nisakiman

another question: is Thailand a failure???

and if it is why are so many foreign people here???

I think most foreign people in Thailand have already spent their productive and innovative years elsewhere and come her to kick back and enjoy themselves.

Thailand is a great place to do nothing and enjoy yourself if you are already financially stable.

Thailand is one of the worst places to be young, motivated and innovative.

The system is corrupt and set up to stiffel those with the potential to excel.

Only those with connections and or the money to buy productive careers can obtain them.

Those who get them have no need or desire to be productive or innovative.

How many young talented, motivated professionals do you see coming to Thailand for a career who do not work for a foreign company??

Yes, Thailand is a failure, unless you are looking for nothing but rest and relaxation!

That's not entirely true. My wife comes from a working class family but her elder brother is now VP of a major Thai media company and makes very good money even by western standards. No connections, just intelligence and hard graft and the sacrifices of his parents so he could go to the international university in Bangkok.

The reduction in distance is apparently due to to the fact that the old route involved a wide detour to the old bridge to cross the river, whereas the new bridge is directly en route to the airport.

http://tuoitrenews.vn/society/25172/nhat-tan-bridge-noi-bai-airports-new-terminal-debut-in-hanoi

Yes, cabs are more expensive than in Thailand, and there seems to be a two-tier system. There are small cabs where the meter starts at a lower fare (10,000 Dong?) and larger more comfortable cabs where the meter starts at (I think) 12,000 Dong. and the bigger cabs' meters seem to run faster, although I can't be sure of that. There were no tolls on the new road to the airport. Comparing prices with Bangkok (or London or Athens or Dehli for that matter) is irrelevant and pointless. Taxi prices are what they are. And the meter runs at the same speed for the locals as it does for the tourists, so I don't see it as tourist ripoff pricing. The cab drivers there try to take tourists without the meter running on a (ripoff) fixed price.

The wife and I flew (from DMK) to Hanoi (Noi Bai) airport on 29th December and returned on 7th Jan. When we arrived, we came into the old terminal and it took an hour (about 30km) in a cab to central Hanoi. When we left, to our surprise we took a new multi-lane highway crossing a new bridge (both of which opened only a few days before) and were dropped at a brand spanking new terminal (also just opened). The trip to the airport is now only 15 km and 30 minutes, and the terminal (departures) was fast and efficient.

Just an update for those travelling to Hanoi

Something that rather puzzled me about the drive to the airport was that the hotel organised a cab to pick us up at 6.30 am (in fact we could have left half an hour later had we known about the new road and bridge) and asked me to pay 300,000 Dong in advance to them for it. The cab driver turned on the meter when we left (I know not why), and when we arrived at the airport, the meter was showing 326,000 Dong, yet the driver didn't ask me for any more money, just unloaded the suitcases and said goodbye. How does that work, then? I fully expected to be hit for at least the extra 26,000! Maybe an experienced Vietnam hand can enlighten me!

^^Some risks are worth taking. Risks like not wearing a seat belt and riding a motorcycle without a helmet are just stupid, unnecessary risks.

What about riding a bicycle ?

Wear a helmet.

You're joking, of course. Bike helmets are for lycra-clad loonies and paranoid nutters. (And people who have the misfortune to live in uber-nanny-state Melbourne.)

There was a syndrome which appeared in the 80s (it actually started earlier, with the seatbelt laws, but had not been given a name at that time) called 'The Volvo Effect', which was that basically when people were driving their Volvo tanks, with the nagging 'fasten your seatbelt' beeps, super-efficient crumple zones, side-bar protection etc etc, they tended to absolve themselves of responsibility when driving in the mistaken belief that they were virtually invulnerable in their supersafe, state-of-the-art Volvos and that all was taken care of. As a result, they had more accidents. In the case of the introduction of the seatbelt laws, it was observed that people started driving considerably faster.

"...the cab drivers were exhibiting “risk homeostasis,” or our tendency as a species to maintain an optimum level of risk in our lives. The theory holds that when we feel safer because of anti-lock brakes, condoms or childproof bottle tops, to cite just a few examples, humans compensate with riskier behavior, such as driving faster, having sex with more strangers or being less vigilant in monitoring children’s access to medicine. The result is the same in many scenarios–the accident rate remains relatively unaffected despite the best efforts of scientists and legislators to reduce it. For Wilde, “safety features” are nothing of the sort."

http://sanjivb.com/article/our-need-for-speed/

In fact you could say that Volvo was the precursor of the paternalistic nanny state, in that it removed personal responsibility (and with it freedom of choice) and devolved that responsibility to itself, or in these days, to the state.

The last few decades have seen an inexorable erosion of personal freedom, all in the name of 'elf'n'safety', or 'security' or 'Public Health'.

This is no accident. Every freedom lost gives the state more control over your personal life.

We would do well to heed Benjamin Franklin's words:

"Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

Westerners wear a seat-belt in case an accident will happen.

Thais do not wear wear a seat-belt believing an accident will not happen.

Westerners wear seat-belts because it's the law, and respect the law.

Thais do not wear seat-belts because they have no respect for the law or their own safety.

I think if Westerners didn't have to wear them, many wouldn't.

Some Thais wear seat belts, some don't.

Do you want Thailand to have the same laws as Western countries?

If it did, then it wouldn't be the Thailand I love. I prefer to have the right to drive without a helmet if I want and I rarely do wear a helmet.

Would you like to have to wear a bicycle helmet that Westerners have to?

Would you like not to be able to take your kids for a ride on your motorbike?

Would you like to be fined for drinking a bottle of water when driving?

Would you not like to be able to answer your phone whilst on your motorbike?

Or maybe you just want to change some of the laws to suit yourself.

I live in Greece, and one of the things I love about the country is the lack of nanny-state bullying. I never wear a helmet when I ride my bike - I find them uncomfortable in the heat, they interfere with my peripheral vision (something I consider vital when riding) and they interfere with my hearing, which I also consider an important factor. But more than that, I just love the freedom of feeling the wind through my hair (what little I have left...). I also rarely wear a seatbelt.

If Wilco et al find the prospect of watching the full length global warming swindle programme a bit daunting, here's a link to a short clip (just over two minutes, so not taxing) of an interview with Dr. Peter Rost, former vice president of Pfizer.

As I said in my last post, the parallels between current medical 'lifestyle' research and AGW research are inescapable. Dr. Rost explains how research results are influenced (read 'fixed') to supply the results that those funding the research want, regardless of the facts. It puts the phrase 'experts have said...' in a whole new light when you consider that those funding climate research are all commited believers and/or have vested interests in global warming, and likewise that all funding for alcohol and tobacco research comes from rabidly anti-alcohol and anti-tobacco organisations (ideologues), who are in turn funded by the pharmaceutical industry (vested interests).

Is this stuff legal or illegal in Thailand?

Still illegal same with weed, will probably stay illigal for a long time its great to put people in jail for it and extort money. So doubt they will make it legal.

Thanks, very strange that it is still illegal sounds like it could help a lot of people suffering with chronic pain

You could say that about marijuana and the opiates, but the puritans don't like them, so you're not allowed to have them. Because they know better than you how you should structure your life, It was ever the way with interfering busybodies who get some power.

Freedom of choice? Only if it conforms with what they have decided you can cope with. After all, they are the 'experts', and they know you better than you know yourself.

When you make a pact with the devil, be prepared to relinquish your soul.

That's sad news. Joe Cocker was one of the greatest singers of his era, and one of the very few performers who could do covers of great songs in their own right and actually improve on them. How many people were able to cover Beatles numbers and do them better than the Beatles? Apart from Joe, I would put the number at zero.

As someone already said, thank heavens his music has been recorded for posterity. He was unique.

The government is working with officials in foreign countries for the extradition of Thais accused of lese majeste...

There is much that could be discussed, indeed should be discussed about that statement, but of course the law itself if designed to preclude any such discussion. If ever there was an example of a thoroughly bad law, then lesé majesté is it.

My geography is pretty bad so could be wrong, but what in hell does the Mekong have to do with Japan.......

My thoughts too.

The countries involved need to act in concert to prevent the degradation of such a mighty river. However, whenever I hear the phrase 'sustainable development', I shudder. This is a favourite soundbite of the environmental loonies who would like to see us all revert to the stone age.

No doubt, these drivers were wearing the right foowwear!!beat-up-truck.jpgpimp-my-bus-headlights.jpgthai-moving-company.jpg

Heh! That bus puts me in mind of the customised scooters the mods used to tool about on in 60s UK. Cool or what!

Back in the 70s, when I lived in Aus, I drove semis interstate for some years, and most of the year my attire was shorts, singlet and flip-flops (thongs in aussiespeak). It was simply the most comfortable way to dress when you spent most of your waking hours behind the wheel. Air-conditioned trucks were a rarity in those days, and the Kenworth I drove would get like an oven in the summer. Long trousers? Collared shirt? Proper shoes and socks? Only the guys who drove for Ansett dressed like that (company rules), and they had air-con cabs.

Many foreigners see the UK as a FREE land

Unfortunately many foreigners would be wrong. Britain (or to be more accurate, the political elite in UK) have turned what was a relatively free country into what is fast approaching a totalitarian state. Whereas a few decades ago one was only constrained by what was specifically forbidden in law, it is now becoming a situation where you can only do (or say) what is specifically allowed. There is no longer any democratic accountability. Laws are rammed through without any public consultation - single-issue lobby groups, bureaucrats and quangos dictate what becomes law, regardless of what the demos might feel about it.

One of the amusing ironies of geography is that when a country adopts politically correct terms into its name it is usually to cover up the fact that it tends to the opposite.

A good example of this is a country which was formed about the same time as Siam became Thailand, when the British relinquished India and it split into India and Pakistan.

Pakistan means 'land of the pure'....

One of Sutherp's demands and aims, when he was fighting to topple the Siwanatra clan was to reform the police.

This administration is following his footsteps.

I would like to congratulate them and wish them to keep up the good work.

History will remember you and your good deeds.

Yeah sure, fighting corruption with corruption!!

btw. A google-search of your hero, Suthep+corruption, gave 167.000 results!!

btw. A google-search of your hero, Thaksin+corruption, gave 366,000 results!!

Which just goes to show that the system is rotten to the core, and both Thaksin and Suthep have both from the outset been equally up to their ears in the mire. All those TV posters claiming that Suthep would bring in a corruption-free administration were either dreaming or terminally stupid. Thaksin and Suthep are both as bad as each other as far as corruption is concerned. In fact Thaksin was probably somewhat less avaricious, having already made his billions. Suthep was still trying to join the big boy's club.

I'm surprised you didn't get more results for Thaksin, though, given how much more high-profile he is than Suthep. I would have expected at least three times more results.

Its the same the world over , Bad education. Some Thais think Fat is good.

Sounds like you're talking about culture rather than education.

Anyway, I have read studies asserting that education programs alone are not enough and are only nominally effective.

For example, Australians mostly think fat is very ugly and they already know eating broccoli is a better choice than a cream filled donut, but the obesity rates are still high.

Not dissing education, of course its needed, but I am challenging the popular notion that this is all or mostly about education and that education is a panacea to combat this.

There really isn't evidence that is really true.

And your suggestion is what? That the ever benevolent state apparatus should take over and make the choices for people 'for their own good'?

Neither you, nor me, nor the state know what is best for anyone else. We live our lives according to our own appraisal of the risk / benefit equation as we see it. It's nothing to do with anybody else what our personal assessment of that risk / benefit is, and for the state and it's 'Public Health' hangers-on (or anyone else, for that matter) to think that it is within their remit to decide (and coerce) what sort of lifestyle another person should adopt is arrogance in the extreme.

Anyone who has the temerity to tell me whether I can or cannot smoke, how much I should drink, and what I can and cannot eat gets short shrift from me, and deservedly so.

And given that, as with smoking and drinking, the figures quoted are generally the figment of some ideologue's agenda driven fantasy, everything you read about the latest 'epidemic' that's currently fashionable should be taken with a VERY large pinch of salt. I've uncovered so many blatant lies and exaggerations from the anti-tobacco and anti-alcohol zealots in 'Public Health' that I no longer believe a single word they utter.

http://velvetgloveironfist.blogspot.gr/2014/11/the-cost-of-obesity-again-already.html

The ones proposing this don't give a fig about the economy - it won't affect them anyway; they're wealthy enough to be immune to any recession. It's all about getting back to the pre-Taksin feudal system, where peasants know their place and the elite can get on with exploiting them like they used to. All these foreign businesses are undermining the balance of the historical model, where a small, educated elite, the favoured ones, control the whole country.

Whether they will prevail or not remains to be seen. The cat is out of the bag, now, and the rural population understand that they have a right to participate in the future of their country.

Here in Greece the price of LPG has dropped by 15% over the last few months.

Fake fish sauce reportedly saturating the market

Just about every fish market I've been to in Thailand has been saturated in 'fish sauce'. Soaks into your flip-flops and stinks for days...

Sorry, these popups make it hard to concentrate.

Hepatitis B:

It seems to be curable, I had it in India 1969 and was brought to Hospital. After half a year I went to the Peace Corps in Kathmandu for vaccination. They told me that once I was cured I would be immune and never get Hepatitis B again. I was ba bblood donator for many years after that, and they check for Hepatitis B every time.

I'm not a MD, and the WHO informations about HBV are not very helpful to me.

Can someone tell whether it is really possible to be a HBV carrier after that?

Is there still

I too got Hepatitis B when I was in Afghanistan in 1967. I didn't know I'd had it until I was back in UK a year or so later; I just knew at the time that I felt like death warmed up for a couple of months and lost a lot of weight. I thought it was the Malaria I'd picked up in Nepal a few months before - it never occurred to me it might be Hepatitis. They told me when they discovered I'd had it that I would always be a carrier, and that I should never be a blood donor (which is a bit of a bummer because I'm a universal donor - 'O' negative). However, that said, I'm now on my third marriage and I've fathered four children (with all the exchanges of body fluids that that entails), and none of my wives or kids have ever shown any signs of Hepatitis. So I don't really know what to believe.