waerth

It is funny. Just now in the elevator of my building had a conversation with a cute nurse. Me: What hospital do you work at . She: ..... hospital Me: Wow that is expensive She: But we are expensive that is why we are good Me: In my country you can go to free hospitals She: Then they can never be good. How can a hospital be good if it is cheap. This to me personifies Thainess ............ inane greediness ........... culturally ingrained stupidity (because it is cheap it cannot be good) Which is why a good Thai repair person is scarce. Which is why Thailand has so many problems when it comes to safety.

Thainess is the best word to describe all negative attributes of Thai people and Thailand LOL

And your point is??????

Anybody have the link to the article in the OP? Please pm it to me!

And to go back to Mylene Farmer. She always made her videoclips in the form of small movies. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XazOkXRTyR4

Whom is the terror of Bangkok?

Nice nice nice gentlemen! Great tunes there (both Bust and Mekong). Youssou N'Dour is a true artist. Long time ago I watched a concert of him. Couldnt understand the songs. But full of passion he performed! Now I cannot offer much in return but I really like this whacky song

From what I read he wants to introduce forbidding abortion and other "christian" values. If you want that, yes go ahead and vote for him.

I like this version a bit better because of the Piano in there. I love almost anything with a piano in there. Sentimental reasons. My first girlfriend in Suriname used to play the piano for me. Sometimes for an hour or 2 on end!

And I am of this generation btw the disenchanted one .... Songs background .... although not a big hit in the Netherlands the lyrics resonated with me personally (in those days lyrics in French songs were often subtitled on tv!) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9senchant%C3%A9e http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyZL3xcYcNU

I used to be a diskjockey on a local radio station for a year or 2 doing the morning show together with someone else as I had to run out to go to school at 08.15 (I was 16 at the time). From the 90ties I know most commercial tracks by heart (the ones that charted in the top 40). I spend all money that I earned on buying CD's quite expensive at the time as CDs where a new thing. I have always loved music of any kind really, through classical and opera too trance and most things inbetween. I see music as an expression of someone's soul. There is no bad music in my opinion, only music I personally do not like, or I do not like at the moment is is played as it doesnt reflect my mood. I hate it when people diss music, just because you do not lke it doesnt mean it is bad. If there is just one person liking a piece of music it has reached its purpose imho. Music is constantly evolving. Every generation in every country has its own "tunes". New classics are constantly being made we just do not know untill 10-20 years later. I personally hate the over hyping of some songs/ time periods (60/70s) which makes me hate the music as I feel the "hype" is overdone. Now the clip at the bottom is from when I lived in Suriname from 1985-1989. Huge hit there (and when I returned to Netherlands in 1989 it was the summerhit there LOL). Zouk and Kassav where 2 wildly popular music styles from the caribbean in Suriname. And to all the there is no good music since the 70ties people I can only say ..... open your ears ..... the best song still needs to be made

And to stay with classics .....

Now there is a trance version of that Verve track. Couldnt find it so stayed with this ..... another person walking down the street ....... brilliant tracks btw (Verve and this one)

What a way to keep the tourists in Phuket! Seizing their umbrellas while wearing militairy gear and guns!! And not speaking English off course http://phuketwan.com/tourism/phuket-officials-seize-beach-umbrellas-tourists-surin-22206/ Phuket Officials Seize 50 Beach Umbrellas from Tourists at Surin By Prasit Tarnsirisin PHUKET: Officials in uniform removed more than 50 tourists' bring-you-own or rented beach umbrellas from the sands at Surin this afternoon. The dramatic action by a force of local district workers is expected to trigger a strong reaction. Surin is generally regarded as Phuket's upmarket five-star beach and the people who use it are the ''quality'' tourists that the Tourism Authority of Thailand says the country wants to keep. Scenes of officials removing the umbrellas from tourists, leaving them in the blazing sun, are likely to trigger anger and probably an exodus by the tourists involved. The action at Surin followed the seizure earlier today of illicit sunbeds and more than 70 thick padded mats from a beach near the five-star Banyan Tree Resort, further north along Phuket's popular holiday coast. The Thalang district officials are carrying out an order from the Governor of Phuket, Nisit Jansomwong, to restrict the use of umbrellas and mats to 10 percent of each of Phuket's prime tourist beaches. This reporter had to explain what was happening in English to many of the tourists, including an Australian couple on the sand in front of the Catch Beach Club. The 30 officials in today's raid could not speak English. Tourists questioned why officials were dressed in camouflage, looking like the military, and why many of them had guns on their hips. Many of the tourists were from Europe. One, Hanspeter Bloch, 51, on the staff at Swissair, said he had no idea about the ''10 percent zones.'' This is despite notices having been posted along the beachfront telling tourists what they can and cannot do on the beach these days. Some of the tourists admitted using umbrellas from outlaw renters. However, when officials asked whether anyone claimed the confiscated beach umbrellas, there were no takers. One conversation between a tourist and an official went like this: Tourist: ''Is my chair legal or not?'' Official: ''It's illegal now.'' There were about 20 umbrellas already in the ''10 percent zones'' and the 51 confiscated umbrellas were free-range on the beach, close to the water. Some tourists chose to stay in the sun even after their umbrellas had been confiscated. Another Phuketwan reporter visited Surin beach a couple of weeks ago when tourists were still permitted to bring their own umbrellas and beach chairs. The scene looked idyllic and picture-perfect. While tourists have preferred to plant their own small umbrellas on the hard, cool sand near the sea's edge, the governor's 10 percent zones are at the back of the beach, on the hotter sand. On the day Phuketwan visited Surin three weeks ago, there were many more byo tourists' umbrellas than could have fitted into the 10 percent zones. Most of the world's top beaches take a casual approach to sunlovers bringing their own umbrellas, chairs and other equipment and do not seek to regiment them into zones. Last year, the military took control in Thailand and rapidly cleared all commerce from Phuket's beaches and foreshores, knocking down most beach clubs and restaurants. Beaches in Thailand are public but for more than 20 years, Phuket's beaches had been privatised by people renting umbrellas and sunbeds, selling food and drink and souvenirs, and encroaching on the foreshores with illegal restaurants and beach clubs. Phuket's governor has tried to keep the beaches as clear as possible but he sought a ''10 percent zone'' compromise to give work to some of the poorer beach vendors. The Mayor of Patong and others along the coast say that after making relatively easy money from tourists for many years, none of the beach workers are poor.

And here you have it. The Thais were actually planning on banning Korean airliners over this but realized that that would make matters worse http://bangkokpost.com/news/general/519899/dca-won-t-curb-flights-from-korea And Korea seems to have caved ...... might the Thai threats have worked? If so that is bad for air safety!

Ermm any govt can ban anyone elses airlines for whatever reason they feel. Hey Korea your airline no hab Som Tam .... you are banned.

As I predicted the Thais will ban airlines from countries that ban theirs ....... at least they warned S Korea they will do that if S Korea bans Thai airliners. It is just one sentence in this article but it is very important. http://bangkokpost.com/news/transport/518779/prajin-awaits-korea-next-move-on-bans

Thais seem to love downgrades! http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Thailand-faces-downgrade-if-NHRC-merger-goes-ahead-30257094.html International body for rights groups says credibility, cooperation will be hit THE KINGDOM'S human rights status could be downgraded in October should the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) get merged with the Office of the Ombudsman as per the new constitution, a recent meeting in Geneva concluded. The International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institution (ICC), which met in Geneva from March 11 to 13 with representatives from more than 100 countries, concluded that Thailand's status could be downgraded from A to B by the ICC Subcommittee for Accreditation. This move would affect the Kingdom's credibility when it comes to human-rights standards, according to a statement issued by NHRC yesterday. Also present at the meeting was NHRC chairperson Prof Amara Pongsapich. ICC might consider the merger as NHRC's dissolution, as the new body would likely not be qualified under the so-called Paris Principle, which specifies criteria on the selection of the rights commissioner and on what constitutes an independent rights commission. This means the standing and accreditation the NHRC achieved during its decade-long existence would likely be lost. If Thailand's status is downgraded, it will have to wait a few years before it can apply for new accreditation as the new body will have to show at least three years of work to the ICC. NHRC commissioner Niran Pitakwatchara said he still holds out hope that the merger plan would be dropped, as it makes no sense, adding that he will continue opposing the idea. As for the process of selecting new commissioners, which will be done this year, Niran said the NHRC had brought the matter up with Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam and was awaiting his response. He added that Thailand could also lose its ICC membership if the merger goes ahead and this would affect international cooperation on various human rights issues between Thailand and other states under its obligation to international treaties. Niran pointed out that even the United Nations Office of High Commissioners for Human Rights opposed the planned merger. The Constitution Drafting Committee is planning to merge the NHRC with the Office of the Ombudsman and call the new body Ombudsman and Public Rights Protection.

The Japanese have relented to Thai pressure :/ http://bangkokpost.com/news/transport/513783/japan-allows-thai-chartered-flights-two-months

And BKK post sorts all articles related to this in one category! http://bangkokpost.com/hot-topics/512510/air-safety-ban

And in a first for Thailand they are thinking about bringing in foreign experts http://bangkokpost.com/news/general/512433/special-measures-eyed-to-pre-empt-foreign-airline-bans

Also more countries are now slapping bans on Thai carriers: http://bangkokpost.com/news/transport/512592/more-countries-join-japan-korea-in-restricting-thai-carriers China and Singapore

From what I got out of all messages, Thailand needs to comply to a list of 100 points. They only comply to 21 .... Cambodia, Aseans 2nd worst complies to 34!!! According to this article Thailand was warned in 2005 already! And never did a thing. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/PM-promises-fast-ending-to-aviation-hurdle-30257049.html "The audit in 2005 required an improvement in the Civil Aviation Deparment’s operations which have not yet met international standards. Another audit this year showed no improvement." So they had 10 years to fix it and did nothing.

Take the "s" out of https