dhrobertson

Nisa, Who really gets worked up about this, heavy drinkers?? only something to discuss talkabout whatever, I for one don't give a dam_n about the 2 days-it's the tourists AND the double standards=flouting of the law=the law is conected to the Ideals of budism as one of the top 5 (commandments here is alcohol)a no no ==my point is if the religion says it's bad why not ban it for all time not on monk days or voting. So its free style for 360 days of the year? Abide by the law we can It's the BUT"S that we post about in general, so relax and take into account it's the heavy drinkers that get worked up about it only.

Well I am pissed off. I like a few beers with friends on a Friday evening or any other evening I fancy. What's wrong with that? Good conversation, maybe some live music, and on to a good restaurant for dinner.

And no, I'm not going to buy a bottle to sup at home. It's about social life, not anaesthetic.(Incidently the next person the next person that uses that crap American cliche "mom & pop store" should be barred)

I do not appreciate being dictated to because of some archaic religious or quasi religious belief. All countries should be strictly secular with the religious fanatics kept in their box.

I am an aetheist and I am sure you are too. You don't believe in the Norse gods do you? How about the Greek gods? Roman? No? Well I just believe in one less god than you.

wooh there princess. I think you need a drink. and what should we refer to the mum & pop store as. Can't call them the local because that means the pub.

Good idea!

Fancy a game of cribbage?

I'll see if the paki shop's open

I am not a Buddhist, do I have to obey Buddhist laws and rules? What about freedom of religion?

It is not a Buddhist law, it is a Thai law. I'm sure you are not Thai either but it would be very disrespectful for you to not remove your shoes when going into a home here but I guess you can tell them since you are not Thai that it is okay for you to pick and chose what rules and customs you will follow regardless of being insulting to others. Although Thailand is approx. 95% Buddhist, you do have freedom of religion. The US also has freedom of religion but numerous places are closed on Christian holidays including public schools and most bars and businesses.

Given that the law doesn't apply to Hotels it would seem Thailand has already considered tourists more than enough.

Nisa, Who really gets worked up about this, heavy drinkers?? only something to discuss talkabout whatever, I for one don't give a dam_n about the 2 days-it's the tourists AND the double standards=flouting of the law=the law is conected to the Ideals of budism as one of the top 5 (commandments here is alcohol)a no no ==my point is if the religion says it's bad why not ban it for all time not on monk days or voting. So its free style for 360 days of the year? Abide by the law we can It's the BUT"S that we post about in general, so relax and take into account it's the heavy drinkers that get worked up about it only.

Well I am pissed off. I like a few beers with friends on a Friday evening or any other evening I fancy. What's wrong with that? Good conversation, maybe some live music, and on to a good restaurant for dinner.

And no, I'm not going to buy a bottle to sup at home. It's about social life, not anaesthetic.(Incidently the next person the next person that uses that crap American cliche "mom & pop store" should be barred)

I do not appreciate being dictated to because of some archaic religious or quasi religious belief. All countries should be strictly secular with the religious fanatics kept in their box.

I am an aetheist and I am sure you are too. You don't believe in the Norse gods do you? How about the Greek gods? Roman? No? Well I just believe in one less god than you.

What, will children who have an alien parent be charged extra for an ID card? Anyone know?

Nothing, i see Keigo Sato Thai Japanese boy that made headlines finding his father could not get one yesterday computer glitch , and today a falang friends 9 year old son(Thai birth certificate) was told no at his school where they were issuing them, because in the boys words he had a falang face which translated i presume means not 100% Thai = no card.

You 'presume' wrong....

Unless one of your 'farang friends' was also a Thai citizen, or both the farang parents were also Thai permanent residents at the time of the child's birth, then the child would be ineligible for Thai citizenship.

You should research before making such blatantly misleading statements...

Are you sure? My grandchildren have a British father and Thail mother. They both hold Thai and British passports. I understand they need not decide which one to retain until they are 18 years old. (The 4 year old boy also holds an American passport because he was born there. Cheeky bugger!)

i think that the only thing that this research has proved is that in thailand the educatio system is awful, particulary in the rural areas of the country, i am really sorry for those poor thai kids

Believe me, there are many other countries with education systems much, much worse than Thailand. Actually, for a third-world country Thailand's not doing so bad.

Would you care to list the countries 'much worse' than Thailand? And as far as 'third-world' countries go, I have seen many more second hand (they can't afford 'new')bookshops in Rangoon than bloody Sukhumvit.

Thailand's economy is about 10% agriculture and 45% manufacturing.

The lack of a decent education system is the biggest problem facing the country.

In terms of Gini coefficients it is ranked 45th in the world in terms of inequality (btw, USA is 40th!). Education is the solution.

Annual budget is about 60B USD per annum so there is no shortage of funds, it's a matter of direction.

With relatively low IQs (for whatever reason) good education is particularly important.

I've seen the system at all levels including junior schools, senior schools, colleges and universities. It is universally crap. English teachers who can't speak English; military style drilling of kids; hopeless vocational training; graduates with almost no knowledge of their own subject.

It will take a generation to fix. The lack of competant teachers is the main problem in my view.

Will you lot please slow down?

You're posting faster than I can read!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ_and_Global_Inequality

Now here is a scary quote

The authors argue for a substantial role of genetics and race in explaining these differences. They were led to this conclusion from observing racial clusters regarding national IQs. Thus, the six East Asian nations all have IQs in the range between 105 and 108. The 29 European nations all have IQs in the range between 92 and 102. The 19 nations of sub-Saharan Africa all have IQs in the range between 59 and 73. Rushton thus argues that "They show that there is remarkable consistency in the IQs of nations when these are classified into racial clusters." The book also argues for feedback between genes and environment. For instance, a genetically caused high national IQ leads to high per capita incomes which enables high quality nutrition, education and health care for children which enhance their intelligence.[5]

IQ tests are overrated in terms of making specific short term judgements.

This rather racist but it appears that the highest IQs are indeed found in in east Asia.

What is interesting, however, is why Thailand with its high ethnic Chinese contibution lags so far behind.

I think this is yet another indictment of the appalling education system.

Sounds like a good idea. The world is already flooded with crappy Chinese products. We need low-cost while still quality products. That's the future Thai market.

It is - but it is a goal, not something that can be commanded (no magic wand). It takes the new Gov to concentrate on education and give incentives that engender ideas and creativity. Look at Cambridge University as an example (I know its a lofty example, but bear with me) - Cambridge has the highest density of technology companies and research companies in the world (more than Silicone Valley etc per capita) - many are joined to the University itself (came from post grad courses - University funded/arranged funding/sponsored etc - and earns back through part ownerships) - this model is age old in Cambridge (Cambridge is over 800 years old)) and many Universities around the world do similar now. It is not an over night process and could be disasterous to Thailand if she (the country I mean - not the caretaker-PM) tries to shift before the foundation is ready. Most of us are old enough to remember that all the cheap crap used to come from Japan - now all the best stuff does - Made in Korea also used to make us (me) think of cheap plastic toys and rebadged 15 year old Nissans - but not any more, yet Hong Kong is still struggling with that image.

I don;t think Thailand has that image actually - to me Thailand Thai good imported abroad is more the quaint, fairly expensive, stuff - not technological, more artistic or craft (wood carvings, bronze, silver, expensive furniture, silk) - not really known as a major exporter at all outside of exotic food and stapple. I too would like to see this change.

Thais just need to be educated better - in ways that give them interests that are cerebral too - Thais can be very creative as kids, and it seems to be it is almost knocked out of them by the school system here. No one seems to read for fun (other than comics), its rare that there are inter-school competitions outside of basic sports and the odd school quiz - I am thinking more along the lines of robot olympics and so on. This is why it needs real vision and real committment, because it needs sponsorship from commerce, its needs funding. Commerce needs a buyin (ROI) - kids need to be educated into being designers and engineers (not macarno bolt togther mechanics) - to carry that creativeness on from drawing cartoons to designing bridges etc. Long term view, long term startegy - PT got in on the anti-elite ticket; are still bashed for being run by some of the wealthiest people in the country; what better way to put their "money" where their mouth is and invest in the future BY investing in the kids! (and not in the Blair's New Labour way of throwing buckets of money, league tables and super-accademies - but my invigourating the students with interesting and fun lessons taught well in a modern thought provoking way, and bringing invention, intregue and lateral thinking out through projects and fun competition).

Yes, spot on!

I've been banging on about education being the key for a long while now.

However, moving to a knowledge based economy will take time, at least a generation or two.

In the meantime, increasing the minimum wage to 300 TBT per day should be easily absorbable. OK, restaurant prices may go up. So what. It might even have a small effect on raising domestic demand which would be good.

I used to be involved with high volume electronics manufacturing. This is a very high technology business. It is interesting that Thailand has held on to nearly all hard disk drive manufacture. This is duty to the high quality demanded. However, plants with,say, 2000 employess still several farang or Japanese engineers to get the production lines up and keep them up.

Shifting electronis manufacture from, say, Europe to Asia was all about reducing manufacturing costs to maximise profits. I can't see your brand name electronics companies being bothered about this small increase in labour costs. Their margins are vast anyway.

Same priciple applies in other industries including agriculture. Middle men could easily afford to absorb increased farm prices without affecting export prices in my opinion.

But, to come back to the original point, eductation is the key.

Frankly, it is lamentable at all levels. I regularly come accross graduates from "top" universities who have a very poor grasp of their own subject. It will be many years until they can have a Chulalongkorn Science Park. They could start by abolishing school uniforms for university students and demilitarising junior schools!

Your opinion on the altruistic nature of both electronic companies and produce middle-men are rather far-fetched. The electronic companies set up in Thailand because the wages were low, but you think that they will shrug off a 50% increase?

BTW if they are producing such high quality goods, why are they paying minimum wage? Isn't there an add-on for skills, even if acquired on the job?

I would say that they are neither altruistic nor philanthropic

They pay the minimum because they can get away with it. It's not a bad job, apparantly, partcularly for Thai females. Clean environment, decent food, background music, chat with your mates etc etc. Therefore, there is a plentiful supply of labour. However, the labour element of the manufacturing cost is a very small percentage. I can recall a laser assembly for a well known DVD player manufacturer with a bill of materials amounting to about 1.90 USD and a labour element of 0.02 USD. However they made 10M units per annum. Final product sold for over 100USD. So doubling the labour cost is no big deal. Key issue was consistancy. It seems Thais are good at SPC (statistical process control). Labour costs have in the past at least been much lower in China. It is interesting that the disc drive industry did not move from Thailand by and large.

Fixing prices paid to farmers for rice and also controlling export price would squeeze the middle men it seems to me though I am no economist.

Sounds like a good idea. The world is already flooded with crappy Chinese products. We need low-cost while still quality products. That's the future Thai market.

It is - but it is a goal, not something that can be commanded (no magic wand). It takes the new Gov to concentrate on education and give incentives that engender ideas and creativity. Look at Cambridge University as an example (I know its a lofty example, but bear with me) - Cambridge has the highest density of technology companies and research companies in the world (more than Silicone Valley etc per capita) - many are joined to the University itself (came from post grad courses - University funded/arranged funding/sponsored etc - and earns back through part ownerships) - this model is age old in Cambridge (Cambridge is over 800 years old)) and many Universities around the world do similar now. It is not an over night process and could be disasterous to Thailand if she (the country I mean - not the caretaker-PM) tries to shift before the foundation is ready. Most of us are old enough to remember that all the cheap crap used to come from Japan - now all the best stuff does - Made in Korea also used to make us (me) think of cheap plastic toys and rebadged 15 year old Nissans - but not any more, yet Hong Kong is still struggling with that image.

I don;t think Thailand has that image actually - to me Thailand Thai good imported abroad is more the quaint, fairly expensive, stuff - not technological, more artistic or craft (wood carvings, bronze, silver, expensive furniture, silk) - not really known as a major exporter at all outside of exotic food and stapple. I too would like to see this change.

Thais just need to be educated better - in ways that give them interests that are cerebral too - Thais can be very creative as kids, and it seems to be it is almost knocked out of them by the school system here. No one seems to read for fun (other than comics), its rare that there are inter-school competitions outside of basic sports and the odd school quiz - I am thinking more along the lines of robot olympics and so on. This is why it needs real vision and real committment, because it needs sponsorship from commerce, its needs funding. Commerce needs a buyin (ROI) - kids need to be educated into being designers and engineers (not macarno bolt togther mechanics) - to carry that creativeness on from drawing cartoons to designing bridges etc. Long term view, long term startegy - PT got in on the anti-elite ticket; are still bashed for being run by some of the wealthiest people in the country; what better way to put their "money" where their mouth is and invest in the future BY investing in the kids! (and not in the Blair's New Labour way of throwing buckets of money, league tables and super-accademies - but my invigourating the students with interesting and fun lessons taught well in a modern thought provoking way, and bringing invention, intregue and lateral thinking out through projects and fun competition).

Yes, spot on!

I've been banging on about education being the key for a long while now.

However, moving to a knowledge based economy will take time, at least a generation or two.

In the meantime, increasing the minimum wage to 300 TBT per day should be easily absorbable. OK, restaurant prices may go up. So what. It might even have a small effect on raising domestic demand which would be good.

I used to be involved with high volume electronics manufacturing. This is a very high technology business. It is interesting that Thailand has held on to nearly all hard disk drive manufacture. This is duty to the high quality demanded. However, plants with,say, 2000 employess still several farang or Japanese engineers to get the production lines up and keep them up.

Shifting electronis manufacture from, say, Europe to Asia was all about reducing manufacturing costs to maximise profits. I can't see your brand name electronics companies being bothered about this small increase in labour costs. Their margins are vast anyway.

Same priciple applies in other industries including agriculture. Middle men could easily afford to absorb increased farm prices without affecting export prices in my opinion.

But, to come back to the original point, eductation is the key.

Frankly, it is lamentable at all levels. I regularly come accross graduates from "top" universities who have a very poor grasp of their own subject. It will be many years until they can have a Chulalongkorn Science Park. They could start by abolishing school uniforms for university students and demilitarising junior schools!

Expect the defamation suits to start.

Good. I hope they win and they are awarded damages that bankrupt the Nation.

Ah yes, the Classic Thaksin Response to Freedom Of Speech.

Lets get those jack boots in lock step against all who disagree.

It's the peoples will to stifle commentary that doesn't agree with the bosses plans.

Just as it was before.

On the contrary, it is you that is espousing a contempt for the principles of civil society. If the Nation has committed a civil offense, then surely it is up to the civil courts to judge the matter and decide on the penalty should their be a judgement against the Nation? Are you of the position that an unsubstantiated allegation can be made without any legal consequences? The Nation has made a serious accusation. let it offer proof to back up its claim(s). The most appropriate place to settle a serious civil dispute is in a civil court. That's what the courts are there for.

I suggest you heed the words of your defeated leader former PM Abhisit who states, "Pheu Thai has achieved a simple majority, which is a clear mandate," He also stated that

he wanted fellow Democrats to reflect on the poll defeat in a bid to try to chart a new course. In plain english that means that the old strategy of spreading hateful uncorroborated statements is wrong and that if the Democrats want to advance they need to try something else. How about instead of repeating the old stories and listing all the grievances that you have, that you consider something more constructive?

I am looking foward to the PTP term. I hope to be able to provide whatever support I can to help the PTP advance the lives of the Thai people. Personally, I think the best move is to deal with troublemakers, fifth columnists and instigators through legal means. If falsehoods are uttered, people must be held accountable.

It didn't take long for the geheime staatspolizei to get started!

If there are elections in our homecountries, would we like when foreigners there would call the majority of the voters "corrupt, uneducated, greedy bla, bla bal". For sure we would not like that. Is it democratic to repeat and repeat and repeat prejudices? Maybe the people in Thailand not want a "Westernstyle Democracy". We should respect that.

I would have no problem with this if the comments were true or at least based on perceptions of truth. To say these things in order to inflate ones own ego or sense of superiority is another thing. It is fact that much of the Red / Thaksin base is poor an uneducated. If they weren't poor and uneducated he couldn't win and there in lies his motivation to keep them poor and uneducated.

I think these people are also more prone to being manipulated because their focus on what they want from a leader is very laser focused. I don't think many of these people put much thought into the future of Thailand as a whole or even their lives and family's future. They are obsessed with only 1 thing be it more hand-outs, getting Thaksin back or sticking it to the elite. It really is no different in the US in terms of how people become laser focused on 1 issue such as abortion, gay marriage, terrorism or tax hikes. Then there are those who simply think about if the person running is somebody who would be fun to have a beer with.

I really am not sure if they've found something to put in the water to make voters so short sighted but I really don't believe people thought like this before. It used to be about somebody who had leadership qualities, has a history of success and is likely to lead the country in the right way when it comes to all areas be it economic, security and foreign relations.

In the US you have people voting for movie star action heroes with no experience and who spent time in the US as an illegal alien and has little command of the English language or worse alcoholics with a history of hard drug use and arrests who clearly have an IQ less than that of most Americans. Now in Thailand we have people voting for a person with about 8-weeks of political experience and her only business experience was handed to her by her brother. A women too scared to debate her opponents and who is a puppet for a lying, corrupt, fugitive from justice who is wanted on terrorism charges. Regardless of what Thaksin may have accomplished while PM, he has hurt Thailand GREATLY since he left office and bringing him back or allowing him to play a role in politics is NEVER going to allow reconciliation and only an ignorant person would think it would in a country so divided over HIM and HIS policies. Clearly this is a path backwards.

But the real bottom line is something is very very wrong in countries or states where people believe Schwarzenegger, Bush, Thaksin (at this time) or his little sister are the best the state or country has to offer. Call it uneducated, ignorant or stupid but I simply find it scary.

Though some people might be jumping to conclusions what may lay ahead; the above post is spot on.

Seems to me Business types and the educated didn't want this result (and no, they're not hi-so); but your taxi or tuk-tuk driver, bar girl did. It seems there has been a sheep mentality to hate Abhisit (for no other reason that their friends do). Saying this though,. the people have spoke, it's their country, so let's see what happens; but what I do want to know is where the supporters of this result on TV really think they will get all this money from to support their pledges, won't grow on trees; if they heavily tax the rich it will affect business, so who will they target?

Do some honestly believe that they won't try to bring her brother back in? I mean, come on; he's dying to come back and his money is behind it, you'd have to be living on cuckoo land if you don't think they will try to get him back. And Thaksin says he doesn't want revenge. Really? Did he say that with his fingers crossed behind his back?

Some people are easily led.

However, if they do deilver their promises without hurting business or the economy, do improve standards for the poorer areas, don't try and bring Thaksin back as PM, build bridges between old foes, not do media clampdowns and bring this country together again - I will glad say I was very wrong with my opinion - as we all want what's best for this country. Wonder if his supporters on here would admit the same thing.

Well, the lunatics have finally taken over the asylum!

Let's see what happens. I hope I am wrong.

In the meantime, I don't think improving education is at the top of the agenda. Not good news if you are the child of a subsistance farmer methinks.....

When does my family get 4 x IPads please?

Only good thing coming out of all this is going to be that their dreams will soon turn in nightmares for a lot of people and that is when hopefully they will realized what kind of mistake they made voting for them....

Sad day indeed for Thailand.

As you can see, democracy just doesn't work unless people have equal access to education and information.

Getting rid of Abhisit and Korn makes no sense.

And yes, by the way, I do feel intellectualy superior to many Thais, not through nationality but through the privilege of a first class education.

Sadly it is a Thai trait to consider today at the expense of tomorrow.

Fools

"Intellectualy" superior, first class education, hmmm, does it make you a better person?

No of course not. What a silly comment.

However, I can at least consider the facts and, if I was able, cast my vote on the basis of what would be best for myself and family.

(Thanks for spotting my typo. It should have been intellectually.

Pedant....)

Only good thing coming out of all this is going to be that their dreams will soon turn in nightmares for a lot of people and that is when hopefully they will realized what kind of mistake they made voting for them....

Sad day indeed for Thailand.

As you can see, democracy just doesn't work unless people have equal access to education and information.

Getting rid of Abhisit and Korn makes no sense.

And yes, by the way, I do feel intellectualy superior to many Thais, not through nationality but through the privilege of a first class education.

Sadly it is a Thai trait to consider today at the expense of tomorrow.

Fools

Ok for you to call them fools, but who is it that puts the food on Thailands (and yours) table?...Not the elite thats for sure, they wouldnt get their hands very dirty.

You can't deny in the west a HUGE portion of wealth is owned by a small few and therein who has the ultimate power. In Thailand those ratios are just so much more obscene that eventually somethings gotta give.

Its a no brainer really, if a HUGE portion of the country is poor, angry and dissolusioned..then why should they vote in the very establishment that has deliberately kept them poor?

I may not agree with their reasoning OR like the expected result but at least the poor CAN buck the system and have their voice heard

.

Oh yeah, And of course this would never happen in our high and mighty "educated" countries..the alleged "strongest" country in world is still bailing out the crooks that threw most of the world into finaicial ruin

I suspect we're actually having a heated agreement here.

The main issue is education. It just does not work in Thailand. The system produces cowering automatons with very little ability to think for themselves.

For the record, I run an engineering consultancy in Phuket/Bangkok and my wife's family are farmers in the NE, which is where we have our home and our kids go to school.

I honestly believe that Abhisit and Korn were delivering real change. Of course this does not happen overnight and it will be a generation before they have better teachers and a sensible decentralised curriculum.

Currently Thailand has an obscene gap between the haves and have nots. However, education NOT handouts is the way forward.

Giving up this opportunity for some cheap populist policies is foolish, childlike almost. A IPad is no substitute for agood teacher!

Only good thing coming out of all this is going to be that their dreams will soon turn in nightmares for a lot of people and that is when hopefully they will realized what kind of mistake they made voting for them....

It will be too late. Total power will be solidified. Democracy is DEAD in Thailand, starting today.

Errr..just how is democracy dead?

The people have spoken havent they? If anything this prooves that democracy DOES work.

I dont like it any more than you, but you cannot claim democracy wasnt done just becuase you dont like the outcome. After all, NOT accepting the voice of the majority of the people would make one a bit of a dictator wouldnt it?

Sad day indeed for Thailand.

As you can see, democracy just doesn't work unless people have equal access to education and information.

Getting rid of Abhisit and Korn makes no sense.

And yes, by the way, I do feel intellectualy superior to many Thais, not through nationality but through the privilege of a first class education.

Sadly it is a Thai trait to consider today at the expense of tomorrow.

Fools

Well, he's just been on the BBC being interviewed by that bloody woman with the crew cut.

No word from the Beeb about the man's fugitive status.

No incisive interview. A pity Paxman wasn't let loose.

Fancy the BBC providing the oxygen of publicity just before an election.

Frankly, I think the BBC are in contempt here. Maybe the government could show their appreciation by refusing the woman entry back into Thailand?

Anyway, enough talk about forum members willies... this place seems like a youtube argument between children sometimes.

Can anyone actually tell me for certain when the ban finishes as there seems to be a bar or two round Nana selling alcohol.

rumour has it at 8 p.m so if you head off now you should be right

The letter sent to every bar in Phuket by the police states 18.00 Saturday to midnight Sunday.

The letter helpfully points out that advance voting finishes at 15.00 Sunday.

I can tell you that in Kamala at 12.00 today ZERO restaurants were open for breakfast/brunch or what ever. All convenience stores and super markets are selling beer to go.

Logic? As I say LOFI

Next weekend I'm off to HK. Thailand is so boring now....

Will the last person to leave Phuket turn the lights off please

As a farang living in Thailand I accept the rules here. Isn't that what any guest should do? Don't like it? No one will stop you from leaving this fantastic and great country which I love.

So after living here for 10 years, building and operating a successful engineering consultancy business and paying taxes, it is unacceptable for me to cricise some of the loony aspects of the country? <deleted>.

The fact is that tourism IS being damaged by these ridulous alcohol bans which occur several times a year.

The bans only affect the bars run or frequented by farangs. The local minimart on my Soi actually took on extra staff to cope with demand last night.

Instead of "protecting" Thais from alcohol consumption, the authorities might consider forcing political parties state what their policies actually are.

LOS? LOFI more like....

Strongly recommended reading

http://morgsatlarge.wordpress.com/2011/03/13/why-i-am-not-worried-

There is no such thing as a partial Meltdown, Once the Meltdown has begun due to loss of coolant there is virtually no way to stop it. Read the 'China Syndrome"

Too much science fiction out there.

The China Syndrome is a hypothetical idea of an extreme result of a nuclear meltdown in which molten reactor core products breach the barriers below them and flow downwards through the floor of the containment building. The origin of the phrase is the fictional idea that molten material from an American reactor could melt through the crust of the Earth and reach China.[1]

The 'China Syndrome' refers to the most drastically severe meltdown a nuclear reactor could possibly achieve. In this case, the reactor would reach the highest level of supercriticality for a sustained period of time, resulting in the melting of its support infrastructure. The uranium in the core would behave in a similar manner to a delta-class fire, self-sustaining temperatures in excess of 2000°C. Since these temperatures would melt all materials around it, the reactor would sink due to gravity, effectively boring a hole through the reactor compartment's floor.

China Syndrome

Two meltdowns occurred at American civil nuclear power plants:

1. The partial meltdown at the Fermi 1 experimental fast breeder reactor required the reactor to be repaired, though it never achieved full operation afterward.

2. The Three Mile Island accident, referred to in the press as a "partial core melt",[3] led to the permanent shutdown of that reactor.

Nuclear Meltdown

A partial can be stopped when proper cooling is supplied. A partial refers to portions of the exposed rods being exposed. It is not necessarily a runaway action.

Are you administrating or contributing?

You may consider my posts trite (you probably don't understand the humour) but I was trying to make a real point.

There are two many posts from people who don't understand the facts.

There are too many pundits on the BBC who clearly do not understand the engineering or the physics involved.

So if a "bearded anorak" told you your house was on fire, you wouldn't do anything until a man in a suit told you he was right?

i think your methods of how to sift information are a bit weak.

Lighten up! It's the lack of balanced reporting at the BBC that gets to me. The problem is they never get any real engineers to speak. The dumbing down at the BBC forbids anything that's the slightest bit technical. So, it's much better to focus on scare mongering blokes with beards and anoraks (probably a vegetarian to boot!) I see Rachel Harvey has been sent so we will get the crew cut feminists' view on newcular power....

Japan is a "hi-tech" well organised country, that has spent a lot of time, thought and money on dealing with earthquakes....

Imagine if this happened in another country with nuclear power plants!

Warning, the bearded anoraks are out! BBC just interviewed a chap with a beard and an anorak saying that this should mean no more nuclear power plants and the existing ones should be de-commissioned! No doubt we shall get some balance with an interview with a nuclear power advocate? Personally, I suspect that Mitsubishi Heavy's reactors are rather more robust than their Russian counterparts......

For some schools, especially the ones in rural areas, free wi-fi access will be a blessing. For schools in more affluent parts of Thailand, I smell a disaster brewing.

I work at a school in an affluent part of Thailand. Most of the students have laptops. I have noticed a substantial decrease in attention span because the kids are spending all of their time playing computer games. I don't think the social sites like hi5 and facebook (as well as porn) are as much of a problem as these networked games like Counterstrike (a first person shooter). The loss of attention span resulting from video game play is much greater than that caused by just watching TV and has been documented by several studies.

So, I think this is a mixed blessing. Good for the students in rural areas who will be able to access more information and research, but could present a big problem for more affluent kids who are not interested in learning and are only interested in using their laptops for gaming.

Look at it this way. Remember how thrilled you were in school, when your teacher brought in a film projector or TV for the students to watch, as opposed to the usual lecture? The kids at my school all put their heads down when you try to show them even a short video, in fact, even a music video. They don't want to do anything but play on the internet or play their networked games. Their access to the internet has destroyed their interest in learning.

Just my personal thoughts, based on my experience as a teacher in Thailand.

Isn't that more of a parenting issue?

Na.... It's a teaching issue. If one can not command the attention of the pupils or control a class maybe one should consider a different profession. As they use to say, If you can't do, teach. If you can't teach, teach Gym!

Do you teach? What subject? For how long? In Thailand? For how many years? To what age levels? Rural or urban? Private or government schools? Your comments sound like ill-informed platitudes.

Whilst I agree that it is up to a teacher to control classes and provide quality lessons, addiction to video games and the attention span issues it engenders in children has very little to do with the schools. It is my contention that these are issues that are best addressed in the home and by the parents or guardians starting at about 2-3 years old.

Teach? Good lord no! A vital profession which is underpaid and undervalued.

My comment was a wind-up of course.

However, I am amazed that anyone could have a negative view of anything which could lift the lamentable levels of eductation in Thailand.

For some schools, especially the ones in rural areas, free wi-fi access will be a blessing. For schools in more affluent parts of Thailand, I smell a disaster brewing.

I work at a school in an affluent part of Thailand. Most of the students have laptops. I have noticed a substantial decrease in attention span because the kids are spending all of their time playing computer games. I don't think the social sites like hi5 and facebook (as well as porn) are as much of a problem as these networked games like Counterstrike (a first person shooter). The loss of attention span resulting from video game play is much greater than that caused by just watching TV and has been documented by several studies.

So, I think this is a mixed blessing. Good for the students in rural areas who will be able to access more information and research, but could present a big problem for more affluent kids who are not interested in learning and are only interested in using their laptops for gaming.

Look at it this way. Remember how thrilled you were in school, when your teacher brought in a film projector or TV for the students to watch, as opposed to the usual lecture? The kids at my school all put their heads down when you try to show them even a short video, in fact, even a music video. They don't want to do anything but play on the internet or play their networked games. Their access to the internet has destroyed their interest in learning.

Just my personal thoughts, based on my experience as a teacher in Thailand.

Isn't that more of a parenting issue?

Na.... It's a teaching issue. If one can not command the attention of the pupils or control a class maybe one should consider a different profession. As they use to say, If you can't do, teach. If you can't teach, teach Gym!

That would be wonderful if it really happens for all schools nationwide. However, I wonder if the some 45,000 school to get wireless 3G internet includes those village schools in Isaan where even ADSL is not available and the only option is ipstar satellite slow internet connection? I live in a very rural area near one of these schools in Renu Nakhon, Nakhon Phanom where the cable infrastructure does not exist so no other option except satellite for the school & my home. Let's see if the 3G network truly covers all areas so rural schools will have this mandate fulfilled...

This is good news indeed. Certainly a start.

Our house is at Ban Pong, just the otherside of That from Renu Nakhon. I got a wireless modem from CAT in Nakhon Phanom together with a wireless router. This gives internet connection for all of us (including the TV decoder). We tend to get inundated with local kids using the connection which is just fine by me. Telephone lines are just not available outside the main towns.

One of the best moves Abhisit could make right now is to use Thaksin's billions to run a fibre optic structure with wireless hubs so that internet access is guaranteed for all Thai homes. At a stroke this would bootstrap Thai education levels in all ways.

Nicely done if a bit off topic!

Nice to know this woman is happy that poor people in Bangkok (many of whom actually come from the same kind of background as her) have lost their jobs thanks to all the burning she is happy about. Seems nobody is picking up on all the poor that are suffering because of the red arson and violence. There is a big irony in that albeit a sad one. Bangkok is not full; of only rich people and it is the poor who are suffering most from the attacks through lost work.

Ditto that!

It is sad to see poor and exposed people like her, being indoctrinated and filled with hate by a false movement that wasn't about her and the other poor. They've been thought to hate the government and "the rich" in Bangkok. So what is their own solution then?

Get rid of the government...? Confiscate the money and assets from "the rich elite" and... Give it to the poor? Then what? Money for free have never thought anyone to be innovative and self sufficient. When the money from the rich elite is used up on liquor and karaoke, who will employ the poor then? If they expect the government to hire every poor into the public sector... That won't work. Those experiments have been tested already in eastern Europe and elsewhere in world. China and even Vietnam are doing away with that kind of economy.

A country need investors in order to grow, expand businesses and employment. Either the investors are people and organizations from the homeland or from foreigners abroad. Personally, I prefer investors to be fellow countrymen. They will spend their their private money and wealth mostly at home, which is good for those who are involved in providing goods and services for that. Yes, it can hurt to see that some may have a bigger house and and a faster car than you. I don't see any problems with that, as long as they've been successful in a honest way.

So what can be done then? Well first the poor have to realize that the only way to success is by education and work. Unfortunately there are still way to many poor that don't want their kids to continue with the education after 9th grade. Many raise their daughters to became indirect prostitutes, hoping a rich guy or farang one day will marry them and then securing the family pension. The government must guarantee that every child can continue their studies through college and even university. There should be a student loan programme + some government premiums that would help the most absolute poor to have their kids at school. But that's not a guarantee for success. The student must be able to take good care of the studies. Not everyone got high IQ or clever brain. Some will drop from studies just because they are not suited for it. It's nothing money can do about that. Further more... There should be some kind of level of lowest wages that anyone can pay a worker. There should also be a pension programme as well. It do actually exist already, but it requires that the either the worker or the employer pay a percentage to the government pension fund. Most poor are simply not interested in that, sine it will be a premium taken of from the salary.

So... My question remains...

What was their plan and concept on helping the poor?

What do the poor homeless lady hope to be the outcome of toping the existent government?

.

Indeed so!

I have in fact been asking this question for weeks now - What do the reds actually want. You know, policies and initiatives.

Of course education is number one and that has now been provided free up to age 16. It's a start. Just imagine some vocational training so that some kid can get trained and licensed for some particular trade and then get paid a useful wage......We don't all have to be PhDs

There is already a minimum wage (derisory by the way)

And an old age pension. Again not much but it is a start.

I did suggest to MODERATORS that a constructive thread of possible initiatives would be interesting. There are some smart people on here and I for one would be interested in their views! No response so far. Anybody out there? Hello? Hello?