PeterRS

I see it as a grissly combination of both! Greed because it knew Airbus had a competitor aircraft in a more advance state of design. Instead of continung with its new 737 Max design, Boeing abandoned those plans. It made a risky decision to add much more powerful larger engines on to a six decades old airframe, even though it knew those engines could not be positioned as in all previous 737 models. But by keeping the mechanics and cockpit of the Max as close as possible to previous models, they wanted pilots to easily slip from one model to the next with a minimal of training. That is one reason why the sales pitch to customers became so hugely successful. Knowing the above, it had no choice but to come up with a whole raft of new solutions. That's when incompetence entered the picture. Anyone who has read the whole series of articles in The Seattle Times will know that pressure from the bean counters bore down on all in change of constructing the aircraft virtually every day. Engineers admitted that corners were cut. Vital safety systems were compromised. The MCAS became the vital system to ensure airworthiness. Boeing lied to the FAA about it. It lied to customer airlines when informing them pilot retraining and time in simulators would not be necessary for pilots. All pilots were given was a one hour presentation on an iPad. Southwest was even given a formal agreement that if simulator training became necessary, the airline would be given a rebate of US$1 million per plane. Not surprisingly both the FAA and EASA have now insisted on simulator training.

Please do. If possible find a short route served by the aircraft and splash out on a business class ticket. Most seats are in individual units separate from other seats. The flat bed seats are amazing, not that they would be needed on a short flight. The large vdo screens and the huge choice of IFE is truly amazing. The bar at the back is a full bar with premium liquors and snacks. I find it is usually busy on long haul flights from the USA to Dubai.

From what i read, the 737 Max f**k up was a direct result of competition from the long range Airbus A320 Neo. Boeing originally planned a totally new design for the Max, but the Neo got a head start and this got the Boeing bean counters really worried. A new aircraft can take many years to design and develop. The six decade old airframe of the 737 was deliberately close to the ground so that it could be used at smaller airports without airbridges. The original A320 on the other hand was developed much later and sits considerably higher off the ground. Competition with the Neo would require larger engines. On the old airframe they would be too close to the ground. As reader points out, the solution was to place them further forward and up to the point where they jut above the front surface of the wings. This disrupts airflow over the wings and gives the aircraft a tendency to pitch the nose up. No other aircraft has a similar design. The MCAS computerised system was developed to bring the nose back down when this occurred. But pilots were not told about it. I also understand that the MCAS activation is dependent on the Angle of Attack (AOA) sensors. There are two on each aircraft, one on each side. But Boeing only attached one to the MCAS i.e. no redundancy. Prior to the first crash, Boeing had received more than 200 complaints from pilots about faults in the AOA sensors. There is another piece of software related to the AOA sensors that Boeing decided to make an optional extra rather than mandatory. Cannot recall what that was. Since the grounding, it is now mandatory that this be included in all Max aircraft. The real problem surely is that the 737 Max is inherently an unstable aircraft that is dependent on its computers and the MCAS system to ensure it can be kept stable.

Could not agree more. Find it more comfortable and quieter than the competitor 787 Dreamliner. Have seen the Lufthansa 747-800 at several airports but never flown it. I think very few passenger versions were completed and LH was virtually the only customer. Most others are the freighter version. My other favourite aircraft is the A380. I am so disappointed it was the wrong plane at the wrong time.

Not sure how easily but they will have to be applied before the models already sitting idle can be permitted to fly again. Revamping the MCAS system was only one of a number of problems with the aircraft which became obvious before it got near the FAA for recertification. One was bunching of wires at the back of the aircraft which could have resulted in a fire. I believe there were also problems with the fuselage, perhaps of the same type that have now grounded at least 8 787 Dreamliners. These 787 problems are a result of production flaws at Boeing's South Carolina facility. The FAA is now investigating potential defects in that aircraft's production. As if that is not bad enough, there have also been concerns about the new wider longer range 777X. Unlike the 737 Max, this is a redesign and not an add on. A year ago it failed a stress test that involved bending the wings to a worst case scenario. In the same test the rear part of the fuselage depressurised and a cargo door came off the plane. At least that is how Boeing described the incident. A photo obtained by The Seattle Times and reported on CNN shows it was far worse with part of the fuselage split wide open behind the wing. That test aircraft was a write off. Despite the setbacks, Boeing kept pushing to launch the plane this year. It has now been put back to 2022. The 777X has also had big problems with its larger GE engines. But the FAA finally certified them last month. https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/boeing-777xs-fuselage-split-dramatically-during-september-stress-test/

As reported elsewhere in these forums, there recently have been demonstrations in Bangkok. On Thursday 15 the government instituted a "severe State of Emergency" in Bangkok for the next 30 days. Now there may be sanctions if these are discussed publicly and on social media. The Prime Minster stated yesterday - https://thepattayanews.com/2020/10/16/severe-state-of-emergency-in-bangkok-initially-implemented-for-a-month-to-maintain-peace-and-order-thailands-prime-minister-says-today/

I believe Boeing, its planners, engineers and everyone who was a supervisor on the creation of a plane which was very obviously not airworthy are guilty of the murder of 346 souls. From the Congressional hearings and the regular excellent Pullizer prize winning reports in The Seattle Times, we know that major airworthy issues were raised by many working on the plane and routinely brushed aside by the bean counters based in Chicago. They knew the plane was not airworthy. They wilfully and deliberately concocted false narratives for the FAA and airlines first to persuade them that a plane with a 60 years old airframe and larger engines that had to jut above the wings only because they just could not raise the height of the landing gear, and second to have another 737 success story in the air. I absolutely loved the various models of the 747. I have happily flown most other Boeing models. After three years with no self combustion, I finally took the 787 and enjoyed the flights. But I will never fly the 737 Max. If I find an airline has switched planes at the last minute and the new one is a Max, I will demand to go on another flight.

Am I alone? Horrified when I see people having to queue up for a dozen or more hours to make their vote in a general election during a pandemic? Amazed when I see a so-called pastor place an illegal ballot box outside his church? Aghast that one of the main parties places a series of fake ballot boxes around a major city and then refuses to take them away even though they are in fact illegal? Staggered that a country continues to stick with an anachronistic electoral system that has 50 different states using different methods of voting for its citizens to cast votes in what is a nationwide general election? Florida's hanging chads became a tragedy for America but a joke around the world. That a tight election was then decided by highly paid lawyers and a Supreme Court packed with justices loyal to the two main parties beggars belief. The USA holds itself up as the beacon of democracy worldwide. What I see on television every evening is more like a farce. Few other democratic countries can rest of their laurels for they have systems that are also way out of date. The constituency system in the UK is based on what existed centuries ago when only landowners could vote. In only very few countries does the man or woman who actually gains the majority of all votes win a general election. The many dictators in our world must be laughing their heads off.

An unexplained illness to one of the 60,000 volunteers has resulted in trials of another virus vaccine being suspended. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/12/johnson-johnson-pauses-covid-vaccine-trial-over-participants-unexplained-illness

Love it! So the money they didnt actually pay wont actually be returned to them. I can see a bit of Thai logic to the earlier public pronouncements.

The new layout looks great. One question. How will the info be compiled and then updated? If I recall correctly the free gay magazines that used to be so readily available and have since ceased publication were criticised for inaccurate info (their map locations for example). I especially recall there was one which continued to list a nice little restaurant near Malaysia Hotel in Bangkok called I think O Ho at least 4 years after it closed. Then, how much gay activity is required in each city before it merits inclusion? As the Minister of Culture keeps reminding us Thailand itself offers so much to the general visitor - sun, beaches, temples, culture etc. - and much of that will be of interest to gays. So there is lots of local info that can be inckuded. But as for gay activity we know from reports that virtually everything outside Bangkok and Pattaya is dying. The gay-in-chiangmai website lists about 55 gay establishments that have closed in recent years and not been replaced. About 18 months ago I took a visiting friend around the small cluster of small gay bars now relocated between the night market and the river. His comments were far from complimentary. Just thoughts which I hope may be useful.

Sorry never stayed. At Xmas it will be more than chilly at night. Being 60kms outside the city you will also likely be on your own for company - unless you are there with boy special.

Is your middle name Trump by any chance? You simply parrot what you have been fed or what your mind refuses to believe. Mask wearing. How many times have you been to Thailand? Five, six, Seven - more? In all those visits how many times - be honest = have you seen every Thai wearing masks! Simple answer. Never! I have seen a few very occasionally over the last two years in January and occasionally February, These were to combat the higher rates of pollution that then existed. In general, people in Thailand do not wear masks. But in April, May and June this year everyone in the country wore masks! To travel today on public transport still requires the wearing of masks. In the major cities in Japan many have worn masks for years again because of the pollution. Japan has a population of 126.5 million. In the summer it is as hot and humid as southern Thailand. How many deaths has the country had from coved19? Did you check? Deaths from coves 19 - 1,626. I am delusional because I believe Thailand handled its covid19 policy better that western countries? That is nonsense! Sorry to say but but it is you who are totally delusional abidismaili. You cannot - absolutely cannot - argue with facts. You select facts. Re India, you totally fail to mention that India has had a total of 108,000 covid19 deaths and more than 7 million cases. Is that not one of the hottest countries? You also seem to forget another simple fact - yes, fact. In 2003 the world faced another corona virus epidemic named SARS. Tis lasted about 8 months. Like covid19 that came from China and had spread from animals to humans. The first case was traced to a Chinese visitor to Hong Kong. It quickly spread to other Asian nations and on to a few western cities with largely Chinese populations like Vancouver and Toronto. The difference between the two viruses is that SARS symptoms became evident after only about 2 days of infection. Tracing therefore became far easier. But it was primarily Asian countries that were hard hit. Most others were hardly affected. As a result those Asian nations realised that other viruses would eventually appear. So they put in placel government medical departments specially equipped to handle future viruses. That is a key reason why Asian governments have been vastly more successful at controlling covid19 than western governments. That and a public with the memory of SARS. In 2003. I can recall landing at Don Mueang with more medical staff in full anti-infection gear than there were passengers. So permit me to give you one piece of advice. Open your mind! Look at the facts. Read what the scientific experts are saying. You will then realise that you are absolutely, totally wrong.

You clearly are unable to read, unfortunately. Look at Florida. That is as hot as it gets in Thailand for most of the year. 15,185 deaths and total of 729,000 cases - and counting. If heat kills the virus, why is it spreading like wildfire in a very hot country like india? If the virus loves cold weather, why does New Zealand only have 25 deaths. That country, please remember, was just going in to its winter when the virus appeared. It has still not reached its summer there. The reason for countries like Taiwan, Vietnam and Thailand, all dependent on huge numbers of Chinese tourists, having so relatively few cases is not related to weather. I wlll omit mention of your half-assed put-down re half-failed states. Instead I will again let facts speak for themselves. Vietnam: 95.54 million population - 35 deaths Thailand: 69.43 million population - 59 deaths Taiwan: 23.78 million population - 7 deaths USA: 328.2 million population - 219,686 deaths The reasons for asian countries having vastly fewer deaths than western countries is perfectly simple. They identified and understood the threat as soon as it appeared. As early as February at least two of the above had put in place mask wearing, use of hand sanitisers, temperature checks and contact tracing. By late March, all three Asian countries locked down. In Thailand we had to use a phone app when entering and exiting every building to make tracing simple. Only take out food was available. In early May, there was a gradual opening up. Now we had to use the phone app not only when entering a shopping mall but also again when one of its eating places, shops and supermarkets. I realise only too well how frustrating it is for so many stuck in other parts of the world who are unable to make their regular visits to Thailand. Rather than direct criticism at half-failed states, i suggest you write to your own government representatives to find out why they sat on their fat behinds and did nothing until it was too late.

In western style restaurants it happens occasionally. But I have only ever noticed wine being brought in. I have never heard of anyone going to a good restaurant taking in a bottle of gin or any other spirit. I have several times taken a bottle of wine that would be better than l could obtain at the restaurant. Corkage fee seems to be 500 baht no matter if it is bottle of Chateau Plonk or Chateau Mouton Rothschild (not that I can afford the latter!). Or if a wine I enjoy is 1000 baht cheaper in a wine store than the restaurant price, the 500 baht is a steal. I once took a special half bottle to The Peninsula Boxing Day buffet dinner. Again I was told 500 baht corkage. When I politely pointed out it was only a half bottle, it was reduced to 300 baht!

A few thoughts. Taiwan can get pretty cold during the winter. Not unusual for the temperature to fall to around 10C when the winter monsoon blows. Morocco too gets quite chilly especially if you want a popular spot like Marrakesh. The seaside resort of Agadir might be better but the temperature will not go much over 20C at noon. But then the same is true of the Canary Islands. Certainly a lot better than northern Europe but nothing like Thailand. Have not been to the Maldives for ages. As the link posted by spoon illustrates, it is a totally Islamic country. Not sure if it is still true but when we were there islanders were not permitted to staff the resort islands. They were kept isolated on Male and their own separate islands. Staff then came mostly from Sri Lanka and southern India. If you are there with your bf, there will be no problem for the 2 of you. As anddy suggests if you expect to find boys to while away a few hours, better hope there will be a cute guest. Staff are out of bounds. Best perhaps to write off this winter, save the cash and then splurge as soon as conditions permit.

A few letters and an insincere apology? I doubt if CNN, the New York Times and all the other media will print anything. Old news! The media just dont print apologies unless they are in a tiny paragraph hidden in inside pages. A cursory look at the CNN and BBC sites shows up nothing. There is an article in The Guardian. But by repeating the idiots false allegations and re-highlighting Thailands laws, he comes out of it more as saint than the sinner.

Talk aobut shooting yourself in the foot. This is really going to help Thai tourism recover once Chinese social media goes to town on this. Madness!

The hotel was fortunate that this moron did not have a gun with him when he made a fool of himself in the Resort. More worryingly however. How on earth is it possible that a man with a criminal record, who fired off his gun in several locations and claimed to be a federal agent can find a job teaching English in a Thai school? What background checks were made before he was able to find any kind of job in the Kingdom? So he lost his job. Do I care? Not one jot. He brought all this on himself.

If the Beijing rulers merely did a lot more to remove the stigma of homosexuality they could solve this problem at a stroke.

Such a sad time!

I wish in Thailand the left hand would occasionally talk with the right. Just a couple of days ago we are told that a limit of 1,200 would be placed on visitors coming in each month. Since we are now in October , even tho full details of that scheme are still to be announced, the cabinet seems to expect a maximum of 3,600. How does any industry body expect that number to inflate to 50,000? TIT

Reading about gay Thailand on various forums and books and considering Bangkok's physical development, I suspect most who were around at that time would say the golden era was from the mid 1970s until the early 2000s when the Thaksin Social Order Campaigns started. But vinapu is right. We can only talk about golden eras when we ourselves experienced the country.

So true. Ive stayed in several 3-star hotels in out of the way locations, nice bedrooms with great staff and excellent food. I gave them 5 stars. I never expected them to be like the Mandarin Oriental or Ritz Carlton hotels. Similarly I have given a couple of top hotels I have been lucky enough to stay at 3 star reviews.

If I travel to a new hotel, I do check Tripadvisor and the reviews on the site I made the booking. With Tripadvisor my rule is simple. I take a sampling of reviews. Any reviewer with less than 5 published reviews I will not consider. It has been known for years that some hotels on that site pad reviews with short rave reviews to get their hotel up the rankings. Almost all these reviewers never contribute a second review. Then I discard the best and worst reviews and take only the average of the rest. Usually it works quite well. But I agree that personal recommendation is best.