We arrived
in Thailand. It looks a very nice country.
2 days ago,
we arrived during the night. Today, we went out for a walk in the city of Bangkok,
near the Victory Monument around noon.
Everything
was nice. A lot of authentic places and nice shops, but then we saw an amazing
accident.
We were
walking in Bangkok, and suddenly, 300 meters in front of us, we heard gunfire.
A lot of
people freaked out and everyone was running away. It was so scary!!
We heard
some sirens, and they kept shooting. It was only like for one minute, and then
it was silent.
Everyone
was so scared. After it became silent (silent on that moment is only sirens,
but no gunshots!!), we went out for a look, but the police didnt want us to
come close to the place.
We saw 3
bodies. We didnt see it well because there was panic everywhere.
Now, where
back in our hotel. I just checked the internet, and I looked up what happened.
It looks
like a 37 year old man, Thada Inthamas, was under influence of drugs, and totally
freaked out!
He started
shooting on the police, commandeered two cars, and he took a hostage.
Then, after
killing a taxi driver and an policeman, the police shot him down. It looks like
he didnt survived it.
He also
shot the hostage (a doctor). Shes not doing well. Shes in a critical
condition in the hospital. I hope she gets better soon.
The
internet also says that the police was looking for him since 10.30 AM. At that
time, he threatened a police officer with a knife. The shooting incident
happened around noon, so it took one and a half hour to arrest him.
We are all shocked.
I hope the doctor gets better soon.
Its late in the evening, but we
finally arrived in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. We are really tired and
decide to go to bed early. Tomorrow will be a new day with new experience
Good
morning! Today is the day we will visit Bangkok and learn more about the
economy of Thailand.Bangkok is the
economic center of Thailand, dominating the countrys economy and dwarfing any
other urban centers. Bangkok is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or Krung Thep, meaning city of angels for
short, it was originally a small trading post on the west bank of the lower Chao Phraya River during the Ayutthaya Kingdom.
Development continues to pour in to
Bangkok mostly neglecting the rest of the nation. It is ranked as the 54the
richest urban agglomeration, slightly behind Singapore and Metro Manila.
There is a picture enclosed (annex). On the picture you see the
Stock Exchange of Thailand, or the SET is located on Ratchadaphisek Road in
inner-Bangkok with over 523 listed companies and combined market capitalization
of about THB 6 trillion (USD 197 billion) as of 31 January 2007. Due to the
large amount of foreign representation, Thailand has for several years been a
mainstay of the Southeast Asian economy and a key center in Asian business.
The baht (code: THB) is the currency of Thailand.
Bangkok is
also home to the headquarters of all the Thailands major commercial banks and
financial institutions; 27 financial institutions and a number of international
banks located n Bangkok.
Tourism is
a significant contributor to Thailands economy, providing about 5 percent of
GDP. Bangkok is Thailands principal international gateway and a destination in
its own right. This giant market has made Bangkok a prime location for hotel
operations as well as the launching pad for small and medium accommodation
enterprises.
Bangkok and
its environs are the most prosperous part of Thailand, and the seasonally
barren northeast is the poorest. An overriding concern of successive Thai
governments has been to reduce these regional income differentials, which have
been exacerbated by rapid economic growth in and around Bangkok. The government
has tried to stimulate provincial economic growth with programs such as the
Eastern Seaboard project and various populist and crop price support policies.
We enjoyed
a lot the beautiful city Bangkok. We decided to stay as long as we can to enjoy
more of Bangkok.
Today we are leaving Malaysia and keep continuing our journey until we arrive in Saudi - Arabia. Our next stop will be in Thailand but first of all, I will tell you something about our last day in Malaysia !
We woke up early in the morning, made our bags and took a breakfast on the go. Because we still wanted to see as much as possible of the beautiful Malaysia. We took a bus from the capital city, Kuala Lumpur that drove us 200 km further to Ipoh, the capital of Perak. Perak is the name of a region in Malaysia, just like Pahang, Kelantan, Sarawak, You can see a map that Emilie posted a few days ago. It took us about three hours to arrive in Ipoh.
Ipoh is the third biggest city of Malaysia. The city is also called the city of millionaires because it is a rather rich city. The biggest part of the population has Chinese origin. This was also visible to see in our hotel where we stayed for one night. It was like we arrived in China !
The receptionist told us that we definitely should visit the Chinese cave temples outside the city and Kellies Castle. And after visiting those two places, we could go to the Birch Memoral Toren because it is a very known toren of Ipoh and there were a lot of very good restaurants.
When we arrived there, we saw a lot of children play on the playground nearby. We sat on a little terrace and looked at the children. We couldnt understand much of the menu, but we knew that Ipoh was known for its cuisine. You could eat Sar Hor Fun (white rice noodle served in soup with chicken and prawns), Hor Hee (white rice noodles served with fish cakes and/or fish balls), Nga Choi Kai (chicken fillet with soy sauce and beansprouts with pepper spread on top), Hakka Mee (yellow rice noodles with pork and a type of biscuit), and lots of other special dishes ! It was delicious !
At the end, the boss of the little restaurant bought us a Ipoh white coffee with a Fragrant biscuit because it was also something you had to taste when you visit Malaysia. The coffee was made by beans that were roasted with palm-oil margarine and was served with condensed milk. The biscuit was filled with a sweet filling. Anne loved these biscuits and bought a bag of them to eat as a little snack for the day after !
Today is the
big day! Miet,Laurens,Emilie and I got out of bed very early and went to the
capital city, Kuala Lumpur. We made this trip to learn more about the politics
of Malaysia. A guide gave us a tour and some interesting information, which we
will try to reconstruct.
Malaysia is a constitutional
monarchy with the Supreme Head of State of Malaysia, His Majesty, the Yang
di-Pertuan Agong. As the constitutional monarch, he holds office for five years
after his election by the conference of rulers. He has advisers, like the Prime
minister, who exercises the executive power, and the Cabinet. The executive
power is exercised by the federal government and the 13 state governments. The
system of the government is based on the Westminster system.
The Federal legislative power is vested in the federal parliament and the 13
state assemblies. The Constitution of Malaysia is codified.
Malaysia is
a federation of 13 states and 3 federal territories. The system of government
in Malaysia is closely modeled on that of Westminster parliamentary system, a
legacy of British colonial rule. In practice however, more power is vested in
the executive branch of government than in the legislative, and the judiciary
has been weakened by sustained attack by the government during the Mahathir
era.
The National Front, is the main
political party in Malaysia. It is multiracial and consists of 14 parties, with
the largest being the United Malays National Organization. The House of
representatives counts 192 members and is the legislative authority of
Malaysia. The guide told us that for example the representatives are elected by
popular vote for a term of five years. The highest court in Malaysia is the
Federal Court, with two High Courts directly underneath. One High Court serves
East Malaysia while the other serves West Malaysia.
It was a
exhausting but informative day. We also enjoyed the good weather. We went back
to our hotel with the satisfaction of our day.
