After I brought my Family back Home, I decided to visit my Sister-in-Laws House at Phutta Monthon Sai 2. This Area is still flooded.

It took us over 2 Hrs to get there using Bus Line 147 from Dao Khanong using Rama II Rd. and than Outer Ring Rd where the Bus stopped near Phet Kasem Road. My Son, who insisted to go with me,  was quite exited as he heared that we now have to climp up a Truck, which normal moves Heavy Maschines. Driving through the still sometimes quite high Water was Fun for him. Everybody was smilling and helping each other climping up and down the Vehicle.

On the Way back I decided to use Phet Kasem Rd., which is still mostly flooded. Boats moving up and down the Road, Pickups with selfmade Exhaust Extensions drove slowly through the Water and of Course a lot Trucks and Buses moving people from one Place to another.

After walking through knee high Water to the middle of the road we climped on the roof of  a Garbage Truck to go to the next Bus Stop.

More pictures can be found in my Picasa Album This is Thailand. Videos are also to see at my Youtube Channel.

As you can see the flood is not over, but like everybody I hope it will be soon.

A poor man, calling himself Captain Jack Sparrow, now is rising to be the hero of his neighborhood. His words about the money-hungry boat owners are:

“Police, Military and many many Volunteers helping the people for free! Why can you not let them use your boats at cheap prices?” and “…if I hear that you charge to much, Captain Jack will come out!”

He got interviewed by TV Channel 3 and received 2 boats. I have seen it this morning in the TV News, but there was nothing in the News Papers. Now he and a Friend are  using this boats to help the people and they do it without charging any fee. I do not use the word free on purpose, since Captain Jack has a Donation Box in his boat to gain some money for fuel.

To be a true Hero you do not need to rich and have power, you do not need to be a Fighter! You have only to do the right thing at the right time like Thailand’s Captain Jack Sparrow.

The different Organisations  just do not communicate and not work together to prevent a bigger disaster. The Media provides us with different Information about the Water Masses everyday, Quantities of the water arriving from North are sometimes 2000 – 3000 million  and sometimes up to 20,000 million cubic litres, which of course confuses everybody.

It seems to be a hidden fight between Government and Opposition and the Battlefield are the backs of the Thai People which are loosing their Homes to the immense Water Masses.

Food and drinking Water is getting expensive, hundred of thousands people had to be evacuated and many others still will be evacuated. Prices for boats and flood prevention material are on the rise. Sandbags are nearly unavailable! Many People do not get any Help through the not well organised Organisations.

More and more Districts from Bangkok have to be evacuated and there is still no End to see. Looking at Google’s Flood Map shows that there is no much chance for Bangkok that the flood will bypass the City.

I only hope that if this Flood is over, some Organisations will start to do anything possible to prevent such Floods in the future. It looks like in the past it was easier to ask for new Donations every year.

Some important Phone Numbers are:

• The Prime Minister’s Office: 1111 press 5
• DPM Hot Line (Department of Disaster Preventation and Mitigation): 1784
• Emergency Medical and Referral Patient Services to hospital: 1669
• Flood victims in Bangkok and around province: 02-281-5443
• Department of Highways: 1586

Detailed Information about the Flood can be found on many Websites, here only a few of them:

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/

http://www.bangkokpost.com/

http://www.thaiflood.com/

http://www.thaivisa.com/

http://globalfloodmap.org/Thailand

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said in an interview:

“The government will pay the 20-million-euro bond itself, to make clear that the crown prince has no involvement in the case which is between the government and a private company,” (The Nation, 2.8.2011)

while his Boss, outgoing PM Abhisit, told the opposite in an interview after an audience with Thailand‘s Crown Prince yesterday.

“The government will try to resolve the problem in a manner that will not cause the Crown Prince any trouble,” Mr Abhisit said.

He said the government will ensure the dispute does not hurt bilateral ties between the two countries and does not affect the royal institution, according to the wishes of the Crown Prince.

Mr Abhisit said a Thai legal team will travel to Berlin today and will try to ensure the dispute is resolved this month.

He stressed that the government will not pay the surety for the release of the jet and at the same time will take steps to prevent any adverse repercussions stemming from the issue.

The deputy prime minister in charge of national security has vowed to prevent tourists from being cheated during their visit to Thailand.

Deputy Prime Minister in charge of national security Suthep Thaugsuban said after attending meetings with the Tourist Fraud Prevention Committee that the problem needs to be eliminated.

He said that there are many forms of cheating, starting with Thais cheating foreign tourists, foreign tourists teaming up to cheat other foreigners, and Thais and foreigners working together to cheat other foreign tourists.

He added that from the year 2007 to 2010, around 6,000 Thais were arrested for cheating tourists, and 517 groups of foreign gangs were arrested.

Meanwhile, Suthep dsaid that the recent mob of taxi drivers in Phuket province, who closed down boat docks to prevent tourists from returning to the main land, was done to express their disatisfaction over unfair tour agencies.

The drivers claim tour agencies tend to provide large buses for tourists, leaving taxi drivers with no passengers.

Suthep has also set up four subcommittees to work on eliminating fraud.

He has assigned the Tourism and Sports Permanent Secretary Sombat Kuruphan the responsibility of preventing tourist fraud in Bangkok and at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

At the same time, Interior Permanent Secretary Deputy Pranai Suwannarat will be in charge of towns frequented by tourists such as Phuket, Pattaya, and Chaing Mai.

Found at: http://www.thailandoutlook.tv/

Image via Wikipedia

Western and northern parts of Thailand could face severe damage – including building collapses, according to geologists, who say there are active faults in these areas that could cause earthquakes of about 6 on the Richter scale.

“We are now keeping an eye closely to monitor western and northern regions, as there are active faults in these areas,” Mineral Resources Department spokesperson Adichart Surinkham said yesterday.

According to an earthquake risk map produced by the department, there are 13 faults in Thailand across some 22 provinces.

Kanchanaburi, Mae Hong Son, Nan, Phayao, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai are classed as highly vulnerable to a quake of up to 7 on the Richter scale.

These provinces are located near three active fault lines, called Three Pagodas Pass, Srisawat, Mae Chan.

Kanchanaburi province is located near Three Pagoda Pass and Srisawat fault lines, while Mae Hong Son, Nan, Phayao, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai are near the Mae Chan fault.

Adichart said that quakes with an epicentre in Burma or Laos would also affect Thailand, while a quake in the western region would affect Bangkok.

“An earthquake around 7 on the Richter scale would cause building collapses and road damage,” he said.

“Unfortunately, nobody can say when they will exactly occur,” he added.

Asian Institute of Technology seismologist Dr Penneung Wanichchai said the western and northern parts of Thailand were the “locations of concern” in Thailand as moderate quakes measuring 5-6 on the Richter scale were still occurring.

“We have found that the violent earthquake [centred near Tachilek in eastern Burma] is still active in these areas.”

However, he said there was no earthquake source or fault line likely to cause severe damage and building collapses in Bangkok. But an earthquake with an epicentre outside the capital would affect buildings in Bangkok.

Pornthep Techapaiboon, the deputy governor of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), said about 60 buildings with over 30 floors in Bangkok were at risk from an earthquake rating 5-7 on the Richter scale, such as Baiyoke Tower, the Dusit Thani Hotel, MBK department store, and commercial buildings located in Silom, Sathorn, and Wireless Roads.

Moreover, about 2,000 old buildings in Bangkok would be at risk from a large quake as they were constructed before the enforcement of the 2007 Building Control Act.

“We need to install protection for buildings against earthquakes,” Pennueng said.

Given that earthquakes are natural events not yet able to be reliably predicted, National Disaster Warning Centre chief Group Captain Somsak Kowsuwan said his agency had been educating members of public about earthquake preparedness, particularly in areas most at risk of a severe earthquake.

“We found that many people are not aware about earthquakes. They even do not know what they will do after a quake,” he said. “We have conducted a lot of training to practice earthquake preparedness but few officials have participated in the training.”

Original Post can be found at THE NATION

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Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has selected the Pheu Thai Party’s PM candidate, Thai Rath Online report.

Thai Rath Online quoted Deputy House Speaker Apiwan Wiriyachai as saying that the four candidates earlier mentioned were only decoys. Apiwan said Thaksin would announce the real candidate once the House is dissolved. He said the real candidate is not Pheu Thai chairman Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, Pheu Thai party-list MP Mingkwan Saengsuwan, ex-Pheu Thai MP Chalerm Yoobamrung or Yinglak Shinawatra, a sister of Thaksin.

Now in fact PM Abhisit was born in Newcastle and through a British Law everybody born in the country has a right to hold the British nationality or citizenship. Since the parents of PM Abhisit did go to the Thai Embassy and registered his birth there, he got the Thai Citizenship, but not the British one. Nobody seems to have applied for it and so PM Abhisit may have the right to claim a British Citizenship, but he definitely does not have it right now. He has to apply for Visa if he travels to British countries and does not hold a British Passport.

On the other Side the Opposition would like to bring Ex-Prime MInister Thaksin back to Thailand. It is not clear how many different Nationalities Mr. Thaksin is holding now, but it will be quite a few more as only 2.  Nobody tries to trial Mr. Thaksin for his work in Cambodia, which could have direct or indirect have to do with the Border Conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. Is the opposition here using a “double-standard” for their own benefits or are they just now aware of it?

There are some other public persons, which served or serve a country in politics:

• Movie Star Arnold Schwarzenegger hold the Austrian and US Citizenship and served as Governor of California from 2003 – 2011.
• Former Cancadian prime minister John Turner, who was born in England, was a dual citizen during his time in office and remains one to this day.

I am not sure how Great Britain handle this, but in many countries you loose the right of citizenship if you did not claim it in an appropriate time. Information about what Dual Nationality or Dual Citizenship is can be found at Wikipedia.

BANGKOK, 26 January 2011 (NNT) – The Don’t Drive Drunk Foundation’s proposal to prohibit alcohol consumption among drivers has been officially approved and will come into force on 1 February this year. According to the Ministry of Transport, drivers and passengers of all public transports except taxi, motorcycle and public van drivers will be penalized if the alcohol levels found in their blood exceed 50 milligrams. The new law expects those belonging to the group to stay completely sober while driving. Punishments of 2,000-10,000 baht fine and/or a maximum of 3 months jail term will be enforced to those who have violated the law. Meanwhile, public transport operators who fail to warn their employees will face the maximum fine of 40,000 baht. The Transport Ministry has already launched its mobile units on 4 major routes across the country to monitor drivers who might have been drinking to reduce road accidents.The Foundation has also planned another proposal to the relevant law to lower the existing alcohol level from 50 to 30 milligrams but will consult with the public first.

“Is this fair?” asked health economist Dr Pongsathorn Pokpermdee. He said the scheme’s members were taxpayers and it was unfair to make them pay for medical welfare while other Thais get it free.

The social security scheme covers about 9.4 million people, mostly company workers. These employees and their employers have to pay monthly contributions into the Social Security Fund (SSF), while the government contributes an additional sum.

The scheme offers medical welfare as well as other benefits, including a pension.

Other Thais, however, enjoy free medical welfare through the universal health scheme and the medical benefit scheme for civil servants and their families. MPs and senators have even better medical coverage under another scheme.

“A sizeable portion of the contributions go into medical services and childbirth benefits,” Pongsathorn said. “If the social security scheme’s members enjoy free medical welfare like other Thais, this money could go into their pension savings.”

Duangjai Deengarm, a worker from Samut Prakan, complained that the scheme represented a double standard.

She urged the government to treat the scheme’s members fairly by channelling the contributions for medical and childbirth benefits into pensions instead.

Many members of the Social Security Fund have also complained about medical services. Some decided not to use the scheme’s medical services again after they were unhappy with the treatment they were given.

“We are treated like second-class citizens when trying to exercise our right to access hospitals under the social security scheme. No matter what illness we have, we are prescribed paracetamol,” Duangjai said.

Pongsathorn said the social security scheme’s members should demand an answer from the government and the Social Security Office (SSO) as to why they have to pay for medical care.

“I think the social security law, introduced more than 20 years ago, has already become superannuated,” he said.

Tula Patchimvet, who sits on a subcommittee of the Lawyers Council dealing with labour rights and urban people’s housing rights, agreed that the social security scheme members should no longer be required to pay for medical benefits.

Now if all this People would look back in Thailand‘s History they would change their Mind. Not very long ago only civil cervants had free health-care. Introducing the Social Security System is not a double Standard, it is a Solution to remove a Double Standard. Unfortunately this cannot be done at once. Changes are done Step by Step, as at the begin there was only Healthcare, than unemployment insurance and pension fund was added. It seems that slow, but steady the “paying” people of Thailand will get the same Benefits as the civil servants. Evolution needs its time.