mrfill

"Dr Chonlanan Srikaew, a deputy public health minister, said this year's

accidents were more severe than last year. Of the 1,321 seriously

injured, 67 per cent died at the scene and 43 per cent in hospital

emergency rooms."

So all died? What does this mean?

In fact it means that 110% of people died.

And that means you should be wary of statistics

Alot of the usual Thai bashing here.

Lets remember theres another airport in Bangkok, running at about 20% of capacity, which will take much of the burden in coming years.

It used to take 100% but was replaced and demoted to be a domestic airport. It was only the crisis a couple of years ago causd by the massive undercapacity of the new airport, that led to a hurried decision to re-establish Dom Muang as an international airport for cheapo airlines.

DM is now very dated and has poor accessibility. Anyone arriving at Suvarnabhumi with the idea of changing flights may now find they have to play Find the Airport. Yes, there are shuttle buses (very poorly advertised) and yes you can connect using trains (Airport link / BTS / regular train from Hua Lumpong), although its quite a challenge, and yes you can take a taxi but this is 2013 and the expectations of travellers is higher. It is especially galling when on the train from Hua Lumpong to see the concrete supports all nicely in place for the trains that never happened.

Planning to meet the capacity in 2017 will mean that by 2018 it will be over-loaded again and another panic will occur.

There are some wonderful examples of new, well planned airports in the region - Changi, Incheon and Hong Kong - yet the Thais have taken an approach nearer to the London example. Build to allow for 70-75 million passengers now - its not like there isnt enough space.

To the obvious dimwits on this thread, no one forces or coerces you into taking anything, straws, bags, spoons

or anything you don't want from anyone anywhere, so just say no thank you.

It is also quite obvious that not many of the people on this thread have much in the way of observational powers,

if you did you would know that some supermarkets in Thailand, yes Thailand, do in fact make an effort to help the

environment.

The previously mentioned Villa Market uses recyled logos on their OXO- Biodegradable plastic bags.

Central Food hall ( Tops ) also uses a "Foundation for Environmental Preservation" logo on their biodegradable bags

and urges all to "Use, Reuse, then Degrage".

If you want to complain about anything complain about the big Supermarket chains like Tesco, Big C and even 7/11

who make vastly obscene profits and make little effort to help in preservation of the environment, go vent your anger

at them to provide biodegradeable packaging and don't blame the supermarkets for irresponsible litterbugs either.

Oxo-biodegradeable bags require oxygen and sunlight to decompose. Bury them in a landfill and they do no decompose for years and years.

A lot of them also use metal to help and that gets left behind.

Ideally a brand new revolutionary substance known as 'brown paper' should be used to make bags. Certainly for dry things.

Recycling is Thailand is quite good when it comes to plastic bottles, tins and glass for which money can be had. Electric wire is also recycled a lot so a 3m length of wire can be constructed from several old bits held together with insulating tape.

I really want to visit Myanmar, but I will wait until next year.

I think with Thailand getting more expensive than ever this year a lot of 'quality' overseas tourists will be having the same thoughts.

Well don't think it will be cheap. Hotels are very expensive in comparison as are taxi fares, rail fares and food - all at least double the price of Thailand.

Phones are almost useless, the pavements are the worst I have seen anywhere and the big cities are very dirty.

However, the Burmese people are possibly the most polite and charming people I have ever encountered.

Don't wait - progress there is very rapid and by next year they may have picked up all the Thai habits.

A truly developing nation. Well done. Beheadings these days are a little pre-historic.

I don't get it... why do essentially civilised countries deal with such things as Arabians. I know America leads the charge, but how come there is no moral outrage at a group of objects, walking upright, wearing towels on their heads, acting a lot like proper human beings, (after a lot of education in the west, I grant you). Why aren't they held up as some alternative form of plant life, or an upright walking animal of some kind, instead of being treated as if they were proper human beings?

Civilised countries don't use state approved murder. They usually have a lower crime rate too but deal with Saudis because their over-bloated arms industries can sell their guns/planes/bombs/missiles

Tiny quantity. This is pretty outrageous. They don't believe him, why? Because a snitch with his own corrupt (and understandable) motivations claimed he was a dealer? I think the Swiss man needs a doctor not a prison cell. Really tragic.

Surely no dealer with that quantity, and yes, maybe he needs a doctor, but then a shrink... for being stupid enough to do anything with drugs in Thailand... and then he needs some serious slaps (maybe a few weeks in a cell) and then back to Switzerland after being blacklisted.

If only they would do that to anyone found guilty of any alcohol related offence, the country would be a much nicer place.

Isn't there an ongoing study being undertaken to examine the question why there are so may Thais get addicted to amphetamines. IIRC they are looking to see if there is a genetic link to these addictions.

My guess on why so many get addicted to amphetamines is simply that they are what is widely available in Thailand - and cheap too. If they had cheap Ecstasy available as they do in much of the western world, then you can bet there would be lots of people using that...

Oh, the human condition... find a remote tribe that has never had contact with the outside world and you can bet they have some form of drug use too!

Your guess is half right. Availability of yaba is high but cheap? At 200Bt+ per tablet (Bangkok prices), it is not cheap. Cannabis availability outside the tourist areas is very low, partly because it is regarded as very 'low class'.

It is also quite easy to get caught using yaba as the Bangkok police regularly set up 'road blocks' for pedestrians in known areas and perform random urine tests on passing people.

I don't know. Becoming a tech hub is not as simple as logging onto a social networking website. Rather it requires a couple of things that Thais and the their education system currently lack: open mindedness, analytical/critical thinking, and an interest in the world outside of Thailand.

Certainly not something that can be sorted quickly.

That's three things.

Please do not throw stones while inside the glass house....

Nice to see the drink driving problem being addressed so enthusiastically.

At least the first annual cull of innocents can now go ahead unhindered and the wise old sages can continue to tut-tut when the casualty figures are released.

Is it possible that the likelihood of floods has decreased because less rain has fallen and there is less water to move from up-country?

Phew! That was lucky. Now where did I put that 120 billion???

First post - 3.3m worth 10.9m Bt

Second post - 3.2m worth 1000m Bt

Looks like 100000 have slipped through the net but will they be sold at 3bt or 312bt? Neither price being remotely realistic!

Will the Pattaya Daily News kindly note the heterosexual orientation of all offenders please (as far as known). Here's a hint; Should be the majority.Thanks!

Perhaps they should include the size of penis in the 'identity' of all criminals.

im surprised that it isnt drugs, accident or violence that cause early death for most

Which proves that drugs are REALLY dangerous and kids had better stick to alcohol as that is legal and safe.

Well, that how the argument of the hang/flog pious morons goes..... it just doesnt stand any analysis but consumes huge amounts of money that could be used better elsewhere.

Delighted to see the result of all this diligent testing was the discovery of the Higgs Bosun particle.

I'm astounded how they managed to work out it might have been the Pattaya police. I mean, there's no clue anywhere in the picture.

Contrasts nicely with another article in the same digest from TV..

PHUKET: -- The Royal Thai Police have ordered a “media blackout” for Phuket, with only the local police superintendent authorized to release information to the media, the Phuket Gazette has learned.

This following the attempted abduction of a Japanese tourist.

Solves the problem though - don't report it and it hasn't happened!

Translation:

Let us all compromise and do it my way

Those on their high horses and the hang/flog clowns should perhaps realise that prostitution is also illegal in Thailand.

Very inconvenient, that.

Hope free helicopter transfers will be offered to passengers with connecting flight operated from each airport!

Or will there be a skytrain line be built to connect before the airport shift?

London has had 5 international airports for many years so has vast experience at this. The answers to the above is no and no.

You just have to struggle around the worst and most expensive public transport system known to man. And crappy weather to enhance the experience.

that even if I discovered my own kids dealing drugs, I would turn them in without hesitation.

Struth ! - wouldn't you try and have a word with them first !!!!! Maybe help them out a bit and explain the errors of their ways ?????

I agree with TommoP, there are very, very few of us that haven't tried something in our lives for a bit of a hit, or to give us a bit of a lift when we might need it.

Apart from the occaisional alcolhol (perfectly legal) i am proud to say that i am one of the very, very few ! But then i am of the older more responsible generation !

If it is 'perfectly legal', why is producing moonshine, hooch, poteen or whatever you want to call home brewed spirits, illegal in most countries? If 'perfectly legal' it could also be sold to children but again, this is not the case in most countries. It is also true that thousands have been slaughtered on the roads around the world by drivers under the influence of this 'perfectly legal' drug. Legal maybe, perfect - definitely not.

Incidentally, at 60 years old I am also of the 'older more responsible generation' however my brain has not been quite so addled by alcohol to remember 40-50 years ago when people such as Janis Joplin, Lenny Bruce, Jim Morrison, Brian Jones, Billie Holliday and a whole lot more were consumed by one drug or another.

Not exactly the first time this sort of story gets reported. <insert nationality> man arrested for possession of <insert weight> of <insert drug> blah blah blah.

Then the wave of hang em, shoot em, scum of the earth etc etc posts, but then silence.

What does actually happen to these people? Do they get sentenced to anything?

Reporting seems to stop at the arrest stage - very occasionally a report of a sentence filters through but it is very rare.

If the 'harsh sentences' are supposed to be any form of deterrent, surely they should be reported. That is if any get to the sentencing stage....

Some time ago I was told that the chances of a man being infected with HIV from a woman during vaginal intercourse was 1%, but the chances of a woman being infected by a man who is carrying the disease during vaginal intercourse is 100%, when you have a man in a sexual relationship with another man the chances of infection if one of the partners is carrying the disease jump, I'm not sure of the figures but I'm sure someone would be, so the use of a condom is highly recommended, when I was in the navy my mother always said to me "be good, but if you can't be good be careful".

So a woman has 100% 'chance' if she has sex with an infected man unless he has sex with other men, in which case the chances jump. In other words, more than 100%!!

It doesnt need Einstein to work out something is wrong there.

Rubbish statistics and reporting are the problem here. One poster stated that between 10 and 30% of bar girls in Patong would test HIV+. A more accurate range would be between 0 and 100%. Unless you test the entire group there WILL be a margin of error but so many 'experts' extrapolate their statistics from unrealistic samples and expect the world to believe them. Example: The increase in infections in Queensland and WA is due to the mining boom. Most infections involve gay men. Therefore most mining workers must be gay!!!

Lying about the problem, for whatever reason, is not helpful and may even be counter-productive as truthful reports could be ignored in the filtering process.

There *is* still a problem but nowadays it is more likely to be governments wishing to increase the wealth of the rich at the expense of the health of the poor.

Always seems to be the Lure for Fast Easy Money not thinking to much about the lives they ruin....

The same can be said for the brewers and cigarette makers of the world.... They have ruined many many more lives but are welcomed and encouraged. Funny old world.

It's a good start.

to what?

To allow the bigger criminals gain even further power, just like the mafia did in the US after prohibition. It didn't work then and it won't work now. After all these so called successes, the use and abuse of these drugs increases which suggests the policy is not achieving its objectives but the powers that be, brains addled by years of alcohol poisoning, fail to notice this. A few countries have bravely tried different strategies with some real success but they are dismissed as 'irresponsible'. The rest continue with their failing methods increasing any problems and wasting huge amounts of money. Worthless as it is, it does give them something to do.