Danok Lastest update

[KatoeyLover69]

Report from The New Straits Times dated 24 December 2013 :-

Booming business blown away

SPOOKED: Tourists skip Dannok and proceed straight for Hat Yai

DANNOK: TRADER Hamidah Dering, 34, was enjoying brisk business since early this month following the long school break in Malaysia and was expecting to reap the profits until the end of the month.

However, those dreams were dashed as the bustling border town here, brimming with Malaysian shoppers because of its proximity to the Bukit Kayu Hitam border, became desolate almost overnight.

The series of bombings on Sunday in the town here and the Sadao and Thai Padang Besar police stations brought business to a halt.

"I had very good business of late and was expecting it to last until New Year's Eve, just like in previous years. But all that is gone now.

" The bombings spooked tourists, who are now staying away from here.

The effect was felt by the business community, and transport and hotel operators.

At the main shopping hot spots in town, the usual cacophony of traders and buyers had been replaced with near pin-drop silence, with only a handful of tourists spotted.

Checks also showed that many tourists had cancelled their Christmas and New Year's Eve room bookings.

While tourists were still arriving in numbers to other parts of southern Thailand, the majority of them were giving this place the pass and opting to go straight to Hat Yai, located about 60km away.

Tour agent Azizi Abdul Karim said he was supposed to lead a group of 50 Malaysian tourists to spend the night at Oliver Hotel before heading to Hat Yai.

Sumnukkham Council Mayor Kecha Benjakern said the area near the hotel would be reopened after a week.

He said the Thai government would compensate those affected by the bombings.

The official tally of victims stood at 27 with no deaths.

"A total of 25 victims received treatment at Sadao Hospital while the other two, who were seriously injured, were transferred to Hat Yai Hospital," he said after visiting the scene yesterday.

The Thai authorities had beefed up security at border towns by deploying 100 personnel and officers from the Royal Thai Army, police and border patrol police hours after the bombing.

On the other side of the border, a team from the Kedah police contingent were stationed at the Bukit Kayu Hitam Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex to screen those entering Malaysia.
----- KatoeyNewsNetwork

[bluemenx]

puying price will going down, i hope

[KatoeyLover69]

Report from The STAR dated 24 December 2013 :-

Oliver Hotel hit hard by the blasts, says owner

DANOK - Two days ago, Oliver Hotel in this "Christmas town" had no room to spare.

Yesterday, it was a derelict building with zero occupancy, after a series of bombs went off here and in other border towns.

Hotel owner Supanee Tanratta-nakorn, 53, said all rooms had been taken up for the weekend, mainly by Malaysians.

"Fortunately, most of them had checked out just before the blast. Those who were still at the hotel packed their stuff and left after the blasts," she said when met outside the hotel's entrance in Thanon Tanrattanakorn 2.

Supanee estimated her losses at about 70million baht (RM7million, S$2.69million).

"We have 142 rooms and it was full on the day of the attack."

The hotel has now been shut down as electricity was cut off after the blasts.

Town residents started to clear the debris and remove wreckage at about 3.30pm yesterday.

A booth was also set up by government officials to receive claims for compensation for the damages suffered.

Pub owner Chen Chantiwanong said she cheated death while parking her car in Thanon Tanrattanakorn 2 shortly before the blast.

"I was going to my pub to do some cleaning up. Then, I heard a really loud explosion and saw glass shattering everywhere.

"Had I reached the pub then, I would have died in the explosion," she said.

Besides Oliver Hotel, the Paragon Club just behind the hotel was also badly damaged. Its entrance had totally collapsed.

A Christmas tree set up at the entrance of the discotheque had also come crashing down, along with the festive mood of the town.

A spokesman from the Songkhla Governor's office, Abdul Karim Mahmud, said Danok was one of the most happening places in the country during Christmas due to the huge influx of Malaysian tourists.

"It becomes like a Christmas town. Parties are everywhere and all the clubs, pubs and discos would be packed to the brim," he said.

"If it had happened at night, I wouldn't even dare imagine the number of casualties."

Yesterday afternoon, Danok was deserted, with most shops remaining closed while those few still operating struggled to find customers as visitors fled by the droves following the blasts.
----- KatoeyNewsNetwork

[tommyKang]

Originally Posted by Gingerman

Lucky my girl not working that day, my regular girl I get is from that shop just where the bomb was parked. Hope the OKT Audi is OK.

guys so the OKT Audi is fine or not? anyone knows? my frens want go his farm January

[KatoeyLover69]

Danok folk bravely party on for Xmas

DANOK: The local folk are getting into the festive mood despite the terrifying bomb blasts that injured four Thais on Sunday.

Festive decorations were put up at clubs, bars and karaoke outlets several hours before the Christmas countdown.

Most of these outlets had attractive promotions to woo revellers.

Many wore Santa caps and other festive accessories for the celebration.

Mobile store and souvenir shop owner Suvit Keawhorthong, 50, when met at his shop in Kanganavanit Road here yesterday, said the worst seemed to be over.

“It’s time to come out and rejoice, to celebrate Christmas and the New Year.

“However, with the decline in tourists after the blasts, it is not as merry compared to previous years,” he said.

The streets of the town, are however, still relatively empty.
----- KatoeyNewsNetwork

[robinx]

since september go 1st time dannok...
i love this place...

[KatoeyLover69]

Tourism takes a plunge in Dannok

SADAO (Thailand): Hoteliers in Dannok are bracing for a tough period ahead, having suffered a 70 per cent drop in occupancy rates since Sunday's bombing incident.

The town, which used to be bustling with tourists celebrating Christmas and New Year, has suffered a major setback as their main clientele, mostly Malaysians, who have decided to stay away from Dannok because of safety concerns.

Tour operators said they could not predict how long the situation would last, but are bracing for the worst.

Happy Tour sales manager Nangsao Ami Piamak, 26, said after the incident, she was unable to secure a single business transaction.

"Previously, I was enjoying around 20 business transactions daily, such as arranging flight tickets and hotel accommodations.

Since Sunday, I've yet to land anything. "I think many of our customers, especially Malaysians, are worried about their safety and have decided to stay away from Dannok."

Hoteliers are also facing troubles. Siam Thana Hotel, about 1km from Oliver Hotel where a bomb planted in a pick-up truck went off on Sunday, suffered a 70 per cent drop in business.

Accountant Rohani Chonthicha said the 209-room hotel normally enjoyed full occupancy throughout this month because of school holidays in Malaysia.

"However, we suffered a sharp fall since the bombing incident. For Christmas, we only recorded 30 per cent room occupancy.

"Many cancelled their bookings for New Year and Chinese New Year next month."

Dannok village head Charat Madsiah described the incident as a huge blow to the tourism and hospitality industry here.

"Many suffered huge losses in term of tourist arrivals but we are unable to ascertain the exact amount.

"Tourists have left Dannok while those who had planned to spend their holidays here cancelled their bookings."
----- KatoeyNewsNetwork

[bbw9521]

Hi all... anyone hv any update what is the situation there now? Am planning a trip up on the 3rd till 5th of jan 2014

[KatoeyLover69]

Danger in the Deep South
by philip golingai

You can dismiss border towns like Danok as a safe alternative to Haadyai as Thai insurgents are bombing towns outside their comfort zones.

In 2013, there were about 320 bomb attacks in Thailand’s Deep South provinces close to Malaysia.

That was the count on Dec 22, according to a report in The Nation newspaper. There were 105 bombings in Pattani, 69 in Yala, 129 in Narathiwat and 17 in Songkla.

If you included the 5kg homemade bomb detonated at a Thai custom checkpoint in Narathiwat along the Thailand-Malaysia border next to Kelantan on Thursday, the figure is 321.

Later in the afternoon the figure rose, two separate bomb blasts occurred in Yala’s Raman district and Bannang Sata district.

If you were to ask me whether it was safe to visit southern Thailand towns such as Pattani or Narathiwat, I would say antharaai (dangerous in Thai).

It is antharaai because these two towns are in ground zero of the Deep South conflict that has claimed more than 5,000 lives since it erupted in 2004.

When I visited the two towns during my stint as The Star’s Thailand correspondent from 2006 to 2010, locals (about 1.3 million ethnic Malay Muslims form the majority of the population in Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces) would warn me to be careful.

“Muka chomi tapi tak tahu kalau hati chomi (they look nice but we don’t know whether the heart is just as nice),” I was told.

The enemy was faceless, as nobody would claim responsibility if a bomb exploded in southern Thailand where a violent Muslim separatist insurgency was playing out.

If you were to ask me whether Danok in Songkla province and Betong in Yala province were safe, I would say yes. Probably if I was in Alor Setar, I would play tourist guide for your trip to Danok.

That’s what I did in October when there was a lull during the Sg Limau by-election in Kedah.

Prior to October, I’ve been to Danok twice. I visited the town out of curiosity.

When I was based in Bangkok, I kept on hearing from Malaysian “cheongsters” (a Chinese slang for someone who has sex with prostitutes; the literal meaning is “charge” or “rush”) that a sin city had risen next to the Thailand-Malaysia border.

“Danok is like a mini Haadyai. Since there have been several bombings in Haadyai, Malaysians prefer to go to Danok as it is safer there and it is closer to the Malaysian border,” a cheongster told me while we had Singha beer in Sukhumvit in Bangkok a few years ago.

In September 2011, I was in Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) campus in Kedah to interview Thai expert Duncan McCargo, who has written several books on Thailand including one entitled Rethinking Thailand’s Southern Violence.

I was on my way to Golok in Narathiwat province next to Kelantan where three bombs had killed four Malaysians and a Thai. Before heading to Golok, I interviewed McCargo to get an insight into the triple bombings.

It was about 9pm when I was done with my meeting with the British academician and I decided to travel to Danok that was close to the UUM Sintok campus, about a 50-minute drive from Alor Setar.

Danok was about 1km from the Malaysian immigration checkpoint.

It turned out to be a town with a single main road with establishments such as McDonald’s, KFC, 7-Eleven, Thai restaurants, hotels and banks. Along the main road were soi (Thai for “lane”) that would lead married men astray.

Not that I visited the establishment along the soi but instincts told me that when a pub is lighted in red, it could only mean one thing.

Later, I was told by a cheongster that it cost RM450 to rent a “Thai wife” for a night.

I had a sumptuous and cheap seafood dinner at a Thai restaurant and I rushed back to the border as the immigration checkpoint closed at midnight (Malaysian time).

If I wanted to, I could have rented a taxi and I could have spent the night in Haadyai that was about an hour’s drive away.

Last October, I had a few hours to burn in sleepy Alor Setar so I asked my 25-year-old colleague Michelle Tam if she was game to visit Danok.

Michelle, who grew up in Seremban, said yes as she wondered whether Danok would be a cowboy town like Port Dickson.

It was raining heavily in Danok and we only had two hours before the border crossing was closed.

I have always been curious to know what a woman can do in a sin city like Danok. An hour later, when I met Michelle, I had the answer – shopping.

She bought banana cream cakes (Euro cake brand), Birdy instant coffee, a Zebra tiffin carrier, bubble tea, Takoyaki-flavoured chips, prune yoghurt drink, Mango sticky rice and more.

I only managed to buy painkillers that my wife Whatsapp-ed me to buy as it was not sold in Malaysia.

It was shocking to find out that a pre-Christmas bombing had rocked Danok on Dec 21. The target was Oliver Hotel, which is popular with Malaysian cheongsters.

Next time I will think thrice before I play tourist guide in Danok. The insurgents are bombing towns outside their comfort zones.

> The views expressed are entirely the writer’s own.
----- KatoeyNewsNetwork

[empty82]

Greetings to all the taikor in this forum. I'm planning to go danok next month and I would like to request some guide from All the taikor here.

Please PM me which OKT is recommended and which farm is highly recommended.

Millions thanks is advance to all the taikor here!

[blinkblink444]

Will be heading to Dannok tomorrow & will update the market situation according...

[bbw9521]

Originally Posted by blinkblink444

Will be heading to Dannok tomorrow & will update the market situation according...

dude... i'm here in danok now...

[baby]

Originally Posted by bbw9521

dude... i'm here in danok now...

So how is the situation there now? Care to share on the issue

[feimau888]

it is safe lah. oliver hotel is currently undergoing renovation. police are stationed at strategic areas. road blocks frequent to check. i had good massage and makan at the roadside directly staring at oliver. if want precaution, then don't come. if want to come, then enjoy it. else go to hatyai. it's quite quiet there as well. i was at hatyai for 3 days and 2 days at danok.

[KatoeyLover69]

Yes Pub @ Danok