spud67

Haha I read the headline as 'Photoshop for ...' instead of 'photo shop....'. I was thinking that applying some Photoshop techniques to your passport picture would not be very copacetic.

Even if I believed that the parents are not abandoning their child and even if I believed that this woman is a wicked schemer who somehow accurately predicted that the parents would not want their own child, I still don't understand the vile hatred towards the surrogate mother. A hatred so strong that some of this baby's own, I presume, countrymen would rather condemn a just-born, but apparently defective, Australian citizen to a life of poverty in a struggling country instead of standing up and demanding a just and caring life for it with access to top-notch medical care, for no other reason than to vilify the mother.

This child is not a piece of trash to be thrown away. Most people love their children, even those that don't match expectations. Call me naive, but I hope the Thai and Aussie governments conduct proper due diligence of the heritage of the child and follow up with a plan of care shared by both countries.

One thing's for sure, in the future economies controlled by the Chinese and Indian mega-trillionaires, everyone will be much more understanding when some rich Chinese politico publicly commands his poverty-stricken, white, anglo-saxon handmaiden to have an abortion because he doesn't want her inferior spawn messing up his perfect family.

The Canadian system is very individual focused. I am Canadian and had tried to get a tourist visa for my former gf. An accredited immigration consultant helped us with the process because my gf case was not strong on her own, although she possessed, what I considered to be, substantial assets. In particular for a single Thai woman in her 40's she had a fair amount of cash in the bank and farmland rented out to others.

We felt that with my background that the Visa had a good chance: born a citizen of Canada, former elected official, no criminal record, income well over $100,000/year.

The reply we got was similar to your wife's reply, however, underneath was a note saying to not bother trying again unless her circumstances change drastically. I took that to mean that we would need to marry first.

There is only one reason that I can think of for Canada's immigration system to be so harsh with visas - including tourist visas. About a decade or more ago, Statistics Canada (a government agency) polled recent immigrants and refugees to Canada. Seventy-five percent of them, under the age of 30, came to Canada because they believed it would help them get into the US (some probably thought it was one in the same). I suspect that the US, in response, told the Cdn government to toughen up its immigration policies or see a less porous border in regards to Canadian vacationers casually crossing the line.

And yet, sometimes, when I see some of the people who do make it in...I just shake my head.

Good luck sir. I hope you and your wife will one day visit our beautiful country.

I just had a look at their website. The C208 is for scheduled flights and its located at Chiang Mai. The Hawker is for charters, based at Don Muang.

I tried the booking engine for a one-way flight, Hua Hin -> Chiang Mai in September and got a higher price than listed above. 3215 + VAT + taxes = 3490 baht

Still, if you're located in Hua Hin, the 1.5 hour flight to Chiang Mai would be much more convenient than driving or busing to Bangkok and going thru security there.

Presumably the 208 would fly lower than other flights and would make a more interesting flight during clear days.

An OP over in the New Forum ...

BANGKOK: -- Bangkok-based budget carrier Nok Air will before the end of the month take delivery of the first of eight Bombardier Q400 NextGen turboprops and in doing so become the first airline in the region to operate the Canadian-made aircraft.

More info here

I've had the pleasure of flying on the Q400 with Porter Airlines. The noise and vibration suppression systems are obvious and appreciated (as is the espresso maker). And at 340 knots, they make for a speedy, regional puddle-jumper.

This may be of interest to CLB. The traffic patterns and even the aircraft have changed a little since your last flights up here. There are 5 737s (one is hidden behind the hangar, just the nose sticking out.) But there are 3 different models now.

I didn't know that Thailand have oil reserves in an inland wells, off shores yes, inland wells?

new on to me? are there any other oil well in the vicinity of that area?

Frakking maybe...

Frak off.... As far as I am aware there is no fracking going on in Thailand

Nor likely to be any fracking either.

Would need to be high pressure gerbils.

I think it was a DMF requirement that the bottom hole location was known. It can be several kms laterally from the surface location and the oil companies need to know it themselves for various reasons.

Forget GPS; very precise geophysical surveys are carried out to help determine where to drill and the surface location of the well is known exactly.

There don't appear to be many wanting to hear your reasoned responses. I have no knowledge of Thai oil industry but I did serve as a crew chief for a land surveyor in the Canadian oil and gas fields. The idea that a company secretly and quietly slipped a drilling rig into a national park, drilled a well and then expected no one to notice for the (hopefully) decades long life of the well and subsequent pipeline sounds like the results of a slapdash story. Further, assuming some sort of a land titles office in Thailand, why would the military use a handheld GPS to determine the location? They should be using a combination of lease papers and their own land surveyor prior to releasing their dumbed-down results to the 'news'. All this does is throw suspicion.... oh, I see it now.

"Other findings of the research include:

• showing that roughly a quarter of all Google Play free apps are clones: these apps are duplicative of other apps already in Google Play" - astounding 555

It's the emotional theatrics that turn me off from soccer. I don't like watching most South American teams because of it. There is nothing beautiful about watching some millionaires roll around on the pitch in an effort to deceive the ref.

Rather than England and others stoop to the level needed to win, England should call for more body contact to be allowed. Let the weak roll around on the pitch.

Given the huge amount of news coverage that immigration receives in Canadian media, it's astonishing the number of Canadians that fail to check out the legal standing of the consultants claiming to help them. CIC couldn't care less about your dealings with VFS because they have no relationship to them. CIC is not responsible for the doings of the people you hired. The only people legally entitled to represent you must be a certified member of the ICCRC, you can search for them at this link.

If VFS has been a dick to you in this process. CIC has recommendations on filing a complaint based on where they are located and if they are certified.

Good luck with the visa process. I fear you may still be on your own.

I honestly can't think of any other reason he has stayed in Chiang Mai other than a civil suit and the hopes of some cash. Am i missing something? You can go home and get free health care and welfare to help you out in your time of need. Why is he still in Thailand?

Healthcare in Canada is funded to a large degree by the federal government, but it is run by the provincial governments. If you are no longer are a 'resident' as defined by Canada Revenue Agency, you may no longer qualify for provincial health benefits. At that point a Canadian may be treated as a foreigner within the system and be expected to pay for treatment.

We all could be missing something here. It is difficult to know the factors at play. As mentioned previously, this is what insurance is for; but good luck in his efforts to normalize his life.

60,000 baht seems like an awfully steep barfine... wait a minute... oh I see... it's a bar fine not a barfine.

Ahhh patience. Air France/KLM just sent out a Flash Sale for all classes from N. America to Asia for travel through the fall. Booking time limit is in 5 days. Business class from $3500CAD R/T from Toronto and Montreal to various points in Asia including BKK.

I appreciate everyone's comments. I have not written off PAL but I am looking closely at EVA. I had no idea they flew to Canada (YVR and YYZ). The connection in Taipei is quick and it may be the most direct route from here (least amount of actual time in the air). The first leg from Toronto is almost 16 hours but the second leg is mercifully short.

>>Whizbang; Interesting prices you are getting. I've been checking the American carriers with little luck. I have tried prices from Canadian and American cities with little difference. I just tried another search with AA originating in NYC (SFO was the same). As you can see from the screen capture the price is a little high. Maybe it's too early.

I know the loonie is getting an a$$kicking from the greenback but it's still .90 on the dollar.

Thanks for the comments.

There is no point in booking business class if it's not comfortable. PAL's press releases mention they are refurbishing their 777ERs but I have no idea if they have refurbished the aircraft that fly to Canada in particular. I have a few more months to monitor airline prices. The long oceanic flight kills me in economy so I'm hoping for business class under THB100,000 but will also go up to THB120,000. If nothing else I can consider Air Canada Premium Economy to HKG or Tokyo and then take a regional into BKK.

I am planning a return trip to Thailand in September. In the past, my holidays have lined up with the Air France/KLM Summer Business Class sale and I have been able to travel to SE Asia return from Canada for around $3,000 (90,000 baht). This year no such luck. However, Philippines Airlines has a similar price as regular price and the flight times work good for me. BUT... I have no idea as to the quality of the airline. I am looking for anybody's experiences, in particular anybody who has flown in their trans-pacific Business Class in the last 2 years.

Thanks

This is a wonderful setup for this coming week. Last week, Jon Stewart skewered CNN (again) on The Daily Show and announced that Pele will be on his show this week. His writers are going to have the time of their lives writing this episode. The timing couldn't be more perfect.

Both helpful responses, thank you.

Re: MichaelJohn; I would be interested in knowing your neighbourhood in order to comparison shop a little.

This photo isn't mine, t'was sent to me however thought I'd share it with you fine aviation minded fellows..

xyz.jpg

Anyone care to name the airline, make and model?

A Boeing B747-8 freighter painted in honour of (but not for the use by) Seattle Seahawks as part of their sponsorship of the team. This particular aircraft is in flight testing.

Just watched the maiden flight of this new bird on Discovery last night. A new low cost mid range fighter jet.

vgWsW.Em.80.jpg

Copyright Travis Heying/The Wichita Eagle - link will be provided to original story.

I will leave this one a couple more days in case anyone wants to try it. The aircraft was developed with parts already in production bringing the cost of the jet down to a measly $20 million per and $2,000/hr to operate.

Textron Airland Scorpion

Correct you are, sir. Here is a link to the news story and photo provided previously.

In a previous interview, an executive from Cessna/Textron stated that the Scorpion was not built to compete with the big boys but would fill a nice niche in homeland security. What??? Homeland security? Could you imagine the outcry if the US, UK, Canada or any other western nation fired missiles on their own soil? Maybe Assad would be interested...

Just watched the maiden flight of this new bird on Discovery last night. A new low cost mid range fighter jet.

vgWsW.Em.80.jpg

Copyright Travis Heying/The Wichita Eagle - link will be provided to original story.

I will leave this one a couple more days in case anyone wants to try it. The aircraft was developed with parts already in production bringing the cost of the jet down to a measly $20 million per and $2,000/hr to operate.

What a great looking machine. The first Airbus in quite a while that looks right.

You can say that again.

The 330 has great lines, but the rest come out of the ugly duckling stables

The A380 looks 'stubby' to me personally, but I suspect that eventual stretch-versions will 'look' better, as well as increase capacity.

I agree, I think it looks great. I assume in part because it is the 900 series but I was also drawn to the windscreen and the wings. It arrived at the far end of the runway so I could not see it well on final but the wings look like they flex a lot, giving it the appearance of a bird in flight.

Funny story; or at least I think it's funny:

After the airplane landed and finished its roll, the pilot came on the radio and said, "Blah blah blah North America blah blah blah."

Unfortunately, between his accent, the radio and (probably) a poorly placed mic, I couldn't understand what he was saying. So I replied, "Airbus XXXX, transmission unreadable, say again."

Again the pilot said, "Blah blah blah North America blah blah blah."

Again, I couldn't understand what he was saying. So I replied, "Airbus XXXX, transmission unreadable, say again."

To which the pilot replied, (and this is a gross paraphrasing because I got the gist but not all of the words) "Airbus is proud to bring the new A350 to the people of Iqaluit and northern Canada on its maiden flight to North America."

Oops, completely missing the grandeur of the moment and feeling like a bit of an a$$ because I should have expected that, I replied, "Well, we sure are happy to have you here and hope you enjoy our hospitality." Always be prepared.

Correct SVB

Cold weather testing and in North America for its first time. Although its engines were tested here last year on the 380.

A few more pics

Here's another if there is anyone still out there. You won't find this puppy in any airline livery so I am just looking for manufacturer and make.