Like every new website that has not been opened with a clear perspective and a solid base of already existent information MITRAPARP.COM neeeds a while to develop, find some relevant information and prepare it for you. Please have some patience.
Sorry to disappoint those who are looking up this site for the latest news. We're not updating regularly anymore since all the time new news sites about Thailand are popping up on the web. We intended this site to be about the road and travel to the Northeast only. But as we undertook too many projects at the same time development of the single project might be lagging behind, especially are all the projects not developing at the same speed. But we're trying to do what we can.
Statemt of Intention:
Can say that much already: we're planning to make a friendship site. Oh, please don't confuse it with dating. Everybody needs friends to share ideas, experiences etc. And of course we - the administration - is based in Thailand, as you can see from the flag, if you didn't already know that "mitraparp" means "friendship" in thai language.
Breaking News Dec. 04, 2008:
The Thai mmigration has changed the conditions for the border runners again: the 30-day visa upon arrival is from now on only available to tourists arriving by air. Travellers using the land crossings into Thailand will only be issued 15-day stamps, Malaysian citizens exempted. Since it cannot be guaranteed that thePAD won't be blocking the airports and.again, it is strongly advised to get a visa from one of hailand's embassies or consulates before heading to Thailand.
Breaking News Aug. 17, 2009:
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It could be just rumors, but if true it will affect expat life in Thailand considerably: it is reported from the Immigration Office in Pattaya to extend Non-Immigrant visas for pensioners from now on only if you can show a balance of 800.000 THB in a thai bank account. It is said that this is in addition to your regular monthly pension certified by your embassy. Are they trying to get their banks healthy that way? The 150 THB per withdrawal with foreign ATM cards on thai ATMs still does hurt some a lot. But a deposit requirement to the amount of THB 800.000 will be plain impossible for many.
NEWS March 21, 2009
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The opposition party's no confidence vote against Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and five ministers from his cabinet failed with 176 against 246 votes in parliament today. It was expected to fail but the thaksin followers hoped to shake the democrat government a little. So after all they gave more ammunition to whom they're fighting against. The exchange rate of the Thai Baht against werstern currencies already weakened in the last few days and is expedcted to weaken further. Good for exports and the ailing export industries of Thailand.
NEWS March 9, 2009
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Bad news for thailand and tourism again: late last night a boat carrying divers sunk near the coast of Phuket. Six passengers are still missing. The typical tune of insufficient standards cannot be sung now since the boat was neither overfilled nor equipped below standard; it belonged to one of the best in Phuket. The company it belonged to is operated by Germans. The reason for the sinking is still unknown.
NEWS Feb. 27, 2009
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News are that the red-shirted Thaksin Followers started to disperse giving up their siege of Government House. The decisision was announced last night.
NEWS Feb. 24, 2009
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The red/shirted Thaksin Followers have surrounded Parliament House in Bangkok, demanding the resignation of PM Abhisit Vejjajiva, dissolution of partliament and new elections. About 6.000 police and army are ready to uphold order. The number of the protesters keeps increasing and was last estimated at 10.000.
NEWS Feb. 23, 2009
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The Thai government has released its economic data of the last year. The economy shrank 6.1% in the October to December period from the previous quarter, the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) said. Compared with the same period a year earlier, the economy contracted by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Exports, which account for more than 60% of Thailand's gross domestic product, dropped 9.4%. Still the conomy grew by 2.6 over the whole year. A shrinking of 1 % is predicted for 2009.
NEWS Feb. 13, 2009
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Who would have ever thought of the thai PM admitting that there were "instances" in which Rohingyas were towed out to sea? But he actually did in an interview with CNN, after there was no way of denying anymore facing the testimony of survivors rescued near Sumatra. But of course he doesn't know who is responsible for that procedure.
NEWS Feb. 2, 2009
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8 dead and 97 injured were the result of three drunk brawlers at the inauguration ceremony of a new temple in Nong Bua Lamphu on Saturday night. One of the brawlers admits according to police to have drawn a handgrenade and thrown it another brawler. How he seems to have visited a temple inauguration ceremony with a sharp handgrenade in his pocket still seems unclear. The thai media hardly reported about this incident.
NEWS Feb. 1, 2009
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Demonstrations against the government by followers of Thaksin Shinawatra, the so-called "Red-Sirts" were held last weekend again with around 30.000 participating. They demanded the resignation of the government, vowing to come back for demonstrations, if their demand of the resignation of the government has not been fulfilled by the 15th.
KORAT.INFO (new)
Mitraparp Road is also the name of the highway from Saraburi to Nongkhai, one of the most important routes in Thailand. It is used for transporting rice and other agricultural products from the rural Northeast to the cities of Central Thailand and the seaports on the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman sea, connecting trade north and east to Laos and Vietnam. As "Route 66" is famous in the US "Mitraparp Road" is famous in South East Asia. It was built into a highway already decades ago when the Americans needed a street to transport their supplies to their Airbase in Korat during the Vietnam War.
Web stats since Jan 31, 2009:
NEWS Jan. 25, 2009
The affair of the Rohingyas became more and more of a shackle for Thailand with the UNHCR requesting contact to 126 Rohingyas who were said to be detained in Thailand. The UNHCR wanted to question them as witnesses. First the PM denied that request. Upon public pressure he later "granted" it. Not even a day later you could read a statement from the spokesman of the Foreign Ministry that unfortunately this wasn't possible because those Rohingyas had already been "escorted" to sea. Let's hope their boat did not unfortunately get lost with them all drowned.
NEWS Jan. 17, 2009
Allegations of Human Rights Groups are overshadowing Thailand in the world news again: it is said and more or less proven by witness reports and indirect admissions of military personnel that burmese refugees who were trying to illegally enter Thailand were beaten by military personnel and then towed out to sea in a small motorless boat with little water and food and abandoned. About 300 of them died until the indian marine rescued the people remaining. The thai government wants to "look into the affair".
NEWS Jan. 1, 2009
At least 59 dead and more than 100 injured are the result of a fire in the popular Bangkok Nightclub "Santika". Many foreigners are expected to be among the victims. The reason for the fire has not been established yet. It could have been fireworks lighting in there. Let's hope it was not arson or bombs like exactly two years ago in Bangkok.
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