dunque

Why the Thai Baht is tied to US currency is beyond me, since it's obviously damaging to Thai economy, exports, and the tourist industry etc.

The Thai baht hasn't been pegged to the US dollar since the 1998 Asian financial crisis.

Prior to 1998 the Thai baht was pegged to the USD at approx 25 baht per dollar. Since 1998 the Thai baht has floated against the US dollar, and ranged from approx 50 baht to 27 baht per dollar.

Maybe in name Gecko 123 but it's certainly acting like it's tied, why would the Baht be so strong?

Presumably it is strong because it is in demand - tourism, trade, expats remittances etc - I very much doubt that the Bank of Thailand would have the resources to prop up the currency to any degree.

Didn't the RAF bomb Bangkok in WW2? I dont think that will look good on their CV.

Why would you bother bidding for any major contract in Thailand anyway. Are they going to pay you?

Have the Germans and others been paid for their participation in the 15 year old BTS sky train system.

What about Austrian Steyr CO. have they been paid for the fire trucks and interest payments dating back many years ?

TIT ..... foreigners shouldnt invest money here or even buy a house. Toyota ,Honda ,GM etc can afford it and they probably dont pay any tax.

Thais like taking OPM. Thais dont like paying bills.................you pay ! LOL

The RAF did indeed bomb Bangkok, along with the US air force and shortly after the Japanese air force - not sure if that has adverse affected the latter two's CVs that much.

I think there is a barstool that is getting cold somewhere

Is it any worse than Thai tourists scribbling graffiti on the Great Wall or lauding Adolph Hitler? I really don't think so.

I don't believe it was Thai tourists with the Nazi stuff. I think it was University students in Bangkok.

Thaiiliketoo google is your friend http://www.khaosod.co.th/view_newsonline.php?newsid=TVRRd05EY3hPVFEyTkE9PQ==&sectionid=

..but obviously it is not your friend since the article you linked to:

(1) makes no mention of 'Thai tourists with the Nazi stuff' you were supposedly rebutting

(2) documents the outrage in Thailand by tai internet users at their compatriots activities in China

Stupid IS what stupid DOES?

Sounds like a succinct commentary on US gun laws - what with 2 year olds shooting their moms and all...

Asean members, they said, had always worked towards their respective safety security compliance for the industry.

Well, so far their 'practice' was not very convincing...

Any comparative evidence for this assertion, like fatalities per million passenger miles by region etc ?

I'll be interested to see where Thailand is in ten or fifteen years. As HeijoshinCool said, they got a big bump from the Vietnam war. The US poured money and technology into the country as Thailand allowed the US to use air bases. Later it brought in a lot of manufacturing. Thailand and the US have been friends and allies since just after WWII right up until about NOW.

The US isn't going to put up with this China alliance and has already pulled a lot of income away from Thailand since the coup. I don't expect Japan to put up with the China alliance either and the US and Japan are close.

If the US and Japan pull significant manufacturing out of Thailand and move it to Burma, Thailand will be hurting. The US and Japan already bought huge tracts of land in Yangon, and Japan promised to build a deep water port there. This was over Yingluck's behavior. Imagine what they think of the current government's moves.

Thailand has had it's Marcos. Thaksin and Yingluck robbed the country blind and left it deeply in debt and not just over the rice scheme. They at least temporarily destroyed the rice export business.

Thailand is slipping. It's stupidity, greed and corruption is catching up with its economy from rice to tourism. Next if it loses the US and Japan as Cambodia, Vietnam and Burma take business, it could slip a long way down. I'm not predicting anything, I just see the possibility.

I think you will find that 'Burma' is just as tightly tied to China as Thailand - indeed more so.

The fact that no one seems to know which side to give way to doesnt help. Give way to the left or right? Oh well, i will just start driving across the ontersection (btw you are supposed to give way to the LEFT here!)

I wouldnt blame the pick up driver at all. The motorcyclist was in dream world ld, never touched his brakes.

There is no particular side to give way... This is a crossroads, not a roundabout where you give way to the right. There is a clear give way line in front of the pickup, so the pickup MUST to give way to the left and the right, and not move off till the road is totally clear.

I go through that intersection all the time, where the pickup was, you can see 200 meters both ways up and down that road. He HAD TO HAVE seen the bike and what speed it was doing. He should NEVER have pulled out and expect the bike to stop for him.

He either never looked at all, or he just had the attitude that he has more right on the road as the biker.

The bike had the right of way.

The pickup is a pretty large unit, and the bike ought to have seen him, but seems not to have even have tried to mitigate the results. Right of way or not, I would say, as a fairly experienced sailor that at sea in theory power gives way to sail, but one soon learns that self-preservation trumps any right of way rules and if he is much bigger than you.....

As I read the original leasee has not lived in this property and has allowed its condition to deteriorate . The owner leasor of the property should have sought to terminate the original lease by legal means , before trying to sell or release the property . The origilal leasee has not , it appears , occupied and taken care of the property and must be considered at fault in that respect ; though in fact he should receive some compesation for relinquishing the lease . I wouldn't consider buying a lease of any sought , or freehold while such complications exist ; one also wonders whether the developer owner is acting in good faith .

Suggest you read the OP again - it seems clear that it is the lessee who has initiated the 'sale' on of the lease.

This will hit the world press within twelve hours. Gonna be a huge international embarrassment for the Ju government. Like they care

Well, I would hope that the court of world opinion might actually view the relevant section of the film to determine the context before sounding off, and not just spin off on some instinctive anti Thai rant.

I was here for 8 years on marriage visa but got divorced so i applied for student visa. I dont attend classes as i already speak thai good enough and that was fine until recently. They said they believed that i was working here. I dont work really in thailand i have income from a business in HK. My Ed visa was 7 or 8 month old. Im on the airplane now leaving for Paris.

So, you kind of work in Thailand and you don't attend lessons and you were refused entry on an Education visa? And Thai Immigration screwed up ?

Incredible figures !

The report suggests that Thai's waste about 16,000,000 tons of food per year !

Seems a sad indictment on their society.

Just check the food waste figures for the 'developed' world compared to South East Asia. The comparison is staggering and will make you change your view on which society is sadder.

And as she isn't working, and you are, she gets legal aid, and you don't.

That means at the end you get to pay all her legal fees as well as your own.

(as legal aid is generally recovered from the working spouse)

Strangely,

she can afford the very best lawyer, as she has to pay nothing up front, while you probably can't.

A mediocre lawyer in the UK, in a contentious divorce, will cost about 5,000UKP/month and up (that's each).

There is no legal aid for divorce in UK as of last year - you can get free conciliation services but that is all.

I never figured out the attraction of the boiling stuff in water at MK.

you mean the sukiyaki ?

In Japan, suicide is often used as a revenge. The person who commits suicide names the person that drove them to suicide, and the named people are punished (often legally).

I have full sympathy for all who suffer loss from a suicide, and of course people should be aware of how their actions may seriously depress others, but there's a tradition in Japan of attempting revenge with, "I'll make you sorry for what you did. I'll make you suffer."

I don't think this concept is unknown elsewhere. It's hard for me to read another story of a Japanese person committing suicide and naming who they are angry at without thinking it's just an unfair attempt at revenge.

Maybe they got this idea from the Judean Peoples' Front ..

http://youtu.be/NUHk2RSMCS8

Well done and wishing you the best.

Lest We Forget ...

EDIT ... well, that was a journey ... time for a Beer ...

.

http://www.bartleby.com/364/202.html

Some telling epitaphs from Rudyard Kipling - showing how the war changed his demeanour

My son was killed while laughing at some jest. I would I knew 5

What it was, and it might serve me in a time when jests are few.

If any question why we died, Tell them, because our fathers lied. I could not dig: I dared not rob: 65 Therefore I lied to please the mob. Now all my lies are proved untrue And I must face the men I slew. What tale shall serve me here among Mine angry and defrauded young? 70

Lest we forget ...

The 30 months residential qualifying period for FLR doesn't start on the day she received her visa; it starts on the day she first entered the UK with it.

Although she can actually apply up to 28 days before the 30 months are up.

As long as her visa is still valid when she applies for FLR it does not matter if it expires before FLR is granted. Her visa will be automatically extended until the decision on her FLR is made.

Ditto with her FLR when she applies for ILR.

So, unless you need a quick decision and her passport back quickly, I see no need to pay the extra £400 for the premium service.

Remember, the fees quoted are the current one; they go up each year!

Unless it has changed in the last 18 months (quite possible!) she can apply for ILR 2 yeas after original entry on spouse visa; my wife's marriage visa was issued on 2 Feb 11, she first came to UK on 3 March 2011, got her additional 2 years extension in August 2011 and her ILR on 29 May 2013 (although it has a renewal date of 2023 - more money then I guess)

Thanks gents , I'll look into it. Strange rules if a non resident cannot get a rebate (I'm in and out on a spousal O) as they are the ones who shouldn't have to pay

What are you talking about? Most countries impose taxes on income. Yes bank interest is considered income. And non-residents are not likely to file tax returns, hence the tax is withheld by the bank.

Non-residents should not receive any tax exemption. Can you imagine if I ( a non UK resident) demanded I not be taxed on my UK investment income and protested that I wouldn't invest in UK if I was going to be taxed there?

If you are a thai tax resident then file a tax return and you may be able to claim the tax or part of it back. Do whatever you want with your money but claiming you're "not getting any benefit of the tax paid" makes you sound like a spoilt brat.

I think less of an 'ex' pratt

The North Bank and Clock End stands were demolished after Arsenal left in 2006, but the facades of the old East and West Stands were preserved, while the pitch became a garden.

They had to be, they are listed structures.

I think it's great that they kept the pitch as a garden.

I believe one reason it might have been kept as a garden is out of respect to the number of fans' ashes scattered on it over the years.

TAT does it again.....

Sounds like they have been consulting the chaps at Mousebat, Follicle, Goosecreature, Ampersand, Spong, Wapcaplet, Looseliver, Vendetta and Prang

http://youtu.be/7qNj-QFZbew

It makes malaysia circuit looks like child's play. Soon f1 will dump kl and make mahathair looks like an idiot. F1 will have to come in all 4 fours begging to use newin's circuit instead.

I doubt Bernie Ecclestone does begging - it is invariably the other way round.

From WHO website...

Two promising candidate vaccines

Given the public health need for safe and effective Ebola interventions, WHO regards the expedited evaluation of all Ebola vaccines with clinical grade material as a high priority.

Two candidate vaccines have clinical-grade vials available for phase 1 pre-licensure clinical trials.

One (cAd3-ZEBOV) has been developed by GlaxoSmithKline in collaboration with the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. It uses a chimpanzee-derived adenovirus vector with an Ebola virus gene inserted.

The second (rVSV-ZEBOV) was developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada in Winnipeg. The license for commercialization of the Canadian vaccine is held by an American company, the NewLink Genetics company, located in Ames, Iowa. The vaccine uses an attenuated or weakened vesicular stomatitis virus, a pathogen found in livestock; one of its genes has been replaced by an Ebola virus gene.

Thanks for that, but the original story is not about a vaccine.

you can get rid of it guys ...three easy steps if you want to be pain free ..

1/ cut out anything with HFCS .High Fructose Corn Syrup , esp sugar drinks , processed carbs , its in so many products you will be surprised ... its not sugar at all your body will treat it like a toxin ...

2/ switch to a plant based diet , minimal protein..

3/ drink a lot of filtered water ..

give it a shot worth the effort for a pain free future and save you a heap of money

goodluck

I almost never drink soft drinks, I do like the occasional icecream or a dark chocolate, have a beer about once a month, no longer eat shellfish, but do eat chicken occasionally. I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables but I do like to have pork as a stir-fry. I gave up smoking a couple of years ago, sex is fairly spasmodic at my age, not sure that I can give up the few pleasures I still have left in life and feel that life is worth living. Thanks for the advice though.

Good luck with the sex.

Don't know why but this reminded me of this classic 'Porridge' moment

http://youtu.be/PoRIRkJce_w

Unless I hear a confirmation from the British police or the FBI, I will never believe the results "obtained" by the Thai police.

You mean you will believe this FBI ?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/federal-review-stalled-after-finding-forensic-errors-by-fbi-lab-unit-spanned-two-decades/2014/07/29/04ede880-11ee-11e4-9285-4243a40ddc97_story.html

Ok then.

This will go over like the last FIFA event that never happened.

Do you mean this one ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_FIFA_Futsal_World_Cup

If you read section 6.6 of the attached it seems pension income should be ok - more of an issue for other income types

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/restricting-non-residents-entitlement-to-the-uk-personal-allowance/restricting-non-residents-entitlement-to-the-uk-personal-allowance#restricting-access-to-the-personal-allowance-in-the-uk