kickstart

4 hours ago, Denim said:

A proliferation of expensive shops does not a good airport make.

 

Decent seating for those having to wait a long time for a connection would make nice change.

And somewhere just to sit down and have a cup of tea/coffee would be nice, or maybe a beer.

8 hours ago, Gandtee said:

The pic is not mine. I made a copy of the Busmar Astral sidecar and fitted to my Triumph Thunderbird. My wife, three kids and my mate on the back, did some great trips. Some horrible bugger nicked it on Mothers Day when we were about go to visit her.

Looking at that timing cover bike looks mor like a BSA 650 A10.

7 hours ago, loong said:

A Farang driving a motorbike and sidecar with passenger(s) in the sidecar may draw the attention of the police as an easy way to make a few baht!

You can carry goods but not passengers in the sidecar.

I have been using a side car now for 6 years ever since a hip replacement op, never a problem with the BIB. having been riding motorbikes for 40years plus no problem.

The problem with Thai sidecars is that they are never set up right, they never get the right toe in on the sidecar right, that makes them difficult to ride, the wife's side car was bad until I set it up right, now it rides a treat. 

Where you get, you can only carry goods not passengers from I do not know, look around you not all side cars are used for selling hotdogs and meat balls, defiantly more outfits hauling people than goods. 

Not certain, if it has thorns could well be a lime tree.

I would say from Swampy, go to the North Easten Bus Terminal ,Morchit, and get a bus cost? No more than 500 baht, a VIP night bus might be a bit more, all the buses are air con good seats.

I would feel safer in a bus than a 5-hour taxi ride, at least a bus will have a toilet. 

Now having done a lot of miles o9n buses over the past 20 years, that would be way I would go. 

How long is a piece of string? , when a tree bear fruit depends how well it is growing, and how well it is fed and watered? we had a Kaffer lime tree that did bear any fruit for 8-9 years after we planted it ,and we have a Pomelo tree been with us for the same time, still no fruit.

Also, Mangos like the cool season, it helps set the flowers. 

Sugar cane like water, any dry spell will show in reduced yields.

In my area the op has got it wrong, cassava price is at an all-time high, more cassava is being grown this year than in past years, a lot of cane has been ploughed out and not replaced. 

Our local sugar mill this year received 1.5 million tons of cane ,let's see what next year will bring.

13 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

Making an F1 street circuit in Bangkok would not be an easy task. Not only does a track need to be set out there also needs to be space for the pits and grandstands. Apart from that having a street circuit means massive disruption to traffic in the area for a couple weeks. Maybe out near Savanabhumi Airport. I would be very interested to see a plan of where it would be but something tells me as it is they have no idea. Reality is though that the F1 world circuit is full and to break into it is not easy. 

My first thoughts where they would have to do some very serious road repairs before they can even think about F1 in Thailand, a trip down to Singapore would be a good idea, to see how it is done, and it works. 

3 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

I have listened to people who live close to CMU, ages around 40 to 50, speak about the much cooler temperatures they experienced, at all times of the year, several decades ago.

 

CMU, at that time, was surrounded by heavily forested land.

These people seem nostalgic for the days when they did not fry in the heat, and also the days when they could enjoy crisp cool low-humidity air, much of the year.

 

Those days are long gone.

 

Instead, we can take a look at this graph for a LOOK BACK or a LOOK FORWARD to what has gone before and what is ahead concerning the temperature anomaly in store for us.

 

Not a particularly rosy picture is painted by these graphs:

 

https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/sites/default/files/2021-08/15853-WB_Thailand Country Profile-WEB_0.pdf

 

Note that the rate of change will continue to increase, as well, which is something referred to as intensity. And, this can't be good.

 

NOTE:  Unfortunately, although the report was published in 2021, the above graphs seem to have been based on data collected before 2005.  And, since this rosy picture continues to become even bleaker, as time goes by, I suspect that the newer data may look even less appealing to the average Thai citizen, not to mention the Farang lurking about here.

 

NOTE 2:  I guess it's NOT our imagination that, in the near past, temps actually WERE cooler:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change_in_Thailand

 

 

Interesting graph, when I first come here in in 1993, I was told Thailand had by then, cut down 75 % of their forests, in my area cental Lopburi, it was all wooded the wife can just remember that, older people can remember hearing elephants trumping.

Now, it just an agriculture area, where cassava, corn, sugar cane rules the roost.

The wifehas said a lot when she was younger it never got this hot, and she has been in farming for a lot of years and would know. 

14 hours ago, Pesche said:

"coping with the growing challenges posed by climate change."

 

THERE IS NO CLIMATE CHANGE!

Stop it!

 

We have El Niño and it is peak of the hot season.

This is NOT the "climate change"!

Up to about 10 years ago, not many people had heard of El Nimo those that had said it happens every so many years, now every one knows about El Nimo it seems to come more frequent now. ...................Explain.

On 4/19/2024 at 2:57 PM, spidermike007 said:

I believe the Italian-Thai Development (ITD) Plc. is currently building the Rama 2 project leading out of Bangkok southbound. This overhead highway seems to have been under construction already for the last 10 or 15 years and considering that they're only a kilometer 36 it looks like they might have 10 to 30 years to go.

 

So this company obviously needs help, they are moving very slowly, the project is a disaster with constant construction going on, both in and out of Bangkok.

 

It's actually quite an abomination. 

They is definitely sometime well wrong with the management/running of the company they have been the main contractors of Bangkok's BTS ,the sky train, since day one, over 25 years ago now.  and it is still on going.

If they cannot make any money now, as I said something is well wrong. 

Have a look at your foot valve, if you are priming the pump all the time, that could be blocked or a weak spring /seal, I have had that problems with our pump, also check inlet pipe connections, any leaks in the suction pipe the water will not flow properly. 

This subject often comes up in the UK, get stuff off the road on to trains, very true.

But, more so here in Thailand than the Uk, you first have to get the said produce to a railway depo, that could imply a long road journey, if you live in a rural area like most farms are.

And what about the infrastructure at the depo, that will have to be upgraded, for loading, then unloading no single-track roads now.

Can not see it working.  

28 minutes ago, norbra said:

Around 4pm my dtac data Sim gave up, too busy with users chasing results for lucky numbers.

Funny you should say that, trying to listen to my radio vie AIS mobile sim and my Bluetooth speaker, it gave up at about the same time, did not think about the lottery.

8 hours ago, Tom100 said:

The lottery in Thailand is hugely popular despite the low odds of winning and the unfavourable payout ratio. The payout ratio for the Thai lottery is 60%, as compared to worldwide averages of 74% for bingo, 81% for horse racing, 95% for Las Vegas slot machines, and 98% for blackjack.

When Covid was about no lottery tickets were sold, then we found out that the Thai lottery was the biggest sauce of income for the government.

With your 60% pay out that would be about right.

Another Thai oddity, most countries they biggest form of income would be income tax, but, anther counties do have the underground lottery, plans afoot for the government to sell two and three number ticket  like the underground lottery does ,if they do and they is no underground lottery ,very unlikely, that could double they income ,as more than one person as said more money is spent on the underground lottery than on the official government lottery. 

interesting they went to the CEO of the Carabao group ,they beer sales I would say are not good, alcohols sales may double but not his that is  when you can find it, I give they Bier Dum, the dark Larger, which is their best 6 months then it will be no more, not to the Thai pallet, not sweet enough. 

Thailand Development Research Institute estimated that road accidents caused an economic loss of over 642 billion baht in 2019, with 19,904 fatalities.

The above figures are not good by anyone's reconning, but what percent where due to alcohol? but when governments work out ow much tax alcohol sales bring in, not a lot will change.  

Is It?, in my rural area, Lopburi, it has been one of the quietest Songkarn festivals for many a year, they are a few places where lots of people gathe,r but as a rule very quiet, I have been out on my motorbike and come home dry.

The reason, the very hot weather, or more likely the economy is not good, not that our intrepid government would say so, in so many words. 

6 hours ago, mfd101 said:

Just what the Ukrainians need. Now.

Did I read somewhere over the past 2 days?? they are going to send it to Ukraine, if they do it will be a good testing ground.

I do not think Iran will attack, but they are losing face by not attacking, especially after the Israel attack on its consulate  in Damascus.

But they know if they do attack, they must know they cannot win, if the West joins in which they will, Iran will get bombed, and they know which facilities to attack.

If Iran has the bomb, would they use it, again I would say no, but they could well use Hamas, Houthis, and Hezbollah to attack ...who knows what, which will cause chaos. 

5 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Considering the mass travel and general chaos Thailand does seem to get most people to their destination on time and in one piece

As someone has used Thai buses a lot over the past 20 plus years it is a good system.

Remember once coming back New Year's Eve from Morchit, Bangkok, my bus was full, so they found another bus from somewhere, not nonmale running on that route, me and a lot of other passengers got home that evening.

It is all right taking them back to the UK, but will they grow, they are tropical plants, and will need a greenhouse to grow them in, if it is a hot UK summer you might be able to grow them outside.

But Basil and Chiles are continuous grows, and will die in a UK winter. 

Cucumbers are a popular farming crop, difficulty to use shade cloth growing them up poles. 

Or, make a pole frame to grow them up when they reach the top pinch the tops out, that could be covered in shade cloth. 

That depends on what you like, being so hot this time of year not easy to say, the wife has been saying Chines Kale and Coriander are getting expensive, as they are most years at this time, and they will grow.

You could try long beans, maybe Cucumbers, they will grow, but they will need some poles to grow them up Bambo is the best.

Can you remember if it was a male or female artist or a group?