Coss

Excellent production values, but despite a good try, it really is bunch of arty actors trying to portray the reality of war. I would wager that some on this board could give us a 15 minute rundown on reality in conflict. But then it wouldn't be suitable for "Gosh Golly Big Box Office"! - worth a watch if only to see how tanks fight in wars

Much as I enjoy taking the piss out of the BiB when it comes to Farangs dying in LOS, sensibly, perhaps they need media training and the media who report in English need English training. However, scepticism resumes, comments and highlights are mine: Police Rule Out Murder For Briton Found Dead on Koh Tao SURAT THANI — A senior police officer has insisted that the 23-year-old British tourist who died on the southern island of Koh Tao this week was not murdered. He was responding to early comparisons that were drawn to the two British backpackers, David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, who murdered on the island last year. On Wednesday, Christina Annesley was found dead on in her bungalow on Haat Sai Ri Beach, the same beach that the battered bodies of Miller and Witheridge were found on in September 2014. Annesley’s body was found by staff at the resort where she was staying, said Pol.Lt.Col. Chokechai Sutthimek, superintendent of Koh Tao Police Station. A cleaning worker went to check her room after she failed to show up at the reception desk on the day she was scheduled to check out, Pol.Lt.Col. Chokechai said. "At this moment, we do not know the cause of her death. We did not find any assault on her body or signs of rummaging in her room. None of her belongings appear to be missing (the cleaning staff have had training, take ATM receipt as well as large sum of money, then, no one knows...)," said the officer from Koh Tao Police Station, which was established last year to provide more security on the island following the murders of Miller and Witheridge. "We only found medicine in the room," said Pol.Lt.Col. Chokechai. "We are working to find out what kind of medicine it is." (the kind with Deet and cleaning fluid in it?) Pol.Lt.Col. Chokechai stressed that Annesley's death does not appear to be a case of murder. Police will brief the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Bangkok, Thai public, and "social media" as soon as they have further details about the death, he said. Pol.Lt.Col. Chokechai added that the British tourist's body is being kept at a temple on Koh Tao island while authorities wait for a ferry to Surat Thani Hospital on the mainland for an autopsy. According to British media, a Foreign Office spokesperson confirmed the death of a British national in Thailand. "We are providing consular assistance to the family at this difficult time," the spokesperson was quoted as saying. The Telegraph reported that Annesley's mother posted on Facebook that her daughter died of "natural causes." (if the police don't know, how does she? did someone from Thailand tell her?) The grisly murder of Miller and Witheridge made headlines around the globe last year and damaged Koh Tao's reputation as a popular diving destination for foreigners. Two 21-year-old Burmese immigrants were arrested on the island in October for allegedly murdering Miller and raping and killing Witheridge. The suspects initially confessed at a police press conference, but later retracted their confessions, which they said Thai police tortured them into making. The twist of the events led many observers to accuse Thai police of using the two Burmese men as “scapegoats.†Police have repeatedly denied the allegation. The two Burmese suspects are currently held in prison. Their court trial is set to start in September. source http://www.khaosoden...ate=06&section=

Yes a good backpack seems to be the thing, 10 kilos plus the weight of the bottles or cans, is a bit heavy to be lugging down Sukhumvit to the hotel, but I guess you'd only have to do it 2 or 3 times a day.

I don't have too many issues with Swampy, but I think what most people comment about is the disparity between: the Thai marketing for everything which is all smiles, helpfulness and efficiency, and - the reality of King Power monopoly prices, long queues when there don't need to be and taxi drivers who attempt rip offs.

"Taxi's are only obliged to use meters within the boundries of Bangkok, outside it is open to negoatioation," Are you sure? Is this reflected in legislation?

£60 for antibiotics? That'll be those 'special' antibiotics with Deet and cleaning fluid in them...

Not dead yet...

" people would finally realise what Thaksin was up to" Not that numerous 'Farangs', on boards such as this and in just about all the media, didn't warn them or anything...

Germany's anti-Islamisation movement leader quits after dressing like Adolf Hitler The photo of Lutz Bachmann was found by a German newspaper on his Facebook page. The leader of Germany's "anti-Islamisation" movement PEGIDA stepped down after a picture emerged of him sporting a Hitler-style haircut and moustache, along with racist slurs he posted on Facebook. "Yes, I am stepping down from the board," Lutz Bachmann, 41, was quoted as telling Bild daily in an online report. Addressing his followers on Facebook, he said: "I sincerely apologise to all citizens who felt attacked by my posts." "They were thoughtless statements that I would not make today. I am sorry that I have damaged the interests of our movement with them and I am acting accordingly." A photo of Bachmann looking like Nazi leader Adolf Hitler had surfaced yesterday, sparking a storm of protest and raising fresh questions about the group's alleged extremist leanings. Media reports also said that comments had been posted under Bachmann's name on Facebook in the past referring to refugees as "beasts" and "filth". Dresden's public prosecutor was investigating whether to open a case against him on charges of incitement of hatred. PEGIDA spokeswoman Kathrin Oertel welcomed Bachmann's resignation, saying that his "Hitler selfie" had been "satire, which is every citizen's right" but that "sweeping insults against strangers" went too far. She said Bachmann, who founded PEGIDA -- "Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident" -- in the eastern city of Dresden in October, had posted the picture on Facebook in September, before he became prominent. Bachmann took the picture, which shows him with a small black moustache and hair swept into a side-parting, around the time of the publication of a bestselling satirical audiobook about Hitler entitled "Look Who's Back". The picture torpedoed PEGIDA's recent efforts at a charm offensive with the media to present a more moderate image. At their first-ever press conference on Monday, Bachmann and Oertel had distanced themselves from the far-right and neo-Nazis who had joined their rallies and said that most of their supporters were citizens fed up with contemporary politics. - Protesters gather again - Bachmann announced his resignation as thousands of right-wing protesters again started to mass, this time in another eastern city, Leipzig, separated by a large contingent of riot police from gathering anti-racist counter-demonstrators. The showing of PEGIDA's Leipzig spin-off "LEGIDA" was expected to top the previous record of 25,000 marchers PEGIDA set in the city of Dresden. LEGIDA announced it expected at least 40,000 people, while authorities expected that number could be matched or topped by 19 registered counter-rallies and vigils. The ranks of the nationalist protesters were expected to swell after a planned PEGIDA march on Monday in Dresden was cancelled over fears of an Islamist murder attempt on Bachmann. More than 4,000 police were on duty in Leipzig, both to secure the LEGIDA march against possible attacks and to prevent street clashes between neo-Nazis and hooligans on the one side and left-wing, anti-fascist militants on the other. The train line between Dresden and Leipzig was earlier hit by two arson attacks, federal police told AFP. No one was injured, but the attacks closed part of the line and were expected to cause long delays for protesters travelling from Dresden. Police helicopters circled the skies over Leipzig from the afternoon, and most of the inner city was closed to car traffic and public transport. Amid the heightened tensions, President Joachim Gauck warned against a "polarisation" that could weaken trust between citizens and harm social cohesion. Germany, haunted by its Nazi past, prides itself on its efforts to come to terms with its history and is sensitive to any threat to the values and international standing it has fought hard to establish since World War II. Chancellor Angela Merkel has condemned PEGIDA but within her conservative Christian Democrats a debate is raging over whether to engage in dialogue with the group. Merkel's vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, a Social Democrat, however earlier said Bachmann had disqualified himself for civilised discussion. "Anyone who in politics disguises themself as Hitler is either a bit of an idiot or a Nazi," he said. "Everyone should think about whether to walk behind such rabble-rousers." Source

I've a reasonable amount of sympathy for taxi drivers having to operate on what seems to be minimal wages, it must be hard. But then they are driving taxis, not airliners. This key to these recent reports, is that Thais, not just taxi drivers, seem to be able to operate outside the laws of the country (no-one who knows LOS is surprised by this) and feel morally justified in doing so.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind 2002 - quite good, worth a watch Green Zone - 'merica in Iraq, Baghdad - fist pumping action with guns - oh, and it has a plot

Source Koki Aki is really, really disappointed in his adopted home’s airport, and no one is really disagreeing with him. The Japanese expat’s detailed report of his miserable experiences at Suvarnabhumi Airport, in which he suggests Thais should be ashamed of their national gateway, has been widely read to a stunning lack of outrage or rebuke. "I can say Suvarnabhumi Airport is the disgrace of Thailand," he posted online in both Japanese and Thai. "Thai people show terrible service to foreigners at their national airport, the very first entry point to their country." Aki, who claims to have worked here for over 10 years, listed everything that wrong at the airport, starting with the immigration checkpoint when he stepped off the plane. "There is a long line at the immigration checkpoint, but the airport did not open the empty counters,†he said. “I ended up waiting 30 minutes." Sounds like a fast day at BKK immigration, but Aki wasn’t done yet. After that a taxi driver tried to rip him off by demanding THB700 for a ride to Saphan Kwai. The taxi stand told Aki to get a bigger taxi and gave him a ticket, but instead he asked for the manager. The manager only asked him to return the ticket and told him it was up to him to work something out with a driver. "That's weird. The driver wouldn't use the meter. This is a decision made by one side. It's not a negotiation. You accept this kind of rip-off here? You don't care about these bad drivers?" he complained to staff, who then proceeded to ignore him. "This is Thailand's national airport. This is the taxi stop at the national airport. Passengers are ignored and ripped off. What would foreigners like us do?" Aki wrote. For the high tax charges it demands, Aki said the airport should not suffer from such long lines, broken elevators and terrible service. “When passengers ask for information, staff just keep playing with their smartphones,†he said. “Aren't they a disgrace of this country? They show laziness and lack of generosity to foreigners." The post has been shared more than 11,000 times since yesterday and featured by several Thai media outlets. Soon after it opened eight years ago, Suvarnabhumi proved unable to keep pace with demand and a series of expensive expansions have been under way.

Hang on, are you arguing for or against ?

"something profound and novel about the effect of eye-widening surgery on the oral experience" well on the other hand the 'after' may be more preferable

John Oliver vs Stephen Hawking

Fox News, a joke

I've been told this also, they cost a lot, so if you need to demonstrate your HiSo status they're ideal, they also come in colour, gold, and jewel encrusted these days.

Me too 55555

I'm finding Netanyahu's public utterings offensive, if you took the same words and substituted 'Israel' or 'Jewish' for 'Palestine' or 'Palestinian' you'd be decried as an Anti Semite of the first order. ​And I'm not particularly fond of the Palestinians.

A Walk Among the Tombstones 2014 - mentioned previously I think, Liam Neeson, good movie, worth a watch. The Russia House 1990 - Sean Connery, Michelle Pfeiffer, engaging cold war spy story, romance, worth a watch.

It's a dilemma for sure, tell the everyone what you know, as good and sensible citizen of the world, then get whacked on the head. or Live a quiet life and see wrongs that you could do something about.

Hickey and Boggs 1972 - Bill Cosby, Robert Culp, not bad, as previously mentioned - worth a watch. I Origins 2014 - started like a bunch of young girly film students would make a movie, got better, then quite good, then tailed off. Worth a watch if you ever need to have justification to give the director a slap. Pineapple Express 2008 - James Franco and Seth Rogen - pot heads - worth a watch.

Maybe they just want access to future potential markets in LOS and Cambo, who knows. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me...

I liked the 6-7 houses, reminded me of rural Thailand, oh wait...