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‘Goodbye My Love,’ Hello My Beginning

BANGKOK — Saying goodbye can be tough, even more so when the loss is repeated again and again.

But talented dramatist Nikorn Sae Tang will share seven experiences intended to show it doesn’t have to be sad in his upcoming play “Goodbye My Love.”

“At the end of one thing, there’s always another beginning,” Nikorn said, insisting his latest performance won’t be a tragedy.

From a loved one’s funeral to encountering an ex, each story holds a theme of farewell in life, relationships and memories. This may sound like a downer, but not every departure ends up bitter.

“Saying goodbye implies a freedom, of being unbound. We just need to overcome the sadness and celebrate the liberation of a new beginning,” said the 46-year-old founder of 8×8 Theatre. “The play isn’t at all complicated. It focuses on feelings and impression to make the audience see different shades of goodbye.”

“Goodbye My Love” began as a 30-minute performance at the Bangkok Theatre Festival in 2014, as the director wanted to contrast his 2006 work “Falling in Love.”The four actors take turns in portraying various roles throughout an hour long play.

Ticket are 500 baht (350 baht for students). A discount is available if bought with tickets for Like A Rat, I Want To Be Beautiful, a black comedy performed in Thai with Thai, English and Japanese surtitles June 16 – 26 at the same venue.

Goodbye My Love will be performed in Thai with English surtitles. It runs July 22 – 24 and again from July 29 – 31, at 7:30pm with weekend matinees at 2pm, at Blue Box Studio located in M Theatre on New Petchburi Road. The nearest train access is MRT Phetchaburi and BTS Thong Lo, then take a taxi.

 

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Trump-Pence Unveil Logo That is a Penis Joke

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence joins Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2016 at a rally in Westfield, Indiana. Photo: Michael Conroy / Associated Press
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence joins Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2016 at a rally in Westfield, Indiana. Photo: Michael Conroy / Associated Press

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island — Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump revealed a new campaign logo that’s giving some people the giggles.

The logo was released Friday as Trump announced his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.

It features an interlaced blue “T” and “P” next to red stripes, evoking the American flag. Trump’s name is featured above Pence’s name, which is smaller. Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again!” finishes off the logo.

The design was immediately mocked on social media. The “T” penetrating the loop of the “P” below it looked sexually suggestive to some. Others made the connection to T.P. being a common abbreviation for toilet paper.

The overall effect with the typography and image is pretty obvious, said Cyrus Highsmith, an internationally celebrated designer.

“I think that it’s very clear that Trump is the dominant partner in this relationship,” Highsmith said between chuckles. “The only thing I can guess is that Trump wants to make sure that everyone knows that he’s in charge. It’s totally in line with his personality.”

Other designers said it seemed amateurish.

Nancy Skolos, dean of architecture and design at the Rhode Island School of Design, called the design “fussy and overwrought,” and more like a “high school doodle.”

Matt Luckhurst, of the Collins design firm in San Francisco, whose work includes Facebook’s M app and Airbnb’s rebranding campaign, said they did not think the image through.

“I think it’s an oversight. I doubt they actually planned this,” Luckhurst said. “It’s something where they said good enough and they launched it out into the world.”

Trump’s is not the first logo to become an online punchline. Jeb Bush’s “Jeb!” logo was widely ridiculed.

While presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s logo has been praised by many designers, it prompted intra-party grousing last year. It features an “H” with an arrow pointing right, leading some Democrats to complain that the arrow did not point left.

Asked what a good logo should do, Skolos said it should be memorable. Highsmith said it should be recognizable quickly and not offensive, then hastened to add that he wasn’t offended by the Trump logo.

“I think it’s funny,” he said. “Maybe that’s another thing: Put it in enough focus groups to make sure you’re not going to get laughed at.”

Story: Michelle R. Smith

https://twitter.com/ditzkoff/status/753991009684652032

 

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90 Dead, Over 1,100 Wounded in Turkey Coup Chaos

Turkish soldiers, arrested by civilians, are handed to police officers early Saturday in Istanbul's Taksim square. Photo: Selcuk Samiloglu / Associated Press

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s state-run news agency says death toll in coup violence rises to about 90 with 1,154 wounded.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government was working to crush a coup attempt after a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left dozens dead and at least 150 people wounded.

Government officials said the coup appeared to have failed as Turks took to the streets overnight to confront troops attempting to take over the country. However, the sounds of huge blasts, including at least one bomb that hit the parliament complex, continued to ring out in the capital, Ankara, and Istanbul throughout the morning.

Speaking on national television from Istanbul, Erdogan said the government was arresting coup supporters in the military and warned “they will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey,” according to a transcript of his remarks provided by his office. “Those who stain the military’s reputation must leave. The process has started today and it will continue just as we fight other terrorist groups.”

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, speaking to state-run Anadolu Agency, said more than 120 arrests were made.

Erdogan, who said his general secretary had been abducted by the coup plotters, flew into Istanbul’s Ataturk airport early Saturday and was greeted by large crowds. Hours earlier, as the coup attempt got underway, his office declined to say where he was, and he was forced to give an interview over FaceTime to a television station.

The chaos capped a period of political turmoil in Turkey which critics blamed on Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian rule, which has included a government shake-up, a crackdown on dissidents and opposition media and renewed conflict in the mainly Kurdish areas of the southeast.

Turkey, a NATO member, is a key partner in U.S.-led efforts to defeat the Islamic State group, and has allowed American jets to use its Incirlik air base to fly missions against the extremists in nearby Syria and Iraq. A coup against the democratically elected government could make it difficult for the United States to continue to cooperate with Turkey.

U.S. President Barack Obama urged all sides in Turkey to support the democratically elected government. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he spoke to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and called for respect for democracy.

The coup attempt began late Friday, with a statement from the military saying it had seized control “to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for law and order to be reinstated.”

Fighter jets buzzed overhead, gunfire erupted outside military headquarters and vehicles blocked two major bridges in Istanbul. Soldiers backed by tanks blocked entry to Istanbul’s airport for a couple of hours, before being overtaken by pro-government crowds carrying Turkish flags, according to footage broadcast by the Dogan news agency.

But the military did not appear unified, with top commanders taking to television to condemn the action and order troops back to their barracks.

“Those who are attempting a coup will not succeed. Our people should know that we will overcome this,” Gen. Zekai Aksakalli, the commander of the military special forces, told the private NTV television by telephone.

Fighter jets under the control of loyalist forces were flying over the capital to strike at helicopters flown by coup supporters, the Anadolu news agency said. NTV reported that one helicopter was shot down. Gunfire and explosions rang out.

Erdogan called on Turks to take to the streets across the country, and many did, marching through the streets of Izmir and Istanbul, waving Turkish flags and gathering in the main square in Ankara. The Dogan news agency reported that soldiers fired on a group of people trying to cross the Bosporus bridge to protest the attempted coup, and that some people have been hurt. TV footage showed people running for cover amid gunfire.

Troops also fired in the air to disperse a growing crowd of government supporters at the Taksim monument in Istanbul as military helicopters flew overhead. A nearby mosque made an anti-coup announcement over its loudspeakers. Several blasts and the screech of fighter jets were heard in central Istanbul as dawn approached.

At least 42 people were killed in the capital, NTV quoted the prosecutor’s office as saying. Parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman said a bomb hit one corner of a public relations building inside the parliament complex, injuring some police officers.

In Istanbul, an official at Haydarpasa Numune Hospital said at least 150 people were admitted with wounds but would not comment on whether there were fatalities. NTV reported six dead had been brought to that hospital. An official at Istanbul’s Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital said they had also received dead and wounded. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to comment publicly.

Parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman said a bomb hit one corner of a public relations building inside the parliament complex, injuring some police officers.

In his TV address, Erdogan blamed the attack on supporters of Fethullah Gulen.

Erdogan has long accused the cleric and his supporters of attempting to overthrow the government. The cleric lives in exile in Pennsylvania and promotes a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

By Saturday morning, a top Turkish official said the coup attempt appeared to have been repelled. The senior official told The Associated Press that all government officials were in charge of their offices. The official requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

As the crisis unfolded, there were reports that access to popular social media sites like Twitter and Facebook had been blocked within the country. Facebook declined comment, but Twitter said it suspected “intentional” interference with its service.

Story: Suzan Fraser, Dominique Soguel, Emrah Gurel and Cinar Kiper 

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Police Drop Royal Defamation Case Against Activist’s Mother

Patnaree Chankij reacts to news police recommended dropping the case against her on Thursday outside the military court in Bangkok.

BANGKOK — Two months and waves of outrage later, police Thursday announced they would not pursue a criminal case against a woman accused of insulting the monarchy by staying silent.

Patnaree Chankij, whose son Sirawith Seritiwat regularly campaigns against the military regime, was slapped with a royal defamation charge in May after she reportedly responded to allegedly offensive messages about the monarchy sent via private Facebook chat with jaa, an acknowledgment similar to “uh-huh.”

Activist’s Mother Defamed Monarchy With Her Silence, Police Say

The case, which seemed to set a new precedent for actions deemed libelous toward the Royal Family at the time, likely came to an end Thursday when a police investigator told the military court he no longer recommended prosecution of the 40-year-old.

Pavinee Chumsri, a member of the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, said military attorneys could still take up the case and indict Patnaree anyway, but the possibility is a remote one, especially as the order was signed by Chakthip Chaijinda, the chief of Royal Thai Police himself.

“This is a good sign,” Pavinee said by telephone. “Generally, if the police commissioner signs an order like this, the case is most likely over.”

Police did not cite any reason for their change of heart in the no-prosecution notice filed to the court. Lt. Col. Sanpetch Nuthong, the chief investigator, declined to discuss the matter.

“It’s a sensitive matter,” Sanpetch said when reached for comment.

A protestor holds a sign at the May 7 protest in front of Crime Suppression Division headquarters in Bangkok.
A protester holds a sign at the May 7 protest in front of Crime Suppression Division headquarters in Bangkok.

On May 6, Patnaree was arrested and charged with insulting the monarchy, a crime also known as lese majeste. Her activist son Sirawith, a persistent junta critic, complained they were using her to get at him.

Her arrest prompted protests calling for her release and reform of the lese majeste law, which has been enforced with growing severity under the military regime. It also prompted a wave of paranoia over how authorities gained access to private Facebook messages.

In the police report of Patnaree’s arrest, which was later circulated online, investigators said Patnaree raised no objection when someone sent critical remarks about the Royal Family to her in the private Facebook chat.

Patnaree reportedly responded with the word jaa, a Thai word generally denoting casual acknowledgement in a conversation.

Although police commanders insisted Patnaree did much more than type jaa, they never produced any evidence.

Lese majeste is punishable by up to 15 years in prison per offense.

The person Patnaree was allegedly talking to, an activist called Burin Intin, was also charged with lese majeste for a separate offense. He’s currently held at Bangkok Remand Prison awaiting trial in the military court.

Related stories:

Detained Facebookers Allege Chat Evidence Obtained Illegally

Singer Gets 7 Years for Lese Majeste, Must Write ‘Reconciliation Song’

Police Ban ‘Marie Claire,’ Citing Lese Majeste

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Poisoned Lives: After 13 Years, Klity Community Prevails Over Lead Mine

Members of the Karen community living near contaminated Klity creek Thursday in front of Kanchanaburi court.

KANCHANABURI — One of Thailand’s longest-running cases of environmental litigation ended after 13 years Thursday with ethnic villagers prevailing over the company which sickened them by dumping lead into their water supply.

Activists said a new standard was set by the Supreme Court in the case of Klity creek when it ordered Lead Concentrate Co. Ltd. to pay 20 million baht to the residents there.

“It’s been more than 10 years that we’ve been sick,” said Kamthorn Srisuwanmala, one of the original eight members of Karen community members to sue the company in 2003 for pouring lead into their creek, which caused severe health effects. “Some of us died, as well as some of our pets.”

The highest court’s decision to uphold previous verdicts against the company – but lower the payout – effectively brought an end to the 13-year case for what is regarded as one of the worst ever environmental disasters in Thailand.

Moreover the court verdict broke new ground, according to activist and lawyer Suraphong Kongchantuk, for enforcing a 1992 environmental law for the first time.

“It will help in setting a new standard for other cases in Thailand,” he said.

The lead mine, which opened in 1967, was ordered shut in 1998 after the nearby creek was confirmed to be contaminated.

High levels of lead contamination were found in 151 locals resulting in many kinds of illness ranging from body aches to blindness. Some pregnant women reported having miscarriages and the youth were to suffer slow development of their bodies and brains. At least one death was blamed on lead toxicity.

Mine operator Lead Concentrate and the Pollution Control Department were ordered to restore the creek, but by 2015, trace lead was still found in the soil and plants at Klity creek.

Eight local Karen sued the company in 2003, demanding 119 million baht compensation. In 2008, the Appeals Court ordered the company to pay 29 million baht.

Despite prevailing Thursday in court, compensation was not immediately paid.

Villagers will have to closely follow the implementation of the verdict as the company has already gone out of business and its owner, Kongsak Kleebbua, is dead. Responsibility for payment falls to his wife, Suladda Kleebbua, who was the second defendant named in the suit.

 

Related stories:

Junta Orders All Gold Mines Shut Down

Amnesty Calls on Thailand to Reopen Investigation into Activist’s Murder

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International Composition Masters to Inspire In A Melodious Festival

Thailand International Composition Festival 2015. Photo: College of Music, Mahidol University / Courtesy

BANGKOK — Southeast Asia’s only composer festival returns Monday to inspire young musicians and entertain audiences.

More than just an opportunity to hear great music, the Thailand International Composition Festival showcases talented young composers and provides a pathway for them to go professional.

“There was no such festival back then in Thailand or even in Southeast Asia,” said Artistic Director Narong Prangcharoen, himself an acclaimed composer. “So, I founded the festival aiming to make it a venue for music students to show their work and improve their composition skills. Plus, it’s a meeting point for composers to broaden their creativity.”

In the past, Narong said, many students gave up their dreams as they couldn’t see a career path. Since the festival was founded in 2005, they are able to meet and learn from world-class master composers.

Next week, that means top composers including John Corigliano, an American who won an Oscar for his 1999 score of “The Red Violin,” five Grammys and a Pulitzer Prize in music. For the festival’s finale, he will lead a performance of his Oscar-winning score as a concerto for violin and orchestra.

Narong said the form remains relevant for how it expresses society.

“Composers compose music that reflects contemporary society. For example, there was war in the 20th century and German music reflects that via creepy and incomprehensible noises. After the war, American music changed to minimalist and made everything simple and bright,” Narong explains. “Art changes according to society. By supporting artists and composers, it helps prolong the art itself.”

Narong Prangcharoen giving masterclass at the 11th Thailand International Composition Festival. Photo: College of Music, Mahidol University / Courtesy
Narong Prangcharoen giving masterclass at the 11th Thailand International Composition Festival. Photo: College of Music, Mahidol University / Courtesy

In addition to the the performances, there will be lectures and masterclasses hosted by guest composers and open to everyone regardless of skill or experience.

The winner of the composition contest will be announced at the closing concert.

One-day tickets which include both performance and master class are 200 baht and 100 baht for students. Want to see it all? See the full schedule and buy tickets in advance for all events and concerts for 700 baht (400 baht for students). These tickets are available from the university.

Tickets for the July 23 finale event are available to students for 100 baht and otherwise go up to 500 baht depending on seating. They are available from Thai Ticket Major.

The festival runs Monday through July 23 at Mahidol University’s College of Music located west of downtown in the Phutthamonthon district of Nakhon Pathom. It can be reached by taxi from BTS Bang Wa.

 

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Chinese Tourists Tempt Fate For Crocodile-Baiting Fun

Source: Apicha Phet Sawetwuttibarami / Facebook

PATTAYA — Apart from ziplining at break-neck speed and riding trample-prone giants, here comes another tourist attraction to savagely tear at safety conventions.

Source: Apicha Phet Sawetwuttibarami / Facebook
Source: Apicha Phet Sawetwuttibarami / Facebook

At Elephant Kingdom near the coastal enclave of Pattaya, guests are loaded onto rafts without safety vests and pushed into a pond full of hungry crocodiles, who are best placated by hurling dead chickens to.

Photos of water churning with enormous, toothy jaws snapping at Chinese tourists floating on bamboo rafts went viral this week, drawing attention to an attraction that has reportedly been in business several years.

This led officials to express words of concern.

“The owner has to take care of safety, but tourists should exercise caution,” said Suladda Sarutilavan, a local tourism official. “They should ask themselves, are they willing to take that kind of risk?”

Not even her organization, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, is interested in promoting the place.

“We have a policy not to promote a venue with such high risk,” Suladda said.

No one picked up the phone Friday at Elephant Kingdom, but owner Uthane Yangpraphakorn, has said the venue is perfectly safe.

“There has never been any danger,” Uthane told Spring News. “In the past, many TV programs did shows about us, but it only became big news after the photos went on social media.”

Chakorn Kanjawattana, district chief of Banglamung, said in the same report that officials are investigating whether Elephant Kingdom complies with relevant safety regulations.

Adventure-style tourism sector suffers from a lack of oversight and occasional accidents.

A spate of injuries and deaths involving zipline stations in Chiang Mai last year revealed there are no specific licenses or safety regulations required of those attractions.

Related stories:

Chinese Tourist Falls to Death From Zip Line in Chiang Mai

Police Charge Employees in Zipline Tourist Death

Elephant Kills Longtime Mahout at Chiang Mai Zoo

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Make Some Noise With Bangkok’s Experimental Music Scene

Photo: Koichi Shimizu / Facebook

It would be easy to spend some time in Bangkok and think it’s all bubble gum pop, Don Henley covers or Euro EDM. In fact, the city has an experimental electronic music scene that can be  traced back to the late ‘90s at a place in Chinatown called About Cafe, an art gallery that would host one-off music events.

There, across town from the sweaty dance floor workouts at Cafe Democ, musicians, producers and DJs would showcase their abstract sonic doodling – where the weirder was definitely the better.

“About Café was the birthplace of Thailand’s experimental scene, but it was art before sounds; we were the right pieces that fit in their puzzle, though we weren’t really the core elements,” techno pioneer Ruttha Mai Rungsang, aka Nolens Volens, reminisced about the venue.

Notes from the Underground - Mongkorn 'DJ Dragon' TimkulBy experimental electronic music we’re talking about the sonic exploration of electronically generated sound. Stuff like John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Brian Eno made since the mid-20th, exploring past the boundaries of traditional music.

Today the Bangkok scene maintains a small but dedicated following with a handful of fests and venues such as Jam on lower Sathorn, a haven for experimental music where Vietnamese and Thai experimental artists will host a workshop and play live Saturday.

Over the years a variety of talent has sprung up, but among the most notable producers has been Japanese-born Koichi Shimizu.

Photo: Koichi Shimizu / Facebook
Photo: Koichi Shimizu / Facebook

Koichi’s life in Thailand also started just before the new millennium when he came to the kingdom searching for new inspiration. Falling in love with the country, he set up shop in Bangkok in 2003, from where he made a name locally and abroad and released his music to the world via labels Worm Interface and Revirth.

Success reached a new level when film director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang invited Koichi to sound design and score his films “Invisible waves,” “Ploy,” and “Nymph.” That work brought him a best composer award at the Dubai International Film Festival in 2009.

Not bad for a guy who says it was his first foray into sound design. Spoken like a true sonic explorer, he explains he “didn’t have a clear idea what sound design was, so I eventually came up with ideas through trial and error.”

He said the noise-making scene in Bangkok hardly qualifies as such.

“It’s still too small to call it a scene, but there certainly are some artists and organizers who have been doing this for many years, and I respect them,” he told me over Facebook messenger from somewhere in Europe where he was touring. “The experimental music community is small everywhere, not only in Thailand.”

Late last year he unleashed more of his genius in “Otolary,” an 8-track album of “techno music with an experimental approach.”

Check out Otolary here

Leading the way for a new generation of experimental artists is Space 360, producer and head honcho at Delicate, which since 2007 has staged innovative events both in Bangkok and up in Chiang Mai. Space, aka Auttaratt “Benz” Photongnoppakun, will host his latest event “Terminated” alongside homie and renowned Vietnamese musician Tri Minh on Saturday at Jam.

nftu.jamevent

Known as one of Bangkok’s exclusive havens for experimental music, the venue will shift into a classroom and performance space where both musicians will hold an electronic music workshop followed by live performances.

“The place is great for our events because the owner really understands what we do and what we try to push,” explains the Spaceman. “I try to offer a little bit more than just another party. Educating people who are new to electronic music is equally important for building a stronger scene in Thailand.”

The duo will show their technological bad-assery and teach other folks how to be badasses themselves starting at 5pm on Saturday at Jam. Door for Terminated is 200 baht.

Speaking of Jam, the uninitiated should be warned the venue is not a hi-so, chin-stroking artsy fartsy place where patrons are served champagne. On a busy night guests are lucky to find anywhere to sit on furniture that looks like it came from a yard sale. The entertainment happens on a tiny makeshift stage and the DJ booth is a wooden slab on top of two oil drums. DIY at its finest, punk rock to the fullest! The vibe is 100 percent underground at Jam.

Until next time, Dub be good to you.

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5-Day Holiday Starts Tonight! Prepare for Terrible Traffic, Booze Ban

Police test a public van driver on July 15, 2016 for alcohol consumption in Bangkok.

BANGKOK — The five-day vacation that’s set to kick off tonight will come with the seasonal ban on alcohol and a traffic apocalypse as hundreds of thousands leave Bangkok for outlying destinations.

Following morality codes with outlaw booze sales on religious holidays and elections, the ban will be in effect Tuesday and Wednesday, which mark the days Lord Buddha first unveiled the wisdom of Buddhism to his disciples and the start of Buddhist Lent, respectively.

Booze will still be sold Monday, a secular holiday added by the military government to bridge the working day gap for the sake of tourism and happiness.

Only duty-free shops at airports will be exempted from the ban, according to the latest regulation signed into law in February 2015 by junta chairman Prayuth Chan-ocha. It replaced a previous law that allowed alcohol sales in hotel bars.

And per tradition, the usual moral crusading bureaucrats beat the drum in the leadup to the holy days. Krissada Boonrat, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Interior Affairs, announced Monday the booze ban would be vigorously enforced.

“If any violation is found, officers are instructed to prosecute them in the strictest manner, in every case,” Krissada said.

That said, it is unlikely the ban will be 100 percent respected by sellers everywhere.

For many, the more immediate concern is the citywide traffic nightmare expected to start after everyone gets off from work Friday evening.

Police have already set up checkpoints on some outbound roads around Bangkok to conduct sobriety tests on drivers, in the hope of reducing drunk driving accidents tonight.

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Thailand Back to the Booze Ban Future

2 Bars Closed Down Under Junta’s Sweeping Booze Ban

Booze Regulator Warns Public on ‘Instant Beer’

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Look Inside Thailand’s New Special Express Bogies (Photos)

The new bogie of Special Express Train is opened for press visit Thursday at Chonburi’s Sriracha Junction Railway Station.

BANGKOK — Starting next month, those long journeys to Chiang Mai will still be long, but could be a little more comfortable for passengers who buy the right ticket.

To upgrade its tatty service, the State Railway of Thailand announced Thursday it has received 39 of 115 new Chinese-built carriages to eventually run on all of its Special Express Train routes linking Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Ubon Ratchathani, Nong Khai and Hat Yai.

It’s spending roughly 4 billion baht on acquiring the new cars.

Although a state railway spokesman said there was no definite plan, it hopes the first 39 cars will hit the rails in August along the Bangkok-Chiang Mai route.

Offering a more plane-like experience, the railway said every passenger seat will have a USB charging socket and an LCD screen with passengers’ choice of entertainment. (These were not visible in the demo carriage shown Thursday.)

Instead of dedicated diesel-electric locomotives, the new trains will be supplied by powered cars said to be quieter and cause less harm to the environment.

The toilets, which have always been one of the least pleasant experiences for Thai rail travelers, will use the same system as those on planes and not simply void onto the tracks.

The cars are also equipped with security cameras, officials said, and also come with lifts to raise wheelchairs from the platform.

New uniforms for onboard train staff were also introduced Thursday.

Train
Train Train

Train

Train

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