A Singaporean's guide to living in Thailand

[tonychat]

Going MGTOW is the best!!! you get to live long.

 

[yinyang]

Pretties at Bangkok Car Show :p

 

[yinyang]

 

[yinyang]

 

[yinyang]

Less interesting specimen

[h=3]Cars, pretties at Motor Show[/h]Visitors look at cars on display at the 37th Bangkok International Motor Show at Impact Muang Thong Thani, Nonthaburi. The annual event showcasing new model cars and motorcycles is expected to boost overall sales and help rein in the auto industry slowdown caused by Thailand's sluggish economy and political uncertainly. - Pattanapong Hirunard and Kitja Apichonrojarek

 

[yinyang]

Data breach puts southern expats' personal details online

• Bangkok Post Published: 28/03/2016 at 06:00 PM:
  
  

The personal details of thousands of foreign nationals living in the South were briefly leaked online in what the site's developer admitted Monday was a data breach during a test for police.
The leak comes as the government pushes ahead with a much publicised crackdown against foreign visa overstayers and criminals, with immigration police adopting the official slogan "Good guys in, bad guys out."

The gaffe was spotted by social media users late Sunday when a database appeared online containing the names, addresses, professions and passport numbers of more than 2,000 foreigners living in Thailand's southern provinces, principally Nakhon Si Thammarat province.

The website carried an immigration police seal but used a private Thai web address, not one usually associated with government sites. It was openly available without a password and some industrious users guessed the site's less-than-secure administration password: 12345. It was taken down early Monday, but not before the site's existence had gone viral.

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon ordered the removal of the foreigners' data from the website, defence spokesman Khongcheep Tantravanich said on Monday.
The data should not be made public and Gen Prawit ordered its removal as foreigners now were concerned about their safety because their specifics were released to the public, Maj Gen Khongcheep said.

Thai Netizens, a digital advocacy group, tracked down the website's owner, a developer called Akram Aleeming, who later posted a statement on Facebook saying the site had mistakenly been made public during testing stages.

Mr Akram confirmed the error to AFP and said immigration police had commissioned the website.
"We were doing a demo," he told AFP. "As people were concerned it might affect security we closed it (the website)."
Immigration police did not respond to requests for comment by AFP.

The website gaffe is yet the latest cyber fail for the government, which has seen the websites for its police, courts and corrections departments all hacked this year. In the case of the Courts of Justice, information technology staffers had made no backups of the website databases and had to rely on the goodwill of the hackers to return them in order to restore the sites.

 

[yinyang]

As worst drought in 50 years drags on, govt looks to water conservation, Songkran limits

THE GOVERNMENT is calling on people to lower their household water consumption by at least 20 per cent in the face of the severe drought.

Songkran revellers are also being asked to keep in mind the country's water shortage.

The Provincial Waterworks Authority (PWA), which provides tap-water services to most parts of the country, has described the drought as the "worst in half a century".

"Please save water," Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister General Chatchai Sarikalya said at a press conference yesterday, joining top executives of relevant organisations.

While insisting that the government did not plan to ban water-splashing activities during the upcoming Songkran festival, he did urge revellers to splash water with moderation because of the limited supply.



Estimates suggest that Chiang Mai's water consumption during the upcoming Songkran will be the same as last year. The Songkran festival is always celebrated enthusiastically in Chiang Mai.

Authorities in many provinces have made it clear they will reduce dispensing free water during the Songkran holiday.

Chatchai said the government had been working to cushion the impact of El Nino since last October. He said with efficient management, the country would have adequate water for consumption and ecological purposes until July.

If the rainy season starts in May as usual, the country should be able to avoid a critical situation, he said.

However, given the risk the rainy season might arrive late this year, authorities have placed an emphasis on efficiently managing the remaining water supply.

The water level at 10 large dams, including Ubolrat, Chulabhorn and Mae Ngad, is now seriously low. Agencies plan to either divert water from nearby reservoirs to those dams or draw from their so-called "dead storage", which are reserves kept to protect the structural integrity of the dams.

In normal situations, dead storage remains untouched.

"We have also come up with plans to dig 6,922 artesian wells. To date, 2,687 wells have been sunk," Chatchai said.

He also announced that between October 1 last year and March 27 this year, water trucks had delivered more than 546 million cubic metres to drought-hit areas. Rainmaking operations also were conducted in 31 provinces between February 15 and March 27.

PWA acting governor Chompol Chokeponguedomchai said three PWA branches could now release tap water only periodically during the week. Affected areas include Nakhon Ratchasima, Khon Kaen and Nakhon Sawan provinces.

"Moreover, 17 of PWA's other branches must reduce water volume for tap-water services in the face of the ongoing drought," he added.

He said saltwater intrusion had already affected sources of raw water at five PWA branches.

The authority is now trying to encourage people to save water and to find alternative sources of raw water.

The Royal Irrigation Department's director general Suthep Noipairoj said conservation would protect against a severe water shortage.

A source said the Secretariat of the Prime Minister had already set up a committee to supervise the implementation of short-term and long-term water-saving measures.

In Uttaradit's Nam Pat district, authorities are delivering 18,000 cubic metres of water a day to a local hospital to ensure it can continue normal services in the face of drought.

 

[Froggy]

Pretties at Bangkok Car Show :p

Motorshow promoting cars or airbags ?

 

[yinyang]

Motorshow promoting cars or airbags ?

Nein, silicone. You are familiar with product knowledge, no?:p

Always been like this ...fast cars and women

 

[Froggy]

Last night found in Bangkok they even serve crabs from France in a French restaurant of course

Alive and swimming is a cold tank so its very fresh


Started with baked escargot


and French oysters


Main courses, cold crab


Sole seared, fantastic

 

[yinyang]

Last night found in Bangkok they even serve crabs from France in a French restaurant of course
Alive and swimming is a cold tank so its very fresh

Spied, or distracted by the (deserving) company:p

 

[yinyang]

 

[blueRad]

Last night found in Bangkok they even serve crabs from France in a French restaurant of course

Alive and swimming is a cold tank so its very fresh


Started with baked escargot


and French oysters


Main courses, cold crab


Sole seared, fantastic

Wah..Who is that pretty babe. She got nice figure.

 

[Froggy]

Wah..Who is that pretty babe. She got nice figure.

Business dinner. Yes very nice.

 

[yinyang]

A three-metre-long king cobra is found at an army camp in Muang district, Trat. The snake was later caught and released to the jungle.PHOTO BY JAKKRIT WAEWKRAIHONG

 

[Froggy]

Morning marketing at the soi

Roadside market


Many people come to market for alms offering too


Saw this pickup truck selling chanee and kradum durians, quire difficult to find these varieties as its more expensive than the more common mongthong and also Thais like the unripe mongthong.




Pork seller, 120 baht per kilo or almost $4


Braised pork leg rice stall




Got 3 packets for the security guards for breakfast

 

[yinyang]

Unheard of, big rip off thb6,000 cab fare from airport to Sathorn?
Cabbie paid back, and kena struck off

Cabbie who bilked tourist loses licence

The Nation March 30, 2016 1:00 am

THE LAND Transport Department yesterday revoked the driving licence of the taxi driver who charged a Swiss traveller Bt6,000 for a ride from Suvarnabhumi Airport to a hotel on Sathon Road. The action was taken after a complaint went viral.

Director-general Sanit Promwong said Pipatpol Jaikam was ordered to report yesterday for questioning by the department and Tourist Police.

Pipatpol's licence allows him to drive all types of vehicles. It expires in August 2018. After he confessed, the department stripped him of his driving licence for besmirching the image of the country and its tourism industry. He was also slapped with a Bt3,000 fine for demanding a fare exceeding the legal limit. His offence will be recorded at the information centre for public-transport drivers.

Sanit said the department would levy the heaviest punishment against drivers who extort passengers, refuse service or to turn on the meter, or leave passengers stranded part way.

Already 266 drivers have had their licences suspended and five their licences cancelled. Those receiving bad treatment by taxi drivers can lodge a complaint by calling the 1584 hotline 24 hours a day, leaving a message at ins.dlt.go.th/cmpweb or sending |a email to dlt_1584complain@|hotmail.com.. They can also file a complaint at social media network such as Facebook through application and Line ID 1584 dlt.The story about the Swiss being cheated by the taxi driver was posted by Krit Karnchanabatr on his Facebook page.


Krit posted that the Swiss is a guest his company invited. The man arrived at the airport two hours earlier so he was told to catch a taxi to drop him at W Bangkok hotel. He said the taxi driver did not turn on the metre.

He said he had the hotel looked into the CCTV to spot the number of the licence plate of the taxi.

Then he called tourist police 1155. The police told him to file a complaint at Thong Lor police station but he chose to file complaint with JS 100 radio station and Suvarnabhumi Airport which told him to call 1584.

W Bangkok Hotel staffers however contacted Suvarnabhumi's taxi counter and found the driver in question who returned Bt5,400 after the being confronted with the complaint.

Krit said the Swiss was very happy to get the money back.

 

[yinyang]

A moneyed slice of the big mango
Q1 exports set to drop by over 5%

• Bangkok Post Published: 31/03/2016 at 07:48 AM

Despite an unexpected rise in February, shipments are expected to contract by more than 5% in the first quarter, say exporters.

Nopporn Thepsithar, chairman of the Thai National Shippers' Council (TNSC), which represents exporters, said yesterday the world's economic and political conditions remain highly uncertain and unpredictable, putting further pressure on export prospects.

"Exports posted a contraction of 8.91% year-on-year in January. In February, the figures surged 10.27%, but once special items such as gold and hardware for military exercises were excluded, the shipments saw a contraction of 3.75%," he said. "We expect shipments to further shrink by at least 5% this month, leading to a contraction of as much as 5.86% in the first quarter, higher than the 4.5-5% contraction earlier projected by the council."

The Commerce Ministry said last week that exports posted an unexpected rise in February, growing for the first time in 14 months, driven mainly by gold and special items of hardware for military exercises. Shipments rose 10.3% year-on-year to US$19 billion compared with a fall of 8.91% to $15.7 billion in January.
It was the first rise since December 2014 and the biggest since January 2013.

Imports, however, dropped more than expected, falling 16.8% to $14 billion compared with a decrease of 12.4% to $15.5 billion in January. This led to a trade surplus of $4.98 billion in February. For the first two months, shipments edged up 0.67% from the same period last year to $34.7 billion, while imports totalled $29.5 billion, a fall of 14.5%. Thailand had a trade surplus of $5.22 billion for the period.

Deputy Commerce Minister Suvit Maesincee said the rise in exports was mainly because of two unusual items: gold and military hardware, including helicopters and vehicles for military drills. The Customs Department included helicopters and vehicles worth $683 million, which were imported and used for military drills, and then reshipped back, in the export figures. Gold shipments amounted to $1.89 billion, skyrocketing by 1,051% from the same month last year.

Military hardware and gold accounted for nearly 14% of exports. Excluding the two items, exports fell 2% in February from a year earlier.
While the Commerce Ministry is maintaining its export growth target of 5% this year, the TNSC is more pessimistic, predicting exports will see 0-2% growth.

Mr Nopporn said exporters are concerned about exports to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam after shipments to those countries contracted by 5.8% in February against 1.2% growth in January.

 

[yinyang]

Lots of ice (bust) :p

Police show 285kg of seized crystal methamphetamine, with a street value of 600 million baht, at a media briefing at the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, Bangkok. Two Malaysian men were arrested in Songkhla province as they attempted to smuggle the drugs across the border to Malaysia.PHOTO BY PATTARAPONG CHATPATTARASILL

 

[Froggy]

High end Japanese restaurant owned by Fuji in Thaniya. Fuji is a very popular mass market "Japanese" restaurant found in almost every mall, personally I find its more like Thai Japanese restaurant catered for Thai taste buds. Was surprised to find out they've gone upmarket.

This is all import specially chosen by chef costs only 1650 baht


Uni sushi is the most expensive 400 baht each


Snow fish


All goes very well with nice sake