micky

Dear Forkinhades,

Thank you for your prompt reply.

Much appreciated.

Hi,

I intend to bring in my laptop into Thailand by crossing over the Malaysian-Thai border.

Is there any procedure. Do I have to declare ?

And if I fly by air, is there the same procedure.

Have I to declare my laptop before going in and out of Thailand.

Your kind advice is much appreciated.

Thanking you in advance.

Dear lopburi3 & Lite Beer,

Thank you for your kind advice.

Much appreciated.

Hi,

Corrections:

It should read as "Is it true that a foreigner who buys a condominium in Thailand costing

Baht Ten million could apply for Permanent Residence in Thailand?.

Sorry for the typing error.

Thank you once again.

Hi,

Is is true that a foreigner who buys a condominium in Thailand costing Baht Ten Million could apply

for Permanent Residence.

My uncle and his wife (both are retirees) plan to do just that and they want to be a PR there.

Is there any ideal one bedroom condo for sale in Sukhumvit area or other good locations.

Your advice is much appreciated.

Thanking you in advance.

You acutally do not need a visa to enter Malaysia if you are holding a belgian passport, but the 4 months validity could pose a problem. Border immigration are not less strict imho (just crossed Changloon to Sadao 3 weeks ago and saw a few farangs being held up for visa problems)

Bribing might work though.

Your Passport need to have at least six months validity to enter into Malaysia.

A Very Strong Word Of Advice : Do Not Bribe !!! This is Not Thailand.

You will be arrested and face a "mandatory" jail sentence plus a heavy fine.

All records of your passport when coming in will be recorded "On-Line" at all border crossings.

I repeat, bribing a civil servant is a very serious offence and the jail sentence is "mandatory" in Malaysia.

Please be aware !!! Mai mee pan ha ! Sawatdi.

Not trying to argue my case but from my experiences, malaysia is same same as thailand when it comes to 'coffee/tea' money.

Many a times, dealing with the Malaysian police or government officials, all that is needed is some greasing of the palms.

I would suggest OP tries his luck then if/when the passport is flagged, take it back and slot a $50 malaysian bill in between and requests for the officer to take another look.

I beg to differ. It is "Not The Same".

In Malaysia, the "Jail" sentence is "mandatory" . In Thailand it is not mandatory.

That means, you are playing "Black Jack" with law enforcement officers.

If the officer wants to arrest you, and if you are found guilty, then the jail sentence is mandatory.

Is it worth the risks ?

Just recently, a few Bangladeshi and Pakistani workers were sent to prisons trying to bribe police and law enforcement officers.

Still want to play "Black Jack" ? BTW, they love to target foreigners. Beware !!!

Hi,

I attach more info on Islamic (Syariah) laws in Malaysia for your reading. Something we should know. Read on !

Legal Implications of Conversion to Islam In Malaysia

Document issued by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Malaysia

“The Legal Implications of Conversion to Islam”

Dear Bothers and Sisters in the Lord,

If you convert to Islam, there are important changes to your legal status and what you can or cannot do.

Your conversion to Islam will be registered with the Religious Department and the National Registration Department, both of which are computerized so access to this information is available throughout the country.

Under Syariah enactments of most of the 13 States of Malaysia:

Conversion back to your former religion is either (a) not allowed under the law, or ( a criminal offence which means that you may be fined, whipped, detained or imprisoned under most State Islamic laws.

If you are under 18 years of age, you require your parent’s permission to convert to Islam. Your identity card will record your conversion to Islam.

Therefore, even if you are no longer practicing Islam, you may be fined, whipped, detained, or imprisoned for violation of Syariah laws such as praying in Church, eating in public during fasting month, “Khalwat” etc.

You cannot marry a non-Muslim. If you decide to divorce and attempt to convert out of Islam, you will lose custody of your children because they are Muslims.

Upon death, your non-Muslim relatives will lose their rights to any property, money, etc. that you want to leave to them. The corpse of a convert to Islam will be taken away from his or her non-Muslim family for Islamic rites and burial even if you have not been a practising (sic) Muslim for many years.

In the event that your spouse converts to Islam, you may have no right to either your children or your spouse’s property.

We know that certain Christians who convert to Islam for whatever reasons, are not aware of or do not consider seriously the implications of such conversion. Hence, the need to inform you (sic).

By this, we are neither against Islam nor freedom of religion, which is guaranteed for all Malaysians in Article 11 of our Constitution which give the right to an individual to choose freely his or her religion.

But to choose correctly, you need to know clearly what you choose and the consequences of your choice.

This is signed by:

Archbishop Murphy Pakiam, Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur; Bishop Antony Selvanayagam, Bishop of Penang; Bishop Paul Tan, S.J., Bishop of Melaka-Johor

Some interesting facts (political) about Penang State.

To begin with Malaysia is a federation of 13 States (Negeri) and 3 federal territories.

The Prime Minister and Chief Ministers of all the other states are ethnic muslim Malays.

The ruling Government lost 5 States to oppostion parties in last year’s Genearal Elections.

First time in 50 years, the opposition party won and took over Penang.

Never happened before. First time in history, an ethnic Chinese from the opposition party

became the Chief Minister of Penang. First time in the history of Penang (after 50 years).

Kelantan and Kedah were won by the Islamist Party. (muslim Malays)

Perak and Selangor won by the PKR - a multi racial party. Their Chief Ministers

have to be muslim Malays .

Therefore only Penang State has a non-muslim Chief Minister (a ethnic Chinese) at the moment.

Have a pleasant trip. To me, Penang is a much better place to stay than KL. Friendly, less traffic jam

and the food, especially the Chinese food is fantastic. Best in the country, so to speak.

Malaysia bans forced conversion of minors to Islam

By Razak Ahmad Razak Ahmad

Thu Apr 23, 7:44 am ET

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia has banned the forced conversion of children to Islam to quell unease among religious minorities in the mainly Muslim nation, the country's Legal Affairs Minister said on Thursday.

The decision follows the highly publicized case of Indira Gandhi, a 34-year-old ethnic Indian Hindu woman whose estranged husband embraced Islam and then converted their children to the religion as well.

Minister Nazri Aziz said minors were to be bound by the common religion of their parents while they were married even if one parent later becomes a Muslim.

Islamic law will also apply only from the point of a person's conversion to the religion and is not retrospective, he told a press conference.

"We have to resolve this once and for all. I don't think we should be deciding on a piecemeal basis every time a conversion issue crops up," Nazri said.

"We have decided on a long-term solution because we expect more cases will occur, being a multiracial country," he added.

Islam is the official religion in Malaysia, but non-Muslims are allowed to practice their faiths.

Muslims, who make up around 65 percent of the Southeast country's 27 million population, are bound by Islamic family laws, while civil laws apply to non-Muslims.

Nazri said the Attorney-General had been instructed to look at the relevant legislation that would need to be amended to effect the decision.

The Attorney-General would also be asked approach the Malay rulers -- titular heads in nine of Malaysia's 13 states who are in charge of Islamic affairs in their respective states -- to seek consent for amendments to related state Islamic laws, added Nazri.

There has been growing unease among Malaysia's mainly Chinese and Indian ethnic minorities who are mostly Buddhists, Christians and Hindus over numerous complaints of discrimination and unfair treatment by the authorities when seeking legal redress following cases of divorce and religious conversions.

The disquiet built up during the case of Lina Joy, a Malay Muslim who converted to Christianity at the age of 26 but was forced to endure a long legal battle to have her conversion legally recognized by the Malaysian courts.

(Reporting by Razak Ahmad; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Singapore couple claim Malaysian VIP, bodyguards bashed them

SINGAPORE, Jan 8 — She watched in horror as her fiance was allegedly pinned down on a couch and beaten up by about 15 men dressed in black.

She herself was slapped twice on the face by a man who claimed to be a VIP in Malaysia.

Nurul, 20, and her fiance Mark, 31, were so outraged by the incident that they contacted The New Paper to recount the incident.

They didn't want their full names published for fear of reprisals.

Mark, who is unemployed, said he had checked into Awana Genting Highlands Golf and Country Resort with Nurul and two other friends on Christmas Day.

They visited the Safari nightclub in Genting Highlands at around 11pm.

At about 3am, three women entered the club, escorted by men dressed in black.

Nurul, who is studying to be a childcare teacher, said: “An hour later, when they were about to leave, one of the women, who is in her 30s, elbowed me on the way out.

“Not only did she not apologise,” claimed Nurul, “but the men with her suddenly surrounded us and pushed me away. She even said, 'Serves you right, b...h'.”

Nurul and Mark approached the club manager, who had apparently seen what happened, to ask why he did not step in. The couple were told that the woman is the wife of a Malaysian VIP.

Eventually, the club manager alerted the police.

Mark and his fiancee claimed they related the incident the police, who noted their particulars, including their room number, on a piece of paper.

But the couple did not file an official police report. Mark claimed they decided to let the matter rest as they were told by the police that the people involved were Malaysian VIPs.

The same afternoon, the four Singaporeans chanced upon the same VIP group at a theme park. They tried to keep a distance, but Nurul claimed that a woman from the group who was at the club made a hand gesture daring her to come forward.

She claimed they ignored the group.

At 5am on Dec 27, the day they were to check out, the couple were woken up by a knock on their hotel room door.

A policeman and a hotel security guard, both in uniform, told them that the VIP wanted to see them at the hotel's tower lobby, which is not the main lobby.

They also noticed that the policeman was holding the same piece of paper which had their particulars when they spoke to the police in the club.

They claimed they decided to go to the lobby because they didn't think anything bad would happen since the police was around.

According to Mark, when they got to the lobby, they saw the VIP, wearing a batik shirt and jeans, lounging on a couch.

With him were at least 15 men dressed in black, he alleged. The clear demarcation led him to conclude that the men were the VIP's bodyguards.

He claimed that he recognised a few of the bodyguards in black from the club incident.

“The two men (who escorted us down) were asked to go away by the bodyguards. The bodyguards then cordoned off the corridor to the lobby and the lift area,” claimed Mark. “The tower lobby was isolated. There were no other witnesses.”

The couple claimed that Nurul was slapped twice — once on each cheek — by the VIP.

She was then allegedly held from the back by a bodyguard. She watched helplessly as the VIP then allegedly slapped and punched Mark.

After the VIP was done, the bodyguards took over and beat him for about 30 minutes, Mark claimed.

Even as the alleged beating continued, the VIP demanded that the couple apologise for what they had done to his wife.

Nurul, who was in tears by then, said she screamed: “Where are our human rights?”

Mark claimed: “The VIP replied in English, 'You have no human rights until you apologise for what you did to my wife.”

The VIP accused Nurul of hitting his wife and hitting his wife's table at the Safari nightclub, Mark claimed.

Mark said: “None of this happened. They were always surrounded by bodyguards, so how could we have got close enough to hit them?”

Mark's fiancee eventually apologised to the VIP so that they would stop beating him up. After that, Mark claimed, the VIP offered to take them to the hospital and promised he would not hurt them anymore.

They were sceptical about his offer. “(But) if we had said no, we (feared we) could have faced worse consequences,” said Nurul.

The VIP and a bodyguard then went up to Mark's hotel room with him as they were worried that his fiancee, who had left the lobby five minutes earlier, would call the police.

Nurul was crying in one of their friends' room.

When The New Paper spoke to Ryan, 21, one of the couple's friends who were with them, he claimed he did not see what happened in the club.

But he said he was woken up by a phone call from Mark at about 5am on Dec 27, telling them that someone was at their door asking them to go for a talk with the VIP.

As he was in the room next to the couple's, he looked through the peephole and saw two men standing outside Mark's room.

In less than 30 minutes, said Ryan, Nurul came knocking at his door.

He told The New Paper that Nurul seemed all right initially, but she broke down as she told him what had happened.

About five minutes later, Mark, the VIP and a bodyguard were at his door.

Ryan claimed that Mark was bleeding from his right eye, which was swollen, and alleged there were blood stains on his T-shirt.

“I was in shock. I didn't expect this to happen, especially at that time (of the morning),” said Ryan.

Accompanied by Ryan and their other friend, Hannah, the couple were taken to the Klinik Genting hospital in the VIP's black BMW X5 Series.

Before the VIP left the hospital, he allegedly told them not to report the matter to the police or blow up the matter. Mark also claimed that he was made to take off his bloodied clothes, which were taken away by the VIP.

He did not report the matter to the hotel management or the police as he was worried about repercussions.

When contacted, the security manager of Awana Genting Highlands Golf and Country Resort told The New Paper that he had received no report of such an incident.

The four returned to Singapore on Dec 28, and Mark said he saw a doctor the next day.

He showed The New Paper medical documents from both Klinik Genting and Changi General Hospital to prove that he had been injured.

He said he sustained mostly head injuries, including a small hairline fracture on his right cheek and bleeding from his right eye.

The couple said they reported the incident to the Ministry of Foreign

Affairs on Dec 30.

When contacted by The New Paper, the ministry declined to comment on the incident.

Nurul said: “Just because you're a VIP, it doesn't mean you can treat us like that. At least show some evidence that I was the one who provoked the woman on that first night.

“Our family told us not to go up against such VIPs but we can't just pretend that nothing happened. They were so cool and calculated about the whole thing, like they knew they could get away with it.

“It's really unbelievable.” — The New Paper

Hi,

I bought an Omron model I A 2 in Malaysia for RM300 (Japanese Product).

I also bought a Switzerland product model Microlife BP 3BM1-3P for RM150.

Both models have "irregular heartbeat detector."

The Omron model is more solid and is good for heavy duty use.

I prefer the Omron, more "user friendly" so to speak and more expensive

than the Microlife model.

Bty, do not buy the wrist type. It is never accurate.

Could any one recommend me a good, new, and clean hotel in Silom- Patpong and Sukhumvit

around the price of Baht 1200 and below. Please also let me know the location.

Thanking you in advance.

Thanks, jingjoe. Very informative and useful.

Thank you.

Regards,

micky.

Hi retiredusn,

Thanks for the kind advice. Will keep that in mind.

Regards,

micky

Hi chavy,

Thanks for your prompt and kind response. Will take a bus.

Thank you.

Regards,

micky.

Hi,

I am interested to travel from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport to Aranyaprathet, then to Poipet. First timer for me.

Any information on mode of travelling from the airport to Aranyaprathet...... trains, buses, hotels and etc would be much appreciated. Can I use Thai Baht in Poipet ?

Thanks.

Try taking multi-vitamins.

One a day and it works for me, so it seems.

New Straits Times (Malaysia) 8-3-2007.

Thai with buckshot wounds detained

08 Mar 2007

ALOR STAR: A Thai volunteer policeman was shot while searching for wild rattan at a forest reserve in Bukit Kayu Hitam near here yesterday.

The incident took place about 3km inside the Malaysian border.

Wilkorn Chuthong, 34, from Nawi, Thailand, was believed to have entered the forest with two friends, when he was injured by six buckshots in his chest, stomach and thighs.

Padang Terap police chief Superintendent Hamzan Darus said the incident occured at 5.30pm and the injured man walked a kilometre to a timber kongsi for help.

From there, two timber workers took him to the Kuala Nerang Hospital.

When his condition worsened, he was later transferred to Alor Star Hospital.

Hamzan said the man had been remanded for illegal entry into the country.

"He was carrying a Thai volunteer police identity card on him.

"He claimed that he was searching for wild rattan with two other friends.

"The friends have returned to Thailand. We want to know why he was here and if he was on duty. We’ve informed Interpol and Thai police of the incident," he said.

From a foreign news report: The Moorthy Story

December 1, 2006

Malaysia: Islamist Courts Win Fight Over Corpse

A year ago, an undignified battle took place over the mortal remains of a Hindu mountaineering hero, Lt Corporal Moorthy. The case highlighted the contradictions in Malaysia's constitution, and how, despite its claims to be a moderate Muslim nation, Malaysia is an authoritarian Islamist state, where Islam comes before all else, including the rights of its non-Muslim minorities.

Lt Corporal Moorthy had been on the first Malaysian team to reach the summit of Everest in 1997, and had been regarded as a national hero, even though he was a Hindu. In 1998 Moorthy was injured in a training exercise, which paralyzed him. Last year, he fell from his wheelchair and lapsed into a coma.

While 36-year old Moorthy was in his coma, army colleagues then told the authorities that the former mountaineer had secretly converted to Islam a year earlier. As a result, when Moorthy died in December, the Islamic Affairs Department claimed custody of his body, saying that he was to be buried as a Muslim.

Kaliammal Moorthy went to the High Court to claim rights over her husband's body, desiring to have him buried according to Hindu custom. She told the court that he drank alcohol and took part in Hindu festivals, and had never converted to Islam.

The judge, Justice Mohammed Raus Sharif, told Kaliammal that he had no power to act against the Islamic authorities. An amendment had been made to the Constitution in 1988, to the effect that Article 121 (1A) now states that civil courts have no jurisdiction on "any matter" which falls within the jurisdiction of the Syariah (Islamic) courts.

As a result, on December 28, 2005, Moorthy's body was taken by the Islamic Affairs Department, washed, wrapped and buried with Muslim rites. His widow was not present at the funeral.

All citizens of Malaysia are obliged to carry a card which denotes their ethnic and religious status. This card, called MyKad is issued to people when they are 12 years old. Because of the racial apartheid practiced in Malaysia, all ethnic Malays are registered as "Muslims". All the details on the MyKad, including non-Muslims' conversion to Islam, are recorded by the National Registration Department.

At no stage had Moorthy registered with the National Registration Department that he had converted to Islam, and at no point during the proceedings of either the Sharia court or the High Court did the Islamic Affairs Department produce any documentary evidence to prove their case that Moorthy had converted. Based upon a rumor, and nothing more, Kaliammal's claims were ignored and overridden.

The case sparked a national scandal. When it was widely reported in the international press, deputy prime minister Najib Tun Razak tried to make amends to Mrs Moorthy. In January 2006, Razak gave Lt Corporal Moorthy a promotion to the rank of Sarjan (Sergeant) backdated to June 2005. As defense minister, Razak's move was honored by the military, and allowed Mrs Moorthy increased widow's benefits.

At the recent 57th annual congress of the ruling party, UMNO, which has ruled in coalition governments continuously since Malaysia's independence of August 31, 1957, some party members threatened violence against non-Muslims who did not accept the policy of "ketuanan Melayu", the "Malay agenda". This doctrine states that the Malay people, who are all regarded as "Muslim", are the original and defining populace of Malaya, and thus should have special status and privileges.

Though UMNO promotes another doctrine of "Islam Hadhari" or "civilizational Islam", it supports the discrimination against non-Muslims, and the contradictions in the constitution which forbid anyone from converting out of Islam. Article 3(1) of the Constitution indicates that 'other religions (apart from Islam) may be practiced in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation. Article 11 gives citizens the right to profess and practise any religion they choose, even though Article 121 (1A) dictates that civil courts have no jurisdiction on "any matter" which comes under the ruling of the Islamic Courts.

Issues of changing one's faith out of Islam falls under the terms of the Syariah or Islamic Courts. Even though a person may claim under Article 11 that they can profess any religion of their choosing, the National Registration Department refuses to acknowledge anyone's conversion unless it has been approved by the Islamic Courts.

And so far, in 49 years of independence from British rule, there has not been a single case of anyone being allowed by these courts to officially apostasize, or renounce their claim to be Muslim. The only person ever to be allowed to convert out of Islam was only granted this privilege AFTER she had died.

Nyonya Tahir (pictured top right), an 89 year old Buddhist woman, died on Thursday, January 19 this year. During her life, Nyonya had appealed to the National Registration Department repeatedly to have her designation as "Muslim" removed from her MyKad. She was an ethnic Malay. Ethnic Malays comprise 50.8% of the population, but because of the religious and racist apartheid of Malaysia's NRD, she was automatically classed as a Muslim. She had become a Buddhist when she married a Chinese man in 1936.

When Nyonya's family tried to have her buried as a Buddhist, the Syariah courts commandeered her body. For the first time in recorded history, the Islamic courts heard evidence from Buddhists - two of Nyonya's children. Finally, on January 23, the Sharia court allowed Mrs Tahir to be buried as a Buddhist.

Muhamad Burok, president of the Malaysian Syariah Lawyers Association dishonestly stated: "It shows that our two court systems - the Civil Court and Syariah Court - can exist in harmony, so the issue that the Constitution should be amended does not arise. The decision shows that everyone can get protection from all the courts."

Once more, the issue of Malaysia's Islamofascist policies has been in the national media, and once again, it involves the undignified spectacle of the Islamic courts holding a tug of war over a dead body, in defiance of the wishes of the deceased's relatives.

This time, the subject of the dispute is a Christian, 71 year old Rayappan Anthony, who had lived at Shah Alam, Selangor state. He died in Kuala Lumpur Hospital on Wednesday, November 29, as a result of complications, arising from his diabetes. There was chaos in the hospital morgue as the two factions of the family and the representatives of the Selangor Islamic Religious Department claimed rights to the corpse. The family demanded rights to have their relative buried as a Christian, while the Islamists insisted that Rayyapan was a Muslim.

For a day, the body remained in the morgue as the factions argued. A lawyer for the deceased's family, A. Sivesan, said that Rayappan had embraced Islam on January 20, 1990. He had become a Muslim in order to marry an Indian Muslim wife. (Under Malaysia's religious apartheid, a non-Muslim man and a Muslim woman are legally prevented from marrying). Rayappan had changed his name to a Muslim one - Muhammad Rayappan Abdullah.

Sivanesan said on Thursday, November 30, at the morgue: "But after about eight years of being a Muslim, Rayappan decided to return to his family and applied to renounce the faith." Sivenesan said that Rayappan had made a sworn declaration before a Commissioner for Oaths to renounce Islam, but had not submitted the letter until the day he died.

On May 10 1999, Sivenasan claimed, Rayappan applied to the National Registration Department (NRD) by submitting his sworn declaration. He had been issued with a new MyKad, which was under his non-Muslim name, Rayappan Anthony.

Sivenesan said that he had spoken to officials from the Selangor Islamic Religious Department on the morning of Thursday, November 30, and had handed to them all the legal documentation from the NRD. He said that the issue would be taken to the Syariah (Sharia) Court on Friday, December 1.

Rayappan's daughter, 42-year old Jaymarie said that her father had stopped being a Muslim when he went back to his Christian family and his former wife, her 65-year old mother M. Lourdesmary, in 1999. She said: "We hope we can claim the body amicably and our lawyer has given all the documents to JAIS (Selangor Islamic Religious Department, also called MAIS)."

So on Friday (today), the issue was adjudicated upon by the Islamic court of Shah Alam. As a result, the court has predictably ruled that former van-driver Rayappan is a Muslim, even though he had officially proclaimed himself to be no longer a follower of the faith.

At Shah Alam Syariah Court the Sharia High Court judge, Abu Zaky Mohammad, ruled that the body should be buried according to Muslim tradition. Juraish Kamaruddin had produced documents to support the claim that Rayappan had embraced Islam.

Apparently ignoring the documents from lawyer A. Sivenesan, which claimed that Rayappan had renounced his embrace of Islam, Abu Zaky Mohammad considered the issues during a closed hearing which lasted 55 minutes. He ruled that only on Monday, December 4, can the body of Rayappan be claimed by JAIS. (This is because the order was issued in a different state, the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, and each state has its own Syariah rules).

Lawyer A Sivenesan announced that the family will be filing a civil suit in the High Court at Wisna Denmark on Monday.

A spokesman for the Selangor Islamic Religious Department said that the family could be allowed to hold last rites for Rayappan, in accordance with their Catholic faith.

He said: "There have been previous cases on special request where the council allowed the family of deceased converts to perform last rites according to their own beliefs, provided they promised to surrender the body to us to be buried according to Muslim rites. In Rayappan's case, we are also open to negotiation."

The family's civil suit will ultimately be rejected by the High Court as, according to Article 121 (1A) of the Constitution, civil courts have no jurisdiction on "any matter" which comes under the ruling of the Islamic Courts. But at least their case will further draw attention to the religious apartheid and social injustice which proliferates in Malaysia.

Thank you for your kind advice.

Regards,

micky.

Hi,

How much is the taxi fare from the Suvarnabhumi airport to Silom-Suriwongse area?

Where do I take the taxi? Book inside the airport or outside the airport? Which is

cheaper. Any other cheaper means to travel out from there? Will be arriving br Air Asia from KL.

Your kind advice is much appreciated. Thanking you in advance.

Another reminder:

This happened in April 2005.

April 3, 2005.

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Two bombs exploded almost simultaneously at an airport and a supermarket in Thailand's restive Muslim south Sunday, killing one person and wounding more than 30 others, police and witnesses said.

The two bombs in the southern commercial town of Hat Yai were the latest attacks in a region where more than 600 people have died in 15 months of violence which the government has blamed on Muslim separatists.

"One person was killed at the airport," Police Major General Surapol Tongprasert told Reuters. A Hat Yai hospital official said they were treating more than 30 wounded from the two bomb attacks.

An airport limousine driver told Reuters he saw 20 people wounded, including a fellow driver whose legs had been blown off.

"I saw it with my own eyes. The bomb cut off the legs of one of my friends," driver Purich Raebenmud told Reuters.

Another eight people were wounded when a second bomb exploded at the Carrefour superstore, about 20 km (12 miles) from the airport, Bangkok's FM 100 radio reported.

Police said a third bomb hidden in a motorcycle exploded outside a hotel in the town of Songkhla, 40 km north of Hat Yai, but there were no reports of casualties.

Let me put in this way.

Hatyai is just about a two hours drive to the Southern Province,

which is facing a serious insurgency. Bomb attacks and killings

are the order of the day for the separatists to achieve their aims

for an independent state. The situation is not getting better, it

is getting from bad to worst. Bomb blast has happened in Hatyai

tourist and shopping areas, Hatyai railway station, Airport,

and so on. Do you think they will stop here ? Please remember,

the separatists, unofficially, have the support from the muslim

world. Of course they will deny it and because of that I use the

term ' unofficially '. Please remember, we are the 'unbelievers'.

To protect the tourism industry the Thai authorities would say,

"Please come, nothing serious, we are in control".

Whom do you believe ? I rest my case. Enter at your own risks.

Oh yes. I have The Plaza Hotel in mind.

Thanks to you, RBWilson.

Khap Khon mak mak.

Regards,

micky.

Thanks to both of you.

Khap khon mak mak.

Sawatdi krap!

With best regards,

micky.