sunkist

That's impossible. Yingluck "promised" there would be no flooding this year.

Yes, and as I said at the time ... that promise was "based upon what"..?

Statistics...50 and 100 year floods rarely are back to back...unlikely with a drought upstream to have much flooding. Seems some areas flood fairly often in the years I have been here.

Asked by Siamtown US to comment on allegations that his US visa was part of a "trade-off", Thaksin said: "People who don't know the truth talk a lot. Worse still, those who know are not quite smart. The first thing they should know is, the extradition treaty does not cover political cases. Mine is a political case."

It is political, only in the sense that he was in office when he committed a crime that wasn't about politics, just money. He must feel like an idiot sometimes, his greed cost him his "face"

Absolutely correct. He hides behind this "political" facade, but the truth is, he is a criminal.

He says he wants to show that he can go anywhere except Thailand. The truth on that point is that he can come to Thailand, no-one is stopping him ... but he has to accept that he will be arrested and imprisoned as soon as he lands here.

If by some freak government decision, he isn't arrested, then I'm afraid this government will have to take full responsibility for the political turmoil, perhaps indeed, civil war, that will ensue...!!

I am neither for or against Thaksin. I think you are being too harsh on him for the financial gains. Let's not forget that during his reign, farangs have a much easier time renewing their visa, e.g. crossing borders gives you one month visas and there is no limit to any amount of times you go! Now, you can do it only 3 to 4 times & you get only 15 days each time (MEAN). Registering & maintaining a farangs' company now costs more and is more restricted with the 4 staffs requirements! During Thaksin everything was easy for farangs! I don't know why the idiots are still persecuting him for something which every government in the world is doing! Making financial gains for themselves.

Dudes, give him a break!

That is incorrect.

It became harder for Farangs during Thaksins tenure. < (Reign: which implies he was royal, NOT used)

All the anti-farang feeling racheted up during Thaksins nationalism campaigns.

There were no unlimited visas, during his time.

You can get visas on arrival for 15 days, but still get 2, 90 day visas if preapplied for.

I got 90 days during Thaksin's tenure, you can still do that.

4 staff was needed back then during Thakisn.

EVERYTHING costs more now, from soup to nuts and companies too.

Just because in many governments there are people making profit for their friends,

selves and backers, doesn't mean ANY of them should get a pass if the get caught.

Many do get caught convicted and serve jail time for it.

Your argument is fundamentally flawed.

As far as being too hard on him,

tell that to all those injured or killed by his attempts to retake power for himself.

2009 and 2010 violence would not have happened without his instigation.

Simple fact.

Tourist Visa has been 30 days in every regime since 2003. Seems some numbers are getting confusing. No Thia regime is really friendly for farangs that are not tourists. Many expats are looking elsewhere because of it.

Just another example of America's duplicity. It's ok for a convicted criminal to visit the US, but they will use all kinds of illegal pressure on UK and Sweeden to harass Asange.

I have not troble with "real politik", that's just the way of life. But when americans strut around the world and lecture other countries about human rights, press freedoms, and the rule of law it's the height of hypocracy. I don't have much love for China but i applaud when they tell the US to sit down and shut up. And since China is the largest single US creditor and the new rising super-power their words carry more and more weight.

It's time for the US bully to learn the lesson.

What great nation do you represent? Sent anyone to the moon lately? This is offensive and cannot even spell. Shows intellect behind comments that attack all Americans who send aid to every disaster around the world. That wonderful communist country of China has a few problems of its own over the years.

Domestic flights only??? 400 Immigration personnel? Tax money at work ! New plan every week.

Idle speed or no wake zone withing 300 meters or some distance from shore is successful in other places. Of course getting any kind of enforcement and compliance here is likely impossible.

M16 with sight is NOT a sniper weapon.

At a distance, it is so inaccurate, that by aiming at the legs, the bullet can eventually end up penetrating the heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVmlkt6adtw

Sniper is a person...not a specific caliber of weapon. I personally have served in this position with an accurized M-14. BAR's make excellent long distance sniper rifles just ask the Viet Cong.

The transformer that powered the Tiger Discotheque is located on a roof above a bar. I have seen and heard transformers explode in Patong before, There is a loud explosion or “Boom noise” usually this occurs due to current overload or power surges which are common in Patong . Possibly a power surge was created after the power (transformer) was turned back on which could have cause a short circuit inside the club. This power surge could have caused the lighting system to catch on fire. And explains why lights were falling from the ceiling. The entire and interior of the bar was painted with spray foam. It was used throughout the interior and exterior of club as decoration. This material is highly flammable and would have cause the fire to burn very quickly- There are other bars in Patong (The New Tiger Bar) using this foam for decoration which are also at risk of a very fast burning fire and should be ordered to have this foam removed as soon as possible to avoid another disaster. Condolences to those who have past in this tragic event

The same happened here in Chalong on the same night with several very short power outages during the night plus one which started around 2am & lasted about 45 minutes(this is normally the standard time it takes them to get it back up & running).

Most foams do not actually burn unless another source provides fire. Foam alone will go right out by itself. The danger of the foam is the fumes given off when they are exposed to fire directly...Cyanide gas in some types. The "Mad Russian Mine Restaurant' fire caused these to be banned in many countries without proper fire protection layer placed over it. Mostly avoided in exposed situations. Foam today for insulation is mostly isocyuranate and used thoughout the industry, but not exposed.

Funny how witnesses heard 2 transformers exploding ( What does an exploding transformer sound like ???? Bet nobody knows !! ) but the Electricity Chief can show them both working. Who is telling porkies ??

Rain and a short can cause a loud pop and spark with a resuting surge downstream without hurting the transformer. Actual exploding transformer...they are full of oil...used to be PCB. Highly unlikely one would explode...physically and electrically

Terrible airport in a terrible area, and now Air Asia are moving all operations to DMK. Now instead of being only 1 1/2 hours from the airport I am 3 hours from the airport. Thanks AirAsia, thanks Don Muang, you've just lost a good customer.

In 2007 I took an Air Asia flight from BKK to Phuket and came off the flight with the opinion that it was the best carrier I had been on. Everything was good about it and no little annoyances that sometimes irk you with flights. Earlier this month I took a flight from BKK to KUL (LCCT). It was the first time in that period that their flight schedule met my needs so I was glad to be able to fly with them. What a difference 5 years makes. I would rate them now as one of worst carrier I have flown with now.

Firstly, price. They were a little cheaper than Air Asia (9.8k vs 11k with Thai Air). To select a seat, 350k, meal about the same (didn't have time to eat in the morning, and straight into meetings when I got there, so needed a bite on the plane). Crew basically ignored you and any request for somethng not prebooked (a coffee and a sandwich) was met with a response as if I had just slapped her butt. Landed in LCCT which I was not expecting to be an open airfield and shed. Walk a kilometre to get to the terminal from the plane, and the cost of the car to KLCC was about 30 RM more (300 baht). So it worked out more expensive. On the return leg, again found the terminal to be considerably below par (reminded me Khartoum). Over all I can see no reason at all to fly with them. The checking in machine is quite good in that it coughs out both of your boarding passes at the same time which is useful for those who have no visa so would usually have to show an onward ticket, but Thai Air do that also if you buy your ticket at the airport.

They seem to be emulating the Ryan Air model which is a great shame.

Good post - yes, I've found that if the price difference is 1500thb, then you're better off with a full-service carrier like Thai. By the time you add all the extras and the (possible) inconvenience of the KUL LCCT (by the way, the express bus deal to Sentral saves a bit back on that cost) you end up the same.

With their choice to move to the Don, I've added another 600thb to that (round-trip taxi - average road conditions). So from Oct 1st, Air Asia have to be 2,100thb cheaper - and that's actually quite rare that you can get a ticket that much lower. Bangkok Air is normally about 500thb more than Air Asia on domestic - so they already got my business for that, in the new model saving me 1,600thb.

Cheers

Very true - but I neither have the time nor the patience to catch a bus from one terminal to another. I found the BKK Air planes to be very shabby; have things changed?

Air Asia scattered my family all over the airplane including small children. It was a next to the poorest airline I have ever flown with. South China Air being the absolute pits.

Wasn't Don Mueang supposed to be open already?

http://www.thaivisa....diness-decried/

I have flown in there twice by Air Asia with no problems. Seems very strange it is so empty compared to previous years when it was the airport. Eeriee....

Move into the area, buy cheap property next to pig and chicken farm, then complain and try to get it closed...Could be profitable. I figure you build next to to the railroad tracks you are going to hear a train.

Pen gun? Never heard of it. Would this be anything like what, in the time and place of my youth, was called a zip gun?

similar but looks like a pen

Fighting over what school you go to.. how retarded can you get.

Seems to me this is not new...just fighitng is what we did in the 60's. The level of violence has ramped up likely due to TV and internet games that show shoot em up as cool. I just hope my child survives to adulthood through teenage insanity

Mohammedism or Islam was born from the Sword, and unfortunately it will parish from the Sword one day.

I hardly think any policy to control the killing in the South will do any good.

It is perhaps better to cut the 3 Provinces loose, and let them have their own little violent country.

They seem rather excellent at doing that.

Agree. The border set after WWII gave them to Thailand. I say give them back to Malay and be done with them. Of course they never will and are doomed to fail in stopping the violence by the Muslims.

ref. #123

KireB~ I appreciate your honesty and opinion. As an American, I can say to a very large extent, with regard to the U.S., I agree with you. Know this, many of US agree with you. I suppose I'm just tired of blanket generalizations. I honestly don't know much about Thaksin and I often look to these forums to learn, but you can imagine if a news headline said "Thaksin fed the world for a day"...it would be spun into something negative.

I agree and it seems that the democratically elected leader of the country being overthrown by a military coup led by a Muslim and the later politically motivated criminal charges issued to justify this overthrow would also be considered in this forum. I am not a Thaksin supporter or detracter but I do understand that popular vote of the people elected him, later is party(another coup) and now his sister who is also elected by popular vote is continually reviled on this forum. Fail to understand how democratic believing people continue this vendetta.

maybe the NASA deal is part of this

The continued assumption that NASA has some secret need to help this part of the world with weather predictions shows just how ignorant people can be. Just enjoy your flooded areas and NASA will be quite happy doing work that is appreciated.

Perhaps the AoT are still mopping-up the puddles, from the flooding, and unable to focus on the other facilities required ?

But at the risk of stating the obvious, this will all need to be sorted-out before Air Asia switch all their flights over from Swampy, on 1st October !

In fact, as much as I like Air Asia (and fly them often), I will discontinue using them, as will the rest of the people in my firm (who travel extensively for business) once they've moved to DM. My company is a large regional MNC. I wouldn't doubt that other, similar companies would consider or do the same. Too bad. Air Asia seems to have gotten a bad deal on this one.

I used them through Don Mueng once and once to Phuket. I would never fly them again either. THey spread my family all over the airplane to include a 6 year old child and wanted me to pay to sit with my child. Done with them

Had a 1970 Hemi Cuda convertible in the shop of engine work and the big drug bust by DEA of the Nascar driver got the shop seized and everything in it. I met with them about my getting my car and they just laughed at me. Said it would never see and auction. Who in the DEA is driving my car now????

Lots of chaf, but nobody gave an answer to what is alternatives are. I think it depends somewhat on his location. Seems one person started talking about aiming dish at another satellite. Another said something about two other providers...somewhere....then it disolved into?????

This policy does seem discriminatory. Heck, it IS discriminatory. They are explicitly seeking the business from the specific countries. We can only hope the program is a huge success and someone gets the bright idea that medically based 90 day visas should be much more widely offered.

I strongly feel this discriminates against other nationalities and makes no good economic sense. I also has lead to an invasion of muslims around the hospitals to include women in Burcas begging in the street with small children just like in Afghanistan. Not sure the influence of the muslims from some areas is what a country like Thailand needs with its problems in the south. I also note that costs for procedures at the two main hospitals that do this in Bangkok have sky-rocketed for procedures and they try to rush you into surgeries. In my case the next day to remove bones in my hand. I figured a second opinion first, but could have just as easily trusted this highly credentialed doctor/professor.

Anyhow, I personally think those first men landing on Mars might very well be Chinese.

One of the great things about space exploration is that it belongs to all mankind. Sure, in present day governments and taxpayers fund it, and nationalities have bragging rights, but in the loooong term big picture it benefits everyone on the planet. Unless of course we wake up some superior alien race who decided it's time to squash us before we progress too fast. In that case, I blame the Soviets and their Sputnik. They started it.

And will use technology of others to do it...some stolen. NASA is not what it was in the 60's for sure and has gotten very little budget wise and brain power wise in later years. I have worked at the Cape on several projects over the years and it is becoming a ghost town.

Question: the data collected from the flight and all -- this stuff isn't distributed freely, right? This stuff is sold?

NASA created technology is in use daily all over the world and not charge. Look at the tips of the wings on all modern commercials aircraft as example.

"we should first build double-track railroads before thinking about high-speed trains" says Nakorn somebody, saying about the only sensible thing in the hole article.

As I keep saying whenever this topic comes up, and as any sane transport planner would say, Thailand needs only to upgrade to normal express train standard with double tracks, of the kind that has existed in Europe for about a century. At the moment, it has a railway system which runs at about the speed of the mid-Victorian railways.

Investing in high-speed trains would to be miss out the stage of development that is really needed in order to create an absurdly over-the-top system --- and probably a financially failed system -- in relation to Thailand's real needs.

Absolutely right! Now I do need in between 16 and 18hours to travel from Hat Yai to Bangkok. A regular, "D-Zug", not the fast "Intercity" in Germany does it in 9 hours. If the Thai government just would redo the current tracks to a regular standard and for sure have two tracks instead of one, everything would be fine, and the trains would finally stop to rattle. And in a couple of years Thailand would be able to run even faster trains using the newly updated tracks.

Not aware that high speed trains are freight trains....need to do both and good double track full gauge rail in the flat lands can go pretty quick.

Relocate cities and towns!!!! What planet are these people on?

I have 43 years of Engineering and some included railway construction. This really is the stupidest thing...nearly...I have ever heard. Gotta move towns and cities!!!

Wow and this guy has some credentials. Wonder who he is trying to scare and why.

And the crap (speed) is so destructive that even if the addicted want to turn their lives around there is NO road back. Worse than heroin or cocaine so I've read.

And the crap is so much cheaper to cook-up. It's really messing-up some lives both here and around the world.

It`s not true. Speed (amphetamine) ist rather harmless against metamphetamines (Meth) and Speed was easy to quit for me.

How can Speed be harmless? Maybe it was easy to quit for you, but not for so many others. People do shoot this stuff, is that harmless?

Speed is a pill that is often prescription. Seems many are as ignorant of the current drugs as me. Crystal Meth is a different deal....think you smoke it and cannot quit easily. Both are old style drugs. Newer stuff and a return to Heroin is latest in many countries in some new form.