Homburg

Financial compensation for an assault is common in Thailand, although the amounts involved would usually only buy a toy Mercedes!

How did Mr Ilay know that the attackers were German? Previous interaction? Waving German flags? Wearing lederhosen? They showed him their passports?

Rent v Buy? Just some of the advantages of renting that I have discovered: With a rental you can break the contract cheaply. With a rental you can always get the latest product If you have a problem with a rental then it is easy to rent a different item. A rental contract can be as long or as short as you want. In the long run, renting is far cheaper than buying. I shall always rent. I do not intend to ever buy a car.

Lol! But that is a far more recent pic. Thai ladies were much slimmer in 1975.

Those issues should have been fully covered in the purchase contract? Caveat emptor methinks! Nevertheless I cannot help feeling that such vitally important purchase considerations may not be carefully considered in Thailand's case. The question of "commission" will not doubt overshadow all other considerations, in fact it is probable that the only reason Thailand tried so hard to acquire the German engine rather than the Chinese engine was because it cost more and so gave a greater "commission".

Let us hope that, if only to keep us all entertained, they change the script for the sequel!

Brain less Virtue signalling 455hole5. They'll be sending £¼m aid to Hamas next. Oh, hang on...

This move by the ICC is extremely dangerous and divisive. It may serve to further polarise the World. Those states that condemn the ICC's move on one side, and those that support its move on the other. What will be very revealing is those states that do not support the position of the US The US is about to find out who its friends really are, and it looks like the UK is not going to be on that list. If the US feels isolated then might it decide not to get involved in European conflicts and just leave it to Russia and Western Europe to sort out the Ukraine mess? Could it be that the UK's position on this makes the US's withdrawal from NATO far more likely, and with it the onset of WW3? Are the battle lines for WW3 about to be revealed?

Could that actually be the source of the problem here? All the fingers are pointing to "free shots" and "spiked drinks", but perhaps this was a sealed bottle, with a very convincing appearance, bought by one of the tourists in the Vang Vieng night market or similar and which was shared when the free shots ran out?

I wish my electricity bill was only 500 Baht!

Crackdown = Bigger (and more) Brown Envelopes required

More often on arrival than departure tbf, although when you add the time taken at security and immigration you can sometimes be quite stressed to get to the departure gate in time. On arrival I recall one time that by the time I got through immigration all the baggage had been removed from the carousel and stacked up - and I was one of the first from my flight to get to immigration.

Will we also be able to clear immigration online? No, didn't think so, we'll still have to queue for hours.

BBC not working? Every cloud has a silver lining!

Hey Vivian, be careful to not let the door hit you on the way out.

Lammy's previous personal attacks on Donald Trump show that Lammy is unsuited for office. The fact that Starmer failed to recognise this shows a similar failing. The UK being represented on the World Stage by such inadequate characters is more akin to what would be expected in a banana republic. Oh, hang on....

Abbott? Or maybe Costello?

France is lost.

Unwitting? I think not. Witless perhaps?

Played all the wrong notes?

Any chance of a strategy to crackdown on Thai criminals? No, thought not.

BA = Best Avoided. A Cheap Charlie airline charging premium carrier prices.

Wow! Just Wow! Thank you so much for this thread. My ageing automobile has a manual parking brake. Pull up for on, let down to release. I did not have to read through or study a 214 page manual in order to work out how to use it. I am now more convinced than ever to keep my ageing automobile for as long as possible.

It's caused by the increased consumption of ultra processed food. It's not good for us, not only because of the damage done to the food by processing, but also because of the components added in order to maximise consumption which induce many to overeat. It is the reason for the obesity epidemic in the West. It is coming here.

Good question. Israel has (allegedly - never confirmed AFAIK) had nuclear weapons for well over half a century, but has never used these, nor (also AFAIK) threatened to use these (unlike Russia and NK which seem to threaten almost weekly, but have so far held back). Do you believe Iran would be as safe with nuclear weapons as even NK?