Coss

Well gay behaviour, in LOS, seems to me much more tolerated than in the West.

 

I think it's something to do with Hetero Thai males being three drinks away from gaydom.

Floundering Bomb Investigation Deepens Doubts About Competency

 

Investigators canvas the scene after the 17-Aug bombing of Bangkok's Erawan Shrine.

By Todd Ruiz

 

BANGKOK — Less than a year after Thailand’s last high-profile criminal investigation left observers scratching their heads, the competency and professionalism of its police are under a new level of scrutiny, only this time much more is at stake.

 

Eleven months on from a widely-panned investigation into the murders of two tourists on a resort island, those hoping last week’s horrific bombing of Bangkok’s Erawan Shrine would bring gravitas and professionalism to the ensuing investigation have instead seen the same baffling pronouncements and self-contradictory assertions.

 

“When you consider this follows on the back of a number of high-profile incidents in which the competency of Thai authorities has been called into question, this was the chance to set that narrative correct,†said Gregory Poling of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C.

 

Fourteen of the 20 people killed 17 Aug. hailed from outside the kingdom, leaving regional partners waiting for answers that so far have been in short supply from a state apparatus with “poor message management,†said Poling, the center’s Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies.

 

“The most important thing is that people are watching, and you see frustration building over notions of whether Thai authorities are really capable of investigating this professionally,†he said.

 

As much as during the height of the investigation into the murder of two Britons on Koh Tao, priorities have seemed obsessed with optics instead of substance.

 

This has left the public to settle for briefings that sometimes fall short of deductive reasoning.

 

“I don’t believe Thai people are the perpetrators … because the incident is a behavior that is too cruel for Thai people with Thai hearts to do to their fellow Thais,†Deputy Police Chief Chaktip Chaijinda said yesterday.

 

In a short span of days, top officials alternately have implied the attack was carried out by domestic elements, speculated it was a foreign operation, discounted that theory and said they have no idea.

 

A state media report today quoted police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang saying no one could be ruled out. It also mentioned police interrogation of three Uighurs in the eastern province of Sakaew, “not because they are accusing the trio of involving in the two explosions in Bangkok, but police need information from all sources they could find in order to solve the case.â€

 

Unable to control the message in the social media age, authorities have made increasingly aggressive demands they be entrusted as the source of information while failing to satisfactorily deliver it.

 

Somyot on Monday said police would seek the prosecution of anyone spreading false information, whether it was spread through a smartphone or television broadcast.

 

Meanwhile the investigation seems to have run into a wall. The biggest development this week was the release of an arrest warrant yesterday for the suspected Sathorn Pier bomber. A warrant that describes the man only as “Asian†between 25 and 30, 170 centimeters in height. Police Chief Somyot today expressed confidence it would “lead to his arrest,†despite lacking a nationality or name.

 

That lack of visible progress, aggravated by conflicting statements and off-the-cuff speculation, have left the public and media to speculate – sometimes wildly.

 

Vectors of Blame

Within hours of the attack, gut-check blame was extended to the Uighurs, a Turkic Muslim ethnic group in western China. In July, Turkish nationalists had stormed the Thai consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, in response to Thailand’s decision to deport more than 100 of them back to China against their will.

 

A pattern of circumstantial evidence, such as reports investigators were looking for a person of interest who might have used a fake Turkish passport, fueled theories the attack could have been an act of revenge.

 

At a Monday evening panel hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Club, a regional security expert laid out his leading hypothesis: The attack was perpetrated by far-right Turkish fascists known as the “Grey Wolves.â€

 

For nearly five decades, the Grey Wolves have carried out assassinations and terror in the name of Turkish supremacy, mostly against Kurds, and have reached out to Uighurs in China’s Xinjiang province.

 

Anthony Davis, an analyst with IHS Jane's, said they were one of the only groups with both the motive and the means.

 

Starved for developments, international and local media issued a volley of reports on that speculation in the likes of Forbes, Financial Times and Reuters. Reuters yesterday reported Turkey saying it had received no inquiries from

Thai authorities.

 

Saying nobody could be ruled out, the center’s Poling said the involvement of the Grey Wolves was as likely or unlikely as other group. He said the attack didn’t fit their pattern, just as it didn’t fit that of yellow-red political violence or the southern insurgency.

 

“What would be the point of carrying out an international attack and then not take credit for it?†he said.

 

Only five weeks passed between Thailand’s widely criticized move to deport the Uighurs and the Erawan Shrine bombing. And some by some accounts the perpetrators might have been in Bangkok for at least eight months.

International Relations Prof. Paul Chambers dismissed speculation of Uighur involvement as “empty smoke†and a false lead chased by police fixed on finding an Arab suspect.

 

“Uighurs are treated badly in Cambodia, too,†said Chambers, who teaches at the Institute of South East Asian Affairs. “But why not bomb buildings in Cambodia?â€

 

A Challenge to Legitimacy?

The attack, compounded by the failure to convince the public it is being investigated competently, is drawing frustration both within and without Thailand, Poling said, which could pose a threat to the military government’s stated raison d’etre.

 

“It undercuts the junta’s claim to legitimacy. They’re saying that, whatever else, ‘We've brought stability,’†he said. “If that narrative gets undermined, then who knows what the reaction might be?â€

 

Chambers sees it differently. His most likely suspect in the attack is some element within the state apparatus, whether military or police. He said of all the players on the board, Thai security forces had the most to gain and the greatest capacity to carry out the attack.

 

“It will actually enable junta to rationalize their rule to stay in power longer,†he said.

Government representatives have dismissed out of hand any suggestion they might have been complicit in the attack.

 

Not knowing who attacked the nation and why makes it difficult to anticipate whether to expect or prepare for future attacks.

 

Poling said the Erawan Shrine bombing was likely an “outlier†that doesn't necessarily put international terror on the threat board.

 

“Do I think this is a harbinger of a future where Thailand has to worry about being a front in Islamic terror? Probably not.â€

 

Additional reporting Teeranai Charuvastra.

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1440762991

It does take some of the seriousness out of the situation. This is why, even though I'm now a primary fan of a different country to LOS, I still follow the news and politics of Thailand avidly. There's a TV series in this lot.

 

As noted above, when there's a serious situation, two bombs exploding in the centre of the LOS universe, the guys in charge, amongst their other blunders, rush to one of the most famous red light districts on the planet, which the Police are notorious for having significant if not overwhelming financial interests in, and stage a public meet and greet to 'reassure' foreigners for whom sex and gogos is great entertainment.

 

This points to two things for me.

 

1 - the real idiocy of the Thai centrist view of the world, or Thai-ness.

2 - the actual importance of the dollar spend of the Falangs visiting the sex industry.

Wilde - 1997 I think. I'm a fan of Oscar Widle, Stephen Fry and Jude Law. I'm also pro, anyone's sexual orientation.

 

But, being a confirmed Hetero, I found the self-congratulatory, dreamy-eyed sex scenes, between men, a little too much.

 

Jude Law shines however, even without the buttock shots. Stephen Fry and others put in very good performances.

 

I didn't know that Mr Wilde was a father, you learn something every day.

 

There was less of the legendary Wilde wit and more of the "look, men having sex!" than I was expecting. Worth a look.

Kill Me Three Times 2014 - a good Aussie fillum. Well worth a watch.

There is a too soon element to this, I suppose, but TAT is always posting bullshit figures. If every TAT projection had come to pass, all the tourists in the world would be in LOS now, and then some.

At the Laos border into Thailand at the friendship bridge, Vientiane, it is possible to drive, without stopping, with no checks, into Thailand. I've seen HiSo's do it. Getting back into Laos is not so easy however.

Everything-you-need-all-in-one-aisle.

 

 

Vet: I could have helped with rampaging cow

 

By Anne-Marie McDonald

6:18 PM Monday Aug 24, 2015

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11502184

 

 

Police had to shoot a cow after it rampaged through a Wanganui town this morning. PHOTO: Wanganui Chronicle / Bevan Conley

 

Wanganui veterinarian David Rankin said he could have assisted police in dealing with a cow on the loose in the town this morning.

 

The cow was shot at least nine times after running along Puriri St and Alma Rd, charging at people, including a person on a mobility scooter.

 

Mr Rankin said he condoned shooting the cow if it was distressed and a public danger.

 

"But the welfare of the animal should have been taken into consideration," he said.

 

"If I had been called, I could have assessed the cow and decided what the best option was."

 

Mr Rankin said he was used to dealing with large animals, and was also a registered gun holder and an experienced hunter.

 

He said if the animal had been distressed it would been all but impossible to use a tranquiliser dart on it.

 

"We do dart large animals, but when they are calm and contained. When a large animal like a cow is distressed, a sedative doesn't work because the animal is so worked up.

 

"It would have required a dose so large that it would have been a threat to its life."

 

Readers on the Wanganui Chronicle Facebook page were keen to express their opinions on the incident.

 

Jess Jones wrote, "So sad - if they hadn't have startled it so much with their sirens it probably would've returned back quite happily or at least been contained easier. The police were too trigger happy, and in a public area and my son's kindergarten there as well. Anything could've happened."

 

Jodie Frew said the incident was "appalling".

 

"They didn't wait for back up try to round it up to try and get it into Gonville Domain. The cop [was] jumping in and out of his car and firing and then chasing the bloody thing with his loaded gun whilst traffic was still coming, and kids out and about for school! Totally irresponsible of the police."

 

Edward Minnell was more sympathetic to the police's situation: "I have been on the receiving end of a pissed off cow. Luckily I am big and was able to take a knocks. Any child would have died. 11 shots is a bit poor to down a cow but shooting it was best. Once they get riled up then they can get quite nasty."

 

Jessica Fawcett said it was "better to have a dead cow than a dead person".

"Cows are big dangerous animals when they want to be," she said.

"North Korea is now threatening the United States with all-out war. You can see they're stepping it up. In fact, they released 10 more photos of Kim Jong Un looking through binoculars." –Jay Leno

 

"Japan and South Korea are on high alert after North Korea successfully launched a long-range rocket. Both countries are surprised by North Korea's successful launch, but definitely not as surprised as North Korea." –Jimmy Fallon

 

BANGKOK — Amidst dire economic news exacerbated by the recent bomb attacks in the capital city, the Tourism Authority of Thailand today reported some positive news, declaring a huge spike in candlelight-vigil-based tourist arrivals.

 

“Since the dreadful events of Monday, the country has seen a major upturn in arrivals of international visitors who are seeking vigil-type recreation,†said TAT Governor Suraphon Svetasrani.

 

“If this trend continues, we think it may offset some of the other tourism cancellations and help support the Thai economy.â€

 

According to numbers released by the TAT, a survey of weekly tourism numbers showed that candlelight-vigil tourists are up to 75 for the year, a nearly 8000% increase over the annual average of 0.97.

 

While this number is a small fraction of the nation’s annual 19 million international arrivals, the TAT remains optimistic that the rate of growth can prove significant.

 

“Candlelight vigils are a growing sector in the travel and tourism industry,†said TAT deputy governor Pensuda Priaram. “With the increase in social media and digital communication, almost every natural disaster, terror attack, industrial accident, and plane crash results in a series of vigils.â€

 

Pensuda pointed out that after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, that country enjoyed a 4000% upturn in candlelight-vigil-based revenue in the following year.

 

“Thailand can’t afford not to get in on this lucrative industry,†she said. “And this week’s events show that we are well positioned for growth.â€

 

International analysts, however, remained skeptical that the rise in tragedy-mourning tourists could significantly offset the kingdom’s other economic problems.

 

“Vigil tourists are only low- to medium-spenders,†noted CNBC travel analyst David Weisenhunt. “They tend to buy T-shirts and candles, and flowers too, but not much on bigger-ticket items like expensive meals or hotel suites.â€

 

Weisenhunt estimated that in order for the rise in such tourism to compensate for the weakening baht and loss of manufacturing export revenue, Thailand would need 4,500,000 candlelight vigil tourists between now and January.

 

“There’s only one event I can think of that would attract those numbers,†he noted. “And I’m not allowed to even say it.â€

 

link

Technology failure hindering Bangkok bombing investigation

 

 

Mourners place incense, candles and pour water at the base of the Erawan Shrine to commemorate the victims of the Bangkok bomb attack, a week after the deadly blast.

 

Up to 75 per cent of the security cameras were broken along the getaway path taken by the main suspect in last week's deadly Bangkok bombing, Thailand's police chief says.

 

The revelation is a major obstacle to an investigation that has only fuzzy images of the still-unidentified man.

 

Investigators are trying to "put pieces of the puzzle together" but have had to use their imagination to fill holes left by cameras that failed to record his movements, said national police chief Somyot Poompanmoung, openly frustrated as he spoke to reporters one week after the blast.

 

"For example, the perpetrator was driving away - escaping - and there are CCTV cameras following him. Sometimes there were 20 cameras on the street but only five worked," Somyot said.

 

"Fifteen were broken, for whatever reason, they didn't work."

 

"The footage jumps around from one camera to another, and for the missing parts police have had to use their imagination," he said. "We've had to waste time connecting the dots."

 

Another challenge is that investigators lack sophisticated equipment like police use on the popular TV crime series "CSI" to render blurry video clear, he said. "Have you seen 'CSI'?" Somyot asked reporters. "We don't have those things." ( my comments - Really? CSI is real? you're expecting to have a computer nerd look at a computer screen for a few seconds and give you an identity and full Bio of the Perp?")

 

One week after last Monday's bombing at the capital's revered Erawan Shrine, which left 20 people dead and more than 120 injured, police appeared no closer to tracking down suspects or determining a motive for the attack.

 

At 6.55pm on Monday, a crowd gathered at the shrine in central Bangkok and observed a minute of silence to mark the moment the bomb exploded.

 

Chanting Buddhist monks led prayers as onlookers held lit candles to commemorate what authorities have called the deadliest attack in modern Thai history.

 

Police have faced criticism for sending mixed messages and stating theories as fact, only to later retract them, adding to the confusion at a time of public concern.

 

Grilled about what progress has been made in a week, the police chief said that basic questions about the suspect's identity and whereabouts remain unknown. Asked if he is still in Thailand, Somyot said, "I don't know."

 

"I still believe he is in Thailand because I have no evidence to confirm otherwise," he said. Over the weekend, police spokesman Prawut Thawornsiri said he suspected the man may have left the country.

 

Police have released an artist's sketch of the suspect who was seen in security camera video from the open-air shrine leaving a backpack at a bench and walking away 15 minutes before the explosion.

 

A separate camera showed the suspect, wearing a yellow T-shirt, on the back of a motorcycle taxi leaving the site.

 

"We only have those pictures," said Prawuth, the police spokesman. "The problem is the pictures aren't clear."

 

Police have questioned a motorcycle taxi driver believed to have driven the suspect away. The driver told police the man handed him a piece of paper saying "Lumpini Park," the city's largest park, which is near the shrine.

 

But none of the security cameras worked along the route to the park, Somyot said.

 

Police have tried to chase a report that after the suspect got off the motorcycle at the park, he went into a nearby hospital and changed into a grey T-shirt, Somyot said.

 

"We went to see if this is true and checked the CCTV cameras at Chulalungkorn Hospital. But we found that all the cameras were broken," he said, laughing nervously, and asking for understanding because police had been working nonstop and were tired.

 

"Since the bombing, we've barely slept," he said. "We're doing the best we can."

 

On Friday, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said he had received offers of assistance from the US Embassy in Bangkok to help track down suspects and had assigned his deputy "to cooperate on borrowing equipment that includes facial-recognition technology."

 

However, Prayuth ruled out working with US investigators, insisting Thais can do the job.

 

The attack has raised concerns about safety in the capital, which attracts millions of tourists, and has left the city on edge.

 

Police have responded to several calls in the past week about unattended bags which turned out to be false alarms, and have tried to reassure the public and international community that Bangkok is safe.

 

On Monday, police said a worker digging at a construction site found a grenade buried in the ground and a police explosives squad was sent to defuse it. The grenade was found in a residential area far from the city centre.

 

Police Lt Sakon Rungkiatpaisarn said the grenade appeared to have been buried for a while and authorities "do not think it has anything to do with (last Monday's) bombing."

 

http://www.stuff.co....g-investigation

Ahh yes, but I'm dim you see.

Photoshopped, note Pope's lower right (his lower right) chest has turned into female torso. Maybe hot is catching....

A rampaging cow has been fatally shot by police in Whanganui.

Police were called to a report of a cow on the loose in Puriri St about 7.45am on Monday.

The animal was considered a risk to the public, and was shot...............

http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/71387855/cow-shot-in-whanganui-street

"Coss, are you searching for TV series with nudity?"

 

No, but I'm going to revisit Game of Thrones now, at least the first series. I was told it was good when it came out, but when I watched it on free to air, I didn't think much of it. I then saw one episode that was not edited for public TV. There was of course much more nudity. The lesson for me, was that there is an amazing amount of plot that gets cut out of shows, because the broadcasters are scared of naked folk, this can ruin the story line.

 

Another advantage of this Android TV box I've got, is that olden shows are easily accessible, i.e. Black Books.

Black Sails, 20 years before Treasure Island. Great Pirate goings on. Interesting and engaging plot. TV series I and II.

 

My only complaint is that there's so much shagging by the good looking participants, that in order to preserve historical accuracy, i.e. no contraception, the female actors would have been pregnant most of the time, they're not, they're shagging most of the time, luverly.

 

Not quite as great as Vikings, but a very close second. Well worth a watch.

And if you want a good read on Kim Jong Un, read this http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/02/kim-jong-un-north-korea-understanding

 

A teacher addresses elementary school students in Wonsan, Kangwon province, North Korea, Dec. 16, 2011.

 

North Korean authorities have stepped up their surveillance of citizens believed to be drug users by interrogating their children in schools, employing an old reviled method of weeding out drug users that had been discontinued by former leader Kim Jong Il, sources inside the country said.

 

“Security officials in charge of schools are intimidating and interrogating elementary school students to investigate drug offenses, and their parents have been immensely shocked about it,†a source in South Hamgyong province told RFA’s Korean Service.

 

During one such period of intensive investigation of local drug use, a security official in Sapo district of Hamhung, capital of South Hamgyong province, drew pictures of paraphernalia for injecting drugs on the board in an elementary school and asked the seven-year-old students in the class what they were, the source said.

 

The security official from the country’s state security department, which is similar to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, recorded the names of all the students who responded with “konapal†or “koggiri,†Korean slang words for drug paraphernalia. He called them up one by one to ask them how they knew the names of the items, the source said.

 

As the security official cajoled and threatened the students into giving him information, many of them admitted that their parents used drugs. Their parents were then arrested on drug offenses, the source said.

 

The state security department’s use of children to crack down on adults has infuriated many citizens, sources said.

 

“All residents in people’s units are forced to anonymously turn in materials relevant to drug offenses,†a source in North Hamgyong province told RFA. “Kim Jong Un’s regime has resurrected the method of investigation which [former leader] Kim Jong Il suspended because of worries about public disaffection.â€

 

“Now anonymous investigations are only focusing on drugs, but they likely can be extended later,†the source said. “North Korean residents are at odds, suspecting each other because of the anonymous investigations of drug offenses.’

 

“The state security department has taken the lead in instigating social conflicts,†he added.

 

State security agencies under former leader Kim Jong Il employed such methods to try to eradicate drug smuggling into the isolated country.

 

Authorities ordered citizens to anonymously write the wrongdoings of their coworkers or members of people’s units, a state control mechanism that consists of 20-40 households, using various techniques to solicit information, including the intimidation and conciliation of children.

 

During that time, only state security units organized by North Korean authorities applied such methods as a means of curbing social unrest and citizen antipathy towards the regime, sources said.

 

North Korea has in recent years grappled with a drug addiction problem among youth, workers and even police officers, with the powerful stimulant methamphetamine or “ice†as their primary drug of choice.

 

Long seen as a supplier of the highly addictive drug to China, North Korea experienced an influx of methamphetamines after its neighbor started cracking down on cross-border smuggling.

 

http://www.rfa.org/e...2015145631.html

Thai police used roti vendors as translators

By Michael Sainsbury

 

KOH SAMUI: -- Thai police used two Muslim Rohingya translators with a very poor grasp of the Thai language to interrogate two Rakhine men accused of murdering British backpackers, it was revealed in court yesterday.

 

One of the translators, Ko Ye, admitted to the Samui Central Court yesterday that he could not read or write Thai and barely understood the Rakhine dialect.

 

Under questioning from the defence, he said that he signed a statement confirming what happened in the interrogation even though he didn’t know what it said in Thai, and he wasn’t asked to sign it until a month afterward.

 

The two translators, both street roti sellers, were brought in by police after Ko Zaw Lin and Ko Wai Phyo, both 22, were detained on October 2, 2014. Ko Ye is from Surat Thani, while the other translator, Ko Kamar, is from Koh Tao.

 

The Myanmar migrant workers could face the death penalty if convicted of murdering David Miller, 24, and murdering and raping Hannah Witheridge, 23, in the early hours of September 15, 2014.

 

The trial is now in the third of its six weeks.

 

The defence maintains that the Rakhine natives are being scapegoated following a botched investigation that was rushed to clear Thailand’s marred image as a tourist paradise.

 

“The second roti seller has been on the stand today and it’s become very clear that he does not have much of grasp of Thai at all so we don’t understand how he could have translated for police,†Andy Hall, a British migrant rights advocate who is helping the defence team, told The Myanmar Times.

 

“As well there have been many police procedural issues exposed this week, including many inconsistencies in the timing of events around the arrest of the accused.â€

 

Police witnesses have contradicted each other about the times of various events, including the arrest of the men, the taking of DNA samples and the times of their initial confessions, observers at the court said.

 

On August 19, Bangkok solicitor Pittaya Yaipetch claimed he was present during the confessions but did not make a report of the event, despite apparently being an observer for the Thai Lawyers Association.

 

“The suspect told the investigating police officer that he was with the co-accused on the beach at about 3am when the victims walked past them. He said they went to a place further along the beach and started kissing,†said Mr Yaipetch.

 

“Zaw Lin said he hit Mr Miller with a garden hoe while he was lying on top of Ms Witheridge but the victim jumped to his feet and tried to fight [Zaw Lin] off. That was when he hit him again and he fell down.â€

 

Those confessions were allegedly obtained using the translation services of the roti sellers, but the confessions were later retracted.

 

Ko Zaw Lin and Ko Wai Phyo have accused both the police and the roti sellers of beating, stripping and blindfolding them.

 

The two Muslim men both denied using violence on the accused.

 

Mr Hall said that the accused remained upbeat during yesterday’s trial.

 

The mothers of the two men were present in court yesterday to witness the trial. The trial continues today.

Source: http://www.mmtimes.c...ranslators.html

Soi Zero was primarily responsible for my slide, into the depths of depravity and degradation, my, from then, life's work.

 

Think, an amateur Fiery Jack. Whom I gather, is trying to tone it down.