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.

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?

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?

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.

That might be the end of any interest in the floods with Thailand/Cambodia border dispute moving to a new stage. Plenty of work available for army vehicles in the area we went. Some serious erosion.

And the flood failures. Still ongoing

Thung Song. Came for a funeral two days before flood.

We took some water and bananas down yesterday. The part we went to needed a lot of work still. Some people are very stressed, understandably.

During the flood I met an elderly couple who didn't speak Thai at all and only a bit of english. They wanted to get to Malaysia because their visa was expiring and they had heard about over staying and possibility of prison. We couldn't talk them out of going. It was flooded in Malaysia then also. We put them on the train to Phattalung which was the last stop then. And still is. We gave them directions including in Thai writing but we had no idea if the usual options were available. All the government had to do was announce the amnesty for over stay a few days earlier and they could have waited here until today. Thailand supposedly a tourist friendly destination.

With the weather the only sport in Songkhla will be water based ,swimming etc. How is jetski a sport.

Thailand supported Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. They often came to Ubon for R and R. Thailand provided the KR with landmines at the time. I would have thought it would be difficult for anyone to be sneaking around the border area to lay more landmines without getting caught. Why doesn't Thailand agree to have the border line confirmed by an independent party?

They are not wearing masks because fear of just covid. People have been wearing masks for years especially in the north because of smoke season. Also they dont want a sun tan. Go and look at all the skin whitening products for sale.

People flying in to Don Muang have reported being taken aside to a special screening area and questioned. Asked to show photos of themselves in Cambodia. BKK airport to problems

Local trains usually have one carriage with cushioned seats. Fares are about 10 baht per hour. There are few second class fan sleeper carriages now. I only know of two. There are luxury trains that run weekend trips out of Bangkok. A new schedule just came out.

Jellies at Ban Krut last four days. Moving on

railtravelstation.com has a lot of information that is regularly updated. He lives in Singapore and travels often. Malaysia is about to finally complete the electric double track all the way to JB. They are working on new timetables now. Service possibly starting December January. Malaysian trains very good. Services can be disrupted due to constant stealing of copper cables. There is also a new line connecting KL and east coast. Having same cable theft problems. Richard Barrows Thai train guide is well researched. Southern Thailand trains and stations are neglected compared to the rest of the country. Double tracking, new stations etc stops at Chumphon. There are plans for upgrades. The Malaysian immigration in the Padang Besar railway station is becoming worse. They dont even know that no stamp is given at an egate. Expect delays. Thai local trains are one of the last good things in Thailand.

railtravelstation.com

Shuttles stop at two stations in Thailand then cross the border and stop, last stop, at Padang Besar Malaysia railway station.

Four airlines Bangkok to Penang multiple daily flights Shuttle trains from Had Yai to Padang Besar Malaysia leave on time and dont stop ' way short of the border'. They stop at the platform next to immigration. The trains from Padang Besar leave when everyone has cleared immigration. Usually ontime week days. Not on time weekends and holidays.