A Singaporean's guide to living in Thailand

[Froggy]

Thanks froggy. Will go try tonight.

By the way, love yr cheese lobster pic in Bangkok.. Where is the restaurant? Is it exp?

Oh those lobsters are not cooked with cheese, one is grilled while the other is smoked. You can find the address in their facebook here https://www.facebook.com/lobsterandoyster

Price is reasonable if you compare to Sukhumvit area and perhaps compared to Singapore. What you saw plus the two bottles 10,500 baht

 

[Jah_rastafar_I]

ice kachang at suntec city

 

[yinyang]

TGIF slice of thai mango. Hoohah on thb36billion buy of 3 Chinese submarines

EDITORIAL
Thailand should forget its love affair with submarines
The Nation July 3, 2015 1:00 am

Approval imminent for purchase of three Chinese-built subs - and we still haven't been told truthfully what they're for

The only thing standing in the way of the Royal Thai Navy's purchase of three Chinese-made submarines is the military-led government's Cabinet. In other words, approval for the purchase is just a formality. There has been no indication that the Cabinet will object to the deal or even raise any tough questions about the actual need for such sophisticated weaponry.

Unlike the Cabinet, however, there is no reason for citizens to remain silent on this crucial instance of the spendthrift military capitalising on the myth of mutual deterrence among nations. This is public money being spent, after all - a massive Bt36 billion, with tremendous maintenance and operational costs to follow. The Navy came close to getting its submarines during the Yingluck Shinawatra government, which nurtured friendly ties with the top brass for politics' sake and made good use of the foundation laid down by her brother Thaksin, the now-fugitive former premier.

But when the big bill for the subs was tabled amid dire financial circumstances, Yingluck balked at the final hurdle, and now the tab has been handed to the current administration. It's difficult to imagine the brass-heavy Cabinet hesitating, but history will not be kind to its members, simply because of the military nature of the incumbent regime. It is self-serving in the extreme.

We would have before us at this moment a fundamentally different scenario if the Navy or the government had ever made an earnest effort to convince taxpayers that the submarines are needed. For them to point out that other countries in the region have acquired submarines is hardly a sound rationale for Thailand following suit. Nor does it make sense that undersea craft are essential to protecting our territorial waters and natural marine resources.

One might justify Filipino submarines, given that country's direct confrontations with China in the South China Sea. But what modern enemies does Thailand face? Are Cambodia and Myanmar threatening incursions? Do the might of Malaysia and Indonesia need countering? Has piracy become such a problem that we need torpedoes? Could subs help in the remotest way to end human trafficking across the Andaman Sea?

And how would submarines safeguard our fish stocks, particularly when Thai fishing boats must routinely trespass into other countries' waters to find adequate catches?

Casting shadows over the discussion are the HTMS Chakri Naruebet, a helicopter carrier so little used that it's now widely dismissed as a white elephant, and the high-priced blimp that was supposed to help our soldiers in the deep South spot insurgents - in dense woodland.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha likely lacks the political confidence to say no to the Navy's request for subs. Can he and his Cabinet be brought to their senses? With protest barred in this benighted Kingdom, a public uprising is out of the question.

We are left only with the dim hope that the Cabinet might finally demand better answers from the Navy to justify such expenditure. Modernising the military for the sake of "national security" - given an acceptable definition of that term - is not necessarily a bad move. But we need to hear more than the usual rhetoric about keeping up with the neighbours. Their needs are significantly different than ours, especially those with vastly greater water surface to monitor.

Thailand, with its relatively limited sea area and depleted marine resources, ought to be more than able to mind its territory with coastline frigates and patrol boats. Such talk certainly rubs the brass the wrong way, with their dreams of hi-tech warfare, but the rest of us would feel much more comfortable.

 

[yinyang]

Kimchis kena in LOS for online gambling :p

Koreans held for online gambling
Bangkok Post3 Jul 2015WASSAYOS NGAMKHAM. CHANAT KATANYU

Four South Korean nationals sit handcuffed after being arrested yesterday for allegedly running online gambling websites from a room in a Sukhumvit Soi 26 condo in Bangkok’s Klong Toey district.

Four South Korean nationals have been charged with allegedly running online gambling websites in Bangkok.
Police identified the suspects as Lee Min-kyu, Kim Hong-in, Park Jung-gi and Son Suck-won.

Police from the Crime Suppression Division (CSD), the Police Tourist Division and Thong Lor police yesterday raided a room on the 12th floor of a luxury condominium on Sukhumvit Soi 26 in Klong Toey district after they received a tip-off that the foreign suspects had been operating illegal online gambling.

Police also confiscated 11 mobile phones and four computers.
More than 1 billion baht has been found circulating in their gambling system, police said.

Authorities said the suspects entered Thailand on April 22 and rented the room at the condo for 70,000 baht a month, where they offered illegal online betting on football and poker.

Pol Lt Col Torsak Sookwimol, acting commander of the CSD’s Special Forces Unit, said the raid was related to an operation carried out last week in which several South Koreans were arrested at a condominium in the Khlong Tan area on suspicion of being part of a telephone-fraud call centre gang.

According to the police investigation, the suspects arrested and charged yesterday were found to be connected to the Korean call centre network and also several gambling dens, including some in the Philippines and Cambodia.

Pol Lt Col Torsak said these call centres use Thailand as their illegal business base, from where they call people in South Korea posing as bank officials and con victims into wiring money to their accounts.

Interpol said these online gambling gangs are part of transnational crime rings. Thai authorities will work with the agency to devise more stringent measures to crack down on these illegal networks, Pol Lt Col Torsak said.

The suspects have been remanded in police custody at Thong Lor police station. They were charged with illegal online gambling and working in Thailand without legal work permits.

 

[Froggy]

Hello froggy

Is this wanton stall at mei ling hawker centre? Search thr yr thead but never state the exact location. Thamks

Just came up from the market hawker centre

 

[Jah_rastafar_I]

Newton Or lua or oyster omelette

 

[yinyang]

My favourite city up north, Chiangmai struggles with too many billboards and signs.

Chiang Mai citizens struggle with an avalanche of overbearing billboards



DESPITE its scenic beauty, green spaces and strict restrictions on building height and design control, the city of Chiang Mai finds itself overshadowed by massive advertising billboards.

Where once people could drive around the highway and admire Doi Suthep in the skyline, today they just see one giant four-storey billboard after another.

To put this proliferation of billboards into context, Citylife counted the number of billboards found along Nimmanhaemin Road, Chang Klan Road's Night Bazaar and the Airport Plaza Intersection.

The kilometre-long stretch on Nimmanhaemin Road boasted 63 hoardings in public spaces and 581 on private spaces. In the 850-metre Night Bazaar stretch on Chang Klan Road, there are 40 signs and 294 on private property. From the Airport Plaza intersection, 26 signs were detected on public spaces and 104 on private property.

According to the 1992 Sign Board Tax Act, no signs obstructing or cluttering public spaces can be put up without consent from authorities. Violators will have to pay fines and remove the signs, though in reality, the authorities themselves seem to be compounding the problem.

"The municipality is the reason why there are so many signs in our city," the owner of a top sign company said. "The mayor has overseen the most unprecedented increase in the number of billboards in Chiang Mai's history.

"Putting up a hoarding on your own property, be it for your own product or if you are renting your location to another company, is very simple, provided you are not advertising alcohol or cigarettes, and the sign is not an impediment to public space. If the sign requires construction, then you must get an architect to sign off on it and you are pretty much guaranteed permission from the municipality. The company will pay the tax for you and you can just sit back and collect the rent for your space."

There are three tax levels for signs: if it is in Thai, it costs Bt3 for every 500 square centimetres; add a foreign language and it costs Bt20 per year; and if the ad is in a foreign language or if the Thai text is too small, it costs Bt40.

"What concerns me is this new spate of signs on public land," the man, who asked to remain anonymous, continued. "This is controlled by either the municipality, or in some cases the Highway Department. As far as I know, only three Bangkok-based companies hold all the concessions for public advertisements in Chiang Mai. No company here is involved as far as I know. So let's say a company from Bangkok comes up and asks the municipality for a concession to place 100 billboards: they will pay a concession fee, are granted the right to build billboards for a contracted period and then pay their tax. I don't know what other deals they have to make, but you should be able to get the accounts from the mayor's office."

Citylife failed in its attempt get a look at the accounts at the mayor's office, though it was told that the money went into the city's coffers and was used as per the annual budget.

"I pay hundreds of thousands of baht every year for all my clients' taxes," the man said. "I have negotiated contracts for my clients on 30 properties. But I have never negotiated with the authorities for public space. In the past, companies from Bangkok would 'donate' garbage bins, bus shelters or police boxes in return for a relatively subtle logo or a small ad. Today they can advertise anywhere.

"As a local, I know that large billboards don't work because Chiang Mai people hate them. People have even brought down billboards, like the one advertising bras against the backdrop of Doi Suthep. The latest outrage is over the massive digital screens recently erected on Tha Pae Road."

A Bangkok-based company signed a three-year contract with the mayor to put up these massive screens and agreed that 30 per cent of the display would be used for public announcements. There's no mention of the income the city is getting from this concession.

"We have recently installed over 80 CCTV cameras across the city. But there's no point in having CCTV if people don't know about them," Mayor Tassanai Buranupakorn said.

"Studies show that up to 70 per cent of crime can be reduced this way. The live feeds displayed on the large digital screens will boost awareness and the screens will also be used to make public announcements.

"Initially we were going to put them up at the Three Kings monument as well as Tha Pae Gate, but we just picked this one location to minimise the clutter."

The anonymous man said: "It's all very slick. These companies start off by putting up signs to honour Their Majesties or put up public service announcements. This way no one can complain. Then, once we get used to them, they slowly switched to commercial advertisements."

Architect Pawat Tantayanusorn, managing director of Niwat Architects, believes that Chiang Mai's development has been following the Bangkok format - to its detriment.

"Chiang Mai is a special city. It has culture, history, architecture and nature. It should have its own set of laws. In fact, the old city is already doing this, but Chiang Mai is more than just the area within the old moat. Development should be controlled in the entire city.

The mayor, however, was ambivalent.

"If you want to put a sign up on your property, I can't stop you provided you follow the rules. It takes years to change the law. I have changed some and will continue to do so. We also need to think about businesses and need Chiang Mai to grow and develop so everyone benefits," the mayor said.

Tul Lekutai, president of Chiang Mai University's Faculty of Architecture Alumni Association, said: "It isn't easy, and, following pressure groups' requests, the mayor has made great strides in the old city. Building heights are controlled now and even roofs have to conform to the Lanna kalae design and only certain colours can be used."

Pawat agreed that public pressure was bringing some results.

"The top-down management of Chiang Mai is slowly changing … I suggest that we first use social and traditional media, then ask members to make viral videos or record instances of signage abuse. Get the academic sector involved," he said.

"I would look at current concessions and their contacts. Once we have a plan we need to tell them that their contracts will not be renewed. Once they expire, we set new rules to control where and how many public spaces can be used for advertising," Pawat said.

Citylife has set up a Facebook page "SignCityChiangMai" and hopes people will post photos of this visual pollution.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/nat...-struggle-with-an-avalanche-of--30263768.html

 

[yinyang]

 

[yinyang]

Money no enough (min wage thb300/daily)

Bt300 wage only good for family of 2
The Nation July 7, 2015 1:00 am

A FAMILY of three may not be able to rise above poverty on just the Bt300 minimum daily wage, a research director on labour development at the Thailand Development Research Institute said yesterday.

In regard to whether the daily minimum wage should be hiked early next year, Associate Professor Yongyuth Chalamwong said a study by his team found that the current wage could cater for a family of two living above the poverty level anywhere in the country.

However, Thailand's Bt300 wage would not be sufficient over time, as the International Labour Organisation said a worker's wage must cover two other two family members as well, he said.

An analysis of the Thai poverty level found that families of three in 61 provinces. The people earning the Bt300 wage and having a family of three in municipal areas were living below the poverty line, while those outside municipal areas could support families of three better.

In reality, sole income-earners in a family had to do overtime or a sideline job on weekends or have their spouse do a part-time job, he said.

In regard to those working on a temporary basis or daily labourers at micro or small establishments, a lack of salary structure prompted their bosses to base wage payment on the minimum wage.

A report by the National Statistics Office said agricultural sector workers earned less than Bt250 a day, he said, and if each of them must tend for two family members, they certainly would be "poor".

 

[yinyang]

Big heist thb15mil kena

Three suspects arrested after money truck heist
The Nation July 7, 2015 1:00 am

Three suspects allegedly involved in the June 19 money truck robbery have been apprehended. The thieves got away with Bt15 million in cash when they robbed a truck that was delivering cash to a branch of Kasikornbank inside Tesco Lotus Rama I in Bangkok. They fled the scene on motorcycles.

Marut Kaenkhamlor, 29, was arrested when he put the motorcycle used in the robbery up for sale on the Internet and the police posed as buyers. Thaweewong Homnian, 31, and his wife, Araya Palarak, 31, were arrested during a pre-dawn search in Bangkok's Nang Lerng area.

Police searched Marut's house and found four guns and ammunition in a trash bin in front of the house. Police also searched Thaweewong's house and seized a Rolex wristwatch, a Bt2.8 million land title deed for a Nonthaburi house and a cashier's cheque for Bt2.6 million.

Police spotted a female suspect who followed the money truck guards at the branch on the day of robbery. Security camera footage analysis showed two male suspects on a motorcycle, which was later used in the robbery, had scouted the area on June 12. The motorcycle was advertised online for sale at Bt6,500, possibly in an attempt to get rid of the evidence. Marut was nabbed when he showed up to sell the motorbike. He was interrogated and confessed to conspiring with Thaweewong, Araya and another man named Sattra Suksom.

Marut said Thaweewong and Sattra robbed the money truck. Police found that Sattra had travelled to Japan on the night of the robbery; hence, Immigration Police have been told to be on the lookout and arrest him when he returns.

Police found that Thaweewong and Sattra had police records; Thaweewong had been charged with attempted murder in the Din Daeng area, and Sattra had been accused of attempted murder in the Bhupparam area four years ago.

 

[eatshitndie]

troubled by drought and creeping seawater, bangcock will need saichwee soon. welcum to the drought club. :p

http://news.yahoo.com/hit-drought-seawater-bangkok-tap-water-may-run-000717650.html

 

[Jah_rastafar_I]

Some nice lor mee

 

[yinyang]

New bus terminal to be built in Rangsit
Transport Co to scout for site covering 80 rai

Bangkok Post8 Jul 2015AMORNRAT MAHITTHIROOK

The Transport Ministry has chosen the Rangsit area as the location for the new northern and northeastern interprovincial bus terminal.

The terminal, which will cover at least 80 rai can be located on either side of Phahon Yothin Road and must not be any further from Thammasat University’s Rangsit campus in northern Bangkok, Transport permanent secretary Soithip Traisuth said yesterday after a meeting to discuss the relocation of the Mor Chit 2 terminal on Kamphaeng Phet Road.

Transport Co has been asked to look for an area for the terminal, she said. Meanwhile, the current 70-rai Mor Chit 2 terminal will be downsized to a 16.43-rai facility serving short-haul and non-scheduled buses, she said.

The facility will also house 3,197 public vans operated by Transport Co. The remaining space will return to the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) for the train hub at Bang Sue.

“We have decided that parts of the Mor Chit 2 terminal will be relocated and the new terminal will be built in Rangsit,” said Ms Soithip. The relocation effort would be completed by 2017, just as construction of the Bang Sue train hub will commence, she said.
Noppharat Karunyavanich, acting chief of Transport Co, said private entities will be invited to offer land plots for sale for the terminal. The bus hub needs at least 80 rai of land with the front stretching at least 80 metres, he said.
That matter is likely to be concluded by next month.

Construction of the new terminal is expected to kick off next year and last for two years, said Mr Noppharat, adding the service could begin by 2018.

Mr Noppharat said the terminal project has been scaled down from the earlier plan for a terminal covering 150 rai of land, for the sake of management agility.

King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, which is conducting the feasibility study for the project, will need to re-assess the cost, but it would be certainly lower than the 4 billion baht earlier given, he said. The assessment, he said, could be concluded and sent to the board of the Transport Co this month.

Meanwhile, the MHSC Consortium says it has reached an agreement with the SRT to supply the electrical and mechanical system and train carriages for the Red Line railway, on the Bang Sue-Rangsit section and Bang Sue-Taling Chan section, at a cost of 32.5 billion baht.

The consortium, comprising Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, Hitachi Co and Sumitomo Corp, earlier offered the lowest bid of 49 billion baht and won the deal. The price was still higher than the government’s median price of 27.9 billion baht set in a cabinet resolution in 1999 and the later adjusted median price of 30.5 billion baht, prompting talks between the SRT and the consortium. Transport Minister Prajin Juntong said the SRT and the consortium agreed a price of 32.5 billion baht is reasonable.

The SRT board will send the issue to the State Enterprise Policy Office and the State Enterprise Policy Commission, chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. The issue will then be sent to the cabinet for approval, he said.

 

[Froggy]

80 x 1600 = 128,000sqm or almost 13 hectares that area easy to find especially slightly further up into Patumthani

 

[eatshitndie]

baht sinks to new low. time to visit thighland!

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...year-low-on-outflows-china-concern?cmpid=yhoo

 

[yinyang]

Mabuk chabor teach driver kena

Teacher arrested for drunk driving after collision

A schoolteacher was arrested for drunk driving after allegedly crashing her Toyota Fortuner into a motorcycle in Buri Ram's Muang district on Monday night, an informed source reported yesterday. The motorcyclist was injured.

Muang Buri Ram police officer Pol Lieutenant Pongsakorn On-salhuay said the woman's alcohol level was 228 milligrams, exceeding the legal alcohol limit of 50 milligrams. The teacher is now facing four serious charges, including drunk driving and driving away from the scene.

A video clip of the incident, recorded by a rescue worker, showed the teacher allegedly attempting to escape arrest. It went viral on Thai social media.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/nat...r-drunk-driving-after-collision-30264064.html

 

[Jah_rastafar_I]

Beef noodles

 

[Froggy]

Been away too long came back tonight drop the bags and went straight to indulge my Thai food

At an Isaan restaurant

Omelet with redants eggs


Somtam


Pork liver


Muyong somtam


Roasted chicken


Roasted frog


Steamed chicken


Roasted sticky rice

 

[Froggy]

Felt bored in Bangkok and longing for good seafood so decided to take a slow drive to Sattahip's Preecha Seafood Restaurant about 20km south of Central Pattaya and 160km from home.

Took 2 hours to drive to the restaurant and arrived on time to watch the beautiful sunset





So far this is the best pla kapong thod nam pla I've ever eaten


Kailan


Prawn with tanghoon - Krung Ob Hoon Saen


White clams with sambal


Steam flower crab


Larb moo


Seafood fried rice




You won't beliee the price, only 1,650 baht or $66 with ice and water

 

[Charlie99]

only $66, very reasonable