News from Thailand – May 1, 2014
Sixty passengers on a Thai Airways International (THAI) plane had to spend the night on benches at Frankfurt airport on Tuesday, while the other passengers and crew stayed at the Sheraton Airport Hotel. The sixty, all Thai, were not allowed to enter Germany because their visas had expired.
The aircraft should have left at 21 p.m., but had to remain grounded for repairs. The passengers departed yesterday with another THAI aircraft and arrived this morning.
– Even more THAI. The company is looking for a new head of finance who is able to solve the financial problems. Never before in its 54 years of existence has THAI sought someone outside the company. Last year, THAI made a net loss of 12 billion baht. The loss is said to be due to poor management and currency losses. THAI's revenue comes in 50 different currencies.
– A head-on collision yesterday morning on Tak-Mae Lamao mountain road in Muang (Tak) between a truck and a songthaew killed at least sixteen people. According to the driver of the truck, which was transporting zinc, he lost control when the brakes failed. The truck not only crashed into the songthaew but also against another car.
The accident happened not far from a fatal double-decker bus accident in March. 29 people were killed.
– The Foundation for Consumers protests against the coupons that TV viewers receive and can use when they switch to digital TV. According to the foundation, companies that supply a set-top box or a new digital TV set mainly benefit from this, and not the consumer.
The protest is in response to the proposed decision by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) to increase the value of the coupon from 690 to 1.000 baht (according to one source). 22 million households will receive the coupon, amounting to 15,2 billion baht. The coupons will be distributed at the end of next month or the beginning of July.
According to the FFC, the price of the cheapest set-top box has increased from 690 to 1.200 to 1.900 baht since the douceurtje became known. Many consumers have already bought a box. Trial broadcasts started at the beginning of April. The FFC is considering going to the administrative court and the NACC if the value of the coupon does indeed go up.
– Minister Peeraphan Palusuk (67, Science and Technology) died yesterday morning after an operation of an ischemic stroke. Peerachan was hospitalized on Sunday after complaining of dizziness. He underwent emergency surgery on Tuesday. Peeraphan was a member of the legal team of former governing party Pheu Thai.
– Five websites of the Ministry of Defense were hacked yesterday. The hackers were abroad. They reportedly replaced photos of the military top with photos of bones and skulls.
– A 40-year-old man, working in a quarry in Chachoengsao, was buried yesterday by a landslide and died. It took an hour before he could be freed. With him, nine vehicles disappeared under the earth.
– Not only the embassy of Saudi Arabia is annoyed about the acquittal of six police officers, but also 39 provincial Muslim councils across the country are not happy with it. The acquittal could have long-term consequences for Thais and the Thai-Muslim community. The officers were acquitted on March 31 of the 1990 kidnapping and murder of a Saudi businessman. The Muslim councils have called on the attorney general's office to appeal.
The kidnapping is said to be related to the murder of three Saudi diplomats in Bangkok and the theft of jewelry from Prince Faisal by a Thai employee. In all those cases, Thailand has not seen a chance to track down suspects, which has led to soured relations between the two countries.
– The plan to introduce a new national exam for graduates at the bachelor's, master's and doctoral levels continues to stir the minds. A seminar was even devoted to it yesterday.
Students object to the increased workload, they are concerned about reliability; only tutoring companies would benefit and existing international tests are more than adequate to assess students' aptitude. A lecturer is afraid that students will not take the exam seriously because it is primarily intended to measure the quality of universities.
– Even more criticism of the Ministry of Education. The Thailand Development Research Institute objects to the merger or closure of small schools. The ministry would be better off focusing on financing those schools, the TDRI believes. According to the TDRI, they are poorly managed, costing more than large schools in more developed regions. It believes that schools should be given more say in how their budget is spent.
– A customer (54) of a pawn shop in Nakhon Ratchasima has been paying two baht every four months for sixteen years for the iron he borrowed there. The pawnbroker says he never asked him why he is not paying off. The man doesn't look like he could either.
'The customer may think that the iron is in safer hands with us than at his home. It must have a sentimental value for the man, my clients think.'
– Be alert to the Mers virus, says the Ministry of Health to its 53 provincial offices. The virus could be brought in by the 18.000 tourists from the Middle East, the 14.000 Thai who make Hajj or other tourists who went to the Middle East last month.
Mers stands for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. Saudi Arabia and the VAR recently faced an outbreak that killed 93 people. Mers first appeared in Saudi Arabia in 2012. Patients experience shortness of breath, fever and cough.
– For the first time since the ship was launched in 2011, the landing craft is HTMS Anthong used by the Navy in a military exercise. On Monday, the three-week exercise began, together with the US, at Ban Thon beach in Narathiwat. The navy had only practiced landings three times before.
Political news
– Thailand will go to the polls on July 20 to re-run the February 2 elections. This was decided yesterday during consultations between the Electoral Council and Prime Minister Yingluck. The government has also agreed to a number of conditions set by the Electoral Council, including what to do if the elections threaten to be disrupted. They may then be postponed by the Electoral Council.
– Party leader Abhisit (Democrats) yesterday continued his round of talks on reforms. He spoke with the leader of coalition party Palang Chon. Earlier this week, he spoke with the Electoral Council and the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. With his initiative he wants to break the political deadlock. Prime Minister Yingluck supports it.
– The Reform Now Network calls on all parties to scale back their demands and to create the right atmosphere for them to push for political reform. The group, led by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, says setting an election date is not a solution unless parties try to resolve the political conflict and set the preconditions for reform.
www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post
More news in:
Another 'final blow' from PDRC; moving to Ratchadamnoen?
Notorious corruption case: Relatives have to bleed
Which I still do not understand , or rather know all the better .
That the brakes always fail in serious accidents in Thailand.
How is that possible???
Driving too fast and taking risks, nope,
Alcohol problem ( usually the night before ) with the driver , no .
The road is not good , bend too sharp , no .
Bad weather conditions , no .
It's just the brakes.
Presumably too little air pressure in the brake boosters in trucks and buses, or a brake valve is not working.
Or, as with minivans and vans, no brake oil in the jar.
Or maybe worn brake linings , or no brake lining at all on an axle .
No , the brakes in Thailand are not good , that is certainly the reason .
Most accidents in any type of vehicle are due to human error, and a very small percentage due to technology.
Jan Beute old APK 1 inspector.
In the unlikely event that the air is lost, the brakes always lock, because the spring brake closes the diaphragm cylinder, so that the brakes are activated.
That's completely right, except if the whole lot can no longer move due to, for example, junk, for example, through years (?) consciously (costs) forgetting. APK or TÜV inspection are 2 concepts that are difficult to translate into Thai. Because if the brakes fail, it should still work despite the safety system, you would think? How many ignorant Thais fiddle with the brakes themselves?
2 weeks ago I ordered my 4 (four) wheels to be balanced. They denied it. Their answer: we never do the rear wheels, only if they are switched to the front. This is Thailand life. Thank you and drove off. At the next tire garage, have the rear wheels done. 70 grams of lead had to be added—I mean
Dear Mr. Joe .
The spring brake cylinder or better known as the MGM cylinder in the truck world, was first intended as a handbrake function.
If the system pressure is too low, it will certainly bring about a braking effect.
But this is nowhere near enough to stop a vehicle at high speed .
In addition , in Thailand , the vast majority of highway trucks above 3,5 tonnes GVW are of Japanese manufacture .
And the technology in contrast to the Japanese passenger cars is also heavily outdated. The braking system is usually still hydraulic and actuated by means of air pressure.
This is already for many years old technology in Europe and the USA .
Nowadays everything is full air pressure.
Again a nice technical story, but it doesn't change the FACT of the many daily accidents in Thailand where many traffic victims fall.
More than in many terrorist attacks anywhere in the world .
And I regularly see family members crying on Thai TV every week.
Buddhist or Christian, each misses his neighbor.
Jan Beute.
.
I often drive that road and see that truck and bus drivers never use the engine brake, only the normal brakes, which then have a hard time.
The technique to make a descent is to use the engine brake, if they already have it, you brake on the compression of the engine by blocking the exhaust, or use a lower gear.
a rule of thumb when driving in the mountains is to drive down in the same gear you used to get up.
I always put an automatic in 2 instead of the D.
Do you have to brake a lot then brake for short periods to prevent the brakes from burning, that is what happens, they drive downhill here with their foot on the brake, which therefore runs much too hot with all the consequences, apart from the fact that they also simply take another lane if the speed is too slow for them and if the speed becomes too high they fly off.
Dear Fred .
A motor brake is an auxiliary brake and does not do much.
Retarder is the brake used on long mountain descents.
And saves the life of the brake linings , among other things .
In the past , the retarder ( Telma brake ) was a kind of large and heavy tool that worked as a dynamo .
Now at higher technology it works hydraulically as a type or reverse torque converter.
The oil is cooled down again by the engine's cooling system.
Sorry again a technical story that doesn't change the real facts.
Driver failure.
Jan Beute.
GENERAL:
Compliments to the editors, that News from Thailand is now TOP.
Regards, KhunBram.