LA Don

Executions are known to have been carried out in the following 25 countries in 2006:

Bahrain, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, North Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mongolia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Uganda, the United States of America, Vietnam, Yemen.^[6]

Strange how the U.S is the only western country on that list though.

Singapore does appear to have the highest rate per capita and when you take into account the low crime rate.......

China supposedly has executed up to 8000 people in 2006 while "official" figures only show 1000.

How do you calculate the rate per capita in the US when only 37 of the fifty staes have the death paenalty? I would think the rate per capita counting only those 37 states is much higher.

I usually stay at the Millenium when I get held over at Dubai. Used to be $185 till they painted the rooms. I just booked for April 3 and it was $300 with tax - ouch! It is about the closest hotel to the airport (other than the airport hotel). They provide free transport - 10min ride. Used Marahaba once and it was OK - smaller than Emirates. I seem to remember they had a time max of around five hours.

Be careful with any medications you may be carrying as Dubai has gone level 3. If they class it a drug you could have a problem even with a prescription. Four years in the Dubai Hilton could be worse than four years in the Bangkok Hilton.

Must be a few with Stamford and Webster University just outside of town. Don't know where the young ones hide - haven't gone looking either.

Born again bible thumpers are a VERY distant second as compared to reformed smokers.

Right on!

As a non-smoker I can always smell a smoker and always hear a reformed smoker.

It would be better in the bars without the smell of smoke - then we tell who really took a bath before their night out.

What health nut would be hanging out in a BG bar?

Seems like Thailand is extending their pursuit of "quality tourists" to include a preference for "quality retirees". I don't agree with it, but it is their country. I do know that 90% of Thai people would be denied even a tourist visa to visit the US for one day, let alone stay an entire year. And they would be charged 3500 baht plus other fees for the privelege of being denied. So who am I to complain?

Sorry, but here I go again: comparing Thailand to the US does not compute. Compare it instead to countries at similar economic levels that do indeed warmly welcome retired expats. We all know very well why it is so hard for Thais to travel to the US. It is because a huge percentage have been proven to overstay illegally and work illegally. Retired western expats mostly do not overstay illegally nor do they work illegally in great numbers.

If I might add to the comments - there are over 250,000 Thai living in Los Angeles, CA. Maybe they are part of the the other 10%.

Thailand is making it impossible for farang retirement. To adequately make retirement plans, some amount of stability in the rules is required and there does not appear to be any stabity in Thailand - at the moment.

I, like many others, can deal with the new requirements today. I am not sure if I would be able to deal with the new requirements tomorrow. I cannot risk retiring to Thailand knowing that they can, and do, change the rules without a grandfather clause or even a reasonable advance notice. I believe the Thai government is too unstable today to consider retiring there.

I am going to "Plan B" (MM2H) and I can drive from Penang to Thailand anytime I want to visit.

I believe the significant part of this story is that THAI president Apinan Sumanaserani admitted the accident (incident) occured. There must have been panic in the THAI office trying to determine how this whole thing could be denied. However, once it was determined to be the fault of the taxiway or the "big" airplane, there was no reason to deny it happened.

I like the comment "they are working out the bugs". One would think they would do that before they loaded passengers in the plane. How many other "bugs" might they find?

Everybody Jai Yen, this is standard practice throughout the Western World Thailand is just following suit and unless you are doing something very naughty in Thailand on your PC then theres absolutely no need for any concern.

Yep! Just like driving a motorcycle or automobile in Thailand. Not to worry, as long as you are following the traffic laws and have an adequate supply of 100 baht notes. Wonder what the rate for making the IT police go away will be?

If you really want to save lives in LOS, outlaw motorcycles.

There are many many local events both organized and sponsored by the alcohol industry. Some, like Jack Daniels. will take their bottle and golf clubs to a more friendly location - like islamic Malaysia.

I, for one, will miss the concerts and festivals the alcohol industry has put on at Patong Beach. I can't see Pepsi filling the void. Imagine all those food booths without their beer banners.

I would rather they put a little effort into educating the public about responsible drinking rather than trying to hide the bottle from them.