Αξίζει να διαβαστεί αυτό?

[halfway inn]

Police destroy “Kratom” leaves found in East Pattaya Muslim community

Posted on January 6, 2013 at 10:40 pm
 
Nongprue Police, who are responsible for Policing the Eastern side of Pattaya, conducted a raid on a small Muslim Community on Sunday Afternoon to seize and destroy a Kratom tree which was present at the location.

The tropical deciduous tree Kratom may be native to Thailand but it is still illegal to use it in the country. Kratom can be used in a stronger narcotic ‘cocktail’ from boiling the leaves and adding cough syrup, Coco-Cola and ice.
 
The drink puts users in a sleepy stupor.
 
This cocktail, called ‘4×100’, is popular especially amongst young Muslims.
Because the Kratom drink causes a similar feeling to drinking alcohol, which is prohibited in Muslim religious regulations, a number of Muslims have reverted to drinking Kratom.

The raid took place in Soi Mitsampan 1 close to the Railway Track just before 5pm and led to the detention of 5 local residents aged from 32 to 51.
The group claimed they used the leaves for medicinal purposes only and they believe the leaves are an effective cure for diabetes.
They would also feed the leaves to their children to cure bouts of Diarrhea.
They did confess that local youths would sometimes steal the leaves so they could make the cocktail but this happened during the night when the villagers were asleep.

10 branches were pulled from the Kratom tree which will be completely destroyed over the next few days. All five were charged with cultivating a class 5 drug and will appear in Court soon.

http://www.pattayaone.net/pattaya-news/69718/police-destroy-kratom-leaves-east-pattaya-muslim-community/

[halfway inn]

Thailand among top retirement places

Published: 7/01/2013 at 11:25 AM Online news: Local News
 
Thailand, praised for its "affordability, exotic locales and outdoor lifestyle," placed ninth on an annual list of best countries for North Americans to retire to.

Thailand and Malaysia were the only Asian countries to place in the Top 10 of the favoured retirement destinations.

With its low cost of living, balmy climate and cheap property prices, Ecuador was ranked the top foreign retirement destination for North Americans for the fifth consecutive year.

The South American nation bordered by Colombia and Peru scored the highest marks in InternationalLiving.com's annual ranking of the best places to retire.

With monthly estimated living expenses ranging from $900 to $1,400, Ecuador surpassed Panama, Malaysia, Mexico and Costa Rica, which rounded out the top five countries.

"I think the combination of a welcoming culture, the great weather, the affordability and its proximity to the United States all go together to make it a good package," Dan Prescher, the special projects editor for the website, said on Thursday.

"Panama has a lot of the same things going for it, but it isn't quite as affordable as Ecuador," he added in an interview.

Editors at InternationalLiving.com analyzed data and information from correspondents in the countries most popular with American and Canadian retirees to compile the results, which were based on a host of categories: cost of living, climate, property prices, healthcare, ease of integration, retirement infrastructure, entertainment and amenities and special benefits for retirees.

A large part of Ecuador's appeal is how inexpensive it is for retirees. A beer costs just 85 cents. A doctor's visit is $25, roughly the same price as a one-hour massage.

"Seniors resident in Ecuador qualify for half-price entertainment and local transport, discounted airfares and refunds of sales tax," Prescher added.

Panama, which came in a close second, won praise for its pensioner visa, which speeds up residency, retiree discounts on medicines, entertainment and restaurants, and its friendly people.

Malaysia, the only Asian country to make the top five, drew retirees to its shores with its tropical climate, low cost of living and cheap rents, similar factors that boosted Mexico and Costa Rica's appeal to retirees.

Most of the better countries for retirees were Spanish speaking, including Uruguay, Colombia and Spain.

Although the language may differ, Prescher said retirees adapt easily because they usually choose a country with a culture familiar to them.

"Most people know or can learn enough Spanish to get along," he added.

Malta squeezed in at No. 10, winning points for its very low crime rate, Mediterranean climate and abundance of English speakers. English is the second language of Malta, which is a European Union member.

Ireland, France, Portugal and Italy were other EU nations that made the ranking of 22 countries, along with the Philippines and New Zealand, which scored the worst for the cost of living, along with France, but ranked high for integration.

"The places that have been popular with expats for the last five to 10 years tend to stay in the rankings unless something drastic happens, a big political or economic change," Prescher explained.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/329607/thailand-among-best-retirement-places

[halfway inn]

White Stuff hits Nahkon Ratchasima for the First Time

By Staff Reporter | January 7, 2013

Something that many foreigners come to Thailand to get away from has hit parts of Thailand over the weekend.. FROST.

Parts of the North eastern province of Nahkon Ratchasima saw a quick drop in temperature as Thailand’s winter takes a grip, and reports of frost on grass and trees have hit national headlines

HRH the Crown prince of Thailand sent a gift of 2000 blankets and warm clothes to the northern  regions as two people have died due to the cold weather ,  One, a drunk who died from exposure and the other, a 61 year old, who died from hert failure as tempertures plummeted to as low as 9 degrees.

Many others have found the weather unbearable as homes are not equipped to protect from cold spells and warm winter clothing is hardly a part of the standard wardrobe in an otherwise tropically hot nation

[halfway inn]

36 million euro stolen from banking customers in Europe
   
January 12, 2013, 9:28 am
 
Eurograbber malware

36 million euro stolen from banking customers in Europe
 
Eurograbber malware has been abused to steal over 36 million euro from banking customers across Europe, Check Point Software Technologies Ltd and Versafe have found.

Check Point, a global leader in securing the Internet, and Versafe, a private and independent vendor of online fraud prevention solutions, have published "A Case Study of Eurograbber: How 36 million was stolen via malware".

The two firms announced that the case study uncovers a highly sophisticated attack used to steal millions from corporate and private banking customers across Europe.

Eurograbber was launched against banking customers, using a sophisticated combination of malware directed at computers and mobile devices.

The malware, in conjunction with the attackers' command and control server, first infected the victims' computers, and then, infected their mobile devices in order to intercept SMS messages to bypass the banks' two-factor authentication process.

With the stolen information and the transaction authentication number (TAN), the attackers then performed automatic transfers of funds ranging between 500 euro and 250,000 euro, from the victims' accounts to mule accounts across Europe.

The case study has the following key findings:

- An estimated 36 million euro has been stolen from more than 30,000 corporate and private bank accounts.

- The attacks originated in Italy, but quickly spread to Germany, Holland, and Spain.

- The theft involved a sophisticated combination of malware directed at computers and mobile devices of banking customers.

- A new and very successful iteration of a bot attack (the Zeus Trojan) was used in the widespread Eurograbber attack.

- Android and Blackberry mobile devices were specifically targeted, showing that attacks against Android devices are a growing trend.

"Cyberattacks are constantly evolving to take advantage of the latest trends. As online and mobile banking continue to grow, we will see more targeted attacks in this area, and Eurograbber is a prime example," said Gabi Reish, Head of Product Management at Check Point Software Technologies.

"The best way to prevent these attacks is with a multi-layered security solution that spans network, data, and endpoints, powered by real time threat intelligence."

Eran Kalige, Head of Security Operation Center, Versafe, said cyberattacks have become more sophisticated, more creative, and more targeted.

"As seen with Eurograbber, attackers are focusing on the weakest link, the people behind the devices, and using very sophisticated techniques to launch and automate their attacks and avoid traceability," Kalige said.

[halfway inn]

Posted Yesterday, 08:06

Buyers of pre-paid SIMs must be registered:

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has ordered all telecom operators to register customers, who buy new pre-paid mobile phone SIM cards from January 18 onwards in order to regulate the pre-paid SIM cards.

NBTC secretary general Takorn Tantasit said Monday that the operators would face punitive measures if they fail to comply with the order.

[halfway inn]

Some 1,000 mid-sized Japan firms eye Thai bases

THE NATION January 17, 2013 1:00 am
 
More than 1,000 medium-sized Japanese companies are planning to expand their business and invest in Thailand this year, the highest number for seven years, Kasikornbank said yesterday.

Songpol Chevapanyaroj, executive vice president of KBank, which has joined forces with 15 Japanese partner banks that take care of financial matters for Japanese companies investing in Thailand, said the investment size of each company was estimated at between Bt50 million and Bt100 million.
This implies an overall investment value of Bt50 billion to Bt100 billion.
 
At present, some 8,000 mid-sized Japanese companies have operations in the Kingdom.

The bulk of Thai investment by Japanese firms in the past has come from larger companies.
Songpol said most of the mid-sized Japanese enterprises now interested in Thailand are in high-technology sectors such as vehicle engines and service sectors, as they have confidence in the quality of Thai facilities and do not believe the country will violate their know-how.

Some of the 1,000 medium-sized companies want to shift investment from China to Thailand, he said.

"Thailand in Japanese companies' eyes has completed facilities and infrastructure for operating business, and the country is a gateway to Asean.
 
Start-up companies are able to run businesses rapidly here," he said.

The official visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe today is a clear sign that Thailand is a place for Japanese investment, and can help Japanese business reap benefits in Southeast Asia ahead of the Asean Economic Community, he added.

KBank expects to benefit from transactional services thanks to the arrival of a larger number of Japanese companies.

The bank will assist Thai business operators through business-matching activities between the two countries, Songpol said.

The bank is, however, concerned about the shortage of manpower in Thailand and whether there will be enough suitable labour to cope with the expected rise in foreign investment.

This issue and the baht's appreciation should be major risk-management factors for business operators in Thailand, Songpol said.

Commenting on the current strengthening of the baht against the US dollar, he expected the trend to continue as long as there was a major influx of capital from abroad.

The volatility of the unit against the dollar is between 50 satang and Bt1, similar to last year's level, he said, adding that the recent appreciation was considered manageable because of the Kingdom's trade balance.

Import value remains higher than export value as infrastructure investment is attracting more machinery and raw materials into the country, besides which the offshore investment by large companies could help ease the baht's volatility, he said.

Small and medium-sized enterprises in the import and export sector are less affected by the baht's strength because there are more SME importers than exporters, he said.

Last year, about 20 per cent of KBank's business customers hedged their foreign-exchange risk.
 
The volume decreased because the baht's appreciation was not considered as serious for business as previously, while some operators considered there was a chance for taking high profits, said the executive.

KBank expects the baht to trade in a range of 29-31 against the dollar this year.

[halfway inn]

Οι 10 πιο επικίνδυνες Αεροπορικές Εταιρείες.: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/worlds-10-most-dangerous-airlines-171800816.html

[halfway inn]

European architecture in vogue in Khao Yai residential projects

 January 25, 2013 1:00 am
 
Amid the strong demand for vacation residences at Khao Yai, listed and non-listed companies are launching new projects in Khao Yai with different designs.

Magnolia Quality Development Corporation is launching projects with a French design.

The company is introducing the latest single detached house, Magnolias French Country, on 17 rai of land on Thanaratch Road, Pak Chong district, Nakhon Ratchasima.

The project has only 18 units, worth Bt302 million, while the company also plans to develop a hotel on 13 rai of land, located close to the residential area. The project is designed with inspiration from a French architect, which takes into account concerns about the environment such as the direction, which will help home-owners save energy cost as the design aims to reduce the use of air-conditioning.

The residential project has three types with different designs. They include: Simply French - that uses 263 square metres on 200.30-253.46 square wah; Eclectic French - using 374 square metres on 303.80-328.30 square wah; and Elegant French - using 374 square metres on 443.55-484.70 square wah.

An architect and interior designer said that they had designed the residences with inspiration from a French country architect as the Khao Yai environment is like the French countryside with hilly areas and cool atmosphere.
The interior designer has also used classic themes to match the architecture of the residences.

There are also other projects inspired by the European style. More than 10 projects worth about Bt60 billion have been launched since 2010, also designed in European architectural style such as Toscana Valley, with inspiration from Tuscany, Italy; and Rancho Chanvee, inspired by the English cottage.

[halfway inn]

Thailand to Avoid Currency War as Ghost of 1997 Crisis Looms

Jan 25, 2013 

Thailand’s Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong said the central bank should avoid fighting market forces to stem currency gains, heeding a lesson from the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

“The shadow of 1997 is there,” Kittiratt said in an interview in Bangkok.
“I will never encourage Bank of Thailand to go and trade against the market-determined rate unless it’s only part of the daily stability, the weekly stability.”

  Thailand to Avoid Currency Fight as Shadow of 1997 Crisis Looms

The baht fell from a 17-month high this week, snapping a seven-week rally, amid speculation the central bank will intervene to halt gains.
December export growth missed analysts’ estimates, prompting concern that the currency’s appreciation will pare shipments that account for about two-thirds of the economy.

Thailand is among emerging market nations struggling to handle increased inflows as monetary easing in the U.S., Japan and other developed economies spurs demand for higher-yielding assets.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra raised the minimum wage throughout the country this month, putting more pressure on exporters as the government implements stimulus measures aimed at boosting purchasing power among Thailand’s 67 million people.

“In the short term, if I can hope for, I would like to see a little bit weaker baht,” Kittiratt said yesterday before flying to Davos, Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum.
"For the exporters, a strong baht really pushed them into pressure.
While they are adjusting themselves to higher human resources costs, a weak Thai baht may help them.”

Baht Devaluation
In 1997, Thailand devalued the baht to shore up a faltering economy, abandoning its policy of pegging the currency to the U.S. dollar, a move that left a legacy debt of $35 billion from bailing out financial companies.
International reserves fell by 31 percent to $27 billion in 1997, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Reserves have increased more than sixfold since then to $182 billion last month.

Lower interest rates would discourage inflows into the country, Kittiratt said, adding that the measure could be a “double-edged sword.”
He said the central bank should employ measures to prevent the baht from rising or falling sharply while avoiding any moves that are unsustainable.

“The impact on this would be only a very small basis point of the exchange rate,” Kittiratt said, referring to central bank intervention to keep the baht stable. “There won’t be any effort against trading against this rate to any significant level.”

The baht advanced 2.5 percent this year versus the dollar, the most among 11 major currencies in Asia.
The SET Index (SET) has increased 4.1 percent, more than benchmarks in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia.

Fund Inflows
Global funds purchased $3.4 billion more of Thailand’s sovereign debt than they sold this month through yesterday and poured a net $461 million into local equities, Thai Bond Market Association and stock exchange data show.
Thailand’s 10-year government bond yield was 3.73 percent, compared with 1.85 percent for similar-maturity U.S. Treasuries and 0.73 percent in Japan.

Kittiratt’s remarks “lessen the pressure on the Bank of Thailand to intervene as the government is shifting attention to domestic demand from exports,” said Nalin Chutchotitham, a Bangkok-based analyst at Kasikornbank Pcl.
“A stronger baht benefits domestic consumption and investment by making imports cheaper.
The government is also calling for lower interest rates and a rising baht makes the case of a rate cut stronger.”

Thailand’s inflation accelerated to 13-month high in December as subsidies failed to counter rising prices of food and fuel.
Consumer prices rose 3.63 percent from a year earlier after an increase of 2.74 percent the previous month, official data showed on Jan. 2.

‘Currency Attack’
Daily minimum wages have risen as much as 89 percent after two increases in the past year.
Most factories are located in an area where wages rose to 300 baht per day last April, an average increase of 38 percent, according to the industry ministry.

Investors may be trying to “play catch-up” after the baht lagged behind other currencies last year, Bank of Thailand Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul told reporters yesterday.

“From what we see, it’s not a currency attack,” he said. “The flows to attack the currency will try to dictate the market and try to build up the price.
From what we see now, the selling and buying sides are not much different.”

Another legacy of the 1997 crisis is a lack of investment due to concerns over the country’s debt levels, which has led to persistent current-account surpluses, Kittiratt said. Thailand has had a current-account deficit only once since 1997, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

‘Pleasant Deficit’
Over the long term, the government plans to invest in infrastructure to increase imports and reduce pressure on the currency, Kittiratt said.
He has proposed spending 2 trillion baht ($67 billion) over seven and a half years on projects such as a railroad network to accelerate investments and put the current account into a deficit.

“We might not have to suffer with a future surplus,” Kittiratt said. “
It will be for me a pleasant deficit because we are going to invest into those imports that would help yield a long-term return to the country.”

[halfway inn]

Tackle shortage of skilled labour, says German Chamber chief

The Nation, January 28, 2013 1:00 am

Thailand has great potential to become a regional hub for trade and investment under the Asean Economic Community (AEC); however, the country urgently needs to solve the shortage of skilled labour as well as develop its education system to ensure upper-industry growth, a key foreign observer says.

In an exclusive interview with The Nation, Karl-Heinz Heckhausen, president of the German-Thai Chamber of Commerce (GTCC), said German investors were very confident that the Kingdom's economy would flourish under the AEC because it has many advantages over others in the region.

With a good, solid relationship between Thailand and Germany, this country is one of the most favoured destinations for German investors in Southeast Asia.

The GTCC foresees that Thailand will no longer be able to rely on manufacturing and industries that are labour-intensive because of rising wages.
Thus the Kingdom needs to move into upper-echelon industries that rely on technology, and German enterprises are well placed to transfer such technology and provide training in how to use it, as well as help develop the education system.

"Thailand has high possibilities for becoming a hub in several industries, in particular those that rely on high technology and service.
But the main problems that need to be solved concern labour shortages and a lack of skilled workers," the GTCC president said.

Industries that German investors have shown high interest in for the Kingdom include education, renewable energy, waste management, automobiles, hotels and hospitals.

"We know some automotive firms will expand into Thailand this year because it is well suited to be an automotive-production base," he said.
However, he declined to disclose the names of these companies.

Heckhausen said the development of education to serve industrial expansion should be a priority for Thailand, otherwise the lack of skilled workers such as engineers would lower investors' confidence.

The labour problem has been raised for several years by many foreign investors.
However, Thailand has not come up with concrete solutions to solve the problem, he said.

The GTCC president said the Kingdom needed to encourage every company to help train young people to serve industrial growth.
Educational development and training for skilled workers should be implemented to ensure Thailand's ability to become a centre for technology transfer from Germany and a hub for Asean high-technology industries.

For instance, every German company needs to set up programmes to train youngsters so that they can take industrial expansion in the right direction.
The GTCC also foresees that Thailand could be a hub for Germany to export goods to neighbouring countries - mainly Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.
Volker Treier, deputy chief executive and managing director for international affairs at the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce, said Thailand had a big opportunity to be a centre of development to support the growth of many advanced industries.
Although Thailand is not the top destination for German investors in Asean, some German companies foresee greater chances to expand their investment in many high-technology industries here.

Thailand is already a logistical centre in Asean. The domestic market is also large, and seamless borders under the AEC will ensure strong trade among Asean member states and with countries outside the region, he noted.

Treier said Thailand needed to increase its skilled workforce by at least 10 per cent, as the current labour situation is quite tough.

So far, Indonesia has drawn the largest amount of German investment in Asean. If Thailand wants to draw more investment, the government needs to think about educational development seriously as well as continuing to develop its established strengths, he added.

The GTCC has also encouraged Thailand to begin negotiations quickly with the European Union on a free-trade agreement, since it would promote stronger trade and investment between the two sides.

According to the chamber, Germany is the most important trading partner for Thailand among the EU member states.
The value of bilateral trade was bilateral trade was 8 billion euros (Bt322 billion) in 2012, and Thailand has enjoyed a trade surplus with Germany.

The chamber says German trade and investment with Thailand is stable and firms are poised to seize new opportunities in the future ahead of Asean integration.

The Board of Investment of Thailand reported 31 applications with expected combined initial investment worth Bt3.14 billion from Germany last year.

[halfway inn]

Liquor ban proposal on hold in Phuket
 
PHUKET: -- Dr Saman “liquor buster” Futrakul’s campaign to get alcohol off Thailand’s streets has been delayed while details are sorted and because the cabinet committee is so busy, he said.

If the plan of Dr Saman, president of the Disease Control Department's Office of Alcohol Beverage and Tobacco Consumption Control Committee, goes ahead, the selling of alcohol in public places in Phuket, and across Thailand at large, will be banned, along with drinking in many public places.

“There is already an actual law – an act that bans the sale of food, beverages and other items on the street and footpath.
 
So this regulation comes under that same law, and we will enforce it strictly,” Dr Saman said.

He added that the cabinet were very busy at the moment, so the new regulation had been put on hold.

But Dr Saman said it was not being ignored, as it had already been approved by the Ministry of Public Health last year.

“If the regulation is launched, we will suppress only the alcohol sellers on the street and footpaths.
 
Other businesses such as food vendors or non-alcoholic beverage vendors won’t be included.”

Dr Saman’s proposed regulation mandates a ban on all alcohol sales on footpaths, pavement and streets – which would also apply to small mobile food shops. In addition, the sale and consumption of alcohol in municipal and provincial parks would be prohibited.

These would include Loma Park in Patong, the centre for Phuket Bike Week, and Saphan Hin next to Phuket Town, epicentre of Songkran celebrations and many other public events.

The new regulation would also cover places such as Bangla Rd.

Under the proposed regulations, sales of alcohol would also be limited to specific hours, between 5 am and 2 pm, and from 5 pm to midnight anywhere except inside entertainment venues and international airport buildings.

Paiboon Upatising, President of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organisation (OrBorJor) told The Phuket News earlier that it would be hard to apply the regulations in a tourism-focused place like Phuket.

“We can see small shops everywhere on the pavement, and some of them sell alcohol. It would be difficult to enforce for real,” he said.

He added that it would be acceptable if the authorities just wanted to control alcohol consumption during festival periods such as New Year or Songkran, but strict year-round control would be near impossible.

Chairat Sukkaban, deputy mayor of Patong – Phuket’s party centre – previously said he believed the regulations would definitely affect tourism, especially in Patong.

[halfway inn]

50,000 Baht compensation for Pattaya Disco Fight victims

Posted on February 1, 2013 

"50,000 Baht compensation for Pattaya Disco Fight victims" 

Three French tourists who were attacked by security guards at a popular South Pattaya disco early last Sunday Morning have received 50,000 Baht compensation from the Disco who are sorry for the injuries they sustained.

Police Colonel Suwan, the Pattaya Police Chief, mediated at a meeting of the victims and management from the Mixx Discotheque located at the Bali Hai Plaza who are sorry for the injuries sustained to Mr. Djemee Dardouri aged 39, Mr. Jamel Kaamouchi aged 27 and Mr. Mohamed Djemat aged 24.

The three victims claimed they were mistaken for three men who had been involved in a fight inside the Disco.

They were set-upon by Security Guards who caused all three to sustain head and upper-body injuries which they have all recovered from apart from one of the victims who sustained a severely sprained wrist which has yet to heal.

The compensation was accepted by two of the victims who attended the meeting and Mixx Management were commended by Pattaya Police for their actions.

[halfway inn]

Beware of fake agents in Phuket

30 January 2013
       
By The Phuket News:

A Phuket woman is urging others to beware of a scam artist posing as a real estate agent, who she says almost tricked her into playing a Chinese board game in return for her house and its chanote title.

This has been a relatively common scam in Thailand but has not made headlines in Phuket for several years.

Phuket resident Tanya Kitti said after she put up a sign advertising her house for sale she was approached by a fake real estate “agent” at her Pa Klok home last Wednesday (January 23).

The agent ended up taking her and her friend “Noi” to an apartment in Cherng Talay last Thursday (January 24).

“I wanted to sell my house in Pa Klok for B8.5 million,” Mrs Tanya told The Phuket News.

An agent named “Cha” visited Mrs Tanya on Wednesday, with two accomplices – one, a short tanned man aged around 40 years old, and the other, a good-looking tall lady, aged in her late 40s.

They spoke on Wednesday and made an appointment for the following day to sign the contact.

“They came in an expensive car, and said their boss wanted to buy my house, but he is unable to come. So the lady said we should all go to her hotel,” Mrs Tanya said.

Mrs Tanya was asked to bring the chanote title of her house.

“I didn’t think anything of it, so I brought the real chanote with me, and went with them,” she said.

Mrs Tanya, her friend Noi, and the three “agents” headed to Cherng Talay. But when they arrived, they found themselves at an apartment, not at a hotel, which made the women feel uneasy.

They followed the “agents” to an empty room on the third floor.

“I felt there was something wrong,” said Mrs Tanya.

Then the boss of the agents arrived – a Chinese-looking man aged around 70 years old, with a Chinese-Thai accent – who said he wanted to buy Mrs Tanya’s house for his wife.

“He arrived with a big bag of cash which he said was B10m, intended for the purchase of my house. The secretary opened the zip and showed a small amount of it to me,” Mrs Tanya said.

Mrs Tanya was then encouraged to play a round of the ancient Chinese tile game Mahjong and was explained the rules, by which time she was feeling very uneasy about the situation and her friend was scared.

Mrs Tanya and her friend were eventually let go without playing the game – if she had played, the agents would have ideally won the game and in turn “won” the valuable chanote title.

She believed she was let go because the agents thought she was familiar with the area, and also that she was operating a GPS on her phone and informing someone where she was.

“Luckily, the agent let us go. He said if I wanted to leave and did not care about the B10m then I could go, but he would meet me at a restaurant near my house to talk again.

“But he did not show up that day and he never contacted me again.”

However, Mrs Tanya said the agent still contacted another friend of hers many times to find out about other houses that were for sale in the area, and invited the friend several times to play the board game again.

Mrs Tanya spoke with her American retiree neighbour, who said he was also tricked by the agent “Cha”.

The American said Cha promised to help him sell his car, but then disappeared with it several months ago. The American told Mrs Tanya that based on her description it was the same man.

“I want to warn everyone who wants to sell their property to be careful – do not believe people easily. I was lucky that I did not lose everything, but some people may not be as lucky as me,” said Mrs Tanya.

[halfway inn]

Posted 2013-02-07 

Kingdom must consider legalised gaming soon, tourism forum hears

BANGKOK: -- The nation's pre-eminent gathering of tourism and travel-industry experts has concluded that while Thailand looks headed for its best year ever for tourist numbers and revenues, action to legalise gaming, improve infrastructure and attract "quality" travellers is urgently needed ahead as establishment of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) nears.

More than 350 tourism-industry movers and shakers attended the Thailand Tourism Forum at the InterContinental Bangkok recently, voting on key issues facing the industry and setting alarm bells ringing about the country's long-term competitiveness in the region.

Bill Barnett, co-organiser of the forum and managing director of C9 Hotelworks, said more than 60 per cent of respondents at the event who participated in the Thailand Tourism Index survey believed legal casinos would be an important factor in Thailand remaining competitive with other economic and tourism powers in the region.

"Thailand's tourism [industry] needs to study very carefully the issue of gaming and other demand generators to attain sustained volume growth," he said. "There is a very real risk of us slipping behind places like Singapore and Macau in terms of visibility, branding and revenues.
Thailand is also facing a glut of hotel rooms, so we need big draw cards like casinos as key drivers of demand."

More than 80 per cent of those voting agreed that Thailand was now staring down the barrel of an oversupply of rooms and that urgent action was required.

Among them were keynote speakers at the forum and notables including Dillip Rajakarier of Minor Hotel Group, Chanin Donavanik of Dusit Hotels and Resorts, Peter Henley of Onyx Hospitality and Hotels, Robert Hecker of Horwath HTL, Paul Logan of InterContinental Hotels Group, Jonas Ogren of STR Global, David Keen of Quo Global and John Koldowski of the Pacific Asia Travel Association.

Barnett said the Thailand Tourism Forum was the country's first report card on the state of the industry and an opportunity to look beyond the numbers at how tourism performance can affect a country's entire economy.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) aims to welcome 24.5 million international visitors this year, after a 15-per-cent increase last year that earned the country more than Bt965 billion, up 24 per cent from 2011.

Among the top source countries for international visitors, China stays at the top, followed by Malaysia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, India, Laos, Australia, the United Kingdom and Singapore.

[halfway inn]

Greek Police Harrassing Asians

February 10, 2013, 7:24 pm

My Thai wife and I are using our Thai miles to fly to Italy this April. We were going to see Greece too. But we've decided to go to Turkey instead.

This http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20958353 article tells how Greek police are giving lots of Asians a hard time, even if they're in Greece legally.

Seems like they went out of their way to beat a Korean citizen, even though he showed them a valid Korean passport.
 
And they did the same with a Black American. And it looks like they've harrassed hundreds of other legal Asians and Blacks.
 
One thing that's important to me is to keep my wife open eyed and smiling at the world, and if something like that happened to her, that could destroy that. So I'll pass on Greece.

Seems there is a Golden Dawn Party, which is like the Nazi Party in Germany, anti-Black, anti-Asian, anti-immigrant, anti-Jew, thugs.
 
10% of the voters in Greece are in it. But 50% of the police are in it!
 
So if we were to be stopped by a Greek policeman, there's a 50/50 chance he'd be like a Nazi thug!

Greece used to be a passing thru country- runaways would go there on their way to Germany and UK.
 
But now there are checkpoints, and thousands can't move on and are stuck.
 
So, I've read, fully 10% of the population of Greece are these African and Asian illegals, which inspires these Golden Dawn people all the more in their hatred.

Innocent Black and Asian tourists are increasingly getting caught up in the police sweeps, and getting harrassed by some in the general population too.
 
A lot of the anger is that these cases, including the Korean guy's and the American's, aren't getting resolved- or even investigated.
 
This says to many like me that the government doesn't care about the harrassment or even agrees with it.

So this year, it's Italy and Turkey. I hear Istanbul is really something...