News from Thailand – September 2, 2014
Bad luck for the children and bad luck for their parents who had hoped to see their offspring on the catwalk during Fashion Week 2014 on Sunday.
The parents had even bought a 1000 baht ticket for the show at the Diamond Building of Bangkok University in Pathum Thani, they had had to buy a 200-250 baht shirt earlier during the audition, and they had bought the clothes that the young mannequins would wear.
But parents and children waited in vain for it moment supreme. The children got no further than a waiting room. About two hundred parents have complained to the police that they had been scammed by the relevant modeling agency. They want their money back.
– It seems as if the traffic police of Bangkok are catching up for everything they have neglected for years. Having previously checked for telephone calls while driving and rewarded cars parked incorrectly with a wheel clamp, it is now the turn of pedestrians. Crossing should be done at a zebra crossing and not anywhere else. Those who do so run the risk of receiving a 200 baht voucher.
– Despite fierce protests from the operators of digital TV channels, channel 3 may continue to provide free analogue broadcasts and six analogue TV channels may continue to broadcast analogue via cable, satellite and mast.
The junta decided on May 24, but TV watchdog National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission decided yesterday not to extend the free status of analog TV channels. Termination of that status was postponed by 100 days. The postponement ended yesterday. And so is Channel 3, which is used by the junta to spread its beneficial messages.
Today, the NBTC will address the issue in a special meeting. She may go to the Council of State if both parties [junta and NBTC] cannot agree.
And with this, dear reader and dear reader, you must do it, because it is a complicated matter of which I do not understand the fine. And if you don't understand something, you can't convey it clearly either. If you are interested, read the rather voluminous article Bangkok Post, 'NBTC lets Ch 3 stay on analogue', and I don't understand that headline again, because I think I read the opposite in the message.
– The NCPO (junta) has great ambitions: the country's forests, which currently cover 33,4 percent of the total area, should be expanded to 40 percent. The target is in a master plan approved by NCPO head Prayuth Chan-ocha early last month.
The plan is being worked on by the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) in conjunction with the National Economic and Social Development Board. The aim is to put an end to deforestation, the squatting of government land and to sustainably manage the country's natural resources.
Land-squatting has still not come to an end. Last month, 1.000 rai of forest land in Muak Lek-Thap Kwang National Forest Reserve in Saraburi province was illegally taken into use and the same happened to 200 rai in Mu Ko Chang National Park in Trat province. In both cases rubber farmers and wealthy businessmen were the culprits.
In Loei province, investors have planted more than 10.000 rubber trees in Phu Kaew-Pa Dong Pak Chom National Forest Reserve and a new area of 719 rai has been found that was occupied. A traditional house, built of makha and teak wood, worth 50 million baht has been seized. The workers [?] must be reported to the police.
And so the list goes on. The message also mentions a case in Pattani with confiscated wood. Individuals holding legal land deeds will not be evicted, says Banpot Poolpian, spokesman for Isoc, but the land squatters face both criminal and civil lawsuit.
– A woman in Bung Khong Long (Bung Kan) thought she could collect 1 million baht in insurance money after the death of her husband. But that party didn't go well. Both she and her daughter-in-law were arrested because she ordered the man to be killed. The assassin has also been arrested. He made a confession. Two nieces who had helped him are still wanted.
The trio wanted to make it appear that the man had been shot dead during a motorcycle theft, but in reality he was lured into the business at a rubber plantation. With the money, the woman wanted to help her son who is imprisoned for a drug offense.
– Thai education is not only of a poor standard [as international comparisons show], but there is also a lot of cheating with homework. The Department of Education has found 1,58 million advertisements on the Internet offering homework help or, more accurately, offering to do the homework for someone who then submits it as their own. Of course you have to pay for this. Education believes that the increasing 'homework industry' is the result of too difficult homework.
Suthasri Wingsamarn, permanent secretary of the ministry, considers this practice "a potential threat to the security of the country". “They weaken young people's ability to acquire knowledge and undermine the education system. And that in turn has a harmful effect on the working population.'
The Ministry forwards the list of advertisements found to the Ministry of ICT, so that the relevant sources (websites, blogs, Facebook, Instagram) can be blocked. When it comes to teachers, they can expect disciplinary action. Teachers should give their students the right amount of homework and demand that it be handwritten rather than typed, Suthasri advocates. She thinks one hour of homework a day is the maximum.
– Two soldiers from Lop Buri have asked Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha to investigate an accident that left them injured and a man killed. They were hit in November 2013 by the unit commander's limousine, where they serve, but the latter accepts no responsibility for the accident. He tries to put the blame on his driver. One of the wounded soldiers says he was pressured to let the matter rest.
– An assistant village chief of Yata (Yala) was shot dead on Sunday evening while he was drinking something in a grocery shop on his way home. He was hit in the head, neck, chest and hip and died on the spot. His attackers had arrived on the motorcycle.
In Pattani it was also hit that same evening. A man, in Sai Buri on the motorcycle on his way home, was shot dead and in Yarang a man on the motorcycle was attacked with an AK47 rifle. His friend who was in the back seat was unharmed.
– The mother of an 11-year-old girl whose body was found in a scuba diver in Muang (Trang) in May is deeply disappointed that the suspect has been released without charge. According to the police, the release does not hurt because she has strong evidence against him, in particular DNA tests.
According to the mother, the police handed over the case to the Public Prosecution Service too late, so there was no time left to charge him in time. However, the police are pointing the finger of blame at the Public Prosecution Service. The head of the provincial police says that the police quickly collected the evidence and handed it over to the Public Prosecution Service. He does not know why the OM has defaulted.
– In Bang Kapi, a first-year student of the Rajamangala University of Technology was shot dead yesterday morning. According to witnesses, two men on a motorcycle had been waiting for him. When the student arrived, they fired on him.
– The provincial health services in Phrae warn of conjunctivitis, an infection of the eyes. In the past month, 1.400 people in the province were affected. Nationally, 80.000 people are infected. In Phrae it was mainly about children. Muang district takes the cake with 536 cases, followed by Sung Men (316), Long (190) and Nong Muang Khai (188).
Tourism
– The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has high expectations for the upcoming high season, which will start in October. The Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) also counts itself rich. The association expects martial law to be lifted now that the interim government has been formed, and that lifting would boost tourism in the fourth quarter.
"Maybe some Europeans are boycotting Thailand because they have a negative perception of the coup, but many overlook that and continue to travel to Thailand as usual," said ATTA president Sisdivachr Cheewarattanaporn.
The TAT has calculated that charter flights with 100.000 seats arrive in Thailand during peak season: 30.000 from London to Krabi (Tui Travel), 8.200 from Warsaw to Bangkok (Enter Air) and 52.600 from Finland to Phuket (FINNMatKat). Furthermore, 3.200 charter flights from Russia arrive in the December-March period.
The ATTA estimates that 6 to 7 million tourists will come to Thailand in the fourth quarter, the same number as in the same period last year. The number of arrivals through its tour agents is down by 30 percent this year. In the fourth quarter, the association expects the situation in the seven most important markets to improve: China, Russia, India, Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam and South Korea. The association is also positive about the Middle East. Since July, the number of tourists has increased by 40,25 percent to 46.282 per month.
– Vietnam's no-frills carrier (literally: no frills, so a budget airline) Jetstar Pacific will start on December 10 with a daily flight between Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok. The new route is in response to VietJet Air's frequency expansion. It will fly twice a day on this route from September 12, doubling the capacity to 5.000 seats.
Jetstar flies with the single-aisle Airbus 320, which VietJet Air also flies. Bangkok is the second foreign destination after Macau. Inland, Jetstar flies to Hanoi, Danang, Vinh, Haiphong, Buon Ma Thuot, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc and Hue.
www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post
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The traffic police have been instructed by higher authorities to fine pedestrians who do not cross on the zebra crossing, it would therefore not hurt if the higher authorities would ensure that there are more zebra crossings in Bangkok before taking this measure, I do not know whether it is included in the traffic law that the motorist must stop if a pedestrian wants to cross on a zebra crossing (I hardly think so) if so, then it seems logical to me to fine the motorists who do not stop.
Hans I completely agree with you, one should first teach motor vehicle drivers why there are actually Zebra transitions.
As a pedestrian you get the feeling that most drivers see a Zebra as a kind of decoration, but that you also have to stop here is strange to many.
If you participate in Thai traffic as a farang, your greatest enemy is the ignorance of the Thai road user, many of whom, unfortunately, do not know the traffic rules.
I usually cross in the wake of an attractive Thai lady. I learned crossing in Asia in Ho Chi Min City Vietnam and then crossing in Bangkok is easy to do. As Dick writes, it is wise to take the stairs at busy points for a skywalk. Those things are built for a reason.
Indeed, after crossing the border in Vietnam – I gained experience in Hanoi – Bangkok is a piece of cake! Expats in Hanoi also referred to crossing as 'assisted suicide' and it is certainly not that in Bangkok……………
@ Jack G I also know the situation in Ho Chi Minh City. If you can cross in HCMC then crossing in Bangkok is a piece of cake. Many Indian stories about crossing are told. Like: You have to run for your life. You should not run at all when crossing the street. You do this in a controlled manner and you clearly show other traffic users what you are doing. Thai motorists do not intentionally hit anyone. See how the Thai do it and adapt.
Many farang are often too lazy to walk a few stairs to take the skywalk or to walk a little further to cross on the zebra crossing, no, rather quickly 'just' cross with all the danger that entails. ;(
By the way, I agree with you Hans, crossing the road is not easy anyway and very dangerous in Bangkok, even on a zebra crossing and then I don't even have difficulty walking.
Dick van derLugt, it is indeed safer to use a pedestrian bridge in Bangkok, but this was an action by the Bangkok traffic police, to teach pedestrians to use a Zebra at least, and not to cross everywhere, where this is after their own thinking is possible.
Furthermore, it should be normal that if a driver of a motor vehicle approaches a Zebra, he adjusts his pace, and when pedestrians are on the Zebra crossing, he automatically stops, such are the international rules. The fact that many drivers are not aware of these rules in Thailand forces us to regulate the traffic ourselves, by waving our hands and raising our fingers, but this is actually not normal, and the traffic police would have a task here.
That it is even worse in Ho chi min City, or other cities in Asia, may certainly be true, but it is no consolation for a traffic victim in Thailand.
@ John I learned in Thailand that there are formal and informal (traffic) rules. If you don't master the informal traffic rules, the traffic is dangerous. But if you do master the informal traffic rules, it is already a lot less unsafe. The formal rule says that a motorist must stop for a zebra, but the informal rule says otherwise. Incidentally, when crossing the road, the men with those annoying whistles at the exits of parking garages/areas sometimes want to help you cross the road.
Dick van der Lugt I have also been coming to Thailand for many years, and the control of the so-called informal traffic rules as you call them are almost forced to be applied by everyone, because otherwise you live even more dangerously.
But I hope you agree that the really formal traffic rules in most of this world function better than the very poor traffic rules that many Thais have misaccustomed themselves to.
If now only pedestrians, who actually want to learn to use a zebra, are fined during an action by the traffic police, it would be normal if this were possible with the formal traffic rules, without these pedestrians having to regulate the traffic themselves.
Thailand is a very beautiful country, but unfortunately still has a lot to learn with regard to traffic safety, and this is not limited to zebra crossings only.
Pedestrian bridges. Great invention. At least 40 steps up and then the same down. Sir Charles knows better. Many Farangs are often too lazy to climb some stairs.
You also see the Thai people using that invention in large numbers.
Unfortunately, in society there are also poor people who have difficulty walking stairs.
In this great modern Bangkok with Sky train etc and millions of Bht's wasted projects
it might be a consideration to equip those pedestrian bridges with an escalator.
Besides, I don't know where Sir got that information about those lazy Falangs.
Do you sit peat at the top or bottom of the stairs?
Cor van Kampen.
As said dear Cor, many farang not all. From my own observation, yes.
I wonder how they can control phone calls in cars.
Most cars are equipped with sun-resistant glass, which makes it impossible to see who is behind the wheel.
@ Henk That was a one-off campaign in which agents photographed the drivers, so through the windshield of the cars. See News from Thailand on Wednesday, August 6.
Hans, again I completely agree with you that crossing the road in Thailand is not without danger.
It gets even more adventurous when people on this site try to teach others how to cross,
by directing the traffic yourself, raising your finger, and clearly showing what you have in mind, in the hope that a driver will also see this.
Normally the pedestrian, the weakest in traffic, should be most protected, and the driver of a motor vehicle should be taught what to do when approaching a zebra crossing, so that a pedestrian standing on the Zebra are not forced to direct traffic themselves.
Unfortunately, there are many Thais who have no knowledge of this, and if we are going to name cities where it is even worse, we might as well name cities where normal traffic rules work just fine.
For a disabled person like me, the pedestrian bridge is not an option and neither is 'crossing the road quickly'. I have a tripod for support and I swing it in front of me on the zebra crossing, if there is one, in the hope that people don't want to scratch their car. But unfortunately, many cars in Bangkok are already equipped with parking scratches.
So I ask a moped taxi to take me across and give him 20 baht and ask cha cha to go. Then it doesn't go cha cha but just saying it gives a reassuring feeling.
I suggest that pedestrian lights be installed. You press the button and the light turns green, and red for traffic. The chance of being killed is then slightly smaller….. Something.
Erik,
At Lat Phrao 101 we have some of those lights. So those lights exist, but when you press the button they usually don't work. Moreover, when they do work, I think the drivers see it as an invitation to mow as many pedestrians as possible off the road at once.
I actually prefer that they don't work.... maybe that's the safest thing.
Erik,
But unfortunately also with lights not safe.
These are burning invitations to accelerate quickly.
LOUISE
Funny that so many move to Thailand and then want to turn it into a kind of Netherlands with better weather. If you are really annoyed by the usual way of crossing here, then it is high time to go back to Nieuwegein.
De basale verkeersregels naleven betekent er nog niet dat je er een ” zonnig Nederland” van maakt (alsof daar trouwens wat mis mee zou zijn als het op verkeerswetgeving of wetgeving van openbare orde aankomt). Officieel heeft men te stoppen voor een zebra, de politie gaat dat ook naleven op straffe van een 500 baht boete voor overtreders:
"In A Historic Move, Police Start Enforcing Zebra Crossings
BANGKOK 02-09-2014 — Drivers in Bangkok are now legally required to stop for pedestrians at zebra crosswalks following a new campaign launched by police yesterday.
Police announced last week that from 1 September onward, motorists who failed to stop at zebra crossings in Bangkok will face a fine of 500 baht.
Although the current Traffic Act does require drivers to stop at the crosswalks, the law has not been strictly enforced and many pedestrians in the capital city prefer to use the “pedestrian bridges” over roads to avoid risking their lives with the oncoming traffic.”
Source:
http://en.khaosod.co.th/detail.php?newsid=1409638672
Morning Hans,
Yes, indeed you are not safe on the sidewalks, insofar as they are present.
But a zebra crossing gives me absolutely no sense of safety to cross.
That old joke of the negro on a crosswalk: “Now they see me and now they don't see me” does not apply here, because those kamikaze riders only look at a hole through which they can tear.
Even when the pedestrian traffic lights were still working here.
It just drives on.
Now, the pedestrian crossings here are dangerous.
This gives the unknowing tourist a false sense of security.
Wij stoppen soms, maar als het even kan rijden wij door, daar het ook (2x) gebeurd is dat een mafketel om ons heen ging en dat echtpaar op een haartje nog kon ontwijken.
Jij je hele leven behept met een trauma, omdat je mensen vlak voor je neus platgereden ziet.
I sometimes say that I hope those idiots come across such a nice big cement truck.
Yes, yes, I know, you can't wish that, but….
LOUISE
Hi Dick,
The crowds in Bangkok allow the show of hands to work reasonably well.
But come here in Jomtien, for example on thepprasit road which is a fairly wide street.
Well, they can scrape you from between the wheel spokes.
Occasionally it drives here as if they are at Zandvoort and then certainly when 2 or 3 farang friends drive in a row and one is even crazier than the other.
I once mustered up the courage to cross this road.
Halfway through I had to keep waiting and this took quite a long time.
I'm really not easily scared, but I didn't have it anymore except that my hair coupe was a tornado..
So I just turn the car to the other side.
With a narrow street it is reasonable to do.
LOUISE
Forget.
Climbing the stairs for such a skywalk is not feasible for me because of a bad back.