transpac

The final death toll in the Ayutthaya river boat accident is 28 people.

Some government official(s) apparently skimmed the insurance payments for themselves, so the government has stepped in and given out a payment of 120,000 baht per death.

http://news.asiaone.com/news/asia/re...eive-4682-govt



Official transferred; boat owner, driver charged

A marine official in Nonthaburi province has been transferred for licensing the passenger boat that sunk in Ayutthaya province when it had no insurance, while its owner and driver face multiple charges.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/gene...driver-charged

transpac

Cultural Surveillance Board up in arms over Thai tourism video...


Campaign backs use of ogres in tourism fun video


A campaign against attempts to drop the ogre-like characters from a musical tourism promotion video is gathering pace, with the former "culture police" chief as the prime target.

Pava-ris Sowapasd is using the website change.org to garner support for the music video, after the producers were ordered to make changes to content deemed "damaging to Thai culture".

That includes scenes of people dressed like temple demon guardians, or Yaksha, making coconut cream cakes, driving go-carts and taking selfies at tourist destinations during the 4 minute 7 seconds video.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/gene...rism-fun-video


Most people seem to like the video; I think it's fantastic. The MiniCult (Ministry of Culture) pops its collective heads up when they feel people are becoming too "loose".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VO9...ature=youtu.be

transpac

Water rationing on Koh Samui as reservoirs dry up

SURAT THANI - Water zoning is being introduced on the holiday island of Koh Samui, with rationing of tap water to households and businesses.

Pru Namuang reservoir, the major water source in Koh Samui district, is nearly dry, with only muddy pools of water left.

The extreme water shortage has forced large hotels to buy water trucked in from outside to serve their guests.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/gene...ervoirs-dry-up

transpac

Plan on tourist SIM teetering

The national telecom regulator says it may have to abandon a plan to force foreign visitors to use special SIM cards that can be tracked by authorities if strong opposition is registered at the first public hearing on the issue.

The first public hearing on the tourist SIM plan is scheduled for next month.

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has approved in principle a requirement that foreign visitors to Thailand use special SIM cards in their phones that can be tracked by the authorities.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/gene...-sim-teetering

http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2016/09/3...ded-next-month

Dr. HFH

But all SIM cards in all phones can be tracked anyway, no?

transpac

I think triangulating a SIM's location using two or three towers is a costly, time-consuming, unreliable process.

I assume they plan to use the W-Locate/Morpho SIM, with geo-location embedded - this is what AIS uses for their corporate tracking program, for fleets/employees - and system. This sort of system is very accurate, can be accessed from a web interface and does not rely on GPS.

If adopted I assume it will be costly and tourists will have to cover the additional expense?


http://www.telecomasia.net/content/a...cking-solution

http://w-locate.com/ais-and-w-locate...-lbs-solution/

http://www.morpho.com/en/media/20150...s-ais-thailand

seanthepilot

Interesting that this is news...

This is a daily occurrence in Patong, Phuket. And, it has been since I can remember. Water trucks is where the money is now. There are even black market water supply sources where one can pay to have their pipes attached to your building. It's the new realm for mafia here.

Looks like Samui is next?

transpac

New travel app to woo foreigners

A new travel mobile application has been launched to help boost domestic tourism and draw more foreign visitors to Thailand.

The app, called Destination Thailand, was jointly developed by two Thai companies, Capital Television Group and Destination Thailand News, together with Singapore-based Talisman Telecom Group, one of Asia's pioneers in mobile app development.


http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/...woo-foreigners

yosithezet

This is still triangulation. The difference seems to be that there is an application on the SIM which is collecting more specific data and W-Locate then crunches that in their application on the server. Their product information talks about them versus just using the cell tower or them versus just using GPS. So they are just triangulation but doing it in a more efficient manner.

transpac

City braces for triple whammy

Heavy rain, high tides, run-off poised to hit

Bangkok is making preparations for a triple blow -- run-off from the North, heavy downpours and high tides -- all coinciding in the middle of the month.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has sounded the alarm as the run-off and the downpours could trigger widespread flooding worsened by the tides, deputy BMA spokesman Bensai Keeyapaj said Monday.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/gene...-triple-whammy


Race against time to stop the floods

Two heavy machines are working against time at the mouth of Khlong Prem Prachakon in Rangsit to prevent flooding in the province which is considered the last threshold before Bangkok.

A supervisor overseeing the work who asked not to be named said his company was hired to complete the expansion and dredging works for the canal by yesterday as the mouth of Khlong Prem Prachakon in tambon Lak Hok of Muang district is an important course to drain water from Maung Ake community and the northern districts of Bangkok including Don Muang and Bang Khen, which were hit by massive floods in 2011.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/gene...top-the-floods

LIH Prem

Has your soi been flooding, transpac?

-David

dsquared37

Joshua Wong, he of the Hong Kong Umbrella Protest, was detained at BKK last night and refused admission to the country.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-37558908

transpac

Thailand to set minimum fees for Chinese package tour

Thailand is going to set a minimum price for each individual of Chinese package tour - 1,000 baht ($28.74) per night in a bid to curb zero-dollar tour which once lured many tourists from the Chinese mainland.

"We are going to set 1,000 baht per person per night or 3,000 baht (86.23 US dollars) per package as the minimum price for package tour of Chinese tourists, which is agreed by all participants," Thai Deputy Prime Minister Thanasak Patimaprakorn told reporters Wednesday on the sidelines of a meeting concerning tourism for Chinese travelers.

Thanasak also said that Thailand will set recommended prices for package tours of different standards later this year, namely price for Silver Package, Golden Package and Premium Package.

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1009719.shtml



Zero-dollar curbs to hit Chinese arrivals

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) expects Chinese tourist arrivals during China's week-long National Day holidays to fall 21% below target due to the recent zero-dollar tour crackdown.

Thailand expects to welcome 220,000 Chinese tourists during the golden week of Oct 1-9, missing an earlier target of 280,000. That figure, however, will be 30.4% higher than the 168,705 Chinese visitors who came during the same period last year.

Chinese tourists will generate 7.88 billion baht in revenue during the golden week, up nearly 40% from 5.63 billion in the same period last year.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/...inese-arrivals

transpac

Fruit and veggies 'still contaminated'

Residue has been detected in over half of the fruits and vegetables inspected by a food safety advocacy group in its latest survey, including those packaged in supermarkets and products awarded with the "Q mark" for quality.

The group says it also found traces of prohibited dangerous substances in 16 types of fruits and vegetables, analysed via a multi-residue pesticide screening from Aug 23 to 29.

Of 158 samples, 56% of the produce was found to have unsafe levels of chemicals, said Prokchol Ousap, coordinator of the Thai-Pesticide Alert Network (Thai-Pan).

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/gene...l-contaminated

EmailKid

Reminds me of bus tours from Eastern Europe to Western Europe after the Berlin Wall fell.

People could not afford anything in the West with useless Eastern currency, so would pack canned goods and take them in the buses to visit.

My uncle and aunt did that to France and Spain while spending next to no money