TPI

I visited the reservoir north of Chiang Mai yesterday and was shocked at how low it was. Can they not divert some of the River Ping flow into it?

It's time for farmers to be assisted to build more local reservoirs to collect rain water when it does fall.

BTW, how many readers have a back up supply in case of water mains disruption?

Those of us in the country generally have a well/bore or two, it wouldn't hurt city people to invest in one either!

What is all the hoopla about whether the gun was registered? That would be a Thai issue and a secondary issue ie possessing an unregistered/unreported gun. The alleged crime is carrying a loaded gun into the passenger cabin of a passenger plane. Extremely serious offense in today's climate.

The last article showed a pic of the gun which was a derringer sized, one shot 22 pistol. Easy to miss in an X-ray scan. How did this change to a full size 5 shot pistol?

Are the conspiracy theorists and spin doctors just having a binge?...

Really.

So having an unregistered and therefore illegal weapon in your possession, lying to the police (apparently) that it was registered in your own country and not being able to produce documentary evidence won't be of interest to the Japanese police, IYO. They will just charge him with attempting to carry it on a plane. You reckon? Hope you're not a lawyer.

The alleged crime(s) will be what the prosecutors decide to charge him with. Of course they may decide the gun was carried in from Thailand, is registered to him there, and it was all a mistake. He forgot he put it in his bag, forgot he shouldn't take it on a plane, take it to another country, bring it back on a plane, carry it loaded and forgot where he put all the documentation. Easy mistakes when you're forgetful.

It's a 5 shot .22 caliber derringer revolver. Hardly the key chain toy one top Thai copy tried to pass it off as. Plenty of information on this thread about the type of gun. And no, not easy to miss if security are doing their job right.

No, I'm not a lawyer and would probably be a lousy one anyway.

However, the unregistered gun is a crime in Thailand not Japan unless Japan has a law requiring a gun be registered in a person's home country before being allowed in which it probably does have. But, of course, it was sneaked in. Seems a bit odd that there would also be a law requiring smuggled weapons be registered. Anyway, seems to me the more significant crime is the smuggling. I fail to see how it's registration status has any real bearing on that. But, that crime pales beside the crime of bringing it aboard the plane.

Now I didn't say the registration would not "be of interest to the Japanese police" which it would but I suspect goes more to understanding motive than a crime. And as we know, understanding motive is often relevant to weighing the seriousness and intent of the crime. But, obviously I don't know Japanese laws in this respect.

I stand corrected re: the 5 shot derringer. Thought I had read single shot. But still rather surprised that such a tiny gun can hold that. However, I still believe it's small size can be easily missed by security, not an excuse just a reality in an overwhelmed system...No comment re: incompetence other than the Japanese caught it, the Thais did not...it's statistically based and a deterrence system not foolproof....ha, well, I guess I commented anyway...

I think the idea was the Japanese were exploring the defence that was already suggested by Thai police that he had a gun that he could legally carry around Thailand fully loaded and took it to Japan through an honest mistake. Now it looks more like the case of some one who was actually a habitual criminal in Thailand, rather than a law abiding retiree, since he carried an unregistered firearm around with his meds, and thought so little of it that he forgot that it was there. Even if the Japanese had accepted the defense of a forgetful but law abiding citizen, he wasn't licensed to carry a gun in Japan and certainly not to carry one on to a plane. In the unlikely event that the incident had taken place in Thailand, nobody would have pointed out the lack of Thai serial number and gun would have been returned to him.

The gun seems to the standard NAA Sidewider model which is a 5 shot .22 magnum. The .22 magnum packs a punch that is 50% harder than the standard .22 long rifle cartridge.

.22 magnum is pretty close to 9mm in close up power, which is what the pistol is designed for!

This is a godsend for AOT and the Transport Minister, " see, the gun isn't linked to Thailand so he couldn't have been carrying it when he passed through Swampy so our scanners and the experts who man them are fully vindicated. "

The same thing occurred to me....not registered in Thailand, ergo it couldn't have come through swampy according to AOT

That's a argument ,or change of story they might try, but then surely he has a bigger problem if he goes down that route..okay so now your saying it didn't come from Thailand so where and who did you get it from in Japan and how did you 'forget' it was in your luggage..he's f***** ..serve him and BiB right..more of the same please..also..Arabic numbers and English indicating where the gun was sold...!! Dubai anyone?

Surely you are not suggesting Mr T?

Famous for his 'honest mistake" defence.

I'm personally horrified with that sugestion! How could any reasonable person think that Mr T would abet an illegal transaction!

Ben Gurion instructed Jewish archeologists to dig up the land of Isreal to find the evidence that the Jewish people had in fact left Egypt,wandered the desert for years before reaching the promised land and lived there in antiquity as claimed in the Bible.

Please provide some credible evidence. I am not accusing you of being a liar, but there are a lot of trolls that make up stories about Jews and Israel that are groundless and post it on the Internet If you are going to post this kind of thing please provide proof that it actually happened.

Eric Cline, writing in Jerusalem Besieged, “In 1993 and 1994, archaeologists excavating at Tel Dan in northern Israel discovered an inscription that commemorates a military campaign in Israel by Hazael of Aram about the year 841 BCE and that mentions the House of David.” Tel Aviv University ancient historian Nadav Na’aman has stated based on this excavation that, in his opinion, the facts “strongly support the biblical claims that David conquered Jerusalem and made it his capital and that he founded the royal dynasty of Jerusalem.”

http://unitedwithisrael.org/archaeological-evidence-of-a-jewish-jerusalem/

If you want credible evidence then I would not suggest posting a link to a United with Isreal site.

Hardly unbiased. Believers always love asking non believers to prove a negative. You have asked me to provide proof of something that I believe never happened. If it never happened how can I provide proof? If it did happen then perhaps proof can be found but as of yet non has been provide. The believer always explains the lack of proof by saying it is faith.

I am definitely not trolling but just stating an opinion. I have the same opinion about the Christian biblical story, the Islamic one and all of the other pagan stories that ignorant illiterate stone age men came up with to try and describe and understand the mysterious world they lived in.

There are many who dispute the claims you make as they are based on an old Hebrew inscription. Hebrew has no vowels and therefore there is dispute about the translation.

A quote from Wikipedia.

"It has generated much excitement because the inscription includes the letters 'ביתדוד', Hebrew for "house of David".^[44] Proponents of that reading argue that it is the first time that the name "David" has been recognized at any archaeological site, lending evidence for the Bible account of David's kingdom. Others read the Hebrew letters 'דוד' as "beloved," "uncle" "kettle," or "a god named Dod," (all of which are possible readings of vowel-less Hebrew), and argue this is not a reference to Biblical David."

Anyway, I have said my peice so I'll sign off now.

Thanks for clearing that up, it's amazing how many otherwise bright people have been sucked into this continuing "folk story"!

500 Baht fine, slap on the wrist, he's probably a drunk, jail time will mean nothing, that's if it gets to court in 5 years, what about the trauma to the 13 year old boy?

It's very sad all round!

As long as she is happy and healthy, well done to her

She is is much better shape than the pot bellied balding farang behind their key boards in Thaivisa.

Steady on! I resemble that remark!

Hmmmm...all those drug dealers must be really pissed off.....I mean, after all the protection money they paid to other officers and it was all meaningless..

Ha, ha, ha....Suckers

Cheers

The mobile phones must be running hot!!

Leave the beer pretties alone!!! Thailand is slowly becoming a boring totalitarian communist rules only no fun place and I hate that!

My vote goes to Leo

" ... Thailand is slowly becoming a boring totalitarian communist rules only ... " Totally ludicrous comment.

You hate it ? I'm happy with it.

I take it you know the whereabouts of the airports, and the several land borders.

Gosh! That was a clever statement. I supose you're happy because you believe in going to church, not eating our furry friends and only use sporks to avoid frightening your neighbours?

Go for it "Leo girls" don't let the wowsers frighten you, they die young anyway! (always in a hurry to get to heaven?)

This attack on previous Govt. policy and personages by the anti-democrats, along with retroactive impeachment nonsense, seems to garner some support from those originating in countries with solid Democracy traditions.......continues to baffle me.

It totally ignores the Democratic principle of submitting all these so-called sins generated by the previous Parliamentary opposition to the electorate...Turf the bums if all of this has substance.

Taking Opposition mantra's as gospel, and suggesting they are truths that ought to be adopted by the country at large is being sufficient to demonize an elected Govt. to the point of deposing them by means other than an election, is anti-democratic mantra's at the extreme.

Can you imagine taking Canadian, Australian, UK, etc. Parliamentary opposition stuff as being the final arbiter of any elected Govt's legitimacy.

But for some, they think it is OK for Thailand...A double standard if I ever saw one. They espouse the Thai minority Opposition stuff as legitimizing non-electoral measures.

It gets back to my point, that the color differentiation of the political divide in Thailand is not valid anymore....Now it is simply anti-Democrat vs. Democracy.......All political commentary can be slotted into one of those two catagories.

IMHO

Before you start equating the last "democratic government" here to western democracies, ask yourself in how many of those MPs are allowed to accept regular and substantial payments to vote to the order of a fugitive criminal, how many allow the same criminal access to cabinet meetings and to dictate policy, and how many will propose legislation with blatant conflicts of interest without a single recusal.

Then you might consider what the check and balance regulatory bodies in those western democracies would do should such a situation develop. If your answer is wait for the next election, you are deluding yourself, or worse.

Hear hear!

No doubt the driver was the son of an "influential person" who is well thought of by the "police" who will launch a thorough investigation next Monday after the entire force has checked out the boat for fingerprints and the results will be given to media "soon"!

Love it! Only in Thailand

There are still reasons to love this country

Love it.....at least some people in Thailand have grown up!

It doesn't seem to ever end......on and on and on......corruption, theft, murder, kidnapping, extortion, corruption etc etc. There must be an honest man with a Thai passport somewhere??

kermit.jpg All those who are surprised, raise their hands.

Ok boys and girls have a read of the headline, they have been called to HQ because the gambling was found to be in their district, it doesn't say they were involved, just that they should/ could have been aware of it!!

Hello and welcome to the 21st century.

This is happening worldwide and not just with Thailand. There are multiple factors at play here, culture, religion, education and hormones and the internet, to name just a few.

In terms of Thailand - this is a primarily Buddhist culture, so there's very little in terms of a proper moral compass, pointing the direction clearly in terms of relationships and moral ethic within relationships. This cannot be denied - since it is a well documented and evident fact that sexual immorality is rife within Thai culture, and not just with the unmarried.

This is not to take a religious bent on the issue - but it is a determining factor.

Therefore, there is not teaching that perhaps sex is something to be kept for marriage.

20 years ago, younger Thai girls of the middle class, were far less likely to have pre-marital sex, but that is changing rapidly with the current generation.

Sex is everywhere, and I'm not talking about P4P - I'm talking advertising and media as well as the internet.

The internet has to be brought into the equation, because now everyone has a smart phone at least, and everyone is looking at porn blogs and sexting etc etc and there is far more privacy for teens to engage in stimulation of either a textual or visual nature.

So this piques the sex drive at a younger age, and kids being kids, will always be fascinated and turned on by this.

Personally - I believe there is no real solution to this, because as we know, Thai culture and those in control of government policies and legislation are so terrifically blind, that they just cannot see that basic things like promoting safe sex by installing condom vending machines as a basic, is of course, a logical starting point.

The tidal wave of thought that it would be wrong to teach that sex in a married relationship is the best idea, has long washed away a more tradition moral standpoint, and thus, we are left with this result.

The murky area of age of consent etc, makes things more complicated, and the highly sexualised Thai culture with every conceivable sexuality under the sun thriving here, means you are tackling one of the biggest beasts of this country, and I for one believe it's like going to war with a mammoth, with our wielding only a paper sword as a weapon.

In this case, you would have to change the mindset of adult to actual give a fig about their kids, there would have to be proper sex education taught across the board, and you would have to change the mindset of the establishment.

Considering the fact that many older men have teenage giks, etc, I think it's highly unlikely that any real effort will be put into this, because privately and behind closed doors, they are probably quite happy that everyone is rutting.

Hear hear!

Using ethanol of any percentage is false economy, the extra fuel you use in everyday driving equals the money you save! The whole thing is a scam, in Oz and europe they don't have any fuel with more than 5% alcohol and even then the Automobile Associations say there is no savings!

Problem solved, case closed !

Really, it's all very sad......"Thainess"!

Just how long can the pui yai's hope to keep the modern world out? Don't they have mirrors???

The new law is crap.

It creates a second tier level of Australian citizenship.

One for those born with Australian citizenship but nothing else.

Thos born with Australian citizenship, who happen to be born with another citizenship or who go out and get another one.

The latter group, which certainly includes me and many of TV erstwhile memberships kids (I'm sure), plus at least 4 million other australians estimated to hold another nationality, are now subject to ministerial whim based on secretive intelligence advisors. No judicial oversight to be seen.

The same advisors who brought us WMD in Iraq.

So we've created a second class tier of citizenship.

Populism at its worst. What is wrong with locking up proven terrorists for life?

What's the problem Mr Samran? If you aren't in Syria or with ISIL you don't have a problem! In the US you can't become President unless you are a natural born citizen, in Oz you can (if naturalised), there are good arguments for both sides!

If you have dual citizenship, good on you! I'm sure you take every advantage of your situation? As a citizen you are required to obey the laws of the land, if you knowingly break the law then, "if you do the crime do the time".

Loosing your Ozy citizenship will be no hardship as you don't like the country anyway and have no respect for the laws.....where's the problem?

About time! This is only happening because Vets. have been making waves in the media......typical pollies to only react when there might be votes in it!!

What's the long term visa situation like there?

Difficult if you're not married to a Vietnamese?? Right??

Not many people know this, but they are all inactive posts.

You just made my day!!

But sadly you have to watch your back now, after revealing the best kept secret within the police force!!

That and where they buy their hair dye? If the senior police from the district didn't inform their chief........who did?

Doesn't it sound reasonable for the west to totally pull out of the ME? What can any western government gain out of fighting in a religious war? If there was anything to gain then Russia or China would be in there with open hands!

Like the "troubles" in Nth Ireland, the whole place should be fenced in, munitions freely given and let the inhabitants sort it out! It's not our problem!

If the teachers don't know the subject and the students can't fail and the directors have complete control of a schools budget.........

Thanks for the story, I've had a Thai wife for 16 years and it's all positive. do the family a favour and take up with the niece?? You could do worse!!

Boys and their toys?

Congress may have a say about this. Once again, Obama is overstepping his office.

Is this the Congress of "NO" to anything? How could any body of men continue to actively destroy a great country for very minor political points? The Mayors and State Governors are obviously not the people with the backbone to do this!

The Police are there to serve and protect, they are the Police "service" not the police "force", the citizens are the ones that pay their salaries....common dog kcuf should tell them who are their friends and why they are making enemies??