Bangkok
Khao San Road remains empty during the day, night crowds keep the street alive
Without foreign tourists at Bangkok’s infamous backpacker mecca, Khao San Road has gone quiet. While nights draw local crowds, it’s not what it used to be and the once bustling street remains empty during the day time.
While locals frequent the nightclubs and bars on the street, Khao San Road is not nearly what is was like before the pandemic. The deserted street during the daytime is an ongoing problem, according to the head of Khao San trader’s association Sanga Reungwattanakun. He says before 5pm, the street is empty.
Before the pandemic, Khao San Road generated a revenue of 1 billion baht each year and 99% of the customers were foreigners, Sanga says. Visiting the street has been considered a “rite-of-passage” for foreign backpackers.
The area is known for being crazy with party hostels, cheap alcohol and balloons filled with laughing gas. It’s also known for its eclectic street food like scorpion on a stick. During the day (pre-pandemic), tourists would get massages, go shopping, get some food or grab a drink. (or 2.. or 3…)
Without the foreign tourists, many of the hotels on the street are closed and Sanga says some traders were just too slow to adjust to the new market conditions.
During the lockdown, Khao San Road had a facelift. More than 48 million baht was put into the area for major renovations like leveling out the road and footpaths, adding some gutters and designing space for emergency vehicles.
Since the road’s official reopening with a Halloween event in October, local officials have been trying to figure out ways to pump more life into the street. The campaign “Go to Khao San 2435” was recently launched to try to draw more people to the area. Nightly opening hours have been extended to 1am, but the daytime still remains a problem.
SOURCE: Thai Visa
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A man suspected of selling the ketamine-based drug cocktail, which is said to be tied to at least 10 deaths in Bangkok, was shot and killed in a shootout with police in Nakhon Pathom, just west of the capital. The narcotic cocktail, known as “K powdered milk,” is ketamine laced with methamphetamine, heroin and the anti-anxiety medication diazepam, all crushed up together resembling powdered milk.
Police tracked down 41 year old Wasan Khiaohom yesterday. He was in a pickup truck parked next to another car on a roadside in Nakhon Pathom’s Mueang district. As officers moved in to investigate, Wasan, who also went by the name Ple Kampangsaen, got out of a pickup and pulled out a gun, firing shots at the officers. Police fired back, shooting him. Wasan tried to flee the area, but collapsed and died in a wooded area by the road.
Police say they searched Wasan’s pockets and found a small bag of “K powdered milk” and 40 ecstasy pills. Police also arrested 2 alleged accomplices who were driving the car and pickup truck.
Police have been cracking down on illicit drugs after 10 people died reportedly after taking the narcotic drug cocktail while others were hospitalised. From January 13 to 18, police arrested 592 people in the drug crackdown. In a series of busts, police say they seized a total of 8,644,825 baht worth of drugs including methamphetamine pills, crystal methamphetamine, cannabis, ketamine, kratom leaves, kratom drink and ecstasy pills.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
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The Bangkok Criminal Court sentenced a former public official to more than 4 decades in prison for violating the country’s strict lèse majesté law on insulting or defaming the Thai Monarchy.
The woman, a former Revenue Department official known as Anchan, was found guilty on 29 counts of violating Section 112 of the Criminal Code, known as the lèse majesté law, as well as the Computer Crime Act. She was sentenced to 43 years and 6 months in prison.
Anchan had posted audio clips on Facebook and YouTube of a man making comments considered critical of the Thai Monarchy. The man has been arrested, but officials haven’t released any other details.
The ruling comes during an ongoing pro-democracy movement raising subjects that are considered taboo in Thai society. In recent months, dozens of protesters have been charged with violating the lèse majesté law. A senior researcher from the Human Rights Watch as the recent sentence sends a “spine-chilling” message.
“Today’s court verdict is shocking and sends a spine-chilling signal that not only criticisms of the monarchy won’t be tolerated, but they will also be severely punished.”
Section 112 of the Criminal Code:
Those who defame, insult or threaten the King, the Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent shall be punished by a jail term of between three to 15 years.
SOURCES: Thai Enquirer | Bangkok Biz News| Independent
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Immigration police arrested a 40 year old Nigerian man for allegedly overstaying his visa by 2,683 days. The man entered Thailand in April 2014 on a 60 day tourist visa. He was arrested in in Ratchathewi district of Bangkok.
Illegal immigration is considered as a major factor of the second wave of Covid-19 after the outbreak Samut Sakhon seafood market affecting a large migrant population.
Thai Visa says immigration officers were “targeting Africans to check on their visa status as part of measures associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The penalties for overstaying in Thailand are as follows…
When surrendering at airport immigration when leaving Thailand…
- Overstay less than 90 Days = 500 Thai baht/day overstay fine (maximum 20,000 Thai baht)
- Overstay more than 90 Days = 1 year ban from Thailand and 20,000 Thai baht overstay fine
- Overstay more than 1 Year = 3 years ban from Thailand and 20,000 Thai baht overstay fine
- Overstay more than 3 Years = 5 years ban from Thailand and 20,000 baht overstay fine
- Overstay more than 5 Years = 10 years ban from Thailand and 20,000 baht overstay fine
When caught while overstaying…
- Overstay of 1 day to 1 Year = 5 years ban from Thailand and 500 to 20,000 Thai baht overstay fine.
- Overstay more than 1 Year = 10 years ban from Thailand and 20,000 Thai baht overstay fine.
SOURCES: True Crime Thailand | Thai Embassy| Thai Visa
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Issan John
Friday, December 4, 2020 at 12:53 pm
I’m displaying my ignorance, but what’s the significance of “2435”?
Toby Andrews
Friday, December 4, 2020 at 3:18 pm
That is the amount of foreigners they hope to attract in a week.
brian mc
Friday, December 4, 2020 at 7:02 pm
2, 4, 3, or 5?
hope things get back to normal soon, i was 6 months into my online degree with the international university operating there.
ray
Friday, December 4, 2020 at 6:50 pm
Strange to see the current situation. Although I never was a backpacker, this is where I stayed on my first visit to LOS about 35 yrs ago. Twenty five years later when I lived in a riverside condo, I took the ferry once a week to have breakfast or lunch in soi Rambuttri. It was always pleasant early in the day. It was fun to see the first backpackers with hangovers surface. There were also quite some colorful regulars. Loved the home made yoghurt with mango stand at the rear entrance of the temple grounds. The seller has been there for ages. Hopefully they are still there. When I subsequently took a walk around the area, I basically circumvented KS road itself but loved to stroll in the other streets and soi. Since I left Thailand, I have been back almost each year for a short visit and often drawn to Banglamphu.
Chris
Saturday, December 5, 2020 at 10:04 am
Khao San Road remains empty during the day, night crowds keep the street alive
It’s stating the obvious. Borders are closed. This is all over Thailand not just here.