Philippines and Thailand to sign counter-terrorism pact

With the sole purpose to consolidate relations and eradicate terrorism, piracy and smuggling that is on an increase at an alarming rate in south East Asia, the Philippine military chief Gen. Alexander Yano, visited Thailand this weekend. The prime concern in his two day short trip to the country was the regional effort on counter-terrorism for which all the ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] countries joined in to extend their support.

Earlier last month, it was hoped that The Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between Philippines and Thailand which was drafted way back in 2006, would be approved soon which would enhance the conduct of military exercises between the two countries. The agreement will also strengthen defense cooperations.

The region had been facing threats from the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), said to be the regional arm of the al-Qaeda terror network of Osama bin Laden. Thus, it had become extremely vital for the two countries to sign up a pact for mutual benefit. It is expected that some agreements would be forged after the two-day meet, which ended this Saturday, though the actual happenings of the meetings are yet to come out.

Thai PM reshuffles cabinet

The land of smiles has been facing a lot lately. After the accusation of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s wife, Pojaman, the capital has been flooded with thousands of anti government protest rallies to demonstrate against the ruling government of attempting to block corruption charges on the ex minister.

Following this, the Thailand’s besieged Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej announced a Cabinet reshuffle on Saturday. The reshuffle involved 11 Cabinet posts, including the key interior, commerce, industry and public health ministries. Retired police Gen. Kovit Wattana was named the new interior minister, replacing the unpopular Charlerm Yoobamrung. Chaiya Sasomsup, who earlier was disqualified as health minister, was chosen to head the Commerce Ministry, while Mingkwan Saengsuwan, who came under suspicion for his performance as commerce minister, was transferred to run the Industry Ministry.

Now apparently all of them have been willingly approved on Saturday by the King Bhumibol Adulyadej. While some think that this is a way of buying time before moving to dissolve Parliament and call fresh elections on the part of the Prime minister, others are of the opinion that the new Cabinet cannot give Thais any hope in dealing with the economic situation. Whatever the truth may be, it is certain that Samak is trying his best to defend his administration for the country’s inflation has already hit a 10-year high of 9.2 percent due to rising food and fuel costs.

Duty free shopping at the Bangkok airport!

What would you do if you are halting at the Suwarnabhumi airport for a few hours? Well, what else but duty free shopping! The capital as well as the largest city in Thailand, Bangkok is one of the Asia’s biggest shopper’s paradise and its airport is no different. Here you can get anything and everything literally under one roof…. from liquor, tobacco, perfume, cosmetics, fashion, watches, pens, lighters, accessories and costume jewelry, skincare and aromatherapy and toys to electronics and confectionery. Whats more is that there are many luxury brand outlets too on the fourth level of the magnificent airport. Burberry, Bvlgari, Cartier, Coach, Dior, Dunhill, Hugo Boss, Mont Blanc and Swarovski are few of the brands out there to woo you.

Perfumes: the long walk shopping street makes it easy to browse and choose from the various brands of perfumes available! Some of the brands you can get here are Victor & Rolf, La Prairie, Acca Kappa, Agent Provocateur, Bond No. 9, Dr. Brant, Organic Pharmacy and PureLogicol.

Liquor: the wide range of wines and liquors, is particularly famous. There is an extensive array of spirits from all across the globe for the taste connoisseurs. In fact the rates here are almost 50% less than the Bangkok shop rates.

Fashion: the newest fashion awaits you at the Suwarnabhumi airport. From labels like Benetton, Victorinox and Samsonite to LeSportSac, you get a multitude of options to buy from! Do check out the prices before losing your wallet over them.

The list to shopping at the Bangkok airport seems endless. Even a whole day might be too little for shopaholics. All you have to do is carry a lot of money and indulge in some serious duty free shopping but do not miss your flight in the bargain!