herfiehandbag

And please, whatever you do, no "spaghetti strap tops"!

"Bloody Vikings" to quote Monty Python...

Well it could have been Sydney North Dakota, although I doubt if it has much in the way of LGBT proponents or opponents, given that it has a population of two! Doesn't have an Opera House or a bridge. Does have a derelict wriggly tin grain elevator though!

I live about as "up country" as you can get - 30km North East of Chiang Rai. Had one visit on the first application. 4 turned up, bit of a chat, interviewed father in law (neighbour) signed a couple of forms, lady IO spent the whole visit petting my two Chihuahuas. After 20 minutes went on their way. I offered them a glass of iced water. Nobody mentioned money.

In the election posters (hung on the perimeter fence of our local barracks) he looks about 24.

With a side bet on how many days or weeks until there is a midnight scramble for the airport? Convoys of armoured limos escorted by Strikers...

Iraq perhaps? Not Afghanistan. Rather sets the "tone" for the rest of your litany of wrongdoings.

Umh, hasn't campaigning already begun? Mind you, it does give a convenient reserve of 3 dozen or so seats to be questioned during the counting, interpretation and validation process - will the EC have the ultimate decision as to who is allocated the seats?

Today's key phrase will be "Convicted fugitive criminal"! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - go fellas go!

Since the staff seem to move randomly from till to till, I'm not sure how they can pin any shortfall down to any one person.

I doubt that this has anything to do with "fleecing expats". This is to do with major racketeering, extorting from long established if illegal Chinese businesses. Sparked most probably by a lack of transparency in the " internal accounting procedures" which governed how the money was distributed.

There is a school of thought ( although I would hazard a guess that you don't subscribe to it), which is very widely held, not just amongst the poor, that since the "very wealthy in Bangkok" have almost invariably made their wealth at the expense of the poorer members of society, taxing them highly ( or at least realistically, proportionally) would be fair.

Unless of course she wins the most votes. Ah, sorry, I forgot, not a concept you subscribe to there!

They pulled it off 4 years ago. I am certain that they will try again. The whole thrust since 2014 has been to make sure that the status quo, which was being challenged, was re-established and maintained. They seized power, more than for any other reason, to manage the biggest transition in over 60 years. They did that, and created a "settlement" that whilst maintaining a facade of democracy, and could superficially pretend continuity, mainly for international approval, in fact allowed the established power groups to cement themselves in control. After all that effort they will simply not relinquish control. You are right, a coup probably will not go unchallenged, it may even be successfully resisted ( the Army and Police are something of a paper tiger), yet that process will be a huge upheaval, and possibly a bloody one. The established order will fight if they have to to keep control, they almost certainly plan and are prepared to do so; and although they may end up driven out ( they have plenty to keep them comfortable overseas) it will be an unhappy experience for the country. I really hate to predict this, but I fear it will take a large scale insurrection or perhaps even a civil war to bring them down. I don't relish it, I have seen first hand what that does to countries.

I am sure that the plan for counting, interpreting, challenging and disqualifying has been fully worked up. There will be scripts for allegations of all sorts of irregularities leading to disqualification of individuals and dissolution of parties held on file. The EC and courts fully limbered up and in the starting blocks. This will likely lead to considerable protest and unrest, not entirely I suspect unwelcome. The least subtle, but perhaps most likely eventual result will be a reluctant entry stage right by the military, possibly with the existing regime remaining in place in the interests of good order and stability. You see,"we tried to hold an election, it failed because of the venality and corruption of politicians, we had no option but to step in to save the country from chaos".

Thank you for reminding me. I must steel myself for the necessary spaghetti strap tops outrage! Looking at that photo I cannot imagine why I like living here.

Looks like tube from some sort of a Light Anti Tank weapon (LAW). Once fired, the tube is disposable. They can't be reloaded and used again. That said, the "empty cases" are normally accounted for and kept or disposed off securely. We always kept a number, suitably weighted, to hang on people to stop them getting too frisky. Most infantrymen will carry one as part of their "load".

I thought you were talking about the foreign minister there ...

With Wissanu Krea-ngam (jurist, independent politician and indispensable coat tail ballast) as Deputy Prime Minister with specific responsibilities for constitutional interpretation and redrafting.

Since the "provincial vote" almost certainly favours the opposition parties I should imagine that they will ensure that travel is made as difficult as possible.

It will only help if it is used to improve the lot of the people, not spent on shoring up the gangster clans in government or paying off foreign debtors. The hold of the political clans needs to be broken, and the opportunity taken to get the economy working again. Then they can look to restructuring and paying off loans.

Oysters eh! Be careful though, they are reputed to have aphrodisiac qualities. You might find it embarrassing to sit in the Podiatrist's salon with a hard on. Mind you, the last time I tried them (oysters) only the first two worked!

If he is charged, and heaven forbid held in any form of custody the results could truly be alarming! The orange tan will fade rapidly to a sort of lemon/beige mottling (the shade of the bottle of guava squash well past its best before date in my fridge). The blonde combover, starved of hair products and sculptors will unravel, the ends straggling from his head, assuming the delightful hue of a nicotine stained white moustache on the upper lip of a heavy smoker. Deprived of a diet of cheeseburgers, fries and diet coke his bowels will morph to jelly... I really cannot go on, it is too terrible to contemplate!

Looks like Anutin gets it by a country mile then!

"CODING ERA: Next Wave of Thailand’s Education" Buy something costing 75 Baht. Pay with a 100 Baht note. Out comes a calculator to work out how much change is needed. Code away!