mfd101

We never drive in the cities. Just country driving here in Surin & Buriram. I still like the idea of an HEV. Conceptual transition in my old age.

Only after an 'event', not before.

Guaranteed to produce satisfactory outcomes ...

We plan to visit there next year to compare HEV SUVs (preferably non-plugin) - Toyota & Mazda particularly, and the Chinese competition (mostly BYD, I suspect). Problem with the Chinese models will be absence of servicing availability here in sth Surin ...

TIT. No surprises here, but it certainly makes me and my boy wonder about our next bi-annual trip to Bangers for a week's break from the dangers of snakes and mossies here at the edge of the jungle in south Surin.

As usual in Thailand, the 'authorities' - and Thais in general - are better at picking up the pieces after a disaster than at preventing a disaster in the first place. We all see this on the roads every day of the year.

One professional (Western) seismologist was quoted a couple of days ago saying that seismology is a very imperfect 'science' and that, quite apart from follow-up aftershocks, an earthquake can strike any time anywhere without warning.

Well, given what we all know about the links between competence and corruption in this country, I wouldn't have too much faith in a safety certificate issued by the anxious locals. Try bringing in fully-trained & experienced engineers from some of the less corrupt countries of the world - Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Holland, Oz, NZ, Japan ...

Designed as a lesson for budding young auditors in how not to carry out audits.

That's the bit that makes sirens a useful tool ... But only up to a point. If you're in a single-storey or perhaps 2- or even 3-storey building, a warning - or even the first shake - allows you to take cover under a desk or table or bed, or (as we did in the shaky isles of NZ in my childhood) stand in a doorway. The idea being to have something strong over your head. But what if you're in a high-rise building? Nothing you do - either nothing or head under the desk or head down the multiple stairs - is going to save you if the building is about to collapse. And as for racing out onto the roadway between high-rises, well I was always taught that's the last thing you should do ...

And the relevance of that is what?

Yes, to me - as a non-technical old person - alarm sirens seem a more practical idea for the masses of people in a huge city. And have the SMS etc technical solutions as well of course. In any case, speed is of the essence. Not necessarily a strength in Thailand ...

Also Burmese & Cambodians ...

It would be nice if the AI & other writers could master the difference between 'refute' and 'deny'.

Obviously money must have changed hands. But apart from that, why would anyone think that importing 10,000 tonnes of zinc concentrate would be a good idea? Who was the 'end user' supposed to be?