bust
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Posts
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Days Won
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Posts posted by bust
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3 hours ago, Mekong said:
Such as?
I’ll be damned if I can remember anything else he has done in music, or life in general for that matter.
Consider yourself educated on the achievements of Steve Harley
Who is Phil Collins?
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17 minutes ago, Mekong said:
Well enough to know he was no more than a one hit wonder in my walk of life
Not true
Polio survivor.
Was the original vocalist for Phantom Of The Opera for Andrew Lloyd Webber and was cast in the role and spent 5 months in rehearsal until replaced by Michael Crawford
Produced a number of songs for various artists.
Appeared on numerous albums for various artists
Involved in the horse racing industry as an owner
Involved in charity work in Cambodia promoting landmine awareness
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1 hour ago, Mekong said:
Such as?
I’ll be damned if I can remember anything else he has done in music, or life in general for that matter.
Just out of curiosity, how well did you know him 🙄
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Steve Harley, the front man of Cockney Rebel, who has died aged 73 of cancer, was much more than a one-hit wonder, but his sole UK chart-topper defined his career.
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That hilarious. Could have posted it in the Any New Jokes thread.
Heard those horns. Quiet funny actually some of them. Not cheap though.
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These guys are clever. Hard to believe they run this media company out of a Melbourne backyard.
Did get in a bit of trouble though for their use of an altered Australian Coat of "Harms"
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4 minutes ago, Mekong said:
Allegedly, this is hearsay so don’t quote me on this, the cop pulled them over and demanded a cash fine (does happen A LOT) Brothers refuse, Cop pulls the gun on the Brothers waving it about screaming at them, one of Brothers uses his MMA experience to disarm the cop, they empty the gun and chamber of bullets and offer the gun back to cop.
Now we're getting somewhere. Sure Thais are fed up with misbehaving foreigners but on the other hand foreigners are also getting fed up with Thais and their continued scamming or down right extortion when it comes to the MIB
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Gotta say....bit embarrassing for the MIB
Loss of face for the world to see
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7 hours ago, Coss said:
Complete morons - we'll be revoking their NZ citizenship and/or sending them to some sort of rocky outcrop in the middle of the Southern Ocean.
Nah...they will just take a trip across the ditch and settle in Bondi
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1 minute ago, bust said:
Tourists from New Zealand scuffle with a police officer in Phuket, Thailand, in this photo from Thai police. (Reuters: Chalong Police Handout/Handout)
So another officer was happy to take a photo rather than assist he colleague? Bit confused as to who took the pic
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New Zealand tourists charged with attacking a Thai police officer in Phuket
- In short: Investigations are ongoing after Thai police accuse two New Zealand brothers of allegedly attacking an officer and attempted to steal his firearm.
- Police say the pair's visas will be revoked and they will be banned from entering Thailand again following the investigation.
- What's next?: A New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said consular officials were assisting the family of the men.
Two New Zealand tourists have been detained in a Thai prison after being accused of assaulting a police officer, authorities say.
Investigations are ongoing after brothers Hamish Art Day, 36, and Oscar Matson Day, 34, allegedly attacked an officer and attempted to steal his firearm in Phuket, Thai police said in a statement.
Police officer Somsak Noo-iad had stopped the two men for reckless driving before they allegedly assaulted him as he tried to take photos and evidence.
The brothers then allegedly snatched the officer's phone and firearm, the statement said.
A photograph released by police on Sunday local time showed a man pushing a traffic policeman to the ground while another man looked on.
Tourists from New Zealand scuffle with a police officer in Phuket, Thailand, in this photo from Thai police. (Reuters: Chalong Police Handout/Handout)Their visas will be revoked and they will be banned from entering Thailand again after the investigation concludes, the police statement added.
Thai outlet the Bangkok Post reported the two men have been charged with robbery, obstruction of police duty, physical attack against a policeman, driving without a licence and bribery.
The two men and their lawyer could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters.
The parents of the brothers called for calm and privacy amid the incident.
"It's very, very concerning," father Laurence Day told the New Zealand Herald.
"The family is distraught. We're praying for a good outcome."
New Zealand media outlet RNZ reported a spokesperson from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said consular officials were "providing assistance to the family of two New Zealanders who have been arrested in Thailand".
Reuters/ABC
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5 hours ago, buffalo_bill said:
How is it possible this idiot might become President of the United States?
He plays the fear game with the Amerikan people who for centuries have founded their constitution in many ways on that exact same fear.
They lap it up.
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Who's that on the right?
I recognize the other two.
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Dolphins are the second most intelligent creatures on earth — before humans and after mice, which spend their time running complex lab experiments on scientists.
One of the best lines ever
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25 minutes ago, Mekong said:
Didn’t Australians used to do the same with Aborigines in he past with reserves and stations?
In the past! They still do and it's a complete nightmare. Not sure if you have heard but it's out of control at the moment especially in norther and central Oz.
There is currently a youth crime epidemic being attributed to a particular demographic.
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6 hours ago, Mekong said:
The arrogance of man, Elephants evolved well before apes did, we are on their territory not the other way around
Didn't really read the article as being arrogant or stating man was more important than elephants. Just saw it as an observation of a problem with co-existence.
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19 hours ago, Mekong said:
The internet is supposed to make people more intelligent,,where as in fact in it has made people stupider.
Agree 100%
I have 2 sons who I guarantee have relied on the internet for all their knowledge/information from the time they left school. The most dangerous types on the net IMO are the "Influences" whatever that is. And most of them are probably narcissists. I recently asked the younger one his thoughts on Andrew Tate. To my surprise he thought he was a great guy. I explained to him the guy was a misogynistic pig to which he expressed his disagreement.
Moment of concern for me as a parent considering the way we brought him up. Zuckerberg is a despicable human being.
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Elephants are Thailand's national animal but the wandering giants are now a deadly problem
With Thailand's elephant population expanding in recent years, there have been more human deaths in villages.(Supplied: Uthan Chayaphat)Prasong Promchart vividly remembers the day her sister-in-law, Tang, was chased and killed by an elephant in Thailand.
The two women were out picking vegetables to make chicken soup on a farm in Prachinburi province, in the country's east, when Tang stumbled upon the wandering giant.
Prasong can still recall seeing her sister-in-law being followed closely by the wild elephant as she fled.
"She ran away and then it was so quiet, there was not a single sound. It was silent," Prasong told the ABC.
She did not see what happened but it was later confirmed Tang had been trampled to death by the elephant.
A police officer discovered the woman's ribs were broken.
Moments after Tang was attacked, the beast turned to Prasong.
"It was so quiet, the elephant just stood there. I stood still and the elephant walked towards me, so I knelt down," Prasong said.
"I did a Wai [prayer hands] and said 'please spare me, please spare me father.'"
She said the elephant was close enough that he "could have reached me and hurt me".
"I was scared he would hurt me but he did not," she said.
"After he finally left, I walked over to [Tang], hugged her and shook her body but she didn't respond."
Thailand's national animal has become a national problem, as the country deals with an increasing number of deadly encounters between elephants and humans.
Once on the brink of extinction, elephant numbers have now rebounded.
They increased from an estimated 3,000 in 2018 to more than 4,400 in March 2023, according to the latest survey.
But the expansion in numbers has also resulted in more human deaths.
In the same period, 137 people were killed by elephants across Thailand. The Department of National Parks said 12 people have already been killed by elephants this year.
Prasong is still haunted by the memory of what happened to her sister-in-law and tries to avoid news articles or TV shows about elephants.
The animal that killed Trang was captured and taken back on a truck to the national park a month after the attack.
But Prasong hasn't set foot on a farm since the encounter and wants the government to do more to protect people living near elephants.
"I wish our village could live in peace and comfort. I don't want elephants to come around," she said.
How elephants became a deadly problem
In the eastern provinces, like Prachinburi, where Tang was killed, the elephant population is growing at a rate of about 8 per cent per year.
Phadet Laithong, director of the Wildlife Conservation Office of the Department of National Parks, said elephants were increasingly venturing outside of conservation areas and into villages and farms.
Elephants are increasingly venturing outside of conservation areas and into villages and farms.(Supplied: Uthan Chayaphat)"So we must do everything to improve the ecosystem to attract wild elephants to stay inside the forest," he told the ABC.
"Wild elephants are the same as other living animals … They live with instinct. Where there is food, they will go there, especially the food they like."
The food these enormous animals like is exactly the kind of crops farmed in the eastern forest zone – sugar cane, jackfruit and papaya.
"They like it more that the grass, vines and wood inside the forest," he said.
Phadet said one possible explanation for the elephants' movements into surrounding farmland was the lack of water sources, so "they keep walking" until they find it.
"Once they reached outside the conservation forest, they found agriculture crops, water and small bushes for hiding from danger," he said.
"When there are three complete elements they need, they learn how to live in that area and explore all around it."
In early December, a herd of more than 130 elephants wrought havoc on a village in Prachinburi, with farmers estimating the damage to their crops at about 10 million baht ($425,000).
Sunthorn Komkai, a local cane farmer, had crops that were damaged during the rampage and said he was angry at the government for failing to do more.
He was also still reeling from the death of his relative, Tang, who was killed on his property.
Tang died after an elephant stumbled into the garden where she was picking food for dinner.(ABC News: Lauren Day)"It was traumatic and I do not want this to happen to anyone else," he said.
"It was a devastating loss and no-one can understand the wild elephant problem if they do not face it themselves."
Sunthorn said he was upset that more can't be done to stop people from dying.
"I'm not angry with the wild elephant but I am angry with the weak government," he said.
"Even when people die in pain and crops are damaged, they say they can't do much and we must follow the regulations. So we are angry that we can't do anything."
The volunteer group tracking down a roaming herd
Sunthorn, who was a candidate in last year's Thai election for the Move Forward Party, now spends most nights with a group of volunteers.
Sunthorn Komkai says he is angry that they can't do anything about the attacks from elephants.(ABC News: Lauren Day)They try to track down wandering elephants that have ventured out of the forest and into farmland in order to push them back towards the national park.
The small teams inspect the fence lines designed to keep the giant animals out — though they stand small chance of holding them back.
They also use infrared drones to detect the elephants from the air before trying to shepherd them back to the forest with flares and flashlights.
The dangerous job had been largely left to locals, Sunthorn said, because the government had not allocated enough money to fix the problem.
"The Department of National Parks' 'pushing team' should have their own drone, they should get a better salary and there should be bigger teams because there aren't enough compared to number of elephants," he said.
"Wild elephants are not a natural disaster. Wild elephants are a mistake of the state, because they could not manage this problem.
"Elephants belong to the nation, the caretaker is the government. The mismanagement occurred by government so they should pay the price."
Sunthorn Komkai joins National Park officers to examine a fence designed to keep elephants away from crops.(ABC News: Lauren Day)Padej Laitong from the Department of National Parks agreed they were under-resourced to deal with the escalating issue.
"We must admit that we have a very small budget to support us," he said.
"I understand the government has so many missions and responsibilities to take care of. But we would like to get more budget to solve the problem.
"The urgent and the most important thing is to increase the amount and efficiency of the push-back team and network. And to let them know that we will not abandon them.
"The other important thing is healing and compensation for people. We are trying to set up the regulations and request more money from the government."
The Thai government did not answer questions put to them by the ABC.
Solutions to human-elephant conflict
The government has recently set up a committee to tackle the problem of human-elephant conflict.
One solution being considered was a birth control vaccine currently being researched, which could be administered from the air.
Despite warnings about the dangers posed by elephants, villagers can still be caught by surprise by the animals.(ABC News: Lauren Day)"We are studying how it can be shot with a drone from a distance into the female elephants, and it would then work for seven years," Mr Laitong said.
"It is not expensive but quite a difficult method, which we need to study more and develop."
Sunthorn said the current situation was unsustainable and dangerous, not only for people but the elephants as well.
"The number of elephants being injured or killed is increasing every year too," he said.
"It is very dangerous for elephants to live outside the forest as we don't know what will happen to them.
"I think elephants should live in their space and human lives in their space. They can live together but separately."
Sunthorn was worried about future interactions between elephants and humans and the likelihood it may result in more tragedy.
"I can only pray that this year there will be no death in our community," he said.
But days after speaking with the ABC, Sunthorn's greatest fears were realised when a 42-year-old man was killed in a sugarcane farm not far from his own.
His body was cremated at a monastery where wild elephants had previously destroyed a pagoda containing a large number of ashes.
Thailand's government is grappling with an increasing number of deadly encounters between elephants and humans.(Supplied: Uthan Chayaphat) -
Know the type. I avoid KSR like the plague but know exactly what you are talking about. What really annoys me is the fact that seem to be under the impression everyone within a 50 foot radius need to hear their conversation as well. I have told a table of them to tone it down during breakfast once.
Any of the Thai staff use the word "kwai" in their casual chats. Heard it often referring to western girls.
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- In short: Thailand's Election Commission has decided to ask the country's Constitutional Court to dissolve the political party Move Forward, which won the most seats at last year's general election.
- The commission said the party, which had promised before the election to amend the country's lese majeste law, "undermines the democratic system with the king as the head of state".
- What's next? Experts say the Constitutional Court is "highly likely" to comply with the Election Commission's request.
Thailand's Move Forward Party celebrated last year after winning the most seats in the national election. (Reuters: Jorge Silva)Thailand's opposition party, which won the most seats in last year's national election, is expected to be dissolved following a request by the country's Election Commission.
The commission on Tuesday announced it would ask Thailand's Constitutional Court to disband the Move Forward Party (MFP) over concerns the party's campaign to change a law against insulting the monarchy undermines the country's system of governance.
The commission's decision followed a ruling by the court in January that said Move Forward had violated the constitution with its plans to change the lese majeste law.
The court ruling found the party's proposed amendments to article 112 of the criminal code constituted an attempt to destroy Thailand's constitutional monarchy.
"There is evidence that Move Forward undermines the democratic system with the king as the head of state," the Election Commission said in a statement on Tuesday.
"The Election Commission has considered and analyzed the Constitutional Court verdict and has decided unanimously to ask the Constitutional Court to dissolve the Move Forward party."
Move Forward's progressive agenda has resonated among millions of young and urban voters and it won a stunning victory over military-backed parties in a May election.
But its plan to change lese majeste laws outraged conservative lawmakers allied with the royalist military who torpedoed the party's attempts to form a government.
If the party is dissolved, its leaders could be banned from politics for 10 years.
Decision 'not at all surprising'
Adam Simpson, a senior lecturer in international studies at the University of South Australia, said the development was "not at all surprising".
"It is highly likely that the Constitutional Court will take the case and rule that the MFP should be disbanded," Dr Simpson said.
"Both the Election Commission and the Constitutional Court are generally considered to be the vehicles of conservative elites and have repeatedly made adverse judgements against any liberal or progressive parties and politicians who might challenge the power of the military or monarchy in society."
Dr Simpson noted that a "similar approach" was used in 2020 to dissolve the Future Forward Party, the forerunner to the MFP.
"Until parties representing the popular will of the people, such as MFP, are allowed to form government we will see a continuation of the anti-democratic tendencies of governments that represent the interests of the military and monarchy rather than policies that respect and promote democracy and human rights," he said.
The disbandment of the Future Forward Party in 2020 sparked long-running anti-government protests.(Reuters: Jorge Silva)Thailand scholar Patrick Jory, a senior lecturer in South-East Asian history at the University of Queensland, agreed that the court would likely proceed to dissolve the party.
Dr Jory said the MFP was supported by much of Thailand's young people and did well at the election in the "more affluent, middle-class parts of the country".
"They won almost every seat in Bangkok and did well in places like Chiang Mai and Phuket, for example," he said.
"Conservatives regard MFP as a threat to the monarchy. Thaksin Shinawatra’s Pheu Thai party, which is now effectively in a political alliance with the conservatives, regard it as their main political rival.
"Having said that, MFP have from the start been well aware of the threat of dissolution.
"It will be interesting to see how they respond."
Move Forward party has argued its campaign to change article 112 was aimed at strengthening the constitutional monarchy and preventing the law from being misused.
"We have no intention to overthrow the democratic system with the king as the head of state," Move Forward Party spokesperson Parit Wacharasindhu told Reuters on Tuesday.
"We will prove our innocence at the Constitutional Court," he said.
Pita Limjaroenrat, who led the party to its 2023 election victory, told Reuters in an interview last month Move Forward had a succession plan if it was dissolved and the party's ideology would live on.
The dissolution of the Future Forward Party in 2020 sparked widescale youth-led protests openly criticising the monarchy.
Many of the protest leaders and participants have since faced lese majeste charges.
Dr Jory said he did not think there would be such large demonstrations this time around.
"I think that MFP thinks that protests have limited political use in circumstances like these," he said.
"I think they are concentrating their efforts much more on long-term political goals."
What is Thailand's lese majeste law?
Thailand's lese majeste legislation carries punishment of up to 15 years jail for each perceived insult or defamation against the king, queen, heir and regent.
Thailand's monarchy is enshrined in the constitution to be held in a position of "revered worship," and many royalists see the lese majeste law as sacrosanct.
The palace typically does not comment on the lese majeste law.
Rights activists say the law has been abused by conservative politicians to smear liberal opponents and stifle institutional reforms.
More than 260 people have been prosecuted under the legislation since 2020, including a man facing a record 50 years jail time over Facebook posts critical of the monarchy.
ABC/Reuters
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Thai girls never forget. I had one recently say hello who I met in Carousel which closed about 12 years ago. Even remembered my name.
Agree with Kong there's a high risk of being spotted along that stretch. As for the girls I don't really think they process what is and isn't appropriate when placed in that position.
Sounds handled.
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I have heard some obsolete Mac products are worth more now than they were new.
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He's a Narcissistic Megalomaniac who see himself grandiosely and in a state of impunity. He'd fit right in to a Sovereign State 😃
You could probably also include him in The Dark Triad category
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Straya
in Non-Thailand News
Posted
Ha Ha
There is an endless list of clothing free beaches in Australia. Some remote and many in the cities. Even Sydney Harbour has a couple of designated nude beaches.
Although these days you will spot the occasional "Burkini" on Bondi Beach who locals refer to as Smurfs for obvious reasons 😃