rheinwiese

Fantastic news indeed.

Love the solidarity and support shown of all donors.

There is still hope.

Wish Rino a speedy recovery.

The Baht is strong now. Why not pay up front with cash now. TG have planes to fly a plane load of dollar bill to Seattle / Toulouse.

Dear....What cash? A couple of Billion $$$?

Thai Airways does not have that cashflow flying around to actually pay for an aircraft.

They must lease. (GECAS, ILFC)

FYI: standard practice in commercial aviation

Totally agree - complete lack of infrastructure - bloody floods eveytime it rains, so build a ferris wheel, at least you'll be dry if you're on top of it. But at least this ferris wheel builds on the great Thai tradition of - to lazy to think of our own idea, so we'll copy someone elses.

Exactly. What an eyesore this would be to have that thing at the river, no thanks!

The usual obsession to keep up with Singapore.

Just copy. No inspiration and own ideas whatsoever.

BTW: the price tag for the Singapore Flyer was a reported 180 Mil USD and took almost 3 years to built

Build more resorts on hillsides and wonder why you have mudslides? Brilliant!

The equation rolls on

Thaksin = Pheu Thai Party = Red Shirts

Who are the possible PTP candidates for PM?

Chalerm? Chavalit?

My money is on Chalerm.

God help us.

Someone knows here some facts or not?

Terribly sorry and all that, but it's this a rhetorical question ?

Under what false name Thaksin lived in Germany? That is the One Million Baht question. ;-).

11.06.2009

Germany revokes residence permit for Thaksin

Thailand's former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, is no longer welcome in Germany. A bureaucratic blunder had allowed him to reside legally in Bonn for half a year, despite his name being on a blacklist.

Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra spent six months almost unnoticed in the former German capital Bonn.

Though declared a persona non grata, Thaksin managed to enter Germany on December 29, 2008 using a Schengen visa issued in France. It allows a person to travel through much of the European Union on a single visa.

Bonn authorities then issued the residence permit for Thaksin, who used his German lawyer's address. Federal officials only learned about it in April and ordered it revoked.

"We asked Bonn to revoke the permit and they responded immediately," Hanns Schumacher, Germany's ambassador to Thailand, told Reuters on Wednesday.

Bonn authorities said Thaksin's name had not been on a list of people barred from Germany and he had presented all the necessary documents. This included a certificate from a German federal justice agency saying he had no criminal record. He had also proved he had adequate funds to live and a valid passport.

Officials said the absence of his name from the list of barred persons was the result of a data-entry oversight by staff of the German foreign ministry.

"We informed the lawyer that the permit was revoked and should Thaksin still be in Germany, his stay would be illegal and he would face detention," Schumacher said.

Options are waning

The former telecoms tycoon, who led Thailand for close to six years, was ousted from Thailand in a military coup in 2006. He was convicted in absentia of corruption and has fled a two-year jail term at home.

Germany is the latest country to shun the former leader, who continues to roam the globe with a variety of passports and elude Thai authorities who say they are trying to extradite him. Britain revoked his visa last year.

Bangkok has sought extradition agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong, where Thaksin has spent time since fleeing the country while on bail. His current whereabouts are unknown.

The German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung said the former leader was now traveling on a Nicaraguan diplomatic passport. A Thai foreign ministry official said Thaksin would be arrested if he returned to Thailand. His Thai passport has been revoked.

sac/Reuters/AP/dpa

Just amazing they've got so much rebuilt/reopen already. In a western country the company would still be trying to get a construction/rebuild permit, tied up in court over claims/insurance, etc.

Excellent news, amazing as you say!! :jap:

Perhaps it might take a little longer due to safety investigations and checks?

Sure not a big issue here in TH when a big shot is pushing to get back in business before the peak season starts.

Confused

International arrivals or tourist arrivals?

Is every passenger arriving in the Kingdom automatically counted a tourist?

If one arrives in Thailand, does it mean that he or she is a tourist, does he or she stay in the Kingdom,

or does he or she catch the next transport to a another destination in the region after being counted as tourist arrival?

And or course counted again when returning to their home country.

Just came back from CTW.

Well, half of the shops are still under renovation/construction.

What remains is not much. Can't see the announced 80%.

Food hall on the 7th floor is fully open.

But many restaurants are still closed.

For the burger lovers- sadly Triple O is gone.

Now you get shushi there instead.

After all, some new shops, new lightning design, but the rest more or less same same.

No surprises.

A mere statistic of arrivals has no significance whatsoever.

It would be much more interesting to learn how many nights are actually spend YoY.

Seems to me the way is paved for Central Group.

1 step further to monopolize the retail business in the Kingdom.

Not good for us consumers IMO.

Better Central than BJC or Big C....

At least there is a better shot of maintaining some quality standards and assortment of imported merchandise.

Personally I'd rather see Wal-Mart take it over.. but they probably are staying as far away from Thailand and its protectionist/isolationist business laws as possible.

Just wait and see what Ikea will do to Index and other stores in the home-furnishings market. I'm predicting a blood-bath, and the setting of new standards in Customers Service, Product Selection and Inventory Control procedures.

Ikea may revolutionize retailing here in Thailand.

Big C or BJC taking over Carrefour would be a definate step backwards... I'm real glad Tesco is no longer in the running.. Their stores in Thailand have never been up to the Carrefour standard.

CS

Big C is a Central Group subsidiary. Chairman is Suthichart Chirathivat.

So whether Central Group or Big C will be the successful bidder, it stays in the family.

I see little chances for BJC.

Seems to me the way is paved for Central Group.

1 step further to monopolize the retail business in the Kingdom.

Not good for us consumers IMO.

The construction and operation of nuclear power plants requires a safety culture with no room for negotiation.

Quality in absolutely everything is elementary and essential.

Only then can it be adequately, but never absolutely, safe.

A "questioning attitude" is the basis.

At all levels people are necessary saying ….

"No, I will not do that. It is not safe."

And the boss has to accept.

In a culture where questioning is discouraged, subservience is deeply ingrained, and responsibility is, let’s say, a vague concept, developing nuclear power is irresponsible.

On True, it was blocked, but the address i had saved was something like facebook.com/home.php, or some such. When i typed in facebook.com it worked just fine.

Same here.

BKK 5am via True.

After login the MICT site popped up.

I clicked the browsers "go back" button and Facebook loaded normally.

Personally, I'd say its been uninhabitable for quite some time already.

nice one !

...a motorcade of some 50 vehicles will travel from Bangkok's Imperial World Department Store to the northern Thai province of Chiang Mai...

..Now why is it that if I were the owner of Imperial World I would be paying a large group of security guards to stand out front and forcibly remove anyone waving a red banner or picture of Thaksin?

The Imperial owners has nothing to fear. Mr. T's friends!

They are Red Shirt to the core.

There is even a red shirt office in Imperial Samrong.

I have never filled it in. Always prepared to say that I didn't notice the reverse side of the TM card. Never been asked by the immigration offiver. They just see a re-entry permit and stamp me in.

Same here.

Never filled in 15 years and more than 100 arrivals.

No questions asked by the immigration....ever

Yes, the ATM transaction fee (150 Baht) is still in place.

No increase though

Matter of fact, the Euro is more than 20% lower compare to last year.

Had friends here in November 09.

I recall the exchange was 49,60 Baht= 1EUR.

Todays exchange rate: 38,80.

Do the math. :jap:

Save the money for the bidding process and be realistic.

Do something useful with the funds.

The bid doesn't stand a chance.

Do they honestly think they can compete with the other cities currently considering to host the Expo 2020?????

Brisbane, Australia

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

São Paulo, Brazil

Montréal, Canada

Winnipeg, Canada

Guangzhou, China

Copenhagen, Denmark

Lille, France

Manila, Philippines

Ankara, Turkey

İzmir, Turkey

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Houston, Texas, United States

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

New York City, New York, United States

San Francisco, California, United States

Silicon Valley (San Jose), California, United States

Los Angeles, California, United States

I can truly recommend Arosa Travel here in Bangkok for any kind of individual tours in Thailand and surrounding countries.

The owner, Mr. Weingand is a Swiss national and I believe more than 20 year in Bangkok.

Very professional and reliable company. You will be in good hands.

Mr. Weingand and his Thai wife speak perfect English.

http://www.arosatravel.com

AROSA TRAVEL SERVICE CO., LTD.

559/19 Thanapat Haus, Nonsi Road, Chong Nonsee,

Yannawa Bangkok 10120 Thailand

Tel: +66(0) 2284-3833

Fax: +66(0) 2284-3830

Email: [email protected]

Maybe try Bei Otto on Sukhumvit Soi 20.

Google it.

Jap, Bei Otto Sukhumvit Soi 20 is the place to go.

Also check out the products from TGM (Thai German Meat)

You find it in almost every Carrefour, Lotus or Tops.

Excellent stuff, even by German standards.

They have a very good Leberkaese/Fleischkaese.

Check for "German meat loaf."

Broetchen....well, definitely Bei Otto or Carrefour Rama 4

Their Baguette comes quite close.

Enjoy !

I think it makes it cheap & easy for airport staff to get to work & not a lot else.

One wonders how many billion baht were raked off the top as kick-backs?

I think the majority of the airport staff cannot afford the ARL full fare (from Jan 2011).

Simply too expensive if one only makes 8k or less per month.

Kinda pointless imo, theres no lifts on BTS and I bet MRT too, so how in gods name do I carry a 70lbs suitcase up all them stairs in the heat and a laptop bag / backpack????

Not to mention squeezing yourself and your bags in a packed BTS or MRT.