MEL1

Sorry, but I'd rather spend my time observing female legs. Nothing else to add.

-mel.

These are obviously in the know!

-mel.

smotherb, on Yesterday, 22:36 , said:

Dude, bro . . . . it's straight up soggy out there. I was about to wax up my beater . . .and its down

Come again?

Surfing terms concerning the water and the surf board .^

It is indeed good to see that lessons have been learned from the previous disaster and both the authorities and the public in the main responded well to the perceived threat.

Glad that's cleared up. I was having some dashing peculiar thoughts about you too! Now I know a few new 'surfing' terms.

-mel.

Great reporting, great follow up with live status from all, (part the odd joker), a successful warning system, serious updates for all concerned, and over all had it been a real Tsunami there would have been no loss of life like 2004. I call it a successful day in that people were ready, but more that nothing majorly eventful happened and there were no waves of consequence. It is success...... a rarity often endured in many places.

Good night folks, smile, and enjoy tomorrow and Song Kran.

-mel.

A bank with no guard... only in Thailand?

banks in belgium don't have guards cause they are properly secured.

Agreed. I was thinking about this also. Banks in UK don't have guards. The counters are emergency shuttered, doors also shuttered. If an assailant tries, he's highly unlikely to shoot customers. It just isn't a gun toting environment. I am sure there are hidden security guys available, but not visible.

Any UK ex-bank workers who know the ins and outs of these environments?

Thailand may well need guards in private gold shops, but banks? Is Thailand so far behind that we can have Bon-nee and Klai-dee situ?

-mel.....

photo of phuket beach not looking good !

If this was taken today it's quite disturbing. The water went out, and just rolled back in again? No tsunami at all? I would have been up in the hills had I seen the water recede that much. Had it receded this much in 2004? I was in my hotel room in Patong at the time of that tsunami, so didn't see how far the water went out that day.

It went out over half a mile!

In seconds....... may I add.

Time to Karma please. The worst is over, according to top reports, experts, CNN and so forth. There won't be a flip movement between plates, even in after shocks. Any Tsunami will be a small flood on low lying ground. If your land is low, comparative to sea-level then please adjust your possible needs to salvage items from potential floods. As for a Tsunami in Thailand, the warning has dissipated to zero.

I don't post in haste now, but simply from experts. Go enjoy your normal routine..... no Tsunami will hit Thai areas.

-mel.

Enjoy your evening! (and let's be thankful that we didn't have a repeat of 2004... )

http://news.blogs.cn...article_sidebar

Edit: Indonesia is alledgly out of the woods, according to this latest report, and hence everywhere else.

Be vigilant, but it's your choice. I do think the worst is over, when reading many various sites.

Enjoy your meal.

-mel.

As a driver, these events becoming more frequent are a big concern to me!

It would appear that the standard of road building from times ago, just looking at some of those shocking pictures, is now showing the short-cuts and cost-cutting shower of exercises that we all know occured back then...... based upon common up to date knowledge.

There is nothing underneath the tarmac/ lack of Thai concrete/ around the sewer inlets and caps, as that's how they were built. So, in reality, any of us driving could get a nasty detour of wheel at any moment.

So could a petrol tanker or any heavy goods vehicle.

This needs to be dealt with very seriously, but the official answer seems to be always, "Well fill it a.s.a.p.... so no congestion!"

One day the whole lot will collapse in... and that won't be pretty.

There is no real investigation happening here, just fill in/cover over/ get the problem forgotten.

I wonder if the guys at the top of Govnt now were the ones who pounded every penny of investment, and are covering their own asses for past gains???????

-mel.

These holes are appearing all over now

As I posted with source earlier, it is ok to be complacent with ETA of waves, but they can vary from 5 mins to an Hour!

If there has been a vertical aftershock, please don't just assume you can go back down from safe heights to resume as normal. It's dark, and you can't see what might come. Please be vigilant, wait it out, and be safe. The old English adage, "Better safe than sorry!"

Safety to all... -mel. Please....

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/04/11/world/asia/indonesia-earthquake/index.html?hpt=ias_c1 LATEST: In bold!

Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) -- A massive earthquake struck off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Wednesday afternoon, triggering a tsunami alert for the Indian Ocean.

The quake struck about 434 kilometers (270 miles) southwest of Banda Aceh, the capital of Indonesia's Aceh province, and had a magnitude of 8.6, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It took place at a depth of 23 kilometers (14 miles).

A second quake, magnitude 8.2, occurred off the west coast of Sumatra about two hours later, the USGS said.

Gary Gibson from the Seismology Research Center in Melbourne, Australia, said the location of the second quake reduces the possibility of a tsunami.

There were no immediate reports of destruction or deaths Wednesday.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on local television that there were no reports of casualties or damage in Aceh.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami watch for the entire Indian Ocean, and the Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said it had put up a tsunami warning as well.

Sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated, the warning center said. "It may already have been destructive along some coasts."

How are earthquakes measured?

The center also said that "when no major waves have occurred for at least two hours after the estimated arrival time or damaging waves have not occurred for at least two hours, then local authorities can assume the threat is passed."

Keep safe, but it would appear not long to go for a passed warning.

And note: Thailand has invested in these warning programs after 2004, and they appear to have worked..... as you are all alert to the situ, and on high ground observing. Hats off to the warning systems implemented, and to TVisa for propogating early warnings.

-mel.

Still keep alert for the next 2 hours though, even if it is getting dark. Food will be sufficive.

-mel.

There is continuous updated coverage, for the next hours, minute by minute at : http://edition.cnn.c...-earthquake.cnn - at which you need to keep clicking the ASIA earthquake page after each update. It seems fair, accurate and not spectacular but direct reporting.

They are collating expert advice, and the potential outcome initially appears much better than 2004, but please get away from forewarned areas as a precaution.

-mel.

Good luck everybody, and take caution before risk at any time.... !!

Edit: CNN live blog - updated with latest predictions: http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/11/magnitude-8-7-quake-strikes-off-the-indonesian-island-of-sumatra/?iid=article_sidebar

Epitath anybody?

" zulu."

" Did do."

" Killed"

" Tried you too".

" Testi-money"

" Got yours, of course."

-Mugabe.

Personally, I think that pic of her texting at the funeral is absolutely disgusting.

I wonder whether she will apologize? She'd better be careful, the laws of insulting the institutions are serious in Thailand.

I think her brother will fly in to apologise for her, one day.

-mel.

Can't figure how to make enough money to pass around, better study it somemore.

Same stink, different day.

Oh yes they can.

Word on the grapevine in the Petroleum wholesaling business is that Benzene Petroleum products will incur another 1.07B per litre as of 16th of April. I think this is the fourth 1.07 Baht tax increase on Benzene products in the last three or four months.

Oh yes that is quite observable.

I was meaning about the cheap housing financing deal.

Big ticket items are harder to skim off of, because there are fewer of them.

Of course kick backs have a smaller margin too, so where to put the money for best return?

Of course, the cheap housing deals were set up to set up the buyers of the land, which included all that we don't need to allay propositions against, as we know family names already.

The inner land, around and about Don Mueang and Mueang Ake are now flood potentials, amongst many other areas, and nobody wants to buy anymore; many of which these places were, and are, the building estates of those 'families' who invested.

Now the lenders are at risk, from their own high-flying ranking officials, and are in contempt of continuation at their own losses. Shame!

Buy into the top, get shat on from the top, and you lose. That's TIT for you!

-mel.

Now her increased knowledge of English is of enhanced wealth, from those hotel lessons.

She now knows not to respond nor say, "If you are gentleman, you wouldn't be doing this to me", when he simply responds with, "If you were a Lady, you wouldn't be speaking with your mouth full! More house keeping please, Lady!"

-mel.

"I believe the prime minister might have spoken too fast, hence a slip of the tongue," he said.

Does that translate as, she's speaking faster than her brain works?

Well, so far she has avoided a slip-of-tongue like the one delivered by a former Thai PM who addressed Queen Elizabeth II as "Queen Elizabeth Taylor" when he welcomed her on arrival at Don Muang airport for a state visit. Honestly!

But in any case it is rather embarrassing if you - the head of government - don't know the official titles of your colleagues from neighbouring countries. You could perhaps be forgiven to get the title of the head of government of Guatemala wrong. But Malaysia...?!

That's the reason! Just got it. The hotel room private lessons were for the bad slip of tongue, and its correction for foreign ambassadors. Thanks. Now I understand. Shame her hotel room lessons didn't increase her grade.

-mel.

Nobody can really be surprised about that photo. We all know where the Shinawatras got their priorities ...

Maybe big brother sent an SMS

Maybe it was a message with a hotel room booking?

-mel.

What a refreshing and well written editorial, for a change.

Obviously it is written by a farang, no matter the credibility attached to it.

It contains many fair and accurate comments, which compile into reasonable reading.

Most of it does boil down to a whitewashed slate for Mr Thaksin, and reactions to that, as we are well aware.

The editorial does point to that most crucial of matters, and that is reactions to certain ammended bills by both parties. It is clearly stated that if Mr T is forgiven, held unaccountable for past actions, and permitted to come back freely without charge then all hell will break loose.

We all also know this, but this is a precise editorial which points directly to that point. Be it sooner or later in this year, we know what the intent of the current 'regime' is, and if try to pass it unwarranted then there will likely be a tantamount to civil war here.

A simply underwritten article , in a very subtle manner, is well presented here. Well done to TV for a fair and fresh editorial.

-mel.

For now we are safe as everywhere in Thailand is swarming with police and military.

Swarming? Where are you located... the deep south? The rest of Thailand is not swarming, hence a likely target.

Very straight up good people.

As for UN, this isn't a lateral war, it's an internal Thai problem, so there won't be any UN coming.

-mel.

Boonchai didn't change Thai law to suit his personal wealth. IF YOU HAVE proof to the contrary then please feel free to post it.

Selling a company does not preconclude not retaining assets of a percentage, in fact it is common.

It was, as we all know, Thaksin himself who changed Thai law to suit his own personal gains.

Quorum et decorum, in tablino Chalerm et Thaksin bebat!

-mel.

Read the text in context with the post I quoted or don't bother, I really don't care.

You seem to not care about reality statements you believe you make when questioned about them.

I took nothing out of context, and simply asked you a continuation question.

Why did you decline, and say I was out of context?

-mel.

IMO that was Thaksin's real crime, making the poor realize they can have an impact on which corrupt elite mafia network rules over them.

Thaksin's *real crime*, the start of where all the countries current problems can be accurately pointed back to, was his sale of AIS to Temasek and his modifications of the law to ensure he obtained maximum profits. An achievement he subsequently boasted about.

It wasn't the "elite" being jealous and/or weary about his support. This is a myth perpetuated by red shirt supporters and PR groups as an attempt to legitimise his actions. Why is it a myth? Because the very people the Thaksin PR side claim were jealous/weary of his support actually voted for him during the 2005 elections, securing his final election victory before the sale of AIS was complete (and even public knowledge at the time). These elections occurred after the implementation of his "populist policies" which were supposed to have driven the very powerful "elite" people who voted for him away.

If the sale of AIS was completed before he became PM, or it was handled in a more transparent and fair manor, there would of been no PAD protests, no coup and none of the red-shirt instigated chaos we've seen over the years since.

There is a tacit understanding among the wealthy of Bangkok though that they play the business game along of the lines of keeping foreigners out. They keep the governments in line about this issue, do their business and largely pay their due taxes. By this I am talking the very large conglomerates. They pay their dues in return for protection from the big wide world market. Thaksin had an enormous problem, he had a technology company that needed a ton of new money to upgrade itself, and he didn't want to keep it. What to do? Sell to whom? CP already had a phone company, the richest in Thailand weren't interested, so sell to whom? The only option was overseas.

Now you can wonder about the details, but the financial industry was slated for some kind of reform within 10 years of the IMF deal in 1997, and it never came, but Thaksin did issue a new license to L&H bank, and after seeing what he did with AIS, I think this really put the cat among the pigeons. Just look at how CP was with him, but rapidly slinked off into the shadows. He scared the bejeesus out of them by appearing to start to dismantle the very protections that had made them all billionaires, just in the same way that the IMF deals and the reform of the telecoms opened him up to competition.

Basically he took his company as far as he wanted and flogged it, but the blue rinsed Tatler brigade of Bangkok were very much caught out by this and realised that if he kept going, the farang companies were going to be on their doorstep pretty quickly and the days of monopoly profit on ATM transfers and continually manipulating rice markets and the such were going to be long gone. So they canned him forthwith, but unfortunately, never landed the knock out punch, so expect some pretty big payback when he finally gets back in here.

Nobody seemed to take much notice when the Bencharongkul family sold DTAC to Norway (retaining 9% in a nominee holding company) in a similar way that Thaksin sold AIS. It could have been investigated under the foreign nominee holdings act but wasn't, didn't comply with foreign dominance regs and as far as I'm aware, still doesn't.

Boonchai Bencharongkul is above Shiniwatra in the Forbes 2011 list.

Boonchai didn't change Thai law to suit his personal wealth. IF YOU HAVE proof to the contrary then please feel free to post it.

Selling a company does not preconclude not retaining assets of a percentage, in fact it is common.

It was, as we all know, Thaksin himself who changed Thai law to suit his own personal gains.

Quorum et decorum, in tablino Chalerm et Thaksin bebat!

-mel.

It is a young mans dream to travel the globe. The stout of heart do and some find early death in a geophysical circumstance that had prevailed for eons. Such is the mystery of chance. Rest in peace dear traveler.

I have been working over 35 years in the field of geophysics. How much longer can I expect to dodge the bullet?

I am in Astrophysics. How long do I have?

I'm in Quantum physics. I'm elsewhere at the moment.

-mel.