Residents Of Saphan Mai Were Greeted By The Surreal Sight Of A Coffin Floating Through Their Neighbourhood As Flash Floods Swept Areas Of Bangkok On Thursday.
Fortunately, closer examination revealed that the coffin was empty.
A video clip of the coffin floating down flooded Soi Phaholyothin 54 in northern Bangkok has gone viral on Thai social media.
The unused funeral item was finally traced to the nearby Saphan Mai branch of Burapha Coffins.
The shop owner, who asked not to be identified, said on Friday that his neighbourhood was hit by flash flooding after several hours of heavy rain on Thursday.
With the floodwaters rising rapidly, his employees scrambled to move stock from the shop upstairs. But they were too late to save two coffins, which floated out of the shop and down the street.
The items were eventually retrieved but not before someone took a video of the floating coffin and posted it on the Saphan Mai Facebook page.
The shop owner said that people in his neighbourhood were familiar with his business so they had probably realised that the stray coffins came from his shop.
“But I was worried that if the coffins floated out of the neighbourhood, they might scare people, particularly at night,” he added.
BMA Presents Its 99-Day Report Card Under Chadchart
BY LINE : THE NATION
FRI, SEPTEMBER 09, 2022
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) On Friday Showcased Its Performance 99 Days After Chadchart Sittipunt Became The Governor.
Four deputy Bangkok governors — Chakkaphan Phewngam, Wissanu Sapsompol, Thavida Kamolvech, and Sanont Wangsangboon — held a press conference on Friday to mark 99 days under the new governor on September 9.
Wissanu said that the BMA had tried to manage the water situation by improving several pumping stations, pumping wells and water pumps.
He said the BMA has dredged 3,358 kilometres of drainage ditches and 1,665 kilometres of 32 canals.
It also reinforced the embankment of the Chao Phraya River with sandbags for 1.5 kilometres from the total line of 3.12 kilometres.
The BMA also organised vehicles to transport people in flood-affected districts.
On the traffic side, Wissanu said 1,286 out of a total of 2,788 zebra crossings were improved and traffic surface was regained from two of 14 construction projects.
He expected traffic surface from five projects will be returned this year and from seven projects next year.
In addition, the BMA has improved two dangerous traffic spots, 54 spots will undergo improvement, and 44 spots are being analysed this year.
He added that 62 kilometres of communication lines had been moved underground and another 74 kilometres would be finished this year. He expected to achieve a total of 174 kilometres within 2025.
As for organising communication lines, the BMA has done 79.62 kilometres from a total of 1,000 kilometres.
Chakkaphan said that the BMA has tried to organise street vendors by setting up clear spots for them through 125 hawker centres to accommodate 8,300 vendors. The BMA has also created a database and registered 27,627 street vendors in 198 spots.
He said the BMA would change rules and conditions to be in line with the current situation and would improve the structure of the vendor committee to incorporate every sector. The BMA wants to distribute the power for flexible management.t
He added that the BMA is setting up 95 spots for 6,048 vendors — 55 spots have already been announced, 31 spots are awaiting announcement and nine spots are being considered by the traffic police.
The objective is to improve street vendors’ goods and services while also conserving the environment. The BMA aims to manage systematically with the participation of every sector, he said.
The deputy governors aim to finish three goals in the next 99 days:
1. Good safety: Manage security with community database / Integrate BKK Risk Map and allow people to access the data freely
2. Good health: Open Pride Clinic in 16 public health service centres / connect and extend one-stop service centre for disabled people / add and connect the telemedicine sandbox model (north zone)
3. Good management: Manage 216 targets with BKK Digital Plan / Sandbox of district offices / Job evaluation system focusing on achievement.
Thai Schoolchildren Suffering Huge Losses Trading In Crypto: TDRI
FRI, SEPTEMBER 09, 2022
Urgent Government Measures Are Required To Protect Thai Teenagers From Digital Assets As Many Have Suffered Big Losses Trading In Cryptocurrency, A Senior Researcher Said On Friday.
Somchai Jitsuchon, research director for inclusive development at Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), said he had learned that many secondary school students in the Northeast have made losses ranging from tens of thousands to over 100,000 baht from investing in crypto.
“Money used to fund their investments came from their families. In some cases, the money used was their grandparents’ savings for their education,” Somchai wrote in a Facebook post on Friday.
“This is very worrying. The government should impose urgent and strong measures to protect these newcomers. They began investing in the belief they could make big profits,” he said.
Crypto-trading platforms must be required to educate customers and also have mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) checks to screen out minors, he added.
Last month, the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), a government think tank, warned that young crypto investors risk big losses due to a get-rich-quick attitude coupled with a lack of knowledge.
The NESDC reported that one in four young Thai crypto investors base their investment decisions on instinct rather than analysis. Meanwhile 45 per cent of Thai crypto investors have no knowledge or understanding of the market, said the NESDC report on Thailand’s outlook in the second quarter. This lack of knowledge, particularly among young investors, makes them more prone to making wrong decisions, it warned.
Queen Elizabeth II Shared Tight Royal Bond With King Bhumibol
BY LINE : THE NATION
FRI, SEPTEMBER 09, 2022
Queen Elizabeth II Visited Thailand Twice During The Reign Of His Majesty King Bhumibol The Great, With News Footage Attesting To A Strong Bond Between The Two Monarchs.
Queen Elizabeth paid her first trip to Thailand in 1972 as a guest of King Bhumibol. During that visit she attended a banquet at the Grand Palace in Bangkok before touring Bang Pa-In Palace in Ayutthaya and then visiting Chiang Mai province. She was accompanied by her husband Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, and daughter Princess Margaret.
Elizabeth visited again in 1996 with Prince Philip, to celebrate the 50th anniversary (Golden Jubilee) of King Bhumibol over five days from October 28 to November 1. At the welcoming banquet, she toasted the centuries-long relationship between both monarchies, according to AFP. She said that Queen Victoria, her great-great-grandmother, had been pen pals with King Mongkut (Rama IV) and that bond “has been carried forward to our generation”.
“Over the last quarter of a century your country has become a sophisticated modern state with an increasingly confident democracy,” Queen Elizabeth said.
The close relationship between the two monarchies helped cement ties between Thailand and the United Kingdom which date back four centuries to the arrival of English traders. The English East India Company established trading posts in the Ayutthaya Kingdom during the reign of King Ekathotsarot of Siam in the 17th century.
The UK strongly influenced Siam’s modernisation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the two countries remain tight trading partners to the present day.
King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit also paid two earlier visits to the UK, in 1960 and again in 1966. On the first visit, Their Majesties were welcomed by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at Victoria Station in London. The four royals then travelled to nearby Buckingham Palace in iconic horse-drawn carriages, cheered through the streets by hundreds of thousands of people who had gathered to welcome the Thai royals.
Queen Elizabeth II’s reign – the longest of any British monarch – ended with her death at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on Thursday afternoon (early hours of Friday Thai time). Aged 96, she had been on the throne for 70 years and 214 days.
The Thai government announced on Friday that flags in Thailand will be flown at half-mast for three days to mark Queen Elizabeth’s passing.
7 Children Hurt On Field Trip As Bus Overturns In Chanthaburi
BY LINE : THE NATION
FRI, SEPTEMBER 09, 2022
Seven Children Suffered Slight Injuries When Their Bus, Carrying 42 Students, Developed A Steering Defect And Overturned In Chanthaburi Province During A School Trip Early On Friday.
Police were informed at 5am about the accident in Makham district of the province.
Police found a double-decker blue bus lying on road, while teachers and parents were soothing crying students.
The injured students were taken to Makham Hospital.
Police found that four buses had left Nong Salut School in Makham district to Nong Nooch Tropical Garden in Pattaya, Chonburi province.
Initial investigation showed that a broken drag link made the first bus veer out of control and overturn while the buses behind avoided a mishap by stopping or swerving to the side.
Older students, drivers, and teachers helped pull the young students out of the fallen bus.
The school trip was cancelled and parents took their children back to the school immediately after the accident.
Stay Safe, Says BMA, As 3 Bangkok Canals Look Close To Overflowing
BY LINE : THE NATION
FRI, SEPTEMBER 09, 2022
With More Heavy Rains Expected On Friday, The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) Has Warned People Living Close To Canals To Monitor Water Levels Closely.
On Thursday, the BMA said water levels at the Prem Prachakon, Lat Phrao and Prawet Burirom canals had reached the critical stage. The Prem Prachakon canal flows through Don Mueang and Lak Si districts, the Lat Phrao canal through Sai Mai, Bang Khen and Lat Phrao, while the Prawet Burirom canal flows through Lat Krabang district.
As of press time, the BMA said roads in Bang Khen district were under 5 to 20 centimetres of water, while some in Lak Si district were under up to 25cm of water.
Meanwhile, municipal authorities in Pathum Thani’s Rangsit area advised people to leave their vehicles at the multi-purpose stadium at the Rangsit-Nakhon Nayok 30 alley, the 100th Year Thanyaburi Hall, and the entrance of the tollway.
Navy Prepares 80 Boats For Bangkok Flood Relief Operation
BY LINE : THE NATION
FRI, SEPTEMBER 09, 2022
The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) Is Readying A Fleet Of 80 Boats To Help Push Water From The Chao Phraya River Into The Sea To Relieve The Flooding In The Greater Bangkok Areas, Said Vice Admiral Pokkrong Monthatpalin On Friday.
Areas across the capital have suffered floods from heavy downpours since Thursday evening. Major routes inundated include Rangsit-Pathum Thani, Chaeng Watthana, Pracha Uthit, Bangna-Trat (Debaratana), Ramkhamhaeng and Lat Krabang roads.
Pokkrong said that all RTN disaster mitigation units have been ordered to deploy personnel and equipment to help flood victims in Bangkok and surrounding provinces. They will use boats to deliver food and supplies to communities cut off by floodwater.
“The Navy will also coordinate with local authorities to issue Thai Meteorological Department (Thai Met) warnings and survey the level of damage to properties so that timely aid is provided,” said Pokkrong.
Victims can call the Navy’s flood-relief hotline at 1696, he added.
On Friday, the Thai Met forecast torrential rain across the country with heavy to very heavy rain in the North, Northeast, East and Central region including Greater Bangkok. It warned of flash floods and runoffs, especially in hills, low-lying areas and near waterways.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is providing free shuttle services in the eight districts of Chatuchak, Watthana, Lak Si, Sai Mai, Don Muang, Lat Phrao, Bang Khen, and Lat Krabang to help people stranded by floods.
Thai Flag To Be Flown At Half-Mast In Honour Of Queen Elizabeth II
FRI, SEPTEMBER 09, 2022
Thailand Will Fly Its Flag At Half-Mast For Three Days To Mark The Passing Of United Kingdom’s Queen Elizabeth II, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-Ngam Said On Friday.
He said this was in line with diplomatic protocol.
Meanwhile, the UK Embassy in Bangkok will open its doors to mourners on Saturday from 9am to noon, and again at the same time on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. People can leave their condolence messages at the embassy or online via https://www.royal.uk/.
The British flag was flown at half-mast at the AIA Tower, which houses the UK embassy, and mourners placed roses outside the building on Friday.
Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving monarch in British history, died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on Thursday afternoon (early hours of Friday in Thailand). She was 96.
Her passing came just two days after she undertook her final constitutional duty by appointing Liz Truss, Britain’s 15th prime minister of her 70-year reign.
Queen Elizabeth’s Reign: How Will It Be Remembered?
BY LINE : REUTERS
FRI, SEPTEMBER 09, 2022
In June 2022, Britain Celebrated Queen Elizabeth’s 70 Years On The Throne. Reuters Asked Several Royal Experts And Senior Figures How Her Record-Breaking Reign Would Be Remembered, How She Would Go Down In History And How Elizabeth II Undertook The Job Of Being Queen.
ON HER ROLE AS MONARCH
“I think the queen’s played a blinder in terms of her position as a constitutional monarch,” Anna Whitelock, Professor of the History of Monarchy at London’s City University, told Reuters, saying the queen had been true to the promise she made when she was just 21 years old in her first address to the Commonwealth.
At that time, she said: “I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and to the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.”
‘She’s not got involved in politics. We barely know her. I mean, she’s the most charismatic sort of photographed most famous woman in the world, but she’s also very enigmatic … I think being able to stay above politics, but seen as relevant and respected has been really important,” said Whitelock, ahead of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June, 2022.
Kehinde Andrews, author and professor of Black Studies at Birmingham City University, said her achievements depended on how one views the role of queen.
”If a good job of being queen is to represent white supremacy and to represent that link to colonialism, then yeah, I think she’s done a very good job,” he told Reuters.
While Baroness Valerie Amos, Master of University College Oxford, and order of the garter (oldest order of chivalry in Britain) said when it comes to bringing communities together that the ‘queen has had a lifetime of engagement not just with h Commonwealth countries …but people from many different countries across the world.’
‘‘She’s someone who’s just about seen everything, I think, and has negotiated that with a huge amount, I think, of patience and consistency,’’ Amos told Reuters.
Elizabeth ascended the throne aged 25 on Feb. 6, 1952, on the death of her father George VI, inheriting dominion over a Britain emerging from the ravages of World War Two, when rationing was still in place and Winston Churchill was prime minister, as well as other nations spread across the globe.
Since then presidents, popes, and prime ministers have come and gone, the Soviet Union has collapsed, and Britain’s own once mighty empire has dissipated, replaced by a Commonwealth of 54 nations which Elizabeth was instrumental in creating.
ON THE SECOND ELIZABETHAN REIGN
Life for everyday people changed a lot during her reign too, and it is this that stands out for royal biographer Penny Junor.
”I think history will look back at this second Elizabethan age and see a period of enormous change, our society has changed dramatically during the 70 years of her reign,” she told Reuters.
Elizabeth’s reign has often been compared – sometimes unflatteringly – to that of her namesake whose 44 years on the throne in the 16th century is regarded as England’s Golden Age, when the economy grew, the country’s influence expanded, and William Shakespeare and other writers flourished.
“Some people have expressed the hope that my reign may mark a new Elizabethan age,” the queen said in her 1953 Christmas broadcast.
“Frankly, I do not myself feel at all like my great Tudor forbear.”
Having never given an interview or made her personal views on political issues known, the queen’s own assessment of her reign – the longest in British history – was hard to ascertain.
A senior royal aide told Reuters ahead of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June, 2022, that she would have regarded her legacy as a matter for others to judge.
”I think historically, when we look back at this, I don’t think we will be that kind to this queen’,” Andrews said.
Recognising her lack of power in comparison to Elizabeth I, Andrews said the queen had simply ”just parroted whatever position the government has taken.”
Constitutional historian David Starkey once said there would be no second Elizabethan age, as the queen did not regard her role as being the embodiment of history but merely a job.
“She has done and said nothing that anybody will remember. She will not give her name to her age. Or, I suspect, to anything else,” Starkey wrote in 2015.
“I say this not as criticism but simply as a statement of fact. Even as a sort of compliment. And, I suspect, the queen would take it as such. For she came to the throne with one thought only: to keep the royal show on the road.”
Such an assessment, though, does not do justice to how she performed her role and moved with the times during an age of seismic change, said Matthew Dennison, historian and author of a recent biography of the queen.
“I would argue that it is virtually impossible in 21st century Britain for any one person to embody the aspirations, the anxieties, the identities of what is an immensely disparate society,” he told Reuters.
Dennison said the fact that she did not allow herself to express opinions publicly meant she avoided giving offence and alienating people, maximising her potential to be a ”national representative.”
HOW SHE WILL BE REMEMBERED AND THE END OF AN ERA?
Constitutionally, the British sovereign now has few practical powers and is expected to be non-partisan. However, Dennison said the queen had enormous soft power, which he said was immensely valuable to national life.
”I hope that she will be remembered as somebody who, in terms of public service, was a very good person. I think there is great goodness in such an extraordinary glittering inheritance that somehow doesn’t turn your head, but appears on a daily basis to remind you of the value and privilege of service,” he told Reuters ahead of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June, 2022.
While Amos said her legacy will be ‘wisdom’, ‘experience’ and ‘calmness in the face of adversity’.
‘I think a lot of us will remember when she spoke about COVID and its impact on us as a country and as a society. And she has done that at various points during her reign. I think these are the things that will live with us all going forward.’
SUCCESS
And, finally, did the queen achieved the primary goal of any monarch? Yes, says Anna Whitelock:
”The definition of success for any monarch over time is to preserve the monarchy and ensure the succession… And that’s what she’s done. She’s maintained the monarchy through a period of unprecedented change, and she’s also ensured a line of succession … And I think of that she would be incredibly proud,” she said ahead of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June, 2022.
From Comedic Timing To Horse Riding Skills, Anecdotes About Queen Elizabeth II
BY LINE : REUTERS
FRI, SEPTEMBER 09, 2022
Queen Elizabeth II Was One Of The World’s Most Famous Figures. With Much Of Her Life Documented, Reuters Asked Several Royal Experts To Share Little-Known Facts And Anecdotes About The Monarch. The Experts Spoke Ahead Of Celebrations For The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee In 2022.
Below are their quotes edited for length and clarity.
* The queen had a “delightful sense of humour”
“We all saw a different side with the Queen… when she went along with that James Bond spoof… for the opening of the London Olympics,” royal biographer Penny Junor said.
In a short, tongue-in-cheek film broadcast to a packed Olympic stadium and a massive worldwide television audience, the Queen met Bond and boarded a helicopter with him. Stunt doubles for the pair then sky dived into the stadium before the real Queen took her seat.
“What the Queen has is a very professional front that she has shown the world in her professional role and a very mischievous and delightful sense of humour that she has in private and that her family see.”
* The queen was a “great mimic”
“I know she’s a great mimic. She has entertained privately members of her family with impersonations of various world leaders, and apparently, she is a very good mimic and could have made a reasonable career of it,” Charles Rae, former royal correspondent at The Sun newspaper, said.
* Her shoes were broken in for her
“The queen has to be on her feet quite a lot… so it’s incredibly important that she is comfortable and I believe it is the case that she has her shoes, which are sort of patent and low heeled, broken in for her by a member of staff before she ever wears them,” Lydia Slater, editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar magazine, said.
“So this member of staff, obviously with the same sized feet, has to wear them on the carpet for several days before the queen puts them on just to make sure they don’t rub and give her blisters, which obviously could potentially be disastrous if she’s on her feet.”
* She rode the Ascot course
“Almost everybody knows the queen has a great love of racing but I think possibly people don’t recognise that she has effectively all but raced herself,” author of ‘The Queen’ and historian Matthew Dennison said.
“It was a royal family tradition in the early years of the queen’s reign, that during Ascot week, the royal family
themselves would race before the racing… the queen and members of her family did indeed ride extremely fast over the course…
“I think somewhere there, there’s a kind of poignancy because in moving incredibly quickly on horseback among a group of family, trusted courtiers and close friends, there’s a kind of freedom that obviously she didn’t very often have.”
