Why to avoid Southern Thailand

The South is in a war and people should do something about.

An ethnic separatist insurgency is taking place in Southern Thailand, predominantly in the Malay Pattani region, made up of the three southernmost provinces of Thailand. Violence has increasingly spilling over into other provinces

Today: 
 
Three bomb attacks minutes apart killed 10 people and wounded more than 100  in the heart of Yala in the insurgency-hit far south.


A car bomb have caused the fire that killed five people at a Hat Yai hotel and sent more than 300 to hospital.


About:

More than 160 billion bath has been spent to deal with violence in the southermost provinces since it flared up eight years ago with little success to show for it. The insurgency flared on Jan 4, 2004, when a group of armed militants raided an armoury of the 4th development battalion in Narathiwat's Cho Airong district of and made off with a huge cache of war weapons.

The raid marked the renewal of insurgent violence in the southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and some districts of Songkhla. The violence has continued ever since with few signs of abating. The southern violence has claimed more than 5,000 lives and resulted in more than 10,000 injuries. The death toll includes ordinary citizens, religious leaders, Buddhist monks, local government officers, teachers, policemen and soldiers.

A total of 1,629 firearms have been stolen and used against state authorities and civilians since the raid. Only 484 have been retrieved so far.Various agencies have been set up to cope with the southern insurgency. But it appears there is little they can do to contain the violence. It also appears that Al Qaeda is helping this insurgency.

In early February, the ministry of interior proposed a 7.5 million bath to all victims of the insurgency including those from the Tak Bai Massacre and the Kru Se Mosque Incident

Hotel in Pattaya: Soi 7

 

Flipper House Hotel

About: 

This hotel is part of the Flippergroup, they have another hotel in this group: the famous Flipper Lodge on soi 8 next to the beach.

The first thing to mention: don't BF a girl from near the hotel!!

Location:

Flipper House hotel is located on soi 7, not far from Pattaya Memorial and famous bar: Anna Jet.

They are right on the beach and close to entertainment and shopping centres. And off course the soi 7 and soi 8 bars.

There is a Family Mart in front of hotel and close to 2nd road you have a 7-11 and a pharmacy.

The Hotel:

Rooms designed with comfort in mind, they are air-conditioned rooms and equipped with satellite-TV , telephone and mini bar, and attached bathroom fitted with hot & cold water, bathtub and shower installed.

There are many different kind of rooms and wings. The C-wing is the newest and I recommend that you stay there. There is a swimming pool & jacuzzi on the rooftop overlooking the sea so don't forget to check that out!

The rates go from 1300 - 2500. I always take a 1500 room at the C-wing and it's great!

Sometimes it gets a little bit noisy but you are on soi7 what can you expect? :)

The Restaurant:

They offer you a wide selection of Thai, Asian and European specialities to choose from at the restaurant. The foods is well cooked, beautifully presented and reasonably priced. A wide variety of food, both hot and cold dishes, with chefs cooking to your orders are available at our buffet breakfast. This breakfast comes for free when you book a room!

Just a short distance away is the cosy bar for a delightful evening before or after dinner. But you have a lot of choice for a good bar ;)

Links:  

Book Now
Tripadvisor
Website

Future Of The Bath

Bath going back to B50 for 1€ ?

The THB is decreasing in value all this week, and the budgetary 'crisis' in Thailand isn't looking good.

This is really bad for Thai people, because of the rising inflation. This is not going to be compensated by the change to the minimum wages in April, but this will actually speed up the inflation. Also the people that need this won't get it anyway...

On the other side of the story we have good news for the expat and tourists. These changes are good for foreigners who like to spend some $ or € in Thailand

and today I read in the papers:

The Bank of Thailand has dismissed proposals by the finance minister to stimulate the economy with a weaker baht and lower interest rates.

Some more recent news:

- Private hospitals are predicting chaos in the health service when free treatment for emergency cases begins on Sunday.

- Energy Minister Arak Chonlatanon affirmed the ministry has no plans at the moment to increase contribution from diesel and petrol sales to the Oil Fund, as the retail price for motor fuel is still high. (Bangkok Newsroom)

- Thailand's healthcare expenditure is expected to grow 8.4 percent a year from 2010-20 to reach US$25 billion (770 billion baht), according to business research and consulting firm Frost & Sullivan.