Armless bandit
Smuggled cigarettes are sold on the beach by a boy with no hands. During military service, he lost them in a premature grenade explosion. He still has elbows, but he does everything with them. There is no social insurance in Thailand, so there are only two options left, begging or trying to earn a living. Everyone admires his perseverance, so his business is going well. So good that he even bought a car…
Bad news for the inveterate Thailand visitors who are looking for a cheap flight ticket to Bangkok. Analysts and experts expect the cost of flying to rise further in the course of 2011. Price increases of up to 30% are taken into account for an economy class flight ticket. This is mainly due to the oil price, which, apart from a dip in March, has risen sharply this year. Advito, provider of consultancy services in the field of…
Thai women seek justice
I am not telling anything new when I say that quite a few Thai women have married foreigners. How much then? According to statistics from the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 50.000 Thai women are married to a German man, 30.000 to a French man, also 30.000 to an American, 25.000 to an Australian, 10.000 to an Englishman, more than 8.000 to a Swede, 3.000 to an Austrian, almost 3.000 with a Finnish man and over …
Thai construction workers
Armed with my photo camera I make Thailand unsafe. You never have enough photos. They are pictures that adorn my post. Memories, memories and indelible images. Sometimes you're lucky. Then there is something special in between. You can't always explain why. A photo does not have to be technically perfect. Exposure, focus, the correct aperture, white balance and other technical stuff. What does it matter? You capture an image. That's usually a moment. Sometimes a fraction…
Attestation de Vita
For specific private reasons, I decided to stop working quite a few years before I turned 65. That was possible because I could make use of an early retirement scheme at the pension fund, which I was affiliated with through my employer. Nothing special in itself, that was all arranged in an orderly manner, with every year I received a letter from the pension fund to check whether I was still alive. This is called an Attestation de Vita, (life certificate) …
The leading magazine 'Travel and Leisure Southeast Asia' has a nice promotion in collaboration with Four Seasons Hotels and resorts. Everyone has a chance to win a free stay of 4 days (3 nights) in the super deluxe resorts of Four Seasons. Can you also have a real HiSo experience. The 12 Four Seasons resorts in Asia are situated in the most beautiful places on earth. You can specify your own preference for a resort. …
Censorship and risks for bloggers in Thailand
I do not hide my love for Thailand. On the other hand, there is of course also a lot wrong in this beautiful country (where isn't it?). Expats and retirees can talk about that. They are confronted with it every day. The differences between the west and Thailand are sometimes large and incomprehensible to us. It's not always easy to deal with that. You can look the other way, you can start complaining or you…
For the fourth consecutive time I flew to Bangkok with Airberlin. That can be cheap and yet reasonably comfortable. Unfortunately I had about 45 minutes delay on both the outward and return flights, but that can happen to the best. Of course, flying and the choice of airline is primarily a personal matter. For some, seating comfort and service on board are important, others go for the lowest price. When I go to book a plane ticket to Bangkok…
Shoes in Thailand (2)
Our name is Van Lier, all four of us are called that, but belong together two by two. We have now worked for our boss for almost 20 years, that is, my partner and I about 1 year longer than the other couple. And now it seems to be coming to an end and that is quite a bit sad. It is not entirely unexpected, because our boss wrote in January of this year …
Thanks for the gifts and help!
A photo of a Karen child in the village of Pakayor.
The Karen villages on the border with Burma have been virtually inaccessible by car for several weeks now. Due to the rainfall of the past few weeks, the water in the rivers is so high that supplies have to be made walking and wading through the rivers. The organizer of the relief effort, retired accountant Hans Goudriaan, even returned empty-handed on the last trip because the river water washed over the hood. Fortunately, the first phase of our assistance is…
Airline Singapore Airlines has announced its intention to set up a low-cost airline. This is how it can be read today in the Telegraaf. This new airline will not only focus on short-haul flights, as is usual with low-cost carriers. The airline will also offer cheap airline tickets for long-haul flights. Singapore Airlines announced this last Wednesday. The new airline should be operational within a year. Which routes the airline will fly on or under…
After 49 years, Preah Vihear is back in The Hague
The International Court of Justice in The Hague will examine Cambodia's request on Monday for further clarification of its 1962 ruling, in which the Hindu temple Preah Vihear was assigned to Cambodia. Cambodia wants to elicit a ruling from the Court on the area of 4,6 square kilometers near the temple that is claimed by Thailand and Cambodia and where troops from both countries regularly clash. The Court awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962…
Bangkok is a busy consular post
In addition to political and economic tasks, the Bangkok Embassy derives its right to exist to a large extent from its consular function. This conclusion can easily be drawn on the basis of the large number of Dutch tourists who visit Thailand every year − a number that, barring unforeseen circumstances, will rise to a quarter of a million within a few years. While the number was still below 2001 in 150.000, in 2009 it exceeded 200.000 for the first time. Remarkably, the…
Suvarnabhumi Airport has invested more than 76 million baht in an automated passport control system. With this, the international airport near Bangkok wants to do something about the problems with waiting times at immigration and passport control. The deputy director of Suvarnabhumi Airport, Wilaiwan Nadwilai, said the passport control system should significantly reduce waiting times. A total of 16 of these types of systems will be installed. Eight at an arrival check and eight at the departure check. Travelers can check in and…
A sex slavery network has been broken up with the arrest of a Buddhist monk in Thailand. Nine young boys were rescued from the hands of the traders. The police showed images of several counterfeit pistols in the possession of the monk. According to a spokesman, the monk and another Thai man bought the boys, held them captive and forced them to have sex with Westerners. The leader of the network was sentenced to …
Thai police arrest notorious tiger smuggler
Thai police have arrested a man responsible for the illegal tiger trade in Southeast Asia. In recent years, he is estimated to have traded around a thousand tigers and other felines. This is reported by the animal rights organization Freeland. Sudjai Chanthawong, 49, is from Udon Thani (Isan), about 300 kilometers northeast of Bangkok. The suspect was transferred to the Thai capital today for further investigation. The man was arrested through an undercover operation. …