kwilco

Not only the LOS - since Brexit te whole thing has become chaotic - half the workforce has gone home so they have fewer trained operatives, ad then they had to source the new passports from France etc....but I was hoping they had got their poop together by now. In fact it looks as if those living abroad are getting theirs quicker than applicants in the UK itself

How long is it taking to renew a passport using the agency in Bangkok these days? Anyone know if it is quicker from Australia?

So where did you get that figure from?

I don't think you need to take that 60 million seriously - as the total number of visitors before Covid was 40 million. however there IS going to be a significant increase in numbers through U-tapao and this will greatly impact the region. " In 2015 only 170,000 passengers used U-tapao Airport. However in 2016 that leaped to 710,000 and in 2017, the figure was 1,200,000. Making it one of the fastest growing airports in the world. Terminal 2 opened in early 2019 and is now fully operational. It had small number of both local and international flights but, mainly due to AirAsia expanding their flights and an increase in Chinese airlines that number is ever growing. Terminal 2 is the latest phase in the expansion and upgrading of Utapao Airport. This addition means it has the capacity to handle up to 3,000,000 passengers annually." https://pattayaairportguide.com/#:~:text=In 2015 only 170%2C000 passengers, growing airports in the world. Or are you referring to Suvarnabhumi?

except it looks like Thailand doesn't recognise A1 bikes? It only seems to regognise "A" class "

Have you found the laws for this?

You answer is predictable - I think you should read it and think deeply about yourself. You aren't doing anything to allay the suspicions.

....and you see a lot of this???? - It seems like the problem is with you seeing glarers everywhere, It's called PPD - Paranoid personality disorder (PPD) is a mental health condition marked by a pattern of distrust and suspicion of others without adequate reason to be suspicious

You describe what it is now - the plan is to build another runway and expand the capacity dramatically. I think those who live nearby who complain about noise and pollution will find they are going to experience a lot ore in the future - I would also be concerned about what land will be commandeered for the expansion. Although the EEC is the baby of the junta it is a "private/public" project so the military's role is unclear - maybe yet another airport somewhere?

THe point is they really he no limit on the numbers they see coming or the effect it will have on infrastructure. U-Tapao will cater for business as well as tourism. Although it may take some away from BKK, the idea is to GENERATE more traffic - they already have new roads and railways are planned...... it is established the new roads generate new traffic and the industry panned in that region is quite disturbing too. THe established industries are petrochemicals and although the government has said they want to attract "other" industries, it is still the petrochemicals that will benefit and expand. THis will draw in a lot more traffic by land sea and air.

Like the psycho in the pub "what you looking at?" - I think you need to look at yourself more than any Thai person would.

THe airport is part of the governments "dream" the EEC - The EEC is primarily and industrial exercise - it is going to massively increase the industry urbanisation and pollution in Chonburi and Rayong provinces. It is accompanied by road and rail infrastructure developments. The problem is apart from getting millions more people in the area, there seems to have been virtually no consideration of the impact all this will have. Tourists in the region (and expats) are going to find themselves in the middle of the biggest industrial conurbation in South East Asia. THe air quality is already getting ruined. as is agricultural land and fishing - the future looks like being more akin to a sprawling BKK than a holiday area,

You still fail to understand that isn't what this thread is about. duh!

Again you seem to have a very tenuous grasp on Thai politics....ALL politicians in Thailand are either corrupt or sail close to that wind - to try and suggest one is significantly different from another is to ignore the evidence. The difference is the Thaksin was actually democratically elected. THe fact he was deposed in a coup says more about the leaders of the coup's attitude to politics than Thaksin's practices. you might want also to check out the history of Thaksin's relationship with the current monarch

I think you have a naive attitude to this topic, like a football fan you have decided you support the "yellow" team....unfortunately you don't seem to understand that this thread is not about who you support, it is meant to be an objective view of the political situation in Thailand, if you took that perspective you would see immediately that the "red" side holds and always has held an unassailable majority of voters The military side has spent a lot of time, money, coups and constitutional measures to ensure that no matter how much support they get, it would be virtually impossible for them to form a majority government. So you might take some comfort in that.

If they didn't waste their money on that, they could have got out to the opera more often.

What a lot of people don't realise is how Thailand's ruling elite - especially the military are also broken into factions. Most of the informative stuff written about thisis banned in Thailand.....

"If I stuck a bit of wire into an electrical socket should I blame that on human error or just outright being stupid." This just shows that you have no grasp of what human error is. You still don't understand what human error is and what a "factor" is in a crash Unfortunately "widespread research" is no real answer without a citation - and you have shown you don't understand by mixing in factors with human error. It isvery difficult to have a discussion with someone who so obstinately refuses to inform themselves of the facts.

You are totally blinded by your own bias

So many fail to realise that in a true democratic election the "redshirts" would have won hands down fo the last 2 decades.

Just goes to show that no matter what, he really isn't a democrat....and never will be.

what a amazing non-sequitur!

that simply isn't true - check the tats and you'll find the death rate is even higher than neighbouring Samui with 2.7 million visitors against KT's 400k. and a reidential population a fraction of the size.

Innocent or not, in any normal legal system the case would never have even come to court, after the police and public had tampered with the evidence, there was nothing capable of standing up in a court of law. It's sad that after that fiasco people still seem to trust any announcement by any of the authorities on that island.

The main argument about "crimes" etc on Koh Tao is the behaviour of the police - whether it is ineptitude or obscuring evidence so your very first premise is questionable. You are also basing you argument on crimes per number of visitors - this has to be backed up with solid statistics It would be naive to say that post-mortem procedures in Thailand are up to standard anywhere, let alone on Koh Tao island..