ThaiAdventure

If Many Provinces, which ones please?

The Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) has announced curfew in Bangkok and nearby cities and provinces in the North and Northeast earlier placed under emergency law.

if you live in one of the 15 provinces on this list, you might could be under curfew tonight.

A list would be more useful!

Here is the curfew document. Unfortunately it is in Thai. So if someone could offer a translation it should spread more light?

Curfew Announcement

Condom sizes are based on the width size of a flat laying condom. So measure the Circumference and divide by approximately 2. Also note that a flat laying condom is smaller at the entrance end then at the middle of the condom to minimize slipping off.

Actually it is "divide by 3.14 or approximately 3!"

The Cancún LifeStyle study, in which the circumference of the shaft was measured at three points (base, mid-shaft, and just below the head) and then averaged, found an average of 12.63 cm (4.972 inches) with a standard deviation of 1.3 cm (0.5 in).^[8]

^{Human Penis size}

So, by that definition, the average is about 4cm width, but more importantly, the average circumference is 126 mm

This would make a great poll (fnarr, fnarr).

Suphat Vongvisessomjai, a former professor in water resources engineering at Bangkok's Asia Institute of Technology. has just made another pronouncement in light of a development in popular culture. His pronouncement as follows:

Thailand will also be excluded from any events portrayed by the movie "2012" should those events become reality. It is somehow connected with the fact that Thailand is the center of the known universe.

Thats fantastic. . Do you have a link to the full article?

How does that face up to the fact that, for the last two years, the quasi mythical Northern Passage, an open water link "on top" of Canada has been navigated (by normal, not ice breaking ships) for the first time since the four centuries that it has been sought?

The Northwest Passage was first naviagated in 1906 by Roald Amundsen.

Nonsense.

1. If he had hung himself then the body would be underneath. As far as I'm aware, it's a disembodied head.

2. The note stinks of Thai grammar (like "My fiend me")

Soots contribution to global warming isn't "new" news and IMHO is more believable than that of CO2. I find it very difficult to believe that such a vast phenomenon has just popped in to existence! More scaremongering!

soot worse for global warming than thought (2003)

Global Warming Soot (2003)

Soot particles, which absorb toxic organic material, are minute enough to penetrate skin when breathed in. Soot is the aerosol most responsible for the haze in rapidly developing countries such as India and China, the scientists said.

You have to give the courts credit. They are really kicking butt at all levels. Lets hope this isn't a flash in the pan.

Marvelous news. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy

The UK is tightening up on immigration. A bit late in the day but just in time for this character. Although if Thailand had revoked his passport after the conviction (as I think happens automatically in most European countries....may be wrong), then the UK wouldn't have been put in the position of having to refuse it in the first place.

Wow. Didn't know this thread was still active

I'm starting to get ready for the Big Freeze. Already bought my thermals....Not long now.

Younger Dryas

The following is from the Far Eastern Economic Review and quite interesting and informative. It is very much Pro democracy (not necessarily pro PAD) and is written with intelligence. I'm sure most of you will enjoy it...

http://www.feer.com/politics/2008/septembe....-Samak-Must-Go

This is definitely worth a read and approaches things in a different direction form most and imho makes a good case for a solution.

Edited to add: The out and out Thaksinistas with their party line playbook arent going to like it though as it doesnt mention referendum

Is this a misspelling?

The poor far prefer such tough-guy populists to the lawyerly policy-wonk types of the Democrat Party

Good, well written article that should have come from Thai journalists.

Full PDF here:

Characteristics of Internet Traffic in Thailand

It's a well written and very informative paper, albeit about 2 years old with the information probably being older than that. Two or three years in IT is like two or three decades in people-years.

Indeed. But I thought it did point out a very interesting fact that only 10% of local bandwidth was utilised whereas nearly all international bandwidth was swallowed (albeit a couple of years ago, but the trend was clear).

I think the usage demographic still holds true today (been looking for more up to date info but still looking) and IF it is true then according to the following info, investment in the structure has missed the mark a bit by heavily weighting local bandwidth exapnsion over international.

So, yor local access is a fast as it ever was.....and your international access is as slow as it ever was.

Month (Summary) : 2008-08-05 International Bandwidth : 30.071 Gbps

Domestics Bandwidth : 226.06 Gbps

Domain under .TH: 28652 Domains

โดเมนภาษาไทยภายใต้ .TH :7105 Domains

Internet User : 13.416 (Million) Users

Me thinks the children playing politics are about to get a spanking.....again!

Full PDF here:

Characteristics of Internet Traffic in Thailand

This section summarizes the main findings and

discusses their implications.

(1) As expected, Internet traffic exhibits strong daily

and weekly periodicities. This suggests predictability of the

traffic data. One can always expect a higher transfer rate

when using Internet on weekends or during midnight-6am

on weekdays. As a result, large file transfers or bulk

transactions should be planned during these periods.

(2) Volume of Internet traffic coming from abroad is

larger than that leaving Thailand. This suggests traffic deficit

with foreign ISPs. As a result, Thai ISPs will be at

disadvantage when dealing with overseas peering

agreements.

(3) Domestic bandwidth usage is low. Only 10% of

capacity deployed by ISPs is used daily. Although such

usage level is considered normal for large Internet backbones

in the U.S. [9], it may not be appropriate for Thai

networks. On a pessimistic side, such low utilization level

could mean that there is a low demand for local Internet

contents, or there are not enough interesting local contents

available. Both reasons could worsen the degree of overseas

traffic deficit mentioned above. On an optimistic side, light

utilization is partially a reflection of the high growth rate. A

low utilization level may signal an era of competition and

overcapacity. It is speculated that such over-provisioning

situation is driven by the desire for low transaction latency

more than the desire for actual data transfer [9].

(4) Deployment of international capacity is slower than

that of domestic capacity while international traffic demand

grows faster than domestic traffic demand. This is due to

following reasons. Currently, there are many limitations to

ISP's deployment of international capacity. Firstly,

regulations require that ISPs obtain international bandwidth

through a state-owned enterprise. In other words, they

cannot peer with their overseas counterpart directly.

Secondly, the declining value of the Thai Baht after the 1997

crisis puts Thailand at a disadvantage position for

international bandwidth trade. Both reasons amount to high

cost of provisioning new international capacity.

As for why traffic demand grows faster for international

traffic than domestic traffic, this could be attributed to the

user's insatiable demand for international contents. This, in

turns, implies that international bandwidth is essentially

driven by the desire for actual network usage, as oppose to

the desire for low transaction latency as seen in domestic

traffic.

(5) Fast Internet growth rate found in Thailand implies

that careful capacity planning is no longer possible. Even a

rate of traffic doubling each year is considered disruptive for

network operators, let alone the 4x growth [9]. The growth

of Internet in Thailand is not likely to be smooth or

predictable. Thus, simplicity should be the key to network

engineering. Over-provisioning might be the way to go since

it can reduce the overhead cost for putting in more

bandwidth every so often.

I bet the international traffic is bit torrent

England a banana republic? Why the country harbor these type of people. Why don't i commit some crime and running to banana republic of england and call it a home base.. I don't want to insult the Brits, but dam_n. I bet regular Brits probably get some serious charge for doing some minor laws.

Deport all his family and member back to Thailand.

If England do let Thaksin clan stay, it label England the wrong way....why don't all terrorist and curropt politician should get a "get out of jail cards" and head to england.

Let's see what happened

I want to see the "clan" in jail

Also, it is the thai's system fault for letting them escape.

Maybe you should look at why your own country let them travel in the first place

Well, the ball is still in the Thai courts ('scuse the pun).

They (Toxin crew) have made the choice to flee but whether they will be deported from the UK really depends on whether an extradition request is made by the Thai authorities. If it is, then they (Thai Judiciary) will have to issue a warrant and certificate to start the process. The UK does not allow extradition where a person may be executed for thier crimes charged (not the case here) but other than that (IF the Thai's really want him back) I cannot see any reason for the UK to refuse. If they don't want him then they don't have to issue the warrants and Toxin will stay.

UK Extradition Act 2003

The Thai Courts so far have done everything by the book (admittedly a very curious book since most other countries would definately not allow travel in the first place), but if they have the will; they also have the way. My guess is they don't have the will.

a quadruple Gemini with Virgo in mars.

Is that similar to a double hernia with Cancer in Uranus?

Perhaps a more common term would be militia or (as the regular army would say) cannon fodder

I think this analysis by the British Antarctic Survey gives a more balanced and nuanced view of what is happening in Antarctica, admitting that there may be increased ice cover while temperatures are rising in the Southern air and oceans beyond many models predictions, concluding that:"......there is increasing evidence that a significant part of this change is ultimately driven by human activities."

http://www.antarctica.ac.uk//bas_research/...mate_change.php

Just to expand on your bold quote....

Many of the theories that seek to explain the circumpolar warming of

the ACC also have the strengthening of the westerly winds as their root

cause. Whilst there is not yet a clear consensus on which are the

mechanisms that are most important, there is increasing evidence that a

significant part of this change is ultimately driven by human activities

.....and to bring it into context with this line of the next paragraph:

They also make the important point that there is huge variability at various stations in climate change and records do not stretch as far back as Arctic stations. Glaciers are retreating and huge ice shelves are cracking off/calving, the most dramatic of which was Larsen B in 2002. "The Antarctic Peninsula is contributing to sea level rise at about the same rate as Alaskan glaciers". Circumpolar westerly winds seem to be key as to what transpires in Antarctica.

It seems our other (former) evil deed is working for us at the moment. (SAM=Circumpolar Westerly Winds)

Ozone Layer to the Rescue?

Ozone has another, less obvious effect, on global climate. Over the

past 50 years, the Antarctic ozone hole has amplified a key cyclonic

wind pattern in the Southern Hemisphere called the Southern Annular

Mode (SAM). A dense ozone layer heats the underlying stratosphere, 12

to 50 kilometers above Earth's surface, while the ozone hole leads to

cooling. Affected by both the greenhouse-gas buildup at lower altitudes

and the cooler stratosphere, SAM has blocked warmer air from reaching

Antarctica, resulting in an icier continent but warming just about

everywhere else south of the equator.

So. No more ice cores then

Interestingly, whilst the Arctic over the last few years has been decreasing, the Antarctic has been increasing

But wait!

Before we all blame human flatulance, it might be worth considering that the newly discovered (relativley speaking) Gakkel Ridge has been very active in recent years. I wonder if this is included in the models?

Arctic Volcanoes Found Active at Unprecedented Depths

NASA tends to sensationalise things a bit, me thinks...

NASA Finds Greenland Snow Melting Hit Record High in High Places

A new NASA-supported study reports that 2007 marked an overall rise in

the melting trend over the entire Greenland ice sheet and, remarkably,

melting in high-altitude areas was greater than ever at 150 percent

more than average. In fact, the amount of snow that has melted this

year over Greenland is the equivalent of more than twice the surface

size of the U.S.

I agree with this analysis of thier claims.

Greenland Climate: Now vs. Then, Part II. Record Greenland Melt Area?

Cabinate re-shuffle next to quell the pleas to resign?

The PM needs to read this thread...

PM says situation in restive South has improved

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said at the end of the Senate meeting yesterday that the situation in the deep South improved after four months of the government's work.

- ThaiNews (today)

Indeed, thanks to your Stirling efforts Sriracha John. Not just keeping us abreast on this thread....but the many others as well.

To be fair, the military dictatorship didn't have opposition street protests like the PAD is currently mounting to divert its attention from the business of running the country. And they didn't have a parliamentary opposition threatening to oust them through a censure motion. And they didn't have the threat of a military coup to oust them as a diversion from the real business of running the country. And they didn't have the same level of world economic downturn to deal with. And they didn't have the same level of world food shortage (especially rice) to deal with. And they didn't have the same level of world rise in oil prices to deal with.

But they did have the ability to stay in power at their own pleasure.

And they did have the power to force a new constitution through.

And they did have the power to exonerate themselves from any criminal charges for ousting the government.

And they did have the power to give themselves big pay rises and increase the military budget by something like 35%

The military government ruled Thailand for what --17 months? The PPP coalition has been in power for about 4 and a half months, and under some of the most extreme and difficult conditions imaginable for a new government. I don't see the comparison between the two as a fair appraisal of the new governments performance. In fact I don't think anyone can make a fair appraisal of any new governments performance inside their first 12 months of power.

Selective comparisons may turn up different results depending what periods one chooses to compare. For example compare the best 12 months of Thailand's prosperity under Thaksin's rule with the last 12 months of Saryids rule.

If one argues for a change of government on the basis of a previous governments better performance under totally different circumstances we (the Thais) would be changing governments every month. But it does appear that this is what some want.

Forced through?

Wasn't it put to a referendum? Can't get more democratic than that IMHO.

Oh dear.

So we now have calls for resignation (from PAD with probably MP's to follow) and talk of dissolution and snap elections. Its all looking horribly familair.