gabruce

8 hours ago, Tug said:

It’s a powerful message in my opinion to see 3 successful presidents in the same room supporting America and democracy 

What 3 presidents? I see Biden and Obama, Hilary never was president, and I don't recognize the 4th person (last photo?).

I have been trying to do online ever since it started - with Chrome though the chrome today is newer than years ago - and this is the first time it accepted everything instead of giving me a message at the end to contact immigration. Doing the new software fixed whatever problem they had with my info and possibly introduced a new problem for others. Given it a few more years and it should work for everyone.

I'm being told (possibly misunderstand) that the military conscription/draft rules are changing.

1. No more draft/lottery. Everyone (male) that meets the minimal requirements at 21 must serve with the military.

2. Exemptions are men entering the police force or leaving the country to study abroad.

3. The mandatory term of service is now 5 years instead of 2 years. (5 years is a substantial delay in starting a career or business).

Is this just rumour or is it fact? Thai's around me are convinced it's fact. I think it's rumour because I can't see Thailand being able to afford having essentially every male between 21 and 25 in the army for 5 years.

Cool. I checked out the website - 7,000 thb - pricey yet intriguing. Cool that it's going to be available in Thailand.

I have 3BB Fibre (Chiang Mai) and the page comes up clean for me.

I like this objection too: "In the MP election bill, the CDC was concerned that the assistance provided to the disabled by officials at polling centres would go against the principle of direct and secret voting specified in the charter. "

No special treatment in general. Is it better though that if someone is disabled in some fashion that they need assistance to vote that instead of getting assistance they not vote?

18 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

So, the response is...

 

...give me money and a job.

 

How has Thailand made it this far without this project? I mean, who knew? Money and a job?

 

Mind-blowin'...

I think that basic utilities is more likely referring to water and electricity rather than money. Not surprising if one doesn't have a job. As you say, it's the expected result. Hopefully some of the people being surveyed actually have ideas on how to be productive. The phrase in the article seems to be "work facilitation" which is less about giving them a job and more about facilitating getting a job. In general I agree with you - people want help and don't seem to be able to figure it out on their own - and that translates into handouts.

5 hours ago, isaanbanhou said:

Could take all the Dems in USA put them in Thailand they would fit right in.

 

Perhaps one of the most enlightened posts i have read.  add 72 million american registered democrats to the Thai population and  you get a population density of approx 275 persons per sq km. About the same as Vietnam.

 

They would all fit in

Reread his post. He isn't suggesting shipping all the Democrats here. It was about fitting in with the same goals and agenda. And yes, you would be correct if all of the registered Democrats moved here the population would almost double.

It would be more relevant if they listed how many events in total were linked to russian accounts. 129 out of 130 is very significant. 129 out of 129,000 is negligible. Some 300,000 views is negligible considering how many Facebook subscribers there are. Good to know there was nothing there.

1 hour ago, rumak said:

Only way to avoid a fine at CM immigration is as follows:

you must have a current tm30.......OR.....have just arrived in the country (24 hours)

you then must have the owner (or housemaster as they say) of your new residence report you

as having JUST arrived (again,24 hours) at their location  ( owners must have a signed lease and other

documents to show as well) .  If owners documents are accepted they are issued a receipt which should

be given to you  ( MY daughter now goes there with the new tenant to do all this.  BUT, if the person does

not have a previous up to date tm30 they WILL BE FINED.   those that kicked and screamed and said it was

not their responsibility, still lost!   BTW:  owners of residences have also been fined on occasion.

If you do not change addresses you only have to return to immig. regarding the tm30 when you return from

a trip out of the country.  ( questions about overnight stays, in country vacations, etc always come up but

that is best left up to the individual to figure out best answer  :-)

 

I'll just note that I had to pay the TM30 fine because I stayed in a hotel overnight in Bangkok before proceeding to ChiangMai - arriving home on a Sunday morning. Monday morning was more than 24 hours from the time I entered the country. Unfair in my view, and I paid the fine because they insisted.There may have been some issue as well as my entry card listed ChiangMai as my destination.

57 minutes ago, Airbagwill said:

the Thai education system, both private and public is largely an unmitigated disaster - monitoring of standards is almost non-existent and even the parameters for assessing is education is working is in the dark ages - employment practices are archaic and like doctors, the status of teachers is pretty much unassailable - however there IS a worse criterion for education and that is listening to PARENTS - most of whom either went through the dreadful Thai system themselves or some other system about which they know nothing.

 

most Thai parents think their kids should go through a system like Japan or Korea - which they don't understand and both are systems that have been shown to be severely flawed.

 

if they really want to see an education system that works look at Finland or any of the Scandinavian countries.

 

thailand is so far away from this it is hard to see how they could ever catch up - except that the Finish system turned itself around in about 5 years!!!

Thanks for pointing out Finland. Interesting.

 See https://www.google.co.th/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi89_qss8LWAhXDtY8KHQPcAhwQFggqMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fuk.businessinsider.com%2Fwef-ranking-of-best-school-systems-in-the-world-2016-2016-11&usg=AFQjCNFLfGXKn0syeY_CnCCvWQ2SnDaweg

Ranks Finland as #1. 

I found this interesting article linked as well: http://www.businessinsider.com/finland-education-school-2011-12/#-percent-of-children-receive-extra-help-during-their-first-nine-years-of-school-7

There was another chart elsewhere on the web that ranked Japan and Korea at the top, so I guess there is some subjectivity. Disappointing that Canada didn't make the top 10 (or 11).

1 hour ago, abrahamzvi said:

Here is the best proof of what was said above about  the brainless white supremacist Thai bashers. You sound like one of them, Alex8912!!!

It's a peculiar train of thought that turns someone who believes Thai police don't pursue thai on farang crimes as diligently as farang on thai crimes (true or not doesn't matter) into being a White Supremacist. It's (slightly) possible that you are correct, and at the same time it's a huge leap and a very inflammatory accusation. Maybe save it for a real White Supremacist?

1 hour ago, heybruce said:

Congratulations.  You have found an unauthorized biography so obscure that when I enter the title of the book and the author's name ("Black Jack Pershing" by Richard O'Connor) I get results that indicate the book has not been read or reviewed by anyone in the 56 years since it was published.

Perhaps no one has read it, however it appears that Amazon Books believes they've sold copies. It certainly was published in paperback and hardcover. So I think it's a reasonable bet that it has been read (not by me).

It also appears in LibraryThing and has been added there multiple times.

Here's the review from Kerkus Reviews:

KIRKUS REVIEW

Lot's of micro climates - I'm 15 minutes south of the city center (7km?) and we had rain yesterday. None today so far, though I'm betting on this evening.

Was the PC plugged into anything else? Such as wired ethernet to a router, or an externally powered usb anything? I would think there would have to be some route into the computer. I just realized reading this that my computer is wired ethernet to the router which is plugged into the wall. Looks like I have some changes to make. The positive thing is the I have fibre (3BB) internet, which should prevent lightning coming in via that route.

One issue I have with this law, and many of the commenters is the belief that they know better than someone else and so they need to tell stupid people what they can and cannot do and make them do what they are supposed to do.

11 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

And further enrich Trump with his indirect ownership in the pipeline.

Great to be POTUS.

Okay. That's interesting information. Which company, what's the connection, and how much does Trump own?

3 hours ago, Ramen087 said:

Possible to post a link to the Forbes Magazine article???

Apologies. I mental lapse. I copied, however didn't paste. 555. Old age I guess. Here is the link.for the Forbes article  http://fortune.com/2016/08/28/pipelines-vs-trains-oil-transport/

As this article from Forbes points out, moving oil has risks. Pipelines are the least risky (4.5 times safer than trains). So the choice would normally seem to be: don't use oil or oil products (no plastic, gasoline, heating oil etc) - which while a defensible position is entirely impractical at the moment, or choose the least risky method (or at least consider risk with costs and favour lower risk over higher cost). 

The logic behind no pipelines seems to be do everything possible to limit the use of petroleum products, which usually means higher prices, and which usually impacts lower-income people more.

12 minutes ago, fxe1200 said:

Every pipeline built in the US is an environmental disaster, look here:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pipeline_accidents_in_the_United_States_in_the_21st_century#2017

 

It's okay this time. A Canadian company is building it. So no worries about quality and design.

39 minutes ago, edwinchester said:

I prefer to trust the vast majority of the world's leading climate experts who say climate change is real and happening thanks.

On the other hand, it's also reasonable to go with real science.

1 hour ago, daveAustin said:

Why, because they're thinking about repatriating your illegal peoples? Would you not do the same with illegal Americans?

I think that in general they don't want any of the illegal immigrants returned to Mexico. They seem to definitely not want non-Mexicans who entered the US from Mexico to be returned to Mexico.

My personal opinion is that returning Mexicans that entered illegally or stayed illegally to Mexico is standard practice and defensible. If some Canadian entered from Mexico and that entry was illegal or if that person stayed illegally - that's a trickier question. Do you send them back to where they came from (Mexico in this example) or to their own country (Canada in this example)? Does it matter whether the Canadian was in Mexico legally (tourist?) or illegally (snuck over the border from Guatemala or boat from Cuba?)? I don't know.

I thought that the new route was to avoid sacred ground. Google isn't of any help to me here. If Thai PBS is to be believed, it's still an issue.