nonsequitur

I'm sympathizing with the boat's captain on this one.

He has a lot to work out here.

For instance, who wouldn't think that the divers had drowned after all that time down there?

Behind the facade there's a new definition of paradise!

Let's see.

There's been a surge in obesity in the last ten years among
Omani seculars - one of those guys looks quite 'heavy'.

They may be friendly - The Sultan of Oman's an Ally of The West and an Anglophile.

Suppose all they need is an alibi?

Someone looking for an opportunity could save them from a little unwarranted attention.

Just a thought.

"I would rather wake-up in the middle of nowhere than any city on earth."

- Steve McQueen

.

... discussions between officials from the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, and the Royal Thai Police, who had all agreed on the idea, want to use the 500 Baht fee scheme to help attract ‘quality’ tourists to Thailand and tackle the problem of foreigners staying in the country illegally

soooo... everbody with 500 Baht in his pocket on entering the LOS is a quality tourist??? Will I get the 500 Baht back on leaving the LOS and this will encourage tourists not to overstay???

wish those officials would listen to their on BS...

At least they have turned it into something positive...

Do they mean quality sex tourists?

I don't believe it. Sounds like a tall story to me.

Who's to say that the grandfather isn't the 'kidnapper',
and the lady who looks like a school teacher is in fact his wife,
and she wants her children back!

So that would mean the Stranges are in fact
the kidnappers and the grandfather isn't really the grandfather
he's actually trying to get his own kids back - so that means he's the father!

Anyone pote Thai? call the police.

In 1908 the Russians had their own E.L.E. (extinction level event).

A powerful explosion occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Central Siberia.

'This event – now widely known as the Tunguska event –
is believed to have been caused by an incoming meteor or comet,
which never actually struck Earth but instead exploded in the atmosphere,
causing what is known as an air burst, three to six miles (5–10 kilometers) above Earth’s surface.'

Maybe over last 100 years folklore has added earthquakes and fire breathing volcanoes,
and even tsunamis are possible in central Siberia when you're downing a few vodkas around the camp fire!

Considering where Phuket's located it really isn't that surprising a few Russians may have been a little cautious.

The whole passport system is out of date.

An ID card with a bar-code would solve the problem;
and a corresponding bar-code somewhere on your body(more realistically an eye scan, or voice recognition)
would keep immigration happy (less work!).

You get zapped on arrival and departure, and fines would be deducted from your ID card as it would double as
an emergency debit/credit card - you would need a minimum balance on your card on entry.

Look at London's Heathrow Airport's arrival procedure, their bio scanner is excellent - no immigration in evidence.

It would take a while (eons) for all countries to get on-board, and of course most of SEA will be at the back of the queue.
Unfortunately, there wouldn't be any money in it for officials - there's no fun in cashless systems.

Imagine! if it were to be introduced by a global consensus, and that the transition is over a period of say, three years -

what would that be in Thai years?

Just wondered.

Anyway, until that happens, it's back to the 1950s I suppose.

Very sad - have always had doubts about flying Laos domestic and this sadly has confirmed them. Here is one of Laos Airways ATR-72's in action.

The most dangerous thing in the video is the Mekong river!

The answer could be the introduction of congestion charges like in London for example?

Maybe introduce bus and bike lanes, and how about red lines to keep trafic flowing?

Gorgeous hastle free traffice from 0700 - 1800, and then of course chaos all night!

I wonder how people would like that? I imagine they would be very accepting,

and would congratulate the government on a job well done.

Opps! sorry, just daydreaming.

This is totally non PC (not paleolithically correct):

"...subtle aroma and flavor, and also full of nutrients,
the ministry considers it an edible culture of the country."

Hmm, aromatic, nutrient dense and edible!

The Thai mad-men have thrown this irresisstable copy
into the mix and now we're going to have rice
mountains in Europe, not to mention the already well
established grain mountains across the globe.

Damn! ...and I had just started the Paleo Diet!
Fingers crossed that rice eating doesn't take-off in the west.

This is just not PC.