Humphrey Bear

Having had attacks of gout for over fifty years, I have a few comments to make.

Allopurinol is not a cure - it suppresses the kidney function that produces the uric acid in the first place. Thus it has to be (or should be) taken daily. This means your kidneys are not performing the functions they were designed for, and in hard-water areas are likely to produce kidney stones.

Drinking an alkali solution may alleviate the symptoms during an attack, but drinking acidic mixtures - vinegar, lemon juice, etc., - will not produce any relief.

I have given up on allopurinol, I want my organs to work as well as possible, and I just take lots of water and when I have an attack some strong pain-killers as well. There is no cure that I know of, just fortitiude to get through the attacks.

Hi there no-neck ...

That fend sort of reminds me of me when I used to play the game.

But I played the 'other' code with 13 a side.

I was the tight head prop in the scrum ... in the days when you had proper scrums in League.

So, maybe the 'no-neck' more aptly describes me ... not you.

Don't know about the soundtrack though!

ps ... I didn't know you were a George Orwell fan!

Soundtrack sounds South African - as were a lot of the shots of Union.

But it was all the running game, no scrums or other fun bits, and none of the good British game in knee-deep mud and the old Canterbury Clothing loose shirts that allowed a firm grip in tackles, mauls and scrums.

_{And the usual suspects use up more than half a thread on kretek cigarettes to rant about politics. Absurd politics.}

_{Can't we have a politics-free discussion on simple matters?}

_{Kretek cigarettes were very popular in Indonesia when I was there - mainly for price, I think, but also because they were available for childen as well as adults (at least in Sumatra) and when you're introduced to a product in your early years, you tend to stick with it in later years.}

_{I far prefer English ale to continental lagers, especially Marston's Pedigree. Again, accustomed to it from an early age.}

At least they are actually taking action to improve the grounds instead of just saying, "miracle Thailand, come take a look"

Personally I'm amazed at how many flights still require deplaning on the tarmac and taking a bus for a ride around the airport. Hopefully this phase 2 expansion will allow more planes to park at a gate on arrival.

The Thai Airports Authority charges more for linking to a jetway.

If you have to de-plane away from the terminal and catch a bus, then you've probably saved a few dollars on your airfare.

Be happy.

This is a mean-spirited response to this tragedy. There are many unsafe rail crossings throughout Bangkok, and in peak hours drivers do sometimes get stuck half way across the rail tracks, through no particular fault of their own. The issue is perhaps more about the appropriateness of level crossings in the middle of a huge metropolis, where heavy road traffic is continually disrupted by sporadic rail traffic. It is very very dangerous and should be addressed as an urgent infrastructure issue by the Thai authorities. If the rail lines cannot be diverted to safer routes, then elevated roadways must be built to take road traffic safely above/below/around them. Level crossings are always a hazard, but in many developed countries, they are relegated to the distant countryside, and never downtown.

There are several level crossings in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City).

When the lights flash and the barriers start to come down, the traffic STOPS - even the majority of scooters.

This is a Thailand thing.

In Dhaka, where driving is really crazy, there is a level crossing in the city, along the main road, which leads to the airport. When the lights flash and the barriers come down, the traffic STOPS, even some of the scooters.

This is an arrogant Thailand thing.

Sad to see a lot of the usual bashers/posters did not actually read past the headline, it is Jomtien operators that are helping out, not the Pattaya scammers!!

If so, then the Jomtien operators should be at the forefront of a movement to clean up their industry. Guilt by association I'm afraid. If their is any confusion by the TV regulars between the two said groups, I can only imagine the level of confusion amongst the tourists who come to Pataya!

What do you classify as 'Jomtien' and what as 'Pattaya'?

The north end of Jomtien beach (Dongtan area) contains some of the most vicious of the scammers - threatening physical violence as soon as someone says "Ahem - excuse me but ...".

And operating adjacent to the roped-off swimmers/bathers section - within feet of the ropes. Some tyro on a jetski could kill an unaware swimmer within seconds of boarding his jetski for the first time. (No instruction offered or required by the operators)

Personally, I would outlaw all jetskis on mainland beaches - let them have free rein on the offshore islands.

I dont know why the media always refer to the Chinese as foreigners. Thailand is Chinese in almost every way. If its beer is half decent it could spell the end of the beer monoply here. The rich Chinese Thais will simply shift investments to Chinese variety. Thai beer is almost undrinkable .

Ha ha ha!

After working for ten years in 'dry' Libya - where we all brewed our own - I was posted to Hing Kong and introduced to Tsing Tsao beer.

I immediately felt at home, because it was just like Libya - a home-brew sort of taste, varying in each bottle drunk, as does the home-brew. Some quite good, some mediocre, a lot downright awful. But we drank grot grog in Libya because there was no alternative. In HK, or in Thailand, there is a large range to choose from and that puts TT off my shopping list.

Nope - that's been my position for many, many years now.

I understand the drug companies eagerness to use the disease, because it is a very interesting, fast-mutating virus. But I do not consider that it is something for doctors and hospitals - just sell the retro-viral drugs over the counter in pharmacies, if people want to slow their death. Because it is not curable - it'll get you sooner or later.

Thailand is top of the list when it comes to 'Most Dangerous Tourism Destination' for Britons.

Yeah but did you see what the number one cause of death is? Riding motorcycles. While pissed

The problem is you Brits drive on the wrong side of the road and keep hitting oncoming traffic!

Remember that the left side is the right side and the right side is the wrong side and you won't go wrong.

I see that India has figured strongly in these annual polls, too.

That must give some idea of the value of such a survey - two of the most corrupt, dirty, chauvinistic, racist countries in the world are great places to visit!

I think a lot of money must change hands here.

Or Americans are extremely gullible.

Unlike you, this is a quickie.

Why treat HIV/AIDS patients at all. It's self-inflicted injury.

If any patient wants to have treatment, let them self-medicate and not waste a doctor's valuable time.

It may help to bring in witnesses who had seen mixed race people around the area at the time or am I being naive ?

Very naive.

The youths are probably 100% Thai, but the husbands of the two mothers have been told that they're the fathers, in order to get maintenance money for life.

Thai boyfriend, or brother, or cousin, whatever - the most likely father.

What is a Thai-Iranian and a Thai-Belgian????

Pregnant Thai tart found a stoned Irani and married him, telling him later that the kid was his.

Another pregnant Thai scrubber catches a drunk Belgian with the same story.

Both mugs walk around proud-as-Punch, thinking they've fathered kids, maybe stay in-country, maybe go home. Mothers farm the kids out to grandparents living in Nakhon Nowhere and go back to working bar.

These youths are Thai, not foreign.

Over-use of bed-bug spray.

So either get bitten to death or killed by the spray.

Just lack of daily hygiene and changing matresses / sheets frequently, so use a lot of spray later.

When I was working in the deserts of Libya I had a problem of infestation. The i/c canteen kitchens gave me a spray bomb - told me to open it in the sealed living unit and get out fast - come back in 24 hours and wash down all surfaces, launder everything else and open door and window.

I found hundreds of insects when I cleaned up, but there was no smell from this spray. Cannot tell you what it was, but I've never seen anything remotely like the container for sale to the public.

Maybe similar item here, but used without extreme care.

Cuts from the New Zealand Herald article :

The New Zealand president of the World Croquet Federation refused to give thieves the combination to his apartment safe before he was killed in Thailand.

Charles Jones was reportedly murdered in a rented apartment in Pattaya, a popular holiday resort about 165km southeast of Bangkok.

His sister Alison McMillan said thieves had taken Mr Jones' computer and cellphone around the time of his death.

He had refused to give them the combination to a safe in the apartment, she said.

Mr Jones' death was revealed by a travelling partner Stuart Yeatman, who said he had been murdered.

The NZ Embassy are aware of the event and are liaising with the police, but information is not so far forthcoming.

The article says that the shop-keeper is not allowed to sell alcohol to under 17s. This kid was seventeen. So how can anyone prosecute the shop-keeper?

And for some chairman of an NGO to 'instruct' the police to not only arrest the guy, but to ensure he gets found guilty and is sentenced to a year in prison means that he considers he controls the jury and the judge (assuming the court system is judge/jury or similar).

The man is obviously a megalomaniac - should be promoted to prime minister.

I don't wish to make this too long, so I haven't replied to any particular post.

With regard to vegetation - every tree, every plant that grows will eventually die and rot, thus emitting CO2 and methane. The problem with building a dam is that this will happen to all vegetation within the footprint of the reservoir at one time, instead of being spread over a period of time. But once rotted there will be no more growth, so the overall amount of CO2/methane over a forty-fifty year period (the basic life of the power generators) will be no more than the natural emissions and may be less.

The vegetation trapped by the dam, which vegetation would normally flow downstream to the sea - water hyacinth and other debris - will cause higher levels of emissions at the dam, but there will be lower amounts downstream, where these plants are no longer present.

The sum total of all this - over a period of time - is that the same amount of vegetation will rot, emitting the same amount of carbon gases, whether the dam is there or not. It is simple logic.

Small hydro-generators are useful for local electricity supply, if the national grid is not sited within the catchment of the power plant.

If it is connected to the grid, then it can make a useful contribution during peak times as a 'fill-in' power plant. The big power plants - gas or coal-fired - take a long time to come up to baseload and to deliver power efficiently, so they are run as the main feeders on the grid pretty much all the time. At peak periods the smaller power plants, including a lot of small hydro-plants, can be brought on immediately, as they do not need to build up steam under pressure to generate power.

All these types of power plant have their different uses and all are necessary for a balanced grid to supply consumers when demand is created.

My take on some of the remarks :-

A foreigner cannot be an agricultural worker, but he can own a business (with the requisite Thai partners). So he should be OK there.

With the 'added' clause in his lease - should take a notarised photocopy of any legal document when it is signed (including the back of each page!)

To go up against a Thai business in the same field is asking for trouble - look at the way Chang took Carlsberg to the cleaners. And you're not as clever as Carlsberg, however bright you think yourself.

I went broke in Thailand - I'm slowly recovering in Vietnam. Much better place to be - apart from missing the sleaze.

Interpol have nothing to do with the issuance or withdrawal / cancellation of an arrest warrant.

If the authorities of the issuing country insist on the warrant being executed, then Interpol will facilitate the execution, with the member country in whose juristriction the accused is then residing.

If there is no push from the country of issuance, then Interpol will put everything on a back burner.

The Attorney General obviously doesn't know his arse from his elbow.

Korea for one announced recently a move in this direction. The notion of the paperless classroom originated in the states many years ago. Maybe young kids need writing on paper as a part of the learning process but in the future they will be doing nearly all or even all of their writing on keyboards, touchscreens or even via talk to text software with very little actual writing. Communication is changing rapidly

Children need to have books around them.

My 2 1/2-year old gets read to every day, handles some of the basic alphabet books herself, repeats some of the words. She also respects my books and doesn't scribble all over them. (She does scribble on scrap paper a lot, though)

When she gets older she will gradually move from the passive 'being read to' to the active 'reading and writing' on her own. With transitional stages and plenty of help and encouragement. This will broaden her view of society far more than sitting passively in front of a screen, being spoon-fed one agenda.

Obviously my daughter will also have a computer for her schooling, and for entertainment. But I intend to encourage book learning, reading for pleasure and researching libraries as a way to discipline the mind.

Don't be surprised if Vietnam soon outsmarts Thailand - each Vietnamese kid now reads an average of 50 books a year.

I live and work in Vietnam.

Although I am now living in Saigon, where education is of a high standard, I was living out in the boonies a couple of years ago.

The primary school kids would come up to me and say, in English, 'What's your name? How old are you? Where you from?' - and the older kids would be capable of holding a decent conversation with me. When I compare this to a similar area in Thailand - say Chaiyaphum - there is really no comparison to be made. The Vietnamese are still poorer, per capita, than the Thais, but in five years or so they will be a long way in front.

This country is booming and is an excellent investment opportunity. Thailand seems to discourage FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) with all it's complicated rules. VN helps you over each and every hurdle, removing some of those hurdles when they serve no purpose.

And now, with the Shinawatras back in power, the anti-farang elements will bloom again.

This story sprang up last November when I think he'd already been in jail for sometime.

However, it said that he'd not been charged at that time, or he'd not been brought to court yet.

In Thai law a person must be charged after 7 days. An extension of another 7 days is permissable in some circumstances and only terrorism or les majeste is unspecified, however, he wasn't suspected of these.

What was the embassy doing while this man was in jail rotting away without charge, without hospital treatment or waiting for a drawn out court case for a minor offence which I understand was along the lines of behaving like a beggar? Why couldn't they lodge a complaint with the Foreign ministry, Interior ministry and human rights groups?

I would say that the British Embassy in Thailand is probably one of the worst in terms of helping its citizens. They actually prefer to help the Thai police and support their unfair treatments.

You really should distinguish between the Embassy / Ambassador - who represents the British Government to whichever host government they are sent to - and the Consulate(s) who carry out the day-to-day relationships between citizens of the host country and provide British citizens with necessary assistance.

The two main duties of consular officials - visa application approval and assisting distressed nationals of their own country - are often contentious and are the focus of the man-in-the-street.

Ambassadorial duties are on a government-to-government basis and are conducted in a totally different way to consular actions. In most countries now Britain seems to have sub-contracted the consular duties to private companies (or at least one private company). For instance, here in Vietnam I cannot renew my passport any longer - I have to go to Hong Kong. Must be because it's a more pleasant life for the HM Government consular staff in Honkers. Watch out in Thailand - you may be next! And don't send passports by post or courier - too likely to get lost.

Don't think the Temple Child's experience in debating at a posh English school is any indicator of his capabilities in running THIS country? 'Very experienced young man'? In what exactly? Certainly not in the customs and mores of his Country of heritage.

As to the .marketting' of Mark. Well the Establishment was never very good at MODERN PR, if you insist on being glib. But the fact remains he and his 'backers' had very little to market, other than continuing the status quo.

Could you, clearly and simply, set out the policies of ANY of the parties that competed in the election?

I have asked several Thai people, received no satisfactory responses.

I donot quite see many ( any ) country welcoming Thai workers. It's not only a matter of smoking or is it ?

I have had thousands of Thai workers through my hands - in Saudi (before the ban), in Libya, UAE, Nigeria and elsewhere.

They may not be the most skilled, but if you show them what you want, then they'll work hard at it until that task is completed (properly).

For low-cost labour they are, on the whole, better than most.

Pakistanis are better at digging a trench, Philippines supply the supervision and skilled technicians, but the Thais are excellent as overseas workers. It is only when they are at home that most forget the discipline and work ethic that they exhibit when working for real money.