Go directly to a Thai Prison -- NOT!

In case you have wondered, no, it is definitely not a good idea to break the law in Thailand and go to jail for it!
Not only have there been a whole range of books of former Bangkok prison inmates published, there is also a blog detailing daily life in a Thai prison; and unsurprisingly, it does not sound like fun at all...

Bangkwang is Bangkok’s maximum-security jail; designed for lifers and death row prisoners. All Bangkwang prisoners are serving sentences of at least 25 years and of its 7,000 inmates - mostly drug offenders - 883 have been sentenced to death.

The Thai people call Bangkwang the "Big Tiger" because it is a man-eater. Scores of prisoners have been put to death in its notorious execution chamber.

As the Times Online mentions, Bang Kwang Prison in Bangkok is #3 of the 10 most notorious prisons in the world:

Tempted to take a little marijuana on your fortnight package tour of Thailand? It may be unwise unless you want to end up in the infamous “Bangkok Hilton”.
In recent years the prison's population has trebled to 7,000 and the guards are out-numbered 50-1. Every inmate there is serving more than 25 years and for the first three months of their sentence each is forced to wear leg irons.
Inside Building 10, prisoners are held in solitary confinement in pitch-black cells two meters square wearing “elephant chains” for months on end.
"Thai prisons are tough," says Director of Prisons Khun Nattee in a superfluous warning to tourists. "You don't want to be in Bang Kwang."

Links of Interest:

• Times Online
• Information about visiting Bang Kwang prison
• Angel of Bang Kwang Prison
  
• Thai Prison Blog: life snippets of a Thai youth imprisoned for drug offences (in English)
• Thai Visa Discussion
• Escape from Klong Prem Prison
• A Prison Visit

Indonesia lifts YouTube ban

The ban imposed by the Indonesian government on websites such as YouTube, MySpace has been lifted.
The Indonesian ISPs were ordered to block access to the web sites that hosted the controversial movie, "Fitna", created by the Dutch politician Geert Wilders. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has personally ordered the ban of the movie for disturbing social harmony in Indonesia. He also urged the Indonesian citizens to not use violence in their protests against the movie.
But after the citizens have protested against the ban the ISPs decided to block individual pages instead of banning the entire service.

Well, the last sentence says it all -- the Indonesians are not only technically more apt then the Thais, their government (even though similarly over-zealous) also seemingly actually listens to protests from their citizens; one rmeembers that the Thai government only was able to block the whole YouTube domain and waited with the unblockign for weeks after heavily censoring protests against this blocking as well...

More from eFlux Media:

"Access to YouTube and several other sites has been re-opened after Internet providers received overwhelming protests from users," said Heru Nugroho, of the Indonesian Internet providers' association, quoted by AFP.

The movie was first posted last month on Wilder’s Freedom Party website, but, as the site crashed due to heavy traffic, it soon appeared on the LiveLeak website, and then on YouTube and DailyMotion and several other shared-video sites.

The controversial film is marked as mature content, containing graphic images such as beheadings, violence against women in Islam and terrorist attacks. The scenes are separated by Koran verses, which promote violence against believers from other religions. “Fitna” was surrounded by controversy before its release.

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said in a statement that he disapproved of Wilders’ idea. He said he regretted that the vast majority of Muslim, who are against violence, were offended by the release of the film.

Links of Interest:

• Fitna The Movie Official Website
• Fitna The Movie Mirror
• More Fitna The Movie Links
  

Thai Police file lese majeste against BBC reporter Jonathan Head

The Thais, always good for a propaganda nightmare with their shortsighted pride and 'loss of face' have done it again -- how anybody in his right mind can charge a reporter working for a long time for the BBC with their outdated 'lese majeste' laws is absolutely beyond me... this is much worse than shutting down the whole YouTube website for a month because there might or might not have been videos offensive to really thin-skinned people on there.

The Nation wins the price in this article by being extremely sparsely on the important facts (again) -- eg what really was the content of the speech: since it was held in front of the Foreign Correspondents Club in Bangkok, I am sure somebody must have a transcript handy -- but they are so pressed into a corner by the narrow-minded Thai government that they would not dare to bring facts to their readers.

The FCCT is still completely mum about this incident, as mentioend in this article below; their website currently shows curiosly an advert for 'The King of Thailand in World Focus' instead.

Incidentally, not only famous reporters and globally known websites are under threat of being accused of 'lese majeste': it can hit normal people too (for example for not standing up in the cinema when the anthem is played).

From The Nation:

"A police investigator has filed a lese majeste complaint against a BBC reporter over comments he made in a short speech on "Coup, Capital and Crown" at the Foreign Correspondents' Club (FCCT) in Bangkok in December.
Pol Lt-Colonel Watanasak Mungkijkarndee, an investigator at Bang Mod police station, filed a copy of the video of Jonathan Head's opening speech at the FCCT plus a transcript and translation to investigators at the Crime Suppression Division.
He said he filed the case alone and without any political motive.
Pol Lt-Colonel Boonlert Kalayanamitr, the officer in charge of the case, said an investigative committee must be appointed. Evidence will be sent to the Royal Thai Police's Foreign Affairs Division, which will translate and interpret the comments as well as request advice from linguistic experts on Head's speech, he said.
Head, who has worked in Asia for the BBC for many years, was not available for comment last night. Friends said the reporter - highly regarded here - is on assignment in the Philippines.
A member of the FCCT board preferred not to discuss the news "at this stage" because the issue was sensitive and the club was unsure of all the details relating to the complaint.
The move was the talk of foreign reporters yesterday. "It just sends a chill," one commented."

Recent articles of Jonathan Head for the BBC:

• Why Thailand's King is so revered
  (with remarks to 'lese majeste')
• Thailand's wealthy untouchables

Links of Interest:

• FCCT-The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand
• Article in the International Herald Tribune
  
• Article in the Matichon (in Thai)
  
• Discussion on Thai Visa

As so often is the case, the discussion out on the internet was much more enlightening and open.
As one poster said:

"The question is not really what's in this low level creep's mind but whather some goon at a higher level has put him up to it, and why.My guess is that sanity will prevail given Jonathan's BBC background and excellent connections here. However whatever happens Thailand's reputation suffers. The huge irony is that this kind of incident damages the institution that 99.999% revere."

Another had this to offer:

"They must have some idea that pursuing this one will make a mockery of Thailand on an international scale.
Face will probably get in the way of this level of decision making though. Give 'em enough rope..."

And an interesting spin to this incident, in the light of other articles written by Jonathan Head and published by the BBC:

"As some posters have already guessed, this appears to be a warning shot across the bow in typical cowardly style in order to deter further articles from Mr. Head touching a raw nerve and exposing the truths about this country."

And closing a thought about Thailand, democracy and how it touches the lifestyle of us expats here:

"A timely reminder to those who periodically pepper the forum with the fatuous notion that Thailand was,is and can be a democracy.
The country is a playground for vested interests shared among the police, armed forces and a hegemony of families. Lifting rocks to expose their squalid activities is a perilous endeavor and Mr. Head is being reminded of that.
Defamation suits and accusations of 'lese majeste' are their preferred tools of attack although the odd assassination may suffice if "someone" gets really angry.
Still, the living is cheap, the beaches fine, the food interesting and the women are beautiful, plentiful and, above all, available.... who cares about human rights etc.,etc., when you can have all this."

More from New Mandala:

"If you spend 600 baht on the VCD of the 23 December session of FCCT, you’ll find Jonathan Head does not say very much except in his introductory remarks as moderator. As part of setting the scene for the book launch, he mentioned in passing ‘that murky issue of what role, what influence does the institution of the monarchy have.’
Now try looking up ‘murky’ in an English-Thai dictionary. Most give ??? and ?????? (roughly: dark) among the first few options.
So has Jonathan Head just been lost in translation? Maybe. But I suspect it is not quite so simple. In the second half of last year, the FCCT held two sessions which touched on the monarchy. These complaints are an unsubtle way to warn the club against getting into the habit of this sort of thing. In this case the complaint is against the only journalist involved (not the three Thai achan, not the farang achan) because that sends a message to the club."

Bangkok's Lebua Hotel: Another Day, Another Controversy

Lebua Hotel seems to thrive on controversy. The hotel is now involved in a lawsuit with the general manager of The Oriental over a message Kurt sent to his managers to escort Lebua spys out of his hallowed property. Not everybody is pleased with the Lebua for their background, nasty temperament toward their more venerable neighbors, and their insatiable appetite for publicity, no matter good or bad. And most of it is bad.

The International Herald Tribune had this to say about their upcoming feast.

"Bangkok's Lebua hotel, which is organizing the dinner, is no stranger to publicity - or to Michelin-starred chefs. Last year, it put on a decadent feast billed as the meal of a lifetime for $25,000 a head. Six three-star Michelin chefs were flown in from Europe to cook the 10-course meal, each plate paired with a rare vintage wine.
On April 5, the Lebua is offering another 10-course spread, this time for free. The hotel has invited 50 of its biggest-spending customers to the dinner prepared - it hopes - by three top-ranked Michelin-starred chefs.
There is one twist. Before dinner, guests will be jetted to a poor village in northern Thailand to spend the afternoon soaking up the sights of poverty. The dinner and full-day excursion will cost the hotel $300,000."

The Electric Newspaper goes over some of the lawsuit filed by Lebua Hotel against the general manager of The Oriental.

"It's a battle of the stars. Bangkok's five-star hotels, that is. With back-stabbing, snubbing and animosity worthy of a TV soap opera, Bangkok's famed Oriental hotel is now embroiled in a defamation suit filed by a competitor.
The lawsuit, filed on 17 Jan, highlighted the nastiness behind the scenes at some of the world's top luxury establishments. News of the spat was made public yesterday after The Oriental's general manager appeared at the Bangkok Criminal Court for a preliminary hearing.
Mr Kurt Wachtveitl, the general manager, is accused of defaming Bangkok's lebua hotel in an internal memo warning that the competitor was on the prowl for qualified hotel staff. The lawsuit is a first for Thailand's hotel industry and stands to harm the reputation of hotels across the country, the Thai Hotels Association said.
According to The Nation, Thai Hotels Association president Chanin Thonawanik was quoted as saying: 'What will the world think of Thailand when the world's best hotel is involved in a lawsuit? 'This is (a) first in Thai hotel history and will certainly damage our reputation.'
In the memo dated 30 Nov 2006, Mr Wachtveitl accused the lebua of poaching 26 employees from The Peninsula Hotel, another five-star competitor, and expressed concern that The Oriental could be targeted next. 'Effective immediately, no management members from lebua ... are allowed at The Oriental,' the memo signed by Mr Wachtveitl and sent by e-mail to department heads said, according to the court complaint. The memo added: 'Should you come across any of their management members in the hotel, please make sure they are escorted out of our premises immediately.'
The Nation reported that the lebua has filed two complaints, including a criminal case accusing The Oriental of forwarding the memo to general managers at nine other Bangkok hotels."

The International Herald Tribune also reported on the messy lawsuit by upstart Lebua against Thailand's most historic hotel.

"Bangkok's famed Oriental hotel is embroiled in a defamation suit filed by a competitor, highlighting the back-stabbing and animosity that thrives behind the scenes at some of the world's top luxury establishments.
The lawsuit was filed Jan. 17 but only made public Tuesday, a day after The Oriental's general manager appeared at the Bangkok Criminal Court for a preliminary hearing. Kurt Wachtveitl, the general manager, is accused of defaming Bangkok's lebua hotel in an internal memo warning that the competitor was on the prowl for qualified hotel staff.
The lawsuit is a first for Thailand's hotel industry and stands to harm the reputation of hotels across the country, the Thai Hotels Association said. The Oriental consistently ranks among the best in the world in surveys. In the memo dated Nov. 30, 2006, Wachtveitl said the lebua poached 26 employees from The Peninsula Hotel, another 5-star competitor, in two months and expressed concern that The Oriental could be targeted next."

But Chris Baker, guest columnist at New Mandala really gets down to the details of what's going on, but leaves much unanswered. So who is this Rasi Bualert?

"The principal owner of lebua is the family of Rasi Bualert. She always gets tagged as “arms dealer” which seems a bit unfair. Too narrow. Their real estate empire went spectacularly bankrupt after 1997, but they kept going by refusing to repay their creditors. Last June, the Supreme Court ruled that they had to repay 10 billion baht to Bangkok Bank, but I don’t know whether they complied. Their biggest debt was to Krung Thai. The Bualert acquired the building now housing lebua from the developer and architect Rangsan Torsuwan after he was charged with masterminding the attempted murder of the chief judge of the Supreme Court."

The Nation has some background on Rasi Bualert financial problems a few years ago.

"Bangkok Bank has filed a bankruptcy suit against high-flying businesswoman Rasri Bualert and her associates for failing to honour debts totalling almost Bt10 billion. Nine other defendants named in the lawsuit are D Five Co, Charoen West Enterprise, Royal Charoen Krung, Kongchai Bualert, Anand Chanthrakul, Sa-nguansri Dejpornthewan, Parichart Puchatham, General Sawat Phatchuenjai and General Prathuang Wongchan.
The Bankruptcy Court has agreed to hear the case and scheduled June 22 for the first hearing. In its court filing, Bangkok Bank charged that D Five and Charoen West Enterprise had borrowed money from its branches, with the other defendants acting as guarantors. The total debt, principal plus interest, owed to the bank is Bt9.72 billion. The bank said it had asked the defendants to settle the debt but had not received any payment. It believes the defendants now have more debts than assets, making them liable to bankruptcy proceedings."

The New York Times also mentions Rasri Bualert and her financial shenanigans, along with other Thai millionaires who refuse to repay their debts and somehow stay in business to the present day.

"Workers are, for example, putting the finishing touches on the 63-story Royal Charoen Krung Tower. Promoted as Southeast Asia's largest building, the tower, a 3.6-million- square-foot monolith with residential time-share and commercial space, looms over the pharmacies and jewelry shops around it.
First scheduled to open in 1996, the Royal Charoen Krung fell behind schedule in part because Rangsan Torsuwan, the flamboyant architect who designed and owned it, was forced to sell it.
The buyer was Rasri Bualert, a real estate tycoon and Thailand's only female arms dealer. Ms. Rasri helped pay for the project with a loan from the government-run Krung Thai Bank, a loan that is now among the nonperforming loans that account for at least 60 percent of the bank's overall portfolio. Last year, auditors from PricewaterhouseCoopers, reporting that the bank had weak lending standards, singled out the loan as a glaring example.
Ms. Rasri declined to be interviewed for this article. Krung Thai officials did not return phone calls."

Links of Interest:

• original article by Frisko Dude
• Bangkok hotels comparison guide
• Lebua State Tower in Bangkok
• Oriental Bangkok special hotel rates deals
• review of The Oriental Hotel in Bangkok
  

Whistles for Phuket beach nude girls

It sounds like an early April's Fool Joke but this announcement is serious (if you could call the Thai people that, who are not able to plan and think a minute ahead in their life):
Thai Tourism Police are planning to issue Phuket beach girls, who wish to sit topless or nude on the beach, with whistles so that they can call for help if they are approached by untoward males...

From The Star Malaysia:

Next time when you hear someone whistling on an isolated beach in Thailand don't immediately assume it is a wolf call. It might be a female tourist desperately in need help.
Two days after the shocking murder of a Swedish woman in the island of Phuket on March 15, Thai Tourism Ministry distributed safety whistles – shaped like the symbol commonly used to designate women (a circle above a cross) – to female tourists as part of its campaign to increase security.
It is debatable whether a whistle could have saved 27-year-old Swedish tourist Hanna Charlotta Backlund, who was stabbed to death in broad daylight while walking alone at Mai Khao, a secluded beach on the northern tip of Phuket.
Backlund's murder is one of the recent killings of foreigners visiting Thailand that grabbed international media attention.

The list includes:

• Chetn Dadhwal, a 24-year-old Indian, who was trying to stop a fight during a Full Moon party at Koh Phangan on March 22
• A 23-year-old Japanese woman, Tomoko Kawashita, who was murdered in Sukhothai Historical Park during the Loy Krathong water festival during an attempted robbery on Nov 25 last year
• Russians Tatiana Tsimfer, 20, and Liubov Svikova, 25, who were shot dead while they were sitting in beach chairs on Pattaya's Jomtien Beach on Feb 25 last year
  

The murders, according to the Bangkok Post, "come as a wake-up call for the Thai authorities, who seem to show no concern about the shortage of investment in the tourism industry or the political will to improve the safety of tourists".
Quoting tourism experts, the newspaper reported that people only travelled to destinations that they feel safe in. "Thailand owed much of its reputation as the region's tourist hub to its safety record," it said on Sunday.
The tourism industry generates the largest amount of foreign exchange for Thailand, raking up more than 500 billion baht (RM51.5bil) last year and accounting to about 6% of its gross domestic product. Last year, Amazing Thailand attracted 14 million visitors. The Tourism Authority of Thailand expects the number of arrival to increase, forecasting this year's income to be 800 billion baht (RM82.4bil).

Have the killings put a dent in Thailand's tourist arrivals?
"A little bit," says Jim Pollard, an Australian, who is in charge of the expatriate page in Daily Xpress, a Thai English-language tabloid. "But not to a crisis point. Fortunately, the police managed to quickly get the fellow who murdered (Backlund). That probably limited the damage (to the Thai tourism industry)," he said.
On March 19, after a three-day manhunt police arrested a 31-year-old Thai labourer Akaradech Tangae, who confessed that he tried to rape Backlund. "But she resisted and I had to kill her," he told the police.
Police described Akaradech as a peeping Tom who "loves to bring friends to this remote and quiet beach to look at naked tourists swimming or sunbathing."
Asked whether there has been a surge in the number of foreigners killed in the country, Pollard, who has been living in Thailand for nine years, says: "Frankly those things happen here off and on, and it is not unusual. "The murder of a pretty, young girl (Backlund) in Phuket in broad daylight is unusual. But many deaths of foreigners in Thailand do not get international coverage." With that explanation, the expatriate added: "I'm off to do a story on a Finnish man who was killed by his Thai minor wife in Pattaya."
According to Pollard, one of Thailand's most notorious tourist murders is the strangling to death of 24-year-old British backpacker Kirsty Sara Jones in a guesthouse in Chiang Mai in 2000. The case is still unsolved even though it was reopened several times.
Included with the Thai Tourism Police-issued whistles are safety pamphlets warning female sunbathers not to wear revealing swimsuits. "Many tourists, particularly those from Europe, come here to enjoy the beaches. They tend to choose a quiet spot away from other people, take off the bikini and sunbathe. That's when the attackers strike," Choochart Suwannakom, commander of the national Tourist Police, told the Bangkok Post.
Many disagree that wearing skimpy swimsuit attracts rapist attack. But just to be on the safe side, when you visit Thailand perhaps you should pack a whistle together with your bikini.

Phuket beach nude

Links of Interest:

• Story in The Star Malaysia
• Naturist Association Thailand
  

Update:
... in the end, the Thai government is even to cheapskate to give out the free whistles it promised (not because they have realized how stupid an idea it is, but because they have just let it fall udner the table; security of tourists is seemingly not high on the agenda):

This is not yet posted online in Phuket Gazette, from Paper edition, April 12-18. Page 29, Issues and Answers.
Q: "In light of the recent attacks on women in Phuket, I'm worried about my personal safety and have heard that women are being offered free whistles. As a resident, am I entitled to a free whistle? If so where do I get one?"
Answer from Police Major Sathaporn Sanguansuk of Phuket Tourist Police: "The idea to give whistles to female tourists came from the Tourism and sports Minister while he was in Phuket after the murder of Swedish tourist at Mai Khao beach. However, we have yet to receive any orders about that, so for now there are no free whistles."
TiT...

Swedish girl murdered in attempted Phuket beach rape

Sadly, another attack against a foreigner in Thailand in a growing list this year; to remind everybody, Thailand is still a country of the Third World, with a tremendous chasm between rich and poor, and a lot of desperate people out there; be careful and culturally aware (as you should be everywhere on your travels).
As this was only the latest in a good number of crimes against tourists holidaying in Thailand, the handling of this incident by local police has sparked a lot of controversy, even though the Tourism Minister himself came to Phuket to smooth the impact, and a suspect was actually arrested within a very short time frame.

From the Phuket Gazette:

"The body of Hanna Charlotta Backlund, 27, who was found murdered on Mai Khao Beach yesterday morning, has been flown to Bangkok for forensic tests, Col Sakchai Limcharoen, Superintendent of Tah Chat Chai Police Station, told the Gazette this afternoon.
“There is no news to report at this time, but police are working quickly to solve this case. We have questioned many people, but no-one has reported being a witness to the crime, including her girl friend,” he said.
Hanna Charlotta was staying at Mai Khao Beach Bungalow resort with Emma Storman, who found Hanna’s body about 300 meters from the resort.
Tah Chat Chai Police Deputy Superintendent Lt Col Payongsak Petchrod told the Gazette, “The place where the body was found is hard to see and very quiet. There is a mound there and behind that is thick with trees. There are no restaurants near there, and no people.”
Emma told police that she did not see anyone in the area around the time of the murder, Lt Col Payongsak said. “Emma left the resort to buy some water and she told Hanna that she will join her sunbathing later. About 30 minutes later, she returned to find Hanna dead,” he said.
“Hanna was very beautiful and she was sunbathing topless. Emma said that they normally sunbathed topless if there were no people around,” he added.
“There were many stab wounds on her neck, one on her back, one near her navel and both of her hands had been cut by something sharp. It’s possible those wounds came from her fighting her attacker,” Lt Col Payongsak said."

For more information and discussion, please see the following ongoing forum threads on Thai Visa:

• The Death of Miss Hanna Charlotta Backlund
• Thais Scramble To Allay Tourist Fears After Recent Assaults

Links of Interest:

• Two Canadians shot by drunk policeman in Pai
  

Thai bar closing time law leads to early shutdown of Phangan Half Moon Party

I have to congratulate the Thai government -- who are just doing their job of protecting Thai interests of course -- they really go out on a limb to search for the golden goose that needs killing.
After effectively squashing the real estate market in Phuket, driving away high-end tourists and long-stayers to replace them with budget-class tourist hordes, they have found another target.
Surely the people of Koh Phangan do not need any income from their decade-long famous rave parties, so let's shut them all down right away, shall we...?!

Saturday March 15, 2008 local special police forces from the island of madness, formerly also know as Koh Phangan Paradise Island, shut down the Half Moon Party Festival in Baan Tai village at precisely 2 a.m. in the morning.

Local police forces have finally enforced the shut down of all party activities around Koh Phangan Island at exactly 2 a.m. Baan Sabai Day Party in the center of Baan Tai village was also closed at 2 a.m. the following day. Jungle Experience Party which was scheduled for 18th March 2008 was cancelled by the party organizers due to new party regulations, a reliable island source told.

The reliable island source further added that all clubs and bars at world famous Had Rin beach are also closing their entertainment venues at 2 a.m. in the morning.

The one and only exception to the new strict 2 a.m. closing policy is the world famous Full Moon Party at Had Rin beach Koh Phangan, which is held once a month during the Full Moon Night. The world famous Full Moon Party attracts thousands of tourists every month and without this monthly all night long top event the fragile economic system of Phangan Island might collapse as many businesses and bungalow owners heavily depend up on it, an island economic specialist said.

While bars and clubs everywhere else in Thailand were always obliged to the strict closing policy at 12 or 2 a.m. in accordance with national Thai law, "Party Island" Koh Phangan always received a special status thanks to massive corruption of the local district administration, police officers and village chiefs.

Local party organizers might currently be in the process of negotiating with local administration and police officers to lift the strict closing policy as it happened in the past many times. As thousands of party hungry tourists attempt these parties and generate massive income money economics might play an important role in regulating new policies and as everything is possible with money here on Koh Phangan … the island of madness … well … let's see how long the strict closing policy will last… Business as usual?





Links of Interest:

• News from Kohphangannews.com
• Koh Phangan all hotels and bungalows special rates deals
• Beneath the troubled moon from The Nation
• Phangan Half Moon Party Image Gallery
  

Driving on Phuket is dangerous

That driving on Phuket can be dangerous at all times was just proven again with a whole number of fatal or near-fatal accidents.
In my years living (and driving) here I have seen a truly countless number of sometimes quite horrible accidents. Where people do not wear helmets while riding up and down the steep mountain inclines around Patong, Karon and Kata, I mostly just put it down to Darwinism at play, even though it hurts to see people often in their teens or obviously in midst of their holiday killed or worse, maimed for life. Uncovered skin and skull bones do not react well on impact with concrete and asphalt and the roads constructed usually with very little thought for safe traffic flow do not help either (blind bends, uncovered manholes, meter-deep storm drains with sharp edges at the side of the roads, etc).

I am however regularly shaken much more by accidents were cars or pickups loose control in the sharp curves on the mountains and veer into the incoming traffic. The mass of even an unloaded pickup spinning around its axle can have a pretty graphic aftermath if an unsuspecting motorbike driver was on the receiving end of it.

Therefore I do truly not recommend that tourists on holiday take part in local traffic, especially if drunk or without all the protection they would afford back at home (and a helmet for THB 99 that one could break with a hit with a fist does not count, even though it is sufficient to avoid paying your THb 300 to the local copper at the checkpoint!).

More on the last few accidents on Phuket from the Phuket Gazette:

"At least two people are dead and many more injured after a truck overturned in Kamala this morning and a tour bus slammed into a house in Patong yesterday evening.
About 9 am today, a 10-wheeled truck carrying mattresses from Bangkok to Phuket overturned on a hill in front of the Kamala Falls condo project site.
Lt Col Warit Jado, Duty Officer at Kamala Police Station, rushed to the scene with other officers and Kusoldharm Foundation staff after being notified of the crash.
One of the two passengers who were asleep in the cab at the time died in the accident. Identified only as “Yantra”, the man was pinned under the wreckage and died at the scene. The other passenger, identified only as “Yeesa”, was rushed to Patong Hospital for treatment. He was seriously injured but still conscious, Lt Col Warit said.
The driver, Wangsen Yeemeng, 35, escaped with only minor injuries. He will be fined with negligent driving resulting in death, he added.
Wangsen told the Gazette that he and the other two men had just arrived in Phuket from Bangkok, having spent Sunday night in Tab Phut district, in Phang Nga. “I tried to wake my friends up before the accident happened, but they kept sleeping. After the truck overturned, I first had to find a way out of the wreckage,” he said.
Around 6:30 last night, the brakes on a Nareuporn Tour bus failed as it was entering Patong. The bus plowed into a sedan car in front of it and into an abandoned house opposite Wat Patong.
At least one person has been confirmed dead and at least 15 others injured, including one victim who will have a leg amputated.
Patong resident Simon Rooke of England, one of the hundreds of people caught in the resulting tailback that stretched all the way over the hill to the go-kart track in Kathu, told the Gazette it would be a miracle if only one person died in the crash.
“There was glass everywhere, people everywhere and a coach half on road and half in the housing plot,” he said. “I assume the coach was coming into Patong alongside the temple, then braked before taking the corner. The brakes must have failed, causing it to veer straight through into the end of Pisit Gorani Rd,” he said.
“Seeing the carnage when driving past I said to my mate that there could probably be at least 10 dead in that.... mostly motorbikes waiting at the intersection waiting to go up the mountain...
“Had it been a weekday, it would have been much worse,” he said. “I think it’s way overdue that they enforce mandatory maintenance tests and checks for commercial vehicles, as it is these vehicles that are causing these terrible accidents,” he added."

Links of Interest:

• Phuket driving information
• Phuket car rental
  

Police officer embezzling tsunami funds charged

From the Phuket Gazette:

"The Royal Thai Police Disciplinary Division has charged a high-ranking officer in the Foreign Affairs Division over alleged improprieties in the use of funds for the Thailand Tsunami Victims Identification (TTVI) center.
Col Chaiyaporn Wannaprapa, Deputy Commander of the Disciplinary Division of the Royal Thai Police, on February 12 announced that Col Pornprasert Karnjanarin was formally notified of the investigation against him just two days before a resignation letter he had tendered was set to take effect, on February 10.
Col Pornprasert, Deputy Commander of the Royal Thai Police Foreign Affairs Division, will have his pension benefits seized unless he is able to prove himself innocent, Col Chaiyaporn said.
“The investigating panel has issued Col Pornprasert a two-part summons ordering him to appear and hear the charges against him and also notifying him that if he fails to appear within 15 days a decision will be rendered and punishment imposed based solely on the facts already collected by the panel,” Col Chaiyaporn said.
“From our investigation, we believe that Col Pornprasert cannot prove his innocence and had thus been trying to avoid the consequences by reporting in sick until his resignation took effect,” he added.
Col Pornprasert said that it was important that justice be proved in the case because the image of the Royal Thai Police was at stake.
The Disciplinary Division will have one year to conclude the case before the statute of limitations runs out, he said.
It was also reported that since the alleged impropriety, which first came to light in 2006, Col Pornprasert had changed his first name to Paramate.
The case made international headlines after the ambassadors of seven countries that donated funds to the TTVI requested then-Police Commissioner Kowit Wattana to launch an independent audit of how 88 million baht in donated funds were used."

Suspected American Pedophile Arrested In Phuket

While the Phuket Gazette thinks it somehow a "strange irony" that this (suspected) pedophile has written down his experiences in a short story that brought him obviously well forward in local social circles, I am rather horrified of the thought that we have here some not so subtly hidden descriptions of the abuse this perpetrator has (allegedly) put his victims through.
Message to the Phuket Gazette: NOT funny! And that such a short story could be taken as ironic and worth a medal by the big-names of Phuket media circles should be a story by itself -- read more...!

From the Phuket Gazette:

"A man wanted for child molestation by police in the US state of Missouri was arrested Tuesday afternoon and has been turned over to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for extradition.
During questioning, the suspect, Earl Russel Bonds, tried to kill himself by cutting his left wrist with scissors, but police seized the scissors from him in time.
Bonds, 42, was handed to FBI agents at Phuket International Airport last night and flown to Bangkok to await an extradition order to the US.
Bonds was with his Thai boyfriend when officers from the Phuket Tourist Police and Phuket Immigration Police arrested him at a rented house on Soi Yanui in Rawai about 2 pm on Tuesday.
Police said Bonds entered Thailand August 30 last year and worked as an English teacher, then later as a freelance columnist for an overseas publication.
Bonds did not resist arrest and admitted he was the person on an FBI wanted list, but refused to answer further questions, police said.
Police said Bonds asked for tranquillizer pills during his brief detention at the Phuket Immigration Office before FBI agents picked him up. He grabbed the scissors and cut his left wrist when a police officer on guard turned away to get him water for the pills.
A native of St Louis, Missouri, Bonds has been charged in the US with four counts of molesting an 11-year-old boy in 2003. He was charged in 2004 and fled after posting US$10,000 bail, according to the popular St Louis Most Wanted television show aired in that city by the local Fox Television affiliate in that city.
Phuket Immigration Police Superintendent Pol Col Chanatpol Yongbunjerd told the Gazette today he first received a report from Immigration headquarters in Bangkok that Bonds might have been hiding out somewhere on the island.
The initial investigation did not get far due to a lack of details and the fact that Bonds was listed as an African-American, which led investigators to expect him to have a much darker complexion than he actually does, Col Chanatpol said.
Immigration Police had visited his home once earlier, but did not arrest him because they thought he did not match the FBI’s written description.
Further investigation with the help of the Tourist Police led finally to the arrest, Col Chanatpol said.
Bonds had been issued a work permit by the Phuket Employment Service Office as an employee of STN Company Ltd, which described itself as a “business management and development services company”.
Police failed to locate Bonds at the address on the work permit, but subsequent investigation revealed that he had changed jobs and begun working as an English-language teacher and freelance writer, Col Chanatpol said.
At the time of arrest, Bonds had overstayed his permit-to-stay issued by Immigration, he added.
Bonds last year applied for work as a travel writer with the Gazette under the name Chris Bonds and supplied as a writing sample an Internet link to a short fiction story which won him first prize in a local writing competition held by The Boathouse in Kata.
The story is a first-person account of a child who is subject to sexual abuse at the hands of his own father.
In a strange irony that hints at the cycle of such abuse, the story is entitled 'Escape From Home'."

Links of Interest:

• Blog of Earl Russel Bonds

• Thread on Thai Visa

• The First Annual Boathouse Writing Contest in Phuket in 2006

• Reprint of 'Escape from Home' in the Phuket Magazine