witsawakorn

Bloody EIAs.

How dare the people to be involved.

Absolutely - anybody would think its their money

This is a democratically elected peoples' government - they can do what they want. They have the peoples' mandate. All these pesky NGO's and agitators - how dare they interfere with important government scams schemes that have been carefully thought through to benefit the Shin gang people.

Some will be challenging the hugely beneficial long term rice pledging scam scheme next.

Yes they may have got the Idea from the US where George Bush lifted the ban on offshore oil drilling in Alaska in 2005 without even studying the environmental impact. A shocking decision that wasn't blocked until Obama got in.

Unfortunately in this case the project in question is clearly intended to benefit ordinary people and companies who live/operate in flood risk areas rather than lining corporate coffers and the downside is that completing the EIA might take a year or more which increases the risk of further flooding. The best solution might be to place a contract for the design and EIA studies since you don't actually need to have an approved EIA until construction starts according to my understanding of Thai regulations

Are you saying that the environment should not be considered just go ahead and start building dams? Yes it might set them back a year or two. But this is a permanent structure you don't just go and build one and then say Oh this is wrong it has damaged to much of the environment. Not to mention the people living there.

That attitude is what has gotten the Government into so much trouble all ready. Do any thing involving big money so they can get there nose in the trough.

The land has been there for many years and seen many floods. It won't hurt to make sure you are doing the right thing.

I said " The best solution might be to place a contract for the design and EIA studies". I didn't suggest that the environment shouldn't be considered although that was GWB's crazy approach to getting oil companies access to Alaska.Thailand's EIA process requires public consultation which will be difficult if the design hasn't been prepared. It also makes sense to place the EIA/design contracts early as it gets the ball rolling without having to commit huge sums of money

Bloody EIAs.

How dare the people to be involved.

Absolutely - anybody would think its their money

This is a democratically elected peoples' government - they can do what they want. They have the peoples' mandate. All these pesky NGO's and agitators - how dare they interfere with important government scams schemes that have been carefully thought through to benefit the Shin gang people.

Some will be challenging the hugely beneficial long term rice pledging scam scheme next.

Yes they may have got the Idea from the US where George Bush lifted the ban on offshore oil drilling in Alaska in 2005 without even studying the environmental impact. A shocking decision that wasn't blocked until Obama got in.

Unfortunately in this case the project in question is clearly intended to benefit ordinary people and companies who live/operate in flood risk areas rather than lining corporate coffers and the downside is that completing the EIA might take a year or more which increases the risk of further flooding. The best solution might be to place a contract for the design and EIA studies since you don't actually need to have an approved EIA until construction starts according to my understanding of Thai regulations

I see this as a good thing. Thailand has a good EIA system which was strengthened after the 2010 protests about Maptaphut. It is good to see the law being enforced

Anybody who has ever complained about corruption in Thailand should be applauding the fact that somebody is taking the case to the NACC

This will definitely happen, and most likely be a great success. Too many whinging farangs on here who think Thais can't do things. But all the farangs on here can do is constantly whine and whinge. Don't you have anything better to do with your lives?

Be fair, we dont think it, we KNOW it!!

Speak for your self tourist. What do you KNOW? You obviously haven't worked here

Hmm so they built a power station, and then they laid a cable from the mainland to supply the power station with power. Logical, no? Just like you build a train station - you build it, then lay down the railroad tracks to the train station, so it can be supplied with trains from another train station?

I think something has been lost in translation. I think they are talking about a Power receiving station not a power generating station. PEA is a power distibution company not a generating company. It seems that they have installed a second subsea cable with a switching station on the island which will provide redundancy in the supply. A totally sensible idea which will help to provide a reliable power supply.

I would have thought Thai students were WORSE than this. The stupid systems the Government has for people who ACTAULLY speak english is terrible. You have to LEAVE thailand to get a visa for a few months to come back and TEACH THais english. Then the money you earn you use agaoin to leave the country to get another Vidsa to come back. this is the case for most people I speak to or they teach ILLEGALLY on retirement visas. getting a proper work visa is hard because the incentive to be paid a low wage is not really there.

The government if it wants PROPER ENGLISH TEACHERS needs to change its visa policy otherwise thais will be going back to living under banana palms and climbing cocoumt trees... or chasing faranbngs dfor income as they are proficient at.

I have travelled EXTENSIVELY and Thailand with SO MANY TOURISTS lags behind the world in Elglish

If you think the level of Elglish (sic) in Thailand is the worst in the world try going to places like Venezuela in South America

When those teaching english can barely speak the language then it doesn't look bright. Those with kids being taught english by thais at school will know what I mean.

The results do not surprise me one iota. Of all 58 countries in Asia,Thailand is 56th in English proficiency.

And when you have the entire population with an average IQ level 10% below the likes of Singapore, Hong Kong and markedly below other ASEAN countries what hope have you got.

It is a simple fact that to teach English effectively the teach should be a native English speaker.

My personal belief (shared by the majority of Caucasians who have been here for any length of time) is that Thais and Thailand are so xenophobic that there is almost a an unwritten policy not to encourage the children to learn English.

The average hooker has a better level of English proficiency than the majority of Thai teachers.

I have been here for a long time and I don't agree with your contention that the reason that the level of English proficiency in Thailand is Thai's xenophobic tendencies. My observation after more than 15 years working here is that the level of English here has improved a lot. If you want to compare Thailand to places like Singapore Malaysia, Burma, Philippines etc. then the lack of colonisation is the common and obvious difference. Most of the Thais that I deal with at work try their best to improve their English. I think the last line of your post tells me everything about the source of your so called knowledge about Thailand. I bet that you have had more conversations with hookers than you have had with teachers haven't you?. (Perhaps when you make statements claiming to represent the views of the majority of "Caucasians" (use of that word tells me a lot about you) who have been here for any length of time you should qualify it by saying that you are speaking for white people whose interactions with Thais is limited to whores!!!!" IMO realisation that a problem exists and admitting is the first step towards improving the situation so why knock every effort that is made to improve the situation. I must say that I had a very enjoyable time a few years back when I went to US with 5 Thai Engineers to do a job at a chemical plant. Safety requirements meant that everyone had to undergo a safety induction and pass a written exam with an 80% or higher score before being allowed on the plant. The Safety Manager told me that I could help my guys to put the correct answers (i.e. cheat) because he assumed that they couldn't speak English. I said no let them try and guess what they all passed with 80%+ scores. I lughed my socks off when I found out that the American Contractor on the same site had to get an exemption for his workers (all citizens or Green card holders) because most of them couldn't speak enough English to get through the safety exam. haha. What do they say about the word assume?

I don't think there will be any black outs. EGAT manages to carry out maintenance on its power plants without causing black outs. Many of the gas fired power plant can run on diesel anyway. The reduction in gas supply only affects power plant on the west side of Thailand. Plants located in Eastern Thailand are supplied from the Gulf of Thailand and wont be affected. I get the feeling that the MEA governor is just trying to show off how clever he thinks he is

 

Solar projects receive a tariff adder of over 6 baht per kWh so if all of the solar projects that were proposed went ahead we would be paying more than the current residential rate of less than 2 baht per unit

Sorry, but can you translate the above comment into non-technical terms.

If the intention is to promote solar power, why would there be a surcharge on solar power amounting to three times the current power rate (based on your numbers above)?

In order to promote development of Renewable Energy the government passed legislation in 2007 that allowed for developers of renewable power projects to be paid a higher rate for power (known as an "adder" than conventionally fuelled projects receive. The bonus payable depends on the type of project with Solar receiving the highest at 6.5 Baht/kWh on top of the current retail rste which is over 3 Baht/kWh (not less than 2 Baht/kWh as i said earlier). The cost of the incentive payment is passed on to the end user as it is factored into the Ft (Fuel Price adsjustment) tariff that appears on everyone's power bill. A similar system is used by almost every country that is trying to promote Renewable Enery decvelopment. Thailand's Solar Power Generation capacity increased from 2MW in 2007 to 432 MW at the end of 2012 so the policy seems to have had an effect. Sorry for any confusion

So they have learned nothing from the flood mismanagement. I seem to remember a cabinet minister running out of a meeting to hold a press conference about an impending inundation that had 250,000 people on the move. The warning was refuted an hour later and Yingluck wrote it off as being " well intentioned " !

Actually power supply planning in Thailand is very well managed so you can't compare to the flood management. I met the VP of a Singaporean power utility the other day who commented that power supply in Thailand is very well planned If EGAT had advance warning of the supply disruption then I have every confidence that there will be no disruption to power supplies. PTT has been importing LNG from Qatar through its terminal in Maptaphut since 2011. Part of the reason for building that terminal was to mitigate the risk of disruption to supplies from Burma.The comment knocking certain ministries for not approving projects over the last 2 years which could have resulted in an extra 1000MW is purely an attempt to slag off PT as I am aware of many solar projects that went ahead over the last two years. Solar projects receive a tariff adder of over 6 baht per kWh so if all of the solar projects that were proposed went ahead we would be paying more than the current residential rate of less than 2 baht per unit

The whole of Asia, except Singapore ,looks like a garbage dump, wherever you look there's rubbish, the place is a pigsty.

On the concept of transforming garbage into clean energy, they could jumpstart the program with that comment.

Actually the process of transforming garbage into clean energy has already started. I am working on a project to build a Waste to Energy Plant (WTE) which will be built near to the existing Nong Khaem waste collection depot in Western BKK. The plant will have exhaust gas scrubbers installed and will burn about 500 tons/day of garbage to generate nearly 10MW of power which is sold to MEA. Its a small start but a step in the right direction. A second plant is already planned for Phuket

How is he accessing the ingredients to make this ice?

Surely its not obtainable over the counter.

I believe it is made from cold medicine which can be bought over the counter here and in US, UK. How do I know? Because I watch too much TV!! In US I believe that people are restricted as too how mutch they can buy per day

RT @RichardBarrow: 8,635 foreigners in Phuket have work permits: British 1,169 people, Filipinos 668, Russians 646 & French 554.

Sounded a lot at first but its only 3037 Farang and that leaves 5598 presumably all Thai------- not a bad share when you consider all the scams and corruption that comes from them------ Dougal the Kiwi

So you count Thais as foreigners do you Doh!

Farangs drugging Thais? That's a twist.

Middle East looking

He's not farang (a white man). He coming from Middle East also he should be arab (muslim) ? Maybe from a crime burglar organisated group ! Did he acted for himself or for a criminal team...

They are everywhere ! After Europe target they go to the Extreme East and now stealing in Thailand (the European tourists goods in Thailand). Now we've seen it all !

I am sure that I detect an Arab accent in your writing style !! Sorry but what are you talking about? Arab looking? He could easily be Spanish or Italian. You have to be very careful if you want to start judging based on appearance. I know a born and bred Scousers with a Father of Arab origin. Is he a Farang or an Arab? Actually as soon as he speaks you could only ever call him a Scouser:-)

Do they have a race track already made in Thailand?

I have seen how slow construction is here, unless it is

already made, there is little to no chance it will be ready

for 2014.

There is a house beside my condo that has been under

construction for 18 months .... so far

IMO it is a stupid event for Thailand to host ... money could

be spend on so many better things ... such as education ....

Then again Thai gov't do not want the people educated.

F1 is an event for the rich and most Thais cannot afford

Why is it that so many TV posters think that observations made remotely through condo windows or from bar stools makes them construction experts? FYI many people build houses bit by bit as they get the funds together. I have worked on many "real"projects ("real" meaning costing over USD 100 million) and many were constructed on schedule. The funds spent on building a circuit would likely result in a good return on the investment anyway.

Personally I wish Thailand luck and hope it happens.

BTW there is a racing circuit near Pattaya called Bira but I am not sure that it is big enough to hold an F1GP

"Tourist Friendly Image???"

That should be dispelled the moment a newbie tourist meets their first Thai immigration official: unsmiling on a good day; grumpy and non-so-subtlety aggressive on a bad (overworked) day. LMFAO

Rubbish. Choose a line with one of the attractive female officers. An excellent wecome home as far as I am concerned. Once you've visited Thailand a few more times you will realise that people are a lot friendlier if you greet them properly and with a smile. If you want to meet really unfriendly immigration and Customs officials try transitting through the US. with a passport full of Asian stamps

Funny that they are worried the airport threatens to tarnish their tourist friendly image...how about the daily assault, intimidation and robbing of tourists in scam after scam such as on the beaches of Pattaya, Phuket and Koh Samui with the jet ski gangs?

Why? Aren't they allowed to be concerned about more than one thing?

Why not go after Thais that allowed and profited from the illegal land holdings as well? Don't bother to respond, we all know the answer...

Maybe because they didn't break the law?

When the devastating floods hit Thailand’s numerous industrial estates last year, hundreds of companies were forced to suspend production and close their factories. That meant that tens of thousands of skilled workers were left without work at a time when the Thai economy was just beginning to pick up again after the global financial crisis of the previous two to three years. At the same time, in an ironic twist of ‘reverse globalization,’ a number of Japanese firms, in an attempt to maintain some levels of production, decided to send their skilled Thai workers to facilities in Japan to supervise unskilled Japanese workers. www.bangkokbusinessbrief.com

WELCOME TO GRAND PARK AVENUE BANGKOK

(formerly Grand Mercure Bangkok Park Avenue)

Conveniently located in a quiet lane just off bustling Sukhumvit Road, the Grand Park Avenue is a 4 star hotel offering 221 elegantly decorated rooms and restaurants featuring Italian and Thai cuisine.

http://www.grandparkavenue.com/

Fire sprinklers inside????

i

I assume the fire exits were locked (chained?) as per normal Thai practice,

for security, of course.

There was nothing in the OP to suggest that fire exits were locked. Or do we now base news on assumptions? How many fire doors have you found locked in Thailand? Have you ever checked? I assume that you just copied your assumption from some other Doom and Gloom TV negative poster

Isn't it amazing that so many comments already criticise Thai standards.

If you don't like it, here's an idea: go home.

Have some sense and compassion.

Quite!

However, commenting on safety regulations or the lack of same might eventually mean that same would be revised.

Telling someone to stop commenting and advising to go home is not really the way.

Have some sense and compassion?

Indeed for the victims compassion, but definitely not for those who think that having safety regulations is just hindering the making of money.

And about sense, ah........

Fair comment but it seems clear to me that the people commenting on safety regs have no idea what they are and just make assumptions without any knowledge of the subject. For example Power Plant in Thailand are built to NFPA standards ( NFPA 850 to be precise) I somehow doubt that many posters would assume that The age of the building is relevant too since it can only be built to standards in force at the time of construction. Surely we should wait to find out the cause and final damage before commenting on lack of standards or don't the facts matter?

If you don't it here, go home. ZZZzzzzzzzz. Wish I had one baht for every time a farang living in an upcountry country village posted that..... :-)

But back to the topic at hand. Watch all the news media carefully. There will never be a follow up story about this fire, why it happened, and whether or not there were sprinklers... It will all quietly fade away, so no one will lose face. It is the nature of news here, which someone referred to as like a brushfire. Lots of fire, smoke and action at the time of the event, and then afterwards nothing... Follow up stories with more information would be able to pinpoint blame. But that is not accepted here.

The problem with trying to make predictions about Thailand by applying overly simplistic stereotypes is that they have a habit of proving to be wrong.That's why I was able to learn from one the English language papers today that:

1) The building was built before the law requiring sprinkler systems in high rises was brought in in 1992

2) The floor that caught fire first had recently been rewired.

3) The fire spread quickly due to the plastic UV block film that was applied on the glass on the inside.

Who really wants to know more given that nobody was killed or hurt?

Isn't it amazing that so many comments already criticise Thai standards.

If you don't like it, here's an idea: go home.

Have some sense and compassion.

Quite!

However, commenting on safety regulations or the lack of same might eventually mean that same would be revised.

Telling someone to stop commenting and advising to go home is not really the way.

Have some sense and compassion?

Indeed for the victims compassion, but definitely not for those who think that having safety regulations is just hindering the making of money.

And about sense, ah........

Fair comment but it seems clear to me that the people commenting on safety regs have no idea what they are and just make assumptions without any knowledge of the subject. For example Power Plant in Thailand are built to NFPA standards ( NFPA 850 to be precise) I somehow doubt that many posters would assume that The age of the building is relevant too since it can only be built to standards in force at the time of construction. Surely we should wait to find out the cause and final damage before commenting on lack of standards or don't the facts matter?

That's great news for Thailand. Some of the current government's real efforts to consolidate flood management powers (even if not yet completely successful) and the development of water retention infrastructure must be partly behind Japanese manufacturers' general vote for confidence. I also would have to think that Japan's own economic straights (strong yen and the Fukushima Disaster) would disincentivize Japanese companies from abandoning the massive investments they've made in Thailand's logistical networks. I certainly hope things hold together. To lose large numbers of Japanese companies would be a major crisis for Thailand.

Worthy of note that 2 positive stories get almost no response from the forum.

I bet there would have been about 50 posts by now if the headline had been to the effect that they were pulling out.

Says a lot about those who populate thaivisa.

Not everyone fortunately but I agree with your comment. Personally I take pleasure in the silence of the Doom and Gloomers who take pleasure at any chance to make a negative comment about LoS whilst apparently choosing to live here in preference to their country of origin.

wow, five whole kilos of marijuana!!!!

The DEA have outdone themselves this time, I wonder how much time and money was spent on this bust?

Why aren't they getting the ya bah that's coming in from Burma????

To hard methinks.

Easier gig hanging around Bankok.

I would guess that the DEA's remit is to prevent stuff from getting into the US. Yaa Baa coming into Thailand from Burma wouldn't be of interest if that is the case. Perhaps in this case they were just showing cooperation with theThai police as a PR exercise or to silence critics back home who are asking why they had people here so long with no visible results. Who knows? .

Since no-one else has remarked on the fact, it falls to me to observe that foreigners appear unable to distinguish between an Esaan taxi driver and a Thai military officer.

Yes when I saw the headline I had a comical mental picture of a taxi driver wearing a fake Army officer's uniform so it was a bit of a let down to find out that it was just some skinny kid claiming to be an officer. I guess the tyre iron was more convincing