pete_r

Assuming nothing has changed from what was printed up, there is a new number 554 bus that you can catch from Don Muang that will take you to Suvarnabhumi that uses Chaeng Wattana Rd.

The service is running, I see one of these buses 554 almost every day on Ramintra road on my way to work.

Note that the traffic can be slow on Ramintra during rush hours.

Thanks for that pete, that sounds like all good info.

I forgot to mention that the traffic can get slow on Ramintra at rush hours, so don't try it if you are in a hurry!

Regarding leftovers from slavery times, there is a fossil word in the Thai language that was used at the end of the sentence when addressing a slave, instead of the normal "krub" and "kaa".

Today, it is highly insulting, but can sometimes be used affectionately between *very* good and old friends (which is how I noticed it).

According to a map distributed by AOT, there is a city bus service between Don Muang and Suvarnabhumi (number 554) that uses Chaeng Wattana and Ramintra road to get to the Rama 9 expressway. If you can get the Lopburi bus to drop you at Don Muang, that may be a sensible option. I've noticed that bus 2 or 3 times on Ramintra road, so the service seems up and running.

The same map also mentions a service between Rangsit and Suvarnabhumi but doesn't give a number or specific pick-up place in Rangsit (could be Future Park, but... ).

I can also foresee quite a bit of negotiations with the national parks to get permission to take some gaurs for farming. Maybe a university could do it "as an experiment".

Thaksin's one million baht and other easy loan schemes were not monitored at all. He just gave the money away. How they managed it? What did they spend it on? Who knows.

It's not a bank, there are no accountants and no auditors.

Banks have developed all those formalities for granting loans because they are in business while Thaksin tried to reinvent it. If he tried this in any bank he'd be fired.

In which bank you can give away money from a back of a pickup truck and the only benchmark for your "easy loan scheme" is how many people want more????

With ideas like that you'll never get a job at the bank, only at the government.

Banks and governments are two distinct entities.

The objective of a bank is to make profits. So when they give loans, they want a high rate of repayment (> 80% ? not sure about the exact number).

The objective of a government is to develop the country. So a governement may find acceptable a low repayment rate, *IF* the money is used to improve the equipement and production capability of a village. In the case considered here, a repayment rate of 30% would be pretty good already, that would mean at least 30% success, one village in three all across Thailand.

But the IF is a big one: Because there was no monitoring, we don't know if production capability has really improved or not in the last 5 years.

Some from Chinese origins prefer to be buried too. Mostly older people, I assume.

The grave should be on the side of a hill or mountain and facing towards the see. If at all possible...

Regarding internet access at Suvarnabhumi, I spotted a few stand-alone stations among the public payphones, announcing 50 satangs per minute, which works out to 30 bahts per hour. They are the same style as Heathrow, heavy duty stainless steel with a ball instead of a mouse.

Note that I haven't tried them, so don't know if they offer only limited service or poor connection or if they charge a higher price than announced.

I also seem to remember a report saying that the international departure tax would increase to 700 Bahts. This hasn't happened yet, as my friend paid the regular 500 Bahts this morning.

Only one comment on this news so far, that's interesting.

So, is Thaksin fuming over the fact that someone has maybe destroyed all documents related to an assassination/bombing attempt against him? Has he complained about this with the media yet? NO!

Let's wait and see what kind of charges are brought forward on those who disappeared with this information, even though it was likely all a setup.

It seems that his fortune is more important to him than his own life

To be fair, Thaksin is not exactly in a position to publish a complaint in the Thai media.

Of course, he could do so in the British media (or any other), but I don't see them getting overly interested in that story.

According to one article on the Nation website the maximum amount that anyone person can transfer in one year is $10 mil.

Taksin would need a lot of friends to help him transfer the 1.6 billion let alone his own money or his wifes or sons, or sisters, or housemaids, or chauffers or best freinds or the dogs or the neighbours cats or.....

Maybe if he gave each of his supporters from up north a nominal percentage they would transfer the cash for him?

Sounds like a good time to start a 419 scam, Thai-style!

Thats right. Many expats and posters on this site arrived during the Thaksin era and have no first hand knowledge to draw of earlier times.

It's no more corrupt these days, its just different snouts in the trough. And un-trendy as it is to say so, the country is financially in better shape now than at anytime before and there is the beginnings of a health care system.

Thai politics is an animal unlike any other. I just wish people would be more objective rather than follow the trend of the day, take sides and paint every single move in a negative light.

AND!! I am not a TRT supporter by any means. Just objective.

Good point.

I myself knew Thailand for 20 years, as a frequent tourist, and then married-to a Thai, before coming to live here. And I definitely get a different view of things now.

I even thought Thaksin was good, for the country, for the first couple of years. After all, he was rich already, so didn't need to be corrupt. Oh well - live and learn.

Another major influence has been the arrival of the internet, and TV, enabling us to see and hear far more, of what is going on, and what other expats think about it.

Well said, Steph1012 and Ricardo.

Thaksin is not better or worse than Sondhi (and most other politicians) when it comes to corruption, he is only richer. And the difference in wealth may come not from corruption but from the millions of phone calls the Thais make every day, which counts as legitimate business. Of course he may have got this business by "semi-il-legal" means, but who hasn't in Thailand?

Just my humble opinion