herfiehandbag

The key thing about this list of proposals is of course that the planning, discussion, media releases and so on will all have a budget to be managed. The end result, if any, is irrelevant. Once the funds have been appropriately, creatively and imaginatively used, then the whole project will disappear into the swirling fog of beaurocracy!

1 hour ago, Tounge Thaied said:

Thai oligarchs are eagerly waiting. The purge of the small business owner is happening in many countries. 

He certainly seems to be chuckling in anticipation!

1 hour ago, Grumpy John said:

"slot him before helping himself to the goodies"  Not sure what slot means but I imagine it's not good for the black clad lad!  And the only goodies are the functioning hand guns and the grenades.

Shoot him before taking the weapons.

8 minutes ago, mrfill said:

India has 5ft 3in gauge and has many, many more derailments

And probably several hundred times the route mileage!

There is nothing wrong with Metre gauge railways, as long as the permanent way is properly maintained, and the trains are operated with due regard for the speed restrictions and signalling procedures. There are some 95,000km of metre gauge in use worldwide. On the route which I know, the Northern line to Chiang Mai, there is some very good permanent way, which allows comparatively high speed running (80 Kmph or so). There are other bits about which I am less enthusiastic.

11 minutes ago, 86Tiger said:

Who would dare attempt to swipe the goods under the noses of the all knowing, ever watchful 'chiefs' taking credit for all the hard work?

Looking at the way that the "chief" in the middle is holding his script, it would take him a couple of minutes to find his "distance glasses" before he would be able to react!

5 hours ago, Crossy said:

 

SRT is metre gauge.

 

Looks like it happened at a facing junction.

Facing Point Lock (FPL) not engaged? 

They are supposed to be interlocked with the track circuits if a train is approaching or on them. However if the track circuit has failed then you can break a glass cover and release the track circuit by pushing a button adjacent to the lever frame (SRT mainly uses British made Westinghouse systems). If you have released the track circuit due to such a failure, you are supposed to physically clip the point in position, before allowing the train over it at reduced speed. If you don't bother doing that, you risk the point blades moving under the train, one bogie goes one way, the other goes the other way, bump, thump, bump, and when the dust settles you have a locomotive with a serious earth fault!

I could be wrong...

There is nothing inherently unstable or unsafe about metre gauge railways, or the mechanical signalling systems SRT use, as long as the systems are properly maintained and the rules for when something fails are observed.

1 hour ago, NanLaew said:

Are you an(other) Englander by any chance?

3 hours ago, Yinn said:

Maybe he not like English people. 

 

Not have Dutch law “You must like English people.”

Up to him. 

 

Some not like Thai people.

Up to them.

Yes I am English - from the South West , Somerset. 

I have no particular "down" on any other nationalities, either within the UK, Europe or Worldwide. I have lived in and travelled widely in Europe, North America and beyond.

 I speak ( perhaps idiosyncratically)  French, German and some Thai. I think that I am reasonably thick skinned, and as I said I don't really subscribe to the views that one can stereotype national characteristics.

As I said, in support of Transam, I am also bored, fed up, whatever other expression you think fits the bill, with the unfailing efforts of one particular poster to crayon over every topic and thread with his own particular dislike of the English. He made his views clear many moons ago; but like the Duracell bunny, he just goes on, and on, and on...

5 hours ago, transam said:

Another Brit jibe, day in, day out, what is the matter with you....You been on the  puff again....?  ????

4 hours ago, robblok said:

Not puffing.. Trans guess you have no sense of humor. Brits are often called soap dodgers and Dutch stoners. So im not doing myself any favors either. Just adding to the Brit who made fun of all others except themselves. You really have thin skin Trans. 

 

So its ok for Brits (the guy i responded to is a Brit) put others down.. but then when someone else makes a small jibe at a Brit and his own nationality you start to cry.. strange.

 

 

 

4 hours ago, transam said:

Try to leave us Brits out of your stuff for just one day.

Do I run down the Dutch on a daily basis, or even ever, no......????

Transam makes a very good point. You do seem entirely unable, in any debate involving the UK, or more particularly England, and especially if you are arguing or commenting on the posts made by someone who is English, to resist indulging your somewhat stereotyped and often frankly offensive opinions on England and the English. I have for some time considered they you take a balanced approach to any topic involving the United Kingdom, England or the English. Balanced, as you appear to have a chip on both shoulders!

6 hours ago, nikmar said:

Is anyone else getting a wee bit concerned about the way things are going here, I mean, taking into consideration the fact that Apirat retires from the army in September (?). or, am I worrying about nothing here. Serious question as Apirat getting anywhere near a Prime Minister's position will be the thing that makes me grab my son and leg it back home to the UK.

 

 

I wonder whether he has left it a bit late - the whole Covid 19 malarky rather put the kybosh on what, six months ago, looked like a very probable event. That could be one reason why the present team are so determined to spin it out for as long as they can?

9 hours ago, Justgrazing said:

and believed to be the source of some of the Richard III's frequently found floating in the gulf .. 

So that's what they make there, I did wonder!

I suppose the clue is in the name...

????

Well, these requirements shouldn't knock more than a slack handful (of digits) of the numbers of tourists TAT is predicting for the rest of this year!

1.5 millions? They will be lucky to get 15!

The power behind the throne?

Oh my ears and whiskers - those cheekbones! But sort out your hairdresser!

Got his picture out on "the media", jobs a "good un", back to the mess for tea and crumpets!

6 hours ago, Iron Tongue said:

Well, if the photo is current, then the rifles those troops are carrying are Vietnam-era.  Probably worn-out after 50-years of abuse by farm boys.

2 hours ago, ratcatcher said:

What do you think of their helmets, they do not look like those currently issued with camo fabric cover?

The rifles - M16s, were a design introduced during the Vietnam war, however they remained in production for many years afterwards, and so they may well not be that old. Age is not a problem as such, if the weapon has been properly maintained (!) and of course has had relatively few rounds fired through it. Many units these days seem to be equipped with the "Tavor" - Israeli "bullpup" design with an optical sight. 

They may have retained M16s for ceremonial use.

The helmets look like varnished up inner liners for the old US pattern steel helmet - again retained by those armies who, for unaccountable reasons, like wearing tin hats on ceremonial parades.

16 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

Personally, I am not a supporter of spending mega amounts of money on ordnance, but please note:-

 

"Thailand has contributed troops to United Nations peacekeeping efforts in places such as Darfur, Haiti and Timor-Leste. ... When preparing troops for deployment, the center ensures that troops deployed to U.N. peacekeeping operations are selected, generated, equipped and trained according to U.N. standards.Apr 22, 2019"

And the UN pays, quite generously, for those troops. One of the problems with these peacekeeping forces is that it is sometimes the case that all the funds provided by the UN are not always used for that purpose.

27 minutes ago, AndrewMciver said:

When you return to the UK to update your passport where do you stay ? 

It is entirely possible to renew your Passport whilst remaining in Thailand.