doctorproc156

don't think the range will last that long with the traffic and heat, the AC needs to be on full blast

What about the corrupt officials who allowed it to happen.? Somebody got payed for sure!

Pretty sure these people have been dead for decades if not a century

Want a solution to this? How about removing the ridiculous tax on cars so people don't need these stupid 8 year loans anymore. Cars are pretty much mandatory since organized public transport is still non existent outside of central Bangkok

Low income earner entitled for 50% discount is a person who earns less than 2,422 baht a month or less than 29,064 baht per year as defined by the National Economic and Social Development Board, according to the Transport Ministry’s permanent secretary transport Soithip Traisuth after yesterday’s meeting.

Absolutely ridiculous, that is far too low to be of anything meaningful. Anyone who earns less than 10,000 a month should be classified as a low income earner.

Sorry, Japan, but China came first, according to our dear former general and current PM

China is doing the top to bottom - Japan seems to be doing the left to right

Based on the two countries reputation for safe, well-built transportation systems, I'll feel much safer on the left to right rail.

Your view is out dated. Japan might have a more comfortable system but both sides are very reliable. And anyway this is incredibly stupid, they're going to need 2 different sets of maintenance facilities and workers to maintain the different signalling systems of the Japanese and Chinese rails. When will this madness ever stop....

Good, this is really unecessary, the current roads are fine. Better to spend the money on the Electric train to Pattaya and other public transport projects.

Electric trains and public transport projects don't really do the basic economy much good and usually have more to do with being able to show off pretty toys. Freeways and heavy rail projects tend to be the backbone of the business economy where moving products and produce to market in an export oriented market creates the vast majority of jobs.

The standard gauge electric train system would remove passengers from the current meter gauge system and thus freeing it up for more space for freight movements. It will actually make a huge difference and the economies around the in between stations will also receive a huge boost. The standard gauge system will also be used for freight movements from Bangkok/Laos/China to Map tha put port which is passed Pattaya.

Public transport is crucial to reduce the instances of drunk driving. Buses need to stop being neglected and the bus system should be made up to par with the BTS system in terms of quality and reliability. Free rides should also be given on festive days or when there is expected to be a lot of partying and drinking.

Another thing that could be done is to legalize other drugs such as marijuana, mushrooms etc which would take a lot away from the alcohol consumption and since these drugs don't alter your train of thought to do dangerous things, it should in theory help cut down the accident rate.

Sometimes I'm really glad I'm not white, cops never stop us other expats.

Try telling that to the Nigerians and other Africans that are rounded up en masse with regularity!

Thought about them only after I posted. So in Thailand , all blacks are drug dealers and all white people must be rich enough for the policemen to scam.

Sometimes I'm really glad I'm not white, cops never stop us other expats.

Anyone can get in there. They do have security who seem to be running quite a good business. We stopped for a look about 12 months ago and there was quite a few people in there. I think the admission fee was 100 baht for thais. Don't know the farang price we didn't go in as my wife is scared of ghosts.

190km to U Ta Pao, thats some serious cash......

with little benefit that I can see

The DM link makes sense

It's obviously going to connect with Pattaya, Sri Racha and Rayong townships as well, it isn't just for U tapao airport. This is the high speed rail system that is supposed to connect Trad to BKK.

Whilst I appreciate the health benefits of cycling I cannot understand the thinking of anyone who rides a Bicycle in Bangkok- the heat and pollution must mean that even a short ride renders the rider unfit to be in company; a year or so ago I contracted with a Math Teacher for my son, the teacher lived in Lardprao, we live in Asoke - the clown decided to Cycle to the first lesson and arrived at my door stinking of perspiration and fuel fumes; he was refused entry and the series of lessons cancelled.

Also as we all know (apparently with the exception of the Bangkok Governor), the traffic in many parts of town is often at a virtual standstill - sectioning off a large part of any road to make a "Bike Lane" will only make the situation worse.

Patrick

I would guess that these nws conferences are all being recorded and will become part of a campaign against the PM in any future election,

unless of course the country is still under martial law,

it will be interesting to see just how far Thailand falls in its standings in the ASEAN as the others, notably Vietnam, rise.

What would be the point of using anything against the PM in an election he's not standing in?

To show how much BS the yellow establishment is.

Shows how much some of the 'elite' really care about the less well off.

There are those that do, an anonymous 'elite' paid the entire fine.

Light as a feather. Gravity 10,000 to 1. A baby could easily lift a fully loaded semi truck up there.

Now it is turned on it's side, sitting in a shadow under a cliff they say. The batteries will run down because of the limited sun exposure to the solar panels.

They may use some of the mechanical instruments to get it to float back up into a better position.

"Without anything to tether it to the comet’s surface, the probe bounced 1km into the air before where it floated for around two hours before making its way back to the surface."

Am I reading this right? Did their tethering device, the so-called explosive hooks malfunction or did they end up turning it into a giant pogo stick?

It failed, it turned into a pogo stick. There isn't enough energy to drill right now either.

Rubbish article, the whole premise behind pledging programs like this is that the government will incur loses, that is the whole point. And now they are saying most of the rice is fine and only 30 billion is lost to rotten rice? Numbers never seem to add up do they.

If his is successful how long before the next step landing a maned space craft on a comet

Bravo for sure

Quite a long time, I'm sure. It took Rosetta 10 years to chase and match speed with the comet. We have nothing like the technology to keep humans alive in space for anything like that length of time. Not to mention that Rosetta doesn't have to make a return journey.

Unmanned craft are incredibly productive and cost-effective for exploring the solar system. imho, we should be deploying more of them and worrying less about humans in space. We've been pursuing that for half-a-century, have spent incredible amounts of money on it, and are still limited (except briefly in the late 60s) to low Earth orbit.

I agree, drones, robotics and cameras are extremely advanced now, we really don't need Humans to explore space. I think we should focus on mining resources in space autonomously for now, because once that becomes profitable, space exploration will explode.

Russia is the biggest producer of gas and oil

well you might better read this

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-04/u-s-seen-as-biggest-oil-producer-after-overtaking-saudi.html

If Russia really wanted to take Australia, who would stop them? They have backing from China, Saudi Arabia and North Korea. Now before you say anything about the US etc remember this… Russia is the biggest producer of gas and oil and China is the the biggest buyer, the saudi's know this as well. All could rid the dollar being the dominant currency and it will happen within the next decade. If they wanted to take America as well they simply start selling all oil and gas in another currency and the dollar crashes. This means that they can literally win a war without even firing a missile. If the dollar crashes, the entire American and Australian economy crashes as well.

Shale gas is a scam and is not profitable at all. The reason the US does this is to manipulate global gas prices which they have done so recently which basically crushed the ruble in the last few days.

Isn't that what the voters are supposed to do? Or is a 1000 baht and some scare mongering more than enough? Seems to be the case.

" China has been hailed for initiating the land and sea 'Silk Roads"

Oh PLEASE how long ago was that. China is portrayed in the press at times as some technological super power , they are not. They invented gunpowder but not Guns,Too busy mindlessly letting off fireworks, hence there defeat in the opium wars. They still choose to eat rice with 2 pieces of wood 3 million years after the spoon was invented. They are about as advanced as Romania

So the more violent and murderous a societies are supposed to viewed as being better according to you? And the Chinese do use spoons to eat rice, it's the Japanese that use chopsticks to eat rice, and I dare you to tell us all here that the Japanese aren't technologically advanced.

This breaks my heart. So many good, hard working people in Russia are really suffering right now. Once you get outside Moscow or St. Petersburg, the reality is much worse than the media portrays.

Russia really isn't that bad, spend some time on google street view and see for yourself.

Total waste of money. Funds should be spent bringing high speed internet access to all areas, even the most rural. Hardly anyone I know even watches TV anymore.