herfiehandbag

Indeed, it is only a matter of time until Rabbit will be able to use his legs to dry her tea towels!

Well, the Thai military is. Thai people (through the representatives they elected a month ago, and who are still waiting to take their placed and the reins) don't seem to get a look in. Again, the question must be asked, why is a government emphatically rejected a month ago in a General Election still in power and making these decisions? The answer of course is because they have no intention of relinquishing power. These sorts of decisions burn through the smokescreen of Electoral Commission certification, petitions from "activists" and no doubt soon, court reviews; and reveal exactly what is going on.

During the dismantling of Japanese control in 1945 and the subsequent return of the territories annexed by Thailand, large parts of the Shan States in Burma, and parts of Laos and Cambodia (then under French control); there was also quite a strong difference in opinion between the British and Americans over the future of the Muslim ethnically Malay southern provinces. Thailand had been a (neither effective nor entirely enthusiastic) ally of Japan, and had declared war on Britain. They had, however not declared war on the USA. Britain wished for these province to be incorporated into (then) Malaya which was to become independent in due course. The US with an eye on Thailand's potential as an ally in South East Asia insisted that they remained in Thailand. The ethnically Malay southern provinces had, prewar been rather left alone by the central Thai Government. During the war they had been tightly controlled by the Japanese. US support for them remaining in Thailand encouraged the postwar Thai military dominated government to bring them under much greater political and social control. That move to exert greater political and particularly social control (and make them more "Thai") is the root of the current insurgency. Perhaps not the fault of the British?

Hmm, well, it is not, perhaps, entirely far fetched that it may be considered, for example, that "regional stability" could be ensured by garrisoning Suvarnabhumi Airport, and the major access routes to it...

In theory Uncle Tu has been emphatically rejected at the polls, and he and his government are standing down. In practice of these sort of announcements indicate otherwise. Mind you, if they do stay on, they might be too busy with "internal security operations" to be able to spend any time on field training exercises with the Chinese. There again, a Chinese military presence in Thailand, however it is billed and for whatever the purpose, would add an interesting perspective to things!

It is even simpler than that. They, and their land, homes, communities, identities, were moved into Thailand against their will. Not as a result of settlement, conquest or colonisation centuries ago, but as a result of a political settlement, brokered by other countries, 70 years ago. On an arbitrary date,(1948 I believe) without any consultation or participation in the decision, they woke up to find they were Thai. Subject to a government driven by religious practices, constitutional establishments and social ways which were alien to them, a government which immediately demanded unconditional loyalty.

Perhaps the allegations of financial impropriety against the SNP carry more weight as they involve the whereabouts of a missing £600,000, money which it is known they had, and whose disappearance they cannot explain - so essentially a criminal matter; rather than political allegations with no real evidence to back them up!

I don't want to appear naive, but shouldn't the new government be part of the decision making process for this?

From time to time Thais may do that as well...

I wander why the thief didn't just take the bag? Much easier than running off clutching armfuls of camera kit.

I will go out on a limb here perhaps, but could I suggest that changes to some provisions of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act will pale into insignificance in the post election period when compared with the apparent refusal of the state apparatus and agencies of the defeated government to accept and act upon the results of the election!

Realistically, he probably had very little choice - facing as he was the determined attempts of the establishment both within the Tory Party ( who seem hell bent on committing electoral suicide), and the wider political and civil service, to force him from public life. He certainly upset them, both parts, and their response over the last two years is an interesting reflection on our public life, and perhaps the increasingly marginalized part the electoral process and the electorate play in it. Quite remarkable really when you look at what Blair got away with!

t doesn't really work that way - at the end of the day they are still a collection of fat knackers with accessorised Walmart Armalites, who if they emerge to start strutting their stuff will get taken apart very quickly. A collection of "Walt's" - standing for Walter Mittys; I have seen them referred to as "Gravy Seals"! What would worry me is if the Fascists had infiltrated the police and army to a significant degree - to the extent that units or subunits "declare for Trump"

It doesn't really work that way - at the end of the day they are still a collection of fat knackers with Walmart Armalites, who if they emerge to start strutting their stuff will get taken apart very quickly. What would worry me is if the Fascists had infiltrated the police and army to a significant degree - to the extent that units or subunits "declare for trump"

Disaster has struck! One of my dogs ( not Snowball the Chihuahua) has chewed up my ageing hippy man bag! Option 2 - with this I will be able to really annoy the organised Teutonic chappie who always seems to be "tut tutting" behind me as I search through the many zipped (external and internal) pockets for my wallet in 7/11! I

If you can see more than 500 metres through the smog...

During one of my assessed teaching practices on my TEFL course two boys P12 started fighting, rolling around on the floor. I grabbed them, holding them at arms length and plonked each down in separate corners of the classroom. When it came to the practice phase (worksheet) I spent a bit of time with each of them, to help them with it. After the lesson the assessor said " Funny, but those two did exactly that last time as well." "Well thanks for warning me!" I didn't actually say that, she was a French Canadian with absolutely no sense of humour! Mind you, she gave me an A for classroom management.

The ignorance is quite close to home - I remember explaining to the Head of English at the school I taught in that my father had fought in Burma in 1944- 45. Why? She asked! A well educated woman ( Masters Degree), born and brought up in Chiang Rai 40 km from Burma, and totally unaware of the Second World War! I could understand not knowing much about the fighting in Europe, but this was just up the road!

Agreed, but it will suffice to give them an initial smokescreen. There may well be those, amongst the more gung ho, who expect the almost inevitable protests will fire up the calls and give them the excuse they need - a government by a National Council to Preserve Order or some such Orwellian title. The imperitive must be to stay in power until the new Senate can be appointed. Then they can relax, and allow a new election - rinse and repeat.

I think it is probably inevitable that the EC will refer Pita and MFP to the Constitutional Court, probably at the latest stage possible. Then there are two possible courses, form a government from whatever is left after MFP is suspended/or banned, or ( and this I suspect will be the most popular from the point of view of the establishment as it will also prevent PT getting into power) annul the whole election and hold a fresh one in due course, mindful of the economic and social disruption a second election will cause. This second should give the current regime up to a year perhaps in power, and chances to get the job done properly this time! The real decision to be taken will be, do they think that they have the muscle to keep the lid on things if they do this? I'll bet there is some pretty desperate number crunching going on in the Officers Messes!

I am not so sure. I think that one of the things that happened when the "new order" was established was that a deal was struck with the regime which essentially limited power in exchange for behaviour being tolerated and access to wealth. One of the side effects of this was a major split within the armed forces, both within the Army ( long riven by factions) and between the Army and Air Force.

A few years ago they rebuilt the road running along the left bank of the river from Wiang Chiang Rung to Chiang Rai. To put a stop to the over the weight limit lorries using it as a short cut the transport department started using a portable weighbridge device to carry out spot checks. I remember the chaos one morning with half a dozen lorry and trailer combinations trying to turn around short of the weighbridge! The lorries then simply started using the smaller food running through the villages along the other bank, that road was totally wrecked within a couple of months. They gave up with the portable weighbridge (perhaps it broke). The lorries started to use the short cut again, and the road surface is now breaking up.

There will of course be a delay whilst they build the new office accommodation for these 40 officers transferred to HQ. The delay will be exacerbated as the lorries delivering the building materials can no longer be overloaded... However, a new system is to be trialled to monitor overloaded lorries. Instead of a red sticker they will use a blue one.

Etiquette is quite clear, the bride only wears white if she is a virgin. Now in Benidorm...

Apparently at formal functions in Benidorm a black tracksuit is required!