saanya

the question is, who was actually the woman in the pose?, -someone who went to all that trouble must have at least chosen a specific mistress or one of the MP's... the phone number will just be a SIM from a 7-11, no way to trace that.

I hope this teaches any other international firms a lesson thinking about doing business with Thailand...and Thailand a lesson not to pick a vendor based solely on price. Due diligence is a wonderful thing when put in the hands of rational, thinking business people.

They weren't chosen for price, they were chosen because PT didn't want to insult their commie overlords in Beijing.

As for the tablets *ever* being bought, that's a joke, they never will be, EVER, and saying it was just a contract dispute was the ED Ministry's way out of it so that the entire P1 class this year didn't completely bomb out.

As for due diligence, you'll have to wait for the next civilization to populate this region, and even then, it might not happen.

I'm a former combat-medic, as well as trained in other forms of rescue, -and yes, non-professionals CAN help. This isn't a debate about which treatment is best, this is more about digging, driving evac, delivering supplies, communicating, translating, and the hundred other things that are needed.

While I agree Thailand's emergency infrastructure is [comparatively] ill-suited and even unwilling in many cases to focus on rescue of foreigners (we all know from the floods, the new leadership doesn't want any help unless it's secret help from their Chinese Overlords), that is precisely why I am writing this. They are in Bangkok. So screw them, -the leadership just sat around saying nothing was wrong, and was mystified that their magic red powers of persuasion fell on deaf ears as various neighbourhoods re-routed flood waters to the neighbourhood next to them. Besides Phuket is known as Yellow, the Reds in power would sit by happily and let Phuket wither away much as they did first time around.

Most Thais will happily work with you and hide you from the authorities because you helped them dig out their relatives. They're not stupid. It's an e-m-e-r-g-e-n-c-y.

There needs to be a plan, -all people, Thai or foreigner, know they are on their own.

There are a few expat clubs throughout Thailand, many of which have ex-military expats in them, -this preliminary plan will get better traction there as they understand 'making plans, preparing, taking action' simply out of rote experience.

OK, with the advent of no less than a hundred quakes off the Sunda plate in the last 4-5 days, it might be time to review or discuss what RESCUE options are available to those on and off Phuket island.

Tsunami:

Phuket is in the direct path of a tsunami coming off the Sumatran coast should another significant Megathrust earthquake occur. (Megathrust = up/down waves caused by subduction (tectonic plates such as the Sunda plate tucking over/under other tectonic plates).

Massive Quake:

Just as there are Aftershocks, there are Foreshocks.

Phuket already felt the impact of what may become recognized as one of the largest strike-slip (these are side-to-side motions, no tsunamis but buildings collapse) quakes ever recorded off Northern Sumatra on or about April 11th. Just as aftershocks. It even had it's own historic quake, probably from faults underneath that were affected by the Northern Sumatran plate movements.

The mass cluster of quakes is visible here: http://earthquake.us...arthquakes/map/

As we have seen before, phones go down, power goes out, and when any of it restored, the first priority to to have people on the ground communicating in various languages where and what type of help is most needed.

The Thai authorities involved will be of limited assistance, so it might be prudent to discuss what works only, and not what didn't work or is predictably inefficient.

Massive Landslides:

Perhaps the greatest potential danger in the very near future is from landslides when the monsoon season begins. These would arise from weakened ground structure from the recent Phuket-based quake, as well as from all the subsequent aftershocks from it and the more distant quakes in the area. The rain waters will erode what's left of the ground support and entire structures will slide and/or be buried. This year it will likely happen on a larger scale than usual.

If one occurs in a significantly populated area, this would be the type of rescue operation that would involve digging out victims, stabilizing them for transport, and providing immediate EVAC.

What mechanisms exist for such an event?

Are there foreign-run volunteer organizations? (please save the work-permit and visa chatter for another topic pls.)

What's the plan?

What are all the embassy phone numbers?

Can International Red Cross help?

I'm sure there are veteran posters on here who could lend info, and perhaps even more importantly, long-term expats who can organize albeit unofficially to be ready to help in specific ways (who's got VHF radios, digging equipment, medical expertise, etc?).

Be it quake, tsunami, or landslide, it's better to plan for the most important job: preserving life.

Any comments? Please stick to the topic and the goal, hint: rescue operations/advance planning.

I'm skeptical because the USGS didn't report this quake - and still hasn't, now, six hours after it was supposed to have happened.

On the other hand, several friends felt a significant jolt around that time in Patong.

I've submitted the observation to the USGS. Let's see if they can find two quakes in their data.

Yep i live in Patong and my house got shook for prob only 3/4 seconds but it defo happened!!

yeah, aftershocks. the huge LA quake in 1994 had hundreds aftershocks for about 6 months when I was living there. each day you'd feel many of them. or if you were driving, you'd see the traffic signals rocking back & forth. expect them to last a while, some will be aftershocks of multiple quakes in the region. the tectonic plates in the "ring of fire" are highly volatile. expect more quakes, more tsunamis, and if you are Phuket, expect "post-quake wet-season-induced landslides" when the monsoon season kicks into gear this year. it is going to drop a few roads in the water on various parts of the island. parts that didn't slip when it was dry. add in the shoddy building standards.

Wikipedia article on Sunda Plate

And another one here in Sri Soonthorn, not quite as strong this time. I assure the skeptics this is happening here now in Phuket tonight. They are not related to the onging aftershocks in Sumatra quakes last week . They I would suggest are aftershorks from the Thalang Quake reported at 4:44pm this afternoon.

yes, they are aftershocks.

I'm skeptical because the USGS didn't report this quake - and still hasn't, now, six hours after it was supposed to have happened.

On the other hand, several friends felt a significant jolt around that time in Patong.

I've submitted the observation to the USGS. Let's see if they can find two quakes in their data.

I agree Woody, this seems like the following:

1. Thaivisa perhaps unwittingly malformed (or made confusing) the title of the posting "Phuket struck twice by earthquakes" by reporting the actual quake in Phuket (the one everyone's seen on the news and confirmed by the USGS), and mixing in information related to the Sumatra quake "felt on Phuket" so that the headline could say "Phuket struck twice by earthquakes" and still be factual based on a certain point of view. Like when Obi-wan gave Luke the heads-up about Darth V.

2. The aftershocks are normal and not separate or additional earthquakes (Otherwise everyone would see it in USGS) and the sounds (booms, bangs, whimpers) people are hearing are from these aftershocks because Phuket is an island, and islands make a ruckus when they move. Or it's a neighbour nailing the missus on one of those cheap sofas from Index.

I am from California, and it is highly inaccurate for someone to say "Phuket struck twice by Earthquakes" because it was struck only once and had the usual several aftershocks.

The place where the epicenter was, is always understood by grown-ups as the location of the quake.

We live near Laos, and when a quake struck there recently, and we felt it here, no one anywhere (including Thaivisa) said Issan struck by earthquake.

All the theories about sonic booms will fall short.

@GentlemanJim I agree. Money's not on their mind.

All the insurgents want, is for the map of Thailand to change back to how it was before 1910, and reclaim their former Sultanate from Prachap Kiri Khan all the way South to the Malay border. Maybe this time around they'd want it to be a Caliphate.

It seems like Thaksin wants to cover up the fact to his followers it was this issue that got him coup'd in the first place.

Just get a CPA for when you are here. It's worth the fees and definitely helps if you give them specific Power Of Attorney. If they are an EA "Enrolled Analyst" they can represent you on any IRS matter.

Let them do the phone calls and get the sneaky mails the IRS sends when they see an exit flag on your passport. The IRS *will* be pretty slick when you are out of town.

If you an list of IRS Enrolled Analysts, PM me I can send you the links. But don't freak out when one of the scare tactic threads emerge.

Barry "Cringeworthy" LOL

Udon and Khon Kaen are those places. Because they are not tourist-only, but rather where the smart people who want to stay here long term go. Then they just hop cheap flights down to the beaches when it's quiet.

If you classify by nationality, well, that sounds like a European mind at work. "taken over by russians, germans, etc."

I think you have it slightly wrong about the Chinese bar girl invasion, -there will be an invasion of rich Mainlander Chinese Men with a lot of hard cash and investment money buying up everything and turning you into renters. Just look at the 15 billion baht thrown down to rebuild Central in Udon. Guess who they are banking on for 2015?

If anything the hotter more light skinned part-Chinese-anyways girls will be leaving with them and right before 2015, Thailand will "purge" as many foreigners as they can so they can "flip" the advantage toward their new Chinese overlords. Your visa no matter what it was before, will suck compared to theirs, as they will be empowered by ASEAN free-trade laws and you will not.

Become a citizen of one of the ASEAN countries before 2015 and enjoy, otherwise the view you have of how things are now and what's going to be "booming" might not be accurate.

wasn't that just to get him to turn over the documents related to the "red shirt crackdown" so they could try for some dirt on Abhisit?

he turned them over so the heat is off.

I have been maried to a Thai Muslim for seventeen years, of which two years living in Pattaya where my wife was born and raised. Yes it is true you normally will be required to convert prior to marraige, but for me personally no big deal. yes you are provided with a Muslim name by the Imam when you convert. They older members of the family use my Muslim name, whlist the younger ones call me grandfather or uncle. Did not require having a "snip" . Any Muslim/Jew will not consume pork or pork products. In my case, out of respect, I also do not eat pork. I have found my wife's extended family (whilst poor) are honest, hard working, courteous and respectful. When they have needed monetary assistance they have always repaid me. About every month or two I'll go to Friday prayers - again out of respect. Talking with other westerners living in Pattaya the feedback I have got is Thai Mustim people are good people to deal with. However as with any Thai you do not want to dis-respect them.

Thai Muslims are a lt more laid back than from Arabic countries. Some of my extended family who have lived and worked in Saudi Arabia are more "ridgid" but no problems/attitude towards me. As we know any relationship to be a positive experience requires effort from both parties. PM me if you want any further input.

007, -this is the thread (above) you might be able to walk with best. What part of Thailand are they from?

Young women sometimes get enamoured beyond the bounds of what their family will accept almost as a built-in test of who and what they are, regardless of religious background.

Even Buddhist families have a rainbow of attitudes and beliefs. Our own family has it's Reds and Yellows, idiots and geniuses, and regardless of the religion, in Thailand or any other foreign land it's going to be your personal integrity and depth that will carry you. Learn to read, write, speak and think in Thai. Having some minor spoken vocabulary isn't enough. And if you are really with it, -you should brush up on your Islam. The Koran isn't a very long book, -and Wikipedia has quite a bit of history of all the lines and sects. When you know more than she does, and can convey it in Thai, no one can assail your relationship.

Know as many have already said here, children of yours will become absorbed into the family and you will have to exert a strong will and guidance if you are to remain in a lead role. This would mean being the kind of person your wife would stay loyal to beyond her curious years, when she got her head about her and thinks only long term.

they look like this...

I am running Linux on a Thinkpad Edge and need to run multiple monitors to do my work effectively.

The Edge seems like a good machine but not a tall enough screen. Right now I have an Acer AL2251W 22" widescreen hooked into the VGA port and working well using the AMD Graphics controls in Ubuntu.

But I really need to add a second large monitor, and when back in the US would have chosenb something like this:

Matrox GXM DualHead2Go

"GXM See more. Do more. Be more productive.

DualHead2Go and TripleHead2Go are external multi monitor adapters that let you connect two or three monitors to your laptop or desktop computer. They connect to the video output of your system and use its existing GPU to provide high-quality, uncompressed graphics and video across all monitors. These little black boxes are perfect to bring multi-monitor functionality to computers with one monitor, such as systems with integrated graphics or with no available expansion slots, or systems that are already closed and validated.

• Connects two or three monitors to your system, and lets you see more, do more.
  
• Supports VGA, DVI or DisplayPort monitors or projectors running standard or widescreen resolutions
  
• Works with laptops and desktop computers, PC or Mac"
  

I would like to find something similar in Udon Thani, anyone know a place to try out? I was in Central but didn't see anything and people there didn't know enough tech to really accept that these even exist.

I can bring back the ad for it and model number but they'll probably just say they have to order it.

Which is my second question, -perhaps there's a place in Korat I can order from? Or even BKK?

arhuman, were you able to get a bunch of like minds together. I'm basically in the same situation but located out of Korat. If you are even find a good volunteer project that requires Cisco-<deleted> or dare I say OBSD PF-<deleted> love to join in.

whoa did you just reference Daniel Hartmeier's PF and Theo DeRaadt's OpenBSD. nice. I live in Udon. Transparent PF Stealth Bridge time.

Hi,

We live in Udon Thani.

My wife is 6 months along and her Dr. in Ta Bo (a village 2 hours away) advisedmy wife what I had insisted on all along -find a hospital in Udon Thani.

Her contractions are too many to early on because she doesn't rest enough. Now I think she gets the picture.

Does anyone know if the private hospitals are better than the govt hospitals (which I don't want or need to have her go to) and if so which ones are the best and if possible which doctors?

Yingluck keeps making secret visits to Udon Thani almost weekly. Only one or two have been publicized.

It's not just the government, it's a systemic corrosion of the day to day attitude of Thais. Corruption is such apart of daily life, everyone's brainwashed into taking a feudal approach to just about everything.

But they won't block traffic for a week in response to it, -like they do when petrol prices go up in normal rhythm with the rest of the world.

There have been close calls in the past.

In 2003, when Hambali was arrested, they found a target list. Nana Plaza, Israel Embassy, Israeli restaurant on Kow San Rd. as I recall.

In the early 90s a truck-bomb headed for the Israel Embassy was accidently stopped when the truck crashed in traffic. Driver fled.

I agree. JP has an article up that states:

"Israel is concerned Hezbollah will try to attack Israelis overseas in the coming weeks and ahead of the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Hezbollah military commander Imad Mughniyeh, attributed to the Mossad"

The link is here: Jerusalem Post article

For those interested in why Lebanese H. operatives might strike here, here's more (from wikipedia) on said Lebanese Hezbollah cmdr Imad Mughniyeh

So true!

They do forget, and are programmed to have exactly no respect or honor. They won't remember WW2 or the Cold War.

They don't respect their own elders and have never suffered.

Our embassy cares. We care. We are actually pretty cool people, period. Try getting to know us a little better, try living in our country, try to understand who we are. Why we would have an embassy that issues alerts to make sure people are safe. It's basic, simple, and human.

We are you. Your own ancestors, from every country, without exception, all migrated to the US and made a life. Pro-Freedom, anti-terrorist.

You don't speak for us. We speak for us. Do you ever hear us insult you in this forum? Ever? This was a post about a terrorist alert. Heed it.

Thanks to Thaivisa for deleting the deeply racist posts and banning those who went too far.

Semper Fi well said

Thanks! It's important the haters see there's a new generation of us here. We won't lay down our faith or our loyalty in our country. Period.

From an outside view, it looks like BKK was gonna keep this on the quiet, so thanks to the ambassador for forcing their hand and calling it. Bravo!

I wouldn't trust reports the .th .gov knew about it in advance and were proactive (in detaining or arresting). That's just now how things run here. At all.

I find it very interesting to read so many anti-American comments on this thread but the posters will not state their own nationality.

Why is that?

OK, I'm a Dutch citizen and I'm sick of the US N**zi government. There it is ...

You mean the country that liberated (along with the Brits) your country from ACTUAL Nazis?

Strange how some forget eh.

So true!

They do forget, and are programmed to have exactly no respect or honor. They won't remember WW2 or the Cold War.

They don't respect their own elders and have never suffered.

Our embassy cares. We care. We are actually pretty cool people, period. Try getting to know us a little better, try living in our country, try to understand who we are. Why we would have an embassy that issues alerts to make sure people are safe. It's basic, simple, and human.

We are you. Your own ancestors, from every country, without exception, all migrated to the US and made a life. Pro-Freedom, anti-terrorist.

You don't speak for us. We speak for us. Do you ever hear us insult you in this forum? Ever? This was a post about a terrorist alert. Heed it.

Thanks to Thaivisa for deleting the deeply racist posts and banning those who went too far.

It is hardly surprising the yanks are targets (if it isn't just another BS alarm), pi^sing on dead Muslims ain't going to endear you to folks. It is about time the rest of the world put some distance between them and us, as they have a stockpile of bombs now ready to drop on someone. Who will be next? SE Asia hasn't been blessed for while.

It referred to foreign tourists, not Americans. Just because a few rogue Marines step out of line doesn't make 300 million people wrong. Last time I checked, "War Is Hell". You think you can do better? Or do you really think you have some kind of deeper understanding of foreign policy and world history?

Besides, you have no choice in the matter, you are from a Western country. The fate of all Westerners is tied together regardless of how much you think you can put distance between your cultural, financial and religious allies.

Also, are you saying human nature is not fundamentally flawed? That only we are bad and you are good, righteous and right?

Try adding something constructive to Thaivisa instead of polluting it with racist garbage and sub-par logic.