Two Thais among victims of Korean horrendous airliner crash.
Good morning everyone everywhere. We do not judge Fishwrap readers!
It's not yet New Year's Eve, known in Nong Bon as Amateur Night.
But it soon will be, and then we shall wave Bye-Bye 2024, we won't miss you.
Two vultures board an airplane; each is carrying two dead raccoons.
The stewardess looks at them and says, "I'm sorry gentlemen, only one carrion allowed per passenger."
Speeding was the main cause of 40 percent of fatal road accidents on Friday.
Thai Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation on the 52 road fatalities on Day One of 10 Dangerous Days of the New Year's holiday.
THAILAND WEATHER
Dig Out Your Long Johns, Thailand
A cold-air mass from China has spread over upper Thailand and is getting larger.
This means
co-o-old overnights, strong winds (here and there) and isolated but powerful thunder showers and storms.
That old mercury thermometer is dropping, as much as 3 degrees. N.J.
THAILAND POLITICS VOX POPULI
Weekly NIDA Poll picks 'progressive' leader as 'Next PM'
New leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut of the unfortunately named People's Party got a 29.9 percent thumbs-up in the final National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) political poll of the year.
Current Prime Minister Paethongtarn Shinawatra, better known as Ung-Ing got a 28.8 percent approval. Third place went to NOTA -- none of the above.
Which indicates that the next election, 2026 or so, will be another humdinger.
KOREA AIRLINER CRASH
MUAN, KOREA: At least 179 aboard perished in an horrific Jeju Air Flight *7C2216 crash and fire in an unsuccessful landing on its flight from Bangkok.
Two Thais were aboard, along with 173 Korean passengers and six crew. Two people were rescued.
First reports said the Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 suffered a bird strike and could not even extend its landing gear, when pilots attempted to land and veered off the runway.
*7C is the airline code of 20-year-old Jeju Air. MWX is the Muan airport map-code.
Horror Video of the crash
Witnesses reported hearing loud "bangs" before the aircraft struck the airport's perimeter wall, breaking into two pieces and bursting into flames.
Local broadcaster MBC aired footage that appears to show a bird strike incident as the plane was descending.
If is South Korea’s worst domestic civil aviation disaster and the first major casualty incident involving a low-cost carrier ever, reported the JoongAng Ilbo.
With alleged bird-strike video: https://www.joongang.co.kr/article/25303572
THAILAND POLITICS COALITION
Head-honcho Prime Minister Prime Minister Paethongtarn Shinawatra, better known as Ung-Ing and No. 2 coalition party leader Anutin Anutin Charnvirakul felt that they needed to call a press conference to announce, "Stop worrying, everything is fine."
Anutin, who is interior minister and also leader or the Bhumjaithai Party that supports Ms Prime Minister said, 'The government has stability and there are no risk factors that could pose a threat to it.'
Well, okay then, right? Everyone, relax for pete's sake!
POLITICAL ANALYSIS (free to Fishwrap readers)
When the prime minister states that 'There is no problem' with the second party in her ruling coalition, that means there is a problem with that Bhumjaithai Party and the salivating would-be usurper of the prime minister,
THAILAND CASINOS GAMBLING
Thai anti-casino group takes the stage
Wildest dreams of casino wishers get a wake-up call
The previously almost-silent Stop Gambling Foundation promises a tough battle against government plans for nationwide 'entertainment complexes.'
For a start, why does the government's proposed new law push everything aside, except for its strong emphasis on casinos. All previous promises of entertainment, shopping, top-class hotels, concert venues and conference halls seem to have disappeared from this Entertainment Complex Bill which the government now promises to table within a month?
PHOTO: Anti-casino group members stroll to Government House in Bangkok to speak their opposition.
But basically: Why is the government in charge of every element of every paragraph in the proposal?
Example: The proposed law suggests that every Thai will have to pay even to enter the casinos -- 5,000 baht, or 150 U.S. dollars. But then it states that the prime minister, whoever that might be will decide to lower that fee, to as little as zero baht -- and aid the casinos in their predictable campaigns to lure every Thai to go gamble.
There's no detail in the proposed law about oversight or tax collection.
The current Big Government call for casinos is Julapun Amornvivat, deputy minister of finance.
He drew from some nether region a personal alleged prediction that merely authorising casinos will add 0.2 percent to Thai GDP and an up-and-running casino would increase GDP by 0.7 percent -- call it half a trillion Canadian loonies or 18 trillion baht in real money.
The proposed law would charge 5 billion baht for a casino licence plus a billion a year to keep it -- payable to, like maybe the prime minister's new gambling committee, or something?
Bizarre temple practices under fire
By Sanitsuda Ekachai, the single best explainer of Mahayana strangeness ever.
Police have nosed out two monasteries in the Thai forest near Korat city, where seventy-one (71) dead bodies were being used as 'Buddhist meditation tools.'
Which is decidedly strange.
Read on:
THAILAND FOOD RISK
Select your danger in Thai food
'Experts' test fruits for pesticides and [Shock! Surprise'] find some.
USA DENMARK
Welcome to America, Greenland!
Trump, who is Literally Hitler is (allegedly) one hundred (100) percent serious about making the greatest American land purchase since... well, since ever, and that includes Alaska and Louisiana. Which makes him sound like a woman at a New Year's Coach sale.
He also wants all of the Panama Canal -- but who doesn't?
Historians will tear hair and... and probably go nuts trying to figure which things he wasn't joshing about.
According to the BBC, so take that for what it's worth...
According to the BBC, Denmark has announced a new project to boost the defence of Greenland.
Literally Hitler dropped the news that he has picked Indian-American Sriram Krishnan, a former H-1B visa holder at that, as Top No. 1 U.S. government adviser on AI, which is still artificial.
The MAGA crowd -- apparently there is a MAGA crowd -- is against the Madras-born (Chennai) guy.
The Indian media is fascinated.
Crutch gets 2025 off to an early start with an astute roundup of 2024.
A reminder that Thailand will always remain Truly Amazing.
But seriously,
It was the Year of the Happy Hippo
The pygmy baby even picked the winner of the U.S. election.
We've been treated to hippo songs, hippo dances, hippo poems, hippo cakes, hippo-scented candles and even hippo make-up. What more could you ask for?
If you haven't read this week's edition, never mind.
We have her right here.
And she has questions. Lots and lots of questions. We have enough space for a sample
Why do ANY of the 51 losers who certified that the Hunter Biden Laptop from Hell was Russian disinformation still have jobs or pensions? I would like to see them emptying bedpans in dysentery wards or being squeegee guys at traffic lights in Manhattan.
When will there be a complete forensic audit of BLM? When will there be a complete forensic audit of the Gazillions sent to Ukraine? When will there be a complete forensic audit of where Covid monies went that were shoveled out the door with steam shovels to friends and family? Asking for a friend.
RELATED
USA SPORTS WOMEN [ *asterisk* ] Of The Year
The Associated Press (formerly a U.S.-based news agency had announced its awards for the top women athletes of 2024.
Caitlin Clark won the title, as you would expect. But then you have this:
Olympic gymnast Simone Biles was second with 25 votes and boxer Imane Khelif was third, getting four.
What is odd about this is that Imane Khelif isn't a woman. He is a man who boxed in the women's division in the Paris Olympics.
Feel Good Headline du Jour
MsNBC and Xi-N-N Fight to Dig Out of a Post-election Ratings Hole
(U.S.) Cable news loyalists have grown a lot less loyal—to Ms NBC and CNN, at least.
https://www.wsj.com/business/media/msnbc-cnn-fox-news-ratings-trump-83a883f5
This is even better than Kissinger’s sainted remark about the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s: "Too bad they both can't lose."
Right now, in this case of CNN and MSNBC, both are losing!
