PeterRS

This is horribly similar to the collapse of a major shopping mall in Seoul, South Korea, in June 1995. The plan had been to build a four-storey apartment block on the site. Its owners, though, changed this to a five storey shopping mall. Short cuts were taken during construction before the building opened in 1990. Three huge air conditioning units weighing 15 tonnes each when empty had been placed on the roof. Noise complaints from neighbours resulted in these being dragged across the roof to a different location. Soon cracks began to develop on the 5th floor. No one took any action. By April 1995 these had become considerably worse. On June 29 staff were aware that there were serious structural problems, but the store remained open. AT 5:52 pm that afternoon, the fifth floor gave way and the entire building collapsed. 502 people were killed and 947 injured. Hardly any were rescued from the mass of debris, but one 19-year old shop attendeant was pulled from the ruble after surviving in the intense heat of a Seoul summer for 17 days. The investigation into the tragedy identified a number of maor construction short-cuts. After corruption, the biggest single source was identified as the constant vibrations from the huge air conditioning units on the roof.

I usually enjoy fusion cuisine but have never been to any Thai restaurant in London. Too many to enjoy in Bangkok! But I am no fan of one particular Michelin-starred restaurant in Bangkok - Nahm in the Metropolitan Hotel on Sathorn. I went with two colleagues a few months or so after it opened with great fanfare. The dishes are all classic Thai - and perhaps surprisingly we enjoyed none! First the tables were both too high and too wide, and the chairs too low. So trying to make conversation was just that - a trial and uncomfortable to boot! Throughout the evening not one of the mostly middle-aged waiters smiled. Not once! We were given the option of the level of spice in the dishes we ordered and, rather un-Thai-like, we selected moderate. All but one were so spicy we could hardly touch them. We chatted with the English maitre d' who agreed with our coments about the tables and chairs. He said the wrong sizes had been delivered and new ones were "on the way"! He also apologised for the cuisine being over spiced. He had nothing to say about his wait staff not smiling. This restaurant gets consistently high marks from those who know their classic Thai cuisine. We've never returned.

The utter simplicity of the late Pope's tomb is both touching and symbolic of the simplicity of his life. In itself it is very moving. Photo: Reuters

I think the operative words here are "depending on condition"! Since the aircraft have had no maintenance for five years and have been sitting parked daily in dreadful climatic conditions for aircraft, I'm not sure I would want to fly in an A380 with spare parts from TG's fleet!

Can you remember how much the entrance fee was? Friends have taken me to hot springs in some very posh hotels in that area. The hot springs were beautiful but I was so glad they paid and not me because they were very expensive. Sounds like Shan Yue will be cheaper but it will be useful to know before going. Easy to locate on the google maps. Thanks

The painting is by Rembrandt and was comissioned by the Amsterdam Guuild of Surgeons. There are several copies of The Anatomy Lesson. The original is housed in a Museum in The Hague. A second copy is in the University of Edinburgh Fine Art Collection.

I assume for TG the A380 was a glamour aircraft to show the world that the airline was up there with the other top carriers. Yet once it was decided to take its six A380s out of service, TG made another of its dreadful ocommercial decisions. Instead fo flying the aircraft off to desert conditions in the USA or Australia as other carriers had done, TG kept its fleet on the ground at BKK. With the high heat, high humidity, heavy rainfall and zero maintenance, did no one in TG realise they had an asset that was quickly vanishing? This was all so similar to the fate of the ten A340s it purchased to serve routes to New York and LAX which it soon cancelled due to high operating costs and insufficient load factors. All but one of these aircraft still sit languishing at various Thai airports despite TG pulling them from service more than a dozen years ago! In a thread more than a year ago it was reported that Emirates had purchased a used A380 for US$30 million. Yet this was a leased aircraft it had already been using and maintaining. It was in near perfect condition. TGs A380s cannot now be worth more than the value of some of their spare parts! Khaosodengllish reported a year ago that all the A380s and 12 777s had been sold. But no information about to whom and at what price? And since the airline had earlier reported that the cost of maintenance to get them into the air would now be prohibitive, how did whoever purchased them - if indeed they were purchased - fly them out of Thailand? Indeed, an article earlier this year in Flightradar headed "Thai Airways Fleet In 2025" states that as of January TG still holds its six A380s on its books! https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/aviation-news/thai-airways-fleet/

I only watched the end of the funeral yesterday. Having seen the pomp, ceremony and pageantry of the funerals of a few previous Popes, I was deeply moved by the simplicity of the coffin, the rounds of applause that greeted parts of the oration and then the complete absence of ceremony during the drive through Rome. How perfect that this man of the people who lived simply in a hostel rather than in the grandiose papal apartments ended his journey with the people of Rome waving, cheering and clapping as the coffin-bearing Popemobile made its way in bright sunshine through many of Rome's streets. On Easter Sunday, would any other Pope fully aware that he was nearing death have been pepared to make the arduous journey from his residence to the Vatican balcony to bless the crowds below, his voice little more than a whisper? They loved him for it. And then less than 24 hours later his life came to an end. Hopefully all the cardinals will have taken all this to heart and elect a similar man of the people as the successor to Francis. My nephew and his family moved to Rome only last month. I look forward to visiting them. When I do so, I will go to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore and before the tomb of Francis say a simple "thank you."

With aircraft manufacturers having full order books, it will be interesting to know when these 787s are likely to be delivered. As of February 2025 Boeing had unfilled orders of 792 787s. Last year Boeing produced just 51 787 aircraft, but production was interrupted by the long strike. Even assuming production is ramped up to 120 aircraft per year, it will likely take more than 7 years before TG sees any of its order arrive.

I was being tactful since there might be Singapore readers most of whom are justifiably proud of their city, even though they might be less pleased about some of the political background.

I hardly ever take taxis in Taipei and so do not have the Uber app. As one who is challenged when it comes to apps in foreign languages, is there an English version? Do I download it in Thailand or wait till I get to Taiwan? Thank for the info on the Shan Yue Hot Spring. I'll certainly try it. At Huang Tzu I have found week-ends are definitely better - usually after 5:00pm. I have been also on Wednesdays and Thursdays but never as good. I am not after action - merely seeing lovely bodies and occasionally chatting!

I think Seoul has always been a city for hiding its gay lights under decreet veneers. I can recall the 1980s when all we had was Spartacus to guide us, a nearly hopeless proposition for that city. I spent almost an entire evening locating one gay bar (far from Itaewon) which ended up being a waste of time with only two other older men as customers. It took a few hours on a couple of other evenings to locate on a side street what was called a sauna but was in fact a bath house. On the ground floor was a hot pool, cold pool, sauna and massage table in the middle with a couple of heavy lads seeming to scrub all the skin off one poor customer. It took a couple of visits before I realised the low-ceilinged upstairs with bedding units was where action took place. But K Pop had not been invented and none of the Korean youngsters in those days took much care over their appearance, sadly. Tokyo was vastly more exciting.

GIven Bangkok's infrastructure, it can never become like Singapore! It took a visionary like Lee Kwan Yew (albeit virtually a dictatorial one) to plan out Singapore pretty much from scratch. Bangkok exists and it is slowly sinking. Any changes in the next few years will be purely cosmetic at best.

The strange thing is a great many of these screaming young teenage girls do not really care whether their K Pop band boys are straight or gay. BL dramas are a staple on TV in South Korea now. https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3182754/inside-asias-obsession-boys-love-tv-shows-queer-series

How strange that TAT expects largely second tier low cost airlines to bring in "high value" travellers!

Never in a million years! Remember the promises make by Yingluck Thaksin when running for Prime Minister in 2011? One of her first give-aways was up to Bt. 100,000 tax rebates on those buying first-time cars and keeping them for five years. The rebate kicked in after the first 12 months of ownership. Not only was Bt. 81.1 billion given out by the Treasury, car sales ballooned to a record high of 1.42 million vehicles in 2012. And the number of new roads constructed at this time? I can see evidence of none! With Bangkok's road pattern of masses of long extremely narrow sois incapable of taking public buses linking in to very long wide highways, there is no room for new road construction unless a great many homes are demolished. Traffic-wise, Bangkok will remain a shambles! Only a new effectively planned capital city is the solution.

I think a podcast by @Olddaddy would be more than interesting. It ought certainly to spur more debate.

Given Korean society and the adoration shown to K Pop bands, this must have taken enormous courage. I think many of us probably expected that a handful or so of those in K Pop boy bands are gay but did not dare come out openly. I hope more will now do so as ultimately this may start to change perceptions of homosexuality in this quite repressed country.

@bkkmfj2648 did specifically say they are moving "government offices out" not floating a boat! Another canard they have been taking about for decades. This was given added impetus after the utterly disastrous long-term flooding of 2011. And what has been done about it? Nothing! Zilch! Nadda! This was from the Bangkok Post 2 years ago - According to the annual Global Climate Risk Index by Germanwatch, Thailand jumped from 43rd on the ranking of most affected countries by extreme weather in 2011 to ninth in the latest edition of the analysis in 2021 . . .Thanawat Jarupongsakul, president of the Thailand Global Warming Academy, an independent climate think tank . . . said Bangkok is apparently the most vulnerable area in Thailand to the looming threats of climate change. The low-lying Chao Phraya River delta has an average elevation of around 1.5 metres above sea level. "Considering the rise in sea level in local waters near Bangkok is about 1.2 centimetres per year, if nothing is done to protect Bangkok's shoreline, the waterline will slowly creep further inland by about 1.3 kilometres every year," he said. "Eventually, it is likely that most of Bangkok Metropolitan will sink beneath sea level within the next 100 years. So, governmental agencies need to carry out immediate action to ensure the integrity of the shoreline." Meanwhile, another report on the economic impact of extreme sea level rises in seven Asian cities by Greenpeace says almost all of Bangkok will be vulnerable to floods in the scenario of an extreme sea level rise by 2030. Under this extreme projection about 96% of the city will be below the mean sea level. Asst Prof Wijitbusaba said Bangkok's poor urban planning is also playing a major part in the exacerbation of flood risks. "Bangkok is expanding without a plan. So, the city is now encroaching into surrounding floodways in the east and west, blocking the natural drainage pathway of seasonal flooding and causing the problem to worsen," she said. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2499786/bangkok-is-still-sinking-and-fast- And still nothing has been done! The city keeps expaning and keeps permitting the construction of larger and taller buildings and an increase in the number of vehicles. In Tokyo every household is required to have an earthquake kit. Very soon I reckon Bangkok will require flooding kits.

How many times have we heard this over the years? Corruption and Traffic! Nothing has ever happened and nothing is going to happen! Bangkok does not have the space for new streets. It has far more cars per head of population than Singapore, KL and other major cities. Only by reducing the number of cars and getting the older ones and older buses off the streets does it have a chance of becoming more liveable! As for corruption, it is endemic and nothing has changed. I hold little hope that anything will change as long as the present elites remain in charge.

They can do. But why "offensive"? Merely curious.

I wonder why. Miles accrue not merely from flights but also from things like credit card spends. I frequently was never certain how many miles I had actually accumulated unless I checked both the airline and credit card sites. This take time and i never bothered too much about it. Often, had I done the calculations, I would have discovered I had more airline miles than I had thought.

Reverting to the topic of Pope Francis, I think we should remember that one of the reforms he had been working on - whether or not successfully, I do not know - was the Vatican Bank. Formed in 1942 with the declared aim of managing the Church's funds and for charitable works, almost from the get-go it became mired in scandal. Many will recall that following the sudden death of Pope John Paul 1 - "the smiling Pope" - after only 33 days in the papacy *, all manner of conspiracy theories emerged, many of these made more believable by the circumstances following his death even the possibility that he had been murdered. A cover-up seemed to be going on. One theory suggested he had been so shocked at the corruption, scandal and appalling mismanagement of the Vatican Bank and the losses it had incurred that this spurred his fatal heart attack. On its own, this appears flimsy. Taken along with other scandals at the Vatican, perhaps it was not so. The point, though, is that the Bank was involved in very shady dealings, with the Mafia lurking in the background. These came to light a few years after John Paul I's death in what became known as the Banco Ambrosiano affair. The Vatican became involved because it held a majority share in the Banco Amrosiano. This bank was accused of illegally chanelling funds out of Italy into shady overseas banks. Its Chairman Roberto Calvi was arrested and sent to jail for 4 years. Released on appeal, he fled Italy. Soon thereafer his lifeless body was found hanging under London's Blackfriars Bridge. Investigation after investigation followed in an attempt to find out the sordid details of what had happened. None was successful. The Vatican attempted to reform its bank by placing trusted economist/bankers in charge. The first two such appointments were sacked for reasons that have never become clear. Still the scandals would not go away. Amongst others, in 2009 the Vatican Bank was being investigated for money laundering of US$180 million. This problem was fudged by Benedict XVI and landed on the desk of Pope Francis. He fired the Board and replaced it with a truly international Board of Directors. In his book "The Last Supper", which focusses primarily on the murder of Calvi, author Philip Willan touches on the reforms Pope Francis was trying to institute. He adds - “I don’t doubt, though, that there are powerful forces ranged against the reformists. The recent scandals show how a habit of flouting the law had become deeply ingrained among senior Vatican bureaucrats and their friends . . . A thorough reform of the church’s business culture will not be either easy or quick, but I think Pope Francis and his team are serious about pursuing it.” The question very few now know is how successful or otherwise the late Pope was in achieving that much needed reform. https://www.worldfinance.com/banking/a-history-of-corruption-in-the-vatican-bank * One of the most fascinating books I have read concerns the death of John Paul I and all the shocking mis-steps made by Vatican officials in its wake. "A Thief in the Night: Life and Death in the Vatican" by John Cornwell was a result of the Vatican finally opening its archives nine years later to a respected Catholic historian who, its leaders clearly believed, would finally put to rest all the rumours and conspiracy theories. Cornwell dispels them all but goes on to heap major blame on Vatican officials for willfully ignoring the obvious signs that John Paul 1 was seriously ill many days before his death. He finds that death was a direct result of "sins of omission" by the very people who should have been responsible for his life and health.

The government should also look at the semi-private Thailand Privilege scheme - formerly Thailand Elite. It is finally making money after hiking its fees up by around 80%. But according to their staff at BKK, a big majority of those purchasing these visas are Russians and Chinese. Presumably rich ones and presumably also with a few shady characters amongst them.

It's interesting - at least to me - that there seems a desire to swing back and forth when it comes to electing Popes. I mentioned six in an earlier post. John XXIII, John Paul 1 and Francis were all reformers and pastors. The successors of the first two were the conservatives Paul VI and John Paul II. Had there not been a reaction to Francis due to his time in Argentina, he would probably have followed John Paul II. Instead, the arch-conservative Benedict XVI who had vast Vatican experience topped the poll on he 4th ballot. I have also read that in past conclaves the Cardinals preferred older men who would not occupy the Chair of St. Peter for too many years. So will they want another John Paul II who ruled for 24 years? On the other hand, surely some of them must have at the forefront of their thinking the horrendous sexual abuse scandals all of which occurred under older Popes? A younger Pope might just finally come to some resolution that gets this matter put to bed (sic) in some way.