pete_r

Religions are not perfect, but at least they provide some moral guidelines, such as lying, stealing, killing etc are bad. My guess is, the world would be worse off without them.

Have you tried to reduce the RAM speed from 133MHz (or whatever the current speed is) to 100MHz? You can do that in the bios. To get in the bios, on startup press repeatedly DEL or F1 or F2, depending on your computer.

It did the trick for me a few weeks ago, but I suspect it's a sign of a faulty RAM, meaning I will need to replace the memory bar sometime soon.

Dried figs from my parents' garden are one of the very few things that my parents in law really enjoy among the exotic foods that I bring back after a trip home.

Next time I'll take a few stems to see if we can get them to grow.

If you have diplomatic status, you are allowed to import a car to Thailand with no tax. One condition is that you cannot sell it for several years (5, I think).

It's very profitable with high value cars (Mercedes), even after 5 years it is possible to re-sell it at a higher price than the overseas purchase price.

Seeing as I have nothing better to do I decided to make a Martial Law map.

I haven't bothered to check, but I assume that the majority of the areas where Martial Law will be retained in the yellow Provinces are border areas.

Thanks for the map - Very useful.

His cabinet were the biggest and richest landowners in the country, too.

I thought they were the richest businessmen.

Even given the shortfalls of the polling, it does goes against the myth being propagated here that the former Thaksin followers in those regions are dyed-in-the-wool, never-ending zealots that are all totally against the coup. From first hand accounts of various members to this confirming poll all of which dispel this myth, I felt it worthwhile to shed some light onto the misleading, dark, foreboding future some would like us to believe.

Yep, I don't see the provinces rising up and marching on Bangkok calling for Thaksin's return. That is a myth. My view is that everyone is still waiting to see where the wind comes from at the moment. And if life remains good, as it seems it will (lifting of martial law for example), there will be no reason for large protests. What I find funny in this poll is the publication of Thaksin's ratings.

Last of all thanks to wisdom and foresight the coup was introduced in the first place to put a stop to Thaksins continual , self rewarding governance before it totally destroyed the constituation and it,s meanings .

In my humble opinion time will prove it was justified in this case and beneficial.

It becomes more interesting by the day don,t you think ?

marshbags

So the constitution was abolished before it was totally destroyed... Mmh.

While the whole world begs China to adopt something similar and curb its unrestrained growth. Non-issue.

I would need citation before i believe that, and even then it might only be diplomats being diplomatic.

Go to Google, type "China Growth" and hit "search the news" button.

You'll get plenty of headlines like "In China, Growth at Whose Cost?", "China policies will slow economic growth: report", "Macro economy: Shanghai moves economy to sustainable track", all published just in the last couple of days.

It's a general consenus that China's economy is overheated and needs to slow down and become more sustainable.

Yes, China is overheating and needs to slow down. But does Thailand need the same?

I don't see an overheating economy in Thailand, quite the opposite in fact, and that's why a clear economic policy would be welcome.

-his inability to perform a proper landreform, including reposessing and redistributing land of the usual wealthy families

I remember reading months ago that Thaksin wanted a higher tax on unused land, to encourage big landowners to put these lands on the market. That's another example of change that upstairs people didn't appreciate.

Indeed, white rice grains (after milling, dehulling and complete removal of the bran envelope) are about 90-95% starch d.b., the rest is proteins, lipids and some minerals.

To go one step further, starch is made up of two types of molecules, the linear amylose and the branched amylopectin (both are polymers of glucose). In khao chow the ratio is about 20% amylose and 80% amylopectin. In khao neow, the ratio is 5-10% amylose and 90-95% amylopectin. After cooking, amylopectin is more sticky than amylose, which is the reason for the stickiness of khao neow.

Also, because of its branched structure, amylopectin does not absorb water as easily as amylose during cooking, that's why khao neow needs the overnight soaking.

Khao chow (Oryza sativa) and khao neow (Oryza glutinosa) are definitely two different breeds of rice.

What about the future of the child?

Coming in on this a bit late but for my 2 cents worth.

[...]

ColPyat also made the point that the problem was not entirely Taksins fault but lay in the system that has been in place for many years prior to his government. He dared to change it. And by doing so created a lot of enemies.

Lets see. The fat lady hasn't warmed up yet.

That's two clear and concise cents.

Thaksin was changing the system, and shaking up a lot of upstairs people in their comfortable habits. It may be the main reason behind the coup, before the corruption accusations etc.

One example I know first hand is the ongoing implementation of a performance-based promotion system for university lecturers (ajarns). In the old system a lecturer had to publish a certain amount of scientific articles to get promoted to assistant professor, then associate professor. Once he got there, he could spend the rest of his career only teaching (typically 20 hours per week including preparation of the lectures), with no more research activities. With the new system, a newly promoted assistant/associate professor must keep publishing every year to keep the title, meaning he must keep doing research.

That's good for the development of the country (think Japan or Silicon valley), but it means a lot of middle aged assistant/associate professors are faced with the prospect of demotion and salary reduction, unless they shake themselves up and go back to their labs. Are they happy about it? Of course not. Are they anti-Thaksin? Oh yes, they are. Is it because of their democratic principles or because of the loss of privilege? Maybe both, we can argue about that, but I'll bet the loss of privilege is the main reason. Nobody likes to be hurt in the pocket!

I'm no big believer in polls here, but it would seem, even with a margin of error, that ol' Thakky's popularity is severely floundering.

That despite what some here have professed to be the Northerners' and Northeasterners' undying, never-ending, just-chomping-at-the-bit-to-go-conquer-Bangkok psyche, that these folks belief in Thaksin is changing as quickly as a soi dog darting across Sukhumwit.

Anyway, here's a nice bit of reality to help uncloud the haze they create:

Thaksin's popular rating lowest in six years

The popular rating of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has reached the lowest level in six years, an opinion survey has found.

The survey by the Assumption University found that Thaksin received a popular rating of of 15.8 per cent compared with 70.5 per cent of his successor, Surayud Chulanont.

The survey was carried out by the university among 4,195 voters from 18 provinces during November 18 to 25. The results were announced Sunday.

[...]

The Nation

-------------------------------------------

A 4:1 against ratio in the North and a 2:1 ratio against in the Northeast. Thaksin's as popular in these areas now as a King cobra in a primary school classroom.

This poll is not unclouding anything for me. I've put my comments on another thread http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=94457

Talking about classroom, I note it's the first time since the coup that Thaksin's ratings are published. Is it a new competition? "My popularity rating is bigger than yours, see, 4195 people cannot be wrong... So stop getting media attention whenever you go shopping or golfing somewhere..."

Someone's gotta write the usual caution, so here we go:

- Large variations between polls raise questions on their reliability. In particular the increase from 55.2% on 11/11 to 70.5% on 27/11, that's 15 points in just 16 days.

- The sampling is relatively small, 4,195 people in just 18 provinces, what provinces were polled and what about the other 58?

Now, to add some interpretation, the 55.2% figure of 2 weeks ago was perceived as low, I guess it's "normal" that it went up a bit.

And the competition with Thaksin: "My popularity rating is bigger than yours... So stop getting media attention whenever you go shopping or golfing somewhere..."

Edit - Note to mods: Feel free to snip if I contravene forum rules. I'm not sure about that one.

Thaksin is finished with politics

Deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra will leave politics for good and not contest elections promised for next year by the ruling junta, his legal adviser said Sunday.

--------------------------------------------------------

now then, if we can only believe him.... we'll see....

Politician's promise, John. It means absolutely nothing.

"If the situation remains the same, Thaksin will not run in the election and will end his role in politics as his families have requested," his lawyer, Nopadol Patama, told reporters, without elaborating. "However, the future is another matter."

To paraphrase GW Bush: "I will not return to politics. Having said that, all options are on the table."

Sondhi could have always swallow his pride and go on with business as usual, as everyone else done before him, yet he choose to confront Thaksin. That is not a sign of greed but convictions and idealism.

No, he couldn't have. He would have gone bankrupt. His campaign was a desperate move for his business, not for his convictions.

Really now, neither Taksin, nor his predecessors, nor his opponents such as Sondhi, have any ideology at all other than to maximize their own profits, line their own pockets, from taking political office. None of these people care about human rights violations or about avoiding taxes.

It's an extremely cynical point of view as well. Siripon once made a good argument against it - if Sondhi was driven by greed and not by ideology, he would have never left Thaksin and embarked on fighting TRT almost singlehandedly. And if not for eventual support of thousands upon thousands of Thais, he would have surely lost. Lost not only his fight, but his business as well.

Sondhi Limthongkul's financial interests were threatened by Thaksin, which has led to a fall out between the former buddies. If you look at Sondhi's past history, and present conduct at Channel 9 it is very clear to establish that he was and is driven by greed, and not much else. As much as Thaksin Sondhi is the personification of crony capitalism. Just because the one is a corrupt megalomaniac does not make his opponent any lesser so.

Sondhi was clearly a supporter of Thaksin, especially during the time most of Thaksin's corruption allegations stem from, during the time the grossest human right violations happened. He had his cronies, often former managers and employees of his own substantial business empire in key positions of Thaksin's government and there operated clearly in what is defined as crony capitalsm.

As much as Thaksin he adopted ideology and tactics of mass psychology to further his own business interests primarily, and not to develop democratisation of Thailand.

As much as Thaksin he plays lipservice to democracy, but is really just out for himself.

Good analysis of khun Sondhi's actions.

In 2005 he lost his line of credit at Bank Krung Thai when his protector CEO Viroj Nualkhair was fired. As a result his Manager media group faced bankruptcy, and the (main) reason he started his campaign against Thaksin was either to pressure him into saving Manager, or failing this to attract enough attention to increase the sales and save the group himself. Thaksin didn't take him seriously, then made the mistake of selling Shincorp, and the rest is history.

This part of the story is about big money, not about democratic ideals or political progress.

How about the positive impacts?

You mean positice impacts for Thaksin or for the country ? ? ? ? ? ?

If you meant the latter; then you must possess very dense grey-matter, my friend !

This chap Thaksin is nothing more than a thief, albeit on a very grand scale; but still a common thief ! !

Another one blinded by hate.

Things are never that simple. Under Thaksin's reign some of the most memorable human rights violations have been committed, no doubt about that.

On the other hand, without Thaksin Thailand would most definately still wait for its first national health system. A side effect from Thaksin's reliance on voter based power he had to draw previously neglected sectors of society - the rural poor - into the political decision making process. And as the first PM ever in Thailand - with something that at least resembles at a policy based platform in addition to the usual personalised and backdoor politics.

Let me assure you, that I am most certainly NOT blinded by hate. I believe, though, after reading your "arguments" that you are surely blinded by total ignorance: you write "without Thaksin Thailand would most definately still wait for its first national health system" - mate; what the keck are you refering to ??? The idiotic and totally bankrupt "30 Baht-Scheme" perhaps ? ? ? ?

Geeeez; I certainly hope your wife controls your bank-accounts, because you're obviously unfit for sound judgements of any kind ! ! !

Oh; and by the way: "Things are very often that simple" eventhough they'll never be as simple as you . . . . . . . .

Your writing comes across as quite hateful though... With all the !!! and ???

Do we really have to read anymore thaksin news its so bloody boring almost every thread on the news clippings is about this box headed <deleted> say what he has and hasnt done we all know hes currupt and dodgy lets hear about other news like current events !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The past can be discussed until hel_l freezes over, but the present is an issue to handle carefully. I suspect Thaksin is a handy subject to keep the attention of the public away from other things.

Wait, there's money in those snakes!

We got a baby one sneaked into the house a while ago. Like a boa, so not poisonous, but more rare according to the neighbour. He took it and came back the next day, saying he got 500 Bahts for it at the pet shop, and if we found any more, please let him know.

Does anyone know the amount of fuel per ton of cargo per 1000 kilometres is used in a large ship?

Chownah

Found this after a bit of googling - Ship for sale:

2) Construction place: China

3) Date of production finished: May 2004

4) Total length: about 81m

5) Breadth: 13.60m

6) Depth: 6.9m

7) DWT: 3,300MT

8) Sailing speed: 11.5 knots

9) Diesel engine specifications:

a. Power: 1,320kW

b. Fuel oil consumption: 4.5MT/day

10) Generator: 150kW x 2 sets

http://mcb.en.alibaba.com/product/50123760...Cargo_Ship.html

I think MT means Metric Tonnes, so that's 4500kg of fuel per day.

Pray tell why must we NOT refreeze food once its defrosted?

Chownah

P.S. I have no opinion on whether its a good idea or not....I just have some questions about the particulars.

Chownah

In the case of meat and seafood, the ice crystals that form during freezing break the cell membranes. When the food is defrosted, you get a big soup of nutrients leaked out of the cells, an ideal mix for microbes to grow. If the food is cooked rapidly, that's ok, as the heat neutralizes or kills the buggers. But if one tries to refreeze it, they will have a bit of time to multiply before being inactivated by the cold, then more time to multiply after the second defrosting. Hence the big taboo about refreezing.

So, scampis being defrosted and refrozen in Thailand, and fried only in Scotland seem to go against microbiological orthodoxy. On the other hand, if they did the frying in Thailand before freezing and re-exporting, then why not.

The first step would be to consult your embassy.

For a legal marriage, the Thai authorities require a certificate of "ability to marry" issued by the foreigner's home country. Your embassy should have the details of how to apply for this certificate, and which documents you will need.

It takes a few weeks to gather the documents, translate them, legalize the certificate of "ability to marry" with the Thai ministry of foreign affairs, and then do the marriage certificate proper.

Chok dee.

If the Government is off at the Hanoi summit, I just can't help wondering.. Will Thaksin pull a Sonthi on the Junta and arrive in Thailand while the new PM is off visiting the other leaders trying to explain the reasoning behind the coup. Would make for a very interesting episode in this Thai Soap Opera and cause all sorts of repercussions with APEC.

Or he may be headed for the APEC in Vietnam directly. The Hong-Kong reporter mentions he is going to an "unspecified Southeast Asian country" in the next few days.

Funny, just after his trip to China.