Waste mountain on Thai islands (video)
Tourism in Thailand has led to economic prosperity, but also has a downside: environmental degradation. The tourists who visit the tropical Thai islands en masse cause a huge mountain of waste.
To be happy
I'm sitting on a terrace in Thailand at noon on the island of Phuket. The cup of coffee tastes delicious and I enjoy the great view over the sea. Think for a moment that I am a privileged person to be able to enjoy the sun here, while at home rain, wind and cold plague my hometown. Watch the people strolling by. What an assortment there is walking around on this globe. The…
SPRiiiNG: a special Android phone from Thailand
A new smartphone will be released in Thailand this month. The SPRiiiNG phone runs on the Android 2.1 operating system and looks innovative. This is partly due to the physical Blackberry-like QWERTY keyboard and the unusual shape of the 2,6 inch screen with a resolution of 320 by 240 pixels. The phone has a 582 MHz processor and 256 MB of RAM. Furthermore, the SPRiiiNG smartphone has 512 MB of internal storage memory, a three megapixel camera, an LED flash, Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS, …
Another massacre on Thai roads
At least 325 people have been killed in more than 3.000 road accidents in Thailand in recent days. Every year around this time of year, hundreds of people die on Thai roads. Many residents of Bangkok leave the city to celebrate New Year with their families in the province. About a third of the accidents are the result of driving under the influence. With stricter police checks, the Thai government had the ambition to reduce the number of road deaths during the …
13 Thai Women: Prisoners of Guangzhou
This English-language article tells the dramatic story of 13 young Thai women who are imprisoned in China for drug trafficking. They say they were lured abroad under false pretenses. They were eventually arrested and sentenced to death. The death penalty will likely be commuted to life imprisonment. Read and shiver.
Earlier I wrote something on Thailandblog about Willem Hulscher's new book, entitled 'Free fall – an expat in Thailand'. There is now more clarity about the release date and the price. If all goes well, the booklet will appear in February, in time for the Book Week and well before the next round of Mother's Day, Father's Day, Sinterklaas and Christmas. Subject to reservation, we can report that the price will be 400 Baht, excluding …
Hospitals Thailand can compete with top hotels
It is well known that Thailand has an abundance of luxurious hotels and resorts. But fewer visitors know that the country has a network of excellent hospitals and dental clinics. This almost exclusively concerns private hospitals, particularly in the major cities and tourist attractions. Bangkok acts as a focal point in this, with the Bumrungrad International Hospital in the heart of the city center as a major pioneer. The hospital provides top care to more than 400.000 foreign patients every year …
Printer & accessories
In June 2009 I bought myself a new printer at 'Computer Plaza' in Chiang Mai. I decide to take the risk of having an ink reservoir placed on this printer. My previous printer was a Lexmark, with cartridges. The cartridges had to be replaced every once in a while. I had them filled once but the quality was significantly less. So now we have chosen to replace it in the long term with…