NeoDinosaw

Hong Kong was not taken back. There was no necessity to give Hong Kong away - it was not part of the lease - it belonged to Britain. The stupid Conservative government gave it back for no good reason. Maybe some ministers and other important people got big presents from Peking. The reason that we had leased the New Territories was to get sufficient fresh water for the colony (Hong Kong island). WE now know that it is possible to desalinated sea water on a massive scale as some Middle Eastern countries do. Hong Kong could have happily survived without the New Territories.

They voted for him !

When they are turning back 'cos things were a bit hot over Hanoi, they had to unload their bombs before landing in Thailand - presumable at Udon Thani. This is the reason why so many bongs were dropped on Laos. I guess this pilot was a bit late unloading his bombs

When asked about their experience in 'Nam. they use that wonderful, revealing cliche that explains all: "If I told you that I'd have to kill you". I'm not allowed to tell you either 'cos I signed the Official Secrets Act several times. But I wouldn't kill you for asking

you mean a giant star-fish ?

Good question ! The cost of the Police certificate in UK is not cheap !

This data is VERY worrying ............

When I renewed my UK driver's license by post at age 7X I had to write that I was fit.

How long were they actually locked-up ?

Palaeozoic - lets try and educate our American friends here. Yes - there are lots of fossils in both eras - but dinosaurs occur only in the Mesozoic !

I suspect that consumption of too much alcohol is a major factor here, irrespective of whether they jumped, fell or were pushed. Higher rails around balconies are long overdue

That's a difficult question to answer. maybe Coatian or Thai - who knows ?

I hope you are right ............

Dinosaurs (regrettably) became extinct about 64/65 Million years ago. The famous tard pits (eg La Brea) with the remains of vertebrate fossils (sabre-tooth tigers etc) are very recent geologically - only 40,000 to 8,000 years !

I thought the name had always been Krung Thep for Thai people and Bangkok for foreigner 'cos of a mistake made byt the French

It is not a joke - it is an expletive

<deleted> alors !

Back in the 70s there was a significant number of DEA officers in Chiang Mai. They would track the heroin from Burma into Ching Mai and see it loaded to get taken to BKK. The DEA did no have the power of stop and search , nor the power of arrest. They had to contact the Thai police and hand over the job of intercepting them en route. Amazingly many cars /pick=ups were found to be devoid of any drugs .............

In some Mediterranean countries the gonads of some echinoids are a delicacy. I have never seen them on a menu in Thailand - maybe I cannot afford to eat where they are served. They maybe being collected to sell to tourists either as complete tests ('shells') or the large spines of some species.

*Quoted text edited out* Corals have a habit of dying quite often and their soft tissue (the polyps) are not more. What remains is a large lump of calcite. To the uninitiated this look just like a limestone block. This may be the case here. The lump he is sitting on appears white whilst the surrounding lumps are greenish. This is either due the the lighting or the difference between dead and alive coral heads.

This is only a clay mock-up. I have 2 quibbles : 1. should be titke 'shark-fighting man' 2. where is the dorsal fin ?

But that was in-country ...............................

I had this happen to me in Kanchanaburi. They would not do the 90 days 'cos my visa was issued in Hua Hin. There regulations state you can do the 90 days at any Immigration Office. I guess they cannot read this. I was then fined 2000 Baht in Hua Hin for reporting late. That whole 90 nonsense need to be abolished !

in what way is it easy ?

Not everybody has an Amex Gold card to plop down. Will 'plop' suffice instead ?