ASEAN summit venue changed once more, now to Pattaya
Posted in Business,Events,General,Government,Guide,News March 13, 2009The summit of Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders plus China, South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and India was originally due to take place in Bangkok in December, but was postponed after anti-Government protesters besieged the capital’s airports. Next the southern tourist isle of Phuket was named to host the conference on April 10-12. Now, Thailand has again switched the venue of the long-delayed meeting saying it would now be held in the beach resort of Pattaya.
Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat told that it would likely be held at the town’s plush Royal Cliff Beach Hotel.
“The problem in Phuket was that many hotels were booked by tourists and therefore the available rooms were scattered around. We are trying to use only one hotel, for security reasons,” he said.
Pattaya, less than 150 kilometres (93 miles) south of Bangkok, is one of Thailand’s most popular seaside resorts but has only just begun to cultivate a more family-friendly image after years as a magnet for sex tourists.
Comments 0ATM Machines to be revamped in Thailand
Posted in Business,General,Guide,News March 13, 2009A Malaysian was arrested earlier this week for allegedly running a crime ring that stole more than 3 million baht (US$83,000) by attaching skimming devices to ATM machines in the province of Chumphon, 240 miles (380 kilometers) south of the capital, Bangkok.
The man confessed to police that his gang had altered ATMs by attaching fake keypads, tiny cameras and card readers placed over the machine’s card slot to record a bank card’s magnetic strip and PIN number.
According to the police reports, there have been ATM scams with thefts of about 50 million baht ($1.4 million) in the past five months from provinces outside the capital, including popular beach destinations like Krabi and Trang in southern Thailand. With increasing number of thefts in bank account information by criminal gangs, more than 30,000 automated teller machines in Thailand will be revamped as a preventive measure.
Phol Thanachote, chairman of the Automated Teller Machines’ Business Community, which operates ATM for banks in Thailand, said that special stickers will be affixed to the revamped machines to show they are safe for use. However, there was no clarification on how the machines were being altered to make them less theft-prone. Phol also said that the community was struggling to keep pace with the new technology used by criminals to copy bank account information from ATM cards.
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