Patong2021

The classic tune from one of my favourite movies Ferris Bueller's Day Off. It was one of the last movies to use actual extras, before CGI eliminated the need for them. It's a feel good movie infused with love and fun. May the USA be restored to a place of safety, harmony and happiness.

I call it brilliant and compassionate. Instead of risking hundreds of collateral damage injuries, the Israelis targeted only the key terrorists. Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah launch thousands of missiles, rockets and drones. The targets are indiscriminate. No one questions that strategy. Israel uses targeted precision and the bigots come out to point their fingers.

Nice to see that all the self appointed experts have come out to offer their expertise. Why? The pilot made the landing under difficult weather conditions with no injuries. Have you ever landed a heavy aircraft in a thunderstorm? If you took the time to read the metars, you would see that the landing conditions were not ideal. VTBS 141300Z 34008KT 3000 TSRA FEW005 SCT018CB BKN030 BKN070 25/25 Q1006 RERA BECMG TL1350 5000 TSRA= VTBS 141230Z 27005KT 200V330 9999 TS FEW020CB SCT035 BKN070 29/24 Q1005 TEMPO FM1245 TL1400 27015G25KT 4000 TSRA= It is quite obvious that there were some serious Thunderstorms and and Rainstorms underway. On that day much of the region was experiencing heavy rain and challenging changes in wind direction. Until the data is reviewed to determin if there was a wind shear issue or if there were other forces that came into play, criticism of the A 350 flight deck crew is unfair and malicious. How much time have you spent flying heavy aircraft into and out of VTBS in monsoon season? Yes, weather was the critical factor. Pilots have to fly into some difficult weather during monsoon season. Stopping on a slick runway with difficult winds during a thunderstorm isn't easy. Diversions are not easy during monsoon season because all airports in the region will be facing similar conditions. Why? Are American pilots special, like immune to weather conditions, and infused with magical flying skills?

The common observation that it is all relative is appropriate. The value proposition works for me. I shop for western food at specialty stores and Tops and the cost is similar to the cost in my home country. I eat quality meals for 25-50% less than the cost in my home country. I am fortunate to be in an area where there are many fine restaurants, including authentic European and Japanese cuisines. I have housekeeping services that are cost effective. I can have as many massages as my heart desires, if I have the time. On the days when I want a quick dash to Tops and to avoid traffic and parking woes, I can take a tuk tuk for less than 120 baht,or a passing empty sangthaew for 15 baht. A private saloon car to or from the airport and Hua Hin is 2000 baht. I just sit back and nap. Best of all are the smiles I get from the locals. No cost for that and all I need to is to smile to get one. And yes, I really do enjoy many Thai dishes. Thai food when prepared with quality ingredients, is delightful.

Flammability resistance is designed for the vehicle as originally constructed - Diesel fuel. As mentioned above, aftermarket conversion to LPG voids all warranties and safety parameters. Ask if Thailand has any safety standards for such conversions and you will hear crickets in response. We should have a scapegoat soon enough and then it will be forgotten much as the Santika Fire tragedy was buried.

On Sunday, the IDF flew a long distance mission to take out missile sites and munition depots located at the Ras Isa and Hodeidah ports. It required the air crews to fly a 4,000 km round trip mission that passed through airspace watched closely by Egypt, Saudia Arabia and Eritrea. There is no way that the IDF could have flown that mission to surprise the Houthis without the tacit co-operation of the 3 nations. The KSA was heavily involved in trying to liberate Yemen from the grasp of the Iranian backed Houthis, so it is more than likely that the Saudis gave a little more than a wink and a nod to Israel. There was no need to threaten Egypt or Saudi Arabia, nor would they have responded positively to any threats. Both are proud nations capable of stopping an Israeli air strike should they so choose. Iran is backing Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hezbollah was the military force that kept Assad of Syria in power and who are directly implicated in the deaths of 500,000 Syrians and the creation of 14 million Syrian refugees. Hezbollah maintains a well equipped army in Lebanon. Aside from Syria, Where else does a minority of the population dominate a sovereign nation? The Shia muslims represent 30% of the Lebanese population and you are misguided if you believe that the SUnni's, Druze and Christian population march to the drum of the Shiites. In the immediate region, outside of Shia majority areas, Gaza and the West Bank of Israel, there is little support for Hezbollah. Egypt is Sunni, much of the Gulf Arabs are Sunni and more importantly, they all dislike Iran. In the region, the enemy of my enemy may not be my friend, but he can be tolerated as long as he damages my enemy. It is arrogant to assume that western threats carry much influence in the Arab world. The Gulf Arabs are wealthy, and their elites are better educated than westerners. They are a proud people as are the Egyptians and Jordanians. They don't respond well to western threats. They fought to throw out the abusive Ottoman Empire and then they fought to throw out the Europeans who replaced the Turks. The continual meddling of Iran in the region presents a threat to Sunni faith regimes and while they may not support Israel, they are not shedding any tears if Iran and its proxies are kicked about.

The best advice I was given by wiser experienced expats was to purchase nothing in Thailand that I was not prepared to write off/lose or give up with no return. Property investment by foreign investors is highly risky and does not deliver the large returns assumed will be delivered. You buy for a place to live and/or to raise a family. If you break even or make a small profit after taxes and upkeep, then you have done well. My observation is that the people always going on about their investment success and their big profits are people who haven't got much money and usually have minimal liquidity.

When and where did she use the title? Please provide examples where her office use the term.

Yes it is a safety issue. However, there are degrees of safety issues. Some are minor and have minimal potential to cause harm. There is a difference between a faulty warning light that goes off and a defective airbag.

No, and the format is reasonable. Nigel Farage had one of the strongest Reform votes, yet won his seat with a minority of the votes, less than 50%. Where Reform had strong showings, it was still trounced by Labour. Reform came second place in 98 constituencies. In 89 of these cases, it was second to Labour. 60 of these were in the north of England and 13 were in Wales. The Green Party strength was in London. There is no argument that the number of seats declared for Labour does not reflect the total voting results, but what it does reflect is the party which had the broadest support across the country, and that was Labour and parties which share a similar position on much of its economic manifesto. Regional dominance is muted in favour of a national result. The issue here is one of economic policy, and the Labour position can be argued to have been agreed to or understood would be implemented by a majority of UK voters. Here's why: the Greens 6.7%, Plaid Cymru 0.7%%, SNP 2.5% Sinn Fein 0.7% for a total of 10.6% all have economic policies similar or more "radical" than Labour. The Liberal Democrats 12.2% offered economic policies similar to Labour, although diverging on some issues. That's a total of 22.8% of the voters. Reform did not offer an economic platform. It was a one issue policy driven by immigration policy and Brexit insistence. In effect, the Conservatives occupied their economic policy territory alone. Former Conservative voters chose to split their votes migrating to Reform and the Liberal Democrats. The end result is what they were warned would happen: Labour was handed a land slide victory. The current Labour policies should not be a surprise to anyone. Consider it a good dosing of fiber needed to clear out the failed Conservative policies and to refocus the Conservatives.

Trump is 78 going on 79. Do you really believe that he will still be alive in 4 years? Or that he didn't reach a plea deal to stop inciting insurrections in return for charges being stayed?

Yes, it is working now. When I wrote the comment, it was not. In respect to the article from Feb 2023, which is 1 1/2 years ago, it refers to one incident in respect to someone complaining about an Azov tshirt. It is understandable, considering the history of the Azov Regiment. Yes, I see the part where it is claimed that some Ukrainians have other complaints.Not very convincing considering the millions of Russians who have passed through Thailand. I offer that it has more to do with the type of Russian who populate places like Phuket and Pattaya rather than the Russians themselves. Thailand is now home to a lot of Russian thugs, and criminal types.They were always like this. In Hua Hin where they are found in great numbers, along with some Ukrainian service evaders there are no issues. No fights. nothing. Perhaps it is because Hua Hin and the region attracts a better class of people.

Boris dreams of going back to 10 Downing. He thinks he will have a Churchillian rebirth. Offering empty innsincer words are a pathetic attempt to woo back the people who ran away to Farage at Reform. It won't work. He is seen for the scheming irresponsible pompous philandering buffoon that he is.

No, VP Harris was not tasked with that mandate. She had no authority over border policy. Repeating a Trump campaign lie will not change the reality.

Perspective and fairness please. Many of the EV recalls are minor issues that can be fixed without going to a dealership. They are software related. That's a very big difference compared to the Pinto exploding gas tanks or the Ford Explorer roll overs or the defective airbags of the Japanese and Korean vehicles. When OTAs were not included in the recall numbers, all four Teslas fell out of the Top 25 most recalled car list, as did the Rivian R1S. The Lucid Air moved from slot 5 to slot 25, barely making the list. Unfortunately for the Porsche Taycan it remained in the top spot, with all 70.7 recalls (apparently no OTA recalls happen for the Taycan). While EV (and particularly The takeaway is that the EV manufacturers can quickly resolve the issues without inconveniencing clients. It is a much better outcome than my having to wait 1 year for a defective vehicle component to be replaced in my Mercedes.

My Mercedes gasoline powered vehicle started having electrical problems in year 2 at 5,000km. The continued until I got rid of the vehicle. My replacement gasoline powered BMW was in need of 150,000 baht worth of mechanical and electrical work in year 4 at 12,000 km. In the early days of automobiles, the horse was still faster and more affordable and reliable than automobiles. Electric vehicles are at he start of their industry life and to date have delivered far more reliability and sustainability than than the conventional automobiles did in their prime of life from 1950-2000. The year on year advances of electric vehicle technology are much greater than what was seen and still seen with conventional vehicles. Electric vehicles may not be appropriate as a replacement for 100% of the conventional market, but if they can be used to replace 50-75% in the next decade, we will have made a tremendous impact in respect to air pollution and carbon emissions.

That is not how the parliamentary system works in the UK. Labour won 411 out of 650 seats. That is called a landslide election victory. It won a majority of the votes on those seats. Using your logic, because 76.3% of the electorate did not vote Conservative, it means that the electorate repudiated the Conservative election platform which included its financial policies. Liberal Democrat, Sinn Fein, Green, Plaid Cymru and SNP economic positions have more in common with the Starmer Labour positions than they do with the Conservative party positions. So yes indeed, Labour does have a mandate to govern. Your argument is one for proportional representation, which the Conservatives have been against for ages. Much of Reform and the Social Democrat vote gain come from former Conservative voters who wanted anybody other than the Conservatives. Economic policy was not their primary concern. Rather, it was the mismanagement of the country, the political infighting and the revolving door at 10 Downing that annoyed the electorate. If the Tories had any common sense they would let Labour implode and concentrate on rebuilding the nation's trust in the party. They merited being thrown out of government.

There is most likely a misunderstanding and miscommunication. Typically, pharmaceutical companies import the API and not the finished drug. (API-Active pharmaceutical ingredient). The API is then used at a fabricator that is European certified and sent to an European certified packager. The API supplier must be European certified. If a finished drug is imported, it will be for a generic, non complex product and it will be delivered in bulk, It must still come from a European certified supplier. Most of the EU imports come from the EU itself followed by the USA, India, China and to a lesser extent the UK and Israel. Because of China's inability to honour supply contracts during Covid, many western countries have tried to reduce supply contracts that come from China and have invested in local production. However, the reality is that some drugs are just too expensive to manufacture in bulk compared to China. For example, much of the world's aspirin is manufactured in China.

3 months since the chap asked his question and his visit. Since then we do not know the outcome. Did he wear his Rolex? If he did was it safe? was he beset by kathoeys and horrifically fondled resulting in the loss of said Rolex? Was it lost in some seedy beer par as he drank too many Leo's? So many questions, so many unresolved concerns. Please, sir let us know the outcome of your adventure in the magical big city of Krung Thep.

check your link. It doesn't work 😆

I am not a friend of labour, but they won a massive landslide election and deserve a chance to govern. Before predicting doom and gloom, note that the Albanese Labour government of Australia has just delivered its 2nd consecutive budget SURPLUS. Remember that a government called left wing balanced the budget and is paying down the deficit run up by Conservative governments. UK Labour has inherited a financial mess created by irresponsible successive Conservative administrations with Cameron and Boris being two of the worst financial offenders. Before savaging PM Starmer, give his administration an opportunity to try and sort out the very serious economic mess that his government has inherited. How much more instability with revolving PMs does the UK need?

If a Russian establishment then it is a Russian dispute. The Ukrainians and Russians have a "gentleman's agreement" not to get into fights in Thailand. Have you ever seen them in any public disputes? None of them wants to create a situation where there is scrutiny on their large communities in Thailand. The violence we see with Russians tends to be criminal gang related, i.e. turf dispute, debt, protection money etc.

No more strange or less strange than in other countries. While this was going on, a young couple in Arkansas was trying to sell their baby in a park of $1000, the saga of Mohamed Fayed grew with the number of women allegedly molested/attack now reaching 100, and a man has been charged with murder after a woman was found dead with serious injuries in Australia's NSW Hunter Valley. Not excusing this violent crime, but it seems human beings are just violent and nasty everywhere they are found.

Perhaps, but he is still just a kid. My understanding is that the worst that happens is that he gets locked up until age 21. He can go to a juvenile prison/education facility where he will terrorize the other kids.

It is sort of funny watching this anti Israel /pro Hamas guy twist himself in knots. He loves his Trump and anything Trump says. The thing is Trump has recommended that "Iran be blown to smithereens". See 3.39. My interpretation is that the hatred of Israel outweighs love for Trump. 🤭