Sydebolle

In Nong Khai it is the PEA Provincial Electricity Authority - as per their answer to my question there.

Yet another proof that this is a completely failed state. If such figures can make it that high up, he will stop at nothing. Traveling with illicit substances to Australia, getting booked and served four years for a crime which would have had him hanged in his homeland, running around with a dodgy doctorate from a laundromat university somewhere in California ............ But, if the gifted Thai voter sees nothing wrong with this candidate as a politician and possibly even as the prime minister, de facto CEO of the country, then the Thai people do not deserve any better. You have to revamp the entire system, clean it out completely - be warned, Thailand will be facing a bumpy ride one day with bloodshed of the makings of a civil war. Thailand as a country and its people deserve definitely better but as long as the uneducated illiterate majority in a cast-system structure is being kept below carpet and tiles .......

See you further first. Thailand is, among others, best known for its childish approach. Take a toy away from a kiddo and see what happens. As the "kids" here are of legal age, they will just disregard this rule of no water and no booze. Wondering to which heights the death toll will go this Songkran; luckily certainly lower than previous years due to lack of funds to go home but nevertheless a staggering if not mind-boggling figure again - despite the booze ban! You're welcome!

Had a row with the local government yocals on the issue with a restaurant we had back in the days. Our light boxes were 100% on our offload parking facility and they wanted tax money for the Thai (writing in very small letters in the upper right corner) and four times the amount for the bigger English wording. A normal light box on the car park (owned by us) or street lamps on our property go free and so goes any signs - provided it is entirely on your property. Other signs go at a Thai rate with a 100% surcharge for English letters. That explains, i.e. the street signs of Honda with five light boxes (one for every letter). The tiny small caption in the upper right corner though says "Honda" as a complete word - in Thai. Yet another Thai way of circumventing yet another racist law in the land of the semi-divine .......

wishing you the best of luck in getting back home to Japan; another story to tell back home I assume ????

Does anyone - except those who file and approve it (like the health minister for one) - have a clue, how many billions this entire exercise has cost the taxpayer so far? Must be a mind-boggling amount given the (meanwhile no longer discussed disaster of) locally produced Astra-Zeneca, the cargo flights full of gifted contributions by the Chinese etc.

It is always refreshing with what kind of titles people are being called in this country. The democratically elected sitting government is full of former generals (Thailand has - I kid you not - thousands of 'em) and they are all still addressed as generals despite the fact, that they are out of uniform and into a civilian position - now - that is. Likewise Dr Thaksin has a colourful resume including "business person, entrepreneur (silk, mobile phone technology etc.), police officer (1973–1987), politician, visiting professor" - as per Wikipedia. His present "occupation" would have to read "fugitive", but in order not to wake up sleeping dogs again in Dr T's backyard (North- and Northeast Thailand where his electoral base is still very very much alive and strong), he is called "former prime minister". Maybe I should get name cards listing "former altar boy" which I was in the distant past .........

I'm not a tree hugger nor a do-gooder but even I could only wonder ...... I finished building a house with huge roof space a few clicks out of a smaller city in E-Sarn and placed the house according to the axis of sun, general wind direction etc. = in short, take the best architectural approach as far as saving energy (mainly cooling of premises) is concerned. Among an roof allowing winds going through the roof 24/7 and high ceilings inside the house I also wanted to put up some solar cell panels. As competent advice is rare, it at all available, in the land of smiles I thought of putting up panels only, i.e. without batteries, computers etc. as the latter might shout "headache" and "difficult". Yet, in a country with +/- 250-280 sunshine days, solar power might make sense. I calculated it up and down, from left to right, and could not make (financial) ends meet for various reasons. Firstly you need an approval to produce, on your property, solar electricity - the "Crystal Maze" is easier. The energy produced during sunny daytimes results in peaks which are higher than your own consumption and hence it would be an idea to feed the surplus into the public power grid (to be installed by a professional who knows what (s)he is doing). For this you need a license which is almost impossible to get and, of course, the approval - apart from the installation costs to be borne by you. Ultimately I gave up and keep using the power supplied by the provincial electricity authority. In a country with, as mentioned more sunshine days that most other places, I could have easily produced my entire daytime needs (i.e. air conditioning, swimming pool pump, washing machine, ironing etc.); with selling the surplus at a nominal tariff below their sales tariff I could have run this on cost-recovery basis. It was not to be and, unless you offload 90% of the bureaucracy combined with the tariffs and duties on this imported equipment, it will remain a hobby for the selected few. Some other countries with harsher conditions (i.e. Germany or Switzerland) have governmentally-sponsored programmes and very interesting tax incentives to promote this renewable energy source in a much more challenged natural environment - go figure!

Don't forget the passovers built in the middle of a pavement and another beauty remains the various power poles. Other cities pride themselves with "walking city centres" which are even kept free from private vehicle traffic with street coffeeshops, beautiful fountains and flower spots inviting people to stroll around and enjoy life. Here it's the usual race-for-life, jumping up and down the pavement (if possible) ...... and if it rains the the puddles fill up it even gets better. Those being around for a while might remember the SEA games of 1998. Bangkok's pavement on lower Sukhumvit got a facelift and they managed in no time to present lovely pavements. Once the games were over, I witnessed myself trucks along the curb with workers removing the concrete plates used for the beautification of pavements and within no time the old conditions of "World War Two" battle field was reinstated again ........... 24 years ago!

Given the fact, that i.e. Udon Thani was paid for by the US taxpayers in the 60s of last century for the American presence in the non-existing secret war over Laos ...... DoA, AoT and XYZ = explains the efficiency, power struggle and cloudy waters in all the governmental budgets. Just out of interest, if i.e. Bangkok Airways wants to fly a sector between a DoA airport and a AoT airport (as so done in the past between Swampy and Udon), it would mean to file for traffic rights with the Department of Civil Aviation and then kiss the DoA and AoT in addition for their kind endeavours in facilitating matters? I recall the project engineer on the airport bridge from Don Muang airport across the highway and rail track into the Airport hotel (managed by Siam Lodge which turned into Amari lateron). It took an entire office to keep the paper piles mounting and valid among 22 (twenty two) government agencies like the AoT, Department of Highways, State Railways of Thailand, the municipality of Don Muang, the air force etc. etc. etc. Once they had all papers filed, all inked signatures dried, they had a time window of 2 workings days until the first approvals would have expired again. Welcome to the bureaucracy Kingdom - you're welcome!

........ "as many as 1,621 motorcycle racers were arrested between January and February, with 936 cars and 18,936 motorcycles confiscated in the process." I always wonder who is compiling those most accurate numbers to the x-th digit behind the comma? If you want to put an end to it (and they clearly do not want) then destroy the vehicles ???? It will not eradicate the happenings but, as the (former) public destruction of counterfeit goods, usually a yearly media event in March, it impoverished some sellers and distributors. Due to the absence of tourists hunting for fake Logegs, Loowees Veetongs etc. = problem solved (for the time being at least).

"The jet had accumulated more than 6,000 hours of flight time. On the day of the crash, the pilot was practicing a dogfight maneuver when he appeared to briefly lose control of the aircraft." I've been around for a few years and it might be interesting to find out, how many military aircraft got non-repairable over "briefly" something during non-combat peacetime moments. Or was it a soft push into the back of those to approved the budget for new air toys for the boys recently? Just asking ....... as the budget included some upgraded frames like F-35?

Praise the Lord - or whatever elder gentleman - for my prayers having been heard. Unclear remains the availability; when checking on one vendor's website (https://www.booghe.co.uk/products/monopoly-phuket-thailand-edition) it refers to "available 1 April 2022". My goodness gracious me, could it be an April's Fool contribution slightly ahead of calendar? On a more serious note, who is buying this board game at UKP 30? The Phuketian locals (i.e. Khon Thai) = most likely not as Thais are more into illegal card games, lottery or cock fights (pun intended). More often than not aggregated by local firewaters in the back of backyards ........ I assume that the Tourism Authority, in its endless wisdom, had yet another inspiration driven by smoking seriously good weed. Wondering how much cash was sunk into the idea with trips between London and Phuket and other fact-finding expenses. The idea as such, from a (countrywide) tourism promotion board is brilliant but why Phuket which is, in all fairness, not known for its cultural heritage or world-unique nature. A Thailand edition covering the top 30 spots across the land might have made sense ...... In closing, editions covering i.e. Bangkok's Soi Cowboy with all the bars or Pattaya with its afternoon refuges might find more takers, but what do I know ...........

Keep 'em stones until next election is through so you'll manage to become the prime minister of stoned Thailand ........ you cannot make this stuff up ????

And I was told that monks never touch money ......... some stash it, others use it for private planes with LVMH bags or some years back on soapy fun in Brisbane

Just make sure that none of your underlings from Chiang Mai creep into the Prince's private chambers with the intention to check on the content of the safe. Last time a few hundert kilogrammes disappeared, got flown to Bangkok without charging excess luggage or import duty fees. It soured the soup for 30+ years and cost a few people - unnecessarily - their lives ????

You'll get helluva car park for that kind of loose change. I would also not hold my breath on the anti drug aspect of the consulate; read up the days of Air America and the CIA "assistance" prior and during the secret war in Laos. Most of the boys from back then are meanwhile gone but it is on record, that those little planes of Air America did not fly around with horse <deleted> as non-existing cargo ???? But yes, you got your priority right; if there is ample parking - why not. Yet I wonder what the land price stands in comparison to the most secretive building in Chiang Mai with all its expected antennae etc.

Unlikely scenario and not much changed since Sarit and Phibul except, that the money in the past was pumped into Thailand in form of nine digit dollar amounts; now it's the Chinese turn. It takes more than Shinawatra as a last name to unseat the generalissimo, latter being there while the taking is good (and it still is, see submarines - albeit without engines -, air force and railway grid plans across the country). Interesting enough is, that Dr Thaksin has been out of the country for staggering 14 years now and still can call very loud shots from faraway lands. This is not only, because he the strong man of opposing thoughts but also documents the very weakness of all those other parties, operating and led by "leaders" from within Thailand. Paetongtarn Shinawatra will be a placeholder, as her auntie Yingluck, but most Thais meanwhile could live with this. She just has to be prepared for the mother of all battles against Anutin with his high aspirations and do not forget Thammanat's miraculous conversion from baking flour to illicit substances which booked him an FOC stay at the Sydney Hilton. It will be a very dirty and nasty all-out an episode of Game of Thrones - Thai-style. For all the dirty farangs = get popcorn and the Laz-y-boy recliners ready; it is showtime anytime soon again ????

Bananas 89 Baht; street side 35 Baht Eggs 114 Baht (30 eggs, size 3-4); outside vendor 98 Baht (30 eggs, size 2-3) Local salads (Royal Project/Hydroponics) upto 176 Baht per kilogramme (increased by 35%) Capsicum anything between 115 - 137 Baht (increased by 15 - 37%) etc. etc. etc. Nobody needs cheaper fans but the daily groceries are what count. But, in all fairness, it needs to mentioned that fresh markets (in Nong Khai) skyrocket pricing of i.e. potatoes to 60 Baht/kg while Makro is selling them at 39 Baht/kg. You're welcome!

While I have to go for a kindergarten-style childish renewal with infantile video lesson of two hours in fluent Thai after lifelong accident-free driving which I got in Europe 46 years ago! Makes sense!

In addition try to imagine, when Somchai screams "positive" after a twelve hours flight you boarded knowing to be negative - off to the slammer at your (highway robbery tagged) expense and there goes your vacation. What do these pr1cks in all those committees and working groups with governmental breathing down their necks think, honestly? How stupid can you be?

My thoughts, exactly, brilliant ????

The boys down at the Tourism Authority will be more than glad to hear this. The Irish bloke fell, accidentally, and must have been on blood thinners to bleed like hell. Luckily Thailand's safety is guaranteed by all those experienced and well trained security guards in their beautiful uniforms and whistles - never a dull moment!

Ah, Dubai again - excellent news then. Next will be the overdue necessary upgrade of the RTP fleet of cars; out with the BMWs, Benz' and all the other toys. Take an example in Dubai with their fleet of law enforcements; no way to outrun 253 miles/h ..... Well, lets wait and see for the first batch of Bugatti Veyrons racing up and down Sukhumvit in Bangkok .....

Christmas without tree, Santa Claus without beard and Songkran with ....... Dinosaurs 'r us!