bra

21 hours ago, KannikaP said:

What's a SCAD please?

Means numerous in this context

56 minutes ago, 248900_1469958220 said:

I agree however, that has been the case in many other countries in the past. Take a look at the people of Hong Kong, getting the <deleted> beaten out of them....and coming back for more.....a different breed perhaps?

As Chairman Mao said "power comes out of the barrel of a gun"

8 hours ago, masuk said:

The artificial smell added to Propane gas which has no smell at all, is almost identical to that of Durian.

Many airports have a sign, prohibiting the carriage of durian.

In Indonesia, they sell durian flavoured ice-cream.   No accounting for taste!

When I lived in Malaysia many years ago my sons loved durian flavoured ice cream - not me! One of the guys from our office whent on a 1 week trip leaving his car at the airport outside in the Malaysian sun with half eaten durians in the boot/trunk. With great courage he drove it home where his Chinese amah fixed the smell by putting pandan leaves in the boot overnight - all was OK by the morning.

Shorts and polo shirt at home and in the village but long trousers/jeans in the city. Mossies never bother me much and that includes years of Hash Harrier runs wearing shorts and running singlet in the jungle, oil palm and rubber estates - which are the worst for mossies. Oil palm for cobras!

In Kuala Lumpur the local authorities sprayed often and inspected premises for standing water etc. I have not seen this in Thailand? But a young Japanese engineer in my KL condo block died of Dengue Shock Syndrome within a few days. If you suspect dengue get medical assistance ASAP.

Like the OP I was becoming very impatient with the slowness of Thais in a crowd but Mrs Bra took charge and explained what could happen to me if I started to push and shove. So now I accept the inconveniences and I admit that I feel better with life - just as the OP does. So something good has come out of a smack on the back of the head - better than something worse.

Peace on Earth - good will to all men in 2016.

The Vimanmek Museum - reportedly the largest teak building in the world. Built by Rama V in the early19000s as a temporary residence. Its furnished as it was when he and his family lived there.

Sukothai Hotel in Sathorn Road - superb inside.

Wat Arun - unique!

In order to get a Thai driver's licence I obtained an IDP issued in Australia, valid for 1 year. It states that it's issued in accordance with the 1949 Convention, and is valid in Thailand as well as many other states, however I must carry my Australian licence for the IDP to be valid. As other posters have advised you can normally rent a vehicle in many countries (including the UK, Thailand and Malaysia) using your overseas licence only - no IDP required.

Well Costas there are about 1 million Australians of Greek descent who, like the rest of us, would NEVER wear socks with sandals. And they wouldn't wear flip flops either - they would wear thongs - no matter if the rest of the world has a different idea of what thongs are. As for crocks with or without socks!!!!! Wearers should be introduced to a real 5 m salt water crocodile, which would pass instant judgement on their fashion style.

I wear sandals in the summer in Australia and Thailand - no socks of course. The Roman army conquered most of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East wearing sandals - without socks. Sandal comes from the ancient Greek word sandalon - so I guess this is why you are an expert (but please no socks)>

The minimum weather conditions for a Category I Instrument Landing System (which is installed in Chiang Mai and most other Thai airports) are cloud base 200 feet visibility 800 m. This is an international standard that is used throughout the world. If the visibility is less than 800 m, then its up to the airline or the pilot to divert. There is nothing unusual in this.

I bank with Westpac in Australia and have been using BKKBTHBKXXX as the Bangkok Bank swift code for the past 4 or 5 years without any problems. I send online and if I do it before about 2 pm AEST the money will be in the Bangkok Bank account by mid afternoon on the following day.

Lufthansa to "tease" super low fares etc. Tease? Do they mean test? trial? I know we are not supposed to correct the use of English, but seeing its Coconuts, presumably a professional media organisation, then some correction is justified.

As far as the cheapness of the fares is concerned then shop around for the best deal - but this may not be as good as it appears. Safe airline operations depend on the professionalism of the flight and cabin crews and the maintenance organisation use by the airline, which in turn has to be enforced by a strong country safety regulator. I am not specifically referring to Lufthansa/Eurowings but I would be very cautious of low cost airlines which are supervised by an equally low cost regulator. You pays your money and takes your choice.

RIP young man. Sympathy and condolences to your friends and family.

Every dog I have ever had chewed on nearly everything when they were puppies. One even chewed my son's mobile phone holding it between its front paws like a bone. With training and maturity they will stop, but from other comments the breed that you have you may need professional help..

heart (but needs some adjectives - brave strong good caring true)

Several respected airlines that normally flew over Ukraine started detouring once hostilities had begun. But, of course, Malaysian Airlines, not content to create one disaster and totally and stupidly mismanage the aftermath, continued flying over the Ukraine and created yet another disaster.

The reason why MH 370 is missing has not been determined yet by ANYONE although the best aviation investigators in the world have applied their collective expertise, knowledge and experience to this investigation. The cause will not be found until the flight data and cockpit voice recorders are recovered. What are your reasons for saying that Malaysia airlines created this situation - and what are your qualifications in Air Safety Investigation?

Flight MH 17 was being conducted in accordance with the Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) issued by the Ukraine ATC authorities. Following a shoot down of a Ukraine Air Force aircraft at 22000 ft one or two days before, they closed the air routes over Eastern Ukraine below 32000 ft (allowing for a 10000 ft safety buffer). MH 17 was flying at 33000 ft and complying with the NOTAM. Numerous other flights (including Singapore Airlines) were also operating at or above this altitude at about the same time. Obviously the Ukraine ATC intelligence regarding the capabilities of Surface to Air Missiles in the rebel areas was not correct - and as to why this was so is being investigated.

The SAM that shot down MH 17 was capable of reaching 70000 ft, and this system is NOT capable of identifying civil aircraft by their transponder codes. The SAM crew were not aware they were targeting an aircraft that was not a threat. It may never be known who fired this missile. The SAM system was supplied by Russia to most of the former USSR countries and it was sold to others as well. It will turn out to be a tragic accident, but it was NOT the fault of Malaysia Airlines.

Flights from Bangkok to Europe now fly north or south of the Ukraine, depending on the destination. Flights also avoid overflying Syria and Iraq. However flights from Doah to Bangkok track to the South East, over the Arabian Sea and India. As The Ukraine is about 2700 km to the NORTH WEST of Doah you will get no where near it.

I suggest you look up Flightradar24.com, where you will see almost all of the air traffic in the world in real time. When I checked a few minutes ago there was a Qatar Airways flight QTR828 enroute from Doah to Bangkok just crossing the west coast if India - click on the aircraft icon and you will see the route and flight details.

As for flights being 1 hour later, many airlines have seasonal timetables, or the flights may be delayed for other reasons - aircraft availability, weather etc.

It depends what they mean by "tail". The tail of an aircraft consists of 2 major components - a vertical fin (which also contains the rudder) and the horizontal stabiliser or tail plane ( looks like a small wing) which contains the elevators (deflect the airflow which in turn raises or lowers the nose of the aircraft). The leading edge of the tail plane can also be moved to assist in trimming the aircraft.

Its hard to tell in the photos but it looks like the fin has been found (that's where the "A" is painted). The "black boxes" are not located there but where the tail joins the fuselage - see the diagram in a previous post. This location is subject to less impact forces than in the nose (for example) although damage can occur depending on the nature of the impact. Yes they do have transmitters to assist in their location, but these wont work if the boxes are deep in the mud.

Obviously the boxes have be located to determine what happened to the aircraft. I hope this happens soon, however the environment for the divers is bad, with almost no visibility and the potential for injury and entrapment. I salute their courage.

Approval from Singapore CAAS would also be required for that schedule, and would have received the flight plan and apparently had no objections in principle. The controllers from both countries were coordinating the level change request just prior to the loss of communications and surveillance data.

As with the Malaysians and MH 370 where there were several contradictory statements, the Indonesians should restrict comments to one Government spokesperson, preferably experienced in the media. Of course many officials and politicians cant resist the publicity. At least the Indonesian President made one statement on the day of the occurrence, then told everyone get on to do their job and then stayed out of it.

As to some bodies just floating on the surface and some being still strapped to their seats that would depend on what happened when the aircraft fuselage impacted the water. We wont know more until the wreckage is found and the Flight Data and Cockpit Voice recorders are analysed.

simple! the americans and the vatican!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_reform_in_the_Philippines

Or to put it another way as a Philippine said to me you would be in a mess too if you lived for 400 years in a convent then 100 years in Hollywood.

I worked there when Ramos was the President and he an his administration tried hard to fix some of the problems due to Marcos and his successors. Certainly the ex Air Force General (hand picked by Ramos) who ran the Government Civil Aviation Agency that I worked with was very aggressive in trying to root out corruption. Unfortunately Ramos had to comply with the one 6 year Presidential term condition - and the next President was just a corrupt as Marcos.

The poor comparison with Thailand is the excessive population (due to religion), control by a few very rich families and clans who have done very well under the Spanish, USA and Japanese and will never give up their power, and typhoons, earthquakes and volcanoes.

My Australian Bank today is quoting 24.91 for buying THB and 28.46 for buying AUD for TT transfers. Lucky I sent some THB yesterday for 25.21! Rates may vary with other banks or services. The main reason for the drop to a 4 year low against the USD was the US Federal Reserve saying that US interest rates will rise early next year.

We are in for more falls against the USD as the AU Reserve Bank wants the rate to fall to .75 and we will keep heading this way regardless of what the Australian Government (no matter who they are) whilst commodity prices continue to fall. However the low dollar will be a boost to many Australia exports mainly primary products and services.

As far as the THB is concerned it depends on the THB more or less tracking the USD. I think a lower THB will assist in Thai exports, not to mention Australians like me and many other posters having to convert our AUS assets and pensions etc to THB to live here. I hope the Thais have learnt the lesson from the 1996 Asian financial crisis when the collapse in the THB triggered it after the Thais tried maintain an unsupported high THB.

The AUD has gone up against the Euro as the Russian problems make more impact. The other currency going down is the IDR so the cheap Charlie AUS tourists can still go to Bali and not come here which is the only good news!