Plus

- automatics generaly consume more gas than their manual counterparts,

not anymore

- can't be towed any great distance

People buy cars to drive, not to tow them around, so they might not see the usefulness of manuals for that purpose

- and can't be push started if you accidently flatten the battery.

People don't buy cars to push start them either. I've never seen anyone push starting his car here, only an ad for M-150 or something. Maybe they should buy manuals to enjoy that bonding activity. Are they missing a lot?

- manual gives you the decision as to when to change gear

Why would people need that extra bother? Why not just push gas and let the car decide. Cooks don't ask you when to put salt in your dish either - you just order and they deliver.

Manoonkriy was involved in stagin two coups, afaik.

How does that go with "no coup" red agenda?

Or does it really mean "no coups against our guys"?

They can demand all they want - Thailand doesn't exist for their pleasure alone. It's their responsibility to find ways to co-exist with society.

Hold on - I was saying that current 1.8 Civic doesn't have any visibnle advantage over 1.6 Corolla, that their bigger displacement and higher HP do not mean they perform any better on the road.

2l Civic is a different beast, I don't know how many times are said that it's probably the fastest regular car available in Thailand.

If one is to buy 1.8 Civic and hope that it performs just as well because other Civics have 2l engine or R badges on them is kindergarten variety dream.

I'm just not used to barriers like that, just to see if stuff is really worth the trouble.

If it was any good, it would be all over piratebay or mininova anyway.

I'm not sure Iranian opposition wants to take on Ayatollah and the regime itself, and their leader, Mosawi, looks a bit like Thaksin in that sense - he quite enjoyed the system himself and turned into a sworn enemy only when he lost, and the proposed alternatives do not look better in anyway. They are both caricatures of democracy, not the "real thing".

Ahmadinejad, I read, doesn't draw his presidential salary and lives off his university job instead. He even refused to move to presidential quarters from his modest house in poor neighbourhood until secret service insisted they can't guarantee his safety there. He also makes all his ministers to fully disclose their assets and monitors them to make sure they don't steal while in office.

A but Chamlongish, I would say.

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This parallel searching is misleading, imo. It appears Iranians have a totally different view of the world and totally different values, and their internal struggles do not fit in our western "democracy vs dictatorship" narrative, the narrative the proposed "parallels" are seeking to validate. It just isn't there.

The other day Nattakon Devakula, the potential PTP MP in the next elecitons, described them as communists. Or are they far-right? Or is any label will do, as long as it's derogatory enough?

You mean swastika roots?

I think the new logo is horrible, especially the colors, but their party is in the process of creating an image of itself and finding their place on Thai political scene, nothing is cast in iron yet.

Just read the site, working find on True.

Interestingly, the comments section has a few entries very similar to our "Parallels between Iran and Thailand" thread.

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What about this part of the story:

Khao Sod reported that on April 23, Phuea Thai MPs brought the red-shirt woman Mintra Soros to a press conference at Parliament House. Mintra was asked whether she had spit in the man’s face. When she denied that, some reporters insisted that there were witnesses and photographic evidence showing that Mintra had spit in his face first.

The newspaper noted that during the press conference Mintra’s face did not appear downcast, showing no sign of having been overwhelmed by the attack; rather, she responded eloquently to the reporters’ questions. She also had chewing gum in her mouth and avoided all eye contact with the reporters.

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I, personally, think that this poster got the it right:

"How on earth, no one showed any attempt to intervene the assualt, not even verbally! Were they too yellow to stand up, or simply "none of my business", or worst of all, did they felt the victim really deserved it?"

I don't know it it's "worst of all" or not, but it's not unusual for Thailand.

In the past couple of days I learned that Ahmadinejad won by eleven million votes, that's not a small number that can be blamed in vote rigging. I also learned that his opponent was a Prime Minister during Iran hostage crisis, among other things, so it's silly to presume he is some voice for democracy and freedom. He seems to be just a sore loser trying to win sympathy from ignorant West by refusing to accept his loss and creating mayhem on the streets, and, boy, did they fall for it!

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MayBeLater, in last elections here the current opposition got only 36% of the vote, and many of their MPs have left since then, and more are going to leave as soon as they are legally allowed.

What is funny is that Democrat party, the ruling coalition leader, want to break up with some stubborn partners and rely on votes from dissident MPs in the opposition instead.

The opposition represents the majority of population only in their own heads, and, apparently, yours.

The parallel is that when they clearly lost the parliament battle, the opposition here, just like in Iran, took to the streets instead, and tried to overthrow the Thai state by force (the whole state, not just the current government).

What about the majority of muslims who are shit scared of insurgents, too?

Like the episode with leaflets forbidding locals to work on Fridays - seems like a small concession for practicing muslims, but the punishment is death, and who knows where these demands will stop.

Also it's pretty clear who will be in charge there if given autonomy, and it's not moderate muslims and their leaders.

Giving them autonomy is similar to giving Afganistan back to Taleban just because it's popular there. Another perversion of "democracy".

Trying to get Extras from UK torrent site - it's like stepping in stone ages - download limits, ratio watch, lots of gobbledygook, and you get kicked out automatically if you attempt to download more than 2.5GB in one month!!!

That's just two lousy shows!

Apparently it's not just British TV, it's the viewing public, too.

It's not like UK shows are in a very high demand, if the the people make it so difficult to download them - they can stuff it up theirs, not my loss.

But then what to do about people extolling UK tv virtues on discussion boards? It's like talking to Gollum sitting on his "precious" - he absolutely loves it but won't share.

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Oh, and the website banner for another UK torrent site is a guy watching old style, 4:3 resolution, vacuum tube TV box. Apparently Brits haven't been touched by flat screen revolution yet, explains why they still watch black and white comedy reruns.

What a backward country!

1) What is the primary compelling reason that leads people to choose to go to Linux?

It wasn't a matter of choice for me - I installed it next to Windows, just to try and see what it is. I boot in and out of Linux/Windows, depening on my mood or whatever, they happily coexist.

2) Is it possible for a relative neophyte to do it?

Absolutely. Most basic stuff works straight out of the box. Ubuntu is very easy to use, once you get used to menu being at the top of the screen. PclinuxOs, often mentioned here, is more Windows like in that sense, but there are a bit more menu entries, sometimes apparently duplicating the same tasks.

3) Since my primary issue right now is the desire to feel safe doing online purchasing, banking, etc, (I do none of this now), is the security available for Linux any more foolproof than that available for Windows. Right now I am using Eset Nod 32 and MalwareBytes.

It could be that your online banking sites are Internet Explorer only. In that case Linux will be useless. On the other hand, you can always reboot into Windows when needed. Interestingly, if you site is IE only, it means it relies on very same features that are considered major security holes and the main entry point for all kinds of nasties.

You have stated several times; by watching Civic for 5 years you can see its as slow as a Corolla 1,6. You can not see if its 1,8 or 2,0.

2l Civic has large red lettering, very easy to spot. A lot easier than making out the difference between 6 and 8 on 1.6 or 1.8 Corollas.

Whatever Grant drives - it's not 1.8 model, so his experience is irrelevant to this discussion.

Civic TypeR is imported and sold independently, true, but I seriosly doubt that poster's wife got one, doesn't sound like a choice for a Thai girl. Also he stressed on servicing it with Honda dealers - I don't think Honda dealers stock spare parts for Type R, from the engine to brakes.

There was some kind of "R" badge on previous generation Civics once - they got some special side skirts and other bits and pieces, but definitely not the engine.

I don't think Thais even think about fighting with Cambodia.

They have been very happy with the status quo, it's the Cambodians that decided to piss of Thais with unilateral listing, demand sovereignty over the disputed areas, and start shooting as soon as they Thai soldiers "trespassing".

Labelling TRT supporters "Thaksin's lackeys" is insulting and patronising, and they have a right to be offended.

It's the reds who come to the people and make demands for this and for that. If they feel offended by society's response - it's their problem.

There was an article about wind power in today's Nation. Apparently the trials are not satisfactory yet.

There was also mention of the nation power plan and that windpower has it's place and share in it and there are about fifty investment applications in windpower stations.

I hope it's the same situation with solar - anyone can come and invest if they want.

I have no idea why there's bloodshed down there. Seriously.

From what is reported even the previous generation of separatists is at a loss, and they are certainly not in charge anymore.

It's easy to blame everything on history, or rather the version of history that insurgents learn from their imams, but it still doesn't explain why a village football team, the whole team, not just one or two players, one day decided to arm themselves with knives and go on a suicide mission against That army. They all got killed alright, they stood no chance, and they were only a small group out of hundreds on that day.

It was kind of flashmob - no one had a clue when it appeared and what was their goal other than getting killed.

Their usual targets make a lot more sense, but not their overall strategy - they've got no leaders, no spokesmen, no demands, no agenda, no plans. And that's probably the main reason that all Thai efforts are going nowhere.

There's only military solution to this, I'm afraid.

Here it is

It makes a mockery of their doctrine that they desire to prevent people from doing something

I'm not sure this is relevant - if you want to argue the doctrine, take it to the Buddhism forum.

For the purposes of the News Clippings I assume the call for alcohol ban doesn't undermine their doctrine. I'm talking about their right to bring it onto the general public outside the temples.

I belive Snowflake drives the previous, CVT model.

Read this board again. According to Grant its 227 kmh on the meter and 219 kmh on the GPS. I v never passed 200, never tryed to. But at 200 it handles quiet well too.

But that's not 1.8l Civic!

His is heavily modded and he dropped in a different engine to begin with.

my wife has been very happy with the service on her Civic 2.0 R

Another puzzle - Honda doesn't sell TypeR here. They planned to build them in Thailand but dropped the idea for the lack of buyers.

Why should the Red Shirts drop Thaksin, when people do still support him? It is their bloody right.

And it is the right of the rest of the country not to take them seriously for that.

After all, it's reds themselves who feel offended when they are dismissed as Thaksin's lakeys.

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Being more than just about Thaksin does not mean that Thaksin is not included as a very important figure and symbol for aspirations for people. One may like or dislike Thaksin, but one should respect the right of these people to have chosen him in elections.

Funny that this demand for acceptance comes from people who can't possibly forgive PAD and Democrats for calling for royal intervention several years ago.

Thanks, Insight, will check it out.

Also got to check out Extras, 8 out of 10 cats, Doctor Who and that spinoff, already forgot the name, it's in a PM sent by one good samaritan on our TV.

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In threads like this TV for ThaiVisa is TV for television can be confusing.

There is supply and demand just like everywhere else.

There's big big money in TV advertising and the producers can't care less whether the content is silly or not - they produce what sells.

Someone already mentioned Thai PBS that is supposed to provide content driven programming, with no advertising money to chase. They tried it in the 90s with ITV but that business model failed miserably, so far Thai PBS doesn't look very encouraging, but they have bottom line guaranteed regardless, so they can try and try and try until they succede.