Popular Tweets about Thailand in May 2016

The following are my most popular tweets about Thailand for May 2016 (click here for last month). They are not necessarily the most retweeted, but they are the ones that got the most engagement on Twitter.

1. Good to see that this call for blood donations was tweeted so many times by Thai people. It shows that they do care about their foreign guests.

2. One of the biggest stories on social media during May was the live broadcast of a suicide. It was also shown on Facebook live. The whole thing was very bizarre as you are not allowed to show people pointing guns on soap operas in Thailand. But here we had uncensored and live pictures of a man committing suicide during prime time TV .

3. Any news about South Korean actors or pop stars always gets a lot of attention in Thailand. 

4. I like this innovative idea by a school in Thailand. Hopefully the 3D zebra crossing will make drivers slow down.

5. After Leicester City won the cup, their first port of call was Thailand where a parade through the streets of Bangkok was planned. Unfortunately for them, the plan for a live broadcast was shelved as all the new channels were broadcasting the scene of a man threatening to shoot himself.

6. I know I should be careful when it comes to making fun of the leader of the military junta, but I just couldn’t help myself with this one. The similarity is uncanny.

7. Just another reason why you should consider boycotting any animal shows while you are on holiday. Not only are they bad for the animals, but the audience could get hurt too.

8. Safety is always a concern when travelling in Thailand. So many tour buses have had accidents. But you would think that they would take extra care of their young. In these two incidents, a student fell out of the door of a moving school van.

9. Competition is always a good thing and so it is a shame when new ideas for helping consumers are shot down.

10. If you are on holiday in Thailand, you need to be aware that all Buddhist holidays are alcohol free. This included Wan Wisakha Bucha during May. The next alcohol free holiday is in July.

11. This is not in Thailand but the picture in The Nation caught my attention. Motorcyclists on the pavement have always annoyed me ever since I was nearly knocked down by one from behind. This lady has started a crusade in Indonesia to stop them using the only safe place pedestrians can walk.

12. I know this cycle path in Bangkok isn’t really finished yet, but don’t you think it is a bit of an eyesore. And really, something like this is only good for people with a BMX. And it must be asked, what is wrong with the perfectly path to the left? But I guess, at least motorcyclists wouldn’t be able to use this cycle path.

13. The caption for this amazing photo said that the tree is over 100 years old. Though, I think the truth is that it is much older. Amazing.

14. People living in Chiang Mai had a scary time towards the beginning of May with a forest fire raging on Doi Suthep above the city. At first it looked like it would sweep towards the city. But in the end the fire fighters brought it under control.

15. This was one of the strangest pictures posted on social media during May. It is of municipal workers watering the plants during a heavy rainstorm. Some people suggested that it may have only been a brief storm. While others suggested that they wouldn’t get paid if they returned with a full tank of water.

16. Twice now I have been cheated at MBK. After you have chosen something in the shops, watch them carefully when they put it in a bag. They sometimes switch what you chose with an inferior product under the counter. Once I was given a damaged box which obviously would have been difficult to sell at full price. Luckily the product itself was alright. The second time they switched it for something that had obviously been returned by another customer. I took it back and they changed it without argument. But, who will get it next?

17. I’ve mentioned this before, but it is worth telling you again. Never trust Immigration to do their job properly. Always double check the dates on anything they stamp in your passport. In this case, a new teacher at my school arrived in Thailand expecting to get 60 days with this visa. So confident she was, that she didn’t bother to look at the date on the stamp. Lucky for her, I did as it was about to expire the following day. As you can see from this photo, they must have missed the visa as it hasn’t been cancelled and so just gave her 30 days. This has since been corrected. I know she should have pointed out the visa to them, but it was a brand new passport and so not difficult to miss.

18. One of the major events during May every year is the Royal Ploughing Ceremony on Sanam Luang. This takes place on National Farmer’s Day. It’s an old ritual that goes back generations.

19. I’ve tweeted before about the Thai media getting people to point at things. Most times it is crazy, but this one takes the cake. Yes, we know it is a land slip. And yes, we can see it. You don’t need to point!

Thanks to everyone who engaged with my tweets during May. I got 30,500 retweets, 9,700 likes and 1,300 replies. The majority of my tweets are about Thailand, where I have lived for twenty two years. I tweet the good, the bad and the ugly about the country, but as many people have noted, I mainly only see the good. Please don’t blame me for that. I don’t get paid to tweet, nor do I accept payment for tweets. If I like it, I will tweet it. If you have an upcoming event or have opened a new attraction that might be of interest, then please let me know. See you on Twitter at @RichardBarrow.

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