pete_r

"BANGKOK, JAN 20 (TNA) – The People Power Party (PPP) looked set to regain all 12 parliament seats in by-elections held in six provinces nationwide on Sunday, according to an exit poll conducted by ABAC University." (TNA)

Again, the PPP wins when it (officially) cheats. And wins also when it doesn't cheat (officially).

How do you say "humiliation" in thai ? Could be usefull for the EC and the Junta.

Do we still hear some voices about the illegitimate victory of the PPP ?

Actually it was time the EC stopped the by-elections, otherwise the PPP would have got the absolute majority at the parliament.

Sorry folks, im getting a bit confused here, my mrs says the thai potatoe is mansapalang, it grows about 1 mtr tall and has a root/tuber like a huge ginger root, Tapioca [from my school days in UK ] was like a frogs spawn with little seeds floating in a glutinans mass, Cassava, is that some kind of weed grass? Thanks for any detailed answers, Lickey..

Manfarang = potato

Mansapalang = cassava = tapioca, a shrub 1-2m tall that produces large tubers from which starch is extracted.

The word manfarang evokes the idea of "farang potato" (literally farang tuber), so I can see how mansapalang could be called "Thai potato", by opposition to the "farang potato".

At work when I refer to the plant or the tubers, I tend to use "cassava", and when I refer to the starch extracted from the tuber or the products made with it, I tend to use "tapioca" (including the frog spawn... I didn't like it much when I was a kid). But both words seem interchangeable.

It was not the junta who took out the government, it was Thaksin

You are wrong....that's all there is to it.

Chownah

Well lets start with

Urgent: Thaksin announces House dissolution

--TNA 2006-02-24

Followed seven months later by

BANGKOK: (CNN) -- Tanks rolled through the streets of Bangkok, Thailand, on Tuesday amid reports of an attempted coup, witnesses tell CNN.

--CNN 2006-09-19 23:27

Ok, ok. How about this: It was not Thaksin who prevented a new government from being elected, it was (1) the Democrats when they boycotted the elections on 2 april 2006 and (2) the junta when they did the coup on 19 September 2006, thereby throwing out the window the elections planned for November.

Well, the party is in a pretty sad state of affairs. They've shown they're willing to do anything BUT actually win an election to get into power...

Cheers to that. The PPP is being criticized to death in other threads, but the Democrats behaviour since the start of this little lark in 2006 hasn't done much for

their reputation and standing.

Tapioca plant does not poison the soil at all....there is nothing to worry about in that regard.

Chownah

Seconded.

Yes for residential buildings, because it would make me feel good anyway.

Yes for commercial and industrial as well, but on the condition that the utility expenses can be (significantly) reduced over the lifetime of the building, so that the initial extra-investment is at least reduced, if not recouped.

Another tip: Have everyone in your office create a new folder on their handy drive and name it "autorun.inf". This is supposed to stop most trojans from creating their autorun.inf file, and thus reduce the risks of infection.

I've been a cheap charlie with the curtains:

- Curtains (thick cotton fabric) for 8 windows and 2 French windows, ready made from Jatujak market = 8000 Bahts including the rails (wood)

- Drill = 2000 Bahts

- Concrete plugs and screws = about 100 Bahts

- Installation: 2 sunday mornings

So, about 10,000 Bahts for a DIY installation and basic curtains. For tailor-made, I can see the price going up to 40-50,000 Bahts to include the sewing, labor for installation, and more elaborate rail system (string to open and close the curtains, etc...).

Thanks for the information.

Regarding fertilizer, the general guideline I have is 625kg/ha, with the proportions N-P-K = 15-7-18.

Since you have a large area, you could try to apply different quantities of fertilizer on different plots (for example 550, 600, 650, 700, 800kg/ha) and see if larger quantities increase the yield. And of course if the higher yield covers the cost of fertilizer.

In Thailand, cassava is planted either November to January – “late rain crop” or February to April – “early rain crop”. Weeds are controlled for the first 2 to 3 months, and fertilizer (N-P-K = 15-7-18) is applied at the rate of 625 kg/hectare. Harvest is either during the early or late rain period when roots are about 10 to 12 months old. However, in practice, harvesting is either delayed or advanced, a decision based on the prevailing root price.

Sriroth et al.: Cassava Starch Technology: The Thai Experience, Starch/Stärke 52 (2000) 439–449.

The price of mansampalang is going up for two reasons: One is the increase in food commodities worldwide, as food manufacturers are looking for cheaper alternatives to corn and other starches. Another is the increased use of mansampalang in Thailand for the production of bio-ethanol, which is blended with gasoline to make gasohol (E10 and soon E20). Currently I think 5 factories use sugar cane or mansampalang or both to produce ethanol, and 10 to 15 more factories are under construction and will be operational in the next 2-3 years. So it is very likely that the demand for mansampalang will remain high, but I expect the government will try to keep the price relatively low (in the range 3000-4000 Bahts per ton maybe), otherwise the whole ethanol production will cease to be competitive (unless the price of petrol continues rising).

If you PM me your e-mail address, I can send you the whole article quoted above, and an article on the use of mansampalang for the ethanol industry.

If 10 tons/rai is true, I would be very interested to know more details: Which variety (KU50, Rayong 60,... other?), how much fertilizer did he apply, and what was the previous use of his land, mansampalang or other crop (which one)?

I work at a research unit on mansampalang in Kasetsart University by the way. A few months ago one of our students mentioned some of his relatives got yields around 10 tons/rai as well, but we didn't investigate much at the time.

Wonder if there is some kind of government source or internet site that would provide direction?

From Kasetsart University, but in Thai (use the URLs, in English):

http://www.eto.ku.ac.th/neweto/e-book/

It is a collection of PDFs files describing the basic "how-to" for many crops, fruits, vegetables, flowers, etc.

20,000 Bahts for mansampalang seems about right per hectare, but not per rai.

As far as I know, typical yields for mansampalang are in the range 14-20 tons per hectare, depending on how much fertilizer you apply (maximum I've seen reported is 30 tons/ha).

The price of the roots is between 1000 and 2000 Bahts/ton depending on the supply and demand (demand is on the increase due to the development of bio-ethanol), so if you got a yield of 15 tons/ha sold at 1500 Bahts/ton, you could expect 22,500 Bahts per ha, before deducing any expenses.

22500 Bahts/ha correspond to 3600 Bahts/rai (1 ha = 6.25 rai).

Common knowledge where, Soundman? In Kabin, which is not part of Issan?

I do live here, and amongst my extended family and those around us they think a bit more than who gives them the money - because quite frankly, all the major parties do so. While I don't agree with their PPP/TRT choice, I have no doubt they have given it some thought - based on self interest.

For your edification and education it is currently the dry season, so the looks on their faces are engaged and interested. How very superior of you to hypothesize otherwise

(...)

They only vote for parties that provide a neet little hand out on election day, give opportunities for easy loans (they sure understand these) that in their minds they think they don't have to pay back if the going becomes a little tough & vote for whatever party the local gumnan, poo yai, or nayok instructs them to vote for.

Now, while you are getting on your high horse & lecturing me on superiorty issues, it may be wise to actually take a step back, have a little look (just a peek should suffice) at the whole situation with an open mind without any pre-formed biases & make a clear and rational judgement as to the situation with the buyable vote in Issan, and how this leaves Thailand's future shaky all because of the greed and avarice of one meglomaniac.

I think jackspratt has a point, though. Soundman, you call for open mind without biases, but the very way you write about Isaan people ("Common knowledge that the majority of people in Issan couldn't care less who is in government...", etc) sounds like an echo of the very biased view the Thai elite have about Isaan.

So, just one question: Have you taken the time to talk directly with Isaan people about politics, and to listen to their side of the story?

This is an interesting article about whether the PPP has a mandate of the people or not:

http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?opti...5&Itemid=35

Thaksin Was Rejected by the Thai Majority

(...)

The Election Commission will announce official results tomorrow, but unofficial results have the Democrats receiving 39.64 percent (14,084,265) of party-list votes; a striking reversal of fortunes compared to the 7.6 million it won in the 2001 elections and the 7.2 million in 2005 (compared to Thai Rak Thai’s 11.6 million and 18.9 million, respectively). Granted, the PPP received only slightly less support (39.60 percent); nevertheless, voter rejection was equally true at the constituency level, where PPP candidates received only 36.62 percent of votes cast. The vast majority of the record 74.45 percent turn-out of voters gave an overwhelming 63 percent of their support to representatives parties other than the Thaksin-backed PPP.

(...)

Is the author of the article trying to say that because the PPP received less than 50% of the votes, they are not legitimate? That is true for all the parties in these elections, so does he mean that none of them should form the government?

The comments under the article bring some perspective... http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?opti...5&Itemid=35

Just got it!

The TV has no auto-tune (low-end model), but I've been lucky to find the signal after scanning manually only 10 minutes. The signal comes around 783MHz in my case.

Thanks again for the replies, very helpful.

Bump.

My sat box is now connected to the TV by coaxial, but I'm at a loss how to tune the TV and/or the sat box.

The RF out jack in the back of the sat box says "CH21-69", and I've found a function on the sat remote to scan these channels, but without result. I've also tested all the channels on the TV set, but none displays the signal from the sat box.

Another inscription next to the RF out jack in the back of the sat box is "PAL B/G/I/K", I don't know if it is relevant.

Any help would be much appreciated,

That's five great replies, thanks guys.

I think I'll try the sat > TV by coaxial and DVD > TV by RCA first.

I learnt the word "cinch" before "RCA", but they are the same. I guess cinch is the old fashioned one.

Ok, so I've just bought one of these DVD players with a USB port and went home happy until I realized that there is only one set of IN cinch plugs on my television set... So it looks like I can connect either the satellite receiver or the DVD player, but not both at the same time. Which is inconvenient.

Any wizard out there who could help me out with that?

There is a coaxial OUT in the back of the satellite receiver, could I use it to connect the receiver to the coaxial IN of the TV set?

Any other brand to recommend apart from Elze? Or brands to avoid?

Can't help wondering if any of the members of the cabinet has a financial interest in the polo shirts factories.

The doc said no and went on joking I'd be too heavy for small nurses to pick up if I was to faint. Another hospital has also refused...

I've heard the same stereotype that many Thai fathers faint when they attend to the delivery. Ergo, fathers shouldn't be encouraged to attend, as they may cause unnecessary trouble.

That said, it depends a lot on the doctor, one I know sees the presence of the father as useful to create a stronger bond between the father, the baby and the mother.

Private hospitals may also be more flexible than public hospitals for accepting the father in the delivery room, I guess because of better financial means (more staff available) and more private rooms.

All the best for this big event Tony,

I've been able to use boxes I'd already packed my parcel into by going next door to have the box wrapped with the red and white string.

I've also sent packages to the US, white box or not, no declaration. In some cases there was evidence that the package was opened along the way by somebody - for inspection of one kind or another.

UC

Upcountry, thanks for your input. Were you allowed to close the box with adhesive tape, or only with the string?

Here's a link to an article on Bloomberg: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...&refer=home

Pound Peak Fuels Pessimism as Currency Mimics Dollar (Update4)

By Bo Nielsen and Kim-Mai Cutler

Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Just a month after rising to a 26- year high against the dollar, the British pound is starting to look more like the beleaguered U.S. currency.

The pound weakened against 10 of the world's 16 most actively traded currencies since reaching $2.1161 on Nov. 9. In the U.K., just as in the U.S., policy makers are cutting interest rates to restore calm in credit markets and home prices are declining.

[...]

Tango, let us know if you find anything suitable to use as insulated tank. I was thinking of simply wrapping a layer of glass wool around a plastic bin, but I'm not sure this would be strong enough to resist outside conditions for long (my tank would have to sit outside of the house at first).

It looks like a giant set of candles + incense sticks + decoration made of banana leaves (or lotus flower?), a typical offering people give to monks in sign of respect. The golden and red tray underneath also looks like the trays used in such occasions.

Could be to show respect to His Majesty the King for his 80th birthday.