AndreasHG

It's the second time I read that the Thai police arrested a housemaid serving food at a crime scene, and I can't help but feeling sorry for the poor maid. Is she going to serve long years in a Thai jail? Was her food instrumental in committing the crime? Or was it that the food served was found disgusting? Maybe a hungry policeman got food poisoning? Hard to tell, but housemaid is definitely a tricky job in Thailand.

Definitely not a good idea. Besides the fact that the panels alone wouldn't do the job, where would you install them? On the vehicle's roof 😜?

Good post but this only works with obsolete air-conditioners. If the air-conditioner is equipped with a good quality inverter, the cooling capacity is adjusted based on the airflow, being the temperature set point the guiding factor. At lower fan speeds the cooling rate would not be 12,000 BTU anymore, but let's say 6,000, even 4 or 3,000 BTU for a high-quality inverter, capable of operating at a wide RPM range. Instead of using an obsolete, inefficient (electricitty-guzzling) air-conditioner, and a dehumidifier to fix its pitfalls (more electricity down the drain), I would recommend you install an efficient, high-quality Japanese inverter unit (plenty of them also made in Thailand). Possibly with dual rotor compressor for the highest RPM operating range. This will improve your comfort and save you money in the long run.

A dear Russian friend of mine once said that we mistakenly think they are Europeans, because (at least in most of the republics) they look ethnically Europeans. In reality however, Russians are Mongols, down deep in their hearts and souls. It took me a while and a bit of reading to come to terms with this reality.

I am saying the roundabouts which are designed to be mistake-proof and have greatly contributed to reduce the number of road accidents in Europe. Like the one below:

I have a lot of experience with roundabouts in Europe, and that exactly what it is: just your imagination.

LOL. What kind of secret project is it if any average Joe can discuss it in this forum? Let me add some more "top secret" projects: Superman disabling "kryptonite", the laser gun of "Santo el Enmmascarado de Plata", the scary "Ray of Disintegration" and the most letal weapon of all, in the disguise of an unpretentious, harmless and kind-hearted alien being, who became famous thanks to the movie "ET". psst: those are really Top Secret! Don't mention them to anyone 😉

The median U-turn is a unique feature of multilane highways in Thailand and is one of the most dangerous (and most idiotic, I would add) road features ever conceived by human mind. I am always extremely cautious when approaching a , expecting the unexpected. I wonder why Thai have not yet discovered the roundabouts. They are much safer and not overwhelmingly expensive to build.

Her election is the result of gerrymandering, a quite unique feature of the USA electoral systems. It ensures that the most stupid and uncompromising candidates on both sides of the aisle are elected, at the expenses of those possessing an average or above average IQ and willing to find a common ground in the best interest of the republic.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway acquired a 10% stake in BYD for $230 million in 2008. In recent years the company aggressively reduced its stake in BYD and currently holds a 4.936% stake worth $280 million. BYD Company Limited: Shareholders Board Members Managers and Company Profile | CNE100001526 | MarketScreener

I agree and I would say "without a collective change in people's attitude towards the rule of law nothing will happen".

5 additional tanks, permanently installed on a bus, which has passed the mandatory inspection, are not comparable to a worn out tire, to a leaking air brakes pipe, or to a leaking fuel tank. How may a bust driver refuse to drive his employer's approved bus and hope to keep his job, especially in Thailand?

There is no room in Thailand for law abiding business to operate, until Authorities do not consistently enforce laws and regulations. There is no way companies, operating new, law compliant fleets of busses or trucks, can compete against companies operating 50-year-old vehicles, paid in ful, with no leasings to burden them, possibly illegally modified to further reduce the operating costs (such as doubling the number of CNG bottles installed on the vehicles). It is ridiculous the focus on busses especially carrying school students, as if Thais are not killed every day by trucks losing their brakes (I saw firsthand such an accident in Bangkok: nobody got hurt because of the slow speed, but two cars were turned into wrecks), overloaded beyond reasonable, running on worn out tires, experiencing sudden catastrophic failures, or driven by drivers assuming illegal substances to withstand dangerously long work shifts. I heard about some new absurd regulation proposals, such having an additional safety operator on each bus carrying children, or giving a safety demonstration before each trip (like airlines do before take-off), etc. All measures that have no equivalent elsewhere in the world and for a very simple reason: elsewhere in the world vehicles circulating on public streets are expected to be compliant with safety and emissions regulations. If the cause of the fire that killed 20 students and three teachers really was a gas leak, the bus turned into a ball of fire at such speed that none, no young, no adult, no elderly, coud easily survive, no matter the evacuation training they may have received, and notwithstanding the presence of a "safety operator". Freight and transport in Thailand are cheap. But the low cost of freight and transport in Thailand comes at the dear price of human lives lost, every single day, on the Thai roads. And the issue is not confined to transports only. There is almost no business that see a consistent enforcement of laws and regulation in the country. Legitimate businesses constantly face the unfair competition of businesses, which cut corners in order to keep prices low, at the expense of safety and of employees. It is time for Thailand to turn the page, if it really aspires to a place among the most advanced economies.

The Bangkok Post states in this article that the fraudster earned "at least 7.5 million baht through the scheme". Bangkok Post - Chinese fraudster arrested in capital

One thing worth noting is that Hollywood movies, starting with "Three Days of the Condor" released in 1975, have consistently promoted conspiracy theories. International markets have become increasingly important to the American film industry, and portraying Russian, Chinese or Middle Eastern citizens as villains does not always attract global audiences or pass the scrutiny of local censors. But since most Hollywood films base their plots on the eternal struggle between good and evil, screenwriters had to find alternative villains, acceptable to their broader audience. The solution is to resort, more and more frequently, to some kind of domestic villain. Good Americans vs. Evil Americans. The latter personified by the conspirators of the "deep state", the "establishment", the "mainstream media" or the greedy "rich and powerful". Over time this approach has been so successful and effective that it has convinced naïve Americans, and much of the international public, that America is actually at war with itself. Not only have conspiracy theories dominated social media, but they contributed to the election of Donald Trump in 2016 and became reality on January 6, 2020, when a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol, aiming to lynch the Vice President Mike Pence and the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. It is difficult to say where all this will lead us: to a new civil war or to a new international war, triggered by the perceived weakness of the United States, based on its internal division. It goes without saying that a divided America is a weak America, an America fatally exposed to external dangers. And we can already see who is preparing to strike.

I try, but my Latin is pretty rusty nowadays: "unicuique suum venditorem meretur".

I don't think anyone can prevent Iran from developing a nuclear arsenal. Nobody could stop North Korea which, just like Iran, has the backing of China and Russia, but possesses much less resources than Iran. Only Iran can stop Iran.

Russia is hopeless. Instead of joining forces and work, together with its neighbors, to enrich and improve Europe, all its efforts are aimed at subjugating, frustrating all progress, forcing Europe to move forward at the slow pace of Russia itself, because Russia is terrified of being left further behind. Left behind by Western Europe centuries ago, it has been left behind by its former Soviet satellite states after the cold war, and by China in the first decades of the XXI century. Russia keeps on biting the dust, unable to learn from its past mistakes.

How the "dry" or "dehumidify" mode works depends on the type of air conditioning you have installed. If it's an older unit equipped with a fixed-speed compressor, the only thing the "dry" mode does is run the unit at the lowest fan speed, regardless of internal temperature. The fixed speed compressor cycles On and Off to prevent the internal coil from freezing. If the air conditioner is equipped with an inverter, the speed of the compressor is also reduced and, especially in a high-quality inverter, the unit precisely regulates the dehumidification of the air according to the air temperature. A high-quality inverter unit allows the compressor to run at a wide RPM range, from very low to high, so that the cooling capacity is accurately adjusted to efficiently maintain the desired setpoint, without the compressor continually switching between On and Off.

As I said, "to each the seller he deserves". If you like the hype, go for it...

It depends. If you are in business for the long run, when you sell a pile of junk, you sell it for what it is. There is a market for everything. Scrap metal can be recycled, manure can be used as fertilizer. Snake-oil-sellers must keep on changing town, looking for new gullible customers each time. To each the seller he deserves.

I would never use such an obvious and childish argument to promote a sale. Only an imbecile would think that saying "one of the best watches made" is enough to sell a $20,000 item for $100,000. And only someone at least as much imbecile as the salesman would buy it.

I am not surprised: Abortion, in Slovenia, was legalized for the first time in January 1952, and in its current form in July 1977 (Slovenia was then part of communist ruled Yugoslavia). Abortion is available on-demand without further conditions for women whose pregnancies have not exceeded 10 weeks. After the 10th week, it must be approved by a medical committee.

This is what we know: Report: Trump Happily Employing Undocumented Workers While ICE Rounds Them Up | Vanity Fair

The HS custom code for marmite is 2106.90.99. As you may see in this document (https://www.customs.go.th/data_files/ad5e0129680ac963317538ca8ea02209.PDF) the import duty for this specific product category is 60%. The duty is calculated on the CIF cost of the product (cost + insurance + freight). To the resulting landed cost a 7% VAT applies. Assuming that the price ex-factory paid by the importer is A$2.80, and assuming 15% as the cost for freight and shipment to the BKK port from the factory warehouse, the CIF cost is A$3.22. Adding Thai import duties (60%) and VAT (7%) the cost becomes A$5.51. Adding 5% for BKK port handling and domestic freight from the vessel to the importer's warehouse, plus 25% gross margin for the importer and 30% gross margin for the retailer, the selling price is A$11.90. This is not true only for the Australian Marmite (which I personally find disgusting). Sadly, it is true also for my favored European, delicious, imported food 😃.