my friend I

Thailand will be making up stories until election

My friends got some pumps to get rid of some stinking black water that a group of homes in Phattalung province were sitting in for a month. The warmer weather had not evaporated any of it. I decided it was an excellent time to go to Marks and Spencers to get a xmas cake instead. Went through Hat Yai on train. North of the city is trash of all kinds everywhere and homes surrounded by stinking blackwater. No sign of anyone cleaning up. South of the railway station fairly clean. Padang Besar operating as normal. Hotels full. No sign of flooding anywhere. Lots of ongoing earthworks on train line between Hat Yai and Padang Besar. Train ran to scheduled time. Padang Besar to Butterworth instead of two hour trip was three hours. Stop and go or slow roll along.

Would help if the military was available for the clean up instead of helping out a politician

Passengers arriving from Cambodia are getting special treatment. Been going on for some time.

Whats the situation with building inspections? Quite a few homes have moved either off foundations or foundations have had water undermine them. Dengue a risk but drying out the ground definitely a positive.

We didn't get all the way in, just to hiway 408. That section north of the lake along the coast is likely to have ongoing problems We have been focussing on places with lower populations. Be a positive if this warmer weather continues because there are a lot of areas still waterlogged.

At least it's not a white flag. We did another run to Songkhla today. We figure Hat Yai is getting enough attention. They really need to help people in the countryside.

That area next to the railway station has been lacking in charm for a while now. Maybe this is an opportunity to do something there. Not necessarily straight away. For many tourists that is the first Thailand stop.

Any news has disappeared from the media. We were thinking of going to Hat Yai next week to help boost the economy because we were under the impression things there were ok. Doesn't seem like a good idea now. The Tops at Robinsons would have flooded completely being in the basement. Be a massive task cleaning that. What happened to the 14 day cleanup deadline?

MySawasdee has been cancelled again this weekend due to flood recovery. Maybe the Thai military could help with cleanup, repairs, etc.

Thai navy is in Cambodian waters firing at a beach which has one small restaurant. Across the river from Khemarak Phoumin.

Election leading into CNY and Ramadan. Low turnout?

Now you can see the water line by plastic bags in the trees out in the bush

Seems as though some areas outside Hat Yai have been ignored in the cleanup. Most focus looks to be on the CBD. At least there hasn't been any follow up heavy rain.

Read this last night then Channel 3 showed footage of Thai tanks and troops in Cambodia.