Xircal

15 hours ago, bokningar said:

The article do answer your questions.

 

Australian tourist James Denton, who arrived at Phuket International Airport at 12.30am on Sunday, said it was mayhem at the immigration counter in arrivals. "There were well over a thousand people waiting to be checked in and only five immigration officers on duty."

Mr Denton said at least five other flights arrived at the same time as his and there seemed to be little coordination between flight arrivals and immigration staff. "At one point a new group of immigration officers came in and I thought they were there to help, but it was just a shift change and there were still only five counters open.

Mr Denton eventually managed to get out of the airport at 4am that morning.

I think Mr. Denton's estimate is a little exaggerated. There were only four flights arriving around that time with two of them using an A320 which can carry 150 passengers, an 737-800 which can carry up to 215 pax and a third one using an A330-300. An A330 can carry up to 277 passengers making a total of 792 pax in all (assuming all four flights were full which might not be the case). If you look at the image, it looks like there were more than four flights, but apart from the last two which I've outlined in green, the others were all codeshare flights. The first four which I've outlines in red was a codeshare operated by Thai using the A330.

It's still a lot but those same flights would have been handled in the same way in the old terminal so I don't see what all the fuss is about suddenly.

I just watched the video on the BBC site and found it hilarious quite frankly. It's just unfortunate for him that the bus was bugged and the whole conversation was being recorded.

I think Trump should ditch his goal of becoming President and instead take on the role of stand-up comedian. He'd be quite a hit in that role.

Now might be a good time to buy euros. The ECB is widely expected to end QE come March 2017 which will raise the value of the currency while Sterling may fall even further, possible to parity with the euro by Christmas. https://www.poundsterlinglive.com/eur/5551-taper-talk-just-a-misunderstanding-or-a-real-possibility

5 hours ago, LivinginKata said:

The general bank rule is no Thai bank account on a shorter term stay. Some individual bank manangers are more flexible to improve their customer base. But you will need a rental contract to prove you address in Thailand and a phone call to the bank from your landlord might help smooth the way.

Bangkok Bank allows you to open an account with just a 60 day tourist visa.

I don't quite understand why there would be long queues just because a new terminal has been opened. I never encountered long queues in the old terminal.

Also do the long queues refer to outbound passengers or inbound?

5 hours ago, Artisi said:

And who is jumping to conclusions now?

And as for a 7 year old giving a 4 year old a hard time (if in fact that is right - seems more like jumping to conclusions) I certainly wouldn't be laying the slipper into the 7 year old - simply remove the 4 year old away from harm -- problem solved. 

You miscontrued what I said. I mentioned an alternative explanation that's all.

But until the case goes to court, nothing can be derived from the video other than a grown man attacking a young boy. And to repeat what I mentioned already, I'm not condoning that.

39 minutes ago, Canuk23 said:

 

Are you <deleted> serious can't believe you just said that, the kid has nothing to do with hat the parents are, doesn't justify this at all.

 

We only know what the video shows us! It doesn't reveal what the circumstances were which led up to the violent act.

Maybe the seven year old has been repeatedly bullying the four year old and told his father about it. Maybe the father already warned him verbally in the past or else but the child took no notice. What would you do if it was your child that was getting bullied or beaten up? 

Too many people jump to conclusions when events like this take place.

1 hour ago, Morch said:

 

Jordan is hardly a paragon of democracy and human rights. Not as bad as some ME countries, though. Not sure I get the reference to Egypt as being "not technically at war" with Israel. There's a peace agreement in place, which withstood both the sustained unpopularity with the masses and the brief term of Morsi's term in office.

 

These two examples were intended as demonstrating the absence of a supposed unified policy regarding Israel, as far as the Arab World is concerned.

 

Stressing this again, Palestinian violence is not contributing anything to the conflict's resolution, and in many ways acts as a setback. That said, if most "street attacks" are directed at illegal settlers and security forces on the West Bank, it does raise a question of the role the illegal settlements play in prolonging the conflict. To apply a mirror image, the Palestinians face a daily dose of being under military occupation, with all that this entails. The violence is hardly as one sided as some imagine.

It's true what you mentioned about Egypt and Israel not being at war. Having lost on two previous occasions during the '67 War of Attrition and the '73 Yom Kippur War Egypt finally decided that peace was a better path to take and Anwar Sadat signed the peace treaty with Israel in 1979. It was a bold step to take and ultimately cost Sadat his life unfortunately.

Egypt is now pressing Israel to resolve their differences with the Palestinians which is a bridge too far in my opinion. The Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their own holy Islamic capital and there lies the stumbling block because no way will Israel relent on that issue. It already handed back the Gaza Strip to the Palestinians withdrawing its forces and demolishing the settlements in 2005. But do we see any gratitude from the Palestinians for that concession? I don't need to answer that one I think. 

And now Russia looks like it might try to poke its nose in the affair with Putin stating that he will fight for the right of Palestinians for their own State. Judging by Russia's actions in Syria it won't be pretty if they take up the banner against Israel and would very likely bring Russia into direct conflict with the US which fully supports Israel.

The Middle East is going to remain a tinderbox for decades to come I fear.

5 minutes ago, howerde said:

lets hope we won't be looking back to the good old days of 43bht to the £  (i can see it now, i remember the wonderfull days  of Oct 2016 when i got 43 baht to the £)

Bangkokbank FX rates are showing the Sterling to be worth 42.14 baht right now. http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/WebServices/Rates/Pages/FX_Rates.aspx

10 hours ago, soalbundy said:

I always cook the veg twice, once bring it to the boil and let it simmer for a bit then throw away the water,wash off the veg and recook.

Cooking for too long removes most of the vitamins which makes the whole exercise of eating it pointless. http://www.dummies.com/health/nutrition/healthy-eating/preserving-nutrients-when-cooking-foods/

11 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

Let's do some maths (English). 20 million divided by 40 passengers is 500,000 per person. Were they all first class?

Well, a 747 isn't a balloon which will float across the ocean without power. So deduct about three million for the round trip fuel costs. That and the cost of chartering the aircraft.

It was still a lavish trip by Thai standards though.

6 hours ago, Morch said:

 

There is Arab World, in the sense that it has a united purpose and well specified goals. Egypt and Jordan are Arab nations, yet both have long lasting peace agreements with Israel.

 

The Palestinian rockets fired on Israel is a Gaza Strip thing, none from the West Bank. One is ruled by Hamas, the other governed by the PA (essentially Fatah). The only Israeli illegal settlements are in the West Bank, though. As for "street attacks", not daily and most are being carried out in the West Bank, not within Israel proper. While Palestinian violence certainly does not contribute to resolving the conflict, things are not as clear cut as presented above.

 

 

Jordan is indeed a country with a democratic government which has a peace agreement with Israel. That's a good point.

Egypt while not technically at war with Israel has an appalling record of human rights abuses which aren't just confined to their own people as the death of Giulio Regeni clearly illustrates.

As regards attacks on Israeli citizens going about their daily business does it really matter where they happen to be located? If the Palestinians want peace with Israel they should cease their hostile actions against its citizens.

9 hours ago, Laughing Gravy said:

The poster replying is being facetious. Or in layman's terms taking the p**s.

Not at all. I'm just taking a neutral standpoint until more details emerge.

3 hours ago, AGareth2 said:

who's the blonde?

Maybe the TV reporter rumored to be romantically involved with Prawit. But it could be anyone on the list Khaosad published.

Just now, AGareth2 said:

have you lived in Thailand long?

He accepts guilt and wishes to pay reparation

That is not only saying sorry but acting sorry

anyway how do you know he didn't say sorry

it is a news report

But the phrase "I'm sorry" is still appropriate whichever way you look at it.

5 hours ago, Americano555 said:

It's the Thai way......nuff said.

"nuff said" ? A small child has just lost her life and all you can do is utter a worn-out cliché?

9 hours ago, AGareth2 said:

what is he supposed to say?

Lazarus arise?

He could at least say sorry.

When some people come to Thailand they leave their commonsense at immigration.

Pulmonary edema by the sound of it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulmonary_edema

Shopkeepers aren't doctors in any event and can't be blamed for thinking it was just some guy who was a bit tipsy.

2 hours ago, LivinginKata said:

Does that mean they have to have a 3 way split of the spoils, or the punters have to pay 3 times as much ?

Both.

A few things to consider:

1. The goal of the Arab world is the destruction of the State of Israel.
2. The Jewish vote in the US elections is substantial and they usually side with the Democrats.
3. Israel provides the US with valuable intelligence in the Middle East

If the Palestinians were to cease firing rockets into Israeli territory peace might have a chance. But while that continues coupled wih daily street attacks on Israeli citizens in which many have died on both sides, peace initiatives have little hope of succeeding.

It's coming up to election time in the US and Obama will be retiring soon. So a little bit of critical rhetoric for the benefit of the Press won't cause too much of an upset. Both sides don't want to agitate the Jewish vote too much for fearing of pushing them to one side or the other so don't expect a lot of pressure on Israel to take place until post-election  time. The Israelis can exploit that by building more settlements knowing that any protests in the US won't find much favour with either side until after the 2016 US Presidential Election in November.

Last but not least, Israel provides a huge amount of intelligence to the US which it cannot obtain by any other means. For that reason alone, the US will make the right noises to address concerns, but will continue to support Israel through thick and thin even if it doesn't approve of settlements expansion.

1 minute ago, newcomer71 said:

 

Justifies? You mean that is there anything in this poor mad world who justifies that sheer and blind violence by an adult toward a 7 years old boy???

I'm not condoning it. If this guy who kicked the child was in the habit of doing that we would have heard about it before I'm sure.

What I'm saying is that there are usually two sides to every story. I suggest you play the video again and then click the button which says "Watch on Youtube". Then copy/paste the comments in Thai into Google Translate and see what you get. You might be surprised.

1 hour ago, Dexlowe said:

 

So what do you think the 7yo was doing? Trying to recruit the 4yo? Yeah, I guess that would justify bush justice. 

 

We don't know that. It seems highly unlikely but there are usually two sides to any story and the video only shows us one of them.

13 hours ago, maewang99 said:

Let it go. China has quite a lot of legitimacy now. In fact, yeah it's a little off topic...  but our example of the USA, such as the current election nonsense and our own police shootings increasingly shows China in a much better light. We're not dealing with things to scale, at all, but China is.  

Shows China in a better light? You can't be serious. The difference between China and the US is that latter is a democracy. Yes, the shootings in the US are terrible and the country is awash with guns, but at least they don't suppress the events like China does.

Also, since the Chinese government issued guns to the police they seem to have taken it to mean they can shoot anyone they please with impunity.

Hardly admirable behaviour whichever way you look at it.

I tried to make sense of it by using Google Translate to translate the Thai text into English. It looks as if the kid who got kicked belonged to some kind of gang which robbed people so I guess the father was dishing out a warning not to get his children involved. Maybe that justifies the father's actions.