canopy

Could be and villagers like living close together. Looks by the style of the houses they all were very aware they were building in a flood plain. This year 87 houses flooded. 20 years ago maybe there was 3. Next year maybe there will be 100. It's like an ever more menacing gang demanding people pay for their mistakes.  I would only give assistance to help people relocate to safer ground. But of course that won't fly and instead everyone must feel sorry for them and assist them year after year. I hate to see government waste when there are so many worthier people who are truly in need.

16 hours ago, billd766 said:

It happens all over the country and there is not enough high ground for everyone to build on.

I agree it happens all over the country, but disagree it's because there is not enough high ground. In this case it would have been so easy for the village to be back a little further from the rim of the lake. It's "mai pen rai" / "don't think too much" at its worst. Perhaps they should have thought about the decision a little more as they are obviously not prepared for the consequences of their decision.

The help they need is someone tell them to move to higher ground. Deliberately building a house in a flood plain and demanding help when it floods is stupid.

That experience has nothing to do with Amazon. If you made the order using Amazon the experience could have been a lot different. You have the upper hand and are no longer at the mercy of any of these carriers to do as they please.

I can't see any risk with Thai post involved. If the package gets lost from any carrier then Amazon will refund you for everything. They also take care of anything stolen or damaged in transit. The risk is all theirs.

Amazon guarantees you won't pay more than what they estimated for duties. This means DHL and so on can no longer scam you out of extra money to receive a package. I've ordered many a package from Amazon and they've arrived with all sorts of carriers with Kerry being the most common. One time DHL, one of the biggest scammers of all, tried to add some extra fees. I contacted Amazon and they took care of it and said they would make sure it wouldn't happen again and it hasn't, hooray. I am so happy not to have to deal with these outrageous scamming carriers anymore which was so often a problem when I used to self ship things. Back in those dark days sometimes accepting a package cost more than shipping it. With Amazon you know the cost upfront and there are no surprises. And as some say, refunds for predicted duties are common, though usually small.

Of course one shouldn't try to import restricted items; chemicals, weapons, etc.

For me Amazon makes sense for things I can't get in Thailand or things in Thailand with very high price markups.

Really surprising to see this go to court. He will lose. No amount of canes, crutches, casts, and neck braces will buy sympathy from anyone. A plea deal was his only chance. Maybe in light of the rock solid case and him being high profile they decided to put him through the ringer instead.

Unlikely doing a runner is an option for this guy at this point. If he becomes a fugitive from justice he may lose his job, influence, and lots of money from Ital Thai. Even if found guilty he can probably drag out appeals for years so not even a sweat yet.

I didn't know harvesting fruit from trees triggered burning. What exactly is being burned?

1 minute ago, billd766 said:

Stanton was actually in the rescue team and was on the site. I would believe him

So in other words you believe Stanton when he emphasized to Elon how important the sub could be to their rescue mission. It's good to hear you believe the sub was a good idea and  Elon was the right person to develop it.

Now come on. It's hard not to notice the sub life support systems worked perfectly when tested in the pool so it raises questions on what Stanton meant when he said there were missing bits. Curiously, he chose not to give any details or supporting information. It's like watching the sun come up and he says no actually it didn't. If Elon's sub was in fact incomplete or phony then he should be exposed as a farce. Stanton can either cement his credibility by exposing what he knows or be seen as questionable in character due to the circumstances and timing of his statement. And by the way I have nothing to do with this so there is nothing to believe/disbelieve from me. As you can see I am prepared to believe whoever provides the best proof. And right now the burden of proof rests with Stanton.

4 hours ago, swanny321 said:

 to any intelligent person, a multi-multi-billionaire is a walking insult and offensive to society at large

Without these people you'd still be living in a cave chucking spears. Why don't you boycott all the companies of these evil people you hate and see how enjoyable your life is. Elon created 50000 jobs. That's a lot of food on the table. What have you done? I think you got it backwards as to who is the walking insult.

Perhaps populist, politically motivated, election timed, or whatever you want to call them these are good projects that are beneficial. Don't see any white elephants in that list which is something positive.

8 hours ago, lamyai3 said:

Stanton also made the more recent comments concerning the mini-sub

This is earth shattering stuff worthy of its own topic. Stanton was instrumental and worked cordially with Elon from the beginning, personally requesting the sub. However, his latest remarks are a direct slap in the face--"it didn't have the necessary life support systems". Really? Did he fail to notice the life support systems were 100% complete and tested with divers in the pool? Did anyone pick up what "necessary" part was missing? Thus I am skeptical of his recent statements as being anything other than a stab in the back to stick up for a friend. But if he can provide technical clarity on this statement I could definitely change my view.

12 hours ago, rickudon said:

Most farmers require an annual income.

And who says they won't get an annual income with this system?

10 hours ago, GreasyFingers said:

And maybe they do not have forest fires here.

This is a huge benefit of switching to trees. Farmers will no longer be doing field burning that contributes to bad air we must all breathe. Fewer field fires means fewer fires spread into forest fires. And tree farmers will be motivated to douse out of control fires instead of creating/ignoring them. So instead of farmers being part of the problem, they become part of the solution.

Farming trees is not new so keep that in mind. There are farmers in Thailand that have done it for centuries. So for every problem you can think of, the farmers already have worked out solutions. This government program seems to make tree farming accessible and attractive to the poor, rich, or just anyone who wants to do it.

8 minutes ago, Derek B said:

I would like to see more of the actual kit used in the rescue including the pumping units - the logistics of the operation were massive. I guess there will be an official report in due course - from the Navy Seals perhaps.

This is actual footage from the rescue. There were some very close calls and problems with it along the way. The masks getting displaced was an ever present danger in 0 visibility water and with the kids sedated the rescuers would be hauling a corpse and never know it. The expected odds of losing some of the kids was very high among the rescuers with this rig. It's a miracle they had a 100% success rate with this system due in no small part to the heroism of those that were there. Now close your eyes and imagine for a moment if Elon had designed this contraption what people would be saying about it. Exactly...

3 hours ago, Ossy said:

You're not a shareholder by any chance, are you?

Funny you should ask that. After seeing the A+ job Elon orchestrated under such extreme time pressure I have to admit I became interested in just that. I mean the entire chain of command was exemplary. The initiative of Elon, the design, the fit and finish, the divers validation testing in the water, the logistics, everything. It was an incredible display of talent and teamwork that achieved the impossible. That is going to be one very tough company to compete with. You aren't by chance shorting the stock are you?

2 hours ago, Ossy said:

The last five to be rescued were already on their way out when Musk showed up . . . 

Just imagine for a moment if for some reason they needed the sub in a life threatening situation and Elon was nowhere to be found. You would crucify him of course. Elon showed up because he cared about the kids and if there was any way he could help, he was there and ready. It's like having all star players on the bench ready for action if called upon. A very admirable move.

30 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Unsworth basically told Musk his submarine was useless, which was true.

Richard Stanton, one of two British cave divers who found the kids told Elon regarding the sub "It is absolutely worth continuing with the development of this system in as timely manner as feasible". I think most people will trust the judgement of the cave experts who were there, envisioned the idea of the sub, asked Elon for it, and were crucial in its very design.

3 hours ago, harrry said:

It should be made clear that product ( an inflatable stretcher) is not the rigid cylindrical metal tube he bought to Thailand.

That is like saying "It should be made clear the earth is round". And what exactly is your point? The orange sub was designed, developed, and tested specifically for this cave rescue to be used in the tightest area of the cave. The cylindrical sub you refer to was for elsewhere in the cave system.

10 hours ago, zzaa09 said:

Better yet, induce programs to plant prospective permanent forest to last for ages

You are right. I would say priority 1 is stop all encroachment and protect the remaining forests from exploitation which is a huge problem. Then step 2 is take back and reforest encroached areas.This program would be step 3, but there is no reason to have to wait till those are accomplished to start this.

2 hours ago, GreasyFingers said:

I don't know about the trees mentioned but I cannot wait 30 years for a return.

And this in fact is the key break through the government has solved for the farmers. They will go out and assess the value of the trees as they grow and pay the farmers periodically for the progress of the trees as they mature. Farmers don't need to wait 30 years. Imagine planting a thai rosewood tree that will be worth 100K baht when it matures and getting paid good chunks of that money ever so often for it as it grows. And that's just one tree, now think of a plantation of them. And not only that growing trees is much easier than the back breaking work of vegetables and better for the environment to boot. So this sounds really attractive in all respects.

Easy. Call the tourist police hotline 1155 and ask them about coverage in your area. If none are near enough they may have someone drive to you. If they do not cover your area then ask your local police to get a translator and talk to them. The person they select will be someone they know and trust and should work very well.