Popular Tweets about Thailand in August 2016

The following are my most popular tweets about Thailand for August 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. Bangkok now has a new entry for the tallest building. It is MahaNakhon which stands at 314 meters. However, over the next few years there will be two more which will beat this record. 

2. The new MahaNakhon building was officially opened with a light and sound show. It was eagerly anticipated for days. On the night, heavy rain delayed the event for more than an hour. And then, when it finally started, it was a bit of a disappointment.

3. The biggest event of the month was the series of bombs and firebombs that rocked several tourist sites in southern Thailand. Time has passed and we still don’t know who did it and what the motive was.

4. These photos and a video clip got a lot of attention during August. It shows two Thais helping a homeless foreigner by literally giving the shirt off their back. Also some money to buy food. But, other people noted that it looked like it was staged for the camera in order to win praise. Yes, it was good that they helped someone in need, but did they only do it to go viral on social media?

5. The Pokemon Go craze hit Thailand during early August. News of rare Pokemons spread like wildfire and everyone headed to the same locations.

6. I must admit that I shouldn’t bring attention to myself by tweeting comments like this, but it felt right at the time. I wrote this tweet in the wake of multiple bomb attacks at tourist sites in Southern Thailand. 

7. I am not sure if it is really necessary, but during August, we kept getting tweets like this warning people about the dangers of playing Pokemon Go. This one is for train stations. Though, having said that, we also got reports of people being run over or falling into canals while playing the game. They also played while driving a car.

8. A costly reminder that we are now in the rainy season. Maybe it is not a good idea to park your car in a basement parking lot. Particularly overnight. I hope their insurance covers them for this. 

9. August is also the one year anniversary of the Erawan bombing when so many Thais and foreign tourists were killed. The trial hasn’t really started yet and many people believe it is doubtful the police actually caught the mastermind. In this tweet I noted that any sign of the bombing was quickly swept away and even today there is no plaque to remember the dead.

10. One of the big movies released during August was Mechanic: Ressurection. Some of this movie was shot in Bangkok and Southern Thailand. There was even speculation that the famous swimming pool scene in the trailer was shot at the new MahaNakhon building. That is doubtful, though it may have been their inspiration. The scene was most likely shot in a studio.

11. Sign of the times. A charging station in a Bangkok shopping mall for electric cars.

12. During August, we had an election of sorts in Thailand. This was for the referendum about the draft charter of the constitution. People were so proud that they had voted, that they posted photos of their inked thumb prints. However, others warned this is not a good idea as criminals could make use of their thumbprints.

Thanks to everyone who engaged with my tweets during August. I got 22,700 retweets, 9,900 likes and 988 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.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *