Showing posts with label Details. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Details. Show all posts

Sunday 7 May 2017

#Myanmar (Burma) - Water taxi scheme details to be announced next week

The company Tint Tint Myanmar has been chosen to run a water taxi on the Hlaing River and Nga Moe Yeik Creek.
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The firm will announce the details of its implementation, said a spokesperson from Tint Tint Myanmar.

In order to upgrade Yangon’s public transport system, the regional government has planned to upgrade the circular train and water taxi services alongside bus transport, according to Yangon chief minister U Phyo Min Thein on July 2016.

The Yangon Region Transport Authority (YRTA) started accepting tender applications on November 21 until December 26 last year. The month-long application period was intended to allow sufficient time for foreign and joint-venture companies to submit their applications. The invitation to tender was issued through a state-owned newspaper on November 16 and 17.

Tint Tint Myanmar won the tender in March and they are currently working on the specifics and details to implement a water transport scheme. 

“All operational details will be done with the company’s budget, including the cost of construction of a jetty.

“This will not be related to the government’s budget,” said project manager U Htun Naing Lin from Tint Tint Myanmar.
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According to U Maung Aung, secretary of the YRTA, the purpose of this water taxi system is for commuters to avoid the congested roads on their way to downtown Yangon. It is hoped that this scheme will save time and will start running in May. 

The company has already bought ships from Australia, Thailand and Jordan.

“We can say all are ready to run but we are still testing – we are focusing on safety.  We will announce plans within the next week on how many ships we will use, how many people the ships can carry, ticket pricing, whether we are charging cash or via a prepaid system, and other details.

“We are in discussions regarding the start date for our operations,” said U Htun Naing Lin.

The regional government has already set rules and regulations that the company must obey, he added.

Taking lessons from the YBS chaos and inconvenience, the government should be more cautious about the procedures and should test them before implementation. They should prioritise the safety of commuters, said MP U Kyaw Zay Ya from Dagon township.  

The idea of introducing water taxis to relieve Yangon city congestion was floated by a regional MP last May. Some, at that time, saw the scheme as a far-fetched proposal to solve the traffic issue.

Daw Thida Maung, who made the suggestion, said the Nga Moe Yeik River that flows though many townships could help alleviate the daily gridlock.

“If water taxis would be a service that runs on time and looks nicely decorated, people will be interested in taking them. Now, 21 percent of commuters in Yangon use buses. This number will then be reduced,” she said.
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Source - mmtimes 
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Thursday 23 June 2016

Thailand Intrusive Immigration Form


THAILAND’S Immigration Bureau now requires foreigners nationwide to provide extensive personal information. In the widely criticized ‘Foreign National Information Form’, foreigners are asked to provide bank account details, social media accounts, frequently visited places, and other details.
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The form, which up until now was only used in certain areas, “is being rolled out nationwide”, reported ThaiVisa News on Wednesday.
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The requirement applies to longer-stay visitors, including those filling out their 90-day report, visa extensions, or re-entry permits. Tourists will not be required to fill out the form at point of entry.
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Last month, the Immigration Bureau’s crime suppression unit Deputy Commissioner Maj Gen Chachaval Vachirapaneegul told The Phuket News that it was “mandatory” for foreigners to fill out the form.
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“If a foreigner doesn’t want to fill in their information by themselves, they will be questioned for our records anyway. If they don’t fill in the form, we will suspect their reason,” he said.
However, not all details are required, apparently, as Chachaval added that people would not be forced to include their social media accounts.
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The Immigration Bureau’s reasoning behind the necessity of the form, despite an outcry from foreigners in Thailand, is due to the fact that “in the past, immigration lacked information about foreign nationals living in Thailand when problems happened. This updated information will help us catch foreigners faster,” said Chachaval. 
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The form was first introduced back in April at the Immigration Division 1 office and the One-Stop Service Center at Chamchuri Square in Bangkok, followed by Phuket, and is now reportedly used in Samut Prakan and Jomtien.
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 Among the information the form asks “aliens” to submit are:
  • Full name, date of birth, and passport number
  • Full names of father and mother
  • Full address and telephone numbers in home country
  • Full address and telephone numbers of residence and workplace in Thailand
  • Social media accounts and email address (optional)
  • Make of car/motorcycle, as well as its model, color, and license plate number
  • Frequently visited places such as clubs, restaurants, shops, hospital
  • Emergency contact details (one of Thai nationality and one of foreign nationality)
  • Bank account details such as bank, branch, account name and account number (only required for certain visas).
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    Understandably, many foreigners are reluctant to share their private information with Thai authorities, as they have their doubts regarding how securely their details will be kept – it was only in March when a couple of online data leaks revealed foreigners’ sensitive information.
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    But for those of you thinking of just winging it and putting in false information to stick it to the man, the form readily informs that those “providing false information to an officer shall be punished under [the] Penal Code”.
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    Source: Asian Correspondent

Sunday 29 May 2016

Thailand - EDITORIAL: Tracking you down... for safety!

Thai Immigration Pattaya / Chonburi
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The new immigration form mandating foreign nationals disclose various personal details is intrusive, much like distrusting parents tracking their children’s smart-phones. Not only do authorities appear to lack subtlety and a clear understanding of how technology works, they also seem to lack the capacity to safely manage and protect the extensive data they are collecting.
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 Thai Immigration Chiang Mai
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 At best, they can hope to better “track down” foreigners when problems arise. Though such a move should surprise no one in this age of mass surveillance, perhaps what is hard to swallow for many foreign residents is the utter lack of subtlety – the perception that officials view all foreigners as potential criminals, and possible scapegoats in any legal unpleasantness that might arise.
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 Bank account numbers will not give authorities access to your money. Knowing what websites you visit and where you hang out sounds more like an awkward first-date script.
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 Thai Immigration Bangkok
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 Your licence plate numbers should already be easily accessible for any functioning bureaucracy.
Your social media details are already on the internet – if you were worried about privacy, you should have read the fine print and never signed up to disclose your personal content on the internet in the first place.
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At worst, the form may invoke fear amongst some alien denizens, who may or may not be deterred from committing any nefarious deeds for fear of being traced. Not exactly the most scientifically proven method of crime-prevention, but fairly standard for authoritarian states throughout time. Human Rights Watch also thinks the form “risks alienating foreign investors and tourists who play a major role in the Thai economy”... which is the standard response to xenophobic polices worldwide.
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 Thai Immigration Phuket
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What is not pointed out is that xenophobia is the foundation of all immigration policies that exist today, worldwide, and foreign investors already absorb it into their cost-benefit analysis. And as Thailand makes a rather endearing effort to catch up with the modern surveillance states, lives will
not change, nor will they be destroyed any more than usual.
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Source:  thephuketnews.com/
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