As this Youtube video (embedded below) explains, Google Maps Thailand now incorporates data from Bangkok’s public transport organizations and suggests modes of transport other than driving.
I can’t verify it yet, but the new functionality should allow users to get walking, driving, and mass transit directions to various destinations in the Thai capital.
CNNGo has more info. Those who read Thai should be able to see the new features in action at maps.google.co.th.
When Thailand’s exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra bought Manchester City FC in 2007, some of the club’s fans began referring to him Frank, as in Frank Sinatra.
Now there’s this item in today’s Nation:
Thaksin’s new name : Takki Shinegra
Runaway ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra has used new name in his passports issued by some African countries, Thai Vice foreign minister Panich Vikitsreth said Wednesday.
Thaksin’s name in passports issued by Nicaragua, Uganda and Montenegro has been changed to “Takki Shinegra,” he said.
The Thai government has revoked Thaksin’s diplomatic passport issued during his premiership. He was believed to have an ordinary Thai passport. Some African countries have issued him a special passport to facilitate his travels and his visit to the countries.
Interesting.
(Thanks to A for the tip.)
Bangkok-based foodies, take note: A new Mexican restaurant is coming to town — the soon-to-open La Monita Taqueria. I dropped by today, and though I’ve yet to sample the food, the establishment seems promising.
A few weeks back, I noticed that @LaMonitaBkk was following me on Twitter.
I did a little poking around, and the La Monita Web site says the place is located in Mahatun Plaza, near the Ploenchit BTS station.
As it happens, I was in the area around lunch time today, so I dropped by. La Monita isn’t open yet, but I spoke with the owner. He told me that they plan to open on Friday (Nov. 27).
A sample dish — the grilled fish taco — is pictured above, along with an arroz a la Cubana. And here’s a photo of the storefront. (Note that these aren’t my images. They’re taken from the La Monita Twitpic account.)
If you make it to La Monita, leave a comment to let us know how you like it.
La Monita Taqueria
888/26 Mahatun Plaza (about 100 meter down, on the left)
Bangkok
Tel. 02-650-9581
And here’s a map:
AP:
Former Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej dies
BANGKOK — Samak Sundaravej, a firebrand politician who briefly served as Thailand’s prime minister but was ousted for simultaneously getting income as host of a popular TV cooking show, died of cancer Tuesday. He was 74.
Samak died at Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok after a long battle against liver cancer, hospital official Navachamol Sangkaew said. Samak had sought treatment for the cancer late last year in the United States and kept a low-profile after returning to Thailand.
Known as a straight-talker with a penchant for the profane, Samak’s political career spanned four decades but many supporters remembered him best for his TV show called “Tasting and Complaining,” a mix of traditional Thai cooking and rants on Samak’s pet subjects.
There’s more from CNN.com, Al Jazeera, Reuters, and AFP.
A quick Thailand-specific aviation note that may of of interest: PB Air has ceased operating. The company’s Web site has a simple statement saying that “all flights are suspended until further notice,” but no reason for the stoppage is given.
2Bangkok.com noted this news on Nov. 18, and I was curious to know what happened.
Today’s Bangkok Post has the answer: PB Air doesn’t have any planes to fly.
New aircraft delivery delay downs PB Air
Fight operation put on hold from this monthA delay in the delivery of new aircraft has forced PB Air, an airline founded by Boon Rawd Brewery beer baron Piya Bhirom-Bhakdi, to halt its entire flight operation.
Delivery of the two Saab 340s, leased from the US-based aircraft lessor AeroCentury, was postponed because PB Air found the condition of the Swedish-made turboprops unacceptable.
The first Saab 340 was supposed to be delivered in September and the second in October, but the delivery was put off until “probably” the end of next month, said PB Air chief executive Pornsartid Naruenartwanich.
The airline was forced to suspend all flights, starting this month, as it has no aircraft at its disposal because of the delivery delay and Bangkok Airways repossessing two ATR 72-500 turboprops at the end of October it leased to PB Air.
(Emphasis mine.)
FlightGlobal.com has more info.
WhiteHouse.gov has this brief video (embedded below) of President Obama speaking after he met with ASEAN leaders at APEC in Singapore on Sunday. Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva appears in the video, and Obama thanks him at the end.
Prolonged Thai rally in Nov
Fugitive former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s supporters announced plans on Tuesday for a prolonged street protest beginning in late November and lasting until the government steps down and calls elections.
It would be the first protracted demonstration by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) since their protests in April turned violent and were forcibly ended by the army.
‘The government is incompetent with only a self-serving agenda. We want the government to return power to the people and we will not stop until we finish the job,’ Jatuporn Phrompan, one of the key protest leaders said, adding that the plan is still tentative and is subject to discussion with other members.
(Emphasis mine.)
That’s the title of this post at Prachatai, which describes the PAD rally that took place here in Bangkok on Sunday:
The People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) took to the stage at Sanam Luang with intense nationalism. Fiery nationalist rhetoric was stressed and repeated, while decades-old nationalist anti-communist songs were played throughout. The ‘Hun Sen Model’ was the latest term introduced to characterize the Cambodian leader. A larger rally was called for 5 Dec.
On 15 Nov, on stage with a pink backdrop which read in Thai ‘Unite the Strength of the Land. Protect Nation, Religion and King’, and in English ‘Fight for Thailand. Fight for our King’, the event started around 4 pm with some lesser known speakers.
Prasert Lertyaso called for the beheading of Hun Sen, General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, and Thaksin Shinawatra, alluding to an old Thai saying of shedding blood to wash royal feet. He banished Thaksin’s supporters to Phnom Penh and Dubai.
Saken Sutthiwong said that Cambodia was afraid that [Thai] F16 fighter jets would miss their targets and bomb Angkor Wat and Prear Vihear instead, because they earn their living from those ‘old stones’. Afterwards he sang ‘Ayutthaya’ and ‘Bang Rajan War’ songs which are about defending the country from its enemies, the Burmese in this case. He said he wanted Cambodia to get rich, so it could take its tens of thousands of beggars back home. Cambodian people are poor, as can be seen on TV when they storm through the border checkpoint like hell breaking loose. Thailand is not like that, because the Thai people have the King and Queen, he said.
(Emphasis mine.)
Just briefly: The Nov. 12 issue of The Economist has a story about Thaksin and Hun Sen. I won’t post any excerpts as it’s quite short. Give it a read.
(Via BP).
UPDATE: In other news, a blast at a PAD rally on Sunday injured 12 people. AFP has this item:
Grenade caused anti-Thaksin rally blast: Thai police
BANGKOK — Thai police said Monday that a grenade was responsible for a blast at a rally by opponents of fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, as the number of injured rose to 12.
Organisers said the small explosion at the protest in central Bangkok late Sunday was caused by a firecracker thrown by men on a motorcycle, but police said they now believed it was a more serious attack.
(Emphasis mine.)
Reuters has a summary of the latest developments in the Thaksin-Cambodia-Thailand saga:
Thai Crisis Deepens as Thaksin Finds Cambodian Base
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Emboldened by a rousing welcome in Cambodia, fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra is rallying supporters from just over the border, upping the ante in Thailand’s political crisis.
After accusing Thailand’s rulers of “false patriotism” in a speech in Phnom Penh on Thursday, Thaksin huddled with more than 20 supporters and leaders of his red-shirted, anti-government protest movement who traveled from Thailand.
That number will swell on Friday when about 100 supporters plan to gather in the Cambodian town of Siem Reap, about 150 km (90 miles) from the Thai border, according to Puea Thai, an incarnation of Thaksin’s disbanded Thai Rak Thai party.
The prospect of the billionaire — who the Thai government sees as a criminal — running a political campaign from across the border rattled investors, sending Thai stock prices tumbling nearly 3 percent on concern of more instability in Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy.
Royalists aligned with the military, who wear the king’s traditional color of yellow, plan a demonstration of their own on Sunday in Bangkok to denounce Thaksin and Cambodia, threatening to deepen the political and diplomatic impasse.
(Emphasis mine.)
Worth reading the whole thing.
Previous Thaksin-Cambodia-Thailand posts are here and here and here.