herfiehandbag

Yes - in the days before air conditioning, in the voyage across the Indian Ocean, the cabins on the port side (outward bound) and on the starboard side ( homeward bound) were shaded from direct sunlight, cooler and therefore more expensive - hence Port out Starboard home.

There is relatively little potential in " foreign affairs" for the " management" of valuable budgets, and the construction ( inevitably linked) of a personal political powerbase and alliances. Therefore there is little interest in it. The government controlled broadcast media largely ignore it. Educational curriculums largely ignore it. A reflection of the venality of the political classes rather than a reflection of the true interests of the population.

Bureaucrats being bureaucrats that is unlikely! The two Immigration Officers available in Hua Him are going to have their work cut out!

I know that the US legal system sometimes imposes remarkably long sentences, but 2,024 years, even when parole is taken into account, seems an awfully long time for using campaign money to pay off a prostitute!

Tofu lives matter!

They certainly are renowned for being enthusiastic willy wavers!

A quick dip into the available figures tells us that they spent $20.700,000 on political funding in 2014. I also was amazed to read that Senator Mitt Romney has, throughout his career, received $13,647,676. Eye watering amounts, which surely should raise questions?

It really is very simple. The funding provided by the National Rifle Association to a large proportion of the political establishment prevents them from taking any meaningful action. Money means more to them than children's lives.

I actually saw a bloke riding one of those down highway 1 between Mae Sai and Chiang Rai a few years ago. He was in the near side lane.

I remember riding on an open top bus at the seaside (Swanage to Bournemouth) when I was 3 1/2. It was cream coloured, and didn't go very fast. I was very excited because we were going to come back on a boat, but I don't remember that bit!

I would agree that parts of the Met are in a very dark place. Their leadership has failed to do just that, be effective leaders, and have abrogated responsibility for managing and ensuring discipline. They have allowed themselves to be led off at a tangent by often focussing on political and social considerations - "Common Purpose" anyone? But it is elements of the organisation, and my point remains, they should not allow the sort of behaviour Prince Harry's "protection team" indulged in outside the High Court on Monday. If they were policemen then they should be immediately brought under control. If they were a commercial undertaking then they should be investigated for that behaviour. The undoubted travails and failures of the Met in other areas are irrelevant.

It is not political. It is a tragic illustration, an appalling exposure of the festering stinking mess of racial bigotry which fouled American society over recent generations, and with which some wish to foul your society again. And don't bother wittering on pathetically about "wokism" and "gender issues". I have no time for them, they are a nonsense, but they are a flash in the pan, a mere speed bump on the highway to the obscene stinking darkness of a racially divided poisoned society which legislating against such movies, suppressing such stories, denying truths and refusing to acknowledge or teach will enable; actions which are being carried out enthusiastically in some areas by some politicians, in their attempt to be the cocks crowing from atop of a particularly rancid dung heap. If they succeed they will destroy your society, and destroy your country.

Yes. Mind you, they also had a world beating state of the art Main Battle Tank in the shape of the T14 "Armata". Until it had to be towed off the parade in Red Square by a recovery vehicle!

And wasn't it a classic demonstration of how he feels he should be "protected". A couple of "heavies" biffing a path through a crowd on the public pavement. I hope they they were "privately hired security " rather than the Metropolitan Police.

It is. It is being torn apart by political intolerance, fundamentalist "Christian" bigotry, shored up by good old fashioned racism, leavened by a quite remarkable level of ignorance and stupidity.

Well, he brings up Scottish Independence invariably in the first line of every one of his posts, my keen political antenna tell me that he is something of an enthusiast for the concept. I believe he could work it into a thread on the price of coconut ice cream from street vendors in Phuket!

It was a bit more than a "gun attack last month on a senior police officer." It was cold blooded murder of an unarmed man in front of the children's football team which he was coaching in his spare time. "gun attack on a senior police officer." makes it sound like a slightly over the top political move!

I should imagine that for the price of the anticipated Thai F35 programme ( which will produce two unarmed aircraft) you could buy many many thousands of tractors! Add in the Submarine programme and you could probably afford enough tractors to give every farmer one!

Shame on you @hotchilli, shame on you. Are you suggesting that a modern vibrant democratic society, replete with an equally modern, extraordinarily vibrant and commited democratic leadership such as Thailand will seek to delay the election results? No, there will be a clear indication of where victory lies rapidly. What inevitably takes time is the interpretation, validation, consideration of challenges and preparation of the presentation. Rest assured, the various modern, extraordinarily vibrant and commited democratic agencies of the state will labour ceaselessly to ensure that the wishes of the (appropriate) people are made manifest. You will know when the results are ready to be announced, from the clouds of blue smoke from the tank parks of various barracks in and around Bangkok. Extraordinarily vibrant and commited as they are...

I seem to recall that last time there were some failures in managing this process.

I should imagine what happened to Benigno Aquino was very much uppermost in his mind, from the moment his airplane took off for Beijing in 2008. I suspect that he was very much aware that once he entered the Prison system his chances of ever coming out alive were slim at best. When his sister was ousted in 2014, remember she disappeared for some time. However she had a high international profile, and it was clearly understood that the repercussions of her coming to any harm were likely to be very severe.

Loose talk "billd766", don't forget he was directly responsible for torching "Richard Branson's" favourite bus stop!

Well, I use a refrigerator with a small freezer compartment, as I said I cook using a microwave, halogen oven and an electric ring, washing machine, shower and pump to feed it from a tank. Computer and TV/DVD. Ceiling mounted fan in bedroom, free standing fan in living room, normal domestic (LED) lighting. I don't have air-conditioning, to be honest I have never felt the need for it. I am pretty scrupulous about turning off lights and fans when not using them, but I don't live in sweaty darkness. Big difference in the last couple of months is boiling water. I used to have one of those 2 liter water boilers. I switched it on when I got up and off when I went to bed. Now I drink a pot of tea in the morning, a cup of coffee mid morning, and another pot of tea at tea time (4pm). The pump arrangement on the water boiler died, and I started using a kettle instead. Now, rather than having a boiler going 16 hours a day I boil a kettle 3 times a day - I imagine that saves a lot!

Well, having attacked my latest bill with a calculator and Google Translate, as far as I can see, with the quoted fuel tariff of 93 satang per unit I am paying 4.37 Baht per unit, discounted (unsure why the discount, it is virtually the same as the fuel tariff) to 3.44 Baht per unit. I live in Rural Chiang Rai, used 140 units last month, always say a cheery hello to the meter reader and let the young lady in the local PEA office practice her English on me when I go to pay! The amount used is up by 26 units this month, but I have been cooking using electricity rather than gas, including baking my own bread in one of those halogen ovens; and of course in the last couple of weeks starting to use fans a bit more as it warms up. Interestingly Google Translate also tells me that my garden is 128.86 meters from the government! So, if the discount continues, a small rise. If the discount ends a whopping 25% rise.

I was in Chiang Rai Provincial Hospital (Prachanukroh Hospital) two years ago. Medical and Surgical care very good. Cost reasonable. Food terrible.