cewing

I believe that it was about two years ago that the Chinese government stated that the buildup of reefs, islets, etc. was not for military purposes.

Ray was integral to the early success of The Moodies.  My all-time favorite music video relates to when I saw them in concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater in 1995.  I hope that all Moodies fans enjoy it as much as I do ...

Why are you bringing politics into this issue?

For the relatively light fine of 5,000 baht, I believe that My Mate Nate will consider it a worthwhile "investment" for future publicity.

You are correct -- it was the Chicago Department of Aviation ("CDA") who pulled the passenger from the plane.  They were asked to do it by Republic Airline (RA).  United Airlines' only involvement was to have RA as the flight operator.  And neither UA nor RA can choose what organization(s) forcibly remove passengers from flights.  So, it should be primarily the CDA and secondarily RA who pay the majority of the settlement.  (BTW, I have no affiliation with United Airlines.)

If anyone is interested in exact numbers, I tracked my expenses when I lived, alone, in the country (Buriram) between Sep., 2011 and Feb., 2013. The average monthly costs of living were as follows --

Can you provide more information about the person?

Posted Today, 15:06

Why do you even want to go?

I remember the poor soul who survived through the killing fields of the Khmer Rogue died on the streets of USA.

I drank tap water from the faucet in my apartment's bathroom for one year. I never got sick. Lucky? Maybe. Dumb? Maybe. Sick? Never.

"... about 10 nautical miles west of Koh Chang (off the coast of Ranong)."? If my geometry serves, Koh Chang is in The Gulf of Thailand. They must have meant (Koh) Zadetkyi, (Koh) Than, or one of the other islands off of Ranong. Of less importance is that Ranong's latitude is closer to 10 degrees (9.96 at the travel police station) than 9 degrees.

I once read a headline, right to lifer shoots an abortionist dead. True or tabloid stuff?

It is true. Good point.

Don't they have a historical site that has the oldest human remains and artifacts in Korat?

Phi Mai

The way it works is this.

The moment you stop being a democracy, your aide stops immediately and automacically and sanctions are AUTOMATICALLY imposed.

There is no negotiation on this in US law, you are a democracy or you are toast!! Same as happened last time for those of us who remember.

Really want to bankrupt the country as well as more civil strife? what better way than an appointed PM!!!

Thailand receives financial aid from US?

The last time, for those of us who remember, Thailand managed ok without US approval.

Please refer to ...

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R42621.pdf

and

http://foreignassistance.gov/CountryIntro.aspx

and

http://www.foreignassistance.gov/web/OU.aspx?FY=2015&OUID=326&AgencyID=0

... for applicable US financial aid information.

Not to say that I support this concept, but to answer the question about what other countries require tourists to have health insurance, the Czech Republic is one of them. Check out http://www.czech.cz/en/Life-Work/How-things-work-here/Health-service/Foreigners%E2%80%99-Health-Insurance .

FYI, on another forum, a person stated that this situation existed several years ago. If nothing else, for me, it would be worth determining if and when it will exist. The reason why is that, living in Buriram, it is necessary to travel to either Kap Choeng or Korat in order to do my 90-day check-ins. Obviously, I'd rather do it locally, saving money, time, etc. as opposed to the current situation.

I heard that 90-day reporting at police stations for non-immigrant 'B' visas was going to be implemented prior to the end of 2012. Does anyone have any information about this situation?

Try http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/# .

Craig-Ben Ewing

Have you considered buying an electric motorbike? For example, a Jeelang Best. I bought one 4 months ago and have been very happy with it. They cost around 19,000 baht, are all-electric, do not require registration, insurance, or a helmet. It takes around 6 hours to charge the batteries (4 of them in a single container). The drawbacks with them are (1) A top speed of 35 kph, and (2) A maximum distance of about 45 km. The only problem that I've had with it (so far) is that one of the wires in the battery box got disconnected. I took it back to the dealer and they fixed it for free, part of the one-year warranty.

Good Day,

The Moon-Jupiter eclipse --

It will occur on the night of August 11th, morning of August 12th.

The Perseid meteor shower --

1) The Perseids occur on the night of August 12th, morning of August 13th

2) The meteors appear to emanate from the constellation Perseus; hence, the shower's name

3) The constellation Perseus breaches the northeastern horizon at about 8:00pm (in most of the northern hemisphere) and clears the horizon at about 10:45; thus, the best viewing occurs when it's well above the horizon, typically after 1:00am on August 13th

4) The typical number observed

5) Meteors from the shower can be observed several nights before and after the peak night, so the actually peak might occur one or two nights before or after the expected peak

6) Meteors can be seen as soon as the sky is dark enough

7) Typical meteors are bright and faster than meteors in other showers (e.g., The Geminids in December -- an average of 100 meteors per hour plus the sky is more likely to be clear)

8) The Geminids is the best meteor shower of the year in terms of the number of objects, their brightness, their lengths, and the number of bolides; The Quadrantids is the second best with 60 to 100 meteors per hour, ; The Perseids is the third best with 60 to 80

9) When photographing meteors, in general, set up a camera on a tripod, open the shutter for as many minutes as possible, and close the shutter whenever you believe that you recorded a meteor; trying to photograph them by hand and swinging to catch them is, essentially, impossible

10) Set up a lawn-type chair (where you can rest your head back), face east/northeast, avoid seeing the horizon in order to maximize the chance of seeing meteors, and drink something that will keep you awake (containing caffeine, sugar, etc.)

11) The comet related to the shower is 109P/Swift-Tuttle; the comet, like all comets, follows the same path around the sun (unless it's disturbed by another object along its path -- e.g., Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 crashing into Jupiter in July, 2009) and therefore supplies new meteor material whenever it crosses the earth's revolutionary path around the sun

12) On average, a person will see 60 to 80 meteors per hour

13) The Leonids is typically one of the weakest showers of the year -- an average of about one dozen meteors per hour, but occasionally it puts on great shows

Sorry for any repeated information. And sorry if this is TMI ("too much information).

(member of an astronomy club, minor in astro-geophysics)

Long Live The King! (Now to learn how to say it in Thai.)