allan michaud

I caught a variant of the plague in Issan about a decade ago. After visiting a local Wat near Ban Phai, both myself and a friend of my wife's caught this, presumably from fleas from stray dogs at the Wat. I spent a week in Bumrumgrad and the docs said it was still quite common here.

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What about the British Embassy for once doing the decent thing??

Get the poor guys body home and worry about the monetary aspects later!!

I'm British and I don't expect my embassy to give a flying fig about my corpse once I've carked it. What does it matter where a body is finally laid to rest? I'd rather my family (or indeed my country) kept the money (and its expensive to fly the deceased home - it's not the same as finding them an aisle seat - there are health regulations to be met, coffins to be found to hold the body, etc.) rather than moved my no-longer-in-the-remotest-bit-concerned flesh around the world.

Agreed, but that depends how you died. If you suffer one of Thailand's many mysterious 'accidents' your relatives might want an answer, lets face it they won't get one from the Thai authorities.

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I had two of those buzzing around me a few weeks ago. I hate em... Didn't realize they could kill.

I'm not sure one can kill, but many can. I think when they start to sting they release a sent that drives the fellow hornet crazy, that's why they all start stinging. It's horrendous.

Not sure what purpose they serve in the world.

The poor elephant had no chance, no way to escape, no way to protect or sheild herself or protect her baby. What an aweful death.

You may only need 5 stings:

"However he said attack by this kind of hornet was fatal and could cause death even an animal or human being were stung by five hornets."

Just one will do if you have an allergy. I work in the forests out here and locals regularly warm me off various wasp/hornet type insects, there is more than one that is potentially very dangerous. The indigenous people I work with are terrified of some of these, there's a very small type that I have seen several times living in nests in the ground and they are apparently really nasty.

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The current law forbids foreign majority ownership in sectors where Thai businesses are deemed not ready to compete with foreign companies.
Those include accountancy, legal services, architecture, engineering, brokerages, advertising, hotel operations, food and beverages and "other service businesses."

Why can't Thai business compete in these areas?

The question is, in what sector can Thai's be truly competitive, without resorting to either corruption, nepotism or the tried and trusted violence and intimidation?

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...is it hatred, stupidity, wickedness? Maybe a combination.

This is horrific, just violence for violence's sake by the sound of it. Not unusual in itself but this certainly seems a racist act. The copycat angle is scary.

Is it my imagination or is there a hell of a lot more violence today than a decade ago, or is it just the expansion of social media so we actually hear about these things

"But our legislators and law enforcement officers are made up of men and women with heart and soul. We hope that their heart and soul comes with compassion and sensibility."

This person IS referring to Thailand right?

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We are well aware of the governments "success" in storing rice. Now they want to share their recipe for success as if the farmers did not have enough problems of their own.

No, that was all down to the other lot, this lot in green don't make mistakes so clearly this will be a huge success.

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what became of the U K plod ?? or are they still taking tea ?

Still learning the ropes, Thai style. There might be an increase in corruption among cops in the UK after this trip.

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why is the area disputed, draw a straight line south from the border point at the coast

Not as simple as that due to the size/shape of the gulf, bordering countries, the normal international rules for demarcating maritime boundaries cant be applied

ie claim based on extension of the continental shelf or the 200 nautical mile limit

The only way forward on this is agreement/ joint areas in the disputed areas.

even international arbitration will not help, as all countries bordering the Gulf of Thailand have very valid and legal claims to the water in various parts.

And of course there is the point that these idiots would rather fight and argue over 4.5 soccer pitches of land at Preah Vihear for decades, so what hope is there when it comes to real resources?

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<Official DNA test results have showed his son was not involved in the murders> QUOTE

"Official" (like in paid) is the main word here!! alt=whistling.gif>

Well they might be accurate but that only confirms he didn't rape the girl, nothing more.

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So...does this mean the someone holding a GPS, will go to each corner of each farmers plot and record the coordinates?

If so, then the database should be competed in 2024!.......how many rice plots are there?

Yep that was my thought, speaking out of their backside again.

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I'm really sorry for the little girl and the repercussions that this horrible crime can have in her future life.

Also feel disgusted about the teacher and what he's done.

But I feel angry and nauseated about the parents.

Nothing to do with their daughters rape, but only for the money.

If he had paid the 100K everything would have been OK.

What animals are they, do they live in the same world we live in?

Or is it just Thai mentality?

It's Thainess, that's why we don't understand it. The closest translation I can think of is "Anything for a buck".

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Oh dear...what has become of Thailand? The Land of smiles has become the Land of crimes..

The level and brutality of violence is shocking. Personally I think a lot of this is down to yaba, that is an evil drug.

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"Samkok district officer Metha Taweekunchai said he’ll order his officers to capture the snake in Rampeung's toilet, so the family can resume using it"

Well that'll be a relief for everyone concerned.

To be honest I didn't think pythons had fangs. Don't they just wrap themselves around their prey and constrict until it's dead?

No 'fangs' as such but teeth and big enough to do serious damage. There was a similar instance in India a few years back when one came up out of a squat toilet and wrapped it's self around a lady's arm and leg so she couldn't move. There was a photo of firefighters trying to pry it off her. I have had that in mind ever since when squatting with my ball dangling

above the bowl.

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Have to be so proud of the 'exemplary' specimens the Thai Police force are able to recruit. Sexual predators, drug experts and extortionists of the highest calibre!

Don't forget hit men.

How about addressing the rampant corruption before increasing their numbers?

Well according to the chief of police at the DNA test for Nomsod apparrently the investigation is complete. But now it is conveniently "ongoing". What is worse than a shambles? Because this is exactly that :/

Shambles, my thesaurus suggests; mess; muddle; hash; fiasco; disaster, I would also add debacle and farce. I suggest adding an expletive before any of those choices.

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I'm not so sure that we'll ever know the true extent of the losses, but it will be huge. What has depreciation got to do with it anyway,

fancy accounting to fiddle the amount that was really lost?

Between all the various published numbers, the final report yet to come, and the brilliant investigative journalism here (not)

I don't really see how any believable number will ever be published.

Depreciation has EVERYHTING to do with it! Personally I think the figure is closer to 700 or 800 billion from the multitude of figures given over the past couple of years, but as you say we will never know the real truth. Loss of reputation my be even more costly in the long run as the last govt tried to screw over at least 2 countries with rotten rice.

So this is what the RTP consider a 'Perfect Job'?

I would hate to see what they consider a botched job.

...that would be the other post on here about the poor Laos girl that fell off a balcony. The police appear to have done an exemplary job of getting a good old fashioned back-hander from a local massage parlor to ignore blindingly obvious evidence and declared it an accident. I hope this story can also be kept in the media now it's been exposed.

The RTP have to be the lowest form of life in the country.

It doesnt appear to be a dangerously low guard rail.

forensic police detected finger prints on the round iron bar at the corridor of the room where she fell to the ground. The finger prints showed she held the bar from the outside.

There was also finger print on the wall, and footprints on the cement beam.

These traces showed she climbed out of the corridor and held the iron bar from outside.http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/police-assure-fairness-equal-treatment-laotian-girls-death-case/

You would have thought if she was hanging on to the rail and with a foot hold on the beam below, the two people she was arguing with would have help her up.

The wife entered the room where both her husband and Nong Paeng were inside with a reserve key.

There was heated argument and curses were heard and five minutes later, both Kor and his wife rushed out quickly.

Shortly afterwards apartment guards alerted the police of a woman falling to her death from the eighth floor of the apartment.

Kor and his wife returned to the police station to tell their own accounts of the story, claiming they did not know how she fell from the room. But they promised to pay 20,000-30,000 baht to help the victim’s family to arrange cremation. http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/laotian-girl-s-death-sparks-outcry-social-media/

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Wow that is pretty clear, so the massage parlour couple clearly did it and paid the cops off. Amazing Thailand. They even had the audacity to offer to pay towards the funeral.

Oh dear, that's going to go down like the proverbial lead balloon with the public.

Yes, very cute. Mind you, John Merrick wouldn't look half bad next to the bird with the necklace. alt=whistling.gif>

That's a bird?

What is an 'initial DNA test'? Also how come this seems to have been doe in record time, just a few hours it seems.