mfd101

I remember the then Governor of South Australia - a South Vietnamese refugee - speaking a couple of decades or more ago about the Sunday afternoon in the 1970s that his crowded, leaking old boat full of Vietnamese refugees entered Darwin harbour. A large yacht with near-naked Aussies on board was sailing out of the harbour. As they passed the refugee boat they raised their glasses and shouted: G'day Fellas! Welcome to Australia.

If you compare the Brits' handling of large-scale immigration with the similar Oz experience over decades, you'ld have to say the Brits don't come out of it very well. Oz is currently feeling some discomfiture with post-Covid immigration levels over 500,000 annually. But there is widespread recognition that many of the migrants are energetic young people with skills the Oz economy sorely needs. My experience over 40 years living in Oz was what a wonderfully rich (in all senses) country immigration had made of Oz, and sensible people on all sides of politics recognized this. I had many young staff working for me who had different coloured skins and unpronounceable surnames, but when they opened their mouths they spoke broad Australian. They were fine young citizens. Of course British circumstances - population & geography - are different from the Oz reality. But clearer recognition of the positive contribution immigrants make would be helpful.

And meanwhile in UNrelated news ...

Too gay-looking, you think?

3 May was a Friday. 6 May was a bank holiday in Thailand.

The map shown above is interesting. Path (1) - ship to rail to ship ie loading & unloading & reloading - makes little sense. But Paths (2) & (3) could work: Either rail to ship & on, or ship to rail & on. But you probably don't need a land bridge for that, just a decent port on the Andaman Sea with good rail connection to the north.

Another safe way for fugitive Russians to enter Thailand.

Every day now here in south Surin huge storms come charging towards us across the plains and hills of the weather map, only to part a few kilometers from us and move elegantly around us without more than 5 drops of rain actually touching the ground.

Anything to do with diet?

Or are afraid for their own life!

And what an astonishingly complex process the whole farce is! We Thais do love complexity.

Goodness me. I have 2 eggs every day. What am I going to do?

In a country where the defamation law does not allow 'truth' as a defence? Are you that ignorant?

Endless entertainment all round.

Well, if you believe all the bla bla bla above, you'll believe anything.

Yes, 47700 riff-raff. That will never do. We'll have to get the CC to reinterpret the rules appropriately ...

Fun for all the people. Let's face it, he's a damn' sight more entertaining than the dinosaurs of the last decade. Prayut anyone? Prawit?

Entertaining as ever. Thaksin running rings around and the haters hating.

Real loyalty to a leader who actually - for the first time just about ever in Thailand - did some good things for poor people. Funny that.

More like 10 a day or equivalent Yes, it's the equivalent that counts. If people pour nothing but rubbish down their throat, they get every sickness known to man.

An apple a day ...

As in all the Moslem countries - where women aren't available - men are. If that's of interest. Then there's the (fading) relics of the city's Greek past, including Cavafy. And there's always archaeology to keep you fit.

Have the Hamas terrorists released all their hostages (dead or alive as they may already be) as directed by the ICJ on 26 January & 28 March? No, didn't think so.

Mmmmm, good question.

Long live the day! 😀