eliotness

No, they need the space to store all the new tanks they're buying.

How many of the Filipino "visitors" are not really tourists but rather coming here to work.  There seems to be Filipino teachers in even the remote village schools.  Anyone know the actual number ?  Then of course there's the ones working as singers, bands and other entertainment jobs.

The article says UK cards were used to remove the money in 40,000 lots.  I thought you could only get 10,00 baht a day.  Has the Thai banking rules changed, or did the hackers manage to make the machines spew out an increased amount ?

A fine of 200,000 baht is so funny it's actually not funny.  Such a sum couldn't even begin to address a environmentally sound clean-up.  I hope that's an error in the report, but somehow I think it's not ?

So what about the contaminated ground, which was reported as "a sandpit".  The report states "a sample has been sent" hopefully to a lab with a GCMS which can identify the organic chemical(s), but how do they know all 50 or so drums contain the same chemical, or even mixture of chemicals.  I would suggest that the drums would not contain pure styrene monomer because if so then why throw them away.  I guess the specialists sent to investigate weren't that special after all.  Sounds like this is being done on the cheap as several posters have suggested.  Just glad my groundwater well is no where near that site.

21 minutes ago, Tuk Dua said:

Labels usually carry a batch number which provides indication of date of manufacture, and would allow the distributor, and end user to be traced.

As to comments about EIA's, they dont apply, as they are studies issued for the undertaking of specific projects, not the dumping of waste.

My comments about EIAs were just to question what exactly does the Environment Dept do.  Both cases are about protecting the environment and in this case groundwater would seem to be the critical receptor ( also something an EIA has to consider for specific projects ), so they are not totally separate, but rather related issues.  If the chemicals were manufactured outside of Thailand then maritime regulations require extensive labelling to be on the drums, so should be easy to trace, if, and only if the various government departments work together and unfortunately in many countries that just doesn't happen.

I find it strange that it's the DCD that's doing all the groundwork in this case.  Surely the Thais have an Environmental Department or something.  After all who checks any EIAs ( oh sorry they're defunct now ).  As the previous poster stated containment should be the number one action.  However as the dumping took place in a sandpit I would guess that migration of the chemicals would be rapid, so any containment would involve huge costs.  Not sure if Thailand has the expertise to handle such events.  If the chemical is styrene or similar then the biggest risk is groundwater contamination.  Just a few of those drums could make millions of litres of groundwater unusable and could persist for decades.  If they don't find out who did it, then how are they going to recover the cost of the clean-up ?   

Should be easy to find where the drums came from,  i.e. imported drums usually have markings on showing origin.  Then check at customs to find out which company imported them.  I guess that will be a wholesaler.  Then check which factories bought large quantities of the chemical.  Check the companies' (probably several) disposal records.  Worldwide in such matters  it's the company paid to dispose of the wastes that's "taken a short- cut" and simply dumped the waste after charging the producer for proper treatment and disposal.  Not difficult to investigate if the right people are used and the authorities have the determination to solve this "environmental crime". ?

Was it only yesterday that officials reported a decrease (12% I think was the figure) in southern violence.  Oh dear !  they really did get their timing badly wrong to make such a claim.

The EU should be helping Cambodia to minimise the impacts rather than opposing the development.  Alternatively the Cambodian Government should tell them to " mind their own business".  I've seen major road improvements in UK national parks that have been undertaken with care and consideration for landscape and wildlife, which were originally strongly opposed by "green pressure groups", but once completed actually added to the park.

It's a bit like the British Government saying in the 70s that in 6 months period the violence by the IRA had decreased 12%.  Just takes one bomb to "blow away" that figure.  The important thing is "has the reasons for the violence changed ?"  I don't think so.

I thought that ASEAN covered all those bilateral and multilateral topics, so is this just an excuse to do a bit of PR for the referendum result ?

Oh dear, how low has the British government fallen.  Makes me so sad.

Everyone in the free world knows a 60% majority on a 54 % voter turnout is not a mandate for military rule.  Even the wishy washy BBC questions the result.  I agree with the above, it's about time the politicians from "the free world" grew some balls and actually spoke the truth.

This is too funny.  Went to my local mom & pop shop Sunday lunch.  They could not sell me any booze as they had completely sold out on Saturday evening.  Not even a wee tot of Lao Khow was to be had, the shop was totally dry.  Saw the morning news today and it showed several polling booths that had problems with drunks and the police were there giving breathalisers to potential voters to check they were sober enough before they were allowed to vote.  Would make a grezt Monty Pythons sketch !

How the mighty have fallen, from national hero to most reviled .  

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Where is Nelson Mandela Bay ???  I assume it's Cape Town, which was always a DA strong supporter having a relatively large coloured and white population  Pretoria has one of the largest concentrations of whites.  So relying  on these 2 cities to give  an indication of a DA win is wishful thinking, however good such a result would be for most South Africans.

I thought the government had removed the need for an EIA for selected projects.  If that really is the case then the power of this commission has been neutered.

Compares with the promotion of Afrikaans, part of the Boer culture. That didn't work too well. This won't either.

I guess the Taliban are short of Toyota pick-ups !!!

Total waste of money, which the dis-united-kingdom can little afford, they'll also cost a couple-of-billion a year to operate ... yet the UK can't find half-a-billion a year for its cheated expat-pensioners, and still runs a massive spending-deficit every week ?

And don't tell me about lost jobs in shipyards or weapons-manufacture, it would be cheaper to just pay them all a living-wage for life, to not do anything.

It would have been better IMO to retire the current subs, at the end of their life (several to ten years more ?), and not replace them.

Our own moral gesture (remember them ?) to nuclear-arms-reduction. As if a nuclear-war was ever 'win-able' in any meaningful sense anyway !

But no, Gordon Brown's wet-dream of the UK remaining a global-military-power goes on, and is still supported by the vast majority of MPs and the new Conservative-administration. But we're not that important anymore, the Empire is long gone, get over it guys !

Theresa May MP wouldn't hesitate to push the Big Red Button, well that's because she's sitting in a nice rural nuclear-bunker, you or I would not be.

Happily my taxes won't be supporting this.

Well I will tell you about lost jobs. The workforce in Barrow was reduced from over 15,000 to under 5,000 in a very short time frame. That devastated the town that has been providing the Royal Navy with ships since before the 1st World War. Do you even realise what it means for a town of 70,000 to virtually overnight have 10,000 put on the dole. The sub in the Falklands was built in Barrow. HMS Sheffield, sunk in the same conflict was built in Barrow. One of the aircraft carriers was built in Barrow. Barrow earned billions of pounds over the last century building ships for other navies, just ask the Japanese, the Israelis, the Chileans, to name but a few. Barrow was subject to heavy bombing in WW2 and the people there are under no illusion if WW3 ever happens Barrow is a prime target, more so because Sellafield is just a few miles up the coast. Living on the dole as you wish them to do, means people lose pride, lose dignity, lose self respect. I don't know where you come from, but would you wish the same for your school mates, your friends and your family ?

Well thats good UK renewing/replacing Trident.

Four surplus subs for the Thai navy to buy

4 Nuclear subs, get real. The subs we sold to Canada were not nuclear either. People need to be better informed before making sweeping statements.

Boris Johnson is a multiple liar, adulterer and man of very mutable principles, who will believe a word of this?

Agree totally, just like most British politicians over the last 200 (or more) years, but the voters keep electing them !!!

Having the dubious pleasure of coming from Barrow-in-Furness, this is good news for the workforce there. All they need now is for Scotland to vote to leave Great Britain and Barrow can build all the conventional warships the Royal Navy needs as well. Bad for the Clyde, good for Barrow ☺

Will this also be required of those who do the out and in border crossing instead of visiting immigration?

I went to Immigration to transfer my visa to my new passport, got landed with the "form" as well. Happy days !