Maizefarmer

Jasreeve17 raises a valid observation - there are periods in history in which the coutnry has been subjugated to foreign control, but tht was pre-Thai, or pre-Thailands' exsistance as a country, and in that respect its perhaps best then that the time frame is defined.

What is interesting, is that out of all the countries in South East Asia, the one which has not been colonised (Thailand) is the one that none-the-less displays the most foreign influence in culture, its economy and its progress(?).

I understand why TV are keeping this thread open but I am pretty sure in normal circumstances it would have been closed by now.

Yes, I am being selective on what I answer, and why shouldn't I? There is some things I don't want to discuss on a public forum and some BM's that are not worthy of a reply.

By the way, I have been sent 7 individual DVD's (by courier) of the programs to my home address here in Thailand, so I have not broken any laws by downloading torrents of the program.

Well, Howard – why do you think it is kept open? Why?

I’ll tell you why I think: because you guys opened yourselve’s to the public by agreeing to participate in that tatty TV program.

No Police Force in its right mind would allow its volunteers with the public exposure you guys have, in the enviroment you guys are working in to go anywhere near a producer of that sort, or allow you the free hand you have to comment on a public domain forum, let alone one like ThaiVisa.

Do you ever see the volunteers that work for any of the European or USA/State police forces commenting or opening themselves to the exposure you guys have? You could be as right as rain, you still get hauled over the coals – it's political suicide.

As I commented in my opening post to my thread Another Perspective On Thailand's Volunteer Tourist Police – which was then closed down and is now on page 17 of the General Topics threads - if anyone wants to read it - I think the program has a lot to offer, but you guys have brought it on yourselves - you were given an oppurtunity and invited to wrap a lot of the speculation & critisism up with a formal/policy statement - and the public still wait for that – its not coming is it?

I am afraid there is worse to come than the critisms on TV or in the Pattaya Post articals - you are aware a British tabloid has done some considerable background research on your collegues, and a few of them don't come out looking too good, to say the least. When that is going to be published I don’t know, but I would imagine (knowing the tabloids) that they will wait for something to happen that stimulates public interest in you guys again (and what makes me think it will be something "negative"), and then print.

Don't underestimate the power of the press to ruin a good program. The volunteer program is a good program – but its been pretty poorly implemented and managed.

Maizefarmer - grateful if you'd answer the following for me:

1. Which of these three things made BTIT "tatty" - a. the editing b. the opening title sequence c. the end credits d. the fact that it aired on Bravo. Sorry, that was four things. I accept that there are no go-go bars in Thailand, there is no sex tourism and no disrespect for Thai culture and hospitality shown by foreign visitors.

Tatty - not a good choice of words, fair enough - my personal feeling is that the program, instead of repeatedly showing different incidents, could have taken a harder/longer look at the project overall ...... it's management and its operating procedures for example

2. Re: participation in the Series. Shouldn't your comments be addressed to the Chief of the Royal Thai Tourist Police who gave permission? I don't see any of the hypocrites on this forum bashing him personally, even though they hide behind supposed anonymity.

Absolutely - yes, the Thai Tourist Police have not done a good job at all with the volunteer program - they have failed to respond to requests for a policy statement (one of the points I raised in my earlier thread, but which they have also been asked from certain media outlets), they did not do much in the way of due-dilligence and background checks on volunteers, and they have not offered a standard operating procedure (for lack of a better word) - all considerations, amongst others, which volunter programs should be subject to.

3. Producer of "that sort"? I think you may have been in the maize fields a little too long.

Look at the issues/critisims that have cropped up regards editing, name changing, allegations of manipulation ...... avoidable issues I would have thought.

4. TV viewers in the UK don't give a monkey's about what long term ex-pats who can't see the wood for the trees anymore think about the Tourist Police and Howard et al. The series was about - at the risk of repeating myself - the British volunteers who work with the Thai police to deal with people who get into trouble in Thailand (the focus being on Brits because it was a Series for Britishcentric TV).

Yup - I'll agree with you on that - the "silly season", news today , forgotten tomorrow, and all that ...... yes, I know - like the program it will all bow over in time, things will get back to normal and we'll all wonder what the fuss was about.

5. No British tabloid is interested in any story about the volunteers who work with Thai Tourist Police - maizefarmer you've been in Thailand too long. Given all the purported controversy about BTIT show me one story about the Series that's made it into a British tabloid. They aint interested. Full stop. Howard - you and your pals are as safe as houses on that count. When's that story going to be published? Never.

Mark my words - its coming: said journalist is an established investigative hack back in the UK, a friend of mine and stayed with me a few days on his last trip to Thailand. I should perhaps ad, that the initiative did not stem from the BTIT program.

6. Don't underestimate the power of the press to MAKE a good programme. Without the efforts of Thai Channel 3, The Bangkok Post and the cult following from ex-pats with an interest in Thailand BTIT would have sunk without a trace a lot sooner.

It's called public interest - in that respect BTIT certainly done quite well, albeit, like tabloid journalism what one reads/sees often gives a slant to a subject matter/content that is questionable - from which so many of the comments to date have arisen.

Maizefarmer, Whistleblower - like me you should get out more ... your energy would be far better expended addressing REAL injustices in this world, and no matter where you are you won't have to go far to find them.

I should get out more - address the REAL injustices of the world ........ well, I do - I travel considerably and I keep up to date with whats going on in the world - this is a Thai forum, so I confine my comments to related issues - and I am all to well aware of the "injustices" of and in Thailand (and elsewhere in the world), but quite irrelivant in the context of this subject, unless we are to start discussing the Thai Police and the numerous critisims of how they operate - which has not been the subject raised so far.

Now, can we please get back to discussing what a hornets nest BTIT stirred up, with its exposure of things some people wanted exposed and others didn't, about depictions of a country some people don't recognise, about how an insignificant TV show on a minor cable TV channel could cause such a fuss, about alleged fakery ... come on ... either shut this thread once and for all or change the tune - people on this forum were bashing Howard before BTIT was made and we seem, at last, to have come full circle. Only a simpleton would think Howard is the story.

Yes - I agree, the focus on Howard is uncalled for, but Howard did feature prominently in the program and Howard has stood up since to be counted (and I take my hat off to him for that). Howard, for good or for bad has become a "rally point" for comments about the program, because of that prominence .... and I refer you back to my comments in an earlier thread I started (which was an effort to move the subject matter from a lot of the comments you have quite rightly raised as achieving little one way or the other, you can hardly complain about it afterwards, can you?

In replying to my "critisms", let me ask you this - alot of the points I raised in my Another Persepctive on the Volunteer ..... thread (page 17) have been acknowledged as valid points - did they occur to you as the maker of the program, and if so what was done to get answers to them ..... as any hack or program maker out to make a half decent documentry of sorts on a subject, would have pushed hard to get answers to?

Thats really is as far as my "critism" of the program its self goes - it was limited in content and coverage - I feel a better job could have been done, not withstanding the limited air time avalible. Put this way - its not a program thats going to win awards. .

I understand why TV are keeping this thread open but I am pretty sure in normal circumstances it would have been closed by now.

Yes, I am being selective on what I answer, and why shouldn't I? There is some things I don't want to discuss on a public forum and some BM's that are not worthy of a reply.

By the way, I have been sent 7 individual DVD's (by courier) of the programs to my home address here in Thailand, so I have not broken any laws by downloading torrents of the program.

Well, Howard – why do you think it is kept open? Why?

I’ll tell you why I think: because you guys opened yourselve’s to the public by agreeing to participate in that tatty TV program.

No Police Force in its right mind would allow its volunteers with the public exposure you guys have, in the enviroment you guys are working in to go anywhere near a producer of that sort, or allow you the free hand you have to comment on a public domain forum, let alone one like ThaiVisa.

Do you ever see the volunteers that work for any of the European or USA/State police forces commenting or opening themselves to the exposure you guys have? You could be as right as rain, you still get hauled over the coals – it's political suicide.

As I commented in my opening post to my thread Another Perspective On Thailand's Volunteer Tourist Police – which was then closed down and is now on page 17 of the General Topics threads - if anyone wants to read it - I think the program has a lot to offer, but you guys have brought it on yourselves - you were given an oppurtunity and invited to wrap a lot of the speculation & critisism up with a formal/policy statement - and the public still wait for that – its not coming is it?

I am afraid there is worse to come than the critisms on TV or in the Pattaya Post articals - you are aware a British tabloid has done some considerable background research on your collegues, and a few of them don't come out looking too good, to say the least. When that is going to be published I don’t know, but I would imagine (knowing the tabloids) that they will wait for something to happen that stimulates public interest in you guys again (and what makes me think it will be something "negative"), and then print.

Don't underestimate the power of the press to ruin a good program. The volunteer program is a good program – but its been pretty poorly implemented and managed.

My wife has inherited some rice fields in her home village from her mother.

Nobody has grown anything on these fields for at least 10 - 15 years, maybe longer. But apparantly there is nothing wrong with the soil or anything like that. You just need lot's of water and you can start growing something today.

Have I any experience ? No, I am a city boy.

Can I use the people in the village ? No, they would see me as an ATM on legs and con me in every possible way.

Please, tell me to drop this issue like a hot potato: Tell me that I don' t want to go down this road.

Yup .... you want to avoid it like the plauge - ask yourself why its been sitting idle for the last 10years if it has so much to offer

Now what gives me the idea this subject ain't going far on TV .......... (?)

.... depending on how you interpret the meaning of "colonisation" yes, you can say it has been colonised ... but instead of telling the OP he is wrong, and saying "here we go again...." why don;t you add something constructive explain how/why some historians feel it has been colonised in the past and some historians don't agree with that argument?

I should add that the academic consensus is that Thailand has/was never "colonised" - if the conventional definetion is given to the word.

Why? ..... King Chula Chomklao made a point of establishing good relationships with all the European Royal families.

He was also a very sharp diplomat and very consious of what had become of other South East Asian countries - so he never took sides with one colonial power or the other, instead his attitude to all of them was neutral and "marketed" Siam as a geographical barrier in the region between the various competing European colonial interests established around him. The concensus amongst historians is that he done this deliberately to avoid the fate of his neighbours.

King Chulongkorn (as he is known) is celebrated each year on the 23rd October (yesterday - which I gues is why you have raised this subject now (?)) and if you go down to the Esquestrian Statue you will find loads of flowers placed there in thanks of his lifelong work to keep Thailand a soveriegn nation.

Right - so Thaksin and Teng Boonma are going to get along just fine, are they ....

... if you know about counterfeit fag production in Thailand the above wil make sense (Teng is Cambodia's big crook). Always wondered why Thaksin turned down repeated requests to close down Thailand's biggest counterfeit fag factory.

Many thanks Maizefarmer

Great info...

WatersEdge, your comments did not go unnoticed.

I am aware of those issues.

a thin tube connected to this main pipe at an angle of around 45degrees (pointing towards the direction of flow),

How do I do that in pvc?

Any advice?

Buy a t-piece from the hardware store, then heat it up over a flame to bend the vertical part of the T to an angle of around 45degrees - insert the T piece into the main pipe with the obtuse part of the angle pointing towards the pump = make sure the T - piece is whatever the maim pipe diameter is, but the T setcion is a much smaller diameter, and then step it down even more if you can with a balnk endpiece on the end, drill a small hole in that, and silicone in some aquairum air hose from a petshop. In fact while at the petshop also buy a plastic airhose valve and use that as the throttle in the airhose to control the chemical flow fromt he airhose into the main pipe - cheap and cheerfull

some blue food dye from a shop

That is a great concept...

I was just going to time it with a stopwatch.

(but will change if/when I move to drip,

or a smaller pump, currently it's just a open 3/4" hose).

mix flows through through the pump impellar

and

KISS,

that is what this is all about.

I do not need much, as opposed to so many others.

I Luv the KISS method.

Thought about posting this here or...

in the small garden section...

decided this section is best as there are newbies.

And the info provided is excellent, will help others.

If the admin want's to move this, fine with me.

For now, I will begin to reorganize this garden...

eggplants, basel's, chilies, and tomatoes

into the large paint buckets...

(they take too much space,

there are other places they can go).

Beans will remain in the garden.

Then the rows will be simply leafy veggies.

I read the "makuai" thread...

if eggplant can grow in paint buckets...

so can basel, chilies and tomatoes.

Then lay in drip irrigation/fertigation on those rows.

It may not be big,

but no reason it is not super productive!

No .... I got a "please don't message" ... anyhow thats another story ..... yer, I pretty much figured if the old western shop had it it'd be expensive - all the stuff in they is mega priced and imported (you know its owned by a Stateside ex-pat? - its not Thai owned).

Forget ChokChai - they don't slaughter...

You know where Soi Solaal is (the muslim quater in Pak Chong) - just before the polcie station but on the opposit side of the road where the red & white comms tower is - as you turn off the main road you drive under an arch and there is a small mosque on the left hand side?? - got it. Okay somewhere round that part of PC is an illegal abbatoir - go looking (My "inoformant" tells me its mostly pigs they slaughter - but they do also slaughter cattle), you may be able to score a pelt or 2 - put them in a bag, take them home and treat them.

You know where that Cowboy/Western themed shop is that sells all the Wild West gear (?)

My one FARTS a lot!........I'm thinking of trading her in while the scrappage scheme is going

Year first registered (if old enough its road tax exempted) (?) , Previous owners (?), Full service history (?), MOT receipts (?) ..... Baht 2000 would that be ...........? Old manuals are a lot more trouble than the auto's oh nearly forgot - gas or diesel?

Excellent - the "bain" of all farmers in Thailand - the "middle-man"

I wish we could get rid of the lot of them in the dairy business and sell directly to the processors - we'd get as much as an extra Baht 2, possibly even Baht 3 per kilo - may not sound a lot, but it quickly adds up.

They have a good grip on alot of farmgate sales in Thailand.

Most of the tailor shops are run and owned by ethnic Sihks - who are 2nd and 3rd and 4th generation Thai citizens

At one point large areas of Suhkumvit and Silom were owned by Thailands' Sihk community - and were given the land by King Rama V and VI in the late 1800's and early 1900's - in the days when it was still a swamp. Those who have hung on to their land holdings are now very wealthy indeed.

The "goffers" you see hanging around the front doors of taylor shops? - mostly the owners son or a Nepelese lad - who takes your order and runs off to one or other of the sweatshops where your "class A Armani copy suit" is ratteled of a sewing machine in 24hrs, by a worker, who is pooled to make for a half dozen shops in the area! In other words the tailor shop you go to often has little to do with who actualy makes the suit!

The Sihk communtiy continues to this day to enjoy a close and priviledged relationship with the Thai Royal family - it is the foreign ethnic group in Thailand that is recognised as closest to the Thai Royal family.

thanks for your answer guys, just a quick qestion as i'm not well up on thai property laws......... whats the difference between Chanote and Sor Por Gor

In simple terms: Chanote land you own lock, stock & barrell - its yours to do as you wish with (subject of course to local planning permissions ect ect ...).

SPG land is NOT yours - it belongs to the State - it is, for lack of a better word, "signed" over to the farmer for restricted use - namely: agriculture - but it remains state property. It can be passed down from generation to generation in the same family.

You will hear of folk who have bought SPG land, usualy on the nod of some or other local official - everyone gets their slice of the cake and the appropriate official makes what document changes have to be made - and so long as no 3rd party has an axe to grind and ever challenges the name-change (for whatever reason - spite, anger ... or whatever), all should be just fine........

Some ex-pats (not all) I know of who have SPG land, got it because their Thai partners family already had it, and what they were actually paying for was for the appropriate local offical to exercise his authority to change it from one family members name to another family members name - an extension (or manipulation if you will) of the inheritance rule (which allows SPG land to be passed on from one family member to another quite legally - usualy on death or when they are to old to work the land any longer), and of course if the land is already been held in the family for a long time then its unlikely there is any 3rd party to complain - so that makes things a lot easier all round.

Did they (the expat) know the land they were buying was already "owned" in the family? Good question (tongue in cheek....)

..... lots of ways to skin a cat. Speaking for myself, I don't go near SPG land.

Someone (Tim207 I think it was) came up with a great idea a little while back - if you are"buying" SPG land despite some or other concern you may have, which has a crop on it, set the "purchase" up so the crop part of it is treated as a seperate entity, so in the unlikely event things go pearshaped, you can at least lay a claim to the crop (for what it may be worth).

If your garden is only 15m x 15m do what Watersedge has done - just raise the bulk container (and the bulk container he has are common - can be picked up at scrapyards all over the Thailand), fill it with water, mix the chemical in and irrigate straight from the container. That has to be the simplist way of going about it for a garden 15m x 15m.

if you want to stick with your initial plan, first question is this - what is the flow rate through what you call the main sunction pipe (?) - when you have that you can start making informed calc's regards what diameter to choose for the secondary pipe (i.e. the pipe that is going to tap into it) because that will determine how much suction you have on hand to use. Remember Force is the relationship between mas and area (i.e. the the froce of the water flow and the relationshoip between the 2 pipes ID cross sectional surface areas of water). Then again, if you have a mixing container that is set above the main flow pipe, a thin tube connected to this main pipe at an angle of around 45degrees (pointing towards the direction of flow), with a small ball valve to throttle flow from the chemical container, is all you will need. All this stuff about suction then doesn't have to be calculated at all as with the chemicle mix located higher than main feed pipe to the pump you will have a positive pressure (from the container holding the chemical) flowing into and assisted by the sunction of the water been pulled along the pipe towards the pump.

To test how the chemical mix needs to be throttled with the ball valve so that you get whatever mix is needed to treat the whole garden - go buy some blue food dye from a shop. Mix than into the chemical tank and do a couple of test runs, adjusting the flow rate (through the ball valve) from the raised chemical tank into the pipe that feeds the pump.

The advantage of connecting this all up on the sunction side of the pump is that as water/chemical mix flows through through the pump impellar, it gets nicely mixed in and even better distributed into the flow than it would if it was on the output/positive side of the pump.

KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid - I'm a great believer in keeping things simple & practical - no more complicated than they need to be.

Seems a on the steep side for rice paddy - but land prices vary hugely in Thailand, so perhaps not, but more important though is the issue c64 touches on - just what kind of titleship does this land come with - Chanote or Sor Por Gor (which is very common with rice paddies - and which I'd never pay 40K for, irrespective of the assurance given that there wouldn't be a problem in later years) - or is this land subject to some other type of title?

Wolfdgreat - get hold of Honda at Sarasin House, Surasak Road - Surasak cuts across Silom at the lower end by China Town i.e. about a block or so before the overhead motorway - turn right off Silom into Surasak (direction on Silom: heading down Silom towards China Town), it's the 3rd building on the right hand side (about 100yards from Silom/Surasak junction).

Thats Honda's Thailand HQ - they have a public/customer reception on the ground floor (Honda occupies most of the building) and the girls there are a helpfull bunch - they arranged parts to be imported from Japan once for me some years back for a Honda SP2 I used to have.

she is great and very brave woman

You referring to Pornthip - not the deceased's partner?

Yes Pornthip is - I don't think anyone doubts that about her, she has a larger than life personality/character and is not scared to speak out as a "human rights" activist which "stirs the pot" - sometimes doing so deliberatly, which irks her superiors no end!

She is a guest at our kitchen table on occassion - my wife and her are good buddies.

Everyone who has heard of her, will have heard about her unconventional and ever so discreet dress & hair style ... sorry, that should be "styles" - her personality is no less outgoing and bold.

PS

Penangkaki is correct - the deceased is/was not Muslim - he was a Chinese - Hokkien (or Hokkien/Chinese, if you will) - and therefore [more than likely] Buddhist (of one type or another ).

He was a Chinese Malaysian and a Buddhist. His fiance who is carrying his child married him after his death in a Buddhist ritual.

Not withstanding that what you have read regards his religion may be correct (and I was only repeating what was said in a Malaysian writeup), marrying a dead partner is a cultural/religous practise (not a legal one) that anyone can do - much like the Thai marriges that take place in a temple (non-Buddhists folk can go through with it, and many do), though I do accept it seems a little unlikely if he was Muslim that his side of the family would have allowed her to go with it.

He was (is) Muslim .. and he was buried (Malaysian media)

Good for Doc Pornthip .... never one to shirk from the truth.

She cites the following injuries as cause for concern:

“the injury to [Teoh's] anus could have been caused by penetration with an object before his fall” – After two rounds of fabricated sodomy charges against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, has our authority become so obsessed with anus?!

“Teoh’s skull fracture was not typical of an injury from a fall” – It can only mean that poor Beng Hock, prior to his deadly fall, could have his head banged against the wall or floor, or had a heavy hard object knocked against his head.

“The autopsy report indicated that he was alive when landing on the ground, but she found no protection injuries on the body.” – She basically objected the government’s theory that Teoh was alive when he fell (to support the claim of suicide). I take it that “protection injuries” means injuries sustained during the fall out of human instinct to protect himself, such as injuries to the legs for trying to land with them. Such injuries are crucial indication that the deceased was alive before impact to supprot the claim of suicide. Nope, I took that to mean defending himself while been beaten in the office - before been thrown out the window (??)

“the marks on Teoh’s neck indicated the possibility of ‘manual strangulation’” – It means Beng Hock was strangled on the neck, usually to cause suffocation from breathing.

... not very consistant with falling out a window if you ask me... but of course I could be wrong (er, what)

So, in summary,

1. She's been previously married

2. Has a 7 year old kid

3. Has presumably been hooking for the last 7 years

4. You're not even sure the baby is yours.

5. Her boobs are not even real.

6. She now wants a stackload of money from you for marriage even though you've been more than adaquately financially supporting her for the last 18 months.

All of this and you're asking what to do??

You're out of your mind. You have a responsibility if the baby turns out to be yours but there is no fairytale ending for you and this girl. Bail out now while you still can, with any luck the baby is another sucker's and you can get on with your life.

Any idea as to HOW I can bail out...?

Not if as you say earlier - "You see; I have a moral issue with being irresponsible". - (???)

Abortion? - illegal, unless there is medical evidence to support intervention and termination - but thats not to say it cant be done - there are countries in South East Asia that allow it on request, so hurry up and get that passport for her - and a visa for Singapore or Vietnam - see pic below for SEA abortion policies on a national basis

Howto

If you go to the link below you can see an example of a fertigation system I have up and running

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Irrigation-t102785.html&hl=pictures&st=50

See the pic in post #74 - at the bottom of the page

Note the 2 pressure gauges on the top horizontal PVC and the ball valve located between them - adjustment of the ball valves adjusts the pressure/flow, forcing a portion of the water to flow through the square 1" u-section underneath, which syphons chemical up from the grey buckets below via a linear hydraulic motor contained in the black plastic linear injector casing that hangs above the buckets. The injector is throttled up/down by adjusting the ball valve on the left hand side down leg of the u bend, hence fertigation rates can be set independantly of flow rates.

For example: you can set the system to deliver say 2 litres of chemical per 10 000 litres of water over say 1 hour. or you can set the system to deliver say 20 litres of chemical per 250 000 litres of water over say 10hrs, or over 5hrs.

This is what is known as a "pressure differential" system/setup and ensures the dilution mix stays proportional irrespective of flow rate over time.

The large diameter short black "tube" on the left hand side of the system is a disc filter with if I recall correctly 160 Mesh discs inside - essential on dripper systems

This system suports a dripper line setup that covers 22rai.

This particular unit feeds dripper lines, but it can be applied equally well to a impact head (sprinkler) setup, though take note of my comments in post #84 regards using pesticide through sprinklers.

PS - on the extreme right hand side of the pic, for those interested, is a small solar panel used to power an electric fence - the pulse generator is contained in the grey lided plastic box on the ground next to the fence

The rape video shows an attempt by Vera Productions to FABRICATE a rape at the Full Moon Party.

The girl in question - an Australian doctor as it happens, her face has been blurred - had fallen off a balcony. At no time did this girl complain of being raped.

The video says 'Evaluation Copy' because I'm waiting for the original software I bought to arrive! So, apologies for that.

But that is a 'final' cut of Ep. 5 that the Series Producer was asked to sign off on. He didn't - he wanted nothing to do with Vera Productions' attempts to invent content, especially when it concerns rape - and he hit the roof.

Vera productions were forced to back down, but evidence of their attempted deception is in the episode broadcast, and available on You Tube. The commentary (on the video it is the "guidetrack" laid by the Edit Producer - the narrator puts his voice on right at the end) states that the girl did NOT press charges. The girl TPV Louise Rawlings is talking about is another Australian girl and she DID press charges. She testified in court the week after the attack - her attacker, who was Thai, was caught. And eventually he was given a ten-year jail sentence, reduced to five because at the last minute he pleaded guilty. So, Vera got this wrong too. Inexcusable considering BTIT's Executive Producer, Dean Palmer, even met the father of the real rape victim who was back in Samui to see justice done for his daughter. And the REAL rape happened on Samui - not Phangan. Notice that Louise is NOT walking on the Full Moon Party beach as the commentary suggests, but at Bophut on Samui.

This was a deliberate attempt by Vera Productions to contrive a rape storyline from an actual rape victim's horrific experience. What beats me is how they thought they'd get away from it if the Series Producer had let them? Too many people in the know: the girls concerned, the father of the actual rape victim, the tourist policewomen volunteers, Vera's Assistant Producer who was there, the Bangkok hospital staff at the FMP who attended - would they all perjure themselves when this came to court? It beggars belief. Vera Productions' excuse for this was an "over creative edit" - that was Executive Producer Dean Palmer's explanation. David Clarke, the Managing Director of Virgin Media, has refused to comment. But Virgin Media Commissioning Editor Lucy Pilkington who commissioned 'Thai Cops' aka 'BTIT' left her job a few days ago.

Over creative edit ..... mmmmmm, with this is mind one can't help but wonder what exactly did go on behind the scenes vis-a-vis JJ and the Thai authorities allegations that all was not quite as it seemed regards the damaged jet-ski incident (??).

... and most, if not all of the doc's named in Sheryls very informative contribution, will also be contracted to practise at one or other of the state/government hospitals in the area as well - as most are required to do, especialy if they are specialists or teaching doc's - and that means there is a chance he could get much the same treatment through the state system, but substantialy cheaper.

As a rule folks, if you are living in Thailand and on a budget with limited, or no health insurance (as a lot of ex-pats are) the large State teaching and regional hospitals in Thailand can offer all that the private hospitals offer but at far cheaper rates. Okay, the rooms may not be as flash, the menu may not be Westernised and you may not have sat TV in your room, but the nurses, doctors and medical care is up to the same standard. So don't overlook the Thai State hospitals.

10 days in a Thai state hospital ICU a few years back cost me the grand total of just over Baht 36 000 (everything included) - try get that, for a bed alone in a single room from a private hospital - never mind doctors fee, medicine and dressings included