jamhar

Regional responsibility is not a bad tactic.

But this smells of laziness rather than delegation of responsibility/authority.

The central governing body should at least set guidelines to better ensure fairness across the kingdom.

i'm sure they will figure it out eventually. Going against the ingrained cultural norms take time.

The majority will probably not the predator variety. Cost too much. Most will likely be the mini variety. What we use to call RC (radio controlled) planes/copters. If you include those, there are already millions flying in the US.

There are already manned helicopter flights used by the police everywhere, and Cessna flights by the highway patrols. I dont see where unmanned flights makes a difference legally.

Also "drones" use to be used as a designator for converter manned airplanes that were converted to RC planes to be used in missile tests as targets. I suspect that the use of the term "drone" came about to denote that these UAV's are EXPENSIVE! Not like your kids RC plane costing hundreds to thousands of dollars, but costing as much a fighter.

But the press picked up on the sound bite and rest is history. *sigh*

Still looks like a bit of house cleaning. Thats good.

They catch flack for doing the right thing, and they catch flack for not doing the right thing

Par for the course, after all they are cops.

Trasfer to desk, or to a different station while being investigated, is SOP (standard operating procedure) in my home country

in case of major crimes, suspension with or whithout pay depending on severity of the crime.

What struck me as odd, were the pictures of them carefully packing up the gaming tables,

as if they didnt want to damage something they wanted to use again lol

Sorta looked like pictures of midnight looters didnt they?

I truly hope that isn't the best (or only) source you've got.

You and I have been through this before and you had the good sense then to bail out of your attempt to deflect any possible criticism of Thailand and direct it toward the evil Westerners (which is ironic given that I don't see the prevalence of prostitution per se to be anything to necessarily be ashamed of)...

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa ap

SJ What wrong with the data from you view?

I see a few things

1) data of the sex workers are taken over several decades. a few years is ok, but decades? come on. Still you can make a good first order magnitude comparisons by only comparing data within a decade or 5 years. I dont have the desire to do that lol

2) population data is taken from several years, much better than the sex workers but still could lend bias to the data. but the data is within a few years so the population data is probably ok

3) the data is defined as for "sex workers". could include girls working in topless bars, bikini bars, lingerie restaurants. hooters (and similar) restaurants, hostess bars, ect. the term needs to be more specified. I believe the data to be skewed (with this definition) in some countries to enhance the numbers, just my guess.

Still the numbers are interesting.

Well, that is just capitalism in action. Selling the cheapest shit you can get away with for the highest possible price. Americans should be applauding these asian fellows for pursuing the spirit of entrepreneurship and free trade.

Nice dig.

but unfortunately capitalism says that as soon as people find out you're selling fakes, you'll go out of business and you wont be trusted to start a new biz with anyone that knows the story.

So its in your best interest to produce the best product you can at the lowest price possible. Once consumer confidence is lost, so is your business.

as the people in HK already knows regarding the mainland products.

So this proposed new measure will keep death & carnage off the roads during the festival period ??

By baning the sale of alcohol over the three day festival, widely publicised beforehand of course so Joe public can stock up on their favourite brew, still enjoy their 3 day beer fest & the government keeps it's revenue coming in, problem solved!!

PROBLEM NOT SOLVED!!

Are they not capable of thinking any policy through to the end ??

People will stock up on alcohol ahead of the festival & still feel the need to drive.. this will never stop drink driving in a million years !!

Police mounting road blocks on every corner with the advisory reading: if you drink & drive during this period you WILL be banned automatically for a year, you WILL go to jail for 6 months, you WILL pay a huge fine, your insurance cover WILL double in price..

As in other countries this WILL have more effect !!

EXCELLANT IDEA

Yes this is a BRILLIANT idea----- OK thats the solution ----now the question----- How do we make them do it cos buggered if I know-------------------------------------------------Dougal the Kiwi

I agree that this is the path most countries have had to take. But each country must get there on their own.

Until then, there will be carnage on the roads.

Best to stay off the roads on holidays after dark

and best not to be on the roads from midnight to 5AM.

Wow,

Some serious anti Thai sentiments here.

Sad

These articles just drone on and on and on.....

Lets not sugar coat it

Items from TL and China are most likely fakes.

I've been to more than 20 bars looking for single malt scotch. All were fakes except 2 places. and the only reason i'm moderately sure of those is because 1) it was a new bottle with an unbroken seal, 2) tasted like it, and 3) it better be real at the prices i paid!

Obviously the parliament does not understand the great bargains there are in NZ!

Is it doomed to fail, or is it doomed to not be completed on time?

I was thinking the same thing

I don't know the motivation of this individual. If he thinks the plan is flawed, then he can suggest ways to correct the flaw. Or give an estimate of time to complete even with caveats.

Regardless of how good an engineer is, Having someone this negative, and not offer constructive criticism can be a killer in project just starting out.

If i was this guys boss, I would have to have a serious talk with him,

address his concerns and get him on board, or get him off the project.

But going public with your criticism like this,

is rarely a good thing in engineering.

Come on guys, its bad to be sure, but not hopeless (unlike my quest to find some good REAL scotch )

A starting point that I see, is a lack of objective data.

We don't know how bad the situation is because both the teachers and students cheat.

Need Data.

I'd start the process by implementing yearly exams for the teachers

and twice yearly exams for the students (once at the start and end of school)

the exams would be 1/3 oral, 1/3 essay and 1/3 multiple choice.

the rationale is that its really hard to cheat in an oral exam.

adding the essay, gives you the chance to have a separate person grade the essays

and the multiple choice is just for some volume data.

The idea on multiple tests (once at start and once at the beginning), is that while teacher may be motivated to "enhance" their class test scores, they will just as likely be motivated to supress the start of year test scores,since its the difference in beginning to end scores that will be a key evaluation parameter for each teacher. The difference in the exit/entry tests will be a good indication of the level of "enhancement" that's occurring between the two teacher.

The teacher exams are similar, and self explanatory. set some minimum standard and give the slackers 5 years to catch up or they get demoted to teaching assistant until they can test their way back.

Oh, and this is just to get a handle on what the problem is. The thought is that just getting to a place where you can get real test data will be a start on the road to better education.

The process needs a lot of work, but i think the general idea has some legs. Any thoughts?

An objective self inspection is a key step in a program of self improvement.

Basically its difficult to continuously improve if you don't know whats wrong.

First realize you have a problem

identify the problems

then get corrective plan on each problem

execute the plan

hold every team member accountable.

This problem is systemic in TL.

problems are diverse.

Start with the low lying fruit

get some confidence in the team and the plan

and move forward.

Thats what i would do

but what do i know,

i'm just an engineer

Sounds like they are at step 1.

lets see if they can get to step 2 and 3.

I'm wishing for luck,

Knock on wood and

Got my fingers crossed!

"Dengue Fever: 13,200 Cases Reported In Thailand"

Dang! That's a lot

PS if someone has already used that joke

I humbly apologize

I use to make weekly/monthly trips to baja.

Sad to say that i dont think my 6yrold daughter will ever know the pleasure of a baja road/surf trip.

There was a time you could go down to baja with $10 and have a weekend including beers.

you had to camp on the beach, but hey, i was in college!

Nice... Many computer game DVDs are legally sold in Thailand at a considerably lower price, if compared to the US market. If we assume that this court ruling is setting a precedent then we are legally allowed to import them back to US and sell with a profit.

I believe your 'intent' will be challenged

But good thinking!

If its a "once in a century",

you really don't have to worry about it for another 100 years

but we all believe it will probably happen again in the next decade,

so TL should start planning for it.

From Wiki

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

Average elevation is 1.5m above sealevel

with some parts 1m below sealevel

This will be a HUGE undertaking, to say the least.

Nice to know! Thanks!

It would also be nice to know what statistic they used to come up with this list.

and the 11-100 areas are

"making it rain" maybe ok for a strip bar,

but in a restaurant? Come On Man!

That completely lacks class.

A tasteless, albeit, financially nice gesture.

One nice upside,

at least the patron knew who was getting the money.

If i leave tip with the bill, i don't always know who is getting the money

so In TL,i tip the server, discretely, directly when possible.

Actually i dont think this is a bad project.

TL already makes scooters, and a jet ski is a scooter for the water.

Having said that, this is mostly a "wow" project.

So a perfect college or highschool project.

Practical, maybe, but not cost effective.

You can build many more simple boats with little outboard for the same cost.

Theres a Thai FDA?

They better lace theirs shoes on tight

Cause They've got a lot of work to do.

yep the message has been relayed. I told him, he'll need 1900baht for the 30, and an additional 1900baht for the 7.

if he does not get that he can try to prepay 7 days of overstay at 500baht/day.

He'll also need a ticket to get the prepaid overstay or the 7 day extension.

He's off to the immigration office in Rayong today. we'll see how it goes.

Thanks guys. you've been a great help!

You can bet American Standard and other manufacturers will be salivating at such news.

"salivating" and "American Standard" should never be used in the same sentence

just say'n

Although I'm not looking for a relationship at this time, the few experiences I have had with Thai men have been similar to what the article said. I also agree with phuturatica in that I believe the cultural differences might be too much for me. But, my main problem is that most attractive Thai men I've met are shorter than I am, and I'm just shallow enough that it makes a difference.

Not shallow. Its a common universal requirement of women in the US also. I tried dating someone taller than me once. I use to joke that I needed climbing gear to kiss her, esp when she wore heels. I cant remember why we didn't work out. Heard she married a volleyball player.

As most Thai men are shorter than most western women (esp in heels), i haven't seen too many western women/thai men relationships and don't expect too. With one exception. My college buddy. He ended up marrying a western girl about his height. They still have cultural issues, but their 3 kids makes for a solid bond. They live in the US and his kids are pretty westernized, so he's the odd man out with cultural issues most of the time lol.

cwdavi1, on 19 Mar 2013 - 16:20, said:

"Deputy Public Health Minister Cholanan Srikaew said that squat toilets are a major contributor to osteoarthritis in the knee."

And what evidence does he have for this? Did this perhaps come out of his rear end?

Since I've lived in Thailand for several years I'm wondering if someone has cornered the market on sit down toilets and is ready to cash in.

Wayne

I can guarantee you that if i ever got myself into a squat position and did #2,

i would not be able to extricate myself from it!

But then again, I'm not a Thai Native