US Cancels Thailand Travel Alert

[webfact]

US cancels Thailand travel alert

WASHINGTON, December 22, 2011 (AFP) - The United States on Wednesday canceled a travel alert for Thailand, saying that conditions have improved in the month since the kingdom was hit by its worst floods in a half-century.

The State Department, which had warned US citizens on November 16 about the difficulties of travel to the popular tourist destination, said in a statement that the situation in Thailand has "greatly improved."

Transportation and essential services in affected areas "are effectively back to normal," it said.

Thailand's government said last week that more than 700 people died in the floods, which at their height affected 65 of the 77 provinces in the low-lying nation.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Thailand during the floods in a show of support for the longstanding US ally. She offered US assistance for key priorities such as repairing historical sites and police stations.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2011-12-22

[CraigSchuler]

That's nice........Still not buying that ticket yet!

The drama still has a few acts left!

[whybother]

That's nice........Still not buying that ticket yet!

The drama still has a few acts left!

Really? What is still going to happen that's related to the floods?

[Balls]

That's nice........Still not buying that ticket yet!

The drama still has a few acts left!

Really? What is still going to happen that's related to the floods?

Local news reports that there is still a lot garbage to cleaned up.

I live on the beach in Hua Hin (south of Bangkok) and am still seeing the garbage flowing into in the Gulf of Thailand.

Shellfish, mullocks, clams etc. have been reported to be "at risk" to survive for the next few years. The overflow of the hundred of thousand of Bangkok's over-flooded septic tanks will take it's toll as it reaches the open sea - but then... Who in Bangkok cares?

The Thai attitude is the same as when I lived in Chiang Mai and witnessed my neighbors throwing all of their garbage into the Ping River - from food stuffs to flea-ridden mattresses.

Once it flows away they can deny anything. It is always "somebody else's" trash.

And back to Hua Hin... the "tourist rental" horses that roam the beach. They defecate everywhere but each horse rider will claim that "it is somebody else's" horse.

The "drama" will not stop until the people are properly educated, which is not going to happen in the next hundred years. Educated people vote and this bothers the incumbent lawmakers.