48 Hours: Deadline Bangkok

[OzMick]

Some of the comments on this thread are quite frankly , disgusting.Blaming the Leader for a monumental natural disaster is a new low for those trying to discredit the new PM and her government.

Hang your heads in shame!!!

Nobody can blame Ms. Yingluck for the ' monumental natural disaster ' , BUT they can surely blame her for her and her government's handling or lack of handling it. I think that is what people are getting at.

Walk a mile in someone shoes is my opinion..

Prada stilettos don't suit me.

[Arkady]

Some of the comments on this thread are quite frankly , disgusting.Blaming the Leader for a monumental natural disaster is a new low for those trying to discredit the new PM and her government.

Hang your heads in shame!!!

She is blamed for the mismanagement not for the natural disaster which would be far less monumental with some government which does not need to call in Dubai for every step they take.

That's why from the very beginning, they should have brought Thaksin back and install him in power. I bet a lot of people wished this was done instead of the petty bickering of the anti-T's.

Why? Does he have a successful track record in flood and drought prevention to show from his five years in office with almost absolute power?

[bhakta]

I agree that the PM cannot be blamed for the catastrophe that has befallen Thailand. Mother Nature is taking revenge of her own accord, and we can speculate on who and what is to blame endlessly, or try to do something good for others.

[Samuian]

One word, MISMANAGEMENT. The current government should be removed because of its inadequacies, lies and deceptions toward the Thai public. I feel so sad for the people here they don't have the best of lives to start with, made all the worst by their choice of government.

The very same government chosen by the same people, they must be happy with the choice.

Suffering from a certain missperception, nobody has "chosen them", nobody had ever a choice, so "their choice" was pressed upon them!

And the current government isn't anymore incompetent then any other one ever before, cause they are "on the job" for anything else - except to govern the country!

And so is the blown up, absolutely incompetent, useless bureaucracy and it's government agencies, full with "tea money" collectors.

Once this is clear - one get's a clearer picture of why things are as they are here!

Edited October 18, 2011 by Samuian

[gummy]

Some of the comments on this thread are quite frankly , disgusting.Blaming the Leader for a monumental natural disaster is a new low for those trying to discredit the new PM and her government.

Hang your heads in shame!!!

She is blamed for the mismanagement not for the natural disaster which would be far less monumental with some government which does not need to call in Dubai for every step they take.

That's why from the very beginning, they should have brought Thaksin back and install him in power. I bet a lot of people wished this was done instead of the petty bickering of the anti-T's.

Why? Does he have a successful track record in flood and drought prevention to show from his five years in office with almost absolute power?

No but he has unblemished record of allowing his cronies to skim of a lot of the cash appropriated for flood wall building !

Edited October 18, 2011 by metisdead
Repaired the reply, when replying to a quoted post, make your reply outside the [quote] tags.

[OzMick]

Some of the comments on this thread are quite frankly , disgusting.Blaming the Leader for a monumental natural disaster is a new low for those trying to discredit the new PM and her government.

Hang your heads in shame!!!

This government are not to blame fr the rains, but certainly are to blame for the complete mis-handling of this crisis ... they knew the rains were coming, warning after warning... but , what did they do... organise a football match with Cambodia and ask Japan for a visa for the daddy Mafia man. Incompetent is far too mild a word for this lot of Buffoons... The rain in Spain.....................

Aussie government - complete mis-handling of the recent floods and almost every year of bush fires

Japanese government - complete mis-handling of the Fukushima nuclear plant crisis

Most European governments - complete mis-handling of financial issues

British government - complete mis-handling of recent riots and every time it snows (wrong kind of snow) and every autumn (wrong kind of leaves on train tracks)

American government - complete mis-handling of ....... everything.

I reckon the Thai government is not doing too badly after all. Glad I'm here.

"Aussie government - complete mis-handling of the recent floods and almost every year of bush fires"

I cordially invite you to show me some evidence of incompetence, or refrain from making off topic comment on something of which you have very little knowledge.

[WarpSpeed]

Some of the comments on this thread are quite frankly , disgusting.Blaming the Leader for a monumental natural disaster is a new low for those trying to discredit the new PM and her government.

Hang your heads in shame!!!

Nobody can blame Ms. Yingluck for the ' monumental natural disaster ' , BUT they can surely blame her for her and her government's handling or lack of handling it. I think that is what people are getting at.

Walk a mile in someone shoes is my opinion..

Prada stilettos don't suit me.

:cheesy: touche

Edited October 18, 2011 by WarpSpeed

[bigbamboo]

Some of the comments on this thread are quite frankly , disgusting.Blaming the Leader for a monumental natural disaster is a new low for those trying to discredit the new PM and her government.

Hang your heads in shame!!!

If the latest meassures in BKK don't work then they tell us 127,728 people could be effected. With that kind of accuracy the government seems to know exactly what it's doing.

[h90]

"The problem now is now bigger than before, please don't panic"

Well that must be the understatment of the year. Where do these buffoons get their ideas from. Firstly to be a problem bigger than before is he saying before he spoke yesterday, before last week or before he had his lobotomy ?

Secondly to make such statements, "please don't panic" guess what will happen ?

I suspect that so long as their own residences are not hit their primary concern even now is how the billions of aid and re-development that will be needed is going to get skimmed to this country's leaders friends and families businesses and associated cronies rather than spending it on a 50 year water management scheme that all of Thailand could benefit from, rich or poor!

In a televised solemn flood warning by Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Palibatra last night, Bangkok residents are advised to stay clam and keep monitoring the situation in the next 48 hours, when the next statement is possible if not flash flood.

'Everyone stay CLAM' . Does he mean just 'clam up and don't make any comments?'

Bangkok residents could in the meantime move their belongings to uipper floors or move up power sockets, he said. If not for this year, this might be useful in the future, who knows," he said. "Problem is now bigger than before, but please don’t panic."

I didn't realise that Bangkok residents now have the luxury of 'moveable electric sockets' - another Thailand first, truely Amazing Thailand! What a load of clowns, but the yellow wellies look great, very impressed.

we moved up all electric sockets. What is the problem with that?

Unscrew them and screw them in again somewhere higher. If you want it nice shorten the cables.

5-20 min per socket for someone without skills.

Yes more deaths by electrocution, if people understood that well, what they were doing then they'd never get electrocuted in the first place and that's been the primary reason for so many deaths so far.. You're also generalizing about every house having the same sort of installation that you have, some more professional installations run the wires in the walls so no way to raise them.

We also have wall paper they run under so moving them up just as a precaution is going to ruin the wall paper, a small thing in the larger scope of things but still one to consider..

Here in my house the entire breaker panel is downstairs and that never bothered me until now it is about 2 meters from the floor and that may not be enough but still if there's water of any amount in my house I'd much rather not be touching ANYTHING electrical in the house and I'm fully qualified to do so, which is WHY I see the inherent danger in such a suggestion.. Not having the outlets properly isolated on specific breakers is another problem altogether..

Normally you don't die from 220 Volt. 99 % have it on the wall. If you have it in the wall with tubes, you have the box on top of it which you can open and unscrew the wires. More hasle. I would simply cut off downstairs on the braker. If the water reaches 2 meter I guess there won't be any electric anymore.

The way to do it: pull down the main breaker for your house, make the chances, pull it up again.

No risk at all even if you have 2 left hands. Only problem if someone has connected something BEFORE the breaker, which is even for Thai standards uncommon.

[animatic]

Some of the comments on this thread are quite frankly , disgusting.Blaming the Leader for a monumental natural disaster is a new low for those trying to discredit the new PM and her government.

Hang your heads in shame!!!

She is blamed for the mismanagement not for the natural disaster which would be far less monumental with some government which does not need to call in Dubai for every step they take.

That's why from the very beginning, they should have brought Thaksin back and install him in power. I bet a lot of people wished this was done instead of the petty bickering of the anti-T's.

Post as replacement for syrup of Ipecac.

"install him in power"

Democracy at it's finest... NOT!

Edited October 18, 2011 by animatic

[WarpSpeed]

In a televised solemn flood warning by Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Palibatra last night, Bangkok residents are advised to stay clam and keep monitoring the situation in the next 48 hours, when the next statement is possible if not flash flood.

'Everyone stay CLAM' . Does he mean just 'clam up and don't make any comments?'

Bangkok residents could in the meantime move their belongings to uipper floors or move up power sockets, he said. If not for this year, this might be useful in the future, who knows," he said. "Problem is now bigger than before, but please don’t panic."

I didn't realise that Bangkok residents now have the luxury of 'moveable electric sockets' - another Thailand first, truely Amazing Thailand! What a load of clowns, but the yellow wellies look great, very impressed.

we moved up all electric sockets. What is the problem with that?

Unscrew them and screw them in again somewhere higher. If you want it nice shorten the cables.

5-20 min per socket for someone without skills.

Yes more deaths by electrocution, if people understood that well, what they were doing then they'd never get electrocuted in the first place and that's been the primary reason for so many deaths so far.. You're also generalizing about every house having the same sort of installation that you have, some more professional installations run the wires in the walls so no way to raise them.

We also have wall paper they run under so moving them up just as a precaution is going to ruin the wall paper, a small thing in the larger scope of things but still one to consider..

Here in my house the entire breaker panel is downstairs and that never bothered me until now it is about 2 meters from the floor and that may not be enough but still if there's water of any amount in my house I'd much rather not be touching ANYTHING electrical in the house and I'm fully qualified to do so, which is WHY I see the inherent danger in such a suggestion.. Not having the outlets properly isolated on specific breakers is another problem altogether..

Normally you don't die from 220 Volt. 99 % have it on the wall. If you have it in the wall with tubes, you have the box on top of it which you can open and unscrew the wires. More hasle. I would simply cut off downstairs on the braker. If the water reaches 2 meter I guess there won't be any electric anymore.

The way to do it: pull down the main breaker for your house, make the chances, pull it up again.

No risk at all even if you have 2 left hands. Only problem if someone has connected something BEFORE the breaker, which is even for Thai standards uncommon.

Normally?? Ok tell that to those families who've lost loved ones now ..

None of what you're proposing is for anything close to the AVERAGE Thai.. If it was the people who installed it in the first place who are supposed to be qualified would have installed them properly and I can tell you from personal experience that a veeeery large percentage of electrical installed here is well below any international standards of safety and installation.. Not the least of which is improperly or non existent grounding measures at all.

Edited October 18, 2011 by WarpSpeed

[MiG16]

if I recall correctly, only a few months back there was prediction that Thailand could face drought this year.

based on that prediction, the dams manage their water storage content.

with a drought prediction, it would be fair to assume that water storage content is maintained at near capacity.

with the heavy rains in the last 3 months, they may have tried to release some excess water, but by then it is too late.

I would blame the government (Federal and BAngkok) for underestimating the level of threat, but I wouldnt personally accuse them of not doing their best.

I wouldnt even suggest they were lying either - one always hope for the best, couple that with underestimating the threat, then of course you send out a message of 'we are confident we can contain it'

they should of course hope for the best, but plan for the worse.

eg. why leave the filling of the one million sandbags to today. why didnt they already prepare that even while the effort to fight off water at navanakorn was in place. why only start attempting fall back plan once the previous plan fails? no reason why both could not have been done simultaneously

but...we are where we are now.

would be nice if people stopped pointing fingers and just go out there and do what we can. (no matter how limited it is)

[bkkjames]

Migsy, like Arsenal, sometimes 'doing their best' is not good enough.

[WarpSpeed]

if I recall correctly, only a few months back there was prediction that Thailand could face drought this year.

based on that prediction, the dams manage their water storage content.

with a drought prediction, it would be fair to assume that water storage content is maintained at near capacity.

with the heavy rains in the last 3 months, they may have tried to release some excess water, but by then it is too late.

I would blame the government (Federal and BAngkok) for underestimating the level of threat, but I wouldnt personally accuse them of not doing their best.

I wouldnt even suggest they were lying either - one always hope for the best, couple that with underestimating the threat, then of course you send out a message of 'we are confident we can contain it'

they should of course hope for the best, but plan for the worse.

eg. why leave the filling of the one million sandbags to today. why didnt they already prepare that even while the effort to fight off water at navanakorn was in place. why only start attempting fall back plan once the previous plan fails? no reason why both could not have been done simultaneously

but...we are where we are now.

would be nice if people stopped pointing fingers and just go out there and do what we can. (no matter how limited it is)

Extraordinary points..

[h90]

Normally?? Ok tell that to those families who've lost loved ones now ..

None of what you're proposing is for anything close to the AVERAGE Thai.. If it was the people who installed it in the first place who are supposed to be qualified would have installed them properly and I can tell you from personal experience that a veeeery large percentage of electrical installed here is well below any international standards of safety and installation.. Not the least of which is improperly or non existent grounding measures at all.

The average Thai is doing his electro installations himself.

here in our village people call at the motorbike taxis for doing the installations. Everything looks terrible and isn't safe. But they can do it.

Moving the plugs is not more dangerous as the usual usage in usual thai houses. not insulated wires are common. rip away insulation and twist the wires without putting even an insulating tape is also standard practice in Thai houses.

So there won't be more danger by moving the plugs. And if you can't call the next motorbike taxi to do it for you.

[WarpSpeed]

Normally?? Ok tell that to those families who've lost loved ones now ..

None of what you're proposing is for anything close to the AVERAGE Thai.. If it was the people who installed it in the first place who are supposed to be qualified would have installed them properly and I can tell you from personal experience that a veeeery large percentage of electrical installed here is well below any international standards of safety and installation.. Not the least of which is improperly or non existent grounding measures at all.

The average Thai is doing his electro installations himself.

here in our village people call at the motorbike taxis for doing the installations. Everything looks terrible and isn't safe. But they can do it.

Moving the plugs is not more dangerous as the usual usage in usual thai houses. not insulated wires are common. rip away insulation and twist the wires without putting even an insulating tape is also standard practice in Thai houses.

So there won't be more danger by moving the plugs. And if you can't call the next motorbike taxi to do it for you.

Ok you win they're all born first rate electrical engineers ....... Will that satisfy you?

Personally I wouldn't trust a motorcycle taxi to shine my shoes..But you certainly can..

Edited October 18, 2011 by WarpSpeed

[John1012]

One word, MISMANAGEMENT. The current government should be removed because of its inadequacies, lies and deceptions toward the Thai public. I feel so sad for the people here they don't have the best of lives to start with, made all the worst by their choice of government.

<Snip!>, what has the current government got to do with this disaster. It takes years to plan and build a water management system adequate enough to deal with the volume of water currently being experienced. The people who should be sacked are those "civil" servants who run the water management systems and those people responsible for the planning for dealing with excess water volumes. The current batch of politians might be a bunch of T"ss"ers but it's not their fault. (sorry for mis-using the word planning, I know it's not in the Thai vocabulary).

Edited October 18, 2011 by metisdead
Flame removed.

[inquisitive]

One word, MISMANAGEMENT. The current government should be removed because of its inadequacies, lies and deceptions toward the Thai public. I feel so sad for the people here they don't have the best of lives to start with, made all the worst by their choice of government.

So you don't believe in democracy then?

I normally don't like to comment on the number of brain cells used when certain posts are written, but this one is exceptional. Chimiroau stated that people made a bad choice in the last election, and w11guy tries to make Chimiroau look like he/she is against having choices! This sounds so much like some hormonally charged statements some of my bimbo acquaintances would routinely make. What an awful flashback!

Hey, I am a staunch believer in democracy, and I personally have made some bad electoral choices, so I can say first-hand that w11guy is just plain off base. Of course, it shoud not be read into my comment here that I believe the election was democratic, but that's another issue for another thread.

[bkk_mike]

One word, MISMANAGEMENT. The current government should be removed because of its inadequacies, lies and deceptions toward the Thai public. I feel so sad for the people here they don't have the best of lives to start with, made all the worst by their choice of government.

<Snip!>, what has the current government got to do with this disaster. It takes years to plan and build a water management system adequate enough to deal with the volume of water currently being experienced. The people who should be sacked are those "civil" servants who run the water management systems and those people responsible for the planning for dealing with excess water volumes. The current batch of politians might be a bunch of T"ss"ers but it's not their fault. (sorry for mis-using the word planning, I know it's not in the Thai vocabulary).

If you read the plans that came out after the 1995 floods, you'll see that one of the options (unsurprisingly the most expensive), was to build a massive drainage channel from the Chao Phraya upriver of Bangkok out to the sea to the East of Bangkok. (The diagram didn't go into details, but I picture in my head something like the concrete flood-ways that you see in Los Angeles that sometimes pop up in movies.)

If that had been built Ayutthaya would have probably been saved let alone Pathum Thani.

It not being built is down to politicians for the last 15 years, of all parties, choosing to ignore the issue, not just the ones who came to power this year. (Although I do think that this government does seem to have spent more time trying to get Thaksin back than dealing with the flooding which has been, in some districts of Thailand, around for 4 months now.)

[jeanelie]

Some of the comments on this thread are quite frankly , disgusting.Blaming the Leader for a monumental natural disaster is a new low for those trying to discredit the new PM and her government.

Hang your heads in shame!!!

This government are not to blame fr the rains, but certainly are to blame for the complete mis-handling of this crisis ... they knew the rains were coming, warning after warning... but , what did they do... organise a football match with Cambodia and ask Japan for a visa for the daddy Mafia man. Incompetent is far too mild a word for this lot of Buffoons... The rain in Spain.....................

Aussie government - complete mis-handling of the recent floods and almost every year of bush fires

Japanese government - complete mis-handling of the Fukushima nuclear plant crisis

Most European governments - complete mis-handling of financial issues

British government - complete mis-handling of recent riots and every time it snows (wrong kind of snow) and every autumn (wrong kind of leaves on train tracks)

American government - complete mis-handling of ....... everything.

I reckon the Thai government is not doing too badly after all. Glad I'm here.

agree 100%

[h90]

Normally?? Ok tell that to those families who've lost loved ones now ..

None of what you're proposing is for anything close to the AVERAGE Thai.. If it was the people who installed it in the first place who are supposed to be qualified would have installed them properly and I can tell you from personal experience that a veeeery large percentage of electrical installed here is well below any international standards of safety and installation.. Not the least of which is improperly or non existent grounding measures at all.

The average Thai is doing his electro installations himself.

here in our village people call at the motorbike taxis for doing the installations. Everything looks terrible and isn't safe. But they can do it.

Moving the plugs is not more dangerous as the usual usage in usual thai houses. not insulated wires are common. rip away insulation and twist the wires without putting even an insulating tape is also standard practice in Thai houses.

So there won't be more danger by moving the plugs. And if you can't call the next motorbike taxi to do it for you.

Ok you win they're all born first rate electrical engineers ....... Will that satisfy you?

Personally I wouldn't trust a motorcycle taxi to shine my shoes..But you certainly can..

I don't trust them, but it is standard here. I am already 10 years here, I gave up to insisting on German quality.

[WarpSpeed]

Normally?? Ok tell that to those families who've lost loved ones now ..

None of what you're proposing is for anything close to the AVERAGE Thai.. If it was the people who installed it in the first place who are supposed to be qualified would have installed them properly and I can tell you from personal experience that a veeeery large percentage of electrical installed here is well below any international standards of safety and installation.. Not the least of which is improperly or non existent grounding measures at all.

The average Thai is doing his electro installations himself.

here in our village people call at the motorbike taxis for doing the installations. Everything looks terrible and isn't safe. But they can do it.

Moving the plugs is not more dangerous as the usual usage in usual thai houses. not insulated wires are common. rip away insulation and twist the wires without putting even an insulating tape is also standard practice in Thai houses.

So there won't be more danger by moving the plugs. And if you can't call the next motorbike taxi to do it for you.

Ok you win they're all born first rate electrical engineers ....... Will that satisfy you?

Personally I wouldn't trust a motorcycle taxi to shine my shoes..But you certainly can..

I don't trust them, but it is standard here. I am already 10 years here, I gave up to insisting on German quality.

I'm 10 years here too and I'll never compromise or lower my standards where safety is concerned for me and my family.. Just as I wouldn't anywhere else regardless of length of time being there..

Edited October 18, 2011 by WarpSpeed

[Credo]

Where I live, the guards just came around with a notice. Something to do with the flooding hitting this area (Minburi). I can't read Thai so will have to wait for a translation, but nothing is happening in the neighborhood quickly, so I am not too worried. They did not put the notice in the gate; which is the usual process. They rang the bells and yelled to people so they actually were handed to everyone.

I lived in an area in North America that flooded nearly every year. People weren't allowed to live/build on the main part of the flood plain. If they did, they could not get insurance or government help. Some years were worse than others and a few were major disasters.

The only thing I remember is that there was a great deal of effort to save property, but little was done to hamper the flow of water. It has to get where it's going. Until it gets there, flooding will continue.

It seems that there has been a lot of effort to stop the water. That's not the best idea.

[harryfrompattaya]

Some of the comments on this thread are quite frankly , disgusting.Blaming the Leader for a monumental natural disaster is a new low for those trying to discredit the new PM and her government.

Hang your heads in shame!!!

A good friend of mine is a Thai business man. I have known him for over 5 years. He told me that he worked with some people that know the new PM personally. His comment about her was: "She is utterly incompetent. She only knows how to get a good manicure!"

A good friend of mine and hi so Chinese wife told us you friend is wrong. He and his whole family eats and goes fishing with the new PM and they all say she is very smart and competent and caring for everyone. He did say her nails look great.

Edited October 18, 2011 by harryfrompattaya

[ParadiseLost]

Normally?? Ok tell that to those families who've lost loved ones now ..

None of what you're proposing is for anything close to the AVERAGE Thai.. If it was the people who installed it in the first place who are supposed to be qualified would have installed them properly and I can tell you from personal experience that a veeeery large percentage of electrical installed here is well below any international standards of safety and installation.. Not the least of which is improperly or non existent grounding measures at all.

The average Thai is doing his electro installations himself.

here in our village people call at the motorbike taxis for doing the installations. Everything looks terrible and isn't safe. But they can do it.

Moving the plugs is not more dangerous as the usual usage in usual thai houses. not insulated wires are common. rip away insulation and twist the wires without putting even an insulating tape is also standard practice in Thai houses.

So there won't be more danger by moving the plugs. And if you can't call the next motorbike taxi to do it for you.

They don't usually stand ankle deep in water while doing so...

[jehricaholic]

Just in case anyone is interested. The weather in Pattaya is near perfect. It is cool, gentle breeze, and light sun. Perfect to sit on the beach and sip a coconut.

inappropriate comment

[MiG16]

Migsy, like Arsenal, sometimes 'doing their best' is not good enough.

but as I said, doing something is better than not even trying at all

there are lots of people who will criticise anything and everything someone does

but they simply sit back and do nothing

thats not a way to solve any problem, let alone a crisis of this magnitude.

I salute the numerous volunteers who have dedicated time to assist with whatever role they can play

[Bkkorupcountry]

Some of the comments on this thread are quite frankly , disgusting.Blaming the Leader for a monumental natural disaster is a new low for those trying to discredit the new PM and her government.

Hang your heads in shame!!!

This government are not to blame fr the rains, but certainly are to blame for the complete mis-handling of this crisis ... they knew the rains were coming, warning after warning... but , what did they do... organise a football match with Cambodia and ask Japan for a visa for the daddy Mafia man. Incompetent is far too mild a word for this lot of Buffoons... The rain in Spain.....................

Aussie government - complete mis-handling of the recent floods and almost every year of bush fires

Japanese government - complete mis-handling of the Fukushima nuclear plant crisis

Most European governments - complete mis-handling of financial issues

British government - complete mis-handling of recent riots and every time it snows (wrong kind of snow) and every autumn (wrong kind of leaves on train tracks)

American government - complete mis-handling of ....... everything.

I reckon the Thai government is not doing too badly after all. Glad I'm here.

So because someone else made a mistake you cant comment on these faults / incompetency ?

Strange reasoning.

"Like children say ..but mom he did it too"

No. My point is that criticism of government mis-management is all too easy. Furthermore, a lot of the criticism here is unnecessary (like calling politicians (competent or not) buffoons), a waste of time to read, completely unconstructive and far from intelligent but merely childish vents of frustration and name calling. Such posts exhibit low levels of intelligence and education.

Edited October 18, 2011 by Bkkorupcountry

[Bkkorupcountry]

Some of the comments on this thread are quite frankly , disgusting.Blaming the Leader for a monumental natural disaster is a new low for those trying to discredit the new PM and her government.

Hang your heads in shame!!!

This government are not to blame fr the rains, but certainly are to blame for the complete mis-handling of this crisis ... they knew the rains were coming, warning after warning... but , what did they do... organise a football match with Cambodia and ask Japan for a visa for the daddy Mafia man. Incompetent is far too mild a word for this lot of Buffoons... The rain in Spain.....................

Aussie government - complete mis-handling of the recent floods and almost every year of bush fires

Japanese government - complete mis-handling of the Fukushima nuclear plant crisis

Most European governments - complete mis-handling of financial issues

British government - complete mis-handling of recent riots and every time it snows (wrong kind of snow) and every autumn (wrong kind of leaves on train tracks)

American government - complete mis-handling of ....... everything.

I reckon the Thai government is not doing too badly after all. Glad I'm here.

Good points, all. Apparently, you are not now in a location (upcountry?) to give us an exciting, local flood report?

Unfortunately not but if you can wait till the weekend, I can report on road conditions even

I'm currently in Asoke Sukhumvit and no flooding yet as far as I can tell.

[Bkkorupcountry]

Some of the comments on this thread are quite frankly , disgusting.Blaming the Leader for a monumental natural disaster is a new low for those trying to discredit the new PM and her government.

Hang your heads in shame!!!

This government are not to blame fr the rains, but certainly are to blame for the complete mis-handling of this crisis ... they knew the rains were coming, warning after warning... but , what did they do... organise a football match with Cambodia and ask Japan for a visa for the daddy Mafia man. Incompetent is far too mild a word for this lot of Buffoons... The rain in Spain.....................

Aussie government - complete mis-handling of the recent floods and almost every year of bush fires

Japanese government - complete mis-handling of the Fukushima nuclear plant crisis

Most European governments - complete mis-handling of financial issues

British government - complete mis-handling of recent riots and every time it snows (wrong kind of snow) and every autumn (wrong kind of leaves on train tracks)

American government - complete mis-handling of ....... everything.

I reckon the Thai government is not doing too badly after all. Glad I'm here.

"Aussie government - complete mis-handling of the recent floods and almost every year of bush fires"

I cordially invite you to show me some evidence of incompetence, or refrain from making off topic comment on something of which you have very little knowledge.

It's practically impossible to ever show evidence of either competence OR incompetence. It's all a matter of interpretation. During such natural disasters, difficult decisions have to be made, many conflicting issues have to be balanced and it's impossible to have everyone either agreeing or disagreeing.

Another thing of course is that a Government (meaning the politicians) are generally not experts in any fields. Instead, they are merely decision makers, making decisions based on reports given to them with the accompanying recommended actions to be taken and the pros and cons of each decision. Of course they are responsible for their decisions but any mis-handling or mis-management goes further. It's the experts that should be held to task as well. Thus, criticism of the government is actually meaningless. By all accounts, the amount of water that has inundated Thailand has been unprecedented and it is clear to all that the respective authorities (regardless of whichever government is in place, even Western Governments) have not been up to standard, having to deal with insufficient infrastructure to deal with the problem - something not caused by the current Government.