herfiehandbag

Do you play poker? I assume not, you are not very good at concealing your "hand"!

His sentence was reduced to 1 year from 8. Given the authority which reduced it, woul be unwise to post opinions challenging its, umh, legitimacy! Given that he returned, and was incarcerated on the 22nd of August, he is eligible now. The conditions of his incarceration have no bearing on any parole or pardon, it is merely enough that he was deprived of his liberty.

The IDF is heavily biased towards using reservists, constantly "refresher trained" since it exists to counter an existential threat to the country and it's inhabitants, one that is capable of being mounted at short notice as recent events have shown. Many, probably as many, of these reservist units are deployed along the Northern borders and Golan Heights as are fighting in Gaza. It doesn't plan, practice for or have any real capacity for "expeditionary warfare". It is more accurate perhaps to talk of threats from 7 enemy groups rather than 7 fronts. Some of those such as the Yemen rebels threats to close the entry to the Red Sea will be more likely dealt with by international responses, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan have ports on the Red Sea and will take a dim view of such threats The M113 are vulnerable if deployed as Infantry Fighting Vehicles, they were never designed for that - our perception of them is perhaps coloured by memories of them being used as such in Vietnam, hatches open and multiple machine guns on improvised mounts on top; but as carriers, communication and control vehicles, armoured ambulances, artillery command posts and observation post vehicles are still effective. They are old but ironically, armoured vehicles although they can come to a sudden violent end in battle are remarkably long lived in peacetime. They are also capable of being rapidly repaired and put back into service - techniques at which the Israel's have proved adept. The IDF is very aware of it's manpower limitations. That is why it makes extensive use of female soldiers in combat support and support roles. It is very risk averse to casualties in its infantry doctrines, fighting dismounted, methodically and carefully in urban and semi urban terrain. It has in recent years developed a range of infantry fighting vehicles based on obsolete Soviet era tanks (captured) and their own Centurion tanks to protect infantry in open surroundings, and to keep up with their own tanks. The Merkava tanks are also capable of carrying an infantry fire team behind armour.

Pedant head on - I can divert with the best of 'em - but I have noticed that 7/11 delivery drivers, in fact virtually all delivery drivers wear helmets. Company policy perhaps?

You do have a long memory don't you, dragging up the insults about Noi in the red villages! I am no expert, but I suspect long memories go with obsessions! He may be "a newbie" but @BritScot seems capable of recognising obsessive"drivel" when he sees it!

De facto Pheu Thai boss he certainly is. Hardly a "convict a large" - in fact this forum itself is full of complainants ticking like Woolworth's alarm clocks that the terms of his imprisonment are far too lenient! Mind you, something is likely up, Wissanu Krea-ngam has come out blinking into the daylight to explain it!

You mean they went straight to him, bypassing the poo yai ban of my local Amour! Absolutely,umm, "stellar"!

After the 6 day war and more particular the Yom Kippur War in 1973 Israel, aware of how vulnerable it was to its supply of weapons being interrupted, took steps to develop an indigenous arms industry - to the extent that it is now a major arms supplier in its own right. It manufactures it's own infantry weapons, anti tank weapons, armoured vehicles and ammunition; either under license or to its own designs. This equipment, some of which is of foreign design, is almost always heavily modified to use Israeli fire control systems and communication systems, and to suit local conditions. They also have large stocks of stored equipment in reserve - hundreds of tanks, several thousand armoured personnel carriers, hundreds of artillery pieces.

Ah good, they're taking it seriously - they have got a hub up and running. Did they initiate proceedings by trooping outside to the big blue tent, opening and browsing Shopee on their phones whilst quaffing a large iced coffee delivered by a 7/11 girl on a scooter?

But if 7 enemies attack you, you don't really have a lot of choice. Israel does not do "expeditionary warfare" They are unlikely to deploy troops beyond their boundaries.

The fridge repair chappie may have inadvertently discovered "perpetual motion"!

I'm not so sure that Hawaiian Pizza is real pizza? After all, Hawaii is an archipelago smack bang in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, whereas Italy is on the southern edge of Europe...

I don't know the details of the Thai laws... That doesn't seem to cause you to hold back from demanding that the full force of those laws are enforced against those whose politics you dislike! "Wheel the guilty bastards in and we'll give them a fair trial" eh?

If she, and/or her brother had been incarcerated do you think they would have survived? They probably wouldn't have made it to the pandemic, certainly wouldn't have come through it.

An ex Democrat MP petitioning... There is nothing more "ex" in Thai politics than an ex Democrat MP

The people voted in 2001. Thaksin's party won. The people voted in 2005, Thaksin's party won. The people voted in 2006, Thaksin's party was set to win, so there was a military coup. The people voted in 2008. Thaksin's party won. The military arranged the installation of the losing party in government. The people voted in 2011. Thaksin's party won. The people voted in 2014. Thaksin's party was set to win, so there was a military coup. The people voted in 2019. Thaksin's party won more seats than any other party, the Junta managed to scrape together a slim coalition majority and remained in power. Legitimising Autocracy, hmm?

Failing that, punish her for being a Shinewatra!

Obviously not, if it is a military coup to seize power and frustrate the people's electoral choice!

So, how many seats did the Thai Pakdee party win in the 2023 election compared to say, the Pheu Thai party?

Must have really distracted you from your tours of the temples and second hand bookshops!

Never really understood the enthusiasm for monorails! The technology for conventional "light rail" (SkyTrain, underground and airport link is proven. There must be the potential for communality both within Thailand and worldwide when it comes to the next generation of rolling stock, extensions, increasing capacity and so on, so why go for unproven unique technology when building additional routes?

Reduced to the bare essentials I suppose. Ignore everything except for the capacity to piss it all up the wall!

I have got one of those - didn't pay 3.5K for it mind you. I also have 4 dogs. They love it. I can't get near it!

Interestingly (again) this forum, and by extension I suppose the expatriate community in Thailand, if not overrun with certainly has a significant number of people who rather take it upon themselves to act as an arbiter of who should and should not live here. Invariably it seems to be based on wealth - I think of it as the Harry Enfield syndrome - you know the TV sketches with the punchline "oiy am considerably richer than you!" I can't say that I recall anyone boasting of intending to rely on "go fund me", although there is no shortage of pungent self satisfied comments when we read reports of people who find themselves in that unfortunate position; nor am I sure that deciding that one's pension or other funds will go "further" in Thailand makes one an "economic migrant"! As for teaching English in Thailand, there are probably as many different motives as there are individuals. I doubt very much whether the economic benefits of working as a teacher (outside a small number of International Schools) feature very high on the list!

If in doubt about their bonafides ask them what colour the boathouse was, and who else was on the balcony...