirted protesters in Bangkok on Friday. Farmers who say they were never interested in politics are donating large sums to the red-shirt movement. (Agnes Dherbeys for The New York Times)
The widow of Praison Tiplom, a protester killed in Bangkok, held a picture of her husband during his funeral last Saturday. (Thomas Fuller/The International Herald Tribune)
The red shirts have a core of support in Khon Kaen. (The New York Times)

April 23, 2010
By THOMAS FULLER
The New York Times

KHON KAEN, Thailand — Six weeks of demonstrations by red-shirted protesters turned violent this week in Bangkok, but the capital is not the only place with a whiff of insurrection in the air.

On this poor and rugged plateau in Thailand’s hinterland, farmers who say they were never interested in politics are donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to the red shirt movement. In at least three northeastern cities, red shirts are holding nightly rallies, sometimes drawing thousands of people.

This week, Red Station Radio, an antigovernment FM station based here in Khon Kaen, about 280 miles north of Bangkok, broadcast a warning that a train was heading to Bangkok carrying military vehicles. In no time, hundreds of red shirt supporters, who have followed the protests daily with the broadcasts, mobilized to block it.

Indeed, this rural region — home to a third of Thailand’s population — forms much of the core of the red shirt movement, demonstrating the magnitude of the challenge facing Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, whom the protesters are pressuring to step down and call new elections.

On Friday, protest leaders in Bangkok offered to negotiate an end to the standoff if Mr. Abhisit would dissolve Parliament within one month, instead of immediately. The gesture eased tensions slightly a day after one person was killed and scores were wounded when grenades exploded near red shirt barricades in the capital.

But the anger here in the countryside will not be easily dissipated after simmering for more than three years since the military coup that overthrew Thaksin Shinawatra, the billionaire tycoon turned prime minister, who is seen as the first politician to have seriously addressed the concerns of the poor.

Mr. Thaksin’s wealth and patronage network remain important drivers of the protests, but the movement also appears to be taking on a grass-roots character, with farmers and villagers finding common cause and demonstrating a new assertiveness.

The people of this northeastern plateau, known as Isaan, speak dialects similar to the Lao and Cambodian languages and generally work as farmers, manual laborers and factory workers.

The red shirts have railed against the “double standards” in Thai society — the wealthy, the Bangkok elite and the top military brass break laws with impunity, the protest leaders say, while the poor are held to account.

Radio stations like Red Station Radio have played a crucial role in spreading that message in the countryside. Red Station Radio, which operates from an unmarked office, has rapidly expanded since it started operating in November, and now has six affiliates in and around this city.

Its disc jockeys urge supporters to disrupt visits by senior government officials. One D.J. is even a full-time police officer, who uses the on-air name Noi Tamrung to protect his identity and, he says, avoid being fired. Many other police officers also back the movement, its supporters say.

“Don’t come here — that’s the message,” said Noi Tamrung. “We reject anyone from this government.”

Government supporters have called for the stations to be shut down, and the government has already banned some Web sites of the red-shirt movement, including the site of Red Station Radio. But the red shirts here have vowed to physically block any attempt to close the station, such is its support among farmers.

One farmer, Takum Srihangkod, listens constantly to broadcasts of protests in Bangkok with a cheap Chinese-made radio that he tucks into his waistband, next to his slingshot.

“Abhisit doesn’t want anything to do with poor people,” Mr. Takum said of the prime minister as he tended his cattle. His radio even stayed tuned to the protests as he muscled out a newborn calf in a difficult birth.

Supporters of the government often portray the red shirts as a mob for hire, mercenary protesters who receive a daily stipend. In a country with a long tradition of vote buying, that may be true for some.

But villagers bristle when asked if they are being paid to protest. Local officials and police officers describe a widespread fund-raising effort to support the demonstrators in Bangkok.

“We help each other,” said Triem Tongkod, a farmer who grows sticky rice in a village outside Khon Kaen. Pickup trucks with loudspeakers travel through his village periodically asking for donations. “You give what you can afford,” Mr. Triem said.

Last Saturday, at a Buddhist temple about 35 miles outside Khon Kaen, Mr. Triem was one of thousands of people who attended the funeral of Praison Tiplom, a protester killed in the April 10 crackdown on the red shirt protests in Bangkok. A total of 25 people died, including five soldiers, in circumstances that remain under investigation.

The deaths of protesters have become an opportunity to rally support and gather donations. At the funeral last Saturday, organizers collected about $9,400 for Mr. Praison’s widow, according to Num Chaiya, a D.J. at Red Station Radio who helped organize the funeral.

It was far from a typical somber ceremony, the crowd cheering loudly as Mr. Praison’s coffin, draped with the Thai flag, was carried around the crematorium three times. “Give a big hand to a warrior of the people!” Mr. Num exhorted the crowd. Almost all wore red.

Organizers of the red shirts have begun selling DVDs eulogizing the dead protesters and showing scenes of the April 10 crackdown. Along the highway, one DVD salesman, Pornchai Nanthaphothi, operates a stall festooned with red flags and other red shirt paraphernalia. A bandanna he sells is embossed with the words, “I’m not scared of you.”

“This area is nearly 100 percent red,” Mr. Pornchai said.

Successive Thai governments, including the current one, have tried to develop the Isaan region, but persistent income inequality and the need for more doctors, universities and jobs have fueled the protest movement, said Krasae Chanawongse, a medical doctor by training who has worked as a minister in four previous governments.

Thailand’s centralized political system has engendered a “colonial attitude of governors” posted here, he said. “They are more or less dictating, not consulting,” he said.

Some analysts question the durability of the red shirts, because of their close affiliation with Mr. Thaksin, but supporters here in the northeast say the movement has taken on larger goals.

In a country that has seen more than a dozen coups over the past eight decades, Chaisawat Weangwong, a 42-year old rice farmer, said the crisis had opened his eyes to the influence of the military in Thai politics and the need for a system where “the majority chooses the winner.”

“This is not for Thaksin,” he said. “This is for democracy.”

The boys in black, Thailand's dangerous, dark influence

2010-04-24T19:36:00.001-07:00

Are a disbanded group of specialist military rangers the shadowy figures operating in the current conflict? Here is a look at the history of the country's hunter-fighters, a group of trained killers

Thailand has become a land of shadows and people are genuinely afraid of what lurks inside them. Both pro-government and anti-government groups have claimed these shadowy forces are being used against them. Black-hooded men have been caught on film on the red side of the protest carrying assault weapons. International observers and locals alike were astonished at the scenes of bungled arrests of United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) leaders, dismantled government-erected barricades and police and soldiers being stripped of their weapons and authority by black-uniformed red guards.

Away from the downtown rally sites, unknown hands have fired grenades and bullets at banks, giant electricity pylons have been rigged with explosives and aviation fuel depots have been hit by rocket-propelled-grenades.

Joining the dots is getting difficult and it's not for a lack of dots - they're everywhere.

Newspapers, in fear of litigation, carry comment from various spokespeople that condemn, but rarely follow through with a name. A recent example in the Bangkok Post quoted an army spokesperson as saying: "It was possible that acts of terrorism that took place during the clashes might have been supported by a former government leader."

Another silhouette to add to the increasing shadows?

NOTE: Today, we have a special issue of Spectrum including
A Canadian in Bangkok: Accidentally on the front line
The death of Muramoto: Journalists in the crossfire
A man in black: Reporting from the battle zone
A night of anarchy: The media's front-row seats

One name that has been in and out of the shadows and is a constant in the media is that of rogue army officer Major General Khattiya Sawasdipol, better known by his nickname Seh Daeng.

Seh Daeng has been an embarrassment to and a thorn in the side of his army superiors. Issuing threats and suspected of being involved in a grenade attack on army chief General Anupong Paojinda's office, Seh Daeng has been vocal in his support for fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his red shirt supporters. Seh Daeng has used the media to predict violence and boasted about his visits to overseas luxury hideouts to see the fugitive Thaksin. He has been publicly accused of keeping war weapons and ammunition in his house and he has claimed he trained former para-military rangers as a "people's army" to protect red shirt leaders and their followers - a claim supported by an unnamed military source.

"We know he has been training them for about 12 months, both here in Bangkok and in other provinces. Seh Daeng loves the limelight and it's not sure if he is taking orders or giving them. It's rumoured, but it's only a rumour, a powerful general, a former classmate of Thaksin's, may be orchestrating a power grab."

The army source says their real concern is not the rumours, but the involvement in the protests of former soldiers and thahan phran, or hunter-soldiers.

"The ordinary red shirt people are not a worry for us, but former war combatants and rangers with conflict experience are. We know they have experience of firing M79s and assault weapons, but now, since the fuel depot was attacked, we know they also have experience with rocket-propelled grenades; there are not many combatants who have that experience."

In spite of army disapproval for his alleged misconduct and disregard for army rules, Seh Daeng continues to publicly flaunt his support for Thaksin and the UDD rallies. Following the April 10 fighting near Democracy Monument which left 25 dead and more than 800 injured, Seh Daeng, dressed in military fatigues, spoke to television reporters as he walked through applauding red shirt admirers.

Seh Daeng is not alone in his crusade, nor is he the only former senior military man to champion the concept of a people's army. Seh Daeng's former supervisor and army superior, General Panlop Pinmanee, was reported in the Bangkok Post as saying he asked Seh Daeng for his help "after he had noticed many former border rangers from the closed Pak Thong Chai camp had joined the red shirt rallies".

Gen Panlop is a former deputy director of Thailand's Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) and a current member of the Puea Thai Party.

Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a research fellow of the Asean Studies Centre, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (Iseas) in Singapore, writing on Opinion Asia's website said: "General Panlop Pinmanee recently stated that he wished to transform the red-shirted movement into a 'people's army', with former prime minister and Thaksin ally General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh as the supreme commander."

Gen Chavalit has been there before. Border rangers also know that the thahan phran were the brainchild of Gen Chavalit, a former supreme commander of the Thai Armed Forces and the present chairman of the opposition Puea Thai Party (PTP). The general is a supporter of Thaksin - who many believe is the real power behind the PTP. The thahan phran revere Gen Chavalit and often refer to him as their "father".

Ironically, Gen Chavalit created the thahan phran in 1978 as a para-military force to hunt down and clear out the Communist Party of Thailand from their mountain strongholds in the Northeast, the region that mainly rural red shirt protesters have come to Bangkok from.

Professor Desmond Ball from the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre of the Australian National University in Canberra has written The Boys In Black (White Lotus), a book that documents the thahan phran's successes, crimes, abuses and political intimidation and corrupt practices. Prof Ball is regarded as a military expert and has published 60 books on nuclear strategy and defence and security in the Asia-Pacific region.

Speaking on the phone from Canberra, Prof Ball said if former thahan phran are being used in the present Thai conflict then there is real cause for the government to be worried.

"Their involvement is reason for serious concern. The thahan phran are trained hunter-killers. Many are from poor rural villages, but they've always been prepared to be 'strong armed men' for the establishment or particular generals."

Prof Ball says the re-organisation in 2000 of the thahan phran was traumatic for the rangers. It saw eight of 21 regiments disbanded. Ironically, an arch red shirt enemy, General Surayud Chulanont, then commander-in-chief of the army, oversaw the dismantling of the thahan phran.

Gen Surayud is now a member of the Privy Council, one of the ruling class institutions opposed by the UDD. Gen Surayud earned the ire of the UDD early this year when large numbers of red shirts forced him to abandon his house. Guarding UDD leaders at the red shirt rally outside the general's home were rangers, some dressed in full uniforms, complete with regimental insignia. No doubt many of the former rangers still bear grudges against Gen Surayud. Prof Ball says in his book the decision "drew heavy criticism from para-military troopers who said the action was motivated by politics".

Prof Ball says when Gen Chavalit became defence minister in Thaksin Shinawatra's government, there were media stories that he might rebuild a new thahan phran.

In his book, Prof Ball says the sacked rangers now working "as security guards for private companies were soon embroiled in controversy. On November 17, 2000, about 40 armed men in black uniforms, all former rangers from the Pakthongchai camp, intimated vendors at the Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok."

Prof Ball says in their heyday the thahan phran were mostly used in counter-insurgency campaigns, were the rules of engagement are vague and gross violence is commonplace.

"The worst of them have been very bad, atrocious. At their worst they became thugs and murderers. In the Northeast, along the Cambodian border and in southern Thailand their reputation was shocking."

His book says rangers and police have come to grief in the past.

"Conflict between rangers and police in the South resurfaced in connection with the killing of more than 20 police officers [as at July 2002] and the bombing of numerous police stations in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat provinces in 2001-2002."

Prof Ball says police "suggested" rangers "from the 41st and 43rd Regiments were 'perhaps' working as 'hired guns' or 'enforcers' for corrupt officials who were actually involved in the killings".

But Prof Ball stressed that not all thahan phran regiments are rogues.

"Those operating in the Northwest region of Thailand have been as good and professional as the regular army."

He says if the thahan phran are involved in the political upheavals now paralysing the country, it won't be their first time. In his book he details their past political missions on behalf of Gen Chavalit.

"For their part, the 'rangers have worked to destabilise democratically elected Thai governments, physically intimidated Gen Chavalit's political opponents, and committed electoral fraud for Gen Chavalit's, now defunct, New Aspiration Party (NAP) and its allied parties and politicians." Gen Chavalit's opponents, the Democrats, are also listed in Prof Ball's book as having past links to rangers involved in violence in southern Thailand.

"They have allegedly campaigned for, and conducted electoral fraud, on behalf of candidates from all parts of the country and various political shades, including both Democrats in the south and the New Aspiration party (NAP) in the Northeast." Back in December 2009, Gen Panlop told the Bangkok Post he ordered Seh Daeng to prevent a confrontation between former border rangers and army soldiers. Gen Panlop said about 200 former border rangers had voluntarily joined the red shirt rally because they deeply respected Gen Chavalit. At the time he said more former rangers would join the red shirt rallies.

Media reports suggest Gen Panlop's prediction is coming true. Contrary to the UDD leadership claims that their rallies are peaceful, all the recent signs and military style preparations indicate that organised violence lurks just beneath the surface. Late on Thursday night violence broke out again. One person was killed and 88 injured when a number of M79 grenades were fired into the Silom district. One landed on the Sala Daeng skytrain station, the others in front of a hotel and outside a bank. A UDD leader, Arisman Pongruengrong, was reported as telling his red shirt supporters that the "men in black" would be coming to help them. If the "men in black" turn out to be the former combat-hardened soldiers and rangers that the army fears, there is a real possibility Bangkok's streets could yet become a conflict zone, with many casualties on both sides.

About the author

Writer: Phil Thornton

Thaksin now in a South Pacific country : Thai FM

2010-04-21T00:52:00.000-07:00

Fugitive ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra is believed to be staying in a South Pacific country after visiting Saudi Arabia earlier this week.

Chavanont Intarakomalyasut, the foreign minister's secretary, said yesterday that Thaksin - wanted in Thailand to serve a two year jail term - had visited Saudi Arabia from Saturday to Monday.

Chavanont quoted a report from the Thai ambassador to Saudi Arabia that Thaksin had visited Jeddah and Riyadh in his private jet before leaving for an Asean country.

Thaksin stayed two nights in the Asean country before departing yesterday for a South Pacific nation.

Chavanont did not name the Asean and South Pacific countries, but said the government could not put pressure on them to hand over Thaksin as Thailand has no extradition treaty with them.

"What we could do is to ask those countries not to allow Thaksin to use them as a base to criticise Thailand," he said.

The Foreign Ministry has been well aware of Thaksin's whereabouts but has been unable to say much about it.

Thaksin visited three South Pacific countries - Fiji, Vanuatu and Tonga - last July.

In Fiji, he reportedly conducted secret talks with Frank Bainimarama, controversial leader of the Pacific island's militaryinstalled regime.

Bainimarama is Fiji's selfappointed prime minister, who has drawn the ire of the international community by abrogating the constitution last April and refusing to hold democratic elections before 2014.

The Guardian online reported last July that it was claimed Thaksin was considering investing US$300 million (Bt9.6 trillion) in Fiji in return for protection from extradition.

The online newspaper reported that Thaksin had entered Fiji under an assumed name after his Thai passport was cancelled. The former prime minister has been issued new passports by the governments of Nicaragua, Uganda and Montenegro.

The Foreign Ministry believes Thaksin has used "Takki Singegra" as his name in his new passports.

At that time, the government claimed Thaksin had flown to Suva from Kuala Lumpur. Thai authorities had intended to apprehend him in Malaysia, but he flew out of the country in his Lear jet before they could act.

In the same week, Thaksin also visited Vanuatu and Tonga, where he was seeking to invest millions of dollars.

Thailand's prolonged Red Shirt rally may cost B100bn

2010-04-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

Retail, tourism and investment all at risk

Thailand could lose approximately 70 billion to 100 billion baht, should the anti-government rally carry on until the middle of May, according to businesses who have reiterated their support for the government to take action.

Soldiers are deployed at Bangkok Bank headquarters and the Silom Road area as a protective measure against protesters. ALISA SUWANRUMPHA

According to private sector estimates, consumption is forecast to drop by 20-30 billion baht, with tourism losing about 40-50 billion and direct investment falling 10-20 billion.

This would cut between 0.3 and 0.5 percentage points off 2010 growth, currently forecast at 3.3% to 3.8%, said Puttipong Punnakan, vice-minister to the Prime Minister's Office, after two meetings of the government's economic committee and the joint public-private consultative committee chaired by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

"Protests by the red shirts damage large businesses such as hotels and department stores by 140-350 million baht per day, while small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are affected by 60-150 million baht per day," he said. The private sector also expressed concern that should the protests become prolonged this will cause problems for the business sector in the future.

Most businesses do not support dissolving the House or changing governments because it will delay planned investment projects, he added.

"[Dissolving the House] will affect consideration of the fiscal 2011 budget that takes effect in October 2010, which will delay the disbursement of government funds," said Mr Puttipong.

The tourist sector estimates hotel occupancy rates are now around 30%, down from 60-70% earlier, causing a loss of around 200-500 million baht per day.

This year it is forecast that tourists to Thailand will total 12-13 million, down from a previous estimate of 16 million. In January and February tourists totalled 1.6 million per month, but that number is expected to drop substantially from April, said Mr Puttipong.

Moreover, hotels and other business operators near the Ratchaprasong area are being asked not to provide accommodations to the anti-government protesters.

"We ask for co-operation from business operators to not provide support to protesters, who are violating the law," said Mr Puttipong.

Santi Vilassakdanont, acting chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries, said the business sector at the Ratchaprasong intersection was estimated to be losing 500-600 million baht in revenue a day from the occupation.

Asked whether the committee would hold direct talks with the protest leaders, Mr Santi said the talks would be held by businesses that are directly affected, such as retailers and hotel operators.

Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said new measures would be developed to help businesses affected by the red-shirt protests. State-controlled banks could be directed to offer low-interest loans to affected SMEs, he said, adding that numerous details remained to be worked out.

Hundreds of small businesses and thousands of entrepreneurs and daily-wage workers at shopping malls and sidewalk markets at Ratchaprasong have been hit hard since the red shirts took over the square earlier this month and forced the shutdown of CentralWorld, Gaysorn, Siam Paragon and other malls.

Mr Korn said the economic damage from the protests was by no means limited to businesses operating in central Bangkok, but would be felt throughout the country.

Tourism and investment are expected to fall over the next several months due to the negative image overseas from political tensions and the bloody clash on April 10, he said.

The Finance Ministry previously estimated the conflict could cut economic growth by a percentage point or more from its forecast of 4-5% for 2010.

Civil unrest hits Bangkok hotels

2010-04-20T19:26:00.001-07:00

Tourism sector' ability to live up to national authority' target in doubt

Agencies
Published: 00:00 April 21, 2010

Tourists at Jomtien beach in Pattaya, Thailand. The Tourism Authority of Thailand is sticking to its target of 15.5 million tourist arrivals this year, against 14.1 million last year, despite political uncertainty due to the protests.
Image Credit: Bloomberg News

Bangkok: Some hotels in central Bangkok are closing temporarily because of fears of violence between security forces and anti-government protesters who have occupied an upmarket shopping and leisure district since April 3.

At least 25 people died as a result of clashes in another area on April 10.

The unrest threatens to derail a recovery in the $264-billion economy, Southeast Asia's second biggest. Tourism accounts for 6 per cent of GDP and directly employs 1.8 million people out of a population of 67 million.

Comparisons with tourist data last year are tricky.

Tourism was dealt a blow in April 2009 by that year's ‘Songkran riots' involving the same ‘red shirt' group. The sector was only just recovering from a blockade of Bangkok's airports by rival ‘yellow shirts' in late 2008.

At least two hotels in the occupied shopping district have announced they will close temporarily for safety reasons.

"There isn't a guest left in our hotel now," a receptionist at the Holiday Inn Bangkok said. "We are closing from today and plan to reopen on April 26 if the situation improves."

Bookings stopped

InterContinental Hotel Bangkok also announced it would be closing.

"We have stopped taking bookings and have all of our guests checking out by today," a receptionist said.

Both are operated by the Srivikorn family that owns the luxury Gaysorn Plaza shopping mall nearby, which is also closed.

The Four Seasons Hotel, run by Minor International, has stopped taking bookings but is staffing some restaurants.

Centara Grand at CentralWorld, run by Central Plaza Hotel, says its occupancy rate has "dropped to less than 10 per cent from 60 per cent normally".

"We have lost about 4 million baht [453,500] a day since the protests. This doesn't include revenues that should have come from catering services and events," said Ronnachit Mahattanapreut, senior vice-president for finance at the hotel.

"Our occupancy rate now is less than 10 percent but we're still open because we still have guests," he said.

Erawan Group, which owns the five-star Grand Hyatt Erawan, is practically empty. "We basically have no guests since last Friday. Our occupancy now is pretty much zero," group chief exectuvie Kasama Punyagupta said.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (Tat), a state agency, is sticking to its target of 15.5 million tourist arrivals this year, against 14.1 million last year. It said 4.6 million arrived in the January-March quarter, up from 3.6 million last year.

Other organisations are far more pessimistic.

"There are no new bookings coming in, none," said Anek Srishevachart, president of the Thai-Japan Tourism Association.

"I don't think the TAT's target of 15.5 million tourists this year is going to be possible. It may be even less than 15 million now, all because of this political mess," Anek said on Monday.

AllTheBestTravel said many Japanese tourists had returned home or cancelled trips after the clashes; authorities back home had advised them to go to China, South Korea or Vietnam instead.

The tour operator said it had about 10 per cent of its normal client numbers now, with some Western tourists still coming but heading straight to Phuket or other resorts outside Bangkok.

Surapol Sritrakul, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (Atta), said the number of tourists in Thailand for the Songkran New Year festival from April 13 to 15 had slumped.

"Tourist arrivals have been cut in half basically to just 3,000-4,000 per day in April from 6,000-8,000 in the first quarter," Surapol said on Friday.

The Atta expects 14.5 million tourists this year.

Representatives from the Thai Chamber of Commerce, the Thai Bankers' Association, the Federation of Thai Industries and other private sector organisations that met with the government on Monday to expect only between 12 to 13 million tourists.

Mall operators meet

Retailers and mall operators suffering from the 17-day occupation of Rachaprasong shopping district met on Monday to assess the impact of the protests.

"Shops and department stores in the red zone have now lost about 1 billion baht [$31 million] a day," said Thanapol Tangkananan, president of the Thai Retailers' Association.

Central World, the second-largest shopping complex in Southeast Asia, and other big malls remained closed.

The government has forecast 4.5 per cent growth this year. Finance minister Korn Chatikavanij told Reuters that, after all that has happened, he would not be disappointed if that was the outcome.

Business associations that met with the government on Monday forecast growth this year could be cut by 0.3-0.5 percentage point if the protest went on for three months, Puttipong Punnakan, a government spokesman, told reporters.

Amata Corp, Thailand's biggest seller of industrial land and a bellwether for foreign investor sentiment, said some Japanese clients had delayed signing land deals because of the unrest and 2010 sales might suffer.

Consumer confidence fell in March, when the ‘red shirt' rally began. Investment bank Morgan Stanley calculates economic growth this year could be cut by 0.2 percentage point due to the impact on tourism and there would be a bigger hit of up to 0.6 point if consumer confidence slumped further.

Bond yields eased this week as investors bet the central bank would leave interest rates at a record low on Wednesday because the political crisis could hurt the economy.

Turmoil

Thailand's tourism industry may be "decimated" by political tensions, finance minister Korn Chatikavanij said last week. The protests may hurt gross domestic product by as much as 2 per cent, he said in a TV interview. Bowing to pressure by anti-government protesters isn't the way to stability, he said.

Thai standoff close to tipping point

2010-04-20T19:24:00.001-07:00

Mark MacKinnon

Bangkok — From Wednesday's Globe and MailPublished on Tuesday, Apr. 20, 2010 6:04PM EDTLast updated on Tuesday, Apr. 20, 2010 9:04PM EDT

Most observers of the increasingly dangerous political crisis in Thailand agree on one thing: that the government can’t allow it to go on much longer. The only person who won’t say as much is the country’s beleaguered Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva.

With tens of thousands of red-shirted anti-government protesters occupying central parts of Bangkok for more than five weeks, tourists fleeing and major shopping malls and hotels forced to close, calls are growing for Mr. Abhisit to either order the army and police to put an end to the demonstrations or to give in to their demands and resign.

The alternative, some say, is to see the situation degenerate into street fighting between rival political factions or even civil war, a dark possibility now openly spoken of by some Thais.

Getty Images

Thailand's 'Red Shirt' protesters protect themselves with a bamboo barricade in Bangkok on Tuesday.

“A crackdown [on the Red Shirt protests] is certain. The only question is when,” columnist Sopon Onkgara wrote in The Nation, a pro-government newspaper, arguing that control of the situation had now passed from Mr. Abhisit to army chief General Anupong Paochinda. “Getting ready” read the oversized headline on the paper’s website Tuesday.

The Thai army has already tried and failed once to disperse the non-stop protests, resulting in clashes on April 10 that left at least 25 people dead but did little to resolve the situation.

New military action to clear the Red Shirt encampment – which stretches through much of the city’s commercial heart, from the usually bustling Siam Square to Lumphini Park, the city’s largest green space – seems increasingly likely after some 1,500 Thai soldiers and riot police were deployed this week just a few hundred metres south of the protest area. Tensions ratcheted up through the day Tuesday, as the army announced the soldiers were equipped with live rounds and the Red Shirts began making defensive preparations, including distributing sharpened bamboo poles.

Some within the Red camp are known to carry more lethal weapons, including firearms that were used against the army on April 10. Five soldiers were among those killed that day.

But with the pressure mounting for Mr. Abhisit to do something decisive, he has disappeared from the public eye for days on end since declaring a state of emergency on April 7. In rare public comments to state-owned television on Monday, he urged the public to be patient and refused to give a date for when he might order the army to move in and end the protests.

ERIC GAILLARD/REUTERS

Riot police stand guard as anti-government "red shirt" protesters gather outside the SC Park hotel in Bangkok, Friday, April 16, 2010

Mr. Abhisit has also repeatedly said that he won’t give in to Red Shirt demands that he resign or call a snap election, arguing that neither act would solve the country’s deep-rooted problems. He has offered to dissolve parliament later this year, before the expiry of his government’s term in 2011, but Red Shirt leaders rejected the move as insufficient.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister, Panitan Wattanayagorn, said Mr. Abhisit is still hoping to resolve the crisis through negotiations, a path that seems unlikely to succeed given that Red Shirt leaders have said they won’t negotiate with Mr. Abhisit, whom they brand a “murderer” for the bloodshed on April 10.

The angry rhetoric of the Red leaders has left them little room for a compromise that they can sell to their supporters. The government has also avoided direct communications with the chief Red leader, fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in a 2006 military coup and later convicted on abuse-of-power charges.

The past two weeks have been the most challenging yet in a tumultuous 16 months in office for Mr. Abhisit, a 45-year-old Oxford University graduate who was plucked from relative obscurity to head the government after an administration loyal to Mr. Thaksin was controversially forced from power in December of 2008.

Mr. Abhisit must also deal with dissent from within his own Democratic Party as well as a ruling by the country’s elections commission that found the party should be dissolved for misuse of election funds. Few pundits believe a party led by Mr. Abhisit could beat the Reds at the polls if he gives in and calls a snap vote.

Mr. Abhisit is an economist by training and a technocrat by temperament. Even his supporters wonder if he’s too indecisive for the kind of hard decisions that may be required to end the current crisis.

“Abhisit’s a good guy, but his decision-making is maybe a bit slow because he thinks about the consequences. A lot of the Democrat Party leaders are lawyers, so maybe they think about the consequences too much,” said Atty, a 35-year-old jewellery designer whose central Bangkok store is among those that have been closed for the past two weeks by the protests.

Most observers feel the situation is hurtling toward the very sort of violent climax that Mr. Abhisit says he wants to avoid.

“We’re in kind of a standoff situation,” an influential Thai blogger who goes by the alias Bangkok Pundit, said by telephone. “The two sides are just in a waiting game. The government is waiting for [the Red Shirts] to make a move so they can prevent them from doing it. It’s a show of strength.”

Thailand's Army Takes Over Security

2010-04-20T19:23:00.000-07:00

BANGKOK, THAILAND

Thailand's army is now in direct control of security in Bangkok as anti-government protests continue to disrupt life in the capital.

Army chief Anupong Paojinda replaced Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban as head of the Center for the Resolution of Emergency Situations after an embarrassing botched attempt to arrest several leaders of the Red Shirt protesters.

Suthep lost his job as punishment for the debacle, live on television, that happened at Bangkok hotel, the Bangkok Post newspaper said.

Around 500 police and security officials last week advanced on the Park Hotel where they knew several Red Shirts leaders had been staying. But around 2,000 protesters outside and inside the hotel hindered their progress and warned their colleagues who escaped.

Television cameras outside the hotel filmed a Red Shirt leader climbing out a window and lowering himself by rope to the crowd of protesters who whisked him away in a waiting car.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva shortly thereafter went on television to announce the appointment of Anupong. Abhisit said that "unsuccessful efforts taken so far" against the protesters had prompted the government to "review structural issues."

Replacing Suthep would make the chain of command more "effective and swift." Abhisit said the new authority would be able to "call in forces in a more united and integrated way, so that they can handle the terrorism-related activities specifically."

Suthep, 61, has been a controversial figure in the military-backed government of Abhisit. He stepped down from his parliament seat in 2009 after allegations over corruption. A media firm in which he has a stake was accused of receiving government contracts illegally, although nothing was proved.

Guests evacuated from Bangkok hotels

2010-04-20T19:21:00.000-07:00

Anti-government protesters crowding the streets of Bangkok and their violent clashes with riot police have several hotels spooked, forcing them to evacuate guests Tuesday, according to the Associated Press
The 380-room Grand Hyatt Erawan announced it will close until Saturday and is relocating guests to other hotels. "The situation is very tense," Patty Lerdwittayaskul, a hotel spokeswoman, told the AP.

The nearby Holiday Inn and Intercontinental also moved their guests to other hotels and said new reservations would not be accepted until Monday, the report says.

The Four Seasons remained open but closed its restaurants. Its general manager Rainer Stampfer told the AP that occupancy was "absolutely minimal" and the hotel was not accepting any bookings until Monday. "We recommend that (guests) stay elsewhere."

Like all hotels in the area, the Four Seasons has also put up metal barricades to block protesters from entering.

Thousands of protesters, called "Red Shirts," have been camping out in the city for more than a month, stockpiling homemade weapons and demanding that the prime minister dissolve the government, hold new elections and leave the country, according to CNN.

The Thai military has stationed about 1,500 troops along a Bangkok road amid anticipation of renewed clashes with the protesters, it says.

A violent clash earlier this month left 25 dead and more than 800 wounded, the AP says.

Thailand, which calls itself "The Land of Smiles," has seen its tourism industry battered in recent weeks by the protests. "Tourists are frightened to see military personnel carrying guns. They can't believe this is Thailand," Apichart Sankary of the Federation of Thai Tourism Associations told the AP.

Hotel occupancy, typically at 60% to 70% this time of year, has plummeted to about 30%, says Apichart.

Walid Moustafa, an Egyptian tourist, told the AP that he still feels safe. "It's been a little bit noisy. But the Red Shirts were very nice."

- Roger Yu

China cancels all Songkran charter flights

2010-04-08T17:22:00.000-07:00

China has cancelled 100 charter flights to Bangkok during the Songkran festival following the declaration of a state of emergency in the capital, the Thai-Chinese Tourism Promotion Association said yesterday.

"China decided to cancel all 100 charter flights planned to bring more than 15,000 Chinese to Thailand during the Songkran season due to the declaration of the latest state of emergency, which is not covered by tourists' insurance," said association president Wichit Prakobkosol.

He said Thailand would lose Bt600 million as a result of the cancellations. He predicted that the previously expected number of tourists from other markets such as Hong Kong and Singapore would also drop during next week's holiday.

The United Arab Emirates yesterday told its citizens to avoid travel to Thailand at this time, while Malaysia and Singapore advised their nationals not to make visits to the Kingdom.

Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumband Paribatra yesterday announced that official Songkran celebrations and religious occasions planned to take place in Silom Road and at its head office from Monday had now been cancelled.

Hotels in Bangkok are currently running at an average occupancy of between 30 and 40 per cent, a level that is expected to fall even further next week due to fewer arrivals.

Songkran festival celebrations in 13 other provinces are scheduled to take place as planned.

Sarawut Saetew, president of the Chiang Mai Tourism Association, said the number of visitors to Chiang Mai would plunge compared to the same period last year. Hotel operators in Chiang Mai have received few new bookings for next week.

To encourage tourists, the association and the Tourism Authority of Thailand's (TAT) Chiang Mai branch are offering 50-per-cent discounts at all hotels in Chiang Mai during Songkran week.

Moreover, local and foreign tourists are automatically receiving tourist insurance with coverage of Bt100,000 each.

Apichart Sankary, honorary board member of the Federation of Thai Tourism Associations, said the industry's income had plunged since the red-shirt protesters descended on Rajprasong intersection in Bangkok last weekend.

"Private operators need to see cooperation between the protesters and the authorities as soon as possible, as that is the way to solve the problem," he said.

The TAT in a statement advised tourists to avoid areas near the protest sites, especially Rajprasong, Rama I Road, Ploenchit and Chidlom, where most of the capital's major shopping malls are still closed.

TAT deputy governor Prakit Priyakiat said the agency had informed its 26 offices worldwide to monitor the situation and give correct information to potential tourists and operators abroad.

The TAT today will summarise the impact of the crisis on tourism and tourist cancellation numbers, as well as provide a projection of travel business during the Songkran festival.

Thailand's Abhisit’s Oxford Education a ‘Liability’ Amid Turmoil (Update2)

2010-04-08T07:51:00.000-07:00

(Adds stock market close in second paragraph.)

By Daniel Ten Kate

April 8 (Bloomberg) -- Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was born in the English city of Newcastle and attended Eton College and Oxford University. Opponents say his elite upbringing makes him ill-suited to heal social upheaval that forced him to declare a state of emergency for a second time.

Abhisit yesterday granted security forces powers to disperse thousands of protesters who capped a month of rallies by storming Parliament, forcing lawmakers to flee by helicopter. Stocks fell the most in almost six months today, with the benchmark SET Index down 3.5 percent at the close in Bangkok.

Many of the red-shirted demonstrators are loyal to exiled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a billionaire who won over the poor by giving them cheap health care and loans. The demonstrators, angered by one of Asia’s widest income gaps, say Abhisit embodies a privileged class of military officers, judges, bureaucrats and royal advisers that sits above the law.

“Abhisit’s Oxford education, while valuable at some levels, is now a liability,” said Suranand Vejjajiva, Abhisit’s cousin and a former spokesman for Thaksin’s party. “He thinks that by implementing programs for the poor he can win them over, but he’s missing the point. They see him as the representative of the elite, and they’re angry about injustice.”

Using force now would underpin the notion of a double standard after anti-Thaksin rivals were allowed to seize Bangkok’s airports in 2008, said protest leader Weng Tojirakarn.

‘Not Afraid’

“We’re not afraid because what we’re doing is right,” he said by phone after Abhisit issued the emergency decree last night. “Even if they suppress us violently, they cannot stop what we believe.”

In Thaksin’s northern Thailand stronghold, farmers say they see the southern-based ruling party as aloof.

Kneeling around a campfire in Chiang Rai province last month, Noonai Binsamun said Abhisit’s party draws up policies from the comfort of Bangkok’s air-conditioned rooms rather than mingling upcountry with the poor to hear their grievances.

“We don’t need a higher education to tell right from wrong,” said Noonai, a 53-year-old rice farmer. “Abhisit can speak very well and has some good ideas, but he can’t change the double standards in society.”

2007 Elections

In 2007, Abhisit’s Democrat party won 6 of 176 seats in the north and northeast, home to 40 percent of Thailand’s 67 million people. Per capita income in those areas is about a third of that in Bangkok, where he won 75 percent of seats.

Abhisit, who moved from his downtown residence to an army barracks last month because of safety concerns, says protesters have violated the constitution. The emergency decree bans gatherings of more than five people, allows detention without charge and gives soldiers immunity from prosecution.

The government today blocked access to the Web site of the main opposition group. The site had been hosting live video and audio of speeches by leaders of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship.

For the year, the SET Index has risen 6.7 percent and the baht is trading close to a 22-month high.

Thailand’s industrial production rose for a sixth month in February. The Finance Ministry on March 29 raised its growth forecast for this year to as much as 5 percent. The $261-billion economy contracted 2.3 percent in 2009.

Nine Coups

Since 1946, when King Bhumibol Adulyadej took the throne as an 18-year-old, Thailand has seen nine coups and more than 20 prime ministers. Only two of 17 constitutions since absolute monarchy ended in 1932 have mandated parliaments that are entirely elected. The king, who is revered across the nation, has been in hospital since Sept. 19 and hasn’t spoken publicly about the current demonstrations.

Abhisit himself has never won a national election: He was picked by legislators in December 2008 after a court dissolved the pro-Thaksin ruling party for election fraud. The decision coincided with the seizure of Bangkok’s airports by protesters wearing yellow shirts who supported Abhisit.

Born in northeast England because his father was studying there, Abhisit went to Satit Chula, an elementary school linked to Chulalongkorn University, Thailand’s oldest institution of higher learning. He moved back to England to attend Eton, founded by King Henry VI in 1440, and then Oxford. One of his friends and classmates: London Mayor Boris Johnson. He entered politics in 1992, a year after the military appointed his father to serve in the Cabinet following a coup.

Courting Countryside

As premier, Abhisit, 45, has pumped money into the countryside, giving cash handouts, waiving fees for schoolbooks, offering free health care and providing income guarantees for farmers.

The policies aim to bridge an income gap that is greater than those in China and India, the World Bank said in a November report. The richest 20 percent of the population earn about 55 percent of the income while the poorest fifth get 4 percent, the study showed.

Thaksin and his allies have won the past four elections. The former leader has orchestrated protests from overseas since fleeing a Thai jail sentence in 2008. Abhisit must call elections by the end of 2011.

--With assistance from Anuchit Nguyen, Supunnabul Suwannakij, Suttinee Yuvejwattana and Yumi Teso in Bangkok. Editors: Anne Swardson, Bill Austin

How to spot a ladyboy in Thailand

2010-04-08T07:50:00.000-07:00

David Barbeler

From:AAP
April 08, 2010 8:48am
20 comments

The majority of ladyboys can't dance to save their life. Picture: zaphodsotherhead flickr

Big feet, broad shoulders, and thick veins are normally your best bets. Picture: Nicolai flickr

I was fooled by a ladyboy.

Several in fact.

I admit it - and completely without the slightest hint of embarrassment - only amazement.

Before travelling to Phuket, I had heard many stories from my friends who had partied hard in the Patong strip - Bangla Street.

"I can guarantee one of 'em will fool ya, and ya won't even know it,'' my mate warned me before I jetted off.

"There's at least one in every bar.''

I now have only myself to blame, as upon retrospect the warning signs were all there.

Big feet, broad shoulders, and thick veins are normally your best bets.

Travel tips: Thailand destination guide

But the eyes normally overlook these subtle hints, instead diverting them to attractive facial features, perfect make-up, thin legs and surgery enhanced breasts. But before I get into the nitty gritty details, allow me to rewind.

The beginning of the adventure started about seven hours earlier during a poolside Happy Hour at the Mercure Phuket Patong.

Nearly every Thailand bar and hotel has a daily two-for-one Happy Hour, which, unlike its name suggests, lasts for several hours.

I took advantage of this deal everywhere I stayed at, including the Mercure Phuket Patong, the All Seasons Nai Harn Beach Resort and the Ibis Phuket Kata.

All are fantastic hotels for tourists looking for a nice place to stay near a beach without breaking the piggy bank.

For example, a couple staying at the All Seasons Nai Harn Beach Resort can get ocean views, a comfortable room, and breakfast for as little as $50 per night.

The All Seasons Nai Harn Beach Resort also has the added comfort of being located well outside the hustle and bustle of Patong, but still within a $10 cab ride.

Mercure Phuket on the other hand is walking distance to Patong's main strip and while prices start at about $80 per night, its cost still beats any comparable Australian hotel hands down.

And if you're worried about travelling to Thailand because of the Bangkok-based protests - you're seriously missing out. (Red-shirted supporters of ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra have been protesting in Bangkok, demanding the military-backed government hold another election.)

The protest-free Phuket is nearly a 10-hour drive away from Bangkok and the beachside locals are some of the most beautifully natured people I have ever met.

Challenge the barmaid
Happy Hour deals aside, in general, a beer in Thailand generally costs about $2.50 in a bar, and less than $1 from a grocery store.

In some bars you can also challenge the barmaid to a boardgame with the loser to buy the other a drink - something that ended up costing me a lot of money.
Decent sized meals from reputable eateries on the other hand cost between $5 and $10.

The street vendor food is not for the faint-hearted, as my fellow traveller found out, who was eagerly chomping down on a chicken shish kebab in drunken bliss one night until I pointed out that it was actually six pope's noses (chicken bums) all lined up in a row.

Anyway, back to how I was fooled.

When I say fooled, I don't mean that led to physical contact - more like money loss.
I was just an observer, or a quiet admirer, if you will.

As we tipped a group of eight dancers several hundred baht to keep dancing for our table, we took bets on who were the girls and who were the boys. Like me, all at the table were fooled thinking the majority were, well, girls.

So we asked a kind bar attendant to settle the score.

"All ladyboy! Ladyboy all!'' she half replied, half exclaimed.

As the saying goes: Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

Feeling rather foolish, my chicken-bum eating travel companion and I decided to venture into a seedy expat's bar for some advice on how to tiptoe through the ladyboy minefield.

How to spot a ladyboy
At the bar we met a man who referred to himself only as Strider; he was your typical 50-something divorced Australian male who travels to Thailand with enough money to find a younger girlfriend.

Unfortunately for Strider, his Thai girlfriend of six years had recently left him for a richer Swiss man.

Fortunately for us, however, he was more than happy to offer some good tips on how to spot the ladyboy.

"Firstly,'' he said, "the majority of them can't dance to save their life, because they still have the male gene.

"Secondly, and probably most importantly, they will always, always, fidget with their hair because they are not used to it and are very self-conscious about it.''

Strider said bigger feet and broad shoulders were the next best giveaways, but warned to avoid relying on spotting Adam's Apples, as many had undergone surgery to have the bone shaved back.

"There are ladyboys virtually in every bar here because, put simply, females make more money than men,'' he explained.

"The only options for some men are to become drivers or work in the fields, whereas ladyboys can make a lot more money and have a lot more fun.''

Taking heed of his advice, we had the time of our lives for the next five-nights straight, and avoided coming unstuck again.

After drinking $1.50 Happy Hour beers all week past 2am, I couldn't wait to have a full night's rest in my V Australia business class sleeper's lounge on the flight home.

Before nodding off, however, I decided to have a brief peek at the daily newspaper of the untameable little beast of a city I was departing.

Blasted across the front page of the Phuket Gazette was the headline: "Ladyboy fraudster purchases hard time.''

Well at least I'm not the only fool, I reassured myself.

The writer was a guest of Accor, flying V Australia Airlines.

State of emergency: What life is really like in Bangkok

2010-04-08T07:43:00.000-07:00

A three-week long protest and now a state of emergency. We explore what it's actually like at street level for tourists and locals

Thousands of red shirted protesters have shut down Bangkok's busy Rajaprasong intersection. This area is normally clogged with cars, not people.

Bangkok is under a government imposed state of emergency after red-clad protesters stormed the parliament compound on Wednesday, forcing some lawmakers to flee via helicopter. It was the latest -- and most provocative -- move by the anti-government demonstrators, who are trying to force Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve parliament and force elections.

The state of emergency is designed to give the army enforced powers to disperse the protesters. But it’s unclear when that will happen. (For more on the state of emergency, watch CNN's recent report.)

The protests have been going on in Bangkok for more than three weeks, and many may be considering leaving the country or cancelling their trips here. Here's a view of the reality on the ground: Without making light of the situation, so far there has been nothing to suggest the protests are putting anyone in any danger. But remember that despite having been peaceful until now, these things can always turn chaotic. Often without any warning.

1. In much of Bangkok, the protests haven’t changed daily life

The portions of the Thai capital that the protesters have seized are small given the size of this enormous city.

"We're all in favor of democracy. They've been lovely to us. We can live without the malls."

— Mick Greenwood, tourist

The original protest site, close to the Chao Phraya river along Rajadamnoen Road, isn’t a place tourists are likely to visit, although it’s within walking distance of the Khao San Road backpacker district.

The airport is still open, and protesters haven’t said they’ll occupy it, as their yellow-shirted political opponents did in November 2008. Taxis are still readily available, and all but a few major roads are still accessible.

However…

2. The second major rallying point, the Rajaprasong intersection, is smack dab in the middle of Bangkok’s hotel and shopping district

This is where you’ll find five-star establishments like the Four Seasons, the InterContinental, and the Grand Hyatt Erawan. And in a city known for its shopping, the area’s CentralWorld, Central Chidlom, and Siam Paragon malls are among Bangkok’s most upscale and popular. The hotels are still open, though some have erected small barriers to keep red shirts out.

While this area is shut down for blocks in either direction, the BTS Skytrain stations that run above it -- Chidlom and Siam -- are still functioning. (Just be prepared to share the car with wide-eyed tourists, enthusiastic red shirt demonstrators, and perhaps a few annoyed local people.)

The protest area here should be approached with caution, as the situation is fluid, but you’ll find an interesting clash of cultures if you choose to check it out. The protesters, many of whom are working class people from the north and northeast of the country, have set up a stage and tents, and have been blaring pop and folks songs. Police clad in riot gear -- many of whom are sympathetic to the red shirts -- look on passively.

Vendors are selling dried squid in front of the famous Erawan shrine; women are selling peanuts in plastic bags from stalls set up in front of Louis Vuitton billboards; and other vendors are selling red shirts bearing political slogans like “Truth Today” in front of Coach shops.

3. Remember: The protesters mean business.

Again, while the demonstrations have generally been good-natured, the protesters are dug in.

“Please tell your country Thailand's government is a tyrant," a 60-year-old woman named Pornmanet told me. She had come to Bangkok from Phitsanulok, in the country’s north, to protest. “We are poor people. We want the government to change its thinking,” she said.

The tourists I encountered at Rajaprasong Wednesday didn’t seem to be too perturbed.

“They’re fighting for the cause -- democracy,” said Mick Greenwood, of Leeds, England. “We’re all in favor of democracy. They’ve been lovely to us,” he said. “We can live without malls.”

Casilda Oriarte, a 40-year-old tourist from Spain, said: “I feel for the people. It’s amazing to see the protest. It keeps going and going. It’s hard to stop something like this.”

Dominic Cunningham-Reid, a 40-year-old Kenyan, said, “It has the mood of a family rock concert, with two year olds and grandparents." He added that he would not hesitate to return to Thailand.

4. Thai tourism may take a serious hit -- and the grind is fraying some nerves

The protests have troubling economic implications. The retailers in Rajaprasong are losing millions of dollars every day. And while the Skytrain is still running and taxis are still plentiful, life hasn’t been easy for some of the city’s expats and Thais who live and work in the area.

Cameron Wolf, an American who lives in Bangkok and works near Rajaprasong, told me that things are “relatively calm,” but still not “business as usual.” International meetings that had been scheduled months ago, he said, have been canceled due to the unrest.

Over one of the city’s elevated walkways, demonstrators hung a sign that says “Welcome to Thailand. We Just Want Democracy.” The Tourism Authority of Thailand, no doubt, hopes that tourists are understanding.

Tourism accounts for seven percent of Thailand’s gross domestic product. And Prakit Chinamourphong, who heads the Thai Hotels Association, told the Wall Street Journal on Monday that since the protests started over three weeks ago, the country’s tourism industry has lost some US$309 million. Meanwhile, the nation's tourism minister, Chumpol Silapaarcha, has said the protests could affect tourism by about 10 percent.

Craig Harrington, 34, an American who works for Thailand’s well-known Travex travel agency, told me that some hotels here have already received cancellations. Some tourists considering coming to Thailand -- especially Spaniards-- are put off by the demonstrations. “They can just go to Latin, Central, or South America,” he said, “where things are just as cheap, there are no language barriers -- and no protests.”

Thailand high season for tourism -- winter in the northern hemisphere -- has passed, but the Thai new year, Songkran, begins next week. It’s Thailand’s most important domestic holiday period, known for its carnival-like water splashing activities. The Thai tourism authorities have planned special events, but one wonders how many holidaymakers will be here to take part?

Most Bangkok residents leave the Thai capital during this time. Indeed, this Songkran, those who don’t support the red shirts will be all the more eager to get out of town.

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Newley Purnell is a freelance journalist in Bangkok. His work has appeared in the New York Times, on AFP, ABC News Radio, ABCNews.com, Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia, and more. He has been blogging at http://newley.com since 2002.

Chiangrai and the Golden Triangle in Thailand

2010-04-07T09:27:00.001-07:00

Any visitor to Chiangrai cannot fail to recognize the richness and obvious affluence that abound in this northern most province. Its proximity to the Golden Triangle has influenced the development of the land and only here does one see fenced-off properties, farmhouses, hedgerows and smooth four-lane highways never in need of repair. There is more to the province than this, of course, with some of the most challenging back roads in Thailand also being here. However, the overriding impression is one of almost a different country. This diversity should, perhaps, be the alternative traveler’s initial reason for visiting the Golden Far North.

The riches of Chiangrai province can be instantaneously compared when making an excursion into Myanmar at the border crossing of Mae Sai. The poverty on the Myanmar side is all too blatant and far more obvious than at other Myanmar crossings. The cross-border visit does not require a visa, nor is your passport stamped. All that you need are two photocopies of your passport details and a fee, usually five dollars.

From Mae Sai border excursions can be made to the Royal Mountain project at Doi Toong and eastwards to the opium museum at the Golden Triangle itself. Chiang Saen is a small distance beyond this. Westwards is mae Salong and Thaton with its Maekok River Lodge and onwards to Fang and mae Hong Son along some of the least used (you’ll find out why) roads in Thailand. There is spectacular scenery all along the way.

Doi Toong is now a fully developed Royal project. Basically a whole mountain range overlooking Burmese territory, it now affords visitors not only grand vistas but also home-grown Thai coffee and tea, soft fruits and temperate vegetables. All have been introduced into hilltribe farming patterns and now contribute greatly to the economies of many villages as a substitute for the declining opium crop farming, which is all but eliminated from Thai soil now. Wat Doi Toong itself, perched like a nest on the final hilltop, is an important pilgrimage center for Thai people and there is day-long temple activity here.

If time allows, and you have a good map, the alternative route via Doi Pa Mi to Doi Toong should be taken from Mae Sai rather than the main highway headed towards Mae Chan. The road hugs the border and is one of the more spectacular routes in the north.

The Golden Triangle is, by now, quite well-frequented by tourists and there is little hope of avoiding crowds at the center point - a plaque depicting the meeting place of the three countries, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. However, pleasant enough river trips on the mighty Mekong can be taken as well as meals at riverside restaurants (watch for more peaceful locations between the triangle and Chiang Saen). The Imperial Golden Triangle Hotel allows perhaps the best views, especially around breakfast time, with many early movements on the river. Long tailed boats flit from country to country in a flash, adding to the sense of intrigue that lingers at this infamous meeting place.

As well as the well-documented and informative Opium Museum, Chaing Saen, the old river capitol of Lanna, should be visited. Very pleasant afternoons can be spent on the terraced riverside after a market trip.

Further down river from Chiang Saen is the up and coming border point of Chiang Khong. From here, entry to Laos can be made with day river trips to Luang Prabang departing every morning. A longer (slow boat) trip can be made with an overnight stop en route at the village of Pakbeng. Travelling to Chiang Khong gives one a real feeling of being in the backwaters of the country and if that’s what you are looking for then take the trip and use it as an entry to Laos. Accommodation, especially with air conditioning, is sparse at Chiang Khong and with boats leaving early, book in advance or leave Chiangrai at 5:30 am.

Travelling westwards from Tachilek (now itself an exit point for some internal Myanmar tours) along the Thai side and past Doi Toong, there are the back roads to Mae Salong. This area is like the Scottish Highlands, although without the weather and a little warmer. There are few signposts so take a good map when in Mae Sai or you may find yourself in a “delicate border zone.”

If it’s daylight, a side excursion to Ban Thoet Thai, formerly Ban Hin Taek, can be made. This is the former outpost home of Khun Sa, head of the Shan State Army. Since his retreat, integration into Thai society of the local Mae Salong valley people has progressed. Still known to Thais as Jiin Haw (galloping Chinese) the occupants of Mae Salong emigrated from China during the 1949 revolution and were part of the fleeing Kuomintang 93rd regiment. This alone makes Mae Salong very different from any other Thai town with its mixture of Akha, Lisu and Meo tribes and Tai Yai (Shan) people. With local corn whisky on sale as a substitute for the eliminated opium crop, other products found include Chinese herb remedies, Khanom Jiin curry and Chinese teas. There is actually a tea factory in the town. Although a paved road now runs to Basang on the main Mae Cahn-Thaton highway, other roads are little more than badly graded dirt tracks. Such is the price of anonymity.

For the real alternative traveller a four-day trek to Chiangrai is possible following hilltribe village trails en route. Here you will find the trekking that existed 20 years ago from a Chiangrai base. At Thaton, on the Maekok River, stands the Maekok River Village, an upgrade of the former River Lodge. It is the pride and joy of Khun Shane Beary, a 14-year resident of the area. The village is comprised of Thai style bungalows on the riverside with a swimming pool and restaurant, but more importantly, it boasts a field study center for both Thai and overseas students and a Thai cookery center. The knowledge of Shane, his family and staff make the Village an excellent base camp for excursions around the area. Mountain biking and trekking trips can be easily made from this focal point as well as river trips on the Maekok, a tributary of the Mekong.

From Thaton there is a public boat service plying the Maekok River for the 92 km trip to Chiangrai. It’s a highly recommended excursion and costs as little as 150 baht.

Onwards to the Chiangrai provincial border are many hot springs and caves with the more well-known ones being at Fang and Ching Dao. The predominant limestone rock of the region gives way to many underground caverns all ubiquitously decorated with religious icons.

Although not within the Chiangrai area, the trip along the border to Pai Mae Rariang through Mae Hong Son is worth considering. The route is scenic and narrow but it has some of the most interesting spots in Thailand including the blind fish caves outside Mae Hong Son and the Padaung “long neck” village on the Pai River. The latter has become somewhat touristy but the long-necked Karen still hold a certain fascination no matter what the circumstances.

Lesser known and less obvious to the naked eye are the Lawa people of this area. In an area of about 500 square kilometers between Hot, Mae Sariang and Mae Hong Son, they still live a largely traditional life although even here the majority have adopted Buddhism and Thai style. It is certain that they have inhabited Thailand for some 800 years and they believe that they migrated from Cambodia, but some archaeologists think their origins lie in Micronesia, perhaps 2,000 years ago.

The women are most distinguishable with their hair tied in a turban and it is usual for them to smoke tobacco from a wooden pipe. Most Lawa speak Thai, but the Lawa language, related to that of the Wa tribe of Burma, is still spoken in many of the villages.

Altogether, Northern Thailand and especially Chiangrai province is distinct in many ways from the rest of the country. Traditionally called “Lan-na,” it has for most of its history been a separate kingdom and holds that quality to this day.

Tom Aikins is a Bangkok-based journalist who runs an Online Marketing Excellence business athttp://www.marketingbangkok.com and does IT consulting athttp://www.itready.co.th

Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tom_Aikins

Shinawatra money 'next week'

2010-04-03T18:21:00.001-07:00

In this February 9, 2001 file photo, Thaksin Shinawatra is surrounded by wife Pojaman (right), son Parntongtae (second right), and daughter Pintongta (left), as he makes a speech after receiving King Bhumibol Adulyadej's command appointed him the country's prime minister at his residence in Bangkok. -- PHOTO: AP

THE Thai Finance Ministry expects money transfers from the Shinawatra family's bank accounts to the treasury to be completed within the next week.

Thailand's Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij on Friday said delays so far involved the authorisations from the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Office of the Attorney-General to the ministry for the transfers.

'I instructed the director-general of the Comptroller-General's Office not to handle this under pressure. It should be completed next week,' he said.

Comptroller-general Pongpanu Savetarun said the directives to six banks that hold 31 bank accounts worth 46 billion baht (S$2 billion) should be signed on Monday. The transfers could then be electronically activated. The money will be deposited at the Bank of Thailand as non-tax government income. It is up to the government to decide whether the money is to be spent on state projects.

'Most of the foreclosed assets are cash, as only 170 million baht is in the form of shares and other securities. The securities will not be sold soon, and they will be under the State Enterprise Policy Committee's care. The sale should not take place if the current value of the securities is lower than the original value,' Mr Pongpanu said.

Siam Commercial Bank executive chairman Vichit Surapongchai said the bank was waiting for the Finance Ministry's directive, to know from which accounts the money should be transferred. He said the bank held the right to discuss the matter with the ministry if the directive was unclear, adding that it would act only in compliance with authorised agencies. -- THE NATION/ANN

Southern China suffers worst drought in memory

2010-03-28T01:52:00.001-07:00

The whole of Southern China is in the grip of the worst drought in living memory, leaving at least 18 million people without access to drinking water, according to the government.

By Malcolm Moore in Shanghai
Published: 1:19PM GMT 26 Mar 2010

1 of 2 Images

A farmer looks for water in a dried-up river in Luliang county in southwest China's Yunnan province Photo: EPA

Since 1517, when records began in the small Chinese village of Xiazha, there has always been water in its three wells.

This spring, however, the wells dried up.

"I'm 83 years old, I've never seen anything like this," said Yang Kuanren, a villager in Xiazha, in Guangxi province. "Not a single drop of water can be seen in our wells. For hundreds of years, we have relied on those wells for irrigation and drinking water and we do not know what to do.

"It is time to start planting the fields, but the earth is so dry we cannot even plough it."

Three enormous water reservoirs that normally feed the village, and its neighbours, which usually hold enough water to irrigate 5,000 acres of land, have also run dry.

Nearby villages have started drilling new wells, but there is little water to be found, even several hundred feet below ground.

In response to the drought, which has swept across Yunnan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan and Chongqing, China has mobilised the full might of its army, sending troops to deliver 1.4 million tons of emergency food and thousands of water trucks.

Wen Jiabao, the prime minister, has made a personal visit to the region to reassure villagers, some of whom are having to trek more than 12 miles a day to collect water.

Growing enough food to hit China's targets this year "will be a test for sure" in the wake of the calamity, said Mr Wen.

More than 5,000 villagers in Yunnan have been forced to leave home and camp near streams in the foothills of the Himalayas.

The normally sub-tropical south of China saw its rainy season evaporate this year, with the average temperature in Yunnan two degrees higher than normal, and rainfall at only half the usual level.

Yunnan is the source of several of Asia's biggest rivers, including the Yangtze and the Mekong and almost a billion people living downstream could be affected as they dry up. The Mekong is at its lowest level for 20 years. Over five million hectares of forests have withered or been ravaged by fires.

The cost of the drought in failed crops and falling electricity production from the region's network of hydroelectric dams is already estimated at 24bn yuan (£2.36 billion) and there could be knock-on costs for the huge aluminium smelters that set up in the region to take advantage of the cheap hydroelectric power.

To produce rain, the government began seeding the clouds above 88 cities in Guizhou this week.

However, according to Accuweather, the American weather forecaster, there is "little prospect for meaningful rainfall [in the region] until May".

A spokesman for the Yunnan Land Resources bureau said: "The situation here will get worse in the coming months before it gets any better, but hopefully if we drill more wells and divert more water to those in need, we can help ease the situation."

The man who refused to die

2010-02-26T00:39:00.001-08:00

By Allan Little
Today programme

They came to think of themselves as the forgotten army - the men who endured years of suffering in Japanese Prisoner of War Camps during World War II.

Yet many of the survivors, when they came back, never spoke of what they had seen and suffered. Now, one survivor of the camps has broken his 65-year silence.

Alistair Urquhart, then a 22-year-old Gordon Highlander from Aberdeen, became a prisoner of war without firing a shot.

This is a story of almost unimaginable suffering. The POWs were transported deep into Thailand on rice trucks that were more like steel coffins.

Alistair Urquhart describes the horrific journey into Thailand

He, with hundreds of others, was marched through the jungle to a prison camp. Many died from dehydration and exhaustion on the long march.

They were then put to work on the building of a railway. It involved cutting a path through a sheer stone cliff face the men came to call Hellfire Pass.

Inside 'the black hole'

The men survived on a few handfuls of rice a day. Many succumbed to disease - cholera, beriberi, tropical ulcers. Their weight fell to five or six stone. Beatings were routine.

In the 1957 film Bridge on the River Kwei the men whistle Colonel Bogie and the officers valiantly defy their Japanese guards.

Alistair Urquhart says it was not so. The film sanitises the depths to which the men sank on the building of the infamous railway bridge.

For years he went barefoot and naked except for a simple loin cloth. After another death march through the jungle, Alastair Urquhart was taken back to Singapore and, with 400 other men, loaded into the hold of a cargo ship.

There was standing room only. It was airless, fetid, the heat baking. Many died here too.

Surviving the cargo hold

The ship did sink, torpedoed at sea by an US submarine.

'I went up like a champagne cork'

He spent five days and night alone on a barge. By the time he was picked up by a Japanese whaling ship, he was dehydrated, hallucinating and close to death.

He ended up in a camp in mainland Japan. He was there when the war ended. But his prison camp was a few miles from the city of Nagasaki.

The blast of hot air from the bomb that fell on August 9th knocked him off his feet. Within days he was on his way home.

He arrived in Aberdeen in November. For years he'd dreamt of being re-united with his family. When, finally, he was, they scarcely recognised each other.

Those who returned came home to a country that did not understand what they had endured, and which, for the most part, did not want to know.

Like many of his generation, Alistair Urquhart didn't speak about his experience for 60 years. His wife died after 46 years of marriage without knowing any of it.

I am breaking my silence now, he writes in his book, to bear witness. I am a lucky man, but I am also an angry man, and my business with Japan is unfinished.

Germany has atoned. Young Germans know of their nation's dreadful crimes. But young Japanese are taught nothing of their nation's guilt.

Alistair Urquhart's book, The Forgotten Highlander: One Man's Incredible Story Of Survival During The War In The Far East, is published by Little, Brown.

Migrant workers in Thailand

2010-02-25T20:11:00.000-08:00

Inhospitality

Life gets harder for Thailand’s guest-workers

Feb 25th 2010 | BANGKOK | From The Economist print edition

THEY sew bras, peel shrimps, build blocks of flats and haul fishing-nets. In return, migrant workers in Thailand are paid poorly, if at all, and face exploitation and abuse at the hands of employers and the security forces. Up to 3m migrants, many undocumented and mostly from Myanmar, fall into this category. So a scheme to start registering this workforce and bring it into the legal fold sounds like a step forward. Migrants have been ordered to apply to their home countries for special passports so that they can work legally in Thailand and, in theory, enjoy access to public services, such as health care.

But the plan has run into practical and political difficulties, mostly among workers from Myanmar, who rightly fear their awful government and do not want to return home, even temporarily. Many are unaware of the registration drive. So the first applicants have come mostly from migrants from Laos and Cambodia, where the authorities are more willing to help.

The Thai government says 400,000 Myanmar nationals have so far joined the process. Under pressure, the Thai government has reportedly modified its original deadline of February 28th for filing papers. Now that is the deadline only for migrants to fill in a form agreeing to go through the “nationality verification” process. They have until the end of March to submit forms to their home government.

But Thailand has not lifted its threat to arrest and deport migrants who do not comply by the new deadline. The government apparently believes that unregistered foreigners are a security threat. This raises the spectre of mass expulsions on a scale not seen since the 1990s. Jorge Bustamante, a United Nations official in Geneva dealing with migrant rights, has said that this would breach Thailand’s human-rights obligations, since workers might also be asylum-seekers.

This argument is unlikely to sway a government that shows increasing contempt for refugees. In December it expelled more than 4,000 Hmong to Laos, including 158 refugees recognised as such by the UN. Most were packed off to a remote camp. A Thai-government spokesman has claimed that the 158 refugees were happy to be in Laos. Foreign diplomats in Bangkok, still fuming over the expulsion, doubt it.

Kicking out millions of migrants who do dirty, low-paid jobs would be unpopular with Thai companies. Too few locals are willing to take their place. Garment factories in Thai-Myanmar border towns such as Mae Sot would probably go bankrupt if they had to offer decent wages and benefits. Fisheries and plantations also depend on imported labour. The government, however, believes that deported workers would soon be replaced by others eager to escape misery in Myanmar.

Not all foreign workers are under the radar; over 1.3m migrants registered in 2009 for work permits under the old system. These are the workers whose nationality Thailand wants to verify first, before tackling the rest. But being a legal migrant in Thailand confers few benefits. Workers are still at the mercy of employers who can cheat them of their wages and dismiss them summarily. Complaining can be futile or worse. Workers face extortion, rape and even murder by the very officials supposed to be protecting them, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), a watchdog that this week released a report on the abuses suffered by migrants. It noted that officials treat them like “walking ATMs”.

There is little reason to believe that holding a special passport would protect migrants from rapacious cops and stingy employers, says HRW’s Phil Robertson. Migrants will still be unable to travel freely or organise into unions. In some provinces it is illegal for them to use mobile phones. Labour-inspectors pay little heed.

Employers have the upper hand and can keep down labour costs, but at a price to Thailand’s competitiveness. Surveys of Thai workers show a steady decline in their productivity, says Pracha Vasuprasat, an expert on migration at the International Labour Organisation. An abundance of poorly paid migrants means less incentive to upgrade to a more skilled workforce. Thailand’s is not the only Asian economy hooked on cheap labour. Neighbouring Malaysia also depends on millions of guest-workers. So much so that its home minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, has suggested that, to lessen the dependence, political refugees be allowed to work.

Top 10 Most Beautiful Beaches in Thailand

2010-02-24T19:49:00.001-08:00

Ko Samui - Ko Samui is very well known and the two best known beaches there are Chaweng and Lamae But there is a more secluded beach known as Silver Beach, better known by its official name, Tong Takien. It’s suitable for families and well worth a visit if you’re on Ko Samui Island, which is located in the Gulf of Thailand.
Phuket – Phuket is highly developed, and if you’re on a beach the chances are that you will be surrounded by scores of other holidaymakers and plenty of touts selling you anything from squid, friend chicken, shrimp, watches, clothes, and much more. Most of these items are going to be a lot cheaper if you take the time to go to a proper market, particularly in Bangkok, but if something catches your eye there and then, they’ll be pleased to oblige. Surin beach is one to watch out for in particular, where you can enjoy a nice swim in the sea.
Ko Phi Phi - Ko Phi Phi is comprised of two islands, and not far from Krabi on the Andaman Sea. It’s about a two-hour ferry ride from Krabi. The beach to look out for is Tonsai Bay, which is extremely stunning.
Ko Samet – Ko Samet is about an hour past Pattaya on the Gulf of Thailand, and it has a famous beach known as Diamond beach, with a second name of Crystal Sand Beach. It’s a really beautiful beach not far from Bangkok, and popular with city dwellers on the weekends who need to escape the bustling metropolis to enjoy sand and sea.

Krabi – Krabi has its own excellent beach, called Ao Nang. You need to get to the southern part of it to enjoy the best scenery there. Krabi has all the restaurants and services you would ever need, and faces the Andaman Sea. Venture further south and you will find Noppharat Thara, which is a national park with its own spectacular beach scenery. This is an ideal family beach, and you can walk to three islands just offshore when the tide is low.
Ko Tao – This is the island to get away from it all, and also a diver’s paradise. The beach to visit here is Sairee beach, where you can feel like you really are in another world.
Prachuap Khiri Khan – Near the border of Myanamar is one of the best and least tourist visited beaches in Thailand called Ao Manao, or Lemon Beach. Great for family holidays this beach is well worth a special visit, and one of Thailand’s jewels.
Ko Chang – Elephant island as it is called is the second biggest island in Thailand and located near the border of Cambodia. There are a great selection of beaches on its west coast. The White Sand beach is one of the most popular on the island.
Pattaya – the beach in Pattaya is not one of Thailand’s finest by any stretch of the imagination, but you can take a short ferry ride to one of the nearby islands and enjoy much better beaches for swimming and splashing about. Pattaya is well known for other things that may or may not appeal: be fully aware of what to expect before setting out.
Hua Hin - Hua Hin is a developed resort with some fine hotels and a long stretch of beach. The more commercial beach isn’t that great, but it is still highly popular among visitors and suitable for families. There are some other nearby prettier beaches to be discovered, and Hua Hin is a great place to relax in one of its fine resort hotels. People come to Hua Hin because it’s a great town and it’s well maintained, as it’s the main residence of the King of Thailand.

Thailand Immigration Select Pattaya for Interpol Office

2010-02-23T00:59:00.001-08:00

Thailand Immigration Select Pattaya for Interpol Office

Well over 130 of Thailand’s leading Immigration Officers met at the Jomtien Beach Nusa Playa Hotel south of Pattaya for a very large conference. This important meeting was attended by the Deputy Immigration Minister from Bangkok and the highest ranking immigration officials from every part of Thailand.

Pattaya, February 2010 [PDN]: The highly experienced Chonburi Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Khun Niti Kongrut was the opening speaker, and even took time out to answer impromptu questions. The question regarding the foreign ownership of beer bars was also raised, and it would appear that this matter will be investigated by government authorities in the appropriate manner.

One query was related to foreign visitors gaining a second visa extension, once their original 60 + 30 day tourist visa has expired. This requires such persons to leave Thailand and gaining an extension depends on your point of re-entry back into Thailand. The Vientiane / Kon-Kien Immigration office on the Laos border often grants a second 60 + 30 day tourist visa, so maybe there is a case to see more uniformity in this area. Foreign visitors have trouble in understanding the complexities of these regulations, which vary considerably and depend on their interpretation by individual immigration offices.

The big news was the announcement to have an Interpol Office established in Pattaya, as this is seen as a very practical way to control international crime and the arrival of suspected criminals from overseas. This new Interpol Office will be sited at Soi-5 in Jomtien under the direction of Police Superintendent Police Colonel Athiwit Kamonrat, who is based in Chonburi. The Chonburi Immigration region now has more than 2,000 warrants to arrest foreigners for crimes that they have committed outside of Thailand, and in addition to these they have approximately 1,000 warrants issued by Thai courts against foreigners for crimes committed within Thailand.

Interpol also works closely with other world-wide law enforcement agencies, such as America’s FBI and “Scotland Yard” in England. This development will certainly not be appreciated by criminals, who have chosen Pattaya and other parts of Thailand as a safe haven for their past illegal activities

Thailand's Thaksin Running out of money and places to hide

2010-02-18T19:28:00.001-08:00

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 06:36 PM PST

February 19, 2010
By Thanong Khanthong
The Nation

FUGITIVE former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's whereabouts are mostly unknown, as he is concerned about his safety. After visiting Uganda to launch Go Lotto, the latest gambling craze in town there, it was reported that Thaksin had gone back to Dubai. But is he really in Dubai?

The Observer, an online newspaper from Uganda, reported in its February 17 edition that Thaksin was in Uganda for the launch of Go Lotto. Thaksin serves as chairman of the Advisory Board to Global PS Lotto. During his Thai premiership, Thaksin introduced the two-digit and three-digit lotteries, much to the delight of lottery-addicted Thais. The interim Surayud Chulanont government, which came to power after Thaksin was ousted in the September 2006 coup, scrapped the two-digit and three-digit lotteries.

Wearing a red shirt and red sports jacket, Thaksin presided over the bonanza event in Uganda, handing out prizes to lucky winners, including a Toyota car. "Each time I come here, I appreciate more and more why Uganda is known as the Pearl of Africa. I am very excited about launching this service in Uganda and I hope that Go Lotto will benefit the people of Uganda," he said.

The Observer reported that Global PS Lotto Investment chose Uganda because the lotto project worked in Thailand and Thaksin wants to repeat the success in Uganda. About 30 per cent of net proceeds from the lotto will go to social development and other programmes in Uganda, such as education, sports and healthcare.

"I feel very passionate in these areas, and with my experience in Thailand, where I introduced the lotto while still the prime minister, we got millions in revenue that I used to develop these sectors. I hope that by bringing Go Lotto to Uganda, similar benefits can be achieved here," Thaksin said.

The Observer further wrote that in late 2008, it was reported that the UK had frozen US$4.2 billion (Bt139.4 billion) of Thaksin's assets. However, the UK government has not confirmed or denied this claim, it said.

One Thai official told me that Thaksin can no longer use Dubai as his political base because he is facing complications arising from his financial arrangements there. But Thaksin still gives the impression that he is using Dubai as his home base. In fact, he is spending more time in Africa and elsewhere, including Cambodia. Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia has emerged as Thaksin's strongest international ally.

It is believed that the UK authorities have indeed frozen about $4.2 billion of Thaksin's assets and might have already seized this huge amount. The complication is that Dubai money is also part of the $4.2 billion that has been frozen or seized. When Thaksin bought Manchester City Football Club, with a grander plan to acquire a casino licence, he co-invested with Dubai money. Since the money transferred into the UK came under nominee names and from dubious origins, the UK authorities ordered a freeze of those accounts totalling more than $4.2 billion. The Dubai money also got trapped in the same web. During that same period in late 2008, the UK also denied Thaksin and his wife Pojaman visas to enter the country.

I understand that nobody has shown up to claim that he or she is the beneficiary owner of the $4.2 billion frozen in the UK. It is not in the interests of the UK to place this incident in the public domain, since this amount could conveniently go into state coffers. Having somebody showing up to reclaim this money would pose a big legal challenge.

Since the Dubai money has also been mixed up and trapped in the freeze, this probably explains why Thaksin is having a difficult relationship with Dubai, where he can no longer claim a home base. Thaksin has also reportedly lost a big amount in his investments in Dubai, which is suffering an economic meltdown.

It is no surprise that Thaksin is making an all-out effort to secure the return of his Bt76 billion currently frozen in Thailand. The Supreme Court will deliver its verdict on the matter on February 26. Thaksin's desperate situation has turned into a national complication, with tensions escalating between the red shirts and the Thai military. This tension will play out well ahead of, or after, the Supreme Court's "Judgement Day".

A potential clash is looming.

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Thailand's Thaksin Running out of money and places to hide