fire and ice

The NK's are really so sure of themselves, just like Saddam was and remember how long his regime lasted! They have a nuclear bomb that they have let off uderground and have no conception of what happens when it goes off above the ground, they have not seen the damage it causes and all their tiny explosions were smaller than Hiroshima, much smaller. They seem to be spoiling for a fight and in some ways I think the US would like the opportunity to end this once and for all, before they can send missiles to the US mainland, it would also be a lesson to other would be's in the middle east, I hope it does not come to a conflict but its racheting up for one, I am glad its not on my doorstep or flight path. Common sense is something NK seems to be short of, like most things there.

I think the biggest fear whcih is avoiding publcicity (and subsequent panic) is that they have already smuggled bombs into a city or two and can detonate it in place.

One legal arguemnt is that 16 is the age of consent

In Austrlaia I'm pretty sure 16 is the "age of consent" in all states and applies ot dmioestic cases (although this is federal law).

This merely means that you need parental consent to have sex under 16

As this was his parent consent was obviosuly implied.

But not sure where the line is drawn that consent is not even alowed and also how this factors into the federal law.

Nice one

I knew there would be something before I even opened today's news email.

High score for comedy value - got me laughing, but low score for trolling ability - its a bit too obvious.

Nicely written though complete with crafty contradictions .

When will the human brain finally evolve?

The North Korean leadership is made up of very neurotic people.

But Human brains are rarely the problem.

Our neuroses are first and foremost entangled in our bodies, not our brains. Irrational thinking is usually a symptom of body related emotive problems not the cause. The irrational neurotic behaviour is body related and merely filters our thoughts to make it appear that our brains are coming up with crap.

The faster humans come to realise and deal with things in this way the better the world will become.

Even university academics 'brains' are so wrapped up in their own body-neuroses that they stubbornly refuse to accept it, despite the insurmountable evidence is that "regular psychology" has got it all so wrong. I mean how many people get angry in their minds without their body being involved in some way? The body has emotive reactions then the brain follows NOT the other way around!!

True "open mindedness" requires one to deal with their bodily neuroses in order to unfilter their perception of the world around them. Its hard enough for a well-to-do individual in the west; fat chance this will happen in the DPRK anytime soon!

See here rather than me rant any more on in this forum: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatic_psychology

“Traveling by car usually takes about an hour. In rush hour, it takes 90 minutes. But traveling by speedboat would take only 25 minutes, and by tour boat would be only 40 minutes,” he suggested.

I wonder if any of these people have actually asked a mariner how long it would take. The sea route would be almost 20 miles. Boats don't travel at the speed of taxis.

I think a hydrofoil would beat a taxi to Patong easily. No traffic lights, no cars and a straight route.

Yes the "journey time" may be faster but since you they neglect the facts YOU can get the hydrofoil:

FIRST Youd have to hike 700+metres from the terminal to get on the hydrofoil

THEN queue up to change 1000 baht into coins for the ticket machine (lets hope you have baht on you)

THEN then pile 450baht worth of 10 baht coins for 1 ticket (I assume you are alone or x the ticket price by # of people)

THEN wait 45mins for the next boat to arrive

THEN lug your bags onto it

THEN wait 12 more minutes for it to depart

......at this stage **I** just got out of my taxi and my driver is carrying my bags for me as Im abotu to check in to my Patong hotel

THEN you get a "fast" 20mins ride to Patong

THEN at the other end you have to lug bags of fit and down the peir in the searing heat.

THEN you pay a %&^*&*ing tuck tuk 500 bath to take you 750metres (no air con) to your hotel form the pier.

By the time you are in your hotel room I'm eating my dinner and drinking my 2nd beer already.

Seriously, have you really thought this through?

As my own VDS is in Sydney and so am I and 95% of my customers are also in Australia I can report everything runnign 100% smoohtly here!

Brilliant. Lets see the taxi muppets try and blockade a hydrofoil.

P.S. The last time I saw a hydrofoil around here it was parked on the bottom of Patong Bay after the tsunami.

Actually the tuk tuk mafia will love it - typical Thai planning with no thought into what happens once they get off in Patong !?!?

Well now you are off the hydrofoil and have lugged your bags all over the place and lifted them on and off the boat, You now have to pay 65,000 baht to get a tuk tuk 750-metres to your *%ing hotel and again lug your bags again because the driver is too good to lift your bags (no air-conditioning either and you are still wearing jeans from the plane).

Who wants to lug bags on & off extra modes of transport when they are on holidays?? This is as badly thought out as the Bangkok airport train - why would tourists get a train that costs them more than a Bangkok taxi and involves loads of extra hassle??? The main reasons get airport trains in other cities is because taxis cost as much there as tuk tuks in Patong, they get the airport train to save money.

But deep down this is perfect plan - the planners will all get tea money from it.

Everything is dirt cheap here compared to UK! Except for imported goods...

I came over from london.

Rent is now £200 per month compared to £900.

Meal with drinks in a restaurant £10 compared to £30.

Taxi £1-2 compared with £5-10.

Pint of Beer is £1.40 compared to £4.50.

I think people forget who have been here a while that UK prices rocket too...

Where in the UK can you get a taxi for 5-10 pounds? or is that a mini cab 1/2 mile down the road?

Last time i was in London (okay London may be higher than the rest of the UK) a taxi cost me about UKP 987.76 for a 2mile trip (okay slight exaggeration), its off the planet. Almost as much as a taxi in Nice France where they wanted about a billion French Francs (in 1992) for a 2km trip.

BANGKOK, 26 March 2013 (NNT) - The police commander-in-chief has announced a moral crusade against gambling and other "vices".

Police Commander-in-Chief Pol. Gen. Adul Sangsingkaew said that he had ordered senior police officers across the country to crack down on

gambling dens and places of other "vices".

He said that if police in any area failed to comply with the order, senior police officers responsible for the area would be removed from

office.

The police chief's statement came one day after four senior Metropolitan police officers were removed from their posts following a crackdown on

gambling dens in areas under their responsibility.

Gambling is illegal in Buddhist-dominated Thailand. But underground gambling dens are known to be pervasive, and several high-ranking

government officials--as well as some political heavyweights-- own casinos at the borders with Cambodia and Myanmar.

What about the horse raes? Arent they legit and have gambling?

Why should females get special treatment? If you can´t do the time, don´t do the crime.

How come it's always the idiots who get to post first?

And usually with some ridiculous cliche?

Because idiots like to convince themselves they are smart by citing sound-bytes of things they think are hallmarks of wisdom, but as it only requires typing out a sound byte (cliché) they can do it very quickly before any intelligent (or wise) person has had a chance to type a considered and well thought out reply.

I can just see their though process (akin to Homer Simpson’s mind monkeys on a good day): "Oh!! I know a cool sounding quote. And since it’s a quote it must be correct and smart. Now I can show off (to myself) how smart I am by typing it out here...". ……My all-time favourite is "But you can’t generalise" - that one is so seriously "blonde" that it’s even a contradiction of itself. I don’t bother continuing a conversation if I hear that, it’s just pointless.

....not to mention other idiots attempting to go beyond their normal sound-byte abilities with even greater rubbish (but not as fast). But these ones spend time taxing their brains to overload so although other rubbish may come out later the fact another idiot puts genuine personal effort in is of course no guarantee of quality.

Sounds like a troll to me. Story is full of holes at best

Yes 2 holes in the story I saw:

1. 20mins wait time will increase your blood alcohol level not reduce it, it takes that long for the alcohol to hit your blood. (I will assume you had many drinks but you meant that the last drink was immediately prior to driving).

2. You imply the roadside hand held breathalyser was what your charge was based on? I cant fathom that even in Thailand they would NOT use a proper machine at the police station get an official reading from. Those road side hand held things the Thai police use are a joke, they are the same as what eBay vendors sell, the readings are as accurate as telling them time by looking a the moon.

I made the mistake of buying one once and it told me I was 0.13 an hour after 1 beer. I ignored it and 3mins later stopped for a real (Australian) breath test (roadside hand held unit but not the Thai type) and he said id come us as 0.01. Of Course even if I was over they'd still have needed the proper machine at the station to get an official reading from.

Come on guys when do you expect her to get her hair done? I mean the salon comes first, Govt. meetings can wait!! Get some perspective here!

Since Bangkok was never really colonised by any foreign forces

Only because Bangkok itself didn't exist as a city when the Burmese tramped all through Siam on numerous occasions.

"We've never been colonised by a Western Nation"

TRANSLATION = "Lets say this a lot, to draw focus away from the fact that others in the region have trampled all over use for centuries".

Japanese tourist contacts local media to tell them that he broke the law. Maybe he'll be arrested and sent to prison.

But he didnt break any Thai law, only the provider of prostitution, not the client, commits an offence unnder Thai law. Furthermore there was no mention anywhere that she was underage so why are others bleeting as if that was the allegation?

As I am someone whose first wage was 14 pounds-seventeen and six a month I would really like sombody to post the 3 followed by the required number of 0's so I can work out what 3 trillion is in real money.

3,000,000,000,000 Thai Baht equals (three trillion Baht)

67,049,700,000.00 British Pound Sterling

I thought 3trillion baht was now = 400-trilliion pounds sterling and also = to about $50 Australian?

Police told The Phuket News that they did not have the passport,

pointing out that they did not have the powers to take the passport of

anyone who has not committed a crime.

Holding a passport as security for a private debt is a crime, it it sthe property of the issuing Government and woudl likley be a case of larceny (yes in Thailand, not just my home country) if its refused to be handed over to the foreign embassy (via the local police would be the normal route). Technically they are committing a crime even askign for it in the first palce as are all places who ask for your passport as security.

It still dazzles me that some of these "Political Observers" (or self-proclaimed academics) always think they can simply implement their Western system into other countries.

Say Hello to Mr. Saxer and tell him "Western System no work in Thailand"...

The "western System" was essentially thrust upon Japan post WWII and quite successfully too.

But of course Japan is a nation of hard working people who really do value ones input into society instead of seeing it as more important to pretend to do so or be "seen" to do so (eg: The Thai way is to steal Bt50mil via corruption and be really benevolent by donating Bt5mil to charity - then "What a generous person they all say")

Just wow...

Dogs in Thailand say "How" not wow. and in France they say Arf. but most French dogs are small... I think there are a zillion words for "bark" and "woof" in other languages.

I very much doubt if they would care where the money comes from just as long as it is there, unlike Thailand

Just to be thorough:

So if i (australian resident) were to drop $5000 into her (thai) bank account, the Australian embassy wouldn't care when submitting the application?

Sorry if i'm being a pain, but this is probably the point i'm most unsure about...

Suggest you make inquiry at the Aussie embassy as i know a guy who did this, no problems and she did not have any qualifications whatsoever, i think that you are being influenced by the backward attitude regarding income of the Thai's.

All the Australian govt want to know is that she is not arriving with no money in her bank, thus becoming a burden on Australia.

Get her to call the embassy to say she doesn't have that much cash but has $5000/enough in gold - "Do I need to sell the gold and put the cash in my account?" then its a good reason as to why that much cash suddenly shows up in her account.

During his first round, Christopher introduced himself to the judges

with “Keun Chan” by Sek Loso and “Sao Kra Pong Hien” by Mor Lam singer

Pee Saderd. Christopher’s charm lies in his ability to speak fluent

Thai, especially with an Isaan accent, which many foreigners find

impossibly difficult.

Aussies can impersonate pretty much any accent with a relatively minimal effort (although since most don't try they dont know they have this skill!)

It comes from the high level of "oral control" (not sure what the correct term is here) required for an Aussie accent; copying other accents largely requires relaxing or modifying ones "oral control" which is a lot easier than learning to control it more. South Africans are similar in this regard.

North American accents are very relaxed by contrast ("it just kinda rolls off the tongue") so very hard work for them to impersonate other accents. Brits are in the middle somewhere.

Awarding Nobel Peace Prize to bad people trying to do better is wrong!!

It’s at the core of most religious beliefs (ie: a big % of the World's population) that someone turning from "wrong to right"(for lack of a better term) is very much something to acknowledge.

Despite not being a Christian/Buddhist etc myself, I still agree with this philosophy.

Although in Myanmar's case, awarding a Nobel Peace prize is rather premature at this stage.

To be honest, I find the level of corruption in Thailand a little easier to live with than the level of corruption in Australia! At least here everybody knows it goes on and makes adjustments to allow for it. In Australia we have a rotten to the core Prime Minister who has been implicated in nefarious dealings throughout her adult life surrounded by a team of ex union leaders who are in it for everything they can get out of it.

The difference is that the people involved in daily corruption here are poorly paid police officers and the ones running the corruption in Australia are (very) overpaid politicians. Julia Gillard is better paid than Barack Obama for gods sake and still she taints everything she touches.

Give me the "honest" corruption here over the type found in Australia and a lot of other supposedly clean countries.

I don’t like Gillard either (or the entire Labor party for that matter) but you’re making mountains out of mole hills comparing this to Thailand. Even the Eddie Obeid saga in $ terms pales into insignificance compared to Thai corruption.

If you like Thailand system more then I take it you’d be happy to let Gillard muzzle the media and also sue them also for writing any story against her? In Thailand this kind of corruption would never even make gossip circles let alone the media. Note that Craig Thompson has been charged – in Thailand they wouldn’t even transfer him to an “inactive seat ”.

However much I disliek Gillard I do believe she is really there to try to improve the country (despite doing a lousy job of it), I don't think her real ambitions are to feed at the trough.