orchidfan

Nearly...it's laowai in China (pinyin) guilo in Hong Kong (and Cantonese speakers).....basically all meaning Foreigner. Fair enough I guess. Most of us can't easily distinguish between most Europeans, north Americans, Canadians. Aussies, Kiwis etc.

Mitrphol, one of Thailand's largest sugar producers, farm thousands of hectares of cane in NE Australia, on plantations as flat and smooth as a billiard table, staffed by a handful of men, and harvested by huge GPS guided machines. (As shown to me proudly by one of their senior men on his iPad.) There is NO BURNING. Excess foliage and crushed pulp go into biomass fuels....which airlines, such as QANTAS are incorporating into their supplies.. Sugar cane used to be burned, in situ, decades ago, but not any more. So Big Agra can do it when they want/need to.

Agree. My thoughts exactly. Why would a German tourist drive a car (his?) Into Pattaya and then try to park in a bar area? Would they not be drinking whilst there and then go and drive that car.....in the dimly lit back streets of Pattaya. I only know 2 Germans here and both, whilst quite nice guys, are extremely argumentative, complaining and always right. Both prolific letter writers of complaints to hotels, restaurants and airlines (but not on social media or websites !)

Over 70? Why don't you take the priority lane? Or did you ?

"All I do is let the 90-day online report autofill the form, and it works each and every time, even though the information is outdated." You mean you submit this even from outside Thailand or just when you get back? Surely you return date must be way out??

"Might, possibly, allegedly....." This ex MP is covering his statement VERY carefully!😄

This year I'll be away (in Hong Kong) for about 3 months, returning early June. So I'll see if online works 90 days after return....now that their 486, windows 98 has been "reset"

Me too. I'm leaving this month on the 20th, back on June 4th. Just miss the crazy CNY in Hong Kong and Songkran here. Perfect! (Once you've done a few years of dragon dances,fireworks and wet T~shirt events, it's nice to get away!)

Hitachi...which I have, DO manufacture a stainless steel model in their range. A few thousand baht more. Also,all the houses in our moo baan (Pathum Thani) have underground, sealed (cap/lid can be rotated and removed if required). After more than 10 years the water in the tank is crystal clear. Tank is automatically filled from the mains. We don't drink this water, but everything else in the house and garden has great high pressure. Of course if the tank (1000ltrs I think) gets inadvertently emptied, the pump gets hot and switches itself off automatically (built in safety device) Pretty simple prime ~once its cooled down, then back in full operation.

Pretty sure Malaysia (under PM Mahatir) stopped it or reduced burning of Palm Oil empty fruit bunches (EFB's). I was involved with big companies like Sime Darby,Guthrie etc introducing chipping and mulching (compost) which proved very effective as a fertilizer etc. Mahatir was adamant that the wide scale burning stop and even had strong words with neighbor Indonesia who, like Thailand, just disregarded the no burning protocol. So, the Indonesian smoke just blew over Malaysia in the "right" wind conditions. But there, the Big ex British plantation companies adhered more to the government's demands. Not here !

I was expecting a snag having gone so long with no reports (well I wasn't in the country!) And the new OP. But thought that after doing this one in person report to "reset" the system, the next one I could do online. BTW I'll again be overseas when the computer generated next report date comes up. Anyway, its only a 20 min drive there , so no big deal. But it might bother some members living an hour or 2 drive to the IO. Wonder if they'd accept a mail~in report in that case?

Nope. Never pay anybody anything. I did try and give one lady in that room B100......genuinely for coffee. She laughed and handed it back to me. Not even sure if 109 buys a cup of coffee

History - I have successfully submitted many 90 day online reports in the past and usually get a prompt reply from Pt Imm Office.. But in 2023 I was away several times for months, at a time, so , as he projected time for the next90 day report continuously fell on a day when I was away, hence I didn't submit a report (I was not in TH for 90 days, so nor required) I also got a new passport in May 2023 and had the stamps transferred etc, and in December did my annual marriage extension - with the new passport of course. From my last return to TH in mid Nov 2023, I calculated the 90 report was due 12th Feb 2024. I did an online report (on 3rd Feb - 9 days before deadline) which ,after a few days, was REJECTED.....................reason quoted on their email was "No information of previous 90 report found in the system" So, yesterday off I drove to Immigration and, after being invited to sit inside in the aircon (the other 10 or so customers were waiting outside under the "tent/marquee" in 35 degrees heat!!!) ans 5 - 10 minutes later called in. Briefly explained my travel history to the lady IO ( which she seemed to be able to confirm from her computer) and new passport ( which must be stored on the "system" after my annual extension). She processed a new 90 day report date in May. I pointed out that , again, I would be overseas at that time, but when I returned could I resume doing the reports online? Answer, " No, anytime you go overseas and return, the 90 days report MUST BE DONE IN PERSON AT THE OFFICE !! This was NEWS to me. Either she is correct or it was a glitch due to the long period since last report and new passport Any Comments???

Both Singapore (sales only until 10.30pm) and Malaysia have various alcohol sales restrictions. Different from Thailand but restrictions just the same.

I remember talking to a Russian Airport Manager in a discussion about noise abatement and complaints from residents who lived close by to the airport. He said that they listened to a complainant twice, third time they complained...... they moved them!!

For all of the non~aviation qualified members of this forum, I offer the following clarification : HOLDING of arriving air traffic is mainly, only used/required in the following circumstances. 1. When wx at the destination is deemed, by the pilot in command ,or his company, to be unsuitable, at the time, for attempting approach and landing. Pilot decision....wait or divert. 2. Traffic metering /flow control dictates that arriving traffic must hold to join the "sequence". Taking their turn, as directed by ATC , to exit the Hold and resume the Arrival or as directed by ATC. ATC decision * *but the pilot can reject this holding if there are other reasons for them to divert to another airport or call minimum fuel/mayday fuel or onboard emergency. 3. Aircraft experiencing onboard technical problems which requires them to sort out the problem, dump fuel etc. End of topic.

The metar times are in GMT (UTC), so ,say 2030 GMT is 0730am Melbourne time.

No, not arguing with you Richard .but simply correcting possible misinterpretation of some of your comments... Quote: "If Thai Airways couldn't land due to low visibility and circled, its because ATC instructed them to do so... then range became an issue hence the decision to divert." ???err mmm

ATC do not arbitrarily "put aircraft into holding patterns" due to destination wx. IF the pilot elects to wait and hold,then ATC will nominate a suitable, published holding pattern or make one up on the spot. IF the pilot elects to divert, ATC will coordinate a route and level with adjoining sectors for the diverting aircraft to follow.

So, if they had the diversion fuel plus mandated reserve margins, (a flight which you quote as having taken 60 minutes) where would they have been after holding for another 30~40 minutes and the WX did NOT improve at Melbourne?? Diversion to Sydney cut off (no longer enough fuel reserves remaining ) and nowhere suitable to go! Factor in that QF have flight Ops teams who would have assessed wx trends and advised their flight to wait it out. SQ would have followed what QF did. I believe that, given the situation and useable fuel remaining, the Captain of TG made the correct decision. PS. For other members, Australia and most international airlines and service providers, follow ICAO standards, not FAA. There are some differences !

This is tourist weather, NOT aviation weather. Totally irrelevant to this saga. Note "visibility" N/A.....

Wrong. Totally the pilot's decision when and where he wishes to divert. Sometimes the flight plan will indicate their preferred/nominated alternate airport. Sometimes that alternate will have developed unsuitable wx also, or it may already be "full" of other aircraft which have diverted there already,leaving no bays for de-boarding and only parking on taxiways.

It would have been the pilot's decision to hold for weather improvement or divert to his alternate. If he elected initially to try for Melbourne then he would have been instructed to hold, with a possible "onwards clearance time". Its TOTALLY the pilot's decision to wait and hold or divert. Not ATC's.

Sorry. Wrong . Airsevices does NOT have the authority or ability to "Close" an airport. Only the owners of that airport have that authority. Pilots ultimately make their own decisions whether to proceed or divert, with the assistance of advice on current and prognoses of weather, and their company. This is the international "rule" / procedure these days....not like 50 years ago! (I have 40+ years of experience in this field)

Yes there's a "resident" beggar outside my local 7/11...right at the entrance/exit for the shop....nearly every afternoon /evening. He's not skinny BUT filthy dirty and clothed only in a pair of ragged black shorts. He rummages through the bin for any edible scraps thrown away. I give him some money every time I go by him, for which he is most grateful. BUT 99% of local customers give him a very wide berth. No Buddhist empathy there. It's like (in their minds) he has the plague.....which he does not. A few lice maybe. Thing is, that NO authorities or humanitarian organizations call by to offer help or find out his situation and why. I think it takes a complaint or social media "outrage" to get any assistance ! Appalling really.