Thailand Voice

Published on October 6 was an announcement by the Department of provincial administration (DOPA) on an award for the subdistrict headmen, village headmen and assistant village headmen. A total of 58 officials from 20 provinces did get awarded for the month of September. As the the title of the announcement already… Read full story >>>

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index has dropped by nearly 5% today in what is described as heavy trading – this is in addition to a fall of just over 2% yesterday (of course, now that the Index is down below 700, even comparatively small changes can represent seemingly large percentage changes). As … Read full story >>>

As we know by know the market went down by 2% yesterday and are also down today – was down 8% around lunchtime but now down only 5%. The Nation reports on what is driving the market: “There was a panic in early trading … Read full story >>>

The other day mentioned in a blog post on the GT-200 device which is used by security forces in the Deep South: Fourth, the use of the GT-200 device which detects bomb residue and/or other material used in explosive devices has come under suspicion recently on the accuracy of such a device particularly… Read full story >>>

Last week, the director-general of the Department of Provincial Administration (DOPA), Wongsak Sawatphanit (วงศ์ศักดิ์ สวัสดิ์พาณิชย์) announced the winners of the outstanding registration office award (รางวัลสำนักทะเบียนดีเด่น). If I read the announcement correctly, this award is given out since the year 1985, and is… Read full story >>>

Have previously blogged about attacks against teachers (see here for one example) and VOA has an interesting article on education in the Deep South. It covers some familiar themes: But the principal Chavarat Negnrat, says the school also came under attack. … Standing in front of a one-story building, he points across the schoolyard … Read full story >>>

Sopon in The Nation : It was an arduous effort by the investigation commission, which compiled a huge stack of paper serving what it regarded as solid evidence to prove the defendants guilty. The commission will have to wait for the results of other cases. The defeat in this case might… Read full story >>>

Published on the website of the Department of Provincial Administration (DOPA) on last Thursday was an announcement titled ศูนย์ข้อมูลอำเภอกรมการปกครอง (Data center of districts at DOPA). With my limited Thai and the help of online translators it seems that DOPA is planning a new Internet database for district… Read full story >>>

There will be a total eclipse of the sun on Wednesday, which is due to be the longest of the twenty-first century so far. The eclipse will last the longest in Chiang Mai (in Thailand, that is), at two hours and twelve minutes. However, we… Read full story >>>

When I recently checked for the standard geocode list ccaatt with the codes for all the central administrative entities (except the Muban ), I did not use the direct link as usual but instead went to the description page . To my surprise I noticed it… Read full story >>>

Found this on a hike today – amazing colors and patterns on this snake. The snake guy at siam-info.de says it’s a “Ahaetulla prasina (Oriental Whip snakes” and found all over Thailand. Mildly poisonous but only if you let him chew on you a while. If … Read full story >>>

English Premier League side Liverpool F.C. arrives in Bangkok today before taking on the Thai national team on July 22. The players arrived at Don Muang Airport this evening and took a bus straight to Hotel Grand Hyatt Erawan. Ticket prices for Liverpool Football Club’s match in Bangkok on July 22 ranges … Read full story >>>

Is there room for another film festival in Bangkok? Well sure, as long as it’s competently run and gives the films, the filmmakers and the audience due consideration. And if it’s a festival that offers a voice that’s unique on the city’s scene, that’s … Read full story >>>

[BBC NEWS] Tourists warned of Thailand airport scam [Now new allegations have been made that a number of passengers are being detained every month in the duty free area on suspicion of shoplifting, and then held by the police until they … Read full story >>>

Published in the Royal Gazette on May 22 was a petition by the member of parliament Suwaroj Palang ( สุวโรช พะลัง ) requesting the creation of a new minor district in his home district Tha Sae , Chumphon province. He argues that the subdistrict Rap Ro ( ตำบลรับร่อ , highlighted … Read full story >>>

In the portrait of the female TAO chairman the low ratio of female officers was mentioned. I now could find a statistics which shows this quite clearly, even though it only lists the numbers for the lowest central administrative levels, the subdistrict (Tambon) and village (Muban). It not only lists the leaders of these two… Read full story >>>

I already mentioned it when I explained the population statistics from the Department of Provincial Administration (DOPA) – there are some cases where these statistics have relatively obvious errors. I only found them because my parser for these data stumbled upon them, and I had to create some workarounds to make sure the specific year and… Read full story >>>