Beware, the 48-hour booze-buying ban starts tonight

Beware, the 48-hour booze-buying ban starts tonight
By Coconuts Bangkok
 

BANGKOK: -- The sale of alcohol will be banned on Friday and Saturday as they are two important Buddhist holidays.

The booze ban will be effective for 48 hours from 12:01am on Friday to midnight on Saturday, according to Peerapong  Saichua, deputy permanent secretary for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.
Full story: http://bangkok.cocon...-starts-tonight

Coconuts test-drives the new Bangkok-to-Cambodia bus service

By Sarah CuiksaMay 6, 2013 / 13:17

 

If you’ve ever crossed the border between Thailand and Cambodia, you know it’s not a matter of whether or not you’ll get ripped off, but of just how much you’ll lose in the process.

When Bangkok announced the first public bus service linking the neighboring countries, it helped to ease long-held concerns over the wild scamming endemic to the route. Until now, the trip to Siem Reap, popular among travelers and expats doing visa runs, was a bit like an Olympic triathlon: multiple legs, various terrains and several kinds of transportation. It takes awhile. You sweat a lot.

Bus tickets sold from Khao San Road are notorious for being fraudulent or delivering something other than what was promised. At the Thai border town of Aranyaprathet, swindlers and even immigration officials can quote visas on arrival at double or triple their actual cost. Wikitravel describes Aranyaprathet as “the scene of some of the world’s great border scams - a major local industry.”

So, it was a welcome initiative when the state-operated bus routes to both Siem Reap and Phnom Penh began running in late February. The service would undoubtedly streamline the trip and reduce scamming, right? Not quite.

Coconuts Bangkok traveled the BKK-to-Siem Reap bus route in late April. Here’s what you need to know about the new bus line, and getting over the border with your patience (and wallet) intact:

The buses are operated by the Transport Co. and run daily from Bangkok’s Northern (Mo Chit) Bus Terminal, a 4km taxi ride from the Mo Chit BTS. A passport and cash got me a ticket in less than three minutes from the nice ladies at Booth 22, located inside the terminal.

The bus to Siem Reap left at 9am and cost THB750. (The bus to Phnom Penh departs at 8:15am and costs THB900. Depending on the length of lines you encounter when stamping out of Thailand and arriving at Immigration in Cambodia, it could take anywhere from 7-9 hours for Siem Reap and 11+ hours to Phnom Penh.)

The bus ride from Bangkok to the border took a leisurely four hours. I was served a boxed “breakfast,” consisting of a cookie and a Nescafe packet, which came sans hot water or a mug.

We stopped once just before Aranyaprathet around 12:30pm, where a Royal Thai Army soldier hopped on the bus, checked a couple of foreigners’ passports, moseyed around and hopped off.

In Aranyaprathet, which is 6km from the Cambodian border town of Poipet, we detoured to the bus agency’s office. An English-speaking Transport Co. representative joined us, handing out identification cards which he explained he would use to track us down after we crossed into Poipet and passed immigration.

On our way to the border, we were given lunch. A hot meal! The travelers rejoiced.

But before we crossed the actual border into Poipet, the bus pulled behind a building where we were told to apply for Cambodian tourist visas if we hadn’t already gotten one. Sounds great. Except a Cambodian tourist visa on arrival should cost you USD20-25, not the THB1,100 (USD37) they try to charge you here. The “officer” said the visa costs THB1,000 plus a THB100 processing fee, which he later called a service fee. Later, when asked, he couldn’t explain what either “processing” or “service” entailed.                            Full Story: http://bangkok.cocon...dia-bus-servic

Bangkok-Cambodia buses launched

The first buses directly connecting Thailand and Cambodia left Bangkok on Thursday, headed for Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, with the launch of a regular service to bolster tourism and economic ties between the two countries.

The first airconditioned bus from Bangkok to Phnom Penh left Mor Chit terminal, followed by the first bus to Siem Reap, the Transport Co announced.

 
Drivers are ready to roll the bus from Bangkok to Phnom Penh officially launched on Thursday. (Photo by Pornprom Satrabhaya)

The state company made a test-run on the two routes on Dec 29, 2012, but the service was not launched because "Cambodia was not ready for it", Transport Co managing director Wutthichart Kalayanamitr said in a statement.
The two countries are now running a daily service between the two destinations.
The bus to Phnom Penh leaves the Thai capital at 8.15am and the return trip is at 7am. The fare is 900 baht, or US$30. The 719 kilometre trip takes 11 hours.
The Siem Reap line departs Bangkok at 9am and the return service leaves the Cambodian town at 8am. Siem Reap is the home of two major tourist attractions, Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom. The fare is 750 baht, or US$25, for the 424km trip, which takes seven hours.
The two routes enter Cambodia through Aranyaprathet district in Sa Kaeo.
Transport Co also runs a service to Vientiane, the Lao capital, and Pak Se in southern Laos.

 A foreign tourist buys a ticket for the first bus to Phnom Penh, which leaves Bangkok on Thursday. (Photo by Pornprom Satrabhaya)
 www.bangkokpost.com

2013 comes in with a bang as power cut hits South Pattaya entertainment zone

The Pattaya Countdown Festival 2013 has now come to an end as another year begins in Fun City.
As the clock struck midnight at the Bali Hai Port, thousands welcomed in the new year with a spectacular fireworks display and some of Thailand’s top singers and bands including a special performance by one of the most popular bands in Thailand, Big Ass.
Although it was all fun at the Bali Hai Port, the same cannot be said for Walking Street which suffered a major power cut just at the wrong time as patrons in the bars and restaurants prepared to welcome in 2013.
Some bar owners blamed the Countdown Festival for using up the cities supply of electricity and others just kept quiet and tried to continue their celebrations, in the dark.
Whatever you did on New Years Eve Pattaya One hopes you enjoyed yourself and we wish you, your family and friends, a happy and prosperous 2013!

 
 

   

http://www.pattayaon...rtainment-zone/

Rain turns city roads to rivers

Heavy rain in Bangkok on Friday evening paralysed traffic in many parts of the city, reports said.

The rainfall that drenched the capital from 4pm left commuters and motorists stranded in traffic jams for hours as several major roads were waterlogged, among them Vibhavadi, Phahon Yothin, Sutthisan Winitchai, Ratchadaphisek, Ramkhamhaeng, Ngam Wong Wan and Charan Sanitwong.

The water on most of the roads was between 20 and 30 centimetres deep, spilling over onto pedestrian footpaths.

Sanya Cheenimit, director of the drainage and sewerage department of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), inspected drainage in affected areas and concluded that a total of 16 locations and roads in the capital had been clogged with water due to several hours of heavy rains.

Thawi Watthana district recorded with highest volume of rain at 142 millimetres, followed by Din Daeng (95mm) and Bang Phlat (85mm), he said.

Mr Sanya said earlier that City Hall expected to drain all of the water from the streets by about 8pm if the rain stopped.

Vibhavadi Road (Photo by Post Today)

 
Phaya Thai Road (Photo by Post Today)

Shortcut to Lat Phrao Soi 64, near Sutthisan area (Photo by Post Today)

 
Ramkhamhaeng Soi 21 (Photo by Post Today)

 In front of the Channel 7 Headquarters Building on Phahon Yothin Road. 

http://www.bangkokpost.com

ประกาศศูนย์อุตุนิยมวิทยาภาคเหนือ ฉบับที่ 1 เรื่อง ฝนตกหนัก น้ำท่วมฉับพลัน และน้ำป่าไหลหลาก

ในช่วงวันที่ 13 – 17 กันยายน 2555 ร่องมรสุมที่พาดผ่านประเทศไทยตอนบนจะมีกำลังแรงขึ้น ประกอบกับมรสุมตะวันตกเฉียงใต้ที่พัดปกคลุมทะเลอันดามัน ประเทศไทย และอ่าวไทย มีกำลังค่อนข้างแรง
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ประกาศ ณ วันที่ 13 กันยายน พ.ศ. 2555    ออกประกาศ เวลา 05.30 น.
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ประกาศศูนย์อุตุนิยมวิทยาภาคเหนือ ฉบับที่ 1 เรื่อง ฝนตกหนัก น้ำท่วมฉับพลัน และน้ำป่าไหลหลาก

    ร่องมรสุมพาดผ่านภาคเหนือ ประกอบมีฝนตกหนักถึงหนักมากสะสมในหลายพื้นที่ของภาคเหนือ และมีแนวโน้มจะมีฝนตกหนักต่อไปอีก ขอให้ประชาชนบริเวณพื้นที่เสี่ยงภัยตามที่ลาดเชิงเขาใกล้ทางน้ำไหล ผ่านบริเวณจังหวัดเชียงใหม่ ลำพูน ลำปาง แพร่ อุตรดิตถ์ สุโขทัย พิษณุโลก และเพชรบูรณ์ ระวังอันตรายจากฝนตกหนัก น้ำท่วมฉับพลัน และน้ำป่าไหลหลากในช่วงวันที่ 9-12 กันยายน 2555 นี้ไว้ด้วย

ประกาศ  ณ  วันที่ 9 กันยายน พ.ศ. 2555
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