Rogie

(Quote from the same BP article cited in OP.) That would more or less be my reaction too. I am sure more tests are needed, the more rigorous the better. However, credit where credit's due, if the work they say has been done works as they are hoping and claiming, then somebody deserves a clap on the back - and that's an accolade seldom deserved these days! Let's wait and see.

On the subject of bug sprays, ok to go out and buy a can of spray and use it yourself or make sure you are in the room when the man from the hotel arrives to do the spraying. It's certainly also a good idea to leave the room until the 'smell' has gone, or even better do as FH did and get yourself another room. The admittedly very remote possibility exists that you might become a victim: I think most of us reading this remember those tragic deaths at the Downtown Inn in Chiang Mai. Hopefully they will take this seriously: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14543759 Here is a link to the thread on Baht-Stop from last year where chlorpyrifos was discussed: http://www.baht-stop.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=10806&view=findpost&p=45908 The hotel was recently demolished. http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/learning-from-news/295416/death-of-a-death-hotel

Remember that crash with several fast cars a while back? Check out the one called Ferrari graveyard - it's amongst a whole load of other videos alongside the one Snapshot posted. Back to why some men do stupid things. No, of course their brains are the same size as everybody elses, it's just my way of saying the same thing that Snapshot pointed out. Responsibilty and awareness are fine but my belief is even if you've got it, under certain circumstances a normally level-headed guy can go from Jeckyll to Hyde in an instant. That usually involves a catalyst. What sort of catalyst? Pretty obvious I suppose: guy gets behind the wheel of a fancy car, guy wants to show off to his mates or to try and impress a girl, he's drunk, he's high on cocaine or whatever, he's just in a bad mood, or he just does something really foolish without any real reason - some young men are like that. Prince Harry is a good example of a guy brought up 'proper' but who acted like a spoilt playboy and has paid the price for his foolishness. But he's a decent enough chap, well liked but unfortunately no longer well respected. He's lucky it'll blow over with nothing more than a severely punctured self-esteem. It could have been a lot worse, he could have been behind the wheel of a F-E-R-R-A-R-I

If you aren't that partial to Pattaya, why not go to this place in Hua Hin khun Snapshot? I know you've seen the thread because you contributed to it. Here it is again anyway just in case anybody missed it: http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/topic/7908-intercontinental-hua-hin-resort-a-review-from-may-2012/#entry57321

The equation for this often deadly cocktail is something like this: fast car + male brain atrophied to pea size owing to playboy lifestyle + possible alcohol or drugs = trouble, often double trouble and sometimes DEATH It's always a fast car, isn't it? And as so often happens, the driver of the car escapes injury-free or nearly so, whilst the other - usually innocent - party, comes off worst. I've read about three such cases recently. They must just be the tip of the iceberg, the ones we hear about. One incident happened in Thailand, one in China and the other in Britain. In the Thai incident, the grandson of the Red Bull founder hit a motorcycle whilst driving his Ferrari. The rider was killed. It was a typical hit and run accident, the driver knew he'd hit somebody and just sped off. That to me is a good indicator of the person's underlying character. Anyone who does that and doesn't stop cannot be considered to have a brain IMO, hence my scathing use of the term pea-brain. He's now been arrested, but released on bail . . . http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/310580/red-bull-founder-grandson-arrested-on-hit-and-run In the Chinese incident, guess what? Another Ferrari! Here is an AFP news item: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hBu5dCPxjQnZzx9OJgKdezVilgCQ?docId=CNG.5dfbe54bfbccf0224b6062f1d3f6b95c.571 In the UK incident, Courtney Meppen-Walter, a football (soccer) player contracted to Manchester City F.C. driving his Mercedes was in collision with a much smaller car driven by a family of Sikhs. Two of the family were killed and the other two lie seriously injured in hospital. There is some evidence this guy and another motorist were racing each other. The second link below contains good evidence this young man scores very highly on my pea-brain index. He too is now out on bail . . . http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-19462513 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2198003/Manchester-City-starlet-screamed-wasnt-crash-left-dead.html

I did a search engine and found an interesting thread on Thai Visa: seems Thailand doesn't really have any 'deadly' poisonous spiders. There are tarantulas in Thailand of course, mainly in the south I think, but their bark seems worse than their bite so-to-speak, although I wouldn't want to be in earshot of khun FH should he spot one on his towel just as he emerges from the shower Regarding hotels in general I prefer hotels with only a few floors, as I dislike being up in the clouds. My ideal place to stay would be a small guest house for that reason, although in Bkk the ratio of large hotels to small guest houses is obviously a lot higher than in places by the sea. If I am going to be staying in a seaside town I prefer to use a holiday rental, or failing that a 'resort' where the rooms are on ground level with easy access to the pool. http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/69841-spiders-in-thailand/

Just to explain my guess. I was trying to be too clever and thought, schoolteacher's use pencil sharpeners and the character in the original novel by James Hilton (who also wrote Lost Horizon) was none other than Mr Chips! But wrong guess . . .I don't know the story at all really and it must have been years since I saw the film Goodbye Mr Chips However FH appears to have nailed it and the 'chip' clue fits in! I was thinking along the same lines as Bob but unlike him I was not aware of it ever having been used for that purpose

Looks like I was barking up the wrong tree - maybe it was a cedar! That guy's no schoolmaster I will have a think and add to this post if I come up with anymore ideas . . . later / no idea who he is but if I had to guess I'd say based on appearances alone I'd say he was the 'mad doctor' type, although his 'uniform' reminds me of the sort dentists wear and I suspect there is something sinister about him. As to actual people rather than fictional he looks a bit like Einstein (already discounted), Albert Schweister (spelling) or even Dr Livingstone the explorer.

I think TW did well as he raised the possibility of a famous writer, and Koko went on to say it was used by a well-known literary character. So is the 'character' in question the author, or is he a fictional person such as we might come across in a novel or play? How about if the 'character' was a school teacher? That's my guess and I have good reason for thinking I may be right, but it's a long shot and I haven't used a search engine so could easily be barking up the wrong tree. Like TW I will say no more for the time being.

That was my first thought when I saw it, as I remember using a pencil sharpener in one of the schools I attended, however looking closely I couldn't honestly say that is what is is. If it was a pencil sharpener, and if we are looking for a person who put it to a different use, what use might that be? Clearly if there are holes of varying size, anything that fits one of the holes could be inserted. It definitely looks like a heavy-duty something or other! Ah! I've just re-read Bob's post #35 and what he says clicks now. He says he knows what it is, and his final comment echoes something that crossed my mind but was too 'drastic' to contemplate. I think we are on the same wavelength now. I too hope it isn't the right answer to the quiz.

Stale urine you will undoubtedly get if a town or city's menfolk pee on statues or against trees or go in the bushes. That is why, according to the discussion about the French system of pissoirs, they were designed to prevent. But even in a typical gents urinal, spatter and smells can arise. Hence the rather silly admonishment often seen in toilets: Gentlemen please stand closer, it's shorter than you think Ladies, please remain seated for the entire performance

Her's the original headline in the Bangkok Post: That was dated 30th Dec 2010: As FH reminded us: Am I the only one to be incredulous it has taken a year and 8 months to decide what sentence to hand down. Then we have the cryptic comment: “because her statement was helpful.” I'm sure many people would be very interested to know exactly what it was that influenced the judge. Amongst those who've been following the case will be the families of the eight victims "thrown from the vehicle and onto the road below". Justice is often less than perfect. How often have we seen in western countries distraught relatives aghast at the leniency shown. Then again when the sentence is a harsh one it is the relatives of that person who regale against the system. Getting everything just right, the correct sentence appropriate to the crime and age of the person such as satisfies the courts as well as the criminal's family and the family of the victim(s).

Off label? Does that mean it was used for something other than it's intended use? So the first thing is to decide what its intended use is and try and think what alternatives there could be, and then come up with the person who did it. Following that line of reasoning, I haven't even got to first base yet

What happened to those poor Canadian girls was tragic. Of course we can never know exactly how they suffered, but going by accounts of the state of their bodies it must have been horrific.

Leaf for Drug Cocktail Adds to Thailand’s Woes So what can the Thai authorities do to combat this? http://www.nytimes.c...?pagewanted=all

I hope you understand the gravity of the situation KT. Not to make light of the situation, it seems one hundred baht notes are irresistably drawn to the pocket of the police officer. Just as in real life (i.e police lurking in the back streets of Chiang Mai) there are far more black holes in the universe than we ever thought possible.

I know a certain Frenchman whose teeeeeth would be chattering with excitement as he sought relief in one of those candy-coloured oscular cavities. . . Le bonheur est dans le pré is written just below the PSV. Happiness Is in the Field (French: Le bonheur est dans le pré) is a French comedy directed by Étienne Chatiliez in 1995 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happiness_Is_in_the_Field

There must be a good chance these contraptions were photographed in Paris as Christian lives near there, and yes, Paris is noted for its style of urinals, so I'll go for that too. I've always referred to them as pissoirs but it seems there are other names for them too. So, if two gentlemen can take a leak at the same time, is peeking possible?

Luckily I came across this Latvian translator Calculating the value of a parsec In the diagram above (not to scale), S represents the Sun, and E the Earth at one point in its orbit. Thus the distance ES is one astronomical unit (AU). The angle SDE is one arcsecond (1/3600 of a degree) so by definition D is a point in space at a distance of one parsec from the Sun. By trigonometry, the distance SD is Using small-angle approximation, One AU ≈ 149597870700 metres, so 1 parsec ≈ 3.085678×1016 m ≈ 3.261564 ly. A corollary is that 1 parsec is also the distance from which a disc with a diameter of 1 AU must be viewed for it to have an angular diameter of 1 arcsecond (by placing the observer at D and a diameter of the disc on ES). Source: same wiki link as in post #18

Ever wondered about that hot dog you just ate? Well, here's something to munch on! Supermassive black holes and hot galaxies in giant haul http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19421453

Further developments in the Lance corner. http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/hamilton-repeat-armstrong-doping-claims-054828333.html

I don't understand. Are these taxi drivers cruising for a particular type of fare? For example would they be only too happy to stop for a businessman in suit and tie but not for a backpacker with whispy beard and hollow eyes?

Thanks FH for a most interesting situation in which I am in full agreement snooping was 'beneficial'. A rather classy style of snooping too. Human nature is complex - why, some people don't seem to even fully know themselves. Once we add deviousness to the human condition - even nice guys can be devious (let alone con-men, murderers, child molesters and bankers!) - is it any wonder so many of us are taken for a ride.

Considering possession of drugs or a positive 'pee test' can land you in prison, and I expect anyone caught dealing will be very harshly sentenced, if you suspect your friend is doing that and if you really care about him (and you are sure he cares about YOU) I agree every effort should be made to head the awful consequences off at the pass.

Ok, the question is 'would you snoop on a lover if you thought he was cheating'? No! I hope not, at least not by the methods used by people dabbling in a lonely hearts club. Surely the kind of people one might meet via such means are going to run the gamut from those playing fair all the way to those not. It would hardly be surprising if many such people are just playing the field, whispering sweet nothings in your ear and swearing undying love whilst cheating wholesale. So how to narrow it down to those you hope you can trust? This is where building up a relationship comes in - that involves far more than who's hot in bed and who's not. A good relationship should include trust in the other person. We have discussed this before on the Board - white lies as against telling the truth, that sort of thing. Unfortunately my preferred means of 'snooping' which would be simply to ask the other person "did you" or "didn't you" would quite likely result in prevarication or fabrication or even downright lies, thus precipitating a downward spiral of distrust. In that situation many of us would no doubt think it time to walk away, but if that was not possible or was absolutely the last resort, and you were absolutely determined to get to the bottom of things, snooping via the means described in the Guardian might be justified.