Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Lego Airport

I must have missed this one, but better late than never: Suvarnabhumi Airport



And of course the YouTube vid:

What happens to all those election signs?

We've all seen the signs, during the election... but where do they all go once the election is over? Bangkok has quite a healthy industry of recycling for money. Garbage is picked thru most everywhere for ANYTHING of potential value. The recyclers or "salang" in Thai, are famous for cruising Bangkok streets with their modified 3 wheel pushcart-motorcycles. So as the polls close on 4pm on election day, it's gold rush time for the salang. They head out collecting the signs enmass. By nightfall, most signs have been scooped up. And monday morning, you'll be lucky to see any evidence of an election.

What do they do with the sings? Likely all kinds of uses from reuse as signs to roofing and home siding.

Apirak stays mayor of Bangkok

Apirak Kosayodhin, the leader of Thailand's opposition Democrat Party, won re-election Sunday as governor of Bangkok, defeating the ruling party candidate as well as a one-time sex tycoon, exit polls showed.

A Suan Dusit University exit poll showed Apirak with 52 percent of the vote, followed by Prapas with 23 percent and Chuwit with 12 percent. An Assumption University poll had similar figures. - AP

Video completion of motorcycle crashes in Thailand

Old but still funny Sylvania ad

Model Thai wins dance competiion

"My aim in joining this competition isn't just to win the lucrative prizes, but also to introduce pole dancing to people in Asean countries." - Lili Ussaraporn Kosin, Thai winner of the Clorets Amateur Pole Dancing Competition in Kuala Lumpur. More...

Nice work, we are proud. But couldn't they have found a more stable pole... the one in the vid looks quite shaky.

13th best place to start a small buisness - CNN

While Singapore is still number 1, Thailand has made moves in the right direction:

This year, Thailand moved six places up the ranking from 19th position, thanks to recent reforms in registering property, protecting investors, trade and paying taxes.

These days, transferring property takes only two days and two procedures. Thailand also strengthened the rights of minority shareholders, making it easier to sue corporate directors, and introduced corporate income tax exemptions for small companies.

But significant obstacles to running a small business remain: starting a business takes 33 days, completing paperwork for taxes eats up 264 hours a year, and recovering debt from a bankrupt business takes nearly three years. The average recovery rate from an insolvent firm doesn't look good for creditors either, at 42.4 cents on the dollar.

PAD = People Against Democracy

as PeterS Says:

The ‘D’ in PAD is one of the most funniest things I’ve read the last few years.

Looks more like “People Against Democracy”

Sorry no interent for you, we must go protest

Please don't mess with my internet...

CAT Telecom labor union which earlier planned to cut the country international circuit telecommunications gateway Wednesday afternoon in support of the demonstrators demanding for the ouster of the coalition government has postponed the decision until 9am Thursday.

The CAT Telecom labor union had said it would make a decision Wednesday afternoon whether or not to cut the international circuit telecommunication or gateway. Disconnecting the gateway would affect access to the Internet and international telephone services as well as financial transactions.

And for a rough overview of PAD (People's Alliance for Democracy), how's this: (wsj)

Mr. Sondhi and other PAD leaders are demanding the dismantling of Thailand's current system of parliamentary democracy. In its place, they want a new system of government in which elected politicians constitute no more than 30% of Parliament, with the rest of the governing body to be appointed by the military or other elite groups.

Electric Motorcycles

Thanks to the Chinese, you can now buy an Electric motorcycle in Thailand. These silent savers come in at 800 and 1200 watts. A charge of 6-8 hours gets you 70-80 km of travel. Top speed about 40 km/h. The model shown is a Vestor-b 2008 and runs 38,500 Baht. One that looks more like a Honda Dream comes in at 36,500 Baht. Check out the Vestor.

The only problem seems to be the main dealership is in Mukdahan.

Crown Property Bureau holds 3,493 acres in Bangkok

Valued at $35 billion, the King and the Crown Property Bureau is placed at Forbes richest monarch.

World’s longest-reigning monarch. His Crown Property
Bureau, through which he holds wealth, granted
unprecedented access this year, revealing vast
landholdings, including 3,493 acres in Bangkok. More...

Some say it's not an accurate report.

First Thai Gold Medal

Good to see Thailand on the board with a Gold from Ms. Prapawadee in weight lifting. Her mom passed out during the competition.. hope she's ok.

Bangkok Dangerous - the remake

In theaters soon the Nicolas Cage movie Bangkok Dangerous, the remake of the 1999 movie Bangkok Dangerous.

From IMDB:

Both this version and the 1999 version of Bangkok Dangerous were directed by Oxide Pang Chun and Danny Pang. Jason Richman has joined the original writers with this screenplay. This new version is in English; the 1999 version was in Thai. There are also rumored to be some major changes in the storyline and characters.

The picture was shooting during the 19th September Coup d'etat. Nonetheless, filming only stopped for six hours. The Armoury department claim they fired the only shots in the coup.

Thai Town gets funding

Recent article about how Thai Town was granted $250,000 in Preserve America grants, along with another $250,000 in other public and private matching funds.

"...Thai Town, which runs along Hollywood Boulevard from Normandie to Western avenues, is home to about 46 Thai business, including silk shops, massage parlors, bookstores and restaurants. About 10,000 Thais live in the neighborhood, Martorell said, representing about one-fifth of the Thai community in Southern California."

For a fairly decent movie on the subject, checkout Province 77.

Goverment Shake up over Temple issue

I just saw this email that has been floating around on the whole Cambodian World Heritage, temple issue. The fallout is quite drastic as Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama became the third top official in the ruling People Power Party (PPP) forced out of office in less than 48 hours. More..

This email show a large Thai kingdom of yesteryear, slowly eroded by kings who gave away pieces in order to remain and independent country.
In one of many frames you can see the area given away, and the king who was in power at the time. This one depicts loosing the Lao and Cambodian regions.

The last frame depicts the current loss of land, that has led to this latest step down by the Foreign Minister.

How to avoid Google in Thai Language

Are you sick of Google showing you what they think you want to see just cause you are in Thailand? Here's a quick fix to get the non-regional results Google would give if it didn't try to guess where you are.

Instead of just doing your search at google.com, enter this instead:

http://www.google.com/ncr

This little trick will get you seeing the results the rest of the world sees, and not results Google thinks you want to see cause you are in Thailand. You can also make is your start page.


Update: Take this example. Do a search for "water buffalo" at google.co.th (link) and at google.com/ncr (link). You'll notice totally different results. Keep this in mind when you query Google for a term. There is a difference between Thai results and no region results.

How far has Thai retailing come in 20 years?

In just two decades, retailing in Thailand has evolved from a traditional model to the global model seen today.

The first 7-Eleven opened in 1989 in Bangkok's Patpong area, and the format proved a huge success. There are more than 4,400 locations in Thailand currently. The Japanese chain Family Mart came to Thailand in 1993. Tesco Lotus's Lotus Express also operates in this segment.

Take a trip thru the last 20 years of Thai retailing with this article.

True WiFi hotspots for free?

This could be some great news for Bangkokians.

The BMA will give away 500,000 free WiFi cards to the public at more than 50 travel centres and leading department stores. The sites, to be available free for a year, require access cards.

Anyone seen these cards yet? More..

UPDATE: Yeah too good to be true. Finding one of these free cards is next to impossible. The speeds, availability, and hoops necessary to jump thru make this pretty much a joke.

Hilarious Thai ad for celling tiles.

Another in a long line of great Thai adverts. (Thanks to: thecatat7)

Girls on the streets of Bangkok flickr set

One of the nicest bits of Bangkok eye candy, are undoubtedly the girls on the streets. Have a look at this flickr set.