connda

That Chiang Mai-Hua Hin flight is a delight. 1hr 50 flight time instead of 1hr to Don Muang then 2hr 30 on the highway. Price is 4,000 return but 50% off with 2 month advance purchase.

Just curious. Next year I plan to get the heck out of Chiang Mai during the burn season. I was considering Hua Hin. Looked on the major travel sites but found nothing from CNX to Hua Hin. What airline is flying down their and do you happen to have a link about the 50% off with 2 months booking. I'd book in December and get out of CM for 4 to 6 weeks in Feb 2016 if I could get round-trip tickets for ฿2000/person. I won't take the buses anymore. They scare the heck out of both my wife and I. Trains aren't much better.

Kan Air fly CNX-HHQ (Hua Hin) 3 times a week Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. Departs CNX around 1700 and HHQ around 1900. They use the ATR plane which is a high wing prop job and seats around 60.

The 50% discount will likely disappear in time but I checked for end of May and it was still there. Punch your dates in and take a look:

http://www.kanairlines.com/web/

You can book out about 6 months. Prices are really reasonable. Thanks for the link!

It's been a problem for over 60 years, and it will still be a problem in another 60 years.

“It is widely know that Muay Thai is one of the better martial arts for striking in MMA, and it just happens to be Thailand's national sport which means I have a whole kingdom full of killers to choose from.”

Unfortunately for Thais the takedown and ground game is much more important these days and Thailand does not have a wrestling or jiu jitsu as national sports like the US and Brasil.

Yeah, MT is great for striking, but the MT boyz are going to have to seriously start working on their grappling skills if they plan to compete internationally. Ground, pound, and submission - that ain't Muay Thai. There are some good fighters here, but they're going to have work on their grappling skills outside of Thailand imho. Take some young Thai fighters who are talented and trained in both Muay Thai and Brazilian Jujitsu: that might make for some very interesting MMA action!

Nice to see that Thailand is about 20 years behind on the technology curve, and about 70 years behind the curve on road/traffic enforcement, such as putting cops in patrol cars, pulling violators over, and issuing tickets for moving violations.

The 'leaders' past, present, and probably future have no will to actually address the problem of rampant violation of existing vehicle laws (no less actually writing and enacting laws that promote enforcement and sanctioning of the inanely stupid driving habits of Thai nationals).

This is just 'window dressing' and publicity spin: giving 1% effort with maximum publicity to a problem that requires a 100% effort to reform the existing system, which is pathetically inadequate. Thailand is the second most dangerous place to drive in the world -- statistics bear out the facts. Traffic dummies? That's the mentality of Thai authorities? Good luck LOS. I rest my case.

From what I can tell by researching the internet, Singapore and Thailand don't have an iron-clad extradition treaty in place.

So basically, it's like Prayuth and company going to Dubai. First, their out of their legal jurisdiction, and second there is not actionable treaty in place so they can't even request assistance from the Singapore government. So the elite get to go to Singapore and play nice nice together. Naa buura

Yeah. Mandatory speed limit is 60 kph on HW 11 south of Lamphun. I usually cruise at 80 and the cars passing me, which is about 80% of the traffic are doing 120, 140, or better. In almost 8 years of traveling this stretch of road, I've seen cops with radar guns twice.

Ah huh. Mandatory.

That's a dual lane highway. It's 90kmh not 60.

In town or through a built up area it supposedly drops to 60.

Would you like me to take a picture of the speed limit sign and post it on this forum? Beween the the Lamphun city cutoff and Amphur Maeta to the south, there are a number of 60 kph signs posted in both directions on HW 11. I live here. Now do I think it's stupid? Yeah. But there is a highway patrol station in the same location that sets up roadblocks. Could they start making big money by enforcing a 60 kph limit on a section of highway that was engineered for speeds in excess of 140. I'm sure they could. You want the pictures of the signs? GPS coordinates? Mile markers? More than happy to set you straight.

a plastic bag over the head... cheaper

Cyanide in California gas chambers? Brutal. Check out the movie Kill Me If You Can about Caryl Chessman. However, same air-tight gas chamber filled with Helium, the convicted just passes out and dies. Helium and other inert gases are interesting. The human body doesn't understand that it's got too much CO² and no O². No thrashing around and convulsing. Humane, painless death. But that is not what the proponents of the death penalty want. They want suffering. Interestingly enough, the legislators in the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed a resolution this year to investigate using the inert gas, Nitrogen. Well, at least one progressive state out there.

And I still don't get this, "we can't get Phenobarbatol for lethal injection" meme. Sure you can. Just make a visit to the local dog pound. There's got to be a few million vials of 'barbs' located in the US animal shelters. With 3.5 million cats and dogs euthanized via a lethal injection, don't tell me Phenobarbatol is not widely available. I mean, come on. The US government could sole source a company to produce Phenobarbatol if they wanted. Why is the EU the sole distributor? It's all total bunk.

I could actually see the Khuntan Mountains today. Loved the rain.

It is 24 March 2015, Tuesday, in Chiangmai. It has rained a the Forcast calls for more rain. Does this mean the burning will stop for the year it will it start back up once it drys up from the recent rain? Any Chiangmai old times have any experience in this or has anyone read any reporting of future burning for the next month?

It's my personal observation that the burning stops on Songkran. From the Thais I've talked to, a large percentage of these fires are arson - burning forest underbush to collect mushrooms and other edible plants during the rainy season. Come Songkran, it's time to party. People put their matches away and concentrate on partying. Just my observation. But just check it out. If the smoke clears at Songkran, I may have a point, 'eh?

Motor bikers make up 90% of all vehicle accidents in Thailand.

They drive on the left lane, they drive on the sidewalk, they don't wear a helmet, they damage cars while trying to squeeze through traffic, they use the motorway... the list goes on.

Any retard can learn to ride a bike, but most don't adhere to the law. After witnessing several motorbike accidents, some of them very gory, I fully support the police officers. Sure, it's a bribe, but that way they get paid to turn the other way, saving the lawbreaker from further trouble, while actually doing their job, and the fined person hopefully will have learned their lesson and not endanger pedestrians or damage other vehicles in the future.

You pay fine. You avoid doing it again.

In Europe they blacklist you and upon repeated offense take away your license, not to mention that the fine is X times higher.

But how come they don't stop the idiots in cars driving down the white line taking up two lanes, the idiots in cars who cross three lanes of traffic from the far right lane to make a left hand turn at the spur of the moment without any indication, the idiots in cars who pull turns on to the main road from a side road and will wait for cars to pass but will pull out right in front of oncoming bikes, the idiots in cars who force motorcyclist out of their lane by driving their car right into the side of the motorcycle, the list goes on. Answer: they don't enforce moving violations in Thailand. There are no patrol cars with cops looking for vehicles committing infractions. "Motor bikers make up 90% of all vehicle accidents in Thailand."? Please source that figure. It would be a little more accurate to say that the majority of injuries and fatalities are inflicted to motorcycle riders; not the total number of accidents. Then consider how many of those accidents where caused by cars. The injuries and fatalities happen because motorcycles are inherently dangerous because you have no protection. I drive both a car and motorcycle. Utter stupidity is rampant within both classes of drivers. This is an incredibly dangerous country to drive in. And nothing will change until the government revamps the traffic laws (like the West), make the traffic fines and penalties a deterrent, put cops in traffic cruisers, and start pulling people over for infractions. Where I lived in the US, 15 mph over the speed limit would land you in jail and your car would be impounded. That's the sort of deterrent they need here. But don't hold your breath. This behavior is culturally ingrained. It's going to take an incredible progressive government to make a change like that. But - TIT. Maybe in 50 years or so, or when they discover that they can generate lots of money by imposing draconian fines on the really dangerous driving. And please stop with the 'motorcycle bad, car good' malarkey. Everyone has a right to be on the road, and everyone has the responsible to drive responsiblity.

20 years ago I was stopped for no reason other than to get money from me.

I complained and spent 2 wasted days going to some hard to find police station far from my home where I waited for a couple of hours each time 'We have to get an interpreter'.

Better to have just smiled and paid up unless you enjoy this 'handilng complaints' procedure.

And that's exactly why I prefer to just pay on the spot. I don't want to waste a half an hour no less 2 days messing around at the police station. And it's amazing how you can get a 400 baht fine discounted to what you have 'showing' in your wallet (like a couple of hundred baht). It's a game. Smile and play it. The anti-corruption rhetoric is all a dog-and-pony show until it isn't -- just spin. But I don't really think anything is going to change in the long-run. Corruption seems to be a cultural institution. The spin-doctors are simply putting a bright, fresh, coat of paint on a rotting fence. Looks nice; accomplishes little. If real change is implemented, then I'll play whatever the new game is. Until then: same-same.

Perhaps if folk like yourself fronted them and went to the police station stuff might become more sensible.....

When at the police station you could ask why the fines are different at the roadside with no receipts....

Have been the the police station and done the fronting of why I was fined. Didn't get me anywhere just the fustration of having to chase the police officer and return 3 times to get my licence. The whole system needs to be changed. It's the reason why is so much easier to just pay in the side of the road.

I have today's whole incident on my helmet/bike cam. Will be uploading it to some of the facebook groups.

I like the idea, but then they'll lose face and probably come up with some sort of BS charge in order to toss you in jail.

Seems to be a BKK thing. I haven't seen them doing that here in CM. Heck, the last time I was stopped on my motorcycle, I got the 'wave over', smile and salute, asked for paperwork, I replied back in Thai, officer asks me how long I've been in Thailand, I say I'm married and lived there for 8 years, he laughs, says nevermind, gives me a sawatdee krap, and waves me along. And to be honest, the only times I've paid fines is when I've actually broken a law. They seem fair enough up here as a general rule.

"Shooters aim for the chest rather than the head because it's a bigger target and usually allows for a faster death..."

That's BS. A shot to the heart or lungs (liver, kidneys, etc) causes massive hemorrhaging and the condemned bleeds out. Until that happens, they can be conscious. Shots to the head, like the Italians did in WWII, completely destroys the brain. Lights out...all over. People confuse 'messy' with 'inhumane'. Yeah, 3 to 4 high-powered rifle bulleted to the back of the head pretty well explodes the head, it's incredibly messy, but I guarantee the convicted didn't feel a thing. All the pain nerve ending in the brain evaporate in a milli-second.

My personal opinion is that individuals who draw up execution methodologies are generally Machiavellian sadists, and the processes and procedures they develop border on the absolute freaking bizarre.

Read about Thailand venture in firing squads. The condemned is strapped on a chair or other object facing away from a table mounted Heckler-Koch submachine gun. Hands are bound and raised into the air with a rope and pulley. Then a garland of jasmine is place in their bound hands. The machine gun is aimed at the back, loaded with 15 rounds, a cloth screen is placed between the gun and condemned, then they let it rip. However, there have been FBARs. I read online about a women who was executed.. After filling her full of holes they put her in the next room. Moments later she regained consciousness, breathing, and attempted to sit up. From what I read one of the officials attempted to strangle her. <head shake>. They then strung her back up and finished the job with a full 15 shot magazine. I think that went on from 1935 until 2004. Brutal. And interesting: Thailand doesn't seem to have any problem getting Phenobarbital for lethal injections. Chinese probably have the game down better. Single shot to the back of the head with a high caliber rifle. No multiple minutes to bleed out from wounds to the internal organs and deprive the brain of blood prior to death. Just immediate unconsciousness and death.

The US lethal injection program is just as macabre. I'm mean really? 500 mg intravenous Midazolam followed by an over-dose of morphine. Bob's your uncle. So what it you can't get Phenobarbital? Why make it such a convoluted process? I'm sure some lame-brain out there will state something inane like, "You'll make him into a drug addict." <head shake> My opin? It's about an eye for and eye, and death penalty opponents want the condemn to suffer prior to death. And if the person is actually innocent: mai bpen rai.

Personally I'm not an advocate of the death penalty unless the victim's next of kin, or other public citizen volunteer closely associated with the victim(s) are willing to initiate the process: that is, pull the trigger, push the button, pull the lever, whatever. It really is about an eye for an eye; about revenge. If the family members, next-of-kin, volunteer, or significant other won't do it, then life in prison without parole. And make executions public. Stop sanitizing this act and show the populace with it looks like, especially when the executions are botched -- well, if you really want a deterrent. Of course, if it was made public, the do-gooders would be horrified and the death penalty would quickly end. Imho.

Yeah. Mandatory speed limit is 60 kph on HW 11 south of Lamphun. I usually cruise at 80 and the cars passing me, which is about 80% of the traffic are doing 120, 140, or better. In almost 8 years of traveling this stretch of road, I've seen cops with radar guns twice.

Ah huh. Mandatory.

That Chiang Mai-Hua Hin flight is a delight. 1hr 50 flight time instead of 1hr to Don Muang then 2hr 30 on the highway. Price is 4,000 return but 50% off with 2 month advance purchase.

Just curious. Next year I plan to get the heck out of Chiang Mai during the burn season. I was considering Hua Hin. Looked on the major travel sites but found nothing from CNX to Hua Hin. What airline is flying down their and do you happen to have a link about the 50% off with 2 months booking. I'd book in December and get out of CM for 4 to 6 weeks in Feb 2016 if I could get round-trip tickets for ฿2000/person. I won't take the buses anymore. They scare the heck out of both my wife and I. Trains aren't much better.

ZZZzzzzzzzz

Investigators dispatched by the Department of Land Transport spoke to toll booth attendants on the Si Rat Highway, who said the family did not seem distressed when they approached on March 16 to ask how to reach the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s head office on Petchburi Road.

And how did they end up there? It's not as if it's walking distance from the airport. Is it?

They had backpacks so obviously they are not 'quality tourists'. Spin it, sweep it under the rug. They weren't distressed, so case closed.

Quite a few people have recurrent sinus and other respiratory problems living in Bkk, as did I when I did (100% relieved now that I live in the countryside).

Asthmatics get much worse.

Not only farang but Thais also have this problem...you'll notice the face masks on the traffic police and also that every hospital has a large ENT department....

Definitely not a good place to live in terms of one's respiratory tract, though people vary in how much it seems to bother them. Personally I can't stand living somewhere that the air is not clean.

You do not have to go too far out of the city for the air quality to improve dramatically, though. I'm just 2 hours from the city limits but the air here is crystal clear (the stars at night are phenomenal). (Helps that I'm on the edge of a major National Park).

So depending on your lifestyle and needs, might consider moving to the outskirts a bit. But it will mean needing a car, and also having fewer other farang around.

Wish I lived near were you live Sheryl. I live between a National Park and a forest reserve on the Lamphun/Lampang border. This time of year, there is no 'crystal clear' anything. The locals burn their forests down every year up here. We had to bag staying at our apartment in Chiang Mai because of the air quality, but the air in the village was probably worse. However, we at least have A/C and an air filtration system at the house. But I'm really trying to convince the wife that next year we just leave Northern Thailand for a month between mid-Feb and Mid-March and find somewhere with clear air, like at a beach. Boy it was bad up here this year. It doesn't usually bother me, but this year, yuk. Caught a little rain over the last couple of days and the winds have picked up. I could actually see stars this evening. Hoping for some rain and more wind between now an Songkran. Seems like around Songkran the arsonists take a break for the holidays.

Phuket:- A 21-year-old Briton turned a pistol on himself and was killed inside a shooting range in Phuket’s Thalang district Saturday afternoon, police said.

Pol Lt Kraisorn Boonprasop, an interrogator of Thalang police station, identified the man as Colven Liam.

He was shot once at his right temple with a .45mm automatic pistol. The bullet pieced through his left temple.

Kraisorn was alerted of the shooting incident at 3:45 pm at the Thalang shooting gallery.

Police took the gun powder trace from his hand and the spent shells at the scene for further investigation.

Kraisorn said police checked the footage of security cameras in the gallery and saw Liam carrying a bag and walking into the shooting range.

He then walked to a shooting corner where Navin Inparn, 36, was supervising. Liam then took off his shirt and placed it on his bag.

He emptied seven bullets loaded by Navin into a paper target. All the shots hit the target. After Navi reloaded the gun and handed it to Liam, he raised it to his temple and fired, the video footage showed.

A horrified Navin then ran for help from other officials at the range.

Navin later told police that Liam asked him to reload the gun with just three bullets. When he saw Liam raised the gun to his head, Navin was startled and tried to push it away but he could not react in time.

Prasert Pasaman, 47, a taxi driver, said he picked up Liam from a hotel on Bangthao beach in Thalang.

Prasert said Liam did not appear under tension while riding the taxi.

Source: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/810818-british-tourist-shoots-himself-at-shooting-range/

-- © thaivisa.com

45 cal to the head. Dude when out light a light. I feel for Mr. Navin. That's totally got to suck. RIP to the deceased.

It actually rained most of the night here in Bangkok. Exciting stuff huh?

What's rain?

Signed,

Smog-enshrouded In Chiang Mai

Liberal evangelism: Spreading the 'Nanny-State' to the developing world one sovereign nation at a time. And if they don't like it, you send in drones and/or humanitarian arms aid to change the hearts and minds of the unrelenting.

I'm assuming that the folks in Northern China are going to be flocking to Chiang Mai in order to get a relative breath of fresh air.

Sounds like something written in conjunction with the US State Dept in order to 'save face' all around. Well, imho.

Looks like the Bangkok Post has gone over to the government misinformation dark side when you compare the fire map they just published versus the one at https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/firemap/. Can not see how the prime minister can blame other countries before getting Thailand in order on this issue.

The governments of Thai (up to present) just don't see to have the will to stop this. The local Thais I speak with say it is arson. The deliberate setting on fire of forest areas with the intent of gathering and selling certain food items, like mushrooms, in the rainy season.

I have a suggestion. Can't stop the burning? Go to the source. Outlaw the gathering and selling of mushrooms in the provincial and national forests in the North.

First step toward privatization. Any time I hear the word "Experts" via news media, it brings to mind the images of "stakeholders with monetary interests". If it ain't broke, don't fix it. 30 baht to get my tii rak and family taken care of in the local hospital. It ain't broke.