No dumping dead bodies here!
That`s what a sign reads, that had been erected in Ban Khuan Kong in tambon Tamnan in Patthalung.
Village head Krachang Noondam says the location is frequented by criminals.

In that isolated area with thick vegetation and lots of rubber trees only few people are brave or stupid enough to use the road that`s running through the area at night, says Krachang.

Rapes had happened there and thieves used the spot to disassemble stolen cars. But worst of all, murderers dump victims, that were killed elsewhere at the site.

''Recently, two women were killed and their bodies were dumped here,'' the village head said. ''One was a hairdresser, the other was a massage therapist. Both were from the downtown area.''

To improve security villagers now set up a sign until the area is safe again.

Chapeau!



Please do not dump dead bodies at the red `A´. Thanks!

Tags: Thailand thai patthalung Tamnan Baan Khuan Kong murder bodies crime

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The owner of the food stall next door, where he prepares and sells boiled chicken, likes dogs. Whenever I see him, he plays with the stray dogs. And whenever I go to his stall and order he stops playing with the dogs and prepares the chicken with bare and unwashed hands. This miay be the reason, why, whenever I eat there, I have to see the doctor. Last time I even had to stay in hospital because of severe food poisoning including an infection to the abdominal wall. Three days in a private but definitely not one of the top Bangkok hospitals summed up to 47.000 Baht. Quite a lot. The actual treatment and accommodation was not the most expensive but the medication. And they prescribed me everything. Just a couple of weeks a had slight food poisoning again. They immediately gave me a drip with antibiotics. Then they checked my blood and found out that there was actually no infection at all. Still they prescribed me tons of antibiotics, cortisone, painkillers, dietary supplement and stuff, but I refused. Still they bill was a little more than 10.000 Baht –for just one day!

Another time I went to Ko Chang and while swimming I cut my foot. Back in Bangkok I tried to cure it myself and put Tiger Balm on it of which no I know I am allergic against.
The allergic reaction was enormous and I showed up in hospital again. The doctor hardly checked on me. No blood check. Instead she prescribed me cortisone to deal with the inflammation and strong antibiotics against an infection that had not been there at all. Also I had to come back every day for the next week to get acid dressings. All of this had been completely unnecessary.
Some closer examination and a couple of questions about my medical history would have been enough to save me a lot of money. But this is obviously not on the mind of the doctors.
I rather got the impression that most of the hospitals and clinics are rather extended pharmacies, where they just try to get as much of their merchandise as possible over the counter.

The wellbeing of the patient -or in this case rather customer- is rather in the background.
I even came across a Bangkok doctor who prescribed me high dosed cortisone for over six months. Though I asked him a couple of times about the ingredients of his pills he stayed elusive.
Most of the times doctors in Bangkok don´t tell you about the medication they prescribe. They just tell you what it is good for but leave out the part with the side effects. Also, most of them just cure the symptoms but almost never try to work out a proper diagnosis to really cure the medical problem.
Thai people seem to like it. If some medicine works, they are happy. Unfortunately, it doesn´t cure they disease.

Pretty symptomatic for many issues in Thailand.

Tags: bangkok thailand medicine hospital medication emergency doctor health healthcare medical

Actually I don`t like to prejudge people to early. But isn`t it poor, to come from a rich country to a poor country and spend your lots of money on drinks so that one sleps on the street like the poorest of the poor? And even them don`t sllep with their head in a pissed bush next to dead rats. And at least they sleep on cardboeards.



Tags: thailand thai bangkok alcohol drinking foreigners poor poverty

There are not many people in the world who can claim having an elephant as their neighbour. But my neighbour is an elephant.
I am not sure waht he does for a living but we meet each other often in street in the evenings when he comes home from work and I am going to the gym.
Today we walked a little down the street together again.
It´s crazy how fast you get used to it. Walking on the street and an elephant is walking next to me. Of course it`s still interesting but I am not astonished any more.
Since the harvesting of wood has been banned in Thailand in 1996 a lot of elephants, that had been transporting the logs out of the forest, have become unemployed. Now they are roaming the streets of Bangkok with their Mahouts and beg for food.
Sad thing.
But I don´t dare to come close to those monsters as I am scared of all animals that are either bigger or smaller than me.



Tags: bangkok thai thailand elephant

I dont know if I`ve ever mentioned it before, but I am living in a slum. During the last months a Slum had been created now surrounding my condominium. The inhabitants are as far as I know all construction workers from Isaan.
At night the dirt road that leads from my home to the main road is not illuminated, but I have never been scared to walk through it. Only during the early evening hours I am scared of those low flying batst hat might get stuck in my hair.
The houses of the slum consist only from a couple of wooden poles and six pieces of wielded iron that are nailed to the for walls and on the roof. The people shower outside.
On Saturday nights there is always party with Mor Lum music, drinking and dancing. On the day people will rummage through the rubble and hammer the steel out of the concrete parts that they can find. Also they are looking in the trash cans for glas, paper, cans and plastic and anything else that can be sold. In the evening they will burn their rubish.
Actually everyboy that I met on that pot hole road is pretty nice and sometimes even shy. This is maybe because I am coming from a differnet world and also a different class of society. Anyway, we sit together at the same tables, drinking and eating. As long es they don`t mind – cause I don`t care.





Tags: thailand thai bangkok housing residential condominiums flat slum living

In Thailand the military has always been playing an important role. The military operates broadcasting stations, banks and military schools as an alternative to the regular public schools.
In politics one finds much more Generals than in western countries.
Of course there is a military draft in Thailand. All males at the age of 21 have to do their duty for two years. And the draft is always due in this time of the year. From April 1st to April 12th draft-time in Thailand during which all 21-year-olds and all males born in the year 1987 have to submit to the draft.
Conscripts will receive an monthly salary of 1,550 baht and a daily allowance of 75 baht.
Assistant army commander Gen Jiradet Khotcharat said the army had set up 154 committees to supervise the annual draft to make sure it is free of fraud and bribery.
Gen Jiradet said the army must be careful in drafting men from the three strife-torn southernmost provinces for fear that insurgent sympathisers could mix with and infiltrate the army. He said military training would help instil good attitudes into conscripts from the South and help them stay away from insurgents. This year, a total of 85,760 new conscripts will be recruited into the armed forces. Of these, 1,392 will go to the Defence Ministry and the Supreme Command, 62,323 to the army, 16,000 to the navy and 6,045 to the air force. More than 20,000 conscripts have agreed to sign up for military service so far

Tags: thai thailand army armee military miltär wehrpflicht draft

After a vicious fight at an food stall in Nakhon Sawan a Briton had to be hospitalized due to a skull crack. A gang of about 30 Thai, including one soldier had kicked and punched the victim and two other Englishmen while they were dining at a roadside restaurant early Sunday morning.
After the three victims had been taken to hospital the gang stormed the building and resumed beating the three Brits until police eventually arrived. Responding to questions about the attack, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said the incident must be thoroughly investigated by police and the army.
Meanwhile police have arrested the accused soldier and another man. The suspects face a maximum seven years in jail if found guilty.
Police are searching fort the other suspects.

Also read the post : Battle with Thai People - You better don't

Tags: fighting thai thailand gang Nakhon Sawan crime

Like Europe in the 18th century elegant whiteness is regarded as chic in today’s asia. In drug stores all over south east asia you will hardly find a bodycare product without “whitening”-ingredients. Ranging from deo roll-ons to bodylotion all products have the whitening stuff inside which particularly people in the sunny regions of south east asia like. But many peole can’t effort the mostly expensive brands and buy therefore no-name products from the market –with sometimes ugly results. So, if you care for your skin pigments better buy brand products an invest some minutes to find a cream without whitener.



Tags: south east asia trend whitening bodycare lotions weißmacher südostasien

The Thai Culture ministry wants to encourage parents to nickname their children with Thai names after a survey displayed that in the Isaan province of Khon Kaen 45.9 percent of the children have English nicknames already. "Now, more and more parents give English nicknames to their children," Culture Ministry permanent secretary Vira Rojpojchanarat said.
In Thailand people have nicknames additionally to their official first and last name. Official names hardly play a role in everyday life in Thailand. Instead, nicknames are used even on the job. If people are close to each other or younger than you, they may call themselves by their nicknames instead of using pronouns. Some Thai nicknames have meanings, and some don’t. Treat them as mere names – don’t try to translate the names because some might be funny or not make any sense like pig (muu), chicken (gai) or fish (pla). Common Nicknames are: yai, duk-daa, gung, mot, an, jäng, dim, mai, bum, dtui, än, ding, nooi, däng, mäm, nüng, miao, nok, gop, oo, nit, nuu

Source: Benjawan Poomsan Becker: Thai for intermediate Learners and The Nation

Tags: thailand thai nicknames lek Yai muu pla nuu oo Vira Rojpojchanarat spitznamen

Police say the hackers who invaded the Information and Communications Technology Ministry’s Website were Thais living in Germany. The hackers breached the website from an Europe-based computer said Colonel Yannaphon Yangyuen. The officer explained, that his department had already warned the ministry about possible online attacks. He said the first findings suggest, that the culprits were from Germany. As a reaction to the invasion, the ministry handed over all systems security to CAT Telecom. After the hack the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) is also concerned about the military’s systems security. ISOC spokesman Thanathip Sawangsaeng said the Council planned to draft precautionary measures together with CAT Telecom.
Meanwhile, it is still unclear if the hacking was conducted to discredit the Council for National Security and its chairman Sonthi Boonyaratglin. Inofficially ISOC sources estimate that the hacking could have been to confuse the public over the coming referendum on the new Thai constitution.
In the meantime, the and Communications Technology Ministry has filed a complaint against the hackers.
Afer the new omputer-related Crimes Act offenders can be sentencedto prison between three to 15 years and fines ranging from Bt60,000 to Bt300,000.


Source: The Nation

Tags: communication ministry Thailand Hacker Website CAT Telecom Thanathip Sawangsaeng Yannaphon Yangyuen National security council ISOC