eliotness

Lot of wind-up merchants here.

a) The commitment will be remembered because it will be on the UNFCCC web-site, and Thailand is obliged to prepare National Communications and Biennial Update Reports

b ) It is measurable

c) Reducing emissions does not mean going back to the stone age! EU have done it and I don't think they are in the stone age.

The EU have done it by closing virtually every coal mine. Closing most of the coal powered electricity generators. Instead importing vast amounts of Russian gas and Arab oil. To help achieve their great reduction they have virtually eliminated heavy industrial manufacture and shifted it all to China and India. Millions have been put out of work to achieve this aim and more to come. And who is Thailand obligated to, the UNFCCC a supreme body with as much teeth as my granddad and as much balls as a eunuch ?

OK Mr Prime Minister, cards on the table.

You say you want to protect the natural beauty and the environment of Thailand. I believe you are sincere. This scandal is a crime against the environment and the great beauty of Thailand. If you do not act with all the judicial might you have attained against this multi-billion baht crime, then Sir you will prove all your critics right.

I hope with all my heart you show your true love for this wonderful country.

Cameron will hold the vote only if and when he thinks the YES vote will win.

A change made just in April this year, but that's what you get for electing a Conservative government. I'm inclined to think that people get what they deserve when voting for that lot.

I don't have to worry, I've got enough to supply my health care needs, so screw people who haven't : it's the Tory way!

Actually over 4,000,000 in the UK did NOT vote Tory but voted UKIP. I voted for UKIP from Thailand using a proxy voter quite legally but sadly the electoral system in the UK only gave the UKIP one parliamentary seat.

IMHO I think that at the next general election, The Labour party if they are still under Jeremy Corbyn will not win, the Tories who will not be under Big Dave Cameron will lose a lot of seats, the Lib/Dems under Tim Fallon (I had to look who it was on Wikipedia) shot their bolt last time probably don't stand much chance either. The SNP under Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond probably won't do that much out of Scotland.

To me that leaves Nigel Farage with UKIP, the Green Party under Natalie Bennett and a hodgepodge of other parties with no clear ideas or directions to fight the Tories.

For myself I truly believe that if UKIP don't win they will be a very strong opposition party to the winners.

Then perhaps things may start to get better for us expats and for the UK as a whole.

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I like your thinking. I voted UKIP too. But the powers behind the "throne" in the UK will not allow it to happen, they'll either fiddle the system or buy UKIP off. The very sad reality of supposed democracy in the real world.

Wow ! There is big money involved here, no wonder one has done a runner, more to follow I'm sure.

Latest rate against the pound not looking good and possible sanctions coming, so I think someone is wearing rose coloured glasses.

I'd like to know how much this bunch made from their wrong-doing. I guess they'd never passed sufficient up the food chain and thus get caught, but still time to do a runner, after all it was a huge project so there must be many millions of Baht involved.

"Cameron says he favours the reform option, but is ruling nothing out if he does not get what he wants."

but don't hold your breath.........

I agree. If and when there is a vote to stay or leave the propaganda will be overwhelmingly intense. I remember the original vote to join. What people voted for bears no resemblance to the EU of today, but we were promised it would be the "bee's knees".

Our Uncles, Grandfathers, Great Uncles even Fathers in some cases fought and many died or were horribly scarred to maintain a free Europe and a free World. The emergence of a European Super State was exactly what they fought against, even as far back as Napoleon, maybe even further.

Only a select elite few have profited from the EU, but they can and will control the media prior to the vote to ensure a "yes" vote. If the British people dare vote NO then it will be Ireland all over again, wait a year or so, give threats about the pound, the economy etc then kindly ask the people to think positively and vote again and VOTE YES OR ELSE !!!

No doubt they were strengthened in their resolve to fight by the man who spoke thus:

"In his famous Zurich speech of 1946, Churchill said, We must build a kind of United States of Europe.. The structure of the United States of Europe, if well and truly built, will be such as to make the material strength of a single state less important.. If at first all the States of Europe are not willing or able to join the Union, we must nevertheless proceed to assemble and combine those who will and those who can."

We are reunited here, in this new Assembly, not as representatives of our several countries or various political parties, but as Europeans forging ahead, hand in hand, and if necessary elbow to elbow, to restore the former glories of Europe..

There is no reason for us not to succeed in achieving our goal and laying the foundation of a United Europe. A Europe whose moral design will win the respect and acknowledgement of all humanity, and whose physical strength will be such that no person will dare to disturb it as it marches peacefully towards the future. (Council of Europe, 1949)

We are prepared to consider and, if convinced, to accept the abrogation of national sovereignty, provided that we are satisfied with the conditions and the safeguards national sovereignty is not inviolable, and it may be resolutely diminished for the sake of all men in all the lands finding their way home together. (House of Commons, 1950)

Very good quotes, but not even Churchill could have foresaw what a mess European politicians would make of it and the enormous cost to the tax payer of such an institution.

"Cameron says he favours the reform option, but is ruling nothing out if he does not get what he wants."

but don't hold your breath.........

I agree. If and when there is a vote to stay or leave the propaganda will be overwhelmingly intense. I remember the original vote to join. What people voted for bears no resemblance to the EU of today, but we were promised it would be the "bee's knees".

Our Uncles, Grandfathers, Great Uncles even Fathers in some cases fought and many died or were horribly scarred to maintain a free Europe and a free World. The emergence of a European Super State was exactly what they fought against, even as far back as Napoleon, maybe even further.

Only a select elite few have profited from the EU, but they can and will control the media prior to the vote to ensure a "yes" vote. If the British people dare vote NO then it will be Ireland all over again, wait a year or so, give threats about the pound, the economy etc then kindly ask the people to think positively and vote again and VOTE YES OR ELSE !!!

Huffing and puffing will not make fundamental changes, just a cosmetic makeover.

Lights in the night sky, too early for Christmas, could be an omen for something else, need to go and ask the monk at the local temple what it all means.

Christmas?

There is no stinking Christmas in Thailand.

Thailand is a Buddhist country.

Haven't you heard?

Guess you don't live in Thailand as even the shops in remote Isaan have all the Xmas goodies for sale. So bah humbug to you sir where ever you are.

Lights in the night sky, too early for Christmas, could be an omen for something else, need to go and ask the monk at the local temple what it all means.

Only 4 men, but several vehicles. Sounds like a few did a runner. Shouldn't that be a job for council officials and maybe police to investigate ? Having a joint Army and Navy "task force" investigate a big hole sounds like something out of Monty Python's flying circus.

GOP 21 is all about Population Control

It should be, but there is not one world religion that would advocate that. Man-made global warming may or may not be happening but an unsustainable growth of the human population has already happened. The projected growth by 2100 is more than 12 Billion.

Huge positive PR event for his majesty and the government. Huge amount of money spent, new bikes, lycra gear and all the T-shirts, just two questions, who actually benefited financially and will they be donating those monies to a project supported by His Majesty ? Just asking ?

Giving blood in the festive season is a bit risky, 1. For the farang donor whose alcohol tolerance will be reduced for a few days, and 2. For the recipient of the blood which is likely to have a % alcohol in it. But just the thought of extra blood being needed for the festive season is enough to put potential visitors off coming to Thailand. Maybe a new campaign by TAT "come to the Land of Smiles and give us some of your blood" !!!

Rotary Foundation gets its money from donations by actual Rotary Clubs. It depends on how those clubs raise their monies, which can vary depending on the nature of the club and the country they are situated in, but usually the money given to Rotary Foundation is only a fraction of the money raised by the clubs and does not reflect the total sum given to "good causes". I would suggest if the total donated by Rotary, in all it's forms, was added up then Rotary International would be in at least the top 3 or 4.

Rotary international is a major donor to the eradication of polio worldwide, donating millions of dollars. Rotary raised millions of dollars for the relief of those affected by the Boxing Day tsunami, and within days of it happening, ensuring the relief went to those who really needed it. Just a pity there aren't more Rotary Clubs in Thailand to help those really in need.

"Having it just 1 kilometre from people's homes is clearly not suitable," she said.

And they haven't even decided which province yet. Still, an average of less than 15 people (qualifications unspecified) from the each of the 7 provinces named are concerned enough to say "Not near my place!"

Sorry, but you seem to have misread the article, it actually said the people were representatives of the different areas. This is just the start of the process and Thai culture makes it unusual for people to protest against powerful interests. I believe once actual sites are named then the complaints with increase, so you're a bit quick off the mark to say only "an average of less than 15 people".

However, the alternative, using landfills has perhaps much more cause for concern. From what I've seen in Thailand the operation of landfills is very poor such that using the term landfill management would be a misnomer. So maybe the use of incinerators is the lesser of 2 evils. But to remove the need for EIAs for any new large capacity incinerators raises the question WHY ? and who will actually benefit from that decision ?

But its ok for the villagers to burn their toxic crap every morning right.........all over Thailand

Please sir, your solution?

For example, Tesco operates in both the UK and Thailand. In the UK if you have a store card and use your own bags or even reuse Tesco bags you get "green points" which at the end of the month are included in your loyalty points, ie cash vouchers. Furthermore , in their UK stores they have cotton, or similar fabric bags for sale which last months of regular use. All you get in Thailand is strong plastic bags for sale in a very limited number of locations, no green points and currently only some yellow duck loyalty stamps. That applies to all the major supermarkets in the UK. Furthermore there is now a charge for plastic bags applied in some stores.

Today I bought take-away chicken pieces for lunch, NOT KFC, at the school canteen and they were served in a polystyrene tray, when a cardboard one would have been just as good (if not better as it might have absorbed some of the grease).

Those 2 points illustrate the problem and show the easy solution. It's not rocket science, just education. Therein lies the whole crux of the problem.

So they are NIMBYs, but they have a point. Burning mixed waste can be controlled such that any toxic releases are minimised. However without an EIA it will be nigh-on impossible to judge whether the operating parameters of the plant will be sufficient.

As for burning domestic waste in the garden or roadside, yep ! happens everywhere, stinks too. Only a massive reduction in the use of plastics will reduce that problem, which despite utterances from a certain general, looks like ain't going to happen.

It will be interesting to see if the drive to reduce plastic works. Certainly the campaign in Thailand seems to be at best a damp squid, or worse, a total failure.

It is a blight on the Thai Administration ability to manage the environmental aspect of Thai mining activities when the EU has to come and listen to the villagers complaints, the Departments concerned need a complete overhaul , the mining regulations certainly need a overhaul , Mining , Health and Environmental Departments are laughable in their authority for compliance , these departments should be the peoples watch dog for breaches of the mining Health and Environmental act, after all isn't it the Governments duty of care to look after their people.................................................

And it's absolutely no business of those EU parasites.

The EU administration is fast becoming a mini UN. We can't solve all those complex issues we're supposed to address in Europe, so let's form lots of NGO's and Committees and go and "solve" everybody else's problems for them.

Yeah for trips and jobs for the boys and girls!

Meanwhile corruption, pollution, people abuses, migrant problems in Europe - all swept under the carpet.

I have to agree with you. Why would a mixture of EU nationals come to run an inquiry into a gold mine in Thailand ?

Thailand is not a major exporter of gold to the EU ! Is the mining company owned by a EU based multinational ?

This smells to me as one of the regular EU staff jollies. Just how long did they stay in Thailand and how long at the site of concern ? How many brought their "assistants" with them ? What grade of flight and hotel did the EU taxpayers have to pay for? Was their food and drink all on expenses ?

Whilst the possible pollution is of great concern for the local community and Thailand in general, I really believe this is one case where they (the EU) should be told "none of your business".

Waste to Energy is growing more and more ..... and it makes economical sense ....

http://www.gasification.org/uploads/downloads/2015-presentations/2015-10-1-Fosgitt.pdf

It would help to get a breakdown of what this garbage consists of. I suspect that it will not be suitable for waste to energy plants. There is no where near the paper waste one would find in Europe. Thais tend to waste an enormous amount of food. There is obviously no gas collection either, so no methane gas to burn in a controlled manner. I'd bet the "landfill" isn't lined and leachate not collected and treated. Groundwater pollution from a badly "managed" landfills can and will persist for hundreds of years.

This whole thing is so very bottom end 3rd world and the article doesn't seem to push solutions. As another poster stated, just imagine what the bigger sites are like ! How can Thailand and it's various governments allow such crude, polluting, backward, stuff your neighbour situations to happen. This reflects so badly on Thai culture and is so sad.

Just a guess, but I bet the next round of testing will show levels of heavy metals have dropped to nearly normal. There's big money involved in this case, too much influence.