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nogutsnoapplepie
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Posts posted by nogutsnoapplepie
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not sure if it has been posted.
Latest toll: 66 dead, 691 injured
PHUKET: Kawee Sukunthamath, Chief of the Phuket Office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (ODPM), early this evening said that 66 people were confirmed dead by the tidal wave which ravaged Phuket’s coastline this morning. Of the dead, 20 were foreigners. Another 691 people were reported injured and 22 more missing.
Phuket International Airport resumed normal inbound and outbound flight services at about 5 pm this afternoon, after debris left strewn across the runway by the tsunami was cleared off.
Traffic onto and off the island has been redirected over Tao Thepkrasattri Bridge, as the older Sarasin Bridge will remain closed until the government is confident that Phuket is no longer in danger of being hit by a second wave.
In the meantime, many coastal residents have moved inland, fearful that another wave might hit Phuket.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is expected to arrive in Phuket at about 7:30 pm, to inspect the damage and to speak to people suffering from the wave’s devastating effects.
People concerned for the welfare of friends and relatives believed to be on or near the coast when the wave hit can call the emergency rescue center at Tel: 076-214492 or 01-6432755. For calls from outside Thailand, the numbers are Tel: 66 76-214492 or Tel: 66 1 643 2755.
Local police stations may also be able to help. They can be reached by dialling 191 and asking for the district police station for the area concerned.
If calling from outside Thailand, the number for Phuket Provincial Police Headquarters is Tel: 66 76-212046. Phuket Tourist Police may be reached at Tel: 66 76-355015, if dialing from outside the Kingdom.
Readers may find the list of telephone numbers for some of the embassies in Bangkok useful. The numbers are, to the best of the Gazette’s knowledge, up-to-date. Expect to hear a recorded message giving another number for the emergency duty officer.
Australia 66(0) 2 287 2680
Belgium 66 (0) 2 679 5454
Canada 66 (0) 2 636 0540
China 66 (0) 2 245 7032-3 or 2 245 7036
Denmark 66 (0) 2 213 2021-5 or 245 7036
Finland 66 (0) 2 256 9306-9
France 66 (06) 2 266 8250-6 or 2 266 0550-3
Germany 66 (0) 2 287 9000
Ireland 66 (0) 638 0303
Israel 66 (0) 2 260 4854-9
Italy 66 (0) 2 285 4090-3
Japan 66 (0) 2 252 6151-9
South Korea 66 (0) 2 247 7537
Netherlands 66 (0) 2 254 7701-5
New Zealand 66 (0) 2 254 2530
Norway 66 (0) 2 261 0230-5
Russia 66 (0) 2 234 9824
Singapore 66 (0) 2 286 1434
South Korea 66 (0) 2 247 7537
Spain 66 (0) 2 252 6112
Sweden 66 (0) 2 263 7211 or 2 263 7239
Switzerland 66 (0) 2 253 0156
Taiwan 66 (0) 2 670 0200-1
United Kingdom 66 (0) 2 3058333
USA 66 (0) 2 205 4000
Readers should note that Phuket has experienced many disruptions to both landline phone services and mobile phone networks throughout the day, and may experience difficulty in getting through.
p.s. I should of added http://phuketgazette.net/news/index.asp?id=3875 Phuket, Thailand
20:25 local time (GMT +7)
Ireland Consulate:(66)26380303 INTL
Local:02-6380303
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Where I can do horse-riding in Bangkok? I love it so much.
I saw some horses beside an express way. Maybe they are wild. I am not sure. At least I dont think I can ride them home.
A.
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How many of you would pay 999bt rtn to either Dodge City or Pong Nam Ron?
Pickup from Emporium.
No frills , same luxury coach, 28 seater, same long seat pitch, same eye candy, DIY visa, and DIY lunch. One rest stop up, one rest stop back.
Maybe pick up in or nr Pattaya on the way to Pong Nam Ron.
999bt rtn, is based on diesel at 15bt/litre.
(cross posted in the wrong forum previously)
I'd be up for that.
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As violence continues to sweep southern Thailand, journalists are also suffering, says the BBC's Nualnoi Thammasathien, who writes here of the intimidation she has met with as a result of her reports.
I was reporting in Thailand at the time of the Takbai incident on 25 October, in which protesters were piled on top of each other in military trucks, and 78 of them died, many from suffocation.
Two weeks later, still in the country, I was surfing the airwaves when I suddenly heard a programme mentioning the BBC.
I heard the two male presenters talk about how the media could undermine the country in a time of crisis.
The next thing I heard was them mentioning my name as a journalist who had done damage to national unity with my 'unpatriotic reports' on the incident.
'She has interviewed people whom she shouldn't have interviewed,' said one of the presenters, a freelancer who had hired airtime on a national radio channel which belongs to the Thai parliament.
I assume they were referring to my attempts to talk, not just to government officials and Buddhists, but to Muslims in the south, whom the authorities regard as being at the heart of the violence.
The presenters invited their audience to write to and call the BBC to complain about me and my reports
Nualnoi Thammasathien
They did not discuss any of my reports in detail, nor did they elaborate on the weaknesses or faults in them. I found it absurd for someone to criticise another's work without giving a shred of evidence.
But they did give their audience some information about my background, saying that after I had worked as a reporter in the country for some time, I 'fled the country', apparently for no particular reason.
They even mentioned, casually: 'Well, we do quite understand it really. Since she took the money from the outsiders she has to do it.'
This was a serious accusation, since for many people, taking money from outsiders in order to act in an unpatriotic fashion is tantamount to a crime against the nation.
Arranging a protest
The presenters invited their audience to write to and call the BBC to complain about me and my reports. They gave out what they thought were the BBC's telephone numbers, but apparently they got them wrong.
They also criticised human rights activists, the UN and those senators who have tried to investigate the Takbai incident.
Then the presenters and the listeners who called into the programme discussed how to arrange a protest against any representative of the UN who would want to visit Thailand to investigate the incident.
The tone of the programme sounded very extreme. It reminded me of the atmosphere leading up to the massacre of student activists at Thammasat University in October 1976, when soldiers killed students whom they thought were a communist threat.
And, to my horror, the presenters also stated clearly to their listeners that I was in fact staying in the country "at this moment"'.
To me, that was a clear case of intimidation.
But many other reporters are also in a difficult position. Some have responded with self-censorship, for example by suddenly switching their focus from the suffering of Thai Muslims to the suffering of Thai Buddhists, or by simply burying reports well within the inside pages.
They [southern Muslims] deserve to die. They're the ones who do the routine hit and run killing and then hide behind their sarongs.
Bangkok taxi driver
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has also reportedly threatened to have anyone disseminating the video footage of the detention of 1,300 Muslim protesters on the day of the Takbai incident arrested.
Some of those who have seen the video say it contains brutal and humiliating scenes of the security forces handling the detainees.
A number of people tried to organise a public showing of the video, but were told by the authorities to cancel their plans. An opposition politician, Thanin Jaisamut, who has done so, has been called in for questioning by the police.
Thai officials insist the video has been manipulated to make it appear that the soldiers brutally suppressed the protesters - and that is why the authorities have had to ban it.
Changing attitudes
But banning the video is only part of a wider attempt to stop the public from searching for the truth.
On the very day of the Takbai incident, a senior army commander in charge of the operation to disperse the protest told local reporters that they needed to keep the news among themselves.
As a result of all this, Muslims in the south are gaining a new kind of image.
"They [southern Muslims] deserve to die," a taxi driver in Bangkok told me. "They're the ones who do the routine hit and run killing and then hide behind their sarongs."
I have heard many other members of the Thai public express similar views.
Such hardening attitudes will certainly play into the hands of extremists like those who singled out my name in their radio programme.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia...fic/4115273.stm
Published: 2004/12/22 16:36:28 GMT
© BBC MMIV
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BKK no Rain @ 11:30am.
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BKK is steaming hot on Xmas Day.
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'm really looking forward to my Xmas dinner. This is what i'll be having. Though its a choice for the starters, main and dessert.
Cocktails and Canapes on Arrival
Homemade Pate with Cumberland Sauce
Potato & Leek Soup with Basil Croutons
Duck Pistachio Terrine With Cherry
Balsamic Dressing
Traditional Roasted Turkey served with
Roasted Potatoes, Minted New Potatoes,
Creamed Potatoes, Yorkshire Pudding,
Garden Peas, Chipolatas with Bacon
& Roasted Turkey Gravy.
Grilled Salmon with Sauteed Bok Choi
with Garlic, served with Creamy
Champ Sauce.
Fillet Steak cooked to your liking and
served with a choice of Potatoes,
Vegetables & Sauces.
Plum Pudding & Brandy Cream
Chocolate & Baileys Cream Mousse
Selection of Cheeses
Tea or Coffee with
Minced Pies
1000B Per Person
Exactly! Heading over there soon.
Give my regards to Mark the Chef.
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'm really looking forward to my Xmas dinner. This is what i'll be having. Though its a choice for the starters, main and dessert.
Cocktails and Canapes on Arrival
Homemade Pate with Cumberland Sauce
Potato & Leek Soup with Basil Croutons
Duck Pistachio Terrine With Cherry
Balsamic Dressing
Traditional Roasted Turkey served with
Roasted Potatoes, Minted New Potatoes,
Creamed Potatoes, Yorkshire Pudding,
Garden Peas, Chipolatas with Bacon
& Roasted Turkey Gravy.
Grilled Salmon with Sauteed Bok Choi
with Garlic, served with Creamy
Champ Sauce.
Fillet Steak cooked to your liking and
served with a choice of Potatoes,
Vegetables & Sauces.
Plum Pudding & Brandy Cream
Chocolate & Baileys Cream Mousse
Selection of Cheeses
Tea or Coffee with
Minced Pies
1000B Per Person
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The Australian charge d'affaires was called in yesterday for a ''soft protest'' against Canberra's travel advisory to its citizens about possible attacks on Christmas Eve in Bangkok and other tourist areas.
The Foreign Ministry's deputy permanent secretary Pisan Manawapat met with charge d'affaires John Griffin to discuss Australia's travel advice issued on Thursday for its citizens to exercise extreme caution on Christmas Eve.
The government website said: ''We continue to receive reports that terrorist elements in Southeast Asia are planning attacks against a range of targets, including places frequented by foreigners. Australians are advised to defer non-essential travel to the provinces of Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and Songkhla, including overland travel to and from the Malaysian border through these provinces. The frequency and intensity of violent incidents in Thailand's southern provinces has been on the increase since early 2004.
''While so far this violence has been limited to southern Thailand, the escalation of violence in the South may result in attacks elsewhere in Thailand, including Bangkok and other tourist areas,'' the warning stated.
The Thai government was angered with the statement's last paragraph which mentioned Bangkok as a target, sources said.
Mr Griffin said in a telephone interview with the Bangkok Post that he could not comment on embassy business with the Thai government but he said he did meet with Mr Pisan yesterday.
A ministry official said it was a regular consultation between the ministry and the embassy, and had nothing at all to do with the security alert for Australian citizens in Thailand.
Mr Griffin reportedly told the senior official that the government's adviser Gen Kitti Rattanajaya had provided his assessment of the risk of attacks in the foreign and Thai media so the Australian government needed to advise its own citizens.
However, the danger level was different from that for Indonesia since Canberra had ''received credible new information suggesting terrorists are ready to carry out an attack shortly there, possibly targeting the Hilton Hotel''.
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BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Thailand may be "the land of smiles,'' but next year it faces more bloodshed in the Muslim-dominated south, quarrels with its neighbors, financial disarray, and a natural disaster. That's according to a high-profile soothsayer.
Chinese astrology calls 2005 the year of the rooster, but Thai fortuneteller Phinyo Phongchareon takes the image a step further, saying it will be the year of the "fighting cock'' for Thailand.
"Next year will be the rooster year and I think it will be a year of the fighting cock for Thailand, as the use of force is likely to intensify and there could be more bloodshed in the country,'' said Phinyo, who heads the International Astrological Association.
Many Thais consult with astrologers to guide them through spiritual, financial and personal problems. Phinyo made his predictions Thursday at a seminar devoted to the country's fortunes in 2005.
Phinyo, who is also a lawyer, predicted more violence in the Muslim-majority south, where more than 570 people have been killed in attacks this year blamed on a resurgent separatist rebellion. Muslims have long complained of discrimination in this Buddhist kingdom.
Phinyo also said Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will bicker more with neighbors Indonesia and Malaysia. Officials in those two Muslim-dominated countries were infuriated recently when Thaksin claimed Thai Islamic militants were being trained in Malaysia and indoctrinated by Indonesian extremists.
Phinyo also warned of a big natural disaster in March, and another financial crisis. The Asian economic crisis started in Thailand in 1997, with the devaluation of the Thai currency, the baht.
And if the prime minister doesn't have enough future headaches, Phinyo forecast that although Thaksin's government will return to power in February elections, his party won't hold onto its majority.
Phinyo added that Thaksin often criticizes astrologers who paint gloomy pictures for his government but follows his own fortunetellers.-AP
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Bomb hits Thailand amid warning
BANGKOK: -- A bomb hidden in a motorbike has killed one person and wounded eight outside a bank in southern Thailand, as a top adviser warns that Islamic insurgents may be targeting tourist resorts across the nation.
Authorities believe the bomb was detonated via cell phone. The attack took place at 9:05 a.m. Friday in front of a branch of the Siam Commercial Bank.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Violence has troubled the Muslim south of predominantly Buddhist Thailand for decades, but has worsened this year, with more than 500 people dying so far.
Until now, the violence has been concentrated in the south, where most of Thailand's Muslim population lives.
But a senior security advisor to Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has warned that the separatist campaign could escalate, saying Islamic insurgents are plotting to attack tourist resorts across Thailand next year.
Gen. Kitti Rattanachaya told the Associated Press that documents found in the house of a fugitive leader of the country's Islamic insurgency indicate plans to broaden the conflict and turn predominantly Muslim provinces into bases for attacks on the rest of the majority Buddhist country.
The rebels also plan to turn three Muslim-dominated provinces in the south into a base for international terrorist groups, he told AP.
Thailand's government has already blamed the rise in violence on domestic separatists taking a cue from other Muslim extremist movements around the world.
But there is also speculation that international Muslim extremists are present in the region or that insurgents are retaliating against Thaksin's heavy-handed war on drugs, which affects the economically desperate region.
Rattanachaya said the documents show that in 2005, the militants plan to attack "soft targets" such as the tropical beach resorts of Pattaya and Phuket, which draw tourist from around the world.
On Thursday thousands of teachers walked off their jobs to protest a lack of security in the country's south.
More than 300 schools in Pattani province, a region hard hit by the Muslim insurgency, closed their doors Thursday.
But others in Yala and Narathiwat provinces remained open.
The teachers say they won't return to school until the government can provide adequate protection, an education official said.
Southern residents, who are mainly ethnically Malay and not Thai, claim the Buddhist administration in Bangkok discriminates against them.
--CNN 2004-12-24
Notice it doesn't say where. Here is an update from the BBC World service:
At least two people have been killed and several injured after a bomb exploded in southern Thailand.
The blast happened at a Siam Commercial Bank branch in Sungai Kolok, a town in Narathiwat province on the border with Malaysia, said police
Thailand bomb blast kills 1, wounds 8
One person has been killed and at least eight others wounded in the latest bomb attack blamed on Islamic separatists in insurgency-hit southern Thailand.
The blast came after top security officials warned of an upsurge in attacks and police said they were ordering an extra 2,000 officers to reinforce security in the southern-most provinces.
The bomb had been planted in a motorcycle parked in front of an ATM machine in Narathiwat, which is one of three southern provinces that have borne the brunt of the insurgency.
"One died and eight were injured, one critically," Sub-Lieutenant Anon Praditsaeng said.
He says most of the casualties are bank customers.
Narathiwat's Governor, Pracha Taerat, says that the attack is the work of Muslim separatists intent on exhibiting their continued capacity to strike in the south despite a recent crackdown.
"The bomb attack in Sungai Kolok was absolutely the work of separatist militants who are undergoing a tense psychological war with authorities and want to flex their muscles," Mr Pracha said.
Police have yet to determine how the device was set off or what explosives were used.
A forensics team has been dispatched to the scene.
Violence has erupted almost daily in Thailand's Muslim-dominated south this year.
Most attacks have targeted security forces, government officials or teachers, but they have also struck at Buddhist monks, villagers and tourists.
Security officials have said militants were planning major attacks in the south and the capital Bangkok around January 4, the anniversary of a raid on an army base that sparked the insurgency.
- AFP
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22 Aussie rules players suspended after brawl
FRIDAY , 24 DECEMBER 2004
MELBOURNE: Twenty-two Australian Rules footballers have been suspended with one player receiving a five-year ban after an on-field brawl, Australian media reported on Thursday.
The penalties were imposed by a tribunal for North Queensland Australian football body AFL Cairns, following an investigation into the fracas at the grand final between North Cairns Tigers and Port Douglas Crocs on September 18.
A brawl involving players, officials and fans erupted before play began in the match, Australian Associated Press reported.
The banned players were all from North Cairns.
Tigers coach Jason Love, a former Sydney Swans forward, was suspended for three years shortly after the incident after being found guilty on three charges of striking.
"This behaviour is simply unacceptable, brings the code into disrepute and can have a very damaging influence on children who were at the game or saw the footage on television," AFL Cairns president Russell Beer said."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/print/0,1478,...29a1823,00.html
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MARCH 26TH 2004
Ex-diplomat in child porn ring scandal
Published on Mar 26, 2004
Thai police have accused former Australian diplomat Robert Scoble of running a secret child-sex recruitment network by using one of Southeast Asia’s biggest gay tourism agencies as a front, the Sydney Morning Herald reported yesterday.
Police told the Herald’s Southeast Asian correspondent, Mark Baker, that they found more than 100 albums containing sexually explicit photographs of boys – some believed to be as young as 10 – when they raided the Bangkok apartment of the former deputy ambassador to Vietnam and Telstra executive.
“They were like catalogues, and we believe he was sending these pictures to people overseas,” said Major Choowong Uthaisang from the Immigration Department.
Major Choowong told the Herald that police also seized computer picture files of a man they believed to be Scoble engaged in sexual acts with several prepubescent boys.
Another immigration officer, Lt-Colonel Pichit Itthipalacahai, said Scoble, 56, and an American business partner, John Charles Goss, were believed to have used their Bangkok travel agency as a front to introduce foreign paedophiles to Thai children.
Scoble and Goss were arrested last Friday after a month-long surveillance that followed information supplied by the Australian embassy in Bangkok and complaints made to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the Herald said.
“There is evidence that they were supplying boys to tourists coming to Thailand, and we are looking at further charges,” Colonel Pichit said.
Scoble and Goss were charged on Saturday with distributing pornography and employing an unregistered foreign worker in their travel agency, which is in an office suite in the Tarntawan Place Hotel. The boutique hotel is popular with gay travellers and next to Patpong district. The two men were released on bail after a brief court appearance.
Their passports were impounded and they were ordered not to leave Thailand, according to the newspaper.
The travel agency, co-founded by Scoble in the mid-1990s, sells package tours throughout Southeast Asia to gay travellers, the Herald said.
An affiliated website boasts that the company “pioneered gay and lesbian travel in Southeast Asia”. At the agency yesterday, a middle-aged American man, who refused to give his name, said Scoble would not talk to journalists.
“We are being crucified in the newspapers in Australia. There is some terrible innuendo being published,” he said. “One woman has written some very libellous stuff and we’re going to sue the panties off her.”
During the raid on Scoble’s apartment, in an expensive suburb popular with Thai politicians and film stars, police said they found a huge cache of pornographic material including magazines, personal photographs, videocassettes and computer disks.
Choowong showed the Herald images of a stocky, middle-aged man with receding grey hair – his face digitally masked – having sex with several young boys. The images were found on a personal computer in the apartment.
Colonel Pichit told the Herald that if investigations confirmed Scoble’s identity, he would face further charges of sexually abusing minors.
He said Scoble, who denied being a paedophile, broke down after being told late on Friday that he would be charged with distributing pornography, which carries a maximum three years’ jail.
Scoble, a career diplomat who held posts in Thailand and Vietnam, resigned from the Foreign Affairs Department in 1985 after a scandal involving pictures of young boys sent through diplomatic mail. He said the images were sent as an innocent joke.
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Man, I'm getting way too much SPAM from Thai Visa. How can we stop it?
I sent an email to the managment, no response.
not your place noguts, let admin deal with it.
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I also miss my frequent chat with several of the guys.
Learned a lot during the last year.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you (Jay-Penz-nogut-pnu-torn-LC-)
I know who my friends are
merry christmas mate.
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BKK dry as a bone and not a droplet in sight.
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Word is that the raped Girl is an 18 year old Irish Lass.
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So what's it gonna be this year in LOS?
Will one be eating Turkey or Chicken with all the trimmings?
Either way it will be poultry in motion come evening time.
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Buy her a mobile with a prepaid card, and define up front hoow much you will pay for.
After that it is up to her!!
Why stop there??? Cut her fingers OFF!!!
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You can legally take out any amount. Just takes time and patience and yes it is legal. Nuff said.
Except for the big sign at the Airport that says "Baht50,000" ONLY!!!
Maybe Up To 6000 Dead, Tidal Waves Slams Thailand
in Thailand News
Posted · Edited by nogutsnoapplepie
Tidal waves kill up to 700 in southern Thailand
27/12/2004 - 8:19:13 AM
Rescue teams converged on beaches and remote islands in search of the missing today as the Thai prime minister said up to 700 people perished when earthquake-spawned tidal waves devastated idyllic resort areas of southern Thailand.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said between 600 and 700 persons had died when the waves and flooding struck the international resort island of Phuket and the surrounding region.
Maj. Gen. Kokiet Wongworachart, commander of Phuket’s police force, said that 35 of the victims who died on the island had been identified as foreigners. But the number of Western and Asian tourists who perished is expected to be far higher.
Media reported nationals of South Korea, Japan, Germany, South Africa, Hong Kong, Britain, Ireland, Denmark, Australia, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, Sweden, Chile and the United States as among the dead and missing.
Earlier, Dr. Piphat Yingseri, a senior official of the Public Health Ministry in Bangkok, said 431 people died and more than 4,100 were injured in the disaster that struck eight provinces in the south.
http://www.breakingnews.ie/2004/12/27/story182061.html#
The Department of Foreign Affairs (Dublin,Ireland) has set up the following helpline numbers for those seeking information: (01) 4082302; (01) 4082876 and (01) 4082308.