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Friday, 6 September 2013
Pattaya Bay - 6th September 2013
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Thursday, 5 September 2013
Wednesday, 4 September 2013
Yorkshire - God's own country is the best place in Europe
Yorkshire beats off competition from popular cities, among them Paris, Rome, Barcelona and Florence, to be named Europe's leading destination 2013.
"Yorkshire wins World Travel Awards." I read it online on my way home to York after a trip abroad. Not only that but the county had beaten off opposition from London, Berlin and Madrid to become European destination 2013 at the World Travel Awards held in Antalya, Turkey. Previous winners include Edinburgh, Istanbul and Lisbon. Reading all this, I was, I must admit, shocked, deeply shocked. How was it possible that God's Own Country had not won before? What flagrant prejudice and bigotry had denied the North, South, East and West Yorkshire victory in previous years?
"Yorkshire wins World Travel Awards." I read it online on my way home to York after a trip abroad. Not only that but the county had beaten off opposition from London, Berlin and Madrid to become European destination 2013 at the World Travel Awards held in Antalya, Turkey. Previous winners include Edinburgh, Istanbul and Lisbon. Reading all this, I was, I must admit, shocked, deeply shocked. How was it possible that God's Own Country had not won before? What flagrant prejudice and bigotry had denied the North, South, East and West Yorkshire victory in previous years?
Read the full article at The Guardian.
Tuesday, 3 September 2013
Higher alcohol prices in Thailand after midnight Tuesday
Drinkers are going to face higher prices on beer, wine and liquor after midnight Tuesday, following cabinet approval on new alcohol tax rates.
The maximum tax for beer will be maintained at 60% of the product's value, but the effective tax rate per litre of 100% alcohol content will rise from 100 baht to 300 baht.
The tax hike will effectively drive up beer prices by about three to seven baht per bottle.
In terms of alcohol content, all wines will now be taxed at 1,000 baht per litre of pure alcohol, up from 100 baht.
The Finance Ministry will release full details of the new tax policy on Wednesday.
Read the full article at the Bangkok Post.
The maximum tax for beer will be maintained at 60% of the product's value, but the effective tax rate per litre of 100% alcohol content will rise from 100 baht to 300 baht.
The tax hike will effectively drive up beer prices by about three to seven baht per bottle.
In terms of alcohol content, all wines will now be taxed at 1,000 baht per litre of pure alcohol, up from 100 baht.
The Finance Ministry will release full details of the new tax policy on Wednesday.
Read the full article at the Bangkok Post.
Monday, 2 September 2013
CTH receive brickbats not bouquets for EPL broadcast
Predictably, the debut of the English Premier League (EPL) broadcast by the new rights owner, CTH, received more brickbats than bouquets. Not to mention the difficulty in applying for a subscription. Some have to wait for a month or two to get a dealer or CTH itself to install a set-top box.
Currently, fans in Thailand are able to watch the entire EPL's 380 matches via CTH's set-top-box (17 live matches will be televised through Modernine TV) and the AIS Mobile Barclays Premier League app.
Surprisingly, the number of subscribers for the AIS app is far more than the rights owner, CTH. AIS revealed after the first match of the season that more than 200,000 people have registered for the app while CTH, according to its executive two weeks ago, installed only 20,000 set-top boxes out of the 700,000 who have applied for the network.
A flood of complaints poured into a Facebook page named "Doo Ball Sod CTH-Premier League" (watch live CTH-Premier League) after the first match. Although there was no statement that it was the official page of CTH, the page admin was slammed because of lack of responses to the complaints.
Most of the complaints were about the poor signal quality and sound including the lethargic attitude of the company in installing the boxes. Some fans cried foul after missing out on John Dykes, who left ESPNStar to join the Barclays Premier League Television (PLTV) as a football presenter.
"Big results spark big reactions. Arsenal's surprise 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa [on the first match] would have had the pitch side reporter begging for many questions. Sadly, bigger questions were being begged by CTH viewers as absolutely no post-match reaction was offered.
Normally exclusive rights mean full contents that include PLTV, interviews of managers before and after the matches. CTH does have game analysis and highlights by Thai presenters but it should not be forgotten that there are a sizeable number of foreign football fans living in Thailand and they need game analysis, previews, and match interviews in English.
I tried to reach CTH but there was no response. However, my source at CTH says that the PLTV will start in the next two weeks.
Read the full article at The Nation.
Rag
Currently, fans in Thailand are able to watch the entire EPL's 380 matches via CTH's set-top-box (17 live matches will be televised through Modernine TV) and the AIS Mobile Barclays Premier League app.
Surprisingly, the number of subscribers for the AIS app is far more than the rights owner, CTH. AIS revealed after the first match of the season that more than 200,000 people have registered for the app while CTH, according to its executive two weeks ago, installed only 20,000 set-top boxes out of the 700,000 who have applied for the network.
A flood of complaints poured into a Facebook page named "Doo Ball Sod CTH-Premier League" (watch live CTH-Premier League) after the first match. Although there was no statement that it was the official page of CTH, the page admin was slammed because of lack of responses to the complaints.
Most of the complaints were about the poor signal quality and sound including the lethargic attitude of the company in installing the boxes. Some fans cried foul after missing out on John Dykes, who left ESPNStar to join the Barclays Premier League Television (PLTV) as a football presenter.
"Big results spark big reactions. Arsenal's surprise 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa [on the first match] would have had the pitch side reporter begging for many questions. Sadly, bigger questions were being begged by CTH viewers as absolutely no post-match reaction was offered.
Normally exclusive rights mean full contents that include PLTV, interviews of managers before and after the matches. CTH does have game analysis and highlights by Thai presenters but it should not be forgotten that there are a sizeable number of foreign football fans living in Thailand and they need game analysis, previews, and match interviews in English.
I tried to reach CTH but there was no response. However, my source at CTH says that the PLTV will start in the next two weeks.
Read the full article at The Nation.
Rag
I hope PLTV includes the pundit panels who review/preview EPL games.
And what's going on with the audio feed. Sometimes English language broadcasts are on the 'English' audio channel and sometimes on the 'Primary' audio channel. Room for improvement methinks.
And what's going on with the audio feed. Sometimes English language broadcasts are on the 'English' audio channel and sometimes on the 'Primary' audio channel. Room for improvement methinks.
And before somebody makes the standard moronic comment of "if you don't like it go back to your own country" forget it. I'm in this country and I'm paying for a service. I reckon I'm entitled to comment on the quality of that service.
Sunday, 1 September 2013
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