Anything & Everything About Thailand

[KatoeyLover69]

Report from Bangkok Post dated Thursday 13 April 2006 :-

PM may have way around House hurdle

Source says TRT will cite laws that allow Parliament to be convened even if seats are not filled by legal deadline

Thai Rak Thai Party leader Thaksin Shinawatra has found a way out of the political impasse that would be caused by a failure to fill all 500 seats in the House of Representatives by the legal deadline, a party source said.

His caretaker administration is likely to cite certain clauses in the Constitution that empower it to seek royal command for the House to convene if there is a "disorder" in governing the country, according to the source. The need for solving the national problems would be cited.

With the clauses in question cited, a new House could convene even though not all the House seats were filled, said the source.

Time is running out for the Election Commission to complete the election by 30 days after the April 2 polls. The deadline ends on May 1.

The possibility that the 500 House seats may not be filled remains high. Many candidates from the ruling party will again have to overcome the hurdle of winning at least 20 per cent of votes from the constituents in the provinces where they were far below the minimum in the April 2 voting.

Thaksin left for London yesterday after casting an advance ballot for next week's senatorial election.

"I'll take this chance to relax and meet old friends. I want to take a break. I'm getting old," he told reporters before heading to Bangkok's international airport.

When asked if he would hold talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Thaksin said, "I'll meet with familiar leaders. We could possibly have some coffee. But my meeting is unofficial. It has nothing to do with politics or business."

One of Thaksin's daughters, Pinthongta, is studying in London.

Earlier this week, a source told The Nation that Thaksin is seeking a meeting with Blair and leaders of some of the other countries he planned to visit. The proposed meetings have caused discomfort in the diplomatic community, as Thaksin's political status is still unclear.

After his stop in the UK, Thaksin said he would fly to the United States to visit universities in Kentucky and Texas where he received a master's degree and a doctorate in criminal justice.

He will return to Bangkok on April 19 and attend a meeting of his party on April 24 before flying to China and Japan later in the month, he said.

"I will travel more as many countries have invited me to give lectures on economics and how to solve economic problems," he said.

On April 4, Thaksin announced he would step down as prime minister despite his party's victory in the April 2 election, which was boycotted by the main opposition parties.

He chose his top deputy and caretaker justice minister, Chidchai Vanasatidya, to serve as acting premier until a new prime minister is named.

Thaksin hit back at Democrat Party deputy leader Surin Pitsuwan, a former foreign minister, for his comments on his trips. Surin had called Thaksin's trip a "political ploy".

"[Surin] should allow the right side of his brain to work a little bit more in order to make more creative comments. He should use his free time during the Songkran holiday to take a rest and make more creative comments for the sake of the country," Thaksin said.

Several ministers gathered to see their leader off at the airport including Chidchai and Deputy Interior Minister Sermsak Pongpanit who is expected to follow Thaksin to London on Monday. Deputy Prime Minister and Industry Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit, Transport Minister Pongsak Ruktapongpisal, Social Development and Human Security Minister Watana Muangsook, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Yongyuth Tiyapairat and Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon were also on hand to wish Thaksin farewell.

[KatoeyLover69]

Report from Bangkok Post dated Saturday 15 April 2006 :-

Songkran road toll nears 350

The Road Safety Centre said this afternoon that the death toll on the country's highways has risen to 343 after seven days of the designated 10-day Songkran holiday.

Thursday, which was the actual New Year Day in the traditional calendar, claimed 89 lives in road accidents, said Deputy Interior Minister Sermsak Pongpanit .

He reported that 4,199 people were injured in the 3,736 accidents nationwide

[KatoeyLover69]

Report from The Nation dated Saturday 15 April 2006 :-

Hypermarkets scale down, go upcountry

A new battle between the hypermarket chains is under way - not in the capital, but upcountry.

Tesco Lotus, Carrefour and Big C have all modified their store formats to meet local regulations, smaller communities and different consumers' requirements, and they are spreading into the provinces.

The first player, Tesco Lotus, has spent the past two years diversifying its retail formats to serve different locations and shoppers' demands.

It began by launching its Tesco Lotus Express stores, about the size of convenience stores. The first Express stores were located at petrol stations, but the company has since expanded to shop-house locations.

The company has opened 135 Express outlets so far, and plans to open another 100 this year.

Another of Tesco Lotus's new retail formats - "Talad Lotus" - is still on trial. It was developed to serve smaller communities both in Bangkok and upcountry.

The new stores offer a full range of both fresh food and dry grocery items at Tesco lotus hypermarket prices.

Stores in the trial programme have opened at Maha Sarakham, Pinklao and Chinatown and an existing Tesco Lotus supermarket at Phongphet will be converted to a Talad Lotus store by July.

"We are very excited about this new Talad Lotus concept," said Tesco Lotus chief executive Jeff Adams.

"Customers told us they wanted a more conveniently located food store with a full range of food products. We will keep the same low prices as our hypermarkets."

Talad Lotus stores will vary between 700 and 1,500 square metres in size, and will carry a range of 6,000 to 9,000 fresh food, dry grocery, and daily household items.

Adams said Tesco Lotus had also successfully introduced a new compact format called "Khum Kha" stores in upcountry communities. About 14 Khum Kha stores have been opened so far.

In addition, Tesco Lotus has 55 standard-format hypermarkets in major cities throughout the country.

The French hypermarket chain Carrefour recently announced a new smaller-store format to help the company speed up its up-country presence. Carrefour currently has 23 hypermarkets.

Most of them are in Bangkok, but the most recently opened are in Hat Yai and Chachoengsao.

Carrefour Thailand managing director Luc Dayot said the company wanted to open smaller hypermarket stores, with retail space of between 4,000 and 6,000sqm, particularly upcountry.

The smaller format will comply with local retail zoning regulations in the provinces, which prohibit the opening of large-scale complexes.

"We plan to open three or four smaller stores this year at Chon Buri, Phuket and Chiang Mai," Dayot said, adding that the smaller outlets will take about six months to build, compared to between eight and 12 months for conventional hypermarkets.

"The new smaller stores will serve communities with fewer than 50,000 households," he said.

"Our hypermarkets serve communities of not fewer than 150,000 households."

Dayot said the investment required for a smaller outlet was about Bt300 million, compared to Bt1 billion for a 10,000-sqm hypermarket.

Big C Supercentre will invest Bt2 billion to open four new outlets this year. Two of them will be of a compact size.

New Big C stores will open in Phrae and Ratchaburi in the middle of the year and two more, also upcountry, by the end of the year.

The Phrae store will be a compact model with retail space of 5,800sqm, while Ratchaburi will follow a standard format with 9,000 to 10,000sqm.

Big C operates 45 hypermarkets across the country.

Twenty-four of them are in Bangkok.

[KatoeyLover69]

Report from The Nation dated Saturday 15 April 2006 :-

Beefing up hotel standards through new benchmark

Pimmara Intrawityanunt, daughter of former deputy prime minister Pitak Intrawityanunt, wants to raise the standards of the Thai hotel and travel industry.

Pimmara, 28, is editor-in-chief of Anywhere travel magazine and executive director of Magic Productions, which was set up by her mother Panprapa in 1982 and publishes Kinnaree, the in-flight magazine for Thai Airways.

"I believe in our capability to create a benchmark for hotels to benefit our readers," said Pimmara.

Pimmara graduated from the faculty of arts of Chulalongkorn University in 1997. She has worked as a presenter on Today News on UBC's News Channel and hosted the news show on INN Radio from 1999 to 2001.

She founded Anywhere in 2002.

"We have currently more than 10,000 subscribers," said Pimmara, saying that more than 50 per cent of these have master's degrees and an average income of more than Bt50,000 a month. They travel on average 10 times a year.
"We offer more than just the basic information on destinations and instead try to satisfy our readers' lifestyle demands.

"We also cover other activities like home decoration," said Pimmara, who says the monthly magazine has a circulation of 40,000.

An English-language version of Anywhere will be launched later this year.

"I have seen a change in the Thai travel industry, as consumers become more selective in finding accommodation that fits their style. They will consider the promotion campaign launched by each hotel and what services they have to offer," said Pimmara.

She said Magic Productions was looking to expand into other formats, such as terrestrial and cable television and going online.

The magazine's second travel awards recently rewarded the best hotels, resorts and spas in the Kingdom.

"We want to reflect the view of our readers towards those hotels and spas and create the benchmark to lift the standard of the Thai travel industry," said Pimmara.

Anywhere named the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi in Chiang Mai the best luxury resort.

The best urban hotel award went to the Oriental Bangkok and the best spa was Chiva Som in Hua Hin. The Banyan Tree in Bangkok was named the best urban spa.

Promoting itself as a hill resort, Phu Chaisai Mountain Resort and Spa in Chiang Rai recently won in the "small and stylish" hotel category.

"We want to promote ourselves to be cottages for the rich, providing the best five-star services," Phu Chaisai's sales manager Bussara Pupatanakul said.

Located in Mae Salong Nai in Mae Chan district of Chang Rai, the Phu Chaisai has been operating for almost four years.

"Almost all our 200 staff are from the area or hill-tribes in Chiang Rai, often the Akha and Thai Yai. They welcome our visitors as if the hotel was their own home," said Bussara.

"They have been trained in how to treat their guests and make them happy. Good service is our priority," she said.

[KatoeyLover69]

Report from Bangkok Post dated Sunday 16 April 2006 :-

Curbs on Songkran revellers

Unruly frolickers blamed for mayhem and carnage on the roads, blinding motorists with thoughtless water attacks

To prevent road accidents during the Songkran holidays next year, water-splashing will be allowed only on designated roads, the Interior Minister said yesterday.

Though many road accidents this year took place on secondary roads, many people were splashing water on main roads, making them prone to accidents, said Chidchai Vanasathidya, who has assumed the duties of caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

A meeting of the Cultural Ministry, Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department and local administrative organisations will be held after the holidays to designate roads for water-splashing throughout the country, Chidchai said. Alcohol and weapons will be banned on all roads designated for Songkran festivities, he said. Drunk driving was reported to be the major cause of accidents over the holiday, he added.

As Bangkok has Khao San Road for celebrating the water festival, other provinces have their own sites. In Khon Kaen residents celebrate the festival on Khao Niew Road.

Road accidents claimed 50 lives and injured 780 people on Friday, compared with 66 deaths on the corresponding day last year. Friday's accidents pushed the total for eight days to 393 deaths and 4,979 injuries, the Road Safety Centre said.

Anucha Mokkawes, secretary of the centre, said there were 699 accidents on Friday, compared to 669 on the eighth day of the festival last year.

After drunk driving, the main cause of accidents was speeding, Anucha said. About 86 per cent of the accidents involved motorcycles while 8 per cent involved pickups.

Phitsanulok had the highest death toll with 16 people killed in road accidents during the first eight days of the Songkran holiday. Next were Nakhon Ratchasima, Lopburi, Rayong, Songkhla, Surin and Chiang Mai with 15, 14, 13, 11, 11 and 10 deaths respectively, he said.

Dr Anusak Tangphaibul, director of Maharaj Hospital in Nakhon Ratchasima, said he had ordered more doctors and medical teams on standby for the next two days, when many people would be returning from their holidays. As the gateway to the Northeast, Nakhon Ratchasima is considered a danger spot for accidents.

Anusak said that in the first eight days of the holidays 163 people had been admitted to the hospital, 88 of them suffering serious head injuries. The number of patients requiring X-rays rose by about 30 to 40 cases a day, he said.

Prat Boonyawongwirot, acting permanent secretary at the Public Health Ministry, said the number of patients requiring brain operations due to motorcycle operations had risen to three or four a day in Chon Buri province alone during Songkran.

[KatoeyLover69]

Report from The Sunday STAR (Malaysia) dated Sunday 16 April 2006 :-

Reading much into Thaksin saga

THAI TAKES by Foo Yee Ping

WHEN Roo Than Thaksin (Seeing Through Thaksin) was published two years ago, the book apparently broke sales records of a local non-fiction work.

Written by outgoing Bangkok senator Chermsak Pinthong together with a group of people including academics and former diplomats, it sold tens of thousands of copies and went to its third edition.

The book, which contained criticisms of Thaksin Shinawatra’s policies and practices, depicted a small boy on the cover. This was to show that even a kid could see through him, a Thai colleague said.

“In a way, Roo Than Thaksin sparked much interest in such books. It grabbed a lot of attention,” said Veenarat Laohapakakul, who has just published her own collection of stories.

There is now an endless supply of anti-Thaksin writings on the bookshelves here. It is a free-for-all situation although Thaksin’s critics are quick to point out that the caretaker prime minister has no respect for press freedom.

A check at Se-ed Book Centre, a major local bookstore chain, proved that writings critical of the controversial outgoing Thai prime minister are widely available.

One of the latest publications is titled The Collapse of Thaksin and features an image of a huge demonstration in Bangkok’s Democracy Monument on its cover.

The Democracy Monument is of profound significance to the Thais as it was constructed in 1932 to mark the kingdom’s transition from absolute to constitutional monarchy. It has now become somewhat of a “compulsory” spot to hold protests there.

Priced at 220 baht, the book was written in Thai just like the other political writings here. It was displayed prominently on a high shelf near the entrance of the bookstore.

Another publication is titled From Shin Corp to Temasek: The Deal of the Century. No explanation needed here on what it is about.

One book took a light-hearted tone on its cover. Written two years ago, it showed a caricature of Thaksin holding an umbrella and floating in the air. There was a staircase next to the caricature.

“It is about Thaksin heading towards his downfall,” said regional writer Marisa Chimprabha about the book, which was going cheap at 130 baht.

Ironically, there are not that many books on Abhisit Vejjajiva, the leader of Thailand’s biggest and oldest opposition party.

Of course, there are books that give the official side of the story on Thaksinomics and the new Suvarnabhumi Airport project, which was hit by allegations of corruption.

Others are compilation of Thaksin’s speeches; one is about his family, which even comes with a CD.

Marisa said that most of the publications were often written in a manner that could easily be understood by the man-in-the-street. “These books are an indication that Thailand is a very open society.”

Many new titles are published every year although their “survival rate” is not high as people move on to other subjects, she added.

Thaksin himself once recommended 109 must-read books to his fellow Thais. Most of the titles were centred on management, future business trends and solutions.

One commentary pointed out cynically that the main theme in his selection was how to make more money than other people.

Several weeks ago, literature lecturers from the top-notch Chulalongkorn University hit back by suggesting 10 classics for Thaksin to read, saying that the books could help him “heal his tormented soul”.

They included The Emperor’s New Clothes (Hans Christian Anderson), 1984 (George Orwell), A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens), Don Quixote (Miguel de Cervantes), Macbeth (William Shakespeare), All My Sons (Arthur Miller) and The Tragedy of Dr Faustus (Christopher Marlowe).

These classics contained lessons that Thaksin could very well learn from, according to the professors.

Last Sunday, there were news reports that Bangkok could stand a chance of being selected as Unesco’s World Book Capital.

Some local publishers were sceptical, pointing to the limited English spoken here and that most Thais are not voracious readers.

“In advanced nations, best-selling books will be sold to at least 1% of the population but figures for Thailand are far below that,” Ruangdej Jantarakhadi, a veteran of the book industry, was quoted as saying.

Still, where anti-government writings are concerned, Thailand is quite way ahead.


The writer can be contacted at yeeping@nation group.com

[KatoeyLover69]

Report from Bangkok Post dated Sunday 16 April 2006 :-

On the bread line:
What's so special about a simple bun that makes people queue for hours?

On a corner of Siam Square, a couple of guys wandering around with bakery bags are trying to sell freshly-baked buns for 30 to 35 baht. Their daily routine might not seem unusual if you don't know that just around the block, some 60 people were queueing for the same type of bread - a plain-looking yet very aromatic and scrumptious creation which the entrepreneur who brought it to popular success refers to it as "god given".

To put it simply, those street sellers are part of the black market, buying the buns from the shop and re-sellling them at 10 to 15 baht higher. The customers willing to stand in line for hours are either die-hard bread fans, or serious trend-catchers. And the man who started this bakery shop known as Rotiboy Bakeshoppe is a Malaysian economics lecturer-turned-baker and franchise master who is now looking at 100 percent business growth each month. He, and his copycats, have brought to the city a three-month-old phenomenon that revolves around little more than a rotund bun.

"The demand that we are looking at is way above what we can produce in one outlet," says Rotiboy's founder, Hiro Tan. "If we are talking about the queue relative to whether or not there is a queue, let's put it this way: even when we sold 10,000 buns per day, the queue was still long. It's the capacity of the oven that causes the waiting. We have no intention to let people wait that long. Our main objective all the time is no queue. We want our customers to come and get hot buns and go, but because the demand is so great these queues become normal."

The Rotiboy master insists that he would do anything to shorten the queues. In the past, when each outlet only had two ovens, they produced 720 buns an hour and the longest time customers have ever waited was two and a half hours. But the company has just added another oven at the Siam Square branch so they are able to produce 1,400 buns every hour with the expectation that the queue at the Siam outlet will come down.

"People think no queue means no business, which is not true. It depends on how efficient you are. If you have a very small oven, a queue doesn't meant you have a lot of business - it really depends. The capacity of the oven is very important. Even now at our new branch in Central Lat Phrao we have no queue but we are still selling well. Why? Because if people see no queue they will come and buy and in that sense the selling will still be ongoing and that's what we want," he said.

For many office workers in and around the Siam Square and Silom areas where the first two Rotiboy outlets are located, it has become the norm to hire messengers to queue for the buns - colleagues share the expenses as well as the buns. At one insurance company, the Rotiboy bun has become a marketing tool: the firm gives the buns to customers to express their thanks.

Following Rotiboy's fortune, several brands have been established simply to offer the same kind of bun: the warm and fragrant coffee-cream coated bun with buttery filling. Taking Bangkok by storm are Mr Bun, Baker's Boy, Coffee Dome and Papa Roti. Of course, they all have long queues, too.

According to Vilawan Limprana, PR and outlet planning director of Coffee Dome, the only Thai-owned company to jump on the bandwagon in February this year, the success was far beyond the company's expection. Each outlet of Coffee Dome sells around 3,000 buns a day. And Vilawan insists that they've never wanted customers to wait for long. "We are not creating the marketing strategy with a pause in the selling," she said. "We have even come up with a new service system: customers can order and pay in advance and come back with the receipt to pick up their orders within 10 minutes."

With outlets in Carrefour Rama 4 and The Mall Bang Khae, the company plans to open eight more outlets within the next four months to create a total of 20 by the end of the year.

Coffee Dome is not the only brand that has plans for a great expansion. With four existing outlets at various branches of The Mall, the Malaysian brand Baker's Boy, which arrived in Bangkok three months ago, is set to launch 20 more shops in Thailand before the end of 2006. Meanwhile the Bangkok-based, Singaporean-own Mr Bun is looking at as many as 50 outlets within the year.

Mr Bun is another interesting brand to be noted. It was the first shop to introduce the so-called Mexican bun to Thailand last year. Besides the classic coffee bun, there are also strawberry and coconut flavours available. The size of the buns are smaller compared to the typical "rotiboy" bun and the price is 10 baht per piece. Right now there are 13 branches dotting Bangkok's outskirts and even at branches in a lower-end mall like Zeer Rangsit, queues of 20 to 30 people are usual. While at more busy outlets like at Central Rama 3 and Seacon Square, it is normal for customers to wait for an hour on a weekend when the shops each sell more than 10,000 buns a day.

So what is so special about the bun?

Each Rotiboy Bakeshoppe sells approximately 10,000 buns each day and the longest time people have ever queued for the buns was two and a half hours.

"It's the whole combination: the taste is exceptional, the aroma is great and the price is reasonable," said Rotiboy's Tan. "The generic name for the bun is Mexican bun and I'm not the one who created it. The recipe was already there. It's a common recipe that you can get from cookbooks or the internet. It's not Western, I believe it's Oriental bread. My sister once made this bun for her employer a long time ago. Then I took it and simply modified it a little. We are the first one to sell it that way."

Tan firmly believes that there will never be another bun like this. "This is god given - the only one of its kind. We are not even confident of making another bun that suits people's sense like this one. It is something special that comes once in a long while. No bun can create such a response from people, not even 50 percent of this, whether in Malaysia, Singapore or Indonesia. The response has been tremendous."

Tan said at the end of this year, he is looking at 300 to 350 million baht turnover with six to seven more outlets to be opened by the end of June - at Ramkhamhaeng (adjacent to Big C), Central World Plaza, Victory Monument, Bang Kapi (near Tawanna), MBK and Kasetsart University. And at the MBK outlet, 15 extra items will be featured and Tan's most recommended are Oriental pizza, garlic bread and cream roll.

And tips for those who need to keep the Rotiboy buns overnight?

"Generally we don't encourage people to buy a lot and keep them over too many days. If it's necessary you can store the bun in its bag in the freezer - not the chiller compartment. The next day put it in the oven at about 150 degrees for a couple of minutes. This product is best when it's warm."

From today until April 16, Rotiboy fans might be suffering, not from the heat, but from craving, because the Silom and in Siam Square outlets will be closed for a few days so that staff can go home for Songkran. But there's still be some good news: the Central Lat Phrao branch will still operate during the festival. Meanwhile, the Silom branch customers can call to place their orders in advance, and they are planning to offer a delivery service in the near future.

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[KatoeyLover69]

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Report from Bangkok Post dated Sunday 16 April 2006 :-


IS IT WORTH THE WAIT?

- Montrinee Trichatchawanwong, 21, university student

"I kind of like it but not that much. But more importantly, having tried the [Rotiboy] bun made me feel like I'm in the trend whenever people ask if I've tried it yet."

- Suttipong Jarulnamsiri, 27, office worker

"The first time I saw the long queue I didn't know exactly what the bun was like but I decided to get in the line anyway because the aroma was so tempting that I really wanted to give it a try. Yes, it was absolutely worth the 40-minute wait. The second time I decided to be at the shop 10 minutes before it opened but there were people queueing already, and it took around 20 minutes for me to get the buns. Even though I only want a couple of buns, I always buy 10 pieces just to make the wait more worthwhile."

- Hatairat Saengwattana, 34, business owner

"Someone bought the buns for me and I admit that they were delicious even after I kept them overnight and reheated them. But am I patient enough to stand in line for hours for just bread? Absolutely not."

- Tanuntiya Thidhaphan, 36, housewife

"When I first saw the queue I thought those people were trying to apply for a visa. But when I learnt that it was a bread shop they were lining for, I felt that the owners of the shop must have done something really really good in their previous lives and god has now rewarded them with such a successful business."

- Nipaphan Singhabandhu, 37, university lecturer

"Yes I have tried the bun and I enjoyed it. But, personally, I would feel too embarrased to queue for a bun. It seems like a craze. Management wise, doesn't a long queue mean a failing operation system?"

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HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

The Rotiboy Bakeshoppe opened in Penang, Malaysia in 1998 selling a variety of breads and cakes. In 2002, with more outlets opening, it experienced a phenomenal growth in the sales of its Mexican bun, which was later been renamed the Rotiboy bun. Within a couple of years, and with the opening of more branches in Malaysia, Singapore and

Indonesia that only sell this unique bun, several copycat shops sprung up to tap into this highly lucrative market.

[KatoeyLover69]

Report from Bangkok Post dated Sunday 16 April 2006 :-

Thousands of Songkran revellers to delay return : Smoother home journey to capital tipped with many likely to stay upcountry to vote in Senate election

Some holidaymakers from Bangkok and people upcountry enjoying the Songkran festival in their hometown packed their belongings and began their return trip to Bangkok yesterday to avoid getting stuck on highways today, when most people are expected to return to the capital.

Passengers queued at bus terminals in several provinces such as Nakhon Ratchasima and Buri Ram in the Northeast.

Inter-provincial bus station 2 in Nakhon Ratchasima was crowded as 1,000 travellers waited for buses back to Bangkok, while the station in neighbouring Buri Ram also had a large number of people buying tickets for the capital.

Manas Rungpin, chief supervisor of Nakhon Ratchasima bus station 2, said 10 tents had to be put up outside the main building as rest areas for passengers.

Nakhon Ratchasima has two bus stations.

Station 2 mainly serves bus lines to Bangkok and other provinces.

But one of the busiest spots was probably Koh Chang, as 2,000 cars lined up three kilometres back, waiting for ferries to the mainland from as early as 7am.

The five ferries from the two companies plying between the mainland and the island could carry only 150 vehicles an hour.

Wuthichart Kallayanamit, acting managing director of the state-owned Transport Company, said the agency added up to 1,800 bus trips to its regular schedule of 4,400 a day to make sure everyone could get back to work tomorrow.

About 1.7 million people left the capital during the long holiday period which started last Thursday, up 500,000 from a year ago, according to the Transport Co's count.

About 400,000 people will go back today, according to the firm's estimate.

Transport Co was optimistic their return trip would be smoother than last year, because about half the people living in other provinces might stay there until Wednesday to cast their ballots for the contest for the Senate.

The State Railway of Thailand said many people had reserved seats on trains for Wednesday instead of coming back straight away today. While the number of people who left Bangkok was up on last year, not all will come back today.

Still, the SRT has prepared for returning passengers today by adding five trains from Sila At station in Uttaradit, Ubon Ratchathani and Udon Thani to Bangkok.

The government has postponed a public holiday from tomorrow to Wednesday to enable people to go to the booths to cast their vote for the Senate election.

Meanwhile, Nakhon Ratchasima was busy not only with travellers, but patients as well, who packed its hospital after Songkran road accidents.

Maharat hospital director Anusak Tangpaiboon said his hospital needed to increase the number of doctors and nursing staff by three times and call for blood donations.

Most patients suffered injuries in road accidents, which increase sharply during the Songkran festival. In the period from April 7 to last Thursday, the hospital saw 163 new patients. Nakhon Ratchisima suffered 15 fatalities on the roads during the holiday, second only to Phitsanulok which recorded the most, with 16.

[KatoeyLover69]

Report from The Nation dated Sunday 16 April 2006 :-

Songkran death toll rises to 441

The death toll from road accidents during the first nine days of the ten-day watch out period related to the Songkran holidays rose to 441, the Interior Ministry announced Sunday.

At the end of Saturday, Interior Minister Kongsak Wantana said, there were 4,941 road accidents, resulting in 441 deaths.

He said 48 of them were killed on Saturday when 506 road accidents occurred.

The watch out period will end on Sunday when a lot of people will travel back to Bangkok to resume work on Monday.

[KatoeyLover69]

Report from Bangkok Post dated Monday 17 April 2006 :-

Flights full as revellers return to city : Thousands delayed by heavy traffic on roads

Many Songkran festival travellers opted for quick trips back to Bangkok to get ready for work today, with flights from the provinces to the capital fully booked yesterday.

It was reported from Don Muang airport that all seats on all domestic flights to Bangkok were fully occupied, thanks to the overwhelming demand for return trips from travellers who left the city to enjoy the festival over the past week.

Flights of Thai Airways International and Bangkok Airways were full, as well as those of low-fare airlines such as Nok Air and Thai AirAsia.

Twenty Bangkok Airways flights from Koh Samui were fully booked yesterday. Thai Airways International had fully booked flights from Chiang Mai, Udon Thani, Phuket and Hat Yai.

The low-cost airlines that offered special discounts of 20-30% cheaper than their normal ticket prices were fully booked on flights from Udon Thani, Ubon Ratchathani, Surat Thani, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai to Bangkok.

The congested air traffic flow fed domestic arrivals to Don Muang airport all day long yesterday.

On the roads, traffic was heavily congested en route from the Northeast to Bangkok.

It was reported from Nakhon Ratchasima province, the gateway to the Northeast, that the Bangkok-bound lanes of the Mittraphap highway were congested from Ban Phai district in Khon Kaen province via Nakhon Ratchasima to Saraburi province.

A large number of vehicles heading for Bangkok caused traffic jams to stretch for several kilometres ahead of every intersection along this section of the northeastern highway.

A number of vehicles had to be parked beside the highway because they ran out of diesel and the fuel was reportedly unavailable at several petrol stations along the highway.

The heavy congestion delayed bus services between Nakhon Ratchasima and Bangkok.

Consequently, about 10,000 travellers arriving from other northeastern provinces and heading for the capital were stranded at both bus terminals in Nakhon Ratchasima yesterday.

Anusorn Withoorakorn, land transport chief of Nakhon Ratchasima, said that although his office had planned around-the-clock bus services from Nakhon Ratchasima to Bangkok to serve travellers returning to the capital, the delayed arrival of buses from Bangkok had left many passengers stranded in Nakhon Ratchasima.

[KatoeyLover69]

Report from Bangkok Post dated Monday 17 April 2006 :-

Letter to The Editor : Songkran revellers show little respect

Another year of Songkran has passed. Another year of questions remain. How did a holiday that originally started out as a way to pay respect to the Lord Buddha and to one's elders descend into a wild ritual of contempt for other people?

Does anyone know when the line was crossed from playfully splashing water onto one's friends and neighbours to hitting anyone in the face with a bucket of dirty water at any time of day, for days at a time, whether they have chosen to join the event or not?

And when someone has not given their consent to be hit full in the face with water, but people do it anyway, what message is passed to children?

I realise there is little hope of returning the holiday to its origins. But here are a few suggestions for reform. Have designated spots in a city, town, or village where one can play in the water. If you go to those spots that would imply that you have agreed to join the fight. Restrict the water play to those spots.

And why not limit the time to just one or two days? It's crazy that you cannot go anywhere for a full week without getting completely soaked.

Finally, throwing water at passing motorcycles, open pickup trucks, and songthaews should be strictly prohibited. Today I was hit in the ears with a bucket of water while driving by on my motorcycle. Not only did I nearly crash but it's quite likely I could develop an ear infection.

RAJI
Chiang Mai

[KatoeyLover69]

Report from Bangkok Post dated Monday 17 April 2006 :-

Hot season turns cool, and wet

It's summertime, and the weather is -- well, cooler than expected as cold winds from China have brought unseasonal rain and somewhat cooler weather.

The director general of the Meteorological Department said Monday that the rains would arrive sooner and would stay longer this year as the country has been under the influence of cold winds from China and the seasonal monsoon.

Suparerk Tansriratanawong said all regions except southern Thailand would be affected, during which time the rains would continue until May and the seasonal rainy season will arrive sooner than usual.

Thailand has seen higher than expected levels of rain during this hot summer month, which Mr Suphareuk said was quite unusual, especially in upper Thailand.

He said however, the overcast weather would not cause flooding but he warned persons living in or near potentially unstable buildings to be watchful.

[KatoeyLover69]

Report from The Nation dated Monday 17 April 2006 :-

Thai universities find favour with Chinese students

Education Ministry says number has risen fourfold over the past four years

Low fees, cultural similarities and the variety of interesting courses on offer are bringing more and more Chinese students to Thailand each year.

The trend is welcomed by local universities, which are making preparations to accept even more students from the giant country.

Pavich Tongroach, secretary-general of the Education Ministry's Higher Education Commission, said the number of Chinese students at Thai universities had increased from about 1,000 four or five years ago to about 4,000 now, and the number is growing steadily.

He said the students could be divided into two groups: those taking full international courses, which take about four years; and those enrolled in Chinese universities who were sent here to take short-term classes, he said.

Among the full courses, the most popular are business administration, tourism, IT and the sciences, while the most sought-after shorter courses are Thai-language classes taken by students majoring in Thai at Chinese universities.

Pavich said Thai-language courses were popular in China because of the increasing number of Thai tourists visiting China each year, as well as growing business connections between the two countries.

The Higher Education Commission recently held an education fair in Sichuan province's Chengdu, in which 34 Thai state and private universities that offer courses to Chinese students took part. In Sichuan, up to 700,000 people apply for the province's 300,000 university places each year, Pavich said.

"So, many students go to study abroad in the US, Europe, as well as Thailand," he said.

Yutthana Suwannatarn, deputy director of the Registrar's Office at Assumption University (Abac), which has more students from China than any university in the country, said the number of students from China had increased an average of 15 per cent per year over the past 30 years.

"We aim to boost the rate of increase to 20 per cent in the future," he said. At the moment, the university has 850 Chinese students, Yutthana said.

The reasons for Thailand's popularity among Chinese students, he said, are the relatively low cost of living here compared to the US or Europe; the comparable standard of education (at least at Abac); the feeling of being safe; and the similar cultures of the two countries.

However - not surprisingly, perhaps - Chinese students at Abac do report having difficulties communicating with Thais outside the university campus.

Thanyarat Jivaketu, vice president for international and public relations at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said that in response to the influx of Chinese students, the university last year launched a project to admit 60 exchange students annually from Guangxi University to an eight-month "Thai Language for Business" course. The students follow their studies with two months of training at local companies affiliated with the university and at provincial chambers of commerce.

"More and more Chinese will come to Thailand as the Chinese population is huge," Thanyarat said. She was confident that with an increasing number of exhibitions introducing Thai universities in more provinces of China, many more Chinese would choose Thailand as the place to study.

"It's not just about education, but will also lead to a better economic relationship between the two countries," Thanyarat said.

Pavich of the Higher Education Commission said the most important thing Thai universities had to be concerned about was quality of education.

"Maybe one day we will become a centre of university education for foreign students," he said.

[KatoeyLover69]

Report from Bangkok Post dated Tuesday 18 April 2006 :-

Phitsanulok tops list of Songkran road toll : Provincial officials await punishment

Phitsanulok officials are awaiting their punishment from the Interior Ministry after their province topped the death toll list during the Songkran holiday period ending on Sunday.

Deputy governor Santi Krusuansombat said during the closure of the provincial road safety centre that the province would bear all the responsibility and be ready to face action from the ministry for leading other provinces in road accident deaths.

From April 7 to Sunday, in what the ministry dubbed the "10 most dangerous days", road accidents killed 20 people in Phitsanulok, almost double its projection of 11. Chiang Mai came second with 17 deaths followed by Nakhon Ratchasima with 16.

Phrae, Ranong and Samut Songkhram were the only three provinces without deaths, according to the the ministry.

Overall, 476 people died and 5,985 were injured in 5,327 road accidents over the 10-day span, which was down from the projection.

Despite the failure of Phitsanulok officials, Interior Minister Kongsak Wantana was satisfied with attempts to curb road deaths and injuries during the period when people flocked out of the capital for the traditional New Year as the figures nationwide showed officials had achieved their task.

ACM Kongsak gave credit to campaigns to raise awareness about safe driving for road users launched by officials across the country for helping bring the toll down. He said the ministry would bring down road deaths and injuries further next year by continuing its public relations efforts to educate drivers.

But lessons must be learned in those provinces where there were high numbers of road accidents, he said, during the ceremony to close the road safety command centre at the ministry.

Suveera Songmetta, chief of the Highway Police Department, warned motorists violating speed limits that they could expect tickets to be sent to their homes from now on.

The Highway Police speed detector cameras put up in several spots on main roads recorded 22,129 violators and the tickets along with a photograph taken by the camera would be sent to the address on the car's registration plate.

Drink driving led all causes of road accidents in the 10-day period at 35%, far ahead of speed limit violations at 19%.

Most accidents, at 85%, involved motorcycles followed by pick-up trucks at 8%, officials said.