clifric

For some time I have collected ring pulls from beer cans and passed them on to a guy in Pattaya for use as raw materials to make prosthetic limbs for Thai children, many of whom suffer from mine disasters

I no longer have a conduit toi pass these on and wonder if there is any local outlet for these.ring-pulls. I live in Pranburi

Meanwhile the Us continues to criticise other nations for human rights abuses and has the temerity to set up a table of standards.

Will we see the effects of drone strikes on civilians in the Middle East follow the same trend?

It looks easy to break into but surely the guns were secured in racks inside as well. We used to run a chain through the trigger guards in the 1960s

He got a fair trial but didn't stay around to accept the verdict and the sentence.

Will 'aliens' be able to get a border pass and if so will they need re-entry permits. Anyone know/

Fined 1,000 baht and released to carry on doing it eh?

Despite the fact that I have a 55 year accident free driving history I was forced to sit among all the licence applicants who were renewing licences while we watched a 45 minute video on how to drive safely. This included advice on how not to jump traffic lights, drive on the wrong side of the road. not use hazard lights to indicate going ahead since the Thais haven't realised drivers to the side only see indicator lights on their side.

On driving away with my 6 year renewed licence I noted all this advice being ignored by people who sat through the same video. Driver training doesn't work here proper enforcement might, but in a country where Police officers ride motorbikes with no helmet it's a faint hope.

After receiving continual critical comments from USA is it any wonder that Thailand is now cosying up to China and Japan as well as joining up to the new Asian bank

It seems to me that the problem in Thailand is that when the peak price was reached, many rubber planters went out and bought 4x4s, satellite TVs and phones etc instead of saving the excess profits for a period of low prices. When the market fell they demanded the government of the time subsidise their rubber in the same way that rice farmers did under a falling rice market. Had they saved their gains they would not have needed to get into such debt as some have done

Had successive governments spent time making attempts to educate the farmers instead of introducing populist polices that yielded votes and sources of income (graft) then the farmers might have eventually moved to self-sufficiency. I say 'might' as the growing conditions are never guaranteed.

Guess a GtoG deal with China or Japan is the ideal solution!

Want to give to the appeal in Hua Hin area?

Boxes are now in situ at

• Hua Hin Ham, Bacon and Meat Company (soi 41)
• Ye Olde Buffalo Tavern at Chomsin Road/Naresdamri Road junction
• El Murphys at Soi Selakam

About 2 kms from my house is a segregated cycle lane that stretches, currently, around 8km and is still under extension, eventually leading all the way down to the Sam Roi Yot national park and treasures such as Dolphin Bay some 18kms in all. When I say segregated I mean there is a raised concrete border of around 10cm height between the vehicular traffic and the cycle lane

Welcome home your Majesties - long may you reign!

Agree with thhMan - sack the police chief if no helmets worn within say 3 months - he will pass on the threat no doubt. As commented helmets are worn in Vietnam.

I thought motorscooters ridden by under-age children could be confiscated at the school gates until a Thai friend said the parents would not send the kids to school!

Why not make visits to intensive care wards part of the school curriculum?

Now I'll stop as I know nothing will get done in the long term anyway!

Waza - 44.1 million minus 18 million is 26.1 million not 46 million! Still leaves a discrepancy but not as high as you suggest. Maybe that's where all the holes in the stocks filled in with scaffolding came from? Also there was a suggestion that some of the rice had been recycled i.e. sold twice to the government.

I reckon Yingluck's biggest deficiency was believing her ministers who assured her all was well and not instigating a proper investigatino into the allegations.

Mijan 24 - you are right as it stands; what is required is for the Chief of Police to tell all his District

Chiefs they have 6 months to achieve a motor cycle helmet law compliance or they get sacked - not transferred

to an 'inactive post' (aka no graft position) with no pension. That would get them moving.

Impound all the vehicles with no number plates (i.e. no road tax or insurance)

For a start at least

So will we now see, as suggested by Estrada, a joint Thai-Cambodian initiative that jointly operates the site to mutual benefit as should have happened originally. No guesses as to where the profits will go.

Next on the agenda will then be the disputed sea area and the oil revenues, but probably not until Mr De Facto is here to dip his snout!

including money donated from local residents, to develop the place.

Reckon this might have come in 200 baht increments obtained from 'temporary' local residents?

So Stevenl -

Birmingham (BHX) to BKK £706 Emirates £630 Etihad/KLM

BKK to BHX £1063 Etihad, £1164 Lufthansa, £1176 Emirates

A return fare starting from Birmingham (BHX) to Bangkok and returning from BKK to BHX at £630 cannot be compared to the return fare when Bangkok is the starting point of £1063? Taking Etihad fares that is £433 more for me to travel to see my relatives than it is for them to come and see me, using the same planes, same landing charges.

Why is it that all airlines apply a discriminatory tariff to return flights commencing from Thailand - or is it that they offer substantial discounts for return flights coming in?

For example, taking a departure date of 20th November and a return on 20th December 2013, the following prices are given by Expedia for RETURN fares.

Melbourne(MEL) to London (LHR) £1026 China South £1432 Emirates

LHR to MEL £928 Air China £1275 Emirates

Bangkok (BKK) to LHR £709 Aeroflot, £792 China East, £859 KLM, £970 Etihad. £3291 Thai (?)

LHR to BKK £538 Oman, £604 British Airways, £624 Etihad, £646 Thai

Birmingham (BHX) to BKK £706 Emirates £630 Etihad/KLM

BKK to BHX £1063 Etihad, £1164 Lufthansa, £1176 Emirates

Manchester (MAN) to BKK £622 Qatar

BKK - MAN £959 Etihad

No benefits can be found by travelling via Frankfurt, Kuala Lumpur or Singapore

Of course the red shirt leaders who turned down AV's offer to hold an election had nothing to do with the ensuing riots did they? Although I must say I understood that Veera wanted to reach a peaceful solution and seemingly was moved to an 'inactive post'