EarthAlien

All that money,.. and all that freedom,... but without a clue about what life is really about.

I guess that despite all she has, that true happiness is the ever elusive ingredient in her life!

This man needs Jesus,.. in more ways than one!

This is very encouraging to see.

Something of a miracle when you consider all of the long history of violence and disagreement which now gives way to a peaceful and respectable conclusion.

Blessings to all concerned and to the nation of Philippines.

Surely there is a message in this for world leaders everywhere!

Ive noticed things like fridges are quite a bit cheaper in Thailand than Australia. So are motorbikes and new cars.

If you eat local and live local its alot cheaper.

Fridges, white goods etc as well as motor scooters are definitely cheaper here,... but as for cars,.. you've got to be joking. They are a lot more expensive here, and try buying anything with an import label and you're likely to pay up to double for the same thing back home (certainly in the US and AU)

Another poster mentioned that pizza was more expensive and yet I have found the opposite. I can take my wife and kids to Pizza Co. and get an extra large pizza, pasta, chicken wings, garlic bread for around 500bht ($17) same meal in Aus would cost at least $40

Sad indeed. One assumes that he was either deranged and/or under the influence of booze or drugs.

But it does demonstrate that this sort of thing can happen anywhere in the world. Of course, if it happened in Thailand, this thread would be pages long with all the pontification and self-righteous condemnation aimed at everyone and everything Thai.

Interesting that you chose to have a bash at the "Thai Bashers" even when no Thai bashing had occurred!

Not sure whether this is a classic case of speaking without thinking or simply that you were feeling slightly antagonistic for some reason.

I've seen lots of evidence of poor driving due to lack of skill and training,.. and plenty of plain bad driving manners but as of yet I haven't really seen any evidence of road rage at all in Thailand despite having driven all over the country in living here for the past 7 years!

One flew over the cuckoos nest?

"The victim was identified as Mr. Ali Maki Mohsen Maki"

What a name.... if you say it quickly it has a kind of ring to it (no pun intended).

I'd also like to know at what point the guys pants were picked,.. when they were around his ankles whilst he was getting a breast-to-knees massage?

"In relation to the "men in black", he said he and other red-shirt leaders had repeatedly called on then-prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to unmask them to prove that they were in no way linked to the red shirts."

I didn't know that any "men in black" had ever been captured and thus impossible to unmask them!

It is an omen.

There's a bad moon rising. My sources in the United States say Mitt Romney's been wearing magic underwear made of kevlar since the lightning strike.

Does this mean that he joined the Mormons?

This is a big haul and it's big news,... and bad news for the culprits.

Meanwhile,.. all over the world Big Pharma and the governements that support their rackets and death schemes go totally scott free!

How about a 3.2 or a 3.8 litre V6 in a Camry? Arguably as economical as the 2.2litre V4's they currently use and yet far more power and control!

If the dems couldn't get him back under an extradition order during their 2006-2011 reign then how on earth do they expect the current Thaksin proxy sympathetic government to perform an extradition for them?

Honestly this forum is a great place to come for a good laugh and some entertainment.

LMAO over this thread,... and surprisingly learned something about the whole "mia noi" culture thing.

Thanks for all the content guys,... awesome stuff!

"I am going to tell the prime minister about this idea soon," WFMC chair Plodprasob Surassawadee said yesterday after the commission's meeting on drought. He is also the science minister.....

.... he is also a genius who's innovative thinking and extraordinary brilliance should be more highly regarded by the PM, the government and all Thai people.

Surely this man should go down in history as one of Thailand's most brilliant minds and dedicated ministers! Until then he must sadly remain as an unsung hero and champion of the people but I for one appreciate him and will continue to follow all threads relating to him as he deserves to at least be acknowledged sincerely for the unwaivering committment to progress and problem solving that only the most dedicated and outstanding of ministers are willing to embrace!

"Prompong said the Democrats' allegations that Thaksin was behind an alleged plot to cause violence during the red shirts' protest two years ago damaged Thaksin's reputation."

What reputation,... the one that presents him as a completely nefarious, narcisistic thug hell bent on power and control at any cost!

Funny isn't it - people of my generation (boomers) were brought up in playgrounds rife with lead paint and I can't recall anyone of us having issues at all. Our house guttering and fences were painted with lead paint, and we often helped with the task of applying it. Later in life when I was boat building we used only lead pant on the keel and below the Plimsoll line so I would think as in most environmental situations, it all comes down to how one is exposed to it and if it is ingested etc. Wiki has interesting detail on lead paint blaming it for damage to nervous system, kidneys, stunted growth and even reproductive problems in adults. But there does not seem to be overwhelming evidence suggesting we should all drop our bundle over it. As to removing it - blow touch works fine but it smells. Well now that I have brightened up your day and put this in the blog - have a good day all don't go sniffing the railings in the playgrounds.

Totally agreed,... solid points and very relevant!

I was a professional house painter for many years in Australia having been raised in the trade as a kid by my dad who had been a painter since the the early 1950's in the UK and Australia.

Using lead based paint (when it was still legal in the not so paranoid and socially do-gooding 60's) and then stripping it back by means of sanding scraping burning etc never gave any adverse effects to anyone I knew or ever worked with.

Then the Aussie govt in the late 80's and 90's issued very strict Lead Paint Removal policy procedures that as a professional painter you had to adhere to or lose your license. It was ridiculous. Full protective gear and face masks as though you were working in a nuclear plant (all disposable gear that wasn't allowed to be reused) special vacuums to suck up the dust. Complete plastic sheeting to areas where work was being carried out. Warning signs and special dumping procedures! All of that and yet for years prior not one issue from any tradesman or houseowner that I ever knew or worked with.

In the end it just wasn't worth dealing with any lead based paint jobs. We mostly just pleaded ignorance and treated all jobs the same as any other repaint job. If the owner was a fuddy duddy or PC advocate that drew our attention to brochures regarding lead paint removal we simply avoided the job like the plague.

Like most things that governments get involved in, it was a storm in a teacup and designed to justify the positions of civil servants and social do-gooders that couldn't otherwise get a job in pink fit!

It is possible that this was simply a death by misadventure.

Fatigue can be a terrible thing and hit you when you least expect it.

The kid may have fallen off the jetski and been unable to make it back on and drowned.

I myself had a close call about 17 years ago as a very strong swimmer and body surfer in Australia. I recall having been working like 12 to 14 hours a day for several days to get a job done and then the first day off went down to the beach and waded out to catch a few waves. I got caught in a mild rip and thought I could get out of it easily but due to fatigue found myself floundering. Next thing I knew there was the surf rescue jetski there to help me and threw out a line which I could barely hang onto as I was going under and just exhausted.

I made it back to shore with the help of the recue support but was totally wiped out. I suppose 30 seconds more and I might not have made it. Like I said,.. I was at that time very athletic and a top swimmer,... just the fatigue from too many late nights and not enough rest got to me!

R.I.P to the young lad and condolences to the greiving family.

"Australia has expertise in investigation and cross border crime which could help strengthen Thai police capabilities"

Yes,.. the speed camera traps between BRIS/NSW/VIC are horrendous and the fruit fly checking stations are always a bugger to get through!

Saving face,... meanwhile Bangkokians suffer under the esteemed Science ministers brilliance in flood management control!

But Thailand was not mentioned !

So no recall in Thailand !

fuc_k the customers !

I had brought the wifes Corolla to service a few times, they are more interesting in selling extra services then make a proper service !

I had been at 2 different Toyota shops, I paid more for a air con checkup then i normally pay for a full service on my MU7 !

At Isuzu is there a service plan in the service book, in Thai and English, so all can see what each service is about, Toyota does not have that, so they can tell their customers what they want !! FRAUD !!!

• 
  

We weren't even given a service book when we bought our Toyota 2 years ago. They said that all service records and history was being kept on a national computer register and that this was best for the customer because it minimised fraud (to the contrary it just makes fraud easier without any owner held service hostory records). We then had a small surface scratch on the rear side that they (the selling dealership) insisted they need to have the car for 5 whole days to fix. The service manager was quite adament that I didnt have a clue about such processes. His insistance seemed to become further entrenched after I counter-insisted that he was a complete <deleted>!

Later we had the scratched buffed out by a pro during a morning whilst we went shopping at Big C.

Yes... "customer service" is not only another Thai oxymoron (certainly in relation to this Toyota dealer... the Big one near Airport Plaze Chiangmai),.. but they went on to insist that our claim to need a heater demister in our new vehicle was not required because "sir,.. you know,. Thailand is very hot country and you don't need heater!"

Next time we will consider Honda & Ford above all,.. and also Ssangyong. If we can afford a Beamer or a Merc then great,.. Kcuff them all!!!

Will Chalerm survive next reshuffle?

Here's hoping he won't!!!

I wonder if she avoids sessions of parliament and commenting on major issues because she's been told to remain quiet or because she really is incapable of leadership?

One thing is as clear as crystal and that is that she is most definatelt NOT in charge at present.

Personally I doubt that she really would want to be or that she has even the remotest capability of real leadership!

I arrived at this thread after some extensive searching for information on LPG refill scams in Thailand.

I say this because on our travels from Chiangmai to BKK and Issan and back we found quite wide fluctuations on mileage from one tank fill to another and even measured this against actual klm's travelled per liter of LPG shown as going into the tank.

The real issue that prompted my search is that we started using an LPG gas station closer to home every week for the past few months. When we fill up it generally costs around 500 to 650 baht depending on how empty we were. I noted that we'd get around 280 to 300klms before running out after a fill up. This equated to around 2bht per kilometer which was higher than the 1.6bht per klm we were getting on longer trips,..plus the cost of LPB has risen by about 12% since our last trip.

Then just last week we called in at our old trusty LPG gas station where we always got good mileage and we filled the tank. We expected a fill up cost again of around 500 to 600bht but it only took 400bht worth (no big deal I though,.. maybe pump pressure was down and the attendant thought we were full?). But the thing is that we got 248klms from that fill which equates to 1.62bht per klm (same as we used to get on a decent trip before). Then today I refilled at the new station closer to home and the cost was 680bht for 46liters (14.8 per ltr which is correct pump price). Now I shall run this tank until the empty red light beep beep signal goes off and if that happens anywhere near the 300klm mark then I am going to assume that somehow this new LPG retailer has either rigged the compression of the LPG or tampered with the pump calibration as that amount of refill should take us around 400klms at least (something that has never happened for us even on long flat country highway runs!).

At any rate,.. I smell a rat as we had the system installed by a very reputable dealer and have had it regularly checked during the past 15 months that we have had it installed.

If the local LPG dealer mileage-to-liters check fails then we will revert to using the old station. Outside of that we must take our chances on the open road and hope for consistant refilling experiences.

"The overall situation will return to normal within seven days," said Plodprasob, who is chairman of the Water and Flood Management Commission (WFMC).

Thank heavens we have the honorable and talented Plodprasob on the job,... I just knew he could be relied upon to fix this impending massive problem,- well done!

Flood Management Command Centre Set Up For Bangkok

Untill they wake up to themselves and elect to relocate the command center to the top floor of the Bayoke Skye hotel then they'll continue to have problems!