chmiroau

Ha!. You guys have got it all wrong, I don't know why no one has seen this before. While all the speculation and rumours are flowing (sometimes faster and more prevalent than the flood itself), the Shinawatra building dynasty is preparing for the biggest rebuild of Thailand in history.

Can you just see it. Shinawatra building sites all over the country busily rebuilding and repairing Bangkok, all the while filtering public money back into their back pockets.

There is a great possibility that there will be many floating markets around to sell food and some essential items, besides if people haven't stocked up already, or have already eaten their supplies then it is their fault. We have our supplies and are eating out for every meal to save what we have.

Jerry555, please get a grip, obviously you don't know the first thing about fluid dynamics, shallow rivers don't flood deeper than deep ones as water will always try to find the lowest level possible, shallow rivers just run faster.

"Sometimes water just disappears, but then it can also reappear. I'm not trying to be provocative, but only fortune-tellers can know for certain.

Clearly this man doesn't know what his responsibility is (Hopefully will be was). Fortune tellers, I sure hope that this isn't where he is getting his information from, maybe this is why he couldn't answer many of the audience's questions.

Admitting that the volume of water on its way to Bangkok is "most unprecedented", Sukhumbhand added that the capital had never been better equipped to deal with excessive flooding in its entire history.

I hope that this information came from the spin doctors, because if it came from the fortune tellers, then we are in real danger.

Note to all, I am well bedded down in our house, we have enough supplies for the duration of this event, we will not be leaving our house to be robbed and plundered.

"Don't lose heart. I don't think the flooding will be severe in all parts of Bangkok. Do not panic. We are monitoring the situation and our work is second to none."

Clearly someone doesn't know what this statement means, "second to none", HA!

Bangkok and Thailand are on the verge of huge devastation and this is what the paper chooses to print? Makes you wonder if having somebody control the press is a good idea if there idea of news at a critical time like this is to inflame politics. Absolutely no reason in the world to run this story now. After the waters recedes then you can inflame politics but at this point it seems like many people are simply using this natural disaster to put politics before Thailand and its people.

I'm all for seeing an end to Thaksin and his family in politics but this is a time when people need to pull together. If things do get very bad I have a feeling many people are going to die that would not have needed to die if politics were not taking front stage right now. I even think the government is scared to deploy the military for fear of a coup and instead are depending on the police who not only are taking care of themselves and their own families now but have nowhere near the capabilities the army does in handling something like this.

Very very sad and as you can see from the comments on Thaivisa and the English newspapers, this is not just a Thai thing.

And just plane wrong to mislead readers to believing this story has anything to do with flooding. Politicians lie, that is what they do best across the globe and if these newspapers had real reporters then we'd be getting facts instead of nonsense and politicians would be less likely to lie so boldly.

Seriously dude, is there something wrong with you? This is the perfect time for any government to make such radical changes to the law. People are so absorbed about the flood that they take their eye off the real ball, every day life. There is no way that any government would make such a move like this on a slow news day, because then it would be front page, and written in red bold letters. Now, due to the floods it is probably buried, so the best way to get the message out there is through the English press.

A massive congratulations to the reporter that wrote this story, keep us up to date so that the Thai people can make decisions on what the country will be like post flood devastation.

After monitoring this from beginning till now and finding missing script from ex-certs, I have concluded.

the new PM. has done a great job with what she has had to work with.

All the obstructionist and other who have thwarted her every move will pay a price for this I am sure.

These elitists who have used every chance to criticize instead of help won't be as powerful once this is all said and done.

Again unfortunate (understatement) the Thai people suffer at the hands of the rich and powerful who could have done so much more.

For those here who continue to criticize, what have you done to help or help your neighbor?

The biggest here here for this comment.

I can see the strain on the PM's face. She is an unfortunate pawn of the dynasty that is her family. She was thrust into the election late in the game so that the powers that be could win the election. Now as she is the figure head she is the one that everyone is pointing fingers at.

For me, I keep getting conflicting and misconstrued information about what is happening. My neighbourhood is divided as to what is going to happen. Half of the residents have protected themselves, half of them are simply not worried, it depends on who you are listening to. For me, an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure (sounds better than a kilo of prevention or a tonne of cure doesn't it?)

With this dichotomy happening I can only wonder what it would be like to be in a position where it wasn't just my neighbourhood and how to help them, where I was in charge, control, in a decision making role where my decisions were televised minute by minute, twisted and turned to suit the differing factions, and then I have to realise that the information that I used to make my decisions was inaccurate to begin with, deliberate or not, she is in a tough position.

Still, politics are politics and the PM is ultimately responsible for his or her government. She was elected as the leader, she then made decisions as to who and where she would put people to run her cabinet. If it is these people that are making the false statements, then it is the PM who is responsible for the factor that she placed them in their positions. Heads could, should, have to roll after all this has been cleaned up.

Batten down the hatches, get ready for the biggest floating markets of all time. Sure hope that the quality of the goods is high.

As A foreigner I was the trend setter in our village. We have had the sand bags in place for a week now, bedding in. The personal belongings have been up stairs for a week, and all the while we were being looked at by the neighbours wondering what we were doing. Some in the village still haven't done anything to secure their belongings, and have refused our assistance.

Best of luck for all. See what happens hey?

The Thai people can handle the situation themselves. The don't need international support. There is no problem with the way the people here are dealing with the situation.

Exactly the same as the newly installed traffic lights at the intersection of Bang Waek and Phuttamontonton Sai 2. These traffic lights are working perfectly. Just there are times when they are turned off, times when the traffic is forbidden from turning right or driving straight, times when the right turning traffic is across the path of the traffic driving straight, so that no one can move, times when cars and motorbikes are so self miss managed that I can understand that the policeman is drinking beer on the job.

Sure the Thai don't need help. They would lose face, and that just can't be had.

Um, one struggles to understand how this is news. No one should be caring about luxury goods at the moment. Cleaning products would be more important; food, clean water, essentials for living.

I am sure that there will be a pleathera of floating markets with people profiteering of emptying the shelves of the supermarket over the past few weeks. It has happened in Ayuttaya, it will happen here.

Teary eyed? We need our leader to be strong or at least pretend to be strong. It's bad enough her government is incompetent but now we have to see her cry too. Way to reassure your frightened people.

What a silly reply, prime ministers tearing up in the face of adversity shows that they are people, and for one I am surprised as to why other people haven't had a few tears for what has happened. I sure have and I am a 44 year old man. Much to say that I have cried at the sheer loss of property, many of the peoples lives will have changed forever, and although not always much, many of these people have lost everything they have. Again, it is another show of the long term mismanagement of a country that can and used to be in a much better shape than it is now.

There is nothing wrong with feeling the way many people are feeling at the moment. If you need to have a cry, you can rest on my shoulder, I am right there with you.

Now, please excuse me I am fortifying our flood prevention at our home, all the while the neighbours are laughing at the foreigner and his actions around the house. Wonder if I will have the last laugh if and when the area floods.

This is great news. We went to Central Rama 2 to go shopping, actually spend some money there, BE CUSTOMERS. The problem, no truckin carparks as almost the whole car park was taken up with people leaving their cars there because of the floods.

This is absolutely crazy, can't go shopping now, what else is there to do in Bangkok?

While others were condemning The Mall for charging for parking overnight, at least shoppers could get a parking spot when they go shopping.

One word, MISMANAGEMENT. The current government should be removed because of its inadequacies, lies and deceptions toward the Thai public. I feel so sad for the people here they don't have the best of lives to start with, made all the worst by their choice of government.

It is so hard to tell what is happening right in front of us. The TV pictures are very alarming, even for me, a person of usually well measured action (if I say so myself hehe). I feel that the idea of panic is somewhat justified considering the amount and level of the lies that were told by the winning party. We should be very worried for another reason, it now seems that this situation, while not predictable in anyway, was given a helping hand at the hand of mismanagement within the government themselves. The very idea of holding the water so long in upcountry areas to save Bangkok from flooding is almost inhumane. The people that live there were very possibly the greatest supporters of the current administration and deserve to be very angry indeed.

So, the lies and miss-truths continue so much so that every learned Thai that I speak with about the situation simply shrugs their shoulders. They know what's happening, same as always, the government doesn't know what is happening, and that is what we should be most worried about. When the floods come and recede, the government will still be here.

Be afraid.

Personally I feel so desperately sad for the people of this country, especially for the ones that have been deliberately and financially uneducated. They, for some unknown reason, continue to believe so much of what the people in power say, while on the other hand they look around at where they live and see nothing but monumental mismanagement.

If the governments of the past can't organise an effective and honest police force, can't repair roads, continue to allow unrestricted or controlled development,,,, ad infinitum,,,,, how do they honestly believe what anyone says.

I seriously admire their devotion, however I desperately question their powers of observation.

Ferrari have just announced that they are going to build a micro car, to rival the Mercedes built Smart car. It will be built here in Thailand by Thairung It will be the most powerful micro car in the world as they will use the 5.3 litre V12 that they have often been famous for. It will retail for about 50 bart and everyone will want one...

Um, I thought that this was the I'm dreaming page,, sorry.

I assure you that the last thing those in power want is an educated population in Thailand. Educated people tend to ask some questions that are out of the comfort range.

My understanding is that a lot of the time students spend in Thai schools is dedicated to repeating messages that indoctrinate young people to love king and country -- blindly and without ever questioning decisions made by those in charge. Basically, the main goal of Thai schools is teach children not to think about or analyze anything of substance.

I totally agree. Even after explaining the facts about the way that many of the Thai people drive their cars and treat each other, my wife still has the firm belief that you should just let the bad people do what they want so that they don't upset you. "Do what they want"; push around the traffic turning either left or right so that you can get in front of other people, even if you take up 3 lanes to do so, forgetting that the people that do this are likely the ones that are causing the traffic jam that they are stuck in,,,, ETC. Corruption is better than getting a 400B fine. And so on...

I wonder how Thai privacy laws will interpret this.

I for one do not want my private abode with detailed location information splashed all over the internet without my permission.

Um, time to get over yourself. This is just a harmless piece of computer software available for all to use for leisure.

When they started doing this in Australia people were up in arms about it, but if you really think about it its no worse than someone driving their car down your street to have a look at the houses. Most of the dumb people complaining were complaining that thieves would be able to see if they were home, or on holiday and then be able to better plan their robbery of your house. UM! A photo is all that is taken, a very small moment of time, there was no increase of criminal activity.

The photo of my house in Australia shows me out the front fertilizing the grass. No big problem here but many of my friends emailed me telling me to complain about it, my garage was open and you could see my car, but google had done the right thing and blurred the number plate. Why they did this I don't know, because if you wanted to know mu number plate then all you had to do was follow google maps to my house and wait until I got home,,, you could have easily seen my number plate. Obviously this never happened.

Do six years old kids ever drop or break anything? Hope the govt has a robust maintenance/repair/exchange program for the tablets.

I wonder if the tablets are going to be wifi or 3g or both? If just wifi, what do the kids do at home (just an e-book reader?) if no wifi?

Who pays for the internet connection at home or if 3g, who pays?

Could get expensive.

I have one of the said knock off tablet computers, that I use as a reader and video player. It works well enough for these as I am reasonably skilled with a computer. However the interface of tehse computers is so random that if I try to use it on the internet with the wifi (I have 50 MB wifi at home) it is almost useless, so I just don't use it.

I really wonder how giving all of these kids a sub standard tablet computer is going to increase their IQ. This was just pure vote buying of the current government.

Well, today I went to the ATM at the Family Mart in Nanai at the corner of Soi 2 to check my bank account. I did so many times before, but in nice weather conditions. Today my Flip-Flops were wet, and when touching the first key on the keyboard I had this "exiting nice feeling" of a ungrounded piece of metal connected to a hot lead. I just used my purse to push the cancel-button and left. The next time I won't touch any ATM in the rain.

Um, this sounds kinda weird, but I used to get the same feeling when I plugged my playstation into the tele. Then I realised that the grounding that is needed had been rigged up, but not connected. It looked like it had been done, but it too was a death trap waiting to happen.

So I had to get on the net and find out how it is done, then get an electrician, (Who turned up on his motorbike wearing a motorbike taxi uniform, and of course without any tools to his name. Maybe he was just after money and saw the risk of being electrocuted was worth the 500 we were gunna give him.) to follow instructions from me as to how I wanted it done. Problem was solved.

Surapong Towichakchaikul tried hard to display his humbleness in his first interview after being appointed foreign minister. He admitted not knowing much about diplomacy and international relations and thanked his critics for their statements, saying he saw them as part of his learning process.

UM. He has been appointed the foreign minister and he admits that he know much about diplomacy and international relations? <deleted>?

I think that I will become a nuclear technician, like Homer Simpson. Don't know anything about it but it can't be that hard.

Um, not sure if this helps, but if she has a Education visa for Thailand, why don't you combine some of the advice and apply for an Education visa for Australia. English as a second language is enough for her to get to Australia. This is possibly the easiest way for her to get to Australia. (If you need assistance there is lots available.)

Then when you are there, get married there and apply for the marriage visa in Australia. (This is possibly the quickest way of doing this as fiance visas cannot be issued from inside Australia, she would have to leave Australia to apply for it, in comes the Burma problem.)

With the Education visa I feel that the threat to Burma will be mitigated and the entry to Australia will be eased.

There is one very funny part of the identity verification process that has to be addressed. On the web site it states that you must have a photo of the person applying, in our case it is a baby (I'm applying for the same thing right now). This photo and the identity needs to be verified by a suitably qualified person, such as a police man (all Australian of course), a Judge, or a JP. This person must have known the applicant for at least a year!(?)

A conundrum awaits you, but there is a simple answer. As by advice from the Aus Embassy, they state that the delivering doctor, Thai doctor here in Thailand, can be the signatory for the identification of the baby. You do not need to do the supplementary identification form as all you need for this kind of application is on the standard form. You do not need to do the character assessment as the baby has not grown up enough yet. The rest is up to the fact that you are in a relationship with the mother and on that fact alone the identity requirements are fulfilled.

Hope this helps with the identification issue.

Knock off tablet computers are a dime a dozen on Ebay, and many of them cost far less than 3000b.

The problem is always going to be the content that these computers use. The operating system of the computers will likely be the android system, which is free ware, and it has access to hundreds of computer games, not to mention porn.

The computers are a great idea, however as I have seen most people here use their 15,000-20-000b apple products as the most expensive computer games money can buy.

Asking all of my students if they have anything educational on their ipads pods phones,, they always say no, just games. This is sure to up the students competitiveness, for sure,,, especially as they will be able to log on to facebook in class and compare their scores.

Thank someone, maybe God or Christ or Abraham or Mahammad. Now we can all continue to breathe the Bangkok black dust with relative ease.