grimmbro

Is Mall Shopping a course? Cause if so, I can understand the need to reduce hours.

I wasn't clear, but are you planning on home-schooling your child?? Since it seems you have funds, why not enroll him in an international school? They will supply the paper work you then get your visa as his care-giver. You just mail in photocopies of your passport every three months and you are good to go. That is exactly what I did during a one year transition between contracts.

I believe Mrs. Paveena Hongsakil is a Bangkok MP of and general secretary of the Chart Pattana Party. She is a trained social worker and has a pretty good reputation.

I would say you know little about her or her foundation...if you did you would know that her most famous act was to walk down soi 6 in Pattaya and declare that there was no prostitution in Pattaya. The foundation is only good for headlines and does little outreach to anyone that won't attract a headline.

The new district hall cum Provincial Hall is still in the same place at the end of town. Now has a lawn.

My question is what happened to the proposal to make Hua Hin a province?? I though it was suppose to be province number 77?

that seems to be the end of that.

Cheers

some hold up around the Soi 22 intersection...hopefully they will continue to move.

PM hasn't been home in weeks, doesnt make much sense to come down here.

Having knocked on the PMs door, the Red shirts are now leading a parade back to Rajaprasong.

3 large Police trucks have arrived and Sukhumvit has been reopened around 31...

Reds are now taking the police baricades that were stored around Hotel 31 and are attempting to block Sukhumvit. Down to one lane.

Mob seems to have stopped for the time being about 100 meters down the soi. Traffic still moving on Sukhumvit. More Red shirts gathering though.

Police need to take training from guards at S31hotel. A splinter group of reds tried to go into the lobby of the hotel and 5 security guards managed to keep them at bay and pushed back. Mean while the police just keep moving down the soi, giving ground.

The police that have been resting for weeks at S31 hotel are currently moving back by increments as a small mob (150 red shirts backed by motorcycle taxis and a few regular taxis) are pushing themselves down Soi 31. It did not take long for the mob to push back as they head up to the PMs home.

Lots of shouting but no shooting yet.

Amazing that the usually group of 'experts' were all over this like flies on......

How fortunate that none of them have a calendar.

LOL

This and the belly dancing classes are annual favorites of the Bangkok Post....Every year about this time they feature a story on them both. The features section is very predictable Expect Hot Yoga next month.

I'm betting against the odds...Thaksin's youngest sister will be the first woman PM....

Thais being Thais they can declare anything they want....that doesn't make it so. The answer about the airport being open or not will be settled by the airlines. I still can't imagine that the airlines or numerous gov'ts are going to be happy about any flights from an airport where PAD is jointly doing security and screening.

Nor would such an opening inspire any confidence in tourists as the only reason for PAD to remain is to maintain the ability to shut down the airports if they become unhappy about something. They are not good locations to inspire the masses otherwise.

I would stick with Reuters over The Nation as a source of info...The Thai newspapers and Thai Airways have both been consistently overly optimistic about openings and releasing info. I can not believe that they will get any international flights until the Airports are cleared and certified as being safe. All that screen and security you normally go through would not be worth much if they just reopened the airport with the people that just occupied it. Nor would you feel particularly safe knowing that they would have had to rush the safety checks to open.

Just because PPP has been disbanded doesn't meet PADs objections. The new party is to be head by Thaksin's youngest sister or his cousin which would certainly not be any less objectionable then his brother-inlaw being in place. I was surprised that there has been nothing about which one of these two got the nod.

I would not start packing my bags just yet.

Besides the wanke_rs that can't keep on topic, the most upsetting thing is how little 'official' info is coming out from AOT or Thai Airways...People are told to check the websites and they are still listing flights as leaving and on time. Just shows how reliable this information is. ThaiVisa points to the same flight info site

Latest briefing is that the protest is directed towards taxi drivers. Some great PAD leader decided to strike a blow against Thaksin supporting drivers at the airport.

Just got an 'official' confirmation and notice that the roads should open soon from one of the larger embassies in town.

Wife just called to say that she is stuck in a cab going into Suvarnabhumi but that protestors have strung razor wire across the road. I take it they are there to greet the returning PM. However I can find no word of this on newspaper sites or on the airport site. Anyone else have more info?

It always amazes me how quickly these topics go skidding off the rails. The very first poster complete mis-reads the statement and obviously has no knowledge of Khun Anand or his politics and from there it goes skidding into a US election of 8 years ago. Seriously how does such a bizarre chain of logic take place?

Anand is in no way a supporter of Thaksin, has often been gently critical of him in fact. Anand just said that if Thaksin truly quit Thai politics (i.e. stop trying to pull the strings of PPP, stop being the final source of approving ministers and PMs, and mostly stop funding PPP and and UMD) then Thai politics would quickly settle back into the same old, same old. But as long as the money is rolling in to stir the pot then this stuff will never end. It does not require him to come back to turn off the money tap either.

Really.

Why these charges instead of more serious ones to go after Thaksin? That's a simple one...these charges implicate very few other people besides Thaksin and family. Some of the other charges would upset really big apple carts and then there would be a mess in aisle 5.

Well I seem to have to go often to Suan Phu as my whole family is on different schedules. I've never waited more than an hour. It pays to go early, it pays to check the website to make sure you have every form possible. It pays to have backup material to support your claims even though it is not required. The advance booking site, I've only used for getting a multi-entry stamp and its a little confusing because they give you an email address but never acknowledge receipt. However when you get there if you tell them...I emailed it already it seems to move along quite quickly.

I'm sure a fair number of them are agents..The US has a similar system for getting passports, if you use an agent it is much faster than doing it through channels. You can also get your congressman involved and blah, blah, blah. The US has lots of systems for getting around systems, so why not Thailand. And if you want a line-up go through the process of getting a Green Card in the US.

I found most of these people are coming to pick up or drop off additional info or have been sent down from someone on a higher floor. A fair number are the wives/fiancées/gfs of guys being sent forward to ask questions. Still I do find the staff quite rude if you listen to them in Thai, but they don't keep me waiting.

I'm sure you folks are waiting, but I think I'd have to know more details before I said it was the Thai system at fault.

Final rule, after living in Asia for 20 years...always carry a book.

I certainly wish well for all those involved, but I'm astounded how bad the English grammar is on these Nation accounts of the fire. Truly appalling the state of English editing for the on-line version.

With poor (no) building code enforcement, reliance on cheap unskilled labour and a desire to make money over all else its really surprising there aren't more fires and fatalities.

Remember reading an account by an English electrician about his internal debate to use the hot water heater after reading the warning on the unit. Very funny, but he decided to go cold shower after inspecting the work.