Prayut speaks. Twice!
G'day and welcome to the Hump Day Number 124 of Thailand's Disease Lockdown and Masksup.
All in all, 867 days since Thailand's junta issued the Emergency Decree and never cancelled it.
Starting off with the good news.
The fat Egyptian guy that sat beside Osama bin Laden for years. Dead.
A CIA drone strike has killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri in Afghanistan, according to five people familiar with the matter.
https://news.yahoo.com/us-carries-operation-al-qaeda-215802129.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
How it happened: https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/2359547/
PHOTO: This is where Ayman al-Zawahri used to live in Kabul. But he's not living any more.
Diagnosed over-dumb jerk who pistol-whipped and robbed a 70-year-old Filipino then made a big mistake. He tried to pick a fight with another Asian guy at a gym.
That guy was little Terrance "Wrong Turn" Saeteurn, a world-ranked MMA flyweight fighter.
And then what happened to him is what should happen to him.
with VIDEO: https://nextshark.com/omari-garland-fight/
https://news.yahoo.com/man-accused-pistol-whipping-asian-225826213.html
CHIANG RAI NOK AIR RUNWAY
A Nok Air Boeing 737 tried to land but skidded off the runway in a heavy rainstorm at Chiang Rai airport on Saturday evening. No one hurt - good news.
But there was massive incompetence. It took an hour for the passengers get out of the airplane get to safety.
Nok Air said yesterday, and no one believed them, that they held the 164 passengers and six crew on board for an hour for their own safety. There might have been dangerous animals prowling around the airport.
And be double-damn sure that Nok Air isn't sorry, and isn't apologising for that.
"This was strict compliance with safety procedures." Sure in case of a mishap don't let any of those passengers to escape.
Nok Air lied through its teeth. While passengers sat for an hour in the crashed 737 without lights or fresh air, lying Nok Air told them, "Oh, we're waiting for buses." But what about the rampaging, predatory animals?
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) has summoned the Boeing pilot to give his version of Saturday night's incident.
Nok Air said yesterday there might have been some inconvenience and miscommunication.
But c'mon on. There might also have been animals around which could have posed a danger to the passengers.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2359559/
UPDATE: None of those roaming predatory animals ate, or even attacked any of the ground crews, first responders or news photographers.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2359559/
Prayut emerges, says two things, retreats back to his dark place.
He will never, e-ver desert the Palang Pracharath Party พรรคพลังประชารัฐ, political arm of the junta, that was set up by army and rich bigwigs in 2018 specifically to protect him.
There is, currently, a huge amount of corrupt, grifting party-switching by members of parliament and others.
But Prayut won't take part. Media rumours that he would join the Ruam Thai Sang Chart Party are nonsense.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/politics/2358959/
The economy of Thailand has probably never, e-ver been as rosy-rich as the junta has planned and made it.
From some place just behind him, Prayut produced a report on the recovering tourism trade, private consumption and spending by higher-income earners.
It predicts a GDP growth in 2023 of 4.2 per cent. Is that rosy enough for you, fellow citizens?
œ
AVIATION TOURISM PHUKET RUSSIA
One small step for recovering tourism
Aeroflot set to resume Phuket route
Russian flag carrier, Aeroflot, will resume flights from Moscow to Phuket starting on October 30.
And the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) predicted that the winter months could see a spike in the number of arrivals from Russia.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2357416/
Which brings us to the extremely contentious issue of buying F-35A stealth jet fighters.
Decision looms on fighter jet funding
Later today, parliament's committee that is scrutinising the 2023 budget bill will decide whether to put the 7.4 billion-with-a-"b" baht 'request' by the junta and the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) back into the line budget.
There is enormous opposition and in-fighting over the issue.
And the United State hasn't decided whether to even sell the fast-movers to Thailand anyhow.
PELOSI EAST TAIWAN BEIJING
The Nancy Boys
According to the best available sources on Tuesday, the news that Nancy was definitely headed to Taiwan 'came straight from the White House." hmmm
It is beyond weird why Biden and Family have turned a short trip to Taipei into a crisis. Nevertheless here we are.
As of 0600 today, Taiwan time, both U.S.A. and Taiwanese are scurrying around, making preparations.
Taiwan has cancelled leave for some soldiers, and told them to report to their units in case West Taiwan goes nuts and attacks.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/nancy-pelosi-begins-asian-tour-in-singapore-as-china-again-warns-against-visiting-taiwan-11659358264
Related
The website of Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen was attacked on Tuesday - from "overseas".
It went offline for a few minutes.
Does anyone wonder where "overseas" was?
https://www.reuters.com/technology/website-taiwans-presidential-office-receives-overseas-cyber-attack-source-2022-08-02/
MYANMAR BURMA KILLING LYNCHING
The Tatmadaw dictatorship finally decided to try to defend its lynching of four pro-democracy activists, and here's their statement:
"It was justice for the people."
ASEAN and China have no current choice, except to accept that excuse and issue another serious condemnation.
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/asean-chair-calls-timing-myanmar-executions-highly-reprehensible-2022-07-26/
AFGHANISTAN WOMEN PREGNANT
A new study on maternity care has plenty of detail but just one
ProTip: If you are an Afghani woman in Afghanistan, don't get pregnant.
Problems include
increasing hunger
eroding economy
depleting hospital staff and
draconian restrictions on women's freedoms by the Taliban.
IRAN STALK DISSIDENT JOURNALIST
U.S. police in New York City have arrested a man of Iranian origin with an AK-47 type of rifle - and a brutal hatred of an anti-Tehran regime dissident.
The FBI told the Brooklyn judge that Khalid Mehdiyev, who lives in New York, was picked up near the home of Masih Alinejad - a political opponent and prominent opponent of the Iranian regime.
An earlier plot to kidnap Alinejad occurred last year.
The arrested man stalked Alinejad (photo below) for two days before he was arrested.
https://bityl.co/DbAb
TECHNOLOGY
The world's main chipmaker TSMC of Taiwan announced plans to build another huge fab, in southern Taiwan.
The new plant at Kaohsiung will manufacture 7 nm and 28 nm chips.
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4614083
Top Five 'most-pirated' movies of the past week:
Jurassic World Dominion
The Gray Man
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Lightyear
The Black Phone
https://www.torrentfreak.com
Well-informed Oped columnist Kavi Chongkittavorn notes: Indonesia ramps up diplomatic profile
Joko Widodo, Indonesia's president, is hoping that during the coming G20 summit at Bali, all the leaders will show up and become less hostile.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2359129/
RIP
James Lovelock, scientist who created Gaia theory, dies at 103
The Canadian newspaper columnist Gwynne Dyer has an Oped on "brilliant" Lovelock and his Gaia Theory.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2359114/
GLOBAL WARMING
[Less than 8 years remaining to save the world]
Li'l Mike Bloomberg's Indian economist and columnist Mihir Sharma proclaims in an Oped today that if you help poor nations, you help the world. In a nutshell:
While net-zero targets in the distant future may be inspiring, the fate of the world will be decided before 2030.
VERY CONFUSING
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps boasts it will soon turn New York City into ‘hellish ruins'.
I thought the U.S. Democratic Party already owned that slogan. But here it is:
Nuclear facilities at Natanz may be vulnerable to attack but "nuclear facilities of Fordow have been built deep under mountains of Iran" and will assume a war footing if Natanz is targeted.
https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/iran-claims-nukes-can-turn-nyc-into-hellish-ruins-report
Englishman with large ears receives £1 million from a dead man that no one liked.
Question: Will anyone question Prince Charles over the 'donation' from Osama bin Laden and family?
Fearless prediction: No.
https://newspunch.com/prince-charles-accepted-1-million-from-bin-laden-family/
RUSSIA UKRAINE WAR CORRUPTION THEFT
This sounds about right.
Lebanon Seizes Ship Loaded With Stolen Ukrainian Grain.
The fact that Lebanon, a small and broke country, is willing to defy both Russia and Syria, speaks to how unified much of the world is against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and how little such countries fear Russia's wrath these days.https://www.battleswarmblog.com/?p=52143
