Phuket begins campaign for province-independence
Breaking news
Optimist drowns in bath half full.
THAILAND POLITICS ECONOMY
by Thitinan Pongsudhirak, professor Chulalongkorn University, senior fellow senior fellow Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS)
Thailand's era of economic stagnation
Teflon Thailand has become a thing of the past.
After two decades of political instability and turmoil, it was a matter of time before the Thai economy would exhibit signs of distress and desperation.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2823259/
The Prayut military dictatorship period culminated with the May 2023 national election as Thailand's major inflexion point. Thailand should have moved forward after a clear election outcome.
Instad, and now more than a year after the election, the country has gone nowhere.
USA POLITICS BIDEN DEMOCRATIC PARTY
The way Trump is remaining completely silent while the Democrats self-destruct is kinda scary; it's like that scene in Jurassic Park where the velociraptor uses the door handle.
https://x.com/monsterhunter45/status/1808525585234456841
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/beltway-confidential/3069364/trumps-silence-shows-a-new-discipline/
Pass the Popcorn, please
In no particular order and with results still trickling in from
protective U.S. media operatives and Democratic Party loyalists
these are the top-main reasons for President Joe Biden's F-Minus performance in the June 27 Trump debate.
• He Had a Cold
• Poor Debate Preparation
• Too Much Debate Preparation
• Media Exaggeration
• CNN Did Not Control Trump
• Bad Setting and Camerawork
• Poor Makeup
• Jet Lag
Oh, please, don't kill us! Please, please don't kill us! You know I love you baby. I wouldn't leave ya. It wasn't my fault! Honest I had a flat tire, I ran out of gas, I didn't have enough money for cab fare, my tux didn't come back from the cleaners, a friend came from out of town, someone stole my car, there was an earthquake, a terrible flood, locusts, it wasn't my fault...
Joliet Jake Blues Brother (Belushi) begs Mystery Woman (Carrie Fisher) not to shoot him. (again)
No word yet if locusts and a terrible flood were involved as well.
FISHWRAP COMMENTARY
The Infrequentist
There is more than a bit of valid comparison with sports in all of the above. Virtually all games and tournaments end with a winner, and one or more losers. Whingeing and accusing are of little-to-no use.
Biden, like losers Toronto Maple Leafs and losing football team Germany must actually respond to his loss, with an aim of victory after the next kickoff. The U.S. Democratic Party would be ten times better off to simply admit that its candidate lost the recent head-to-head contest and begin immediately to plan to turn defeat into victory.
All of the fluff above is nonsensical and unhelpful in providing a winning response to the debate loss.
THAILAND FINANCE HANDOUT
Thai handout programme under way
The promise by Pheu Thai Party candidate -- now Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin -- was "10,000 baht for every citizen," no strings attached.
There now are numerous strings and approximately no citizens have seen the handout.
https://www.khaosod.co.th/breaking-news/news_777777814690
Finance Minister Chulalawat Amonwat said yesterday that anyone with a smartphone can begin the registration process within three weeks. And there also will be a system for people who have only old-time land-line phones by using OTP, one-time passwords.
THAILAND PHUKET AUTONOMY
The predictable summer floods in Phuket city and throughout the island have outed long-latent calls for Phuket -- to be independent cities like Bangkok and Pattaya, the only two examples.
Khao Sod (Fresh News) https://t.ly/Y8tvc
The June 30 heavy rains and floods have sparked debates about rapid growth of the new Number One Thai tourist destination -- and clogged sewers.
Phuket is a major tourist city. It is time to decentralise power and let Phuket elect its own governor so that the locals can manage their own affairs
Rewat Areerob, president, Phuket Provincial Administrative Organisation (PAO)
GLOBAL WARMING
Huawei shows high-speed charging of Electric Vehicles
The company that Trump banned showed its new FusionCharge Liquid Cooling system in Bangkok yesterday, complete with pretties.
The 'Fusion Charge solution' recharges EV batteries quickly -- and also stores energy for even faster, future use.
Huawei promised to have the system working in gas stations and malls throughout Thailand.
The Writer
A young man grew up his entire life saying that he wanted to grow up and become a great writer. He was once asked about what kind of writer he wanted to become in his life. “Oh,” he said, “I want to become the kind of writer who is great. I want to write about stuff that everyone in the world will read. I want what I write to make people react on an emotional level. I want them to scream, cry, howl in pain and anger,” he said of his writing. Now that he’s an adult, he is a writer. He writes error messages for Microsoft.
TECHNOLOGY
Happy Hour has a new boss.
Daily marijuana use outpaces daily drinking in the United States, according to one of those "new studies" that's going round.
Alcohol is still more widely used, but 2022 was the first time frequent marijuana use overtook frequent drinking.
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/rcna153510
Hands up, anyone here who has not flown in a Boeing 727? From the mid-1960s it was the top or nearly-the-top most common passenger jet in the world.
Air Vietnam's 727s were the airline's international workhorse from the Tet offensive of 1968 until the day before the fall of Saigon in 1975 when an Air Vietnam 727 flew the last commercial flight from Saigon -- every seat taken -- before the fall of the city to communist forces.
Most new airliners are unique and the 727 became known for its rear under-the-engine door -- the one where American hijacker/extortionist 'D.B. Cooper' leapt into the heavily forested Pacific Northwest of America and never was found or seen again.
For the Children
Iconic Boeing 727-200 (SX-BCA) From Olympic Airways Restored And Showcased In Athens
After many years on the apron at the deserted Ellinikon Airport, it is now on display in Hellinikon, a suburb of Athens.
https://simpleflying.com/restored-olympic-airways-boeing-727-displayed-athens-greece/
TECHNOLOGY
Boeing's Starliner's test launch is now on hold indefinitely. (Ars Technica)
Well... better than having the door fall off at 30,000 miles altitude.
https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/05/the-first-crew-launch-of-boeings-starliner-capsule-is-on-hold-indefinitely/
Microsoft Edge will begin blocking screenshots at work. (PC World)
So you can't take screenshots when you want to, but Windows will take screenshots when you don't want it to. Got it?
https://www.pcworld.com/article/2336462/microsoft-edge-will-begin-blocking-screenshots-on-the-job.html
You can now install the next big update of Windows 11 early so you can find all the bugs and lose all your data. (The Verge)
I remember a time when some of the 'advanced' Fishwrap staffers would download beta releases and try them out.
Now, actually, we don't.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/22/24162671/microsoft-windows-11-24h2-release-preview-download
US lawmakers are working on a bill that will make it easier to pass regulations to make it illegal to export AI models which will achieve absolutely nothing. (Reuters)
Yay.
https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-lawmakers-advance-bill-make-it-easier-curb-exports-ai-models-2024-05-22/
Whiny idiots with stupid names want the world to change for their benefit. (The Guardian)
Bah. (Waves paw.)
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/may/22/people-with-commonly-autocorrected-names-call-for-tech-firms-to-fix-problem
This ASEANNow headline at the Thaiger should carry a Trigger Warning.
The plural of Monkey is NOT Monkies!
TRUNALIMUNUMAPRZURE!
During 'Pride Month' American males can identify as any guldarned thing they like.
https://x.com/RNCResearch/status/1808939748934795503
