Mario Cosmopolite

Preservative

Exactly. But we're in a minority. I was-lunching in a pub in Thailand last year and a guy walked past and commented"you don't often see that any more". I was reading a book!

Viber is a monthly subscription so for people like me making only a few landline calls a quarter it works out quite expensive; Skype for many years was a simple top-up when empty subscription which was for me much cheaper. Granted they changed to monthly subscription in recent months but my old credit lasted just long enough.

Agreed. I started using MyTello earlier this month and so far calls to Channel Islands and Singapore successfully completed. It looks like for someone who makes only a few calls a month or a year to overseas landlines this fits the bill.

If it's a Mo Salah shirt I reckon I could manage a dribble.

I suspect that the real requirement is that it must be submitted not more than 3 days before arrival (same as Singapore, which includes a health declaration, so the 3-day maximum makes sense). I'm leaving my next trip for at least a month after this starts so they can iron out all the glitches.

Yes Seismic retrofitting is well establish ed. Japan are probably the most expert.

I'd settle for the wire ties for the steel bars ....

Agreed the rail land bridge was never going to be a sensible project (though that doesn't mean the Chinese wouldn't support it) but I believe this is back to the old canal project.

Myanmar ports are not a practical exit for goods from China to the west, even when Burma was a reasonably stable country.

Agreed the rail connection was not a credible project. This is I believe a return to the canal project, which has been around for much longer - no transshipment needed but much more expensive, especially as the largest container ships have got a lot bigger over the last 20 years.

Better examples than Saville would be all the ones we have never heard of. The ones who are good at it, - like Saville but better.

reigns are for kings. reins are for horses.

I suddenly realised that this was a very old joke... "Open your wallet, and repeat after me: 'help yourself' "

In Terry Pratchett's Diskworld he describes a land called 4X (nothing like any country in our round world of course) in which it is the standard procedure to lock up all politicians as soon as they get elected; as the jailor explained to Rincewind The Wizzard: "it saves time".

· the airport was juggling between 5,000 to 6,000 passengers per hour. · Airports of Thailand (AOT) and Immigration Division 2 are joining hands to tackle a pressing issue Y'see - when you're juggling it's best not to join hands

He could invite Ginge & Whinge - ginge is a maestro of aviation or something ....

Maybe a false alarm: they have since charged for a card renewal.

Basil!

Last month I had to contact Amex Card Services about a matter, which I dealt Ith through their online Chat quite successfully. Afterwards the CSR sent me a message " we note you have had an Amex card for 46 years. Thank you so much for being a long-term customer". I wrote back that their thanks was not appreciated when they had just advised me they would be cancelling my card because I lived outside UK. I got a boiler plate reply that it was changed business practices....

I defer to your greater knowledge of the criminal system ????

Nuns, no sense of humour.

"minuscule" - from minusculus: think "minute"

My wallet, after the bar-girl leaves ????

(UK) Last time I looked at this (for a job prospect) it had been farmed out to a private company and they required a post code ie UK residence, as they simply checked court judgements against the address. I gave up but will no doubt have to deal with this in due course.