maidu

Go ahead, Israeli Defense Forces, bomb some more weapons caches. Make my day.

Wow - what stunning insight this man has offered, after the event!

Where was he on day one?

Why did Thai army continue to use the detectors and spokesman say they were fine when the first courts cases kicked off in 2008/9 ?

He didn't speak up because he is Thai. It's paramount here to never ruffle feathers, particularly of those higher in the pecking order. The Army and other offices didn't quit using the detectors, even after they suspected they were useless, because they paid so much for them, they couldn't admit having done anything wrong.

They didn't want to deploy sniffer dogs because that might upset the people who are planting the bombs ?? Go figure !

Better to have people blown to a hundred pieces than annoy a Muslim with a dog. Perhaps they'll find some stanza in the Q'ran which forbids them from going through the x-ray machine at the airport - and be excused from that indignity also. Does anyone in Thailand have the skills to train dogs to detect particular substances? From what I've seen of Thais and dogs, the former don't have a clue how to discipline the latter.

Here's a test: Put bits of various explosive ingredients (no, not your mother-in-laws pumpkin pie recipe) in 30 numbered paper bags. Some bags are empty and some contain non-explosive items. Run the tester near them. Write down results. Check bags to gauge device's veracity.

Why this would be tough to do in Thailand:

>>>> Few Thais have scientific training and analytical thinking abilities required.

>>>> Person who placed items in bags can't keep it secret.

>>>> Belief in ghosts is so prevalent among Thais, that if results didn't fit with what they wanted to find, they would attribute it to supernatural.

>>>> Higher ups in the pay-off trough wouldn't want the $30,000 devices to be proven to be hoaxes. They might miss a payment on their Lexus.

Next, try a test with voodoo surgeons in the Philippines.

I was not defrauded nor did I have a physical business in Thailand. Not close. Next.

You want to remain elusive and mysterious. You toss out bits of veiled data. Those of us reading these missives are gaining morsels of unclear info. Am I interested in knowing more about the guy and others mentioned in the OP? Yes, a bit. Am I interested in unveiling Mr. Mysterioso called 'Stuck'? No.

There are 1,000 jokes and snide remarks which can be tossed at this topic, but there are serious aspects. Thai power brokers will be seriously attempting to keep Bkk from the succumbing to the course of nature. Trillions of baht will be thrown in that direction. About 1/3 of that money will be pocketed by a few of the well connected. But the best can be hoped for is a decade of averting the inevitable. A few years after that, Bangsog (its new name) will be a symbol of how to dump a country's treasury down the P-trap - to no useful avail.

In early days of my 15 years residing in Thailand, I happened to walk in to a bar in mid-afternoon. I am not a bar-person and don't drink alcohol, but I thought, what the heck, there are some elder farang men, I'll see what's up. One guy was holding court on a barstool and was loudly spouting the same sort stuff that elektrified mentioned earlier in this thread. The guy looked at me while ranting. I thought to myself, "he doesn't know me from a bar of soap, and he's completely off base with his grinning assertions." I had a choice to argue with him, or leave. I left.

Russia finally has its own reasons to intervene and as sooner as better it will be.

So, you're advocating escalation of conflict? Odd.

Fretting about a 1 or 2% change in the value of the baht to dollar is mostly boring for me. It doesn't affect regular people. It mostly affects speculators and those who buy or sell large value items from abroad. People who are fixated on money matters will care about the relative wobble of the baht's value, but there are far greater issues to ponder, and perhaps do something about.

Some examples: Every day, species go extinct. and many others get closer to that precipice. Every day hundreds of rai of once-forested or meadow land gets scraped for buildings or roads, just in Thailand alone. Every day, massive amounts of toxic garbage gets dumped and watersheds get polluted. Every day, young girls are given to unscrupulous manipulators because the girls' parents can't get enough rice to feed the girls' younger brothers and sisters. Yet, the headlines in the Nation shout about a little wobble in the value of the baht.

I'd like to be informed if/when there's an upcoming event like this. I would have gone to the one posted here if I'd heard about it in a timely manner.

Stuck, it's becoming clearer now why you have such a grudge. We get the story in fits and starts, all in roundabout language. If you have a legal case, the perhaps it would behoove you to go to authorities. If it's feelings of being cheated with no legal recourse, the join the club. Since being in Thailand, 15 years, I've been blatantly cheated by both Thai and farang. Farang are more likely to cheat by deception (internet, ATM fraud) whereas Thais often cheat by flat-out lying (saying they will pay and/or making other sorts of solemn promises, and then, .....well, you guessed it).

Welcome to the club dude, my ex took much more than that and my 3 kids, tried to have me killed 3 times, had me arrested on false charges twice.... this is thailand, a Thai lie is much whiter than any farang truth..

Well, farang is farang, very different from regular humans, therfore easy to cheat, and steal from.

Well, I can steal a school backpack from a kid who is walking home from school. Because it's easy to do, does that mean I'm cool because I'm able to do it?

Maybe it would be easier to abandon the city when the time comes and relocate the capital to elsewhere say khon Kaen or somewhere else in the north east.

For years I have advocated relocating the city to higher ground, preferably several satellite cities, each with a focus: bureaucracy, Sangha, universities, manufacturing, bedroom communities, etc. Currently, every bit of biz or bureaucracy has to go to the bottomless pit called Bangkok, before any decision can get made. Just one of a bazillion examples: I recently filed a police report. The investigating cop said all security footage from ATMs in northern Thailand (and anywhere else in Thailand) were channeled thru Bkk. In other words, he has no chance in h*ll to obtain the incriminating footage. Another example: I wanted to build a skateboarding item (made of 2 pieces of plywood) in northern Thailand. I was told by an official that I had to formally petition an agency in Bangkok for permission.

Swing low, ol' Pattaya, comin' for to carry me home....

A few years ago, we had a Thai scientists claim that rising seas won't affect the water levels at the Gulf of Thailand.

More recently, another Thai hydro expert claim that flood waters could be more quickly expelled from the Chao Praya river by little boats revving their motors, while tethered to anchor points.

What sorts of uniquely Thai solutions will crop up - for saving Bangkok from becoming flooded year 'round?

seriously though, this is what will happen in the next 20 years. Mark my words:

Thai politicians will allocate trillions of baht to try to save Bangkok. They can't not do that, mainly because Bkk is so important to Thainess - its wats, its royal significance, and a thousand other reasons.

The power brokers will build ever higher dikes, berms at perimeters, and walls along the Chao Praya and its tributaries. Mega pumps will get put in, and some may actually function.

Awhile later, it will become increasingly evident that Mother Nature is more compelling than all efforts and expenditures of men. ....but not before trillions have been spent, and several well placed families become filthy rich in the process.

What to do?

>>> Open a floating shop selling inflatable rafts, all sizes.

>>> Market a flood avoidance device, about the size of a mobile phone, with no way to open it up.
The army will buy dozens of them, any price.

>>> Grow webbed feet.

I see most farang guys who marry a young cute Thai lady are thinking mainly, "Wow, I can legally bang her for free for as long as I want." (among other things)

Most Thai ladies who marry a farang guy are thinking, "wow, someone with deep pockets who is going to support me, and provide security to my family."

If there's any love in the equation, it rests in the infatuation spectrum and last a short time.

I see everyone is still missing the point here with all the "never marry a Thai lady" comments.

Look again at the OP, this guy was not legally married to his ex, even the headline "American Cheated By Late Thai Wife" is false and misleading.

I will say it again, his problem did not come from marrying a Thai lady, where he messed up was NOT marrying her.

What would he gain by having married her? Would he have stronger legal claim to pilfered assets and daughter? Maybe, in a law-based fair-minded society, but Thailand is neither. Thai people are selfish, and don't play fair, and have no qualms about lying to get their way (ok, you can say that about all other nationalities, blah blah blah). Thai justice is subjective. With or without a registered marriage, the farang can readily get reamed, if he's too trusting, and too much head-in-the-clouds.

The other list, from:

http://www.traveldailynews.asia/news/article/51430/asia-has-the-world-rsquo-s-most

Seems they forgot quite a few cities in their "13-Most".

Annual mean PM10 ug/m3

1. Ulan Bataar -279

2. Ludhiana - 251

3. Quetta - 251

4. Peshawar - 219

5. Kanpur - 209

6. Lahore - 200

7. New Delhi - 198

8. Karachi -193

9. Islamabad - 189

10. Lucknow - 186

11. Rawalpindi - 185

12. Indore - 174

13. Agra - 165

14. Langzhou -150

15. Kolkata - 148

16. Xining - 141

17. Urumqi - 140

18. Dhaka - 134

19. Mumbai -132

20. Jinan - 123

21. Beijing - 121

22. Xian - 113

23. Jaipur - 112

24. Medan - 111

25. Chengdu - 111

26. Shenyang -110

27. Varanasi (Benares) - 106

28. Kathmandu Valley - 106

29. Nanjing - 100

30. Hangzhou - 97

31. Yangon - 96

32. Bangalore - 90

33. Mandalay - 87

34. Hyderabad - 87

35. Shanghai - 81

36. Guangzhou - 70

37. Surabaya -69

38. Pusan - 68

39. Kunming - 67

40. Klang Valley - 65

41. Seoul - 64

42. Seongnam & Daegu - 64

43. Saraburi - 59

44. Bangkok - 54

45. Shah Alam - 54

46. Incheon - 54

47. Johor Bahru - 52

48. Ayutthaya - 51

49. Bandung - 51

50. Hong Kong - 50

51. Lhasa - 50

52. Nanning - 50

53. Kuala Lumpur - 49

54. Chennai (Madras) - 48

55. Metro Manila - 47

56. Nakhon Ratchasima - 47

57. Jakarta - 43

58. Ipoh - 42

59. Chiang Mai - 42

60. Haikou - 38

61. Chiang Rai - 33

62. Sandakan - 33

63. Singapore - 29

64. Phuket - 28

65. Chonburi (Pattaya) - 27

66. Osaka - 27

67. Khon Kaen - 24

68. Tokyo - 23

69. Brisbane - 18

70. Christchurch - 17

71. Auckland - 15

72. Perth - 13

73. Sydney - 12

74. Wellington - 11

75. Pekanbaru -11

78. Canberra - 10

Even though I referred to that list earlier (above) as worldwide, ...upon further reflection it looks like Asia-only if, as some people categorize Aus/NZ as part of Asia (which I don't). If the list were truly ww, there would at least be some cities from Africa and S.America and Russia included.

Interesting to note, that though it's a popular past-time to knock the US for all sorts of things, not least saying its cities are polluted, The reality is US cities are relatively clean. Part of the myth was bolstered by the fact that the US didn't support the Kyoto accords. I now realize the wisdom of that decision: It was based largely on the fact that China and India and Indonesia and Pakistan and other mega-polluting countries would be able to skirt around Kyoto provisions, claiming they were 'emerging economies.' Emerging or not, they cannot hide the fact that their cities are mega-polluting, and getting worse each week.

Re; the woman, 29: Thai authorities, if true to form, will do all they can to hush it up and hope it blows over.

However, there are some glaring drawbacks to doing that: If it was foul play, let's say murder or drugs or toxic chemicals, (assuming Thai investigators can scientifically assess that, and that's a big assumption) then it's doubtful the public will hear about it. Then it could be just a matter of time until it happens again. That's just one, of several reasons why good investigations are important, and why the results should be made public knowledge. The public deserves to know what sorts of possible dangers are lurking in Phuket region or wherever.

Hotel California: "You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave."

Hotel Thailand: "You can check out anytime you like, but don't expect a professional investigation of your demise."

He was one of three expats found dead overnight. Although not suspicious, their deaths still have to be explained, authorities said.

>The other expats are a 24-year-old Frenchman found hanging from a doorway at a house in Moo 7, Saiyuan, Rawai, two hours earlier and a 29-year-old American woman found in a guesthouse in Rawai, southern Phuket, three hours later.

If hanging from a doorway is not suspicious I would hate to see what captain obvious does call suspicious!

And how many 29 year old females just drop dead in a guesthouse?

Who writes this crap?

Is there more news? ...updates? The two in their 20's sound suspicious indeed. "And how many 29 year old females just drop dead in a guesthouse?" asks Loptr. Answer: an alarming number, though it usually happens at Ko Phi Phi, which is close to Phuket.

At least four in the past 2 years. None of which were investigated adeptly. Expect the same sort of botched surly pseudo-investigation for the recent 29 yr. old woman. Particularly if there are any Thai guys or drugs involved. Wouldn't want to tarnish the burnished tourist image of Thailand, would we. And Thai authorities would definitely hate to see any Thai boys implicated/incriminated in the death of a young farang woman.

i find it amusing that thailand will seek justice for tourists, yet overlook justice for expats getting ripped off by greedy needy thais, a justice system needs to be set in place to help expats

The expat should have known better.

Reminds me of an old Beatles song: "I should have known better with a girl like you, that I would love everything that you do,....."

Updated version attuned to Thailand:

"I should have known better with a girl like you, that I would lose everything that I invested in...."

and Chiang Mai is one of them, right above my town of Chiang Rai.

Chiang Rai province is far worst than CM province during the burning season. ChiangMai might be a touch worst being in a basin that it is.

The main road near my house in Chiang Rai is sooooo bad with dump trucks loaded with fill dirt - that riding that road on a motorbike gets grains of dry clay and sand in teeth and eyes. Even so, I'll have to say that C.Mai is worse, because of the multiple numbers of cars and trucks, and complete lack of public transport. Note, on a list of 30 worst cities ww, Pattaya and Phuket were mentioned - so even being by a seashore is no guarantee of clean air. Of course, the gold medal for worst air in a Thai city goes to Bangkok. If they could bottle the black smoke that farts out of city buses, and sell it for 2 satang a bottle, they would be rich.