CrazyExpat

An obese boxer lost so much weight on a year-long fitness camp in Thailand he was detained by border guards on his way home because they didn’t believe he was the same person. Ross Connor, 33, shed an impressive eight stone after he enrolled at the famed Muay Thai kick boxing gym in Phuket. He slimmed down from 21 stone to a toned 13 stone but hit a big problem when he tried to leave the country. Border guards detained him for questioning, convinced he could not be the same person they photographed on his arrival 12 months earlier. Mr Connor, from Peterborough in Cambridgeshire, was questioned and only managed to negotiate his way onto a flight home after showing photographs on his iPod documenting his dramatic weight loss. http://metro.co.uk/2014/05/13/fat-boxer-who-lost-incredible-eight-stone-during-thailand-training-camp-detained-at-airport-because-no-one-believed-he-was-the-same-person-4726891/?ITO=facebook

Thailand's Centre for the Administration of Peace and Order (CAPO) has vowed to use police force to arrest 14 core members of the anti-government People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), including protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, media reported on Monday. CAPO secretary Tarit Pengdith announced the operation on Sunday following the Office of the Attorney-General's (OAG) decision on Thursday to indict 51 PDRC members, including 14 core leaders who already face arrest warrants for treason, the Bangkok Post reported. The court on Monday will hear the OAG's request to indict the 51 PDRC members, after which arrest warrants will be issued. Pengdith said police would not disperse the protestors but would target the leaders instead. The Arintharat Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit will assist the arrest operations. Pengdith also said that the 14 protest leaders are being guarded by PDRC security forces, so CAPO would break its operation into 14 sub-operations to arrest the suspects. http://www.ianslive.in/index.php?param=news/Thailand_vows_to_arrest_14_core_protest_leaders-422762/INTERNATIONAL/13

Speaking with The Phuket News this morning, Gen Phanu said, “We have been very lenient about this. I’ve had many comments about [our excessive leniency]." Several factors have come together to kill off the tourist visa run. The first, as already reported in The Phuket News is fallout from the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. Two Iranian men boarded that flight using passports that had been stolen or went missing in Phuket a couple of years before. Hence a tightening-up on passports was inevitable. But another major concern is the number of foreigners working illegally, the General said. “Lots of nationalities come to Thailand on tourist visas but they come to work. I really want them to do the right thing, not try to dodge around the law and evade taxes." He said that Russians, South Koreans and Vietnamese in particular are in the spotlight. “Immigration is keeping an eye on them.” That said, other nationalities will not escape notice. - See more at: http://www.thephuketnews.com/immigration-boss-confirms-the-out-in-visa-run-is-dead-46240.php#sthash.kjn51VMP.dpuf

This week, Thailand’s Constitutional Court, the country’s highest court, ruled that caretaker prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra had abused her power and should be removed from office, along with nine other ministers in her cabinet. The charges were related to the removal from his position of a former civil servant three years ago. The New York Times has a summary of the situation here. There is no real precedent for the court’s decision to remove Yingluck and the other ministers, and no real textual basis for the decision in Thailand’s constitution. But the Constitutional Court has in recent years shown time and again that it needs no precedent or constitutional basis, in its mind, to make decisions. The court also repeatedly has demonstrated that it comes down firmly on the side of the anti-government protestors in Bangkok, and generally on the side of the conservative, royalist Bangkok elites, who have become increasingly suspicious of and even opposed to democracy in Thailand. Yet this verdict was not a total win for the protestors and royalist elites; the court may want to hedge its bets, since it knows that Yingluck, her brother Thaksin Shinawatra, and their supporters, who have elected pro-Thaksin governments for over a decade, comprise a powerful bloc in Thailand. The court could have thrown out Yingluck’s whole cabinet rather than just the caretaker prime minister and nine other ministers. There would have been no precedent or constitutional basis for this decision, either, but it was widely predicted before the verdict by many Thai commentators. This verdict would have possibly paved the way for Thailand’s senate to appoint a new caretaker prime minister, one who might not have been a Shinawatra ally. Instead, the court left some ministers in place. This meant the caretaker government was allowed to appoint a new caretaker prime minister to replace Yingluck, until parliamentary elections are held again. (Parliamentary elections held in February failed, as the opposition Democrat Party boycotted and demonstrators blocked many polling booths.) The caretaker government thus appointed as prime minister Deputy Prime Minister Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan, another close ally of Yingluck and her brother Thaksin; the new prime minister formerly served as a senior executive in a Shinawatra family company. As a result, neither Thaksin supporters nor the conservative opponents of Thaksin, Yingluck, and the Puea Thai party will be fully satisfied by the court’s decision. Caretaker prime minister Yingluck’s party has referred to the court’s decision as a judicial “coup d’etat” but opponents of the government also are not openly celebrating, and already are condemning the choice of the next prime minister. Read more at http://www.thailand-business-news.com/tourism/48844-thailands-protest-hit-tourism-chinese-arrivals-50.html#cEjSzA4746YOXHAB.99

Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) will adjust the projected figure of foreign visitors this year of 28.4 million down due to ongoing negative factors that continue to hit the tourism sector. Thailand’s political turmoil has started to take toll on the number of Chinese tourists visiting the Kingdom with arrivals declining over 50%. Vice president of Thai-Chinese Tourism Association Mr Anek Sricheewachart said Thailand’s political turmoil has dampened tourism industry with now the number of Chinese tourists visiting the Kingdom saw a year-on-year drop of 41-68% and continues declining amid political chaos. At the same time vice chairman of Thai-Chinese Business Council Vikrom Kromadit stressed that political conflicts can be resolved and the new poll date can be scheduled through peaceful dialogue. He urged all parties to accept election results as internal conflicts have severely dragged down the country’s competitiveness, citing that a few Japanese firms have already shifted their investment to ASEAN neighbours including Vietnam and Indonesia. Read more at http://www.thailand-business-news.com/tourism/48844-thailands-protest-hit-tourism-chinese-arrivals-50.html#cEjSzA4746YOXHAB.99 Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) will adjust the projected figure of foreign visitors this year of 28.4 million down due to ongoing negative factors that continue to hit the tourism sector. Thailand’s political turmoil has started to take toll on the number of Chinese tourists visiting the Kingdom with arrivals declining over 50%. Vice president of Thai-Chinese Tourism Association Mr Anek Sricheewachart said Thailand’s political turmoil has dampened tourism industry with now the number of Chinese tourists visiting the Kingdom saw a year-on-year drop of 41-68% and continues declining amid political chaos. At the same time vice chairman of Thai-Chinese Business Council Vikrom Kromadit stressed that political conflicts can be resolved and the new poll date can be scheduled through peaceful dialogue. He urged all parties to accept election results as internal conflicts have severely dragged down the country’s competitiveness, citing that a few Japanese firms have already shifted their investment to ASEAN neighbours including Vietnam and Indonesia. Read more at http://www.thailand-business-news.com/tourism/48844-thailands-protest-hit-tourism-chinese-arrivals-50.html#cEjSzA4746YOXHAB.99 Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) will adjust the projected figure of foreign visitors this year of 28.4 million down due to ongoing negative factors that continue to hit the tourism sector. Thailand’s political turmoil has started to take toll on the number of Chinese tourists visiting the Kingdom with arrivals declining over 50%. Vice president of Thai-Chinese Tourism Association Mr Anek Sricheewachart said Thailand’s political turmoil has dampened tourism industry with now the number of Chinese tourists visiting the Kingdom saw a year-on-year drop of 41-68% and continues declining amid political chaos. At the same time vice chairman of Thai-Chinese Business Council Vikrom Kromadit stressed that political conflicts can be resolved and the new poll date can be scheduled through peaceful dialogue. He urged all parties to accept election results as internal conflicts have severely dragged down the country’s competitiveness, citing that a few Japanese firms have already shifted their investment to ASEAN neighbours including Vietnam and Indonesia. http://www.thailand-business-news.com/tourism/48844-thailands-protest-hit-tourism-chinese-arrivals-50.html

Unfortunately, that is not allowed. So sorry. Even the mere mention of the unspeakable can cause issues.

We are working on building it back up. HELP

A Thai court on Wednesday ordered Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra removed from office, a highly divisive move and a victory for the powerful antigovernment movement that has sought to overthrow the government in Bangkok for the last six months. The Constitutional Court ruled that Ms. Yingluck abused her power when she transferred a civil servant to another post more than three years ago. The court ordered her to step down immediately along with all members of her cabinet who were in office at the time of the transfer. Ms. Yingluck’s party called the decision a “new form of coup d'état.” Leaders of Ms. Yingluck’s party quickly announced that a deputy prime minister, Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan, would become acting prime minister. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/08/world/asia/court-orders-thai-leader-removed-from-office.html?hp&_r=0

The leader of Thailand's opposition has called for elections scheduled for July to be pushed back by up to six months. In a 10-point package of proposals, Abhisit Vejjajiva said the prime minister and her government should resign, allowing an interim cabinet to oversee a referendum on reforms. A government minister has rejected the proposals as unconstitutional. Thailand has been in political deadlock since anti-government protests began in Bangkok in November 2013. Ms Yingluck's government announced the 20 July polls after a previous snap election in February was declared unconstitutional. The ruling Pheu Thai party had been expected to win the February vote. However, the opposition boycotted the polls and protesters disrupted voting. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27266426

Thailand's Caretaker Prime Minister and Defence Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will attend the next Asean Summit, scheduled to be held in Naypyidaw, Myanmar's capital, from May 11-12, Thai News Agency (TNA) reported. Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul told journalists of the update on Friday, noting that the upcoming summit of leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) will be the last one prior to the formation of the Asean Community (AC) by next year. Surapong said Yingluck is scheduled to pay a one-day visit to Naypyidaw on May 11 to attend the 2014 Asean Summit. According to the caretaker deputy prime minister, Yingluck will take the opportunity to explain the updated political situation in Thailand and to build up confidence among other Asean member countries of Thailand's continued commitment to join the AC despite domestic political problems. Meanwhile, Yingluck stressed at Friday's meeting on the need for the parties concerned to jointly develop the national education, especially vocational courses, to cope with the changing situation in the region and meet the demand of integrated labor market in the lead-up to the AC by 2015, when there will be more job opportunities for specialized personnel. for the full story: http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v7/wn/newsworld.php?id=1035363

"Two and a Half Men" is about to become "Two Men and a Gay Woman." Partly as a replacement for Angus T. Jones -- whose screen time will be sharply cut after he publicly bashed the show as "filth" last year -- CBS' hit sitcom is going to add a recurring and possibly permanent lesbian character named Jenny. She's the 21-year-old illegitimate daughter of the late Charlie Harper, who was played by Charlie Sheen, who himself was booted from the show after tangling with his bosses. The role of Jenny has yet to be cast, but reports say she's -- surprise -- "sexy and gorgeous." (Has any hit show ever added a character who could be described as "average-looking and unremarkable"?) http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-two-and-a-half-men-angus-t-jones-lesbian-character-20130710,0,5037425.story

A Thai police gunboat prowls the waters of the Mekong River searching for the drug gangs that haunt this territory deep in the Golden Triangle, an age-old smuggling route -- with a new scourge. At one time this frontier region, where the remote edges of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet, was awash with heroin, flooding over the border from the then world's biggest opium producer Myanmar. Times have changed and now the drug of choice is methamphetamine often in the form of "yaba" -- Thai for "crazy medicine" -- bound for the streets and clubs of Asia. "It is very difficult to prevent drug trafficking into Thailand," said general Manop Senakun, commander of police in Chiang Saen, the Thai town at the gateway to the Golden Triangle. It is estimated that at least 1.4 billion yaba tablets -- with an estimated street value of $8.5 billion -- are being produced each year in the region. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/18/thailand-fights-drug-gangs-golden-triangle_n_3614953.html

PHUKET, Thailand (AFP) - From jet ski scams to robbery, assault and even police extortion, for the millions of tourists who flock to Thailand each year the kingdom does not always live up to its reputation as the "Land of Smiles". Now following a flurry of complaints, governments are urging the country to do more to protect the safety of the record numbers of foreigners visiting Thailand. Its sun-drenched beaches, tranquil temples and libidinous nightlife have long been a magnet for tourists from around the world, but for some it is far from paradise. Drink spiking in bars can be a problem and sometimes people wake up to find they have been robbed. "There are a lot of people who get drugged here," said Wal Brown, an Australia volunteer with the Thai police who patrols the thronging streets of Patong on the island of Phuket, where crowds of tourists mingle with touts offering entrance to "ladyboy cabarets" or photo ops with endangered animals. "A couple of years ago we had two Italians walk out of the bush. They couldn't remember anything for three days. All their money and clothes were stolen. They only had their jocks (underwear) on," he added. For Full Story: http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/latest/18068975/thailand-urged-to-tackle-dark-side-of-land-of-smiles/

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai police say they have rescued about 90 famished cats that they believed had been headed to Vietnam. They declined to say what fate they had rescued the felines from, but cats are considered a delicacy in their intended destination. Police Col. Sakchai Sadmaroeng said Thursday his men stopped a pickup truck at a checkpoint Thursday and found six plastic cages full of cats in northeastern Nakhon Phanom province. The driver was arrested and faces charges including animal cruelty and illegal transportation of animals. The Thai driver told police he received 2,000 baht ($63) to drive the cats to the Mekhong River, near the Thai-Laotian border. Cat meat is offered in many restaurants in Vietnam. Dogs also have been smuggled there from Thailand for their meat. http://www.tylerpaper.com/TP-News+World/181551/cat-smugglers-caught-in-thailand#.Ud9ovFPOmNs

The search for lessons from lost economic decades has led from Japan to the U.S. to Europe. Now the spotlight turns to Thailand (SET). This may strike some as odd, considering Thailand’s 5.3 percent growth, its young and expanding population, and the surprising level of political stability in Bangkok. In her two years leading Thailand’s 68 million people, Yingluck Shinawatra has somehow managed to tamp down the virtual civil war that led to the ouster of her prime minister brother in 2006. Look closer, though, at the thrust of Yingluck’s economic policies. Her government has subsidized rice prices, provided handouts to car buyers and favored megaprojects that will enrich the politically connected more than the masses. All this comes at the expense of long-term competitiveness and prosperity: Thailand should instead be investing in its future, especially education, if it wants to break out of the “middle-income trap” that befalls many developing nations. Yingluck’s U-turn last week on the government’s policy of hoarding rice at above-market rates is a case in point. She had planned to limit a practice that jeopardizes the country’s fiscal position and warps commodity markets. Moody’s Investors Service says the subsidies damage Thailand’s credit rating. Yet she caved to farmers, even firing her commerce minister to do so. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-11/thailand-need-to-invest-in-people-not-rice.html

New research revealed some good news and some bad news about Americans and their health. The good news? Exercise is on the rise throughout the country. The bad news? So is obesity. Men and women in more than two-thirds of the counties in the United States reported becoming more active over the last decade, according to data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. Counties in Kentucky, Georgia, and Florida all saw significant increases in the number of people getting enough exercise. The percentage of men in Concho County, Texas, who got sufficient physical activity — defined as 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week — jumped from 41.4% in 2001 to 58.2% in 2009. In Morgan County, Ky., the percentage of active women increased from 25.7% to 44% over the same time period. However, this has done little to shrink or stall the growing waistlines of many Americans. Between 2001 and 2009, the obesity rates for men and women fell in only nine counties out of the hundreds that were studied. The obesity rate for men in Lewis County, Ky., leapt from 28.9% in 2001 to 44.7% in 2009. Meanwhile, the percentage of obese women in Berkeley County, S.C., jumped from 31.6% to 47.9%. "Around the country, you can see huge increases in the percentage of people becoming physically active, which research tells us is certain to have health benefits," IHME Director Dr. Christopher Murray said in a press release. "If communities in the U.S. can replicate this success and tackle the ongoing obesity impact, it will see more substantial health gains." Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/exercise-obesity-u-s-report-article-1.1396623#ixzz2YnIAxMmL

The "moment sharing" app finally allows users to embed their photos and videos across the Web. One of the most startling moments for tech junkies during the Boston Marathon bombing last April was the fact that Vine videos were some of the most sharable and informative updates, due mainly to the way news outfits could throw them into breaking stories and livestreams. Now, nearly three weeks after launching its own video offering, Instagram has enabled the same embeddable function for both its photos and videos. It's not clear what effect the move may have on the apparent decline in Vine's popularity vis-a-vis Instagram microvideo. But Instagram, which is cruising towards its third birthday this fall and still growing consistently since Facebook acquired it last December, now holds an enviable position in the world of social media. http://readwrite.com/2013/07/10/instagram-photos-videos-now-embeddable#awesm=~obl7HMUdRDjURN

You can sum up Nokia's just-unveiled Lumia 1020 in three words: 41, megapixel, camera. Teased and leaked to death up to the very last minute before the big reveal, the Lumia 1020's 41-megapixel shooter is what makes Nokia's next marquee Windows phone, and what gives hardware jockeys a reason to salivate. The Windows Phone 8 device will sell in the U.S. exclusively at AT&T for a hefty $299.99 with two-year contract. Preorders begin July 16, with the Lumia 1020 becoming available online and in stores July 26. (The Lumia 1020 will also sell globally.) It's all about the camera Make no mistake about it: the Lumia 1020's stunningly enormous image resolution is this smartphone's single killer feature and sole reason for being. Yep, the 1020 puts the mega back in megapixels. http://reviews.cnet.com/nokia-lumia-1020/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpoiY2wW3WI

We love Thailand and Tuk Tuks!

PHNOM PENH, Nov 19 – Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra today called on Japan to play a key role in connecting the Southeast Asian region, particularly in the development of the Dawei deep seaport mega project near the Thai-Myanmar border and cooperation in preparing the region for possible disasters. Ms Yingluck made the overture in a meeting among member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Japan, held on the sidelines of the 21st ASEAN Summit in the Cambodian capital. The ASEAN-Japan Summit, the 15th of its kind, lasted about one and a half hours. The Thai premier openly sought the Japanese support in handling natural disasters and exchanges of information with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre in order to connect a disaster arning system through satellite. She called on Japan to take a larger role in connecting the region, especially especially regarding logistics to link Thailand’s border areas with neighbouring countries, and the Dawei project with Laem Chabang deep seaport on eastern Thailand. Japan should increase its activity in the Mekong region through the Initiative for ASEAN Integration and the Mekong Japan Forum with emphasis on agriculture, public health and human resources development, said Ms Yingluck. http://englishnews.mcot.net/site/content?id=50a9e739150ba07c7b000008#.UKo3noV8VD0

Thailand and United States have agreed to chart the way for a deeper bilateral strategic partnership and enhanced regional cooperation as Bangkok welcomed Washington’s policy of forging a stronger partnership with the Asia-Pacific region. Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Sunday welcomed the US President Barack Obama at Government House and held bilateral talks on a wide range of issues. Both leaders later held a joint press conference in which Mr Obama reaffirmed the enduring US support for democracy in Thailand and welcomed the Thai government’s commitment to strengthening Thailand’s parliamentary democracy. He emphasised that Thailand is America’s oldest treaty ally in Asia. The two leaders agreed that their alliance is rooted in a shared commitment to democracy, the rule of law, respect for both universal human rights and open societies, and a free market, which has bonded the people of the two nations closely together. Thailand and the US will mark the anniversary of their 180 years of diplomatic relations in 2013. The two leaders welcomed their continuing high-level and multidimensional dialogue, including the Fourth United States-Thailand Strategic Dialogue in June 2012, considered as the critical framework for shaping the agenda for United States-Thai relations. Ms Yingluck welcomed the American’ policy of forging a stronger partnership with the Asia-Pacific region and US support for ASEAN centrality in regional development and integration, especially through Washington’s engagement in the ASEAN-US Summit and the East Asia Summit (EAS). Mr Obama noted the growing importance of the EAS as an important regional forum for Asia-Pacific leaders to discuss political and strategic issues. The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to working together to promote practical regional cooperation, including using other regional multilateral organisations such as the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. The US President welcomed Thailand’s interest in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, which is subject to Thailand’s undertaking the necessary domestic procedures. The two leaders looked forward to reconvening the TIFA Joint Council as an important step to strengthening our trade ties and consulting on the requirements for Thailand’s eventual participation in high-standard agreements, including the TPP. (MCOT online news) http://englishnews.mcot.net/site/content?id=50a9ac6b150ba0aa500000d9#.UKo2u4V8VD0

Feel free to post your photos in this thread of your adventures in the Land of Smiles! We all love Thailand and love to show of its beauty!

Makes 4 Servings Ingredients: • 1 tablespoon mustard seeds • 2 teaspoons olive oil • 1 small onion, minced • 2 cloves garlic, minced • 2 cups chopped, diced tomatoes • l' cup chicken stock • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, or to taste • Salt to taste • Freshly ground black pepper • 1 pound bay scallops • 1 pound angel hair pasta, (cappellini) Cooking Instructions: 1. In a large sate pan over medium-high heat, add the mustard seeds and shake the pan to keep them from burning. Once they begin to pop (like popcorn), lower the heat and add the olive oil and onions. 2. Cook the onions for about 5 minutes until they turn golden, and then add the garlic and cook until the garlic begins to soften. Add the tomatoes, stock, and if desired, the Dijon mustard. Simmer for about 5 minutes for the flavors to blend. 3. Rinse the scallops and remove the thick, tough muscles on the side of the scallops. Pat the scallops dry with a paper towel. 4. Add the scallops to the tomato sauce and turn up the heat to medium. Cook the scallops in the sauce for about 5 minutes. 5. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 2 minutes. Drain. 6. Transfer the pasta to a warm bowl and serve with sauce. Nutritional Information: Per Serving: about 2 cups calories: 251 Fat:5g carbohydrates:16g Protein: 2Sg Fiber: Sg Sodium: 479mg Saturated Fat: 19 Sugar: 8g