Dim Sum and some ancient ice coffee

Tuesday evening stopped by at a restaurant opposite Seri Center on SriNakarin Road. Had to park the car behind the restaurant and enter from the back door! Anyway, ordered lots of Dim Sum and had some ancient ice coffee (kafe boran) which wasn't that good, just mediocre. The dim sum were really delicious costing 30 Baht each set. Also ate a plate of Khao Moo Daeng (Red pork rice). Missed the desert though, as I ate so much that it got me full for the next 5 hours or so.

Bangkok to be declared an earthquake risk zone

BANGKOK (AFP) — Thailand is drafting regulations to declare Bangkok an earthquake-prone zone after the capital felt the effects of a recent 8.4-magnitude quake in Indonesia, a government official said Saturday.

The new law would require all new tall buildings in Bangkok and surrounding provinces to be quake-proof. It has been drafted by the interior ministry and is currently being reviewed by Thailand's top legal experts.

"Bangkok's soil is soft and it generates more tremors," said Worawoot Tantiwanit, a senior official with the mineral resources department.

"In the most recent major earthquake in Indonesia on Wednesday, people in high rise buildings in Bangkok clearly felt the effects," he told AFP.

Worawoot said his department was currently studying the risks posed to the capital by three fault lines within a 100-kilometre (62-mile) radius of Bangkok.

Ten of Thailand's 76 provinces are currently listed as earthquake-risk zones, mostly in the northwest. The proposed law would add 12 central and southern provinces to the list.

In May, a 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck western Laos near the border with Thailand, sending people fleeing into the streets after high-rise buildings rocked and swayed in Bangkok.

Pushing a stalled car out of traffic near Sukhumvit

2 men and a lady push a stalled car out of traffic towards a nearby gas station near Sukhumvit.

Phuket plane crash, dozens feared dead

Dozens feared dead in Phuket plane crash Casualty figures not yet confirmed, but likely to be over 80

An airliner exploded and broke in two after it slid off the runway and crashed into nearby walls at Phuket airport on Sunday afternoon.

Some reports put the death toll at about 60, but this has yet to be confirmed. The nationalities of those onboard is also unknown, but Phuket is a highly popular destination for overseas tourists.

Civil aviation official Chiasak Angkauwan said, "the airplane asked to land but due to the weather in Phuket -- strong wind and heavy rain -- maybe the pilot did not see the runway clearly."

"The plane then fell onto the runway and broke into two. It is expected that there will be deaths."

"We are rescuing people from the aircraft ... we know now there were 123 passengers and five crew," he told the news channel.

"We won't know what really happened until we hear the black box."

The airliner services Bangkok-Phuket flights six times a week. The ill-fated airline left Don Muang airport at about 2.30pm.

Information now coming in said the plane, which was being used by local budget travel company, One-to-Go Airline, had 123 passengers and five crew.

The aircraft, flight number OG 269, landed at Phuket airport at about 3.40pm from Bangkok and was taxiing along the runway when it went into a slide. Phuket had earlier been hit by heavy rains.

It crashed into trees and walls surrounding the airport.

Eye-witnesses said the impact of the crash caused the plane to break in two and they heard a series of explosions.

Rescue teams and navy personnel rushed to the scene.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/

Friday night, Thai food for dinner by the corner

Last night it was raining again, and the Italian restaurant me & my friends planned to go was closed, so we went around the corner to eat at a streetside restaurant. The last time when we ate here I still remember pretty well, as we were enjoying the food my friend looked down beside the table a metre away at a sewer cover and then turned back with a disgusted look on her face, when I looked I saw there were around 6 or 7 cockroaches all with their antennae pointing right at us... Shit. why did we have to look there???

Anyway, this time we moved far away from the sewer cover, went around to sit at a table that was just a metre away from the ATM machines of a closed bank. Much better to look at ATM machines than cockoaches, at least we know our money is in there somewhere.

The food was great!!! Had "Tom Yum Kung" soup, "Phat khana moo krob" (Pork), and Fish Salad (see pictures below).

Indonesia earthquake felt in Bangkok

Two powerful earthquakes were reported in Indonesia with preliminary magnitudes of 7.8 and 8.0 at around 18:10 Thai local time. The effect was felt in some high rises in Bangkok, people in Silom rushed out of their office buildings. Some even felt the water rising in Saen Saeb Canal.

I felt nothing about the quake, but I heard some friends saying there is heavy traffic on Silom road.

Bangkok earthquake

Going down the subway drenched

It rained heavily yesterday evening followed by some real traffic, had to take a drenched walk down Bangkok subway.

Midday meal at my regular Bangkok streetside restaurant

After a great lunch at my regular Bangkok street food stall. The remains of a Thai dish called "phad phak ruam mit moo-krob laad khao".

Nearly empty road

Nearly empty road near Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, while the cars on the opposite direction are stuck in traffic.