herfiehandbag

And 1.7 billion Baht of seized assets?

The stream of reviews, of committees and mulling of this entry fee, and lack of clarification of how it is to be collected leads one to suspect an increasing number of "interested parties". And no wonder, the prospect of an effectively unauditable flow of cash ( it will be cash - no airline will want to touch it) must delight all concerned, from the lowliest collecting official to the heads of the various departments who have an interest in and through whose hands the cash will pass. Inevitably by the time medical bills are to be met and plans presented to develop tourist facilities there will be no money left!

The minister acknowledges with regret, that this crackdown may divert attention and resources from the investigation of the penetration of Chinese "grey capital" into Thai commercial and political life, however employing foreigners without work permits in restaurants is a particularly egregious offence which can have devastating effects upon national economic security.

He's finished all the curtains in Government House and is obviously having his outfits made from the loose covers from the staff quarters sofas!

They don't do embarrassed at that level. Indignant, self righteous, self satisfied, concerned, probing, mulling, all of these but not embarrassed. It's genetic don't you know!

Shielded by very shiny tinplate cladding attached by a combination of pop rivets and cable ties. I understand that the purple light duct taped onto the back indicates that they are nuclear powered - along with the driver who glows in the dark.

The boat on which she sailed to America, a modern racing yacht, was largely built from, and had rigging and sales made out of, various carbon fibre materials. As such it had a massive "carbon footprint" before it went into the water! What is more, a ferry crew had to be flown from Europe to New York to bring it back.

Yes, vegans (in my limited experience) are a bit like pilots in that respect. You know the old joke? How can you tell that a bloke at the party is a pilot? Don't worry, within 5 minutes he will tell you!

Steady on, my first camera looked like that. Bought it at a jumble sale for 1/- and used it for several years. And I'm only 65! In fact, I remember all of them. Loathed sterilised milk!

When you find you are stuck in a hole it is generally advisable to stop digging!

Umh, if you haven't been to the red light district for 15 years, how do you know it has got awful in the last few years?

When I saw this topic title I rather assumed it was celebrating how many tyre advertising totems you can get in front of the windscreen of your lorry!

One of the most endearing and yet irritating features of this society is that it beavers away with great effort and skill creating institutions, systems and legal provisions whose titles and declared aims mimic those of many other countries. This is the case in so many fields. They are like those Hollywood film studio "back lots" - convincing facades held up by scaffolding. The driving licence points scheme is a classic example.

If you are being overtaken by ten year olds and geriatrics then you are obviously not driving with sufficient panache!

No, just a.nice warm fuzzy feeling in anticipation of some unfortunate people having problems. Bit of a recurrent theme on this thread really...

My daughter (17) is Thai. Born here, at school here, Thai is her first language. We get it all the time. When she caught COVID they tried to charge many (10K+) thousands for treatment; even the school she is at denied the two discounts due ( one because I was a teacher there, and a second one because she is RC in a RC school) on the grounds that she was "farang". That last was the school administrators - when I complained to the clergy they were most embarrassed and gave her a free place for her last two years. The army refused to have her in the school cadets when she wanted to join because she was white ( can't say I was too upset about that one). She loves (and is very good at) singing and classical Thai dancing, but a couple of years ago they wouldn't let her compete in the team for the regional competition; the school said she was "inappropriate". I was furious and insisted she was allowed to compete, and she has won prizes for the last three years! She copes really well with it - but I know sometimes it irritates her, it did spark some rebellious behaviour in her early teens. The school called me to a meeting about her. The main complaint was that she didn't respect some of the teachers - hardly surprising when they treated her differently to the other children. It was a bit of of a " light the blue touchpaper and stand well back moment", especially when some old fascist bat made her dye her lovely auburn hair black! That cost me a lot of money at a very expensive hairdressers to sort out! Interestingly that old bat retired two years ago, and Lucy's behaviour improved immediately! This sort of low level racism, particularly evident from those with a modicum of power, is , for me, the black cloud on the otherwise largely untroubled horizon of living here.

Only if the accused hasn't come to "an arrangement"...

The people did not remove either Thaksin. Some people (by no means a majority) caused so much trouble that both Shinawatra led governments decided to call elections, to settle the matter. When it became evident that the Shinawatra parties were on track to win those elections the military staged coups. After the first of those coups, when the military allowed an election, the Shinawatra party won. They were effectively removed from office by the military, who aided and facilitated violent demonstrations by the same minority; and replaced by the party which the military had hoped would win the election. When the Shinawatra faction protested in turn the military crushed them ruthlessly. The people have learned the lesson, in this country any nuanced democracy is pointless. They need to win decisively, and then not tolerate interventions. That is the lesson of the last two decades.

Good that they have got it out of the way so early in the year though!

The key will be " the right sort of criminals". Opening a casino will no doubt require substantial negotiations and permissions. Their will be significant " investments" required to both establish good working relationships for the negotiations meet the conditions of those negotiations and to ensure the permissions. Once the casino is established those investments will need to be regularly "reviewed".

That will be because they first make a hot americano and then add and "blitz" with ice to chill it. You are, not entirely unreasonably, paying for the extra process.

The simple truth is that the electorate must make that choice. Installing a working democratic system is not done in one election, but takes two or three election cycles. Before it can be said to have been achieved candidates and their governments must be installed, and then judged on their performance, reselected or rejected, by the electors. No one else, not judges, not demonstrators and civil disobedience, and most certainly not the military.

What is the obsession with flags in the USA?

Are the next senate appointed by whoever forms the government? If so, and if Prayut and/or Prawit are appointed by the outgoing senate, then they get to choose the incoming senate. Neat trick. Not only does it keep the old generals in power, but it keeps each generation of new generals "on side" - a government sinecure waiting for them on retirement.

So once the electorate have made their choice, the actual decision will be a result of tribal loyalties within the army? Why am I reminded of the rock band " Guns and Rose(wood)"?