Nid_Noi

Do you expect all these DC VIPs to crawl with the traffic among the populace at rush hours to get to their private or chartered jets?

Maybe Hegseth should have grounded all military operations until a total review of the aircrews qualifications. Then he would have been accused of putting the nation in danger due to lack of readiness. In this kind of debate you never win.

Based on the ADS-B data and the tracking of the commercial airliner his flight path was perfect according to the RNAV approach plate to runway 33. Approaches to runway 01 and 33 are very similar until reaching Final Approach Fix NADSE then the aircraft alters his course for runway to start its approach at IDTEK for runway 33. Whe data transmission stopped aircraft was at 400 ft with a speed of 139 knots which matches the plate instructions. He had already passed the MDA (Minimum descent Altitude). The NTSB should confirm the position of the Blackhawk as instructed by ATC or on the wrong flight path.

Stray dogs become the best companions you can have in Thailand. Never disappointed by their devotion.

Many expats have taken the task to take care of this problem: - Pay for having the dogs neutered - Pay for having the dogs vaccinated against rabies and other canine diseases - Pay for food to have the dogs in good shape and ready for adoption - Pay for dog shelters, etc… Meanwhile most locals have no consideration for the stray dogs as well as the different levels of government. I say most locals because some take the time to feed them and leave buckets of water on site. So don’t hit me with the argument of affordability and lack of resources. Resources are available for cell phone plans, beer and hong thong.

France is no exception to what’s happening in many countries around the world. Presidents and Prime Ministers are the Roman emperors of the « modern » ages. They watch their cities burning to the ground while having a total lack of empathy for anybody: « Après moi le déluge « . Then they wonder why right wing parties are surging and gaining votes. France and Canada same incompetent politicians: Recycling old politicians after washing, rinsing and expecting different results. Anyway policies and decisions are the privileges of the unelected members of the EU Commission. Elected politicians will soon be a dying breed (Schwab, Davos 2025).

Did the money was already into Wise account? My banks would never transfer the funds to Wise the same day giving me a «cooling » period until midnight to cancel my order if I change my mind. Even domestic transfers have this « cooling » period.

I have been using Wise for many years and never had a transfer in less than 5 days (not counting the weekends). I have never been able to find out if it’s my bank which debits my account and wait a few days before transferring the funds or Wise which notifies me of receiving the money after a few days. Once the money is « officially » in Wise account, the credit to my Thai bank account is less than 6 hours after, sometimes less. My observations are: Sending money from a European bank is faster with euros than with US dollars. The path is different as Wise account for euros is in Brussels while Wise account in US dollars is in London. Both are IBAN accounts. Never been able to get an explanation from Wise about the additional cost for sending US dollars from a European bank. Wise seems to assume that US dollars are always sent from the US. The amounts sent are between 5k and 10k either in euros or US dollars.

I know exactly what you mean. Many trade unionists who lost their jobs in the 70s emigrated to the dominions (Australia, NZ and Canada). They were very active in implementing the socialist policies in the Crown corporations then in the private sector. Our actual problems derived from these policies. Canada (9th) and Australia (5th) are among the 10 countries with the most labour strikes. Http://chartsbin.com/view/42129

The successive devaluations of the peso have been planned to reduce the fiscal deficit and increase exports. The major one was in December 2023 followed by scheduled monthly 2% devaluations. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_peso It seems to have worked pretty well for the public finances.

Didn’t the Brits learn their lessons under the Wilson and Callaghan Labour governments of the mid-70s? Problem is no Margaret Thatcher on the horizon.

I do agree with you about Kuwait. I almost sided with the Palestinian residents who have “built” Kuwait after WW2 and welcomed the Iraqi troops. After Desert Storm the Kuwaitis were supposed to give these Palestinians citizenship and right to vote. It never happened. So these people are denied any legal residency.

https://theweek.com/articles/476380/global-warming-mystery-why-are-some-glaciers-growing https://eos.org/science-updates/new-perspectives-on-the-enigma-of-expanding-antarctic-sea-ice Some areas have seen glaciers growing again, mostly eastern Antarctica, Southern Patagonia, Karakoram, North-west Greenland, (even mt.St.Helens volcano has now a glacier in its crater. https://www.wgbh.org/tv-shows/overview/why-earths-newest-glacier-is-inside-an-active-volcano-me1kbb https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureEO/CryoSat/Arctic_sea_ice_up_from_record_low In the last decade navigators sailing through the northwest passage have seen an increase of sea ice making the “window” for a safe passage shorter. So never say never….

Confuscious meant Kuwait, I suppose. https://www.indiatoday.in/newsmo/video/world-biggest-tyre-graveyard-kuwait-sulaibiya-on-fire-1840546-2021-08-13 The fire was seen from the space station.

..you may add to the Air pollution the garbage along the streets and the roads. Hua Hin becomes a dump with many shanty districts. Constructions are done without building permits, no exotic architecture but density taking over quality. Many expats and tourists live in worse environmental conditions than in their countries of origin. Most of my golfer friends came once to not return. All complained about the filthy roads they travelled to reach the Golf courses. Sewage odors in certain downtown areas are not inviting to have lunch or dinner. Before expanding the airport they should improve the street network and finish the upgrade of the railway line…but it seems the “high speed train” stopped at the Malaysian and Laotian borders.

It happened to me once at the airport, the debit card had expired. I never paid attention to the expiry date.

The Kbank debit card has no link with your SIM card, only the K+ application is formatted using your SIM card to post debit and credit opérations as well as transfers, utilities bills, etc...

They did not mention if these planes were landing or taking off…or in transit to their final destinations. You may add all the cargo planes loading and unloading during the night. Also domestic flights are just moving people across Thailand but do not add any new foreigners into the country.

It has been many moons since an IO said “please” or “Welcome to…” . In the late 60s and early 70s Thai immigration officers at Don Mueang used to say: “Welcome to Thailand” with a smile but is Thailand still the Land of Smiles? Also the use of “Please” seems to have been eradicated from Thai people’s mouth in general. In the contrary the use of “Sorry” has been abused.

Too many Muslim politicians of Pakistani origins, all members or former members of the Labour Party starting with the mayor of London Sadiq Khan and the former first minister of Scotland Humsa Yousaf.

Average height of the ice sheet is 2500 meters with a maximum of 4800 meters in the Terre Adelie (French Antarctic Settlement). magnetic compass needles always point to the south magnetic pole because because the magnetic field lines run from the north magnetic pole to the south magnetic pole. Basic 101 course in navigation.

Nowadays most of the continent is accessible to visitors, alpinists or “scientific expeditions”. If you have the financial means you may organize a trek to the South Pole from a coastal base, 350 people did the trek alone or in group. Some did trek across the whole continent others drove from the North Pole to the South Pole (Chris and Julie Ramsey with an electric Nissan Ariya).

105000 tourists visited Antarctica in 2022, an increase of 40% compared to 2020. There are 3 main runways in Antarctica: the famous Ice runway at McMurdo Station (USA), the Williams field (USA) and the Wilkins runway (Australia). You can add Paulus Skiway, Novo Airbase, Casey Station Skiway, Phoenix Airfield, Rothera Point Airport, Teniente Marsh Airport (the last two are on the Antarctic Peninsula operated by Argentina and Chile). Charter flights are organized from Chile (Punta Arenas), New Zealand and South Africa. Just need to book your trip through a tour operator. For alpinists who want to add to their list the successful climbs of the highest mountains on each continent several operators organize your ascent for more or less US$50K with flight to the Union Glacier (Ilyushin Il-76 Cargo) then to the Vinson base camp with a DH Twin Otter on skis (1 hour flight) then the climb of Mt. Vinson. Antartica is not what it used to be, cost of the trips is what limits the number of visitors (8 days cruise through the Drake Passage and fly back to Punta Arenas or Puerto Natales roughly US$14K; only requirement tour operators need to make sure no garbage is left behind, medical assistance is available on cruise ships in order to avoid expensive evacuation and visitors do not stress the local wild life. Now flights to the South Pole are available in December and January from Cape Town or Punta Arenas. Price from US$63K to US$105K. Number of visitors are restricted to 500 due to limited accommodations.

You can keep water pressure if water reservoirs are well stocked, number of pumps are designed in relation to diameter of the pipes and their numbers are sufficient for the network they are supposed to cover. Plenty electricity is required to make the system efficient. Maybe one day California will invest in more desalination plants. The 5 actual plants have not the necessary capacities and the 2 projects voted in 2015, expected to be in operation in 2022 have been delayed until 2028. Another factor is the cost of electricity (the most expensive in the US). These plants need an additional nuclear generation plant to be 100% operational. https://lynceans.org/all-posts/status-of-desalination-plants-in-california-2/#:~:text=Sand City Coastal Desalination Plant in Monterey County was the,acre-feet%2Fyear). California has only one nuclear plant with only 2 reactors (the Diablo Canyon). Since the 1970s many plants have been decommissioned after ecologists have fought against nuclear energy. No energy, no fire hydrants. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_California

When you pay the insane amount of realty taxes, municipal, state and federal taxes Californians pay each year and you can’t get decent police and fire prevention services you are entitled to some explanations from your local politicians. At least a Texan was smart enough to show how to prevent his Malibu Beach house to be consumed to the ground. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14272575/trash-tycoon-david-steiner-reveals-malibu-house-survived-la-fires.html?ito=email_share_article-floatingBar