Utley

If "Internet for all" strategy doesn't mean "high speed Internet for all", then you are wasting your time.

"The PACC stated that the futsal pitch construction bid was conducted through e-auction where only two companies submitted their proposals. However it suspects that both companies had the same proprietor."

Does the term "due diligence" translate into Thai?

Wow - I sure am glad that issue has been resolved!

It would be nice if the taxi drivers could improve upon their personal hygiene. Ever sit in the front seat next to one of them? - Ho Boy!

In my 3 years of experience with the system, when TOT's winet is working - it works very well. When it is not working - it is very difficult to get TOT to repair it; often taking weeks.

I now have a similar set up from CAT; works well and their service is outstanding.

Its her fault for...wearing a bikini - no, its her fault for...not being fat and ugly. Yes that's it!

The young Thai lasses could help by doffing their knickers; just saying.

"USA guilty as charged" - get a life.

ISIS (now IS) was originally formed by the remnants of the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi Bath Party - two very important groups that Paul Bremer refused to allow to participate in the rebuilding of Iraq. Paul Bremer, as head of the Coalition Provisional Authority controlling Iraq after the brief war, took his instructions from Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. Disbanding the Iraqi Army and the Bath Party didn't mean that these two groups would just disappear as hope, however. They regrouped in Syria and are now back on the offensive with a vengeance. Originally engaging these two groups in the rebuilding of Iraq would have been a much better strategy. In hindsight, Cheney and Rumsfeld made one of the worst calls in modern history - IMHO.

"Get a life " !!!

One can crap on about the past as you are doing but that cannot fix the future.

Live in the past if you will but don,t get in the way of those looking for a solution.

Before you can craft a solution, you need to accurately understand how the current situation came about.

Well then. That being the case. What is your solution ?

I don't have a solution to the problems in the Mid East. But if I did I know it would not involve propping up psychopathic dictators like Assad (which the U.S. has done in the past much to its chagrin).

IMHO, any long term solution is going to be based on this basic principle: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..."

Other than that - your guess is as good as mine.

USA guilty as charged. The Iraq invasion then the lack of support for Assad in his fight against Islamic insurgents, and in fact the US's support for these insurgents in Syria had created an environment that has cultured ISIS/ISIL into what it is today.

The only way to fix it now is to back Assad, draw a line on the map in Syria, and create a free fire zone north - northwest of that line. Whilst the Kurds,Iraqis and Iranians squeeze them up from the West.

Time for the US to eat some humble pie and team up with their self proclaimed enemies in the name of global unity and to destroy IS now.

"USA guilty as charged" - get a life.

ISIS (now IS) was originally formed by the remnants of the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi Bath Party - two very important groups that Paul Bremer refused to allow to participate in the rebuilding of Iraq. Paul Bremer, as head of the Coalition Provisional Authority controlling Iraq after the brief war, took his instructions from Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. Disbanding the Iraqi Army and the Bath Party didn't mean that these two groups would just disappear as hope, however. They regrouped in Syria and are now back on the offensive with a vengeance. Originally engaging these two groups in the rebuilding of Iraq would have been a much better strategy. In hindsight, Cheney and Rumsfeld made one of the worst calls in modern history - IMHO.

"Get a life " !!!

One can crap on about the past as you are doing but that cannot fix the future.

Live in the past if you will but don,t get in the way of those looking for a solution.

Before you can craft a solution, you need to accurately understand how the current situation came about.

Backing maniac depressants like Assad is what has caused the U.S. to eat humble pie in the past; the taste of which is growing old.

USA guilty as charged. The Iraq invasion then the lack of support for Assad in his fight against Islamic insurgents, and in fact the US's support for these insurgents in Syria had created an environment that has cultured ISIS/ISIL into what it is today.

The only way to fix it now is to back Assad, draw a line on the map in Syria, and create a free fire zone north - northwest of that line. Whilst the Kurds,Iraqis and Iranians squeeze them up from the West.

Time for the US to eat some humble pie and team up with their self proclaimed enemies in the name of global unity and to destroy IS now.

"USA guilty as charged" - get a life.

ISIS (now IS) was originally formed by the remnants of the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi Bath Party - two very important groups that Paul Bremer refused to allow to participate in the rebuilding of Iraq. Paul Bremer, as head of the Coalition Provisional Authority controlling Iraq after the brief war, took his instructions from Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. Disbanding the Iraqi Army and the Bath Party didn't mean that these two groups would just disappear as hope, however. They regrouped in Syria and are now back on the offensive with a vengeance. Originally engaging these two groups in the rebuilding of Iraq would have been a much better strategy. In hindsight, Cheney and Rumsfeld made one of the worst calls in modern history - IMHO.

Thai Customs = extortion. You are better off, IMHO, selling all your household goods and belongings and repurchasing new when you arrive in Thailand.

Lets hope they have to pay back every baht to the government plus time in the monkey house...

The government? It was the resorts who had to pay the extortion who passed it on to the tourists via higher rates.

TOT offers a satellite connection from Ipstar.

I've been following this from the very beginning and what I am sick of is the constant RTP bashing in this thread, and others like these.

It seems from reading peoples comments that they have years of law enforcement experience & consider themselves to be Sherlock Holmes. If you bashers think you can do a decent job then why don't you get yourself to Koh Tao and lend them a hand?

As someone who has experience in law enforcement I can tell you, investigating a murder and gathering evidence to show to the court is not easy.

How can you preserve evidence on a beach as best you can without compromising it when the sea can wash away vital bits?

How are you going to identify witnesses if none are willing to come forward?

The murder didn't occur directly underneath a CCTV camera, so how are you going to know how many suspects you're looking for or what they look like?

How are you going to lock down an island with many entry/exit points with a limited amount of officers?

What tasks are you going to prioritise when you used your finite amount of officers, and your nearest back up is 2 hours away with the sea in between?

People have been saying it's a Thai, Burmese, influential person who committed the murder. I ask you where is your evidence to support your theory? Gut feelings and hearsay don't hold up in a court of law I'm afraid.

Oh and not all Thai police officers are corrupt, so why tar them with the same brush? You guys won't like it if people say retired Farang men only come to Thailand to marry young Thai women would you?

My grandfather did not die in the line of duty on a drug raid just to be labeled bent.

Rant over …

It seems like the only real evidential lead is the seaman. Finding the match can takes hours to years, it's unfortunately just a waiting game now.

Evidence? We don't need no stinkin' evidence. Thailand is under martial law - remember? Civil rights and jurisprudence don't exist in Thailand today.

Police revealed that two Thais had been interviewed but were released after refusing to provide DNA samples: What the Murder of Two British Tourists Tells Us About Thailand’s Dark Side

Where in the OP does it say they refused to give DNA samples ?

Click on the link in my post and read the article - duh.

Higher consumer spending = more foreign husbands and retirees.

Bikini, like nuke, must be ban from thailand forever.

The western societies have no problem with bikinis but Thailand and the Arab countries do; enough said.

The study found that the rice industry had been going nowhere during the past decade. While costs of production have increased gradually, the income of farmers has declined, despite subsidy programmes by many governments.

Thank you 3 times Thaksin, Yingluck and associates. Thank you for pretending to care about farmers while plundering the treasury. Just a coincidence I'm sure, that this occurred during your reign.

Don't forget Abhisit and the previous military coup bunch that overthrew Thaksin - they were present also.

Why is the yield of Thai paddy so low? Cost of labour and machinery forcing the use of seed scattering instead or dunking?

Different strains of rice produce different yields. Jasmine rice, I believe, has one of the lowest yields.

So they're still trying to pin it on a foreigner.

I don't see why the new Prime Minister doesn't send the army into this lawless place and audit everyone who lives there to weed out the seemingly endemic corruption.

Martial law is still in effect isn't it ?

Who are these 5 families who are so important that even the prime minister can't touch them ?

Tourism to the island would take a nose dive if they convicted a Thai for the crime. They have to find a foreigner, preferably a Burmese, to take the fall.

A British backpacker is in hiding after naming the alleged killer of David Miller and Hannah Witheridge in Thailand - the owner of a bar on the island of Koh Tao was responsible.

According to BAAC managing director Luck Wajananawat, about Bt50 billion of that debt is from the rice-subsidy scheme before 2013. The remaining amount, in excess of Bt700 billion, was piled up by the former Yingluck Shinawatra administration. It will take about seven years to clear the whole debt based on the government's current repayment rate and sale of rice stocks.

Certainly it seems as if the cost of the Democrats rice subsidy scheme is partly involved however compared to the P.T.P. initiated debt that Democrats induced 50 billion baht is indeed small beer.

The legacy left to this country by the Shinwatra clan P.T.P. and its clique is indeed a millstone of debt and a classic example of ''me first corrupt practices inefficient management at the highest level.''

The debt may well go back to 2005-6 when Thaksin introduced rice pledging. Note that the Democrat scheme was a subsidy, and AFAIK it was never claimed that it would be revenue neutral or rotating, let alone profitable.

Thaksin - who is Thaksin? I looked in my history book and there was no mention of this fictional character.

Flew out of Tan Son Nhut about mid-morning and arrived in Bangkok 3 hours later at Don Muang. The first thing I noticed was the wretched stench of rotting garbage and open sewers.

After a 30 minute briefing, we arrived to our assigned hotel, dropped the bags and caught a taxi to the closest beer bar. We selected one lovely honey each and proceeded to drink and <deleted> for the next five days.

After 5 days, they poured us back onto the plane and we woke up at Tan Son Nhut. We were back at base camp that evening.