Valentine

It is the masses of telephone cables which make it look really bad including all the ones which have been cut & just hanging down. If TOT would just implement the fibre optic which has been in place for many years someone might be willing to take down all the telephone cables for the copper value.

Lets not forget most Isarn folk have deep set roots from khamer blood lines.

They will not be upset by this move.

Maybe he is looking for some of Newin voodoo spells.

I know some Isaan folk from the red heart of Udon Thani & they are not at all happy with Mr T now, even to the point of considering him a traitor. Check out the latest poll which shows Abhisit's popularity increasing nearly threefold from just a couple of weeks ago.

I do not understand why Mr T took the risk of nationalistic sentiment turning against him. If he does not care then pity this wonderful country if he does return. Civil war would be the likely scenario.

Nationalistic sentiment has just been given a huge boost by the Cambodian situation.

There used to be a fairly large open spot at Saphan Hin, I think if you turn left at the small lake it will then appear on the right side. Also used to be one in Kathu on a large open plot of land as I would often see the driving school companies operating in there with posts set up to practice tight manouvres. It is near the intersection (if coming from Lotus go through the lights & is on the left side) between Lotus & Caltex but there are now many businesses lining the road frontage so not sure if there is any access now although on the other side of the road there is also a large open space with filled land.

Yes, the correct spelling is Makro. I was on there the other day, saw the new bakery but was in a hurry & so did not take much notice. I never used to care for the place apart from getting vegetables & seafood but will check out the new layout in due course.

It is quite possible Mr T could be labeled as a traitor no matter what he says on twitter. If the NE folk start thinking this way then this is a disastarous move for him unless the plan is much more convoluted than I think. Oil concessions using Dubai connections could be part of it but there is the very real possibility of either war civil or between Thailand & Cambodia. A very dangerous & slippery slope indeed & the price on Mr T's head probably just rose drastically.

I find it hard to believe Mr T took this path considering many of his supporters will now turn against him.

There are many factors involved in broadband speed. My understanding is that the international bandwidth is being expanded every year but probably not fast enough. Many ISPs can easily show good speeds within Thailand but bottlenecks occur when accessing outside Thailand. Here in Phuket we have a group who regularly check internet speeds via this website http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ (use San Francisco). The results are all logged & can be used to show the misleading speed claims by the ISPs.

There is also the issue that most of the broadband arrives via old & deteriorating copper lines plus there are often too many subscribers who have to access the same port. A fibre optic network has been in place in Phuket for a long time but not used. It begs the question that even when used & everything can move at lightning ast speed via the fibre optic what happens when it goes outside the fibre optic?

Should be plenty of ladies wigs at Beauty Land opposite Animal Hospital, Kao Rung or perhaps in the haberdashery section at Central.

I have used alum successfully in the past & is a lot less backbreaking than scraping & brushing but you lose some water when you vacuum it out which has to be done very slowly. Another more simple method to try is to scrape the black algae with a chlorine tablet which can be quite effective. Once you clear the problem I suggest you use a new product which will keep algae at bay. PM me if you want details.

Chalong for me.

BTW I have several of my posts published in PG under Letters to the editor, without my permission. I don't really mind & I do not know what agreement they have with TV but good decorum would dictate they ask before publishing. In one they made a simple edit which completely changed the tone of what I was saying originally.

Don't drink and drive

Otherwise Som Na Na

An extremely disrespectful post. Please think before committing & an aplogy would be in order.

Its possibly in part the recession.. But its the changing face of the tourist zone.

There used to be a handful of touts, then that went to 20 or so, the the police licensed them (mean charge them to operate) and now they have police support so can act any way they like.. So they act like arrogant bully boys safe in the knowledge that if they start something they can gang up on the tourist and the police will usually look the other way. Theres now 10's maybe 100's of them from one end of the strip to the other.

Tourists have ceased to be a resource where cash met services, and become a resource to be plundered as much as they can.

I agree & am sure that anyone who peddles their wares has to purchase a "licence" & the smell which seems to permanently permeate throughout Bangla will forever be infused with the scum that inhabit it. Having said that most of the peddlers are simply trying to earn a living but the way the whole scene is organised needs to be radically overhauled or soon Patong will be a bigger wild west show than it already is.

Well said Pete & I am sure there were more than a few in the closet lady boys in every country's fighting forces.

When I first came to Phuket Soi Bangla was a two way dirt road & the number of lady boys could be counted on two hands as you could see most of them on the fringes of the Kangaroo Bar which was a great party place after 2am. About 12 years ago I had quite a few beers at a Friday night BBQ on Rat-U-Thit & late that night wandered down a dark beach road on my way to Bangla to meet up with some friends at Playskool. On the way I was accosted by a bunch of katoeys who were in no way violent but did manage to hoist Baht 500 out of my pocket. These days a similar incident could be quite nasty.

There is already a for sale sign on the suspect's house who was always known to be polite & friendly to his neighbours (yes I know these kind of comments are often heard).

It seems like the recession is fueling the agressive approaches to drum up business whether it be iguana handlers, go go bar touts or the multitude of others. It also highlights the fact any foreigner caught up in an altercation with a local will always end up having to fend off many more.

The article you posted about killing & controlling algae did not specifically mention black algae which as you rightly say is extremely difficult to remove as it actually roots into the grouting. One way to get rid of it is to suffocate it with flocculent & the name escapes me right now but I think it is ammonium bisulphate. It should be readily available all over the country as it is commonly used after digging a bore to make the water clear.

"Also I said in the post that was removed that GWBush was not to blame for the current state of affairs and as for cooking gas, that was a sarcastic comment. Get with the program geezer"

Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit & of course I knew but simply want to highlight the inadequacies in your arguments. As for geezer .....

I have nothing against anyone using their drug of choice provided they are fully informed about the effects but unfortunately any serious effects are either not known or not publicized e.g the dangers of nicotine which were well known before they became widely publicized. The other side of the coin are all the impressionable youngsters who use drugs by succumbing to peer pressure or have no idea of the consequences & anyone who deals to this group does not deserve any mercy. I have tried most things apart from the recent designer drugs & in the end opted to be a drinker & cigarette smoker both of which I have stopped. If I could turn back the clock I would not have indulged in any of them but then again my life may not have taken me to the fair isle of Phuket.

Here is a Thai generalization. They smile & nod their heads as if in agreement but then go on to do their own thing but I digress. Foreign policy does not have any bearing on the OP.

I agree with the moderator. The post is about someone who got busted with illegal drugs & the apparent sentence he would receive. I fail to see what it has to do with GWB or cooking gas. Any external war on drugs has no bearing on Thai drug policy unless political pressure is exerted to arrest a particular individual.

Faster Freddy Faster. Well said

If I stick my head in the oven and die from inhaling gas maybe we should execute the CEO of the gas company......

The OP was about someone who got arrested in possession of illegal drugs. Bringing cooking gas, tobacco & alchol into the argument really has no relevance to this post. Highlighting death rates from alcohol or tobacco also has no relevance because if all the illegal drugs were made legal & had similar number of users you would probably find similarly high death rates.

I agree you have a point. I admit to not having talked to people in Bangkok. I was not in Bangkok at time of coup, and in fact rarely go there except to the airport. At least when it is not being occupied. I am talking about the opinions of people I know in northern, central and northeastern Thailand. It is no secret that there is disagreement between people in these areas. it is my opinion, based on talking to Thai people and also what I have read, even in the obviously biased Bangkok Post, that Thaksin did a lot of good for Thailand.

Unless you live in the South, which was not only neglected (google thaksin and the Hat Yai floods) but the problems with the Muslims were exacerbated by his heavy hand.

Thaksin did say that those who voted for him would get helped first and went on to prove it by his attitude towards the South. That, to me, does not speak of doing good for the entire country at all much less of good governance at all.

when did Thaksin said that: 'that those who voted for him would get helped first'?

I don't think those were the exact words but he made it quite clear that development funds would only go to those constituencies which supported him.

Selling their soul to Hun Sen seems like a very dangeous ploy as there could be more than money involved.

He may have been there to check investment into resource projects as the country is rich in natural resources, oil & gas, copper are ones that I know of. Outside the towns there are no roads, it is a mountainous country with high ridges & deep valleys where malaria is rife. It can be extremely dangerous, housing compounds have armed guards & high walls with razor wire. I was told by the locals that if driving around after dark & have a flat tyre you will surely be attacked if you stop.

In Port Moresby the atmosphere is menacing with groups of people lounging around all over the place drinking, chewing betel nut or high on something & they certainly do not look happy. My first impression upon exiting the airport terminal was a group of topless old women doing some sort of welcoming dance all out of sync & a couple of taxi drivers having a serious fist fight. There is an airstrip near the mouth of the Fly River where we had to wait for a helicoptor & hundreds of people appeared seemingly out of nowhere & just stood around, very quiet, very disturbing, almost like a bad horror flick.

I have never used the Hurlcom model so cannot comment on it but installed many Chloromatics over the years. If you use an ESC 16 which is self cleaning then you will need to run it 8 hours per day for a 30m3 pool if you are not going to use pool stabilizer. You can buy a cheap Panasonic timer which can be connected to your pump & chlorinator for about 700 Baht. It is important both go on & off at the same time.

There is a private women's shelter in Rawai which has been there for many years. It is self funding & is not affiliated with any umbrella organization. This could be the NGO which is being referred to.

BTW in many countries being under the influence of alcohol or ya ba is not a legitimate excuse to be let off a crime & absolutely no one should be condoned for attacking women with a steel bar.

To be honest I thought the government of Mr T was the first one to last a full 4 year term. The Dems were brought down by a land scandal in Phuket at one time. I think Chuan has always been considered honest & commands a certain respect because of this & so was a good front man for the Dems. Abhisit has similar qualities but the problem is both him & Chuan were surrounded/supported by some dubious politicians which have hindered showing their true potential.

Some Thais I know say that Chuan was indecisive but this was due to the problem of keeping the coalition intact i.e. making sure the trough is full enough. When the trough is not full the coalition starts to fall apart which seems part & parcel in the vicious circle of Thai politics. The longer the current government lasts the more solid Abhisit's base will become & enable sound decisions to be made for the future of the country.

Hopefully there will come a day when governments actually concentrate on governing the country rather than the rulling party expending most of its energy appeasing their coalition partners & benefactors.