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Flood Rattled Bangkok Fights Back

By on Sunday, November 6th, 2011 | No Comments
Bangkok flooding 2011Bangkok is just on its way back to bringing normalcy to civilian lives. A large number of boats have been made available to the local residents to wade through the flood waters, in order to enable them to salvage their belongings, properties or live stock by draining out water from the industrial estates and residential complexes. Though this has come a little late, the Prime Minister Yinluck Shinawatra heaved a sigh of relief that they could at least provide immediate helping aids to the locals.
The massive deluge did not break up suddenly in to the province. The incessant rains that took over Bangkok and its surroundings  since June 2011 have thrown early warning signals to the local and central administration. The political feuds going on between the local Democrat led government that lost the  elections in June 2011 and the Pheu Thai Government at the center have driven the attention on to the flood management out of focus over the last few months. This coupled with the poor disaster planning compounded the problem leading to loss of over 500 lives since late July and forced closure of over 10000 industrial units. There was no coordination between the various wings of the Government in pulling up prompt corrective actions to restrain further damage from the floods. The authorities paid a deaf ear to the warning signals while the dams have been taking in overflows resulting in inundation of the province, leaving no room for last minute management.
While the immediate rehab efforts would only solve a third of the problem, the rest could only be dealt with over a long time scale aided by huge budgeting. The Government has already set aside an initial budget of 100 billion Baht (roughly $ 3.3 billion) to help reconstruct and repair the damaged areas. The Cabinet is set to discuss more rehabilitation efforts in its meeting scheduled for the 8th of November 2011.
Rehabilitation efforts have begun in Nakhon Sawan province and the ancient capital of Ayutthaya province just as the flood waters began to recede. While the flood water is expected to take anywhere between two to three weeks to drain in to the sea, authorities have erected a 6 km long wall of sandbags to prevent the water from drowning the industrial zones to the east of the Capital.
Army has been fighting an untiring battle and is quite determined to stake a claim to the win over the war with the floods.
A group of Taiwanese business owners and volunteers have also joined the rehab brigade, by supplying huge number of sandbags and helping the locals to drain out water from the area.
This flood episode is the worst Bangkok has ever known since the last 60 or more years. While the infrastructure has to be stepped up gradually, immediate efforts should come well-coordinated in order to mitigate the perilous effects on the citizens and economy.
The flood management exercise is the key factor that determines the resurrection of the Thai economy and the Government would do well to pay attention to this, bereft of political motives. Thanks to the investors who still wish to continue once normalcy is restored, owing to its locational and infrastructure advantages, Thai can still hope to look ahead for a bright future. The key lies with the administration’s commitment to lead a valiant fight to restore its fortunes !!

Bangkok is just on its way back to bringing normalcy to civilian lives. A large number of boats have been made available to the local residents to wade through the flood waters, in order to enable them to salvage their belongings, properties or live stock by draining out water from the industrial estates and residential complexes. Though this has come a little late, the Prime Minister Yinluck Shinawatra heaved a sigh of relief that they could at least provide immediate helping aids to the locals.Bangkok floods 2011
The massive deluge did not break up suddenly in to the province. The incessant rains that took over Bangkok and its surroundings  since June 2011 have thrown early warning signals to the local and central administration. The political feuds going on between the local Democrat led government that lost the  elections in June 2011 and the Pheu Thai Government at the center have driven the attention on to the flood management out of focus over the last few months. This coupled with the poor disaster planning compounded the problem leading to loss of over 500 lives since late July and forced closure of over 10000 industrial units. There was no coordination between the various wings of the Government in pulling up prompt corrective actions to restrain further damage from the floods. The authorities paid a deaf ear to the warning signals while the dams have been taking in overflows resulting in inundation of the province, leaving no room for last minute management.
While the immediate rehab efforts would only solve a third of the problem, the rest could only be dealt with over a long time scale aided by huge budgeting. The Government has already set aside an initial budget of 100 billion Baht (roughly $ 3.3 billion) to help reconstruct and repair the damaged areas. The Cabinet is set to discuss more rehabilitation efforts in its meeting scheduled for the 8th of November 2011.
Rehabilitation efforts have begun in Nakhon Sawan province and the ancient capital of Ayutthaya province just as the flood waters began to recede. While the flood water is expected to take anywhere between two to three weeks to drain in to the sea, authorities have erected a 6 km long wall of sandbags to prevent the water from drowning the industrial zones to the east of the Capital.
Army has been fighting an untiring battle and is quite determined to stake a claim to the win over the war with the floods.
A group of Taiwanese business owners and volunteers have also joined the rehab brigade, by supplying huge number of sandbags and helping the locals to drain out water from the area.
This flood episode is the worst Bangkok has ever known since the last 60 or more years. While the infrastructure has to be stepped up gradually, immediate efforts should come well-coordinated in order to mitigate the perilous effects on the citizens and economy.
The flood management exercise is the key factor that determines the resurrection of the Thai economy and the Government would do well to pay attention to this, bereft of political motives. Thanks to the investors who still wish to continue once normalcy is restored, owing to its locational and infrastructure advantages, Thai can still hope to look ahead for a bright future. The key lies with the administration’s commitment to lead a valiant fight to restore its fortunes !!

Thailand’s Epic Floods of 2011 Continue

By on Sunday, November 6th, 2011 | No Comments


BANGKOK – Floodwaters lapped Bangkok’s biggest outside market Saturday as officers warned that there weren’t any major barriers between the water and the center of the Thai capital, less than six miles away.
The nations’s worst flooding in half a century has influenced more than a 3rd of the countries provinces and killed just about 450 folks countrywide. It’s been spreading across Bangkok’s north and west for at least a week, and officers have been wrestling to give protection to the economically urgent middle of the town of 9,000,000 people.
Looking to divert some of the huge mass of water still piled up in north Bangkok, employees Friday night finished a 3.7-mile ( 6-kilometer ) flood wall made of enormous, speedily assembled sandbags, per Bangkok town speaker Jate Sopitpongstorn. But the town will need to depend on its existing drainage system to battle water that was outside the wall and just one or two miles from the central financial area, he announced.
During the last 20 years, the city’s much enlarged and improved drainage system has managed to effectively siphon off water during monsoon seasons with average rainfall.
But it’s going to be put to a harsh test given the volume of water not seen in Bangkok since maybe a great flood in the 1940s. Sound predictions are troublesome because various executive officers, including the Bangkok governor and Prime Minister, have given vastly different variations of what city residents can expect. Water flowed past the eastern side of the famous Chatuchak Weekend Market, a vast, open-air shopping sector and major traveller attraction north of the central financial district. Associated Press correspondents saw some sellers and buyers on a day that would generally be packed with sellers and purchasers. The floodwaters were also advancing southward in diagonally opposite Lad Phrao, a district encrusted with office towers, condos and a preferred shopping center. The floods, fed by strangely heavy monsoon rains and a lot of tropical typhoons, started in north Thailand in late July. They have wrecked millions of acres ( hectares ) of crops and forced thousands of factories to shut, though few of the nations’s most well liked holiday maker areas have been influenced.
The Thai government has asked residents in 8 of the city’s fifty districts to evacuate and that Bangkok authorities have set up 231 evacuation centers capable of holding more than 65,000 people. More than ten thousand folks have swarmed to 121 of these shelters so far. PM Yingluck Shinawatra told a radio audience Saturday that a plan was to be put before the Cabinet on Tuesday which would alocate one hundred billion baht ( $3.3 bln ) for post-flood reconstruction. “I admit this task has actually exhausted me, but I can do not ever give up. I just need the general public to understand,” Yingluck claimed. Jate, the town spokesperson, denied a paper report that authorities wouldn’t protect Bangkok’s key link to its southern provinces. He revealed the town will try to divert any water headed into the area thru a canal to the Thachin Brook west of the town. While some roads out of the capital are still acceptable in all directions, the 2 major safe corridors from the town run to the south and the east, where Bangkok’s international airport is found. Officers maintain they’re assured that Suvarnabhumi airport, the city’s only aerial gateway to the external world will remain open. Bangkok’s 2nd airport, utilised for domestic flights, is underwater and remains closed.

Understanding Thai Newspaper Headlines

By on Tuesday, February 15th, 2011 | No Comments

Are you new to Thai Newspaper Headlines?

Understanding the Thai language can be a tricky task, especially if you are not a native speaker. As a result, many people are often confused or have trouble understanding when they glance at Thai Newspaper Headlines. Even more experienced Thai speakers and writers will have a bit of trouble deciphering Thai newspaper headlines.

Some people choose to ask Thai native speakers for explanations, and usually intriguing results follow. There are a few online tools available to help as well if you’re looking for other ways to translate Thai newspaper headlines:

http://www.thai2english.com

This free website has a service useful for translation: you can copy Thai text from Thai newspaper headlines into a box. Then, moving your cursor over each word will provide you with synonyms and translations. This service can help you gain a basic understanding of the words used in the Thai newspaper headlines. However, it is not perfect, and is unable to perfectly translate everything.

Thai newspaper headlines often contain forms of slang and words that are not often heard – colloquialism and obscure expressions. As a result, not every word you see in a headline is translatable into English form.

The Bangkok Post, a Thai newspaper, has a database with Thai newspaper headlines and newspaper article translations. Named sàp jàak khàao (words from the news), this archive is a very useful tool for ready-made translation. For people looking for a way to practice their Thai, or simple looking to decipher words used in Thai newspaper headlines, this is a good start.

For those people looking to learn more about Thai newspaper headlines, there are also other similar tools on the web that will translate Thai words and expressions for you.  Please remember, many Thai newspaper headlines will be unusual or surprising for the native English speaker, so approach with an open mind.

Thai Newspaper Sources and Guides

By on Sunday, January 30th, 2011 | No Comments



When looking into Thai newspapers and reading Thai newspaper headlines, one might not know where to start.

There are a wide variety of Thai newspaper headlines across the web. For beginning readers, who are new to the Thai newspaper industry, it can be slightly intimidating figuring out which to choose.

This guide supplies many different Thai newspaper headlines and a brief synopsis of each paper. For those fluent in Thai, there are quite a few newspapers to choose from. For those unable to easily decipher Thai newspaper headlines (not being native Thai speakers), there are some newspapers for you as well.

Here are some Thai newspaper headlines sources:

Bangkok Post
This is the most well known English Thai newspaper.
Bangkok Recorder
A lifestyle magazine in Bangkok.
Business Day
Featuring Thai newspaper headlines regarding business. In English.
Chiang Mai Citylife
Tourist Magazine regarding destinations, eateries, and other attractions in Chiang Mai.
Chiangmai Mail
Chiang Mai Thai newspaper with headlines regarding local news, events, and other things of note.
Hot Properties Magazine
Thai newspaper with headlines about real estate, buying and selling houses in Hua Hin.
Hua Hin News
Thai newspaper headlines about local events in Hua Hin and the Prachuap Khiri Khan province.
Hua Hin Observer
A Thai Newspaper headlines regarding Hua Hin and Cha Am.
Korat Post
Northeast Thailand’s English Thai newspaper headlines.
Krabipost.com
Thai newspaper for Krabi and Ao Nang.
Nation
Another major Thai newspaper with headlines about the nation.
National News Bureau
The Royal Thai Government’s News agency constructs Thai newspaper headlines and articles.
Pattaya Mail
This is the original English language weekly newspaper in the Eastern Seaboard of Thailand, along with Pattaya. Thai newspaper headlines and articles available.
Pattaya People
A Pattaya Thai newspaper with headlines and articles about local news.
Pattaya Times
An American owned Pattaya daily newspaper with Thai newspaper headlines and articles, along with local information about the town.

These are just a few resources with Thai newspaper headlines and articles for your viewing pleasure.

Thailand News Headlines | The Jewel of Southeast Asia

By on Sunday, January 16th, 2011 | No Comments

Located in the heart of Southeast Asia, Thailand was earlier known as Siam which always had a monarchy for many centuries. Despite being historically sandwiched between French Indochina and British India, Thailand was never colonized but has been deeply influenced by both.

Now Thailand is a constitutional monarchy whose Head of State is the King. Presently, King Bhumibol Adulyadej is the longest reigning monarch in the history of Thailand and the longest serving Head of State since 1946. The majority of the population comprises of Thai and the rest are of Chinese origin, ethnic Malay and members of various hill tribes. Thai is the official language of Thailand.

A large number of expatriates from developed countries are also living in Thailand. To expedite its quick economic growth, various centers of tourism such as Phuket, Bangkok and Pattaya Beach have been developed by Thailand. Amongst the many countries of Southeast Asia, Thailand is known the world over for being a hot tourist destination.

A free and independent press is the hallmark of a progressive economic and democratic power. Thai newspapers constitute an important pillar of this free press. The foremost amongst the newspapers is the Bangkok Post which is replete with not only Thai news, but also business, travel and property info. Carrying contemporary Thai news from the financial world, newspapers also rave about the rich arts and crafts of Thailand. From oil prices to political news, Thai newspaper headlines speak about a wide array of issues. Other Thai newspapers of repute are the Pattaya Mail and Phuket Gazette which include a wide variety of local and world news. The Phuket Gazette which is an internet newspaper for Phuket carries daily Thai news, business advertisements, yellow pages and maps of Phuket thus making it indispensible to the international tourists. These newspapers also sponsor local charity events which are well attended. Since Thailand is a tourist hotspot, the Thai newspapers also carry recommendations of Thai and Chinese eating joints, sightseeing spots, and museums in Thailand.

Thai newspapers are also published in the French language with such sources like the Bonjour Siam. Keeping up with the rapid economic development in Thailand, the Business Day is being published dealing exclusively in the economic news of the day. Its panorama of Thai news ranges from the raising of subsidies on diesel prices to the rate of economic growth and the problems on the Thai Cambodian border which are perennially on the Thai newspaper headlines.

Welcome to Thai Newspaper dot net

By on Friday, January 7th, 2011 | 2 Comments

Thai newspaper headlines and news sources coming soon!