News from Thailand – April 13, 2012

Patong beach is once again full of sunbathers and hotel cancellations during Songkran are just 10 to 20 percent, the Thai's southern department said. Hotels association.

The expected drop in tourism after Wednesday's tsunami warning is therefore not too bad in the southern destinations of Phuket, Krabi and Phangnga. It is mainly Thai tourists who have cancelled. Most international tourists keep coming; only a few Japanese groups have canceled their trips to Phuket, but the number is negligible, according to the Association of Thai Travel Agents. [Bangkok Post reports in another post that 50 percent of hotel bookings and island tours in Ranong have been cancelled.]

– The Minister of ICT denies that the government was slow to respond to the tsunami threat on Wednesday. According to him, warnings were given in time and people were evacuated in time. The minister also rejected criticism that Yingluck addressed the population too late on television. “We kept a close eye on the situation. When the situation turned out not to be urgent, we postponed the TV speech.' Yingluck appeared on TV at 20 p.m.

After the two earthquakes, several aftershocks occurred. Experts have pointed out that the situation remains critical for at least 2 days after the earthquakes. The tsunami in Japan on March 11 last year followed 2 days after a small earthquake. Aftershocks in Japan are often more severe than the earthquakes themselves.

– Department stores have taken extra security measures with Songkran, not only in Hat Yai where a bomb exploded at the Lee Gardens Plaza hotel, but also elsewhere in the country. The members of the Ratchaprasong Square Trade Association in Bangkok have given their guards special training, including how to recognize suspicious objects that could contain a bomb. Customers who are unusually dressed or wearing sunglasses will be closely monitored. Robinson Department Store has increased the number of security guards by 20 percent at all of its locations.

The Diana Shopping Center in Hat Yai reports a decline in customer numbers of 15 to 20 percent. Customers are only allowed to park their car in front of the shopping center if someone remains in it and then only for a maximum of 5 minutes. The number of entrances and exits will be reduced.

– Airports or Thailand (AoT) is trying to tempt Thailand's largest budget airline Thai AirAsia (TAA) to return to Don Mueang with a package of showers. That would save 5 million passengers a year: 3 million on domestic and 2 million on international flights, easing congestion on Suvarnabhumi somewhat.

According to the AoT president, there is a good chance that the airline will be able to return, but the most important condition of TAA must be met: the guarantee that the move is permanent, because the airline has already had to move three times . This is also a sine qua non for Orient Thai. In total, AoT wants to get 10 airlines flying to domestic and regional destinations to switch from Suvarnabhumi to Don Mueang. Only Nok Air has returned so far. No announcements have been made about the package of showers that AoT has on offer.

– The automated passport control for Thai passengers was taken into use on Wednesday. The check takes an average of 15 seconds. [Another report mentions 30 seconds.] The device reads the passport, scans a finger and takes a photo. The first problem has already occurred: passports issued less than seven days earlier are not recognized by the device. The solution is being worked on. People taller than 2 meters or shorter than 1.20 meters cannot use the Autochannel.

 
– Former Prime Minister Thaksin says that red shirts are preparing to bring him back to Thailand as a birthday present. Thaksin's birthday is July 26. But he says he has no ambitions to lead the country again; rather he would teach and advise the prime minister [his sister Yingluck].

Yesterday Thaksin celebrated Songkran in Vientiane in the company of a crowd of supporters. His next destination is Champassak in the south of Laos and then he goes to Siem Raep in Cambodia.

In Surin, preparations are made for a nine-elephant ceremony to bless Thaksin. After the ceremony at Chong Jom border post, the red shirts go to Siem Raep to meet their hero.

– Cambodia brings together thousands of security guards to protect Thaksin during a mass rally tomorrow. The bill will be paid by the Cambodian government, although the governor of Siem Raep expects ruling party Pheu Thai to pay part of the costs. A large camping area has been set up for Thai visitors. Entrance to Angkor Wat, normally 620 baht, is free.

– Eight hundred Cambodian workers at Phatthana Seafood in Songkhla have been on strike for four days, because the company had cut bonuses to compensate for the increase in the minimum daily wage of 40 percent on April 1. They went back to work yesterday. According to the management, there was a communication breakdown.

In Kanchanaburi, thousands of Myanmar workers went on strike at the Vita Food Factory, which canned pineapples. Details are not known, but it is suspected that they stopped working for the same reason as in Songkhla.

– The directors of eleven government hospitals must come to the floor next week at the Department of Special Investigation. Some are suspected of having a hand in the disappearance of pseudoephedrine-containing pills. The DSI believes that 11 million pills and 6.500 vials of the same ingredient have been blackmailed to be processed into methamphetamine in Laos and Burma. Officials from three health services have also been summoned information to provide.

– The National Policy Committee for Palm Oil has rejected the Commerce Department's proposal to import unprocessed palm oil after protests from farmers. According to the ministry, imports would prevent a price increase of refined products. The committee asks the ministry to look for alternatives, such as asking the producers to cooperate in keeping the price of a bottle of palm oil at 42 baht. Palm oil is used in most Thai cuisines.

– Prime Minister Yingluck will visit China next week for 4 days. One of the topics of discussion is the construction of a high-speed line. The top of several large companies supervises Yingluck.

 
– A naval patrol unit has seized 230 kilograms of marijuana, 23 rosewood logs and 977 speed pills in provinces along the Mekong. The smugglers all managed to flee.

– Three Muslims were shot dead in front of a mosque in Pattani on Wednesday, shortly after they had left the mosque. They were fired upon from the bushes on the side of the road and later died of their wounds in hospital.

– There is a shortage of white number plates for new cars, forcing owners to continue driving around with a red plate. The current stock of white plates is of poor quality; they show cracks. The Ministry of Transport is looking for a new producer.

www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post