Thai school bus. Thailand.

You very often see the sight of an overloaded school bus in Thailand. Drive carefully.

Mango seller Jomtien Thailand.

 

Mango seller Jomtien Thailand.

Loi Kratong, Thailand festival.

 

On the 10th of this month Thailand will be celebrating the annual Loi Kratong festival. I will be partaking as usual Kratong in hand heading for the nearest Klong (canal), to pay my respect to the spirits of the waters.

Here is some back ground information on the Loi Kratong festival.

Loi Krathong takes place on the evening of the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. In the western calendar this usually falls in November.

Loi literally means 't

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o float,' while krathong refers to the lotus-shaped receptacle which can float on the water. Originally, the krathong was made of banana leaves or the layers of the trunk of a banana tree or a spider lily plant. A krathong contains food, betel nuts, flowers, joss sticks, candle and coins. Modern krathongs are more often made of bread or styrofoam. A bread krathong will disintegrate in a few a days and be eaten by fish and other animals. The traditional banana stalk krathongs are also biodegradable, but styrofoam krathongs are frowned on, since they are polluting and may take years to disappear. Regardless of the composition, a krathong will be decorated with elaborately-folded banana leaves, flowers, candles and incense sticks. A low value coin is sometimes included as an offering to the river spirits. During the night of the full moon, Thais will float their krathong on a river, canal or a pond lake. The festival is believed to originate in an ancient practice of paying respect to the spirit of the waters. Today it is simply a time to have fun.

 

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Thailand worse floods ever 252 dead.

Technorati Tags: Flooding,Thailand,Disaster,Prevention,provinces

A total of 252 people were confirmed dead and three people were missing in the floods that have inundated many provinces for more than two months, the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department reported on Friday.

Floods still prevail in 212 districts of 28 provinces, effecting 2,696,521 people.
The provinces are Sukhothai, Chiang Mai, Lampang, Phichit, Phitsanulok, Nakhon Sawan, Uthai Thani, Chai Nat, Singburi, Angthong, Ayutthaya, Lopburi, Saraburi, Suphanburi, Nakhon Pathom, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Ubon Ratchathani, Khon Kaen, Si Sa Ket, Surin, Nakhon Ratchasima, Loei, Roi Et, Buri Ram, Chachoengsao, Nakhon Nayok and Prachinburi.

Photos by Tawatchai Kemgumnerd

Disaster centre officials reported the confirmed death toll from the floods at 252, with three people missing.

In Bangkok, the government has set up a flood relief command centre at Don Mueang Airport, using a vacant meeting room.
Prime Minister's Office secretary Wim Rungwattanachinda said Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is the director of the centre.
Ms Yingluck late this morning chaired an urgent meeting of  state agency officials at the flood war room to discuss ways to tackle the continuing disaster, which just seems to get worse. 

Full story

I just hope that they can avoid the Chao Praya river breaking it’s banks, as that would be a disaster given that many parts of Bangkok are below sea level.

 

Blogger Labels: Flooding,Thailand,Disaster,Prevention,provinces

Pattaya Tourist Police arrest suspected Jet Ski scammers

Pattaya Tourist Police arrest suspected Jet Ski scammers Blogger Labels: Pattaya,Tourist,Police,scammers

Pattaya Tourist Police arrested 5 Jet Ski Operators early on Saturday Morning, accused of attempting to extort money from two tourists from Saudi Arabia who had earlier hired Jet Skis from the operators on Pattaya Beach. The two tourists were confronted by the operators after they arrived back to shore and they claimed that damage had been caused and they should pay for the damage in what has been described as a classic case of a Pattaya Jet Ski Scam. Initially the operators and the tourists made their way to Pattaya Police Station where they could not come to a compromise. The tourists claimed that when they left the Police Station they were prevented from returning to their hotel, the Marriott Resort & Spa, further along Pattaya Beach and threatened to either pay or encounter problems. At this point the Tourist Police became involved and did something no local Police Division had done in the past.
Full story and pictures HERE

So finally they begin to arrest the Jet ski scammers and it takes the Tourist Police to take action. The ‘boys in brown’ (Thai Police) as they are affectionately called are usually in on the scam so always side with the scammers, so that they can share the ‘tea money’

This is a big step in the right direction for the Thailand tourism business

 

Blogger Labels: Pattaya,Tourist,Police,scammers

Very bad flooding throughout Thailand 98 killed

Very bad flooding throughout Thailand 98 killed

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This is the worst flooding that I have ever seen in Thailand during my 12 years here. Whilst driving from Pattaya to Bangkok on Sukhumvit road Pattaya the water was washing over my car bonnet. How the engine did not stop I will never know. Some people were not so lucky.

 

Angthong and Nakhon Sawan are still faced with heavy flooding, holding both extra rain water and flood water travelling southward from the upper North.

The average flood level in Angthong is at 1 to 2 metres, especially in urban areas, where schools and markets are closed.

School staff and teachers shuttle between dry areas transporting school supplies all day, and amidst darkness at night following shortages of electricity.

A water gate in neighbouring Sing Buri broke Thursday night, flooding a vast area and 220 homes in Pho Thong district of Angthong.

In Lop Buri, where stagnant flooding remains for three days after flash floods receded, survival kits presented by HRH Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana were handed out to flood affected villagers in Ban Mi district.

A swelling Chao Phraya River section in Nakhon Sawan is breaching many long areas of riverside flood embankment walls, prompting hectic emergency repairs using military and volunteer personnel, together with the evacuation of people and transport of belongings in other residential areas and flooded government centres.

A Royal Irrigation Department statement warned of rising rivers and flash floods in riverside areas in 10 provinces from Nakhon Sawan down to Bangkok, after likely swelling during coming peak tides.

There are 173 government clinics inundated, most of them small and at the community level. There are 233,996 people seeking treatment or being treated with five most frequently found diseases: foot infections, colds, muscle pains, rashes and skin diseases, and stress.

An official damage report update released yesterday said there were 195 deaths and two going missing, and 1,148,250 people affected, in 29 provinces still facing flooding.

There were now around 4.8 million rai of farmland and more than 54,000 rai of fish ponds and shrimp farms inundated.

Of those killed, 73 of them drowned, two hit by felling trees, 15 in mudslides and 15 through electrocution.

Blogger Labels: 98 dead,flooding,Thailand