ATMs in Thailand without the Baht-Fee

Are you still taking money from ATMs of Banks in Thailand, which charge you 150 or 180 Baht for one transaction, when you take cash from your bank account abroad? Well, there are some ways to avoid this! AEON Cash despensors let you take money from abroad without this fee. AEON is a Japanese company. Here the locations of AEON ATMs.

Bangkok Bank has a fee-system from which you can profit too, if you know how. If you take money with a card of a foreign bank, the fee is 150 Bath. If you take money with a Mastercard the fee is 180 Bath. If you take cash with American Express Cards there is no fee, as you can read here.

Dawei Port megaproject is on delay - good news for who loves Maungmagan Beach

The plans were very ambitious: The new Dawei oil deep-sea port in the southeast of Myanmar should link India, Africa and Europe with China, Southeast Asia and other East Asian countries via Thailand. A special economic zone in Dawei should house the largest industrial park (250 square kilometres) in South East Asia. A 472-kilometre rail link should connect Dawei and the deep-water port of Laem Chabang on Thailand’s Eastern Seaboard. In November 2010 the Myanmar Port Authority signed a USD $8.6 billion deal with Italian-Thai Development to develop a deep sea port at Dawei. But this big plans are on delay now: Thailands Transport Minister Chadchat Sittipunt admitted that the development of Dawei Port has stalled "because of planning uncertainties and conflicts with potential investors", as Bangkok Post writes. Thailand has difficulty getting Japan on board as a major investor. The minister said, the Japanese government disagreed with Thailand's proposed port locations in Dawei. Japan is calling for industrial and container ports to be separated.
But the Dawei project has got into difficulties already early in 2012: Myanmar’s government blocked proposals by Bangkok construction giant Italian-Thai Development to build a huge 4,000-megawatt coal power plant to fuel the Dawei project with electricity, as The Irrawaddy reported.
This is good news for the fishers and all the travelers, who love popular Maungmagan Beach near Dawei and the coast nearby, which is dotted with islands including the Heinze group, the Maung-Magan group and the Mergui or Mergui Archipelago, more than 800 beautiful and attractive islands. Maungmagan Beach is the planned site for the deap sea port.

Read more:
Build it and they might come: A planned Thai mega-project in Myanmar runs into difficulty (The Economist)

Good Morning Old Bangkok:Can the Supreme Court ศาลฎีกา be saved?

Picture by nawamarath
The old Supreme Court Building

High Noon around the old Supreme Court Building on Rattanakosin Island in Bangkok: Thailands Fine Art Department filed a complaint Saturday seeking police to halt the demolition of the historic structure, as Bangkok Post reports. A photo taken on Friday shows that the left wing of the Supreme Court building, which used to house the Criminal Court, has been torn down. Sahawat Naenna, head of the Fine Arts Department, insisted the department is authorised to safeguard the building under the 1961 Historical Buildings Act.

Before former Supreme Court president Sawat Chotipanich questioned the department's move, according to The Nation. "The department had been involved in the process to construct the new building from the very beginning and had agreed that old buildings in the compound had to be demolished. Why has it suddenly decided to go against it now?" he asked. But department director-general Sahawat Naenna insisted that his department had told the Supreme Court several times that the building, which previously housed the Southern Bangkok Criminal Court, must be preserved. Association of Siamese Architects under Royal Patronage has also expressed concerns about the demolition.

The plan to build a new office for the Supreme Court first emerged in 1973 and then again on July 19, 1988, when it was approved by Thailands Cabinet.

The Supreme Court, located along Sanam Luang, was built in 1939 during the era of Field Marshal Pibulsonggram. "Like the buildings of Ratchadamnoen Avenue, the Bangkok Central Post Office in Charoen Krung Road or the Democracy Monument, the Supreme Court reflects the attempt of Thailand in the thirties to build up a new order. The modern architecture movement with its minimalist geometrical lines was seen as opposed to the old Thai architecture with its arches, its adorned roofs and its abundance of gold elements", writes Luc Citrinot. “Of course, lots of people in Thailand feel that this architecture does not reflect our nation. But this is really a piece of our own history and we cannot eradicate it, especially as it has been recognized of historical value”, explained Ponkwan Lassus, President of the Association of Siamese Architects' Committee (ASA) for the Architectural Art Conservation and also an architect and designer. ASA gave a conservation award in 2009 to the Supreme Court.

The planned new building also raises controversy for its height of 32 m, which exceeds the fixed limit to historical areas in Thailand. The building code set by the Committee for the Conservation of Rattanakosin and Old Towns sets a height limit of 16m for any structure in the inner part of the Rattanakosin area. Opponents to the project say that the structure will be higher than the nearby Royal Palace.

And there are more conflicts around Thailands heritage in Amphawa and a soi off Charoen Krung Road in Chinatown, where the Charoen Chai community has been known as a retail/wholesale market for Chinese joss paper, as Bangkok Post reports. Bangkokvanguards.wordpress.com writes about Charoen Chai community and shows great pictures. Read more: Construction of the extension to Bangkok's underground train system and other developments are threatening Chinatown communities that residents say are a rich part of the city's history

Growing Chinese influence in Cambodia:A railway from Preah Vihear, a steel plant and a seaport in Koh Kong

Picture by Pigalle
Waiting for better times: Phnom Phenh Railway Station

Chinese investments in new railways in Southeast Asia are going on. Will the Chinese build a highspeed railway from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and to Nong Khai? That's what we asked here in December, when we also wrote about railway projects in Laos financed by Chinese loans. Now there is a new project in Cambodia for a railway from Preah Vihear province in the northeast to Koh Kong province in the southwest. The Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining Industry Group and the China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in order to build this 404-kilometer railway - and also a seaport in Koh Kong. The railway will run through the provinces of Preah Vihear, Kampong Thom, Kampong Chhnang, Kampong Speu and Koh Kong, while the seaport will be capable to handle about 50 million tons of goods a year according to globaltimes.cn.

The project shall begin on July 2013 and is expected to be completed within 4 years, said the companies. The reason: Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining Industry is set to build a steel plant in Preah Vihear, which has been found rich in iron ore. It is a Chinese firm based in Phnom Penh and established in 2006. The rail link and port would cost $9.6 billion and the steel plant $1.6 billion, notes reuters.com.

What is a contrast to these big sums: The correspondent of Reuters found in the companys headquartier in Phnom Penh "four Chinese labourers in flip-flops eating lunch" and a chairman, who was unable to say "where the billions of dollars for the Cambodian rail, steel and port projects would come from".

Phnom Penh Post adds, that there are plans to Export steel and iron to Thailand and Vietnam and that also passangers will be transported by the railway. But The Cambodia Daily notes, that Cambodias minister of transport Tram Iv Tek said: “I don’t know what the companies will do. Let’s wait and see all together (...) “If they can really do it, it will help Cambodia’s economy a lot.” The Cambodia Daily quotes also Environment Minister Mok Mareth Saying that an environmental impact assessment has not yet been submitted for the project. And according to the Preah Vihear provincial industry, mines and energy office, "the company currently holds a license to explore for iron ore, but not to dig a mine".

In May 2007 the Associated Press had reported from Shanghai that four giant state-owned Chinese steel firms — Wuhan Iron and Steel, Baosteel Group, Anshan Iron and Steel Group and Shougang Iron and Steel — had joined to explore for iron ore in Preah Vihear to address China’s lack of control over its steel supply. In the last days the plans in Cambodia were widely reported by Chinese media like the news agency Xinhua.



And the revival of the railway from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville

End of December 2012 a railway line from Phnom Penh to the port of Sihanoukville has started temporary operations. Tram Iv Tek, minister of Public Works and Transportation, said according to Phnom Phenh Post the Toll Royal Railway company received a 30-year contract from the Cambodian government to restore and maintain the line. "He said operation of the new railway was not yet official because some technical improvements were necessary, but the train was able to run at about 60 kilometres an hour." So on this day End of December a train loaded with empty cargo containers left Phnom Phenh station. David Kerr, chief executive of Toll Royal Railways, the line’s operator, said to The Cambodia Daily "that once permission from the customs department has been obtained, hopefully this week, trains could carry up to 128 containers, which are about 6 meters long". For the moment it is unclear, when a passenger train operation will start.
This project has received $141.6 million of funding, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which has provided an $84 million loan for the plan. The project involves also a 337-km Northern line from Phnom Penh to Poipet City on the Thai border. But for the moment it's unclear, if there will be enough money to rivive this railway line.


Read also:
Will the Chinese build a highspeed railway from Bangkok to
Chiang Mai and to Nong Khai?

Thai-Burma Railway to be restored: The Myanmar government has announced according to yomiuri.co.jp plans to complete a railroad and highway on the route of the Thailand-Burma Railway built by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.

Will the Chinese build a highspeed railway from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and to Nong Khai?

China has just opened the worlds longest Highspeed-Railway from Beijing in the north along 2298 km to the southern boom city of Guangzhou. There were a lot of international headlines around the first train on this line. And they helped to forget the big problems with Chinese Highspeed Trains as the Wenzou train collision in the not so far past.

But the Chinese Railway policy has much bigger ambitions. It is under way to create a Highspeed Railway System in Southeast Asia, linking China to Laos and Thailand and creating connections from China to Singapore.

Laos is forcing plans for a $7 billion railway link from the capital Vientiane in the South to the Chinese border in the North (passing the towns of Phonhong, Vangvieng, Luang Prabang, Oudomxay and Luang Namtha). The construction shall begin early in 2013. The line will be completed around 2014, said Laotian Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavad at an international rail conference in Beijing. "While the exact route isn't clear, the rail line is expected to connect the southwest Chinese city of Kunming with Singapore, passing through Laos, Thailand and Malaysia", wrote wsj.com.

The project is financed by a 30-year loan from Export-Import Bank of China, according to rfa.org. China will be responsible for the construction. "Beijing is seeking to secure raw materials from neighboring countries to feed massive infrastructure investment and its manufacturing industry", wrote wsj.com. There is one more railway project in Laos: On December 24 a contract was signed for a US $5 billion railway line from Savannakhet to Lao Bao at Vietnam border. The construction is undertaken by Malaysian company Giant Consolidated, writes enjoy-laos.com.

Meanwhile preparations for four highspeed-railway lines in Thailand are going on. Funding is to come from a proposed 2-trillion-baht investment programme dedicated to new infrastructure projects over the next seven years. In November 2012 Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong said according to Bangkok Post the government is planning four high-speed rail lines to support trade and tourism within the country. The four high-speed rail lines are Bangkok-Nong Khai-Vientiane; Bangkok-Ayutthaya-Chiang Mai; Bangkok to Hua Hin; and an expansion of the Airport Rail Link in Bangkok to Chon Buri, Pattaya and Rayong. These plans are supported by a Study of Thailand Development Research Institute Foundation. And China is aggressively lobbying the Thai government to select its train and construction technology, writes Bangkok Post. Chinese Deputy Railways Minister Lu Chunfang told Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra that its construction costs average only US$20 million per kilometre compared with $81 million in Japan and $50 million in Germany. Thailand and China signed a memorandum of understanding on April 15 to conduct a feasibility study for the Bangkok-Chiang Mai and Bangkok-Nong Khai high-speed rail links. Thailands government plans to open international bidding early next year on the first phase of the high-speed rail project. Chinese government officials advising Thailand have suggested that it begins with a 54km route linking Bangkok and Ayutthaya as it would fall in line with the government's push to have the ancient capital serve as host for the 2020 World Expo, noted Bangkok Post.


Read also:
Growing Chinese influence in Cambodia: A railway from Preah Vihear, a steel plant and a seaport in Koh Kong

Pitak Siam Demonstration in BangkokLive news now

Saturday, November 25, 17.30
"Aim_The Nation" announces on Twitter: Gen Boonlert called off the rally saying to protect lives. Does this really mean, that the demonstration will stop now? nationmultimedia.com also writes, that the rally has been called off.


Saturday, November 25, 15.30
Protesters have removed barricade blocks on Makkawan Bridge leaving no barriers between them & police, reports Aim_The Nation on Twitter. Protester's truck has moved closer to police line. Follow the news around Makkawan here. Matt Wheeler has a Police Officer saying: "We know the plan is to provoke us, to create images of police using force against the people".


Saturday, November 24, 15.15
"The intention of the protesters on Ratchadamnoen Nok Rd is clear. They want to push through police lines towards Government House", writes Richard Barrow about the ongoing confrontation between protesters and police, who are blocking the road.


Saturday, November 24, 14.30
"The Nation" writes, that Defence Minister ACM Sukampol Suwannathat has ordered Army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha to prepare troops to assist police to keep law and order should police fail to control the situation, a source said. The source said Prayuth in turn ordered the First Division, the Second Cavalry Division and the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division to prepared 8 companies of troops each to provide reinforcements to police when asked to. Police fired teargas at protesters again at 1:30 pm as they made another attempt to break via the police line at the Misakawan Intersection, notes The Nation.


Saturday, November 24, 13.15
Pitak Siem rally participation is under exspectations. Pitak Siam leader Gen Boonlert Kaewprasit initially planned to discontinue the rally at 11 am had the number of protesters been less than 50,000, as The Nation writes. Now he has decided to wait longer because he learned that provincial people were still travelling to join the rally.


Saturday, November 24, 12.30:
Pitak Siam rally against Thailands government on Royal Plaza in Bangkok has started this Saturday morning. There has been some confrontation between anti riot police and protesters, the police used tear gas. See video on youtube. "The first clash happened at Makawan Rangsan Bridge at about 9am when the protesters tried to march through the police barricade to join the rally at the Royal Plaza. They refused to make a detour to the Wat Benjama Intersection and First Infantry Intersection, where police allowed the demonstrators to pass through", reports nationmultimedia.com. So police fired teargas at the advancing protesters. Police arrested 132 protesters. "In the second clash, Police fired teargas at protesters at the Miskawan Intersection to try to prevent them from breaking through police barricade at the Miskawan Intersection at about 10 am".

Now it is not really clear, what will happen next. But Blogger Richard Barrow is at the rally and reports live on Twitter, what he can see. He says: "This weekend, it's not advisable for tourists to visit Dusit Zoo, Vimanmek Teak Mansion, The Marble Temple & the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall". Follow Richard Barrow on Twitter.

Also Thai Blogger and journalist Saksith Saiyasombut has a Tweet from the rally. And there is a good live coverage on asiancorrespondent.com. More live Tweets by Aim_The Nation.

See also Live TV by T News TV and by Thai PBS and by Spring News TV.

See the latest pictures on flickr.com

Roads blockey by police:

Graphic by Bangkok Post


What this blog announced before Saturday November 25

On November 24 and 25 a big anti-government-rally is planned in Bangkok by Pitak Siam Group. Traffic police has cloased roads around Royal Plaza Friday morning. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said on TV, the rally poses a threat to national security. She said intelligence reports indicated that the protesters would use violence and storm government buildings. Pitak Siam group spokesman - Air Marshal Watchara Ritthakanee - answered the group's rally at the Royal Plaza on Saturday and Sunday will be non-violent and that the movement will not move the crowd to Government House or Parliament.
On these days Tourists should avoid the area around the Thai Parliament, Dusit Zoo and Government House, says the German Foreign Office. Follow the news on Bangkok Post. See, where the Parliament and Government House are on Bangkok Hotels Google Map. Read News on Twitter about Pitak Siam. Follow Live Blog by Richard Barrow

The so called Red Shirts, who are supporting the government, also prepare für a rally on November 24. They will gather in Nonthaburi, Samut Prakan and Pathum Thani. And they announced they will march into Bangkok, if anybody should try a Military coup. Read Reds prepare for coup danger.

A very special coffee from Elephant Dung or just a very big PR show?

Where is the coffee bean on this picture?

It went around the world in the last days: "Would you pay US$50 for a cup of elephant dung coffee?", cnngo.com asked and continued: "The big story these days is coffee made with beans that have been pooped out by elephants". Thai elephants produce the most expensive coffee worldwide. Hotels of the Anantara Group serve this coffee. And newspapers around the world have published this message eagerly.
Is this a story that can be trusted? Is it good for elephants, when you drink elephant dung coffee? Do elephants normally eat coffee beans and poop them out afterwards? Of course there is a homepage, that tries to tell you this: blackivorycoffee.com. You learn: "Coffee beans are naturally refined by Thai elephants at the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation in Chiang Saen, northern Thailand." Naturally? Do elephants normally eat coffee beans? Try a Google Archive Search about elephants and coffee beans for example for the year 2010 - and you will find nothing. Therefore also blackivorycoffee.com tells you, that "in times of drought", Asian elephants are attracted to coffee plantations "as many of them are irrigated". Then they eat, what they find here - but not normally, when there are not times of drought.
So how do the elephants at the Golden Elehant Triangle Foundation get their beans? You guess it: They are fed with beans. Before the best Thai Arabica beans have been picked from an altitude as high as 1500 meters. So: What is promoted as a natural process really is a man made process.

Does this harm the Elephants? The Black Ivory Coffee Company assures: "Blood work has been completed by independent veterinarians to confirm that there has been no harm to the elephants. An elephant veterinarian is also on-site at the production site full-time." So you learn: The Elephant camp is a "production site".

And who earns the money from this production? "8% of our sales will help fund a specialist elephant veterinarian to provide free care to all the elephants of Thailand through the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation. Additional funds will also be used to purchase medicine as well as to build a new laboratory", says the homepage of blackivorycoffee.com.
And who founded this business with elephants? It is Blake Dinkin. Before he was active in northern Thailand, he was active in Rwanda in Africa, as you can learn on The business of doing good. Dinkin, a Torontonian, has completed his MBA at the University of Geneva (Switzerland). He then went to Africa through a Canadian non-profit group called MBAs Without Borders (MWB).

And Blake Dinkin is also on Facebook. He writes there about the article Elephant Dung Coffee: World's Most Expensive Brew Is Made With Pooped-Out Beans on huffingtonpost.com. He says: "It's amazing how one article can lead to coverage in so many other sites. I have just received an invite to a fantastic PR opportunity." Well, this is it: A big PR show.