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Dubai based Airine
bloggers
TampaxTowers
Style High Club
The Trolley Dolly
Life,as I know it
(now Edmonton!)
Bjorn Moerman
James Nixon
TheEKSource
Jens
Krüger
Egypt
Sandmonkey
Hammonda.net
Thailand Blogs
Bangkok Noir
Bangkok Pundit
-
politics
Thai-blogs.com
- rather serious
2bangkok.com
-
not really a blog but always up to date on Bangkok news
BKKOK.com
Thailand Voice
promoting blogs from Thailand
Thailand Golf
Thai-blogs
-Thailand life and culture
trythaifood -
thai recipes
CityLife Chiang Mai
Thailand Crisis not
updated but important in understanding 2006-2009.
Absolutely Bangkok
Bangkok Bugle
Thai
Girl The exotic adventures of a literary
sexagenarian.
Thailand Jumped the Shark
Thai Films
Siam Report
Thai ENews
- In Thai
Photo-journ -
news blog plus pics
Prachatai
- Thai news in English
New Mandala - new
perspectives on SE Asia
NewsInBangkok - another news blog
Thailand Intelligent News
- interesting opinion and links
Political Prisoners in Thailand
GregToDiffer
Hua Hin Golf
Philip
Golingai (mainly Malaysia)
ThailandVoice
Musings
from Thailand
Women learning Thai
Vaitor
Ricefield Radio
Reporter
in Exile
Robert Amsterdam - Thailand
Somtow's world
Dirtii laundry
Thai Cables
Siam Voices
ThaiWomanTalks
Tasty Thailand
Asia Blogs
Banyan - The Economist
Asia Unbound - CFR
Zen Journalist
The Marmot's Hole - Korea
The writings of MD Nalapat
Democratic Voice of Burma
Ideas for India
Dubai Blogs
Mainly Photos; mainly from Dubai
- Gerald Donovan at work!
dxbae
- picture blog - also Gerald Donovan
UAE Community Blog
- uniting all UAE bloggers
Dubai informer
- news and events.
The Grapeshisha Blog
- commentary on a changing Dubai
One Big Construction Site
- a long term expat on life in Dubai
Secret Dubai Diary
- rather disillusioned expat commentary - sadly seems to have died - but
again worth keeping for some interesting recent history.
Dubai As It Used To be
- self explanatory - fascinating!
Kippreport - news and commentary
Life In Dubai - moved to Oz
Fake Plastic Souks
Dubai Astronomy Group
Gulf Photo Plus
Dubai Media Observer
The Gulf Blog
Dubai Construction Update
Dubai Race Night
Burj Khalifa
Grumpy
Goat
Ever changing lanes
Spontaneous
Euphoria
Christopher Saul - Dubai Blog
MattJDuffy
Sport360
The Hedonista
Dubai as it used to
be
DubaiDevelopmentsGuide
Arabic affairs blogs
The Arabist
Felix Arabia
MidEastPosts
The Culturist
Pan
Arabian Enquirer
Doha News
Al Monitor
The
Gulf Blog
Al-Bab
Hong Kong Blogs
Digital
Life
- A Hong Kong picture blog - interesting pics
A Big
White Guy in Hong Kong - self
explanatory
Ordinary
Gweilo
Hemlock's Diary.
And people think I am opinionated - try this!
BigLychee
EastSouthWestNorth - commentary
Glutter.org
- Greater China democracy news and many great links
Hong
Kong Hustle
Hong Kong Paintings
Hong
Kong Outdoors
Hong
Kong and Macau Stuff
Hong Wrong
In China:
Danwei
- media and advertising news from China
Shanghaiist.com
The China Beat
- how the east is read.
Hong Kong Cinemagic
Shanghai Scrap
The Paper Tiger
Peking Duck
China Law Blog
China Rises
China Media Project
China in
Africa: The Real Story
LivinginChina.com
Sinocism
Chinageeks
Beijing Cream
China Daily Show
Ministry of Tofu
In Macau:
In Singapore:
The Singapore Daily
Xiaxue
- self-confessed mean, bitchy, sex goddess who says "wah" a lot!
Mr Brown
- colourful commentary from Singapore
Singapore Democrats
The Online Citizen
Icarus flew too high
Bonjour Singapore
In Burma:
National League for Democracy
In Canada:
BlogTO
Now Toronto
Media:
On the Ground ND Kristof
Tabloid
Watch (UK)
The Diplomat - Asia Pacific
CJ Purcell
Foreign Policy
Vanity Fair
Watchdog reporting
Fleet Street Blues
Aviation:
Amadeus (airline schedules)
Airline
meals -
see it b4 you eat it!
Airliners
- aviation forum, trip reports and pix
archive
A
Captain's Blog - the routine of a California based 767
captain
FA Uniforms
- interesting collection of the old and new
Planenation
- commercial aviation news
Airchive
- a web museum of commercial aviation.
CrankyFlier - mainly US commentary
AvHerald - daily log of airliner incidents
RandPeck's blog
Rand Peck
- writing and photography from a US based 757 captain
PlaneBuzz
- airline financials
SmartCockpit
Sharjah -
1937
Boarding
Area business travel
World Airports
Flight Wisdom
ATC - Toronto (YYZ)
Today in the sky
Ask the pilot
The Flying Scotsman - A BA pilot blog
Key Magazines - UK
Crossing the Sky
Blogging at FL250
Flight Level 390
The wings stayed on
PilotOutlook
Birmingham Airport
Aviation Queen
LiveATC.net
AirplaneFood
Flight to Success
Routehappy
KPAE - Paine Field Blog
UxMilk (mainly Qantas)
World Stewardess Crews
Airways magazine blog
DubaiAirportsConnect
APEX Editor's Blog
In a Foreign Sky
Better on a Camel
Travel:
Johnny Jet
Paris photo blog
Business Traveller - Asia
Camels and Chocolate
GranTourismo
Legal
Nomads
Circle of Asia
Tales of Asia
Smart Travel Asia
Untraveller
The World and his TukTuk
QuiteAlone - Matthew Teller
Around the World in 80
Elephants
News:
The Guardian
- UK
BBC World News
CNN Asia
Bangkok Post
Gulf News
Arabian
Business
CNNfan.com
scary fan site!
Twitmericks
vox - Research-based policy analysis
and commentary from leading economists
Next Media - news animation
Bangkok info sites:
thailand.com
learningthai.com
sawadee.com
thailandstories
bangkok a-z
Worthy Sites:
Niall Ferguson
Rconversation - from Rebecca
MacKinnon, ex-TV reporter-turned-blogger.
RGE Monitor -
macro-economic
analysis
Migrant Rights
Cricket Archive
Good
experience
Heresy
Corner
What Matters - McKinsey
Freedom House
Golf Sites:
wei under par
The Christina Kim
Cricket sites:
Alternative
Cricket Almanac
99.94
Cricket with Balls
The Old Batsman
StumpedForADuck
The NightWatchman
Other Sports
Sulia.com - football
Fun Sites:
Fun signs
Urban Dictionary
Earth TV
Useful Sites:
World Time Clock
Cooking
Cooking Light
Technology Ideas:
Loose wire
Stuff -
gadgets
TechCrunch
Boing Boing
The Next Web
TNooz - Travel Tech
The Immedium Blog
ViralBlog
The Next Web
Now and Next
The Sports Scientists
FacebookStories
LiesDamnedLiesstatistics
Mixed Topics
Photography
unchartedphotography
Glen Calvin
Photography
GulfPhotoPlus
The Rest:
Black
Flamingo - recipes and life (no golf!)
Mixed Topics
Watford Mad (WFC)
BHappy - a
Watford Blog
Watford Legends
All
About Cricket
Brain Pickings
Ballpark-it.com - recipes
TV:
Northern Exposure
Previous months:
Nov - Dec 2012
Sept - Oct 2012
July - August 2012
May -June 2012
March-April 2012
Jan-Feb 2012
Nov - Dec 2011
Sept - Oct 2011
July - Aug 2011
May - June 2011
March - April 2011
Jan - Feb 2011
Nov - Dec 2010
Sept - Oct 2010
July - Aug 2010
May - June 2010
March - April 2010
Jan - Feb 2010
Nov - Dec 2009
Sept - Oct 2009
July - Aug 2009
May - June 2009
March - April 2009
Jan - Feb 2009
Nov - Dec 2008
Sept - Oct 2008
July - Aug 2008
May - June 2008
March - April 2008
Jan - Feb 2008
Nov - Dec 2007
Sept - Oct 2007
July - Aug 2007
May - June 2007
March - April 2007
Jan - Feb 2007
Nov - Dec 2006
Sept - Oct 2006
July - Aug 2006
May - June 2006
March - April 2006
Jan - Feb 2006
Nov - Dec 2005
Sept - Oct 2005
July - Aug 2005
May - June 2005
March - April 2005
Jan - Feb 2005
Nov - Dec 2004
Sept - Oct 2004
July - Aug 2004
April - June 2004
Jan - Feb 2004
Author
Robert Scott lives
and works in Dubai; born in England I have since lived in Canada, Hong
Kong, Singapore and Bangkok.
I am very happily married to Tai.
If you want to know
more you only need to ask!
ask.
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30 April 2014
Emirates newest Boeing
777-31HER A6-ENP entered service yesterday morning operating EK783 Dubai –
Lagos. The aircraft is configured 8F/42J/310Y.
**************************
What happened to Mad Men. It has become very missable; dull and
predictable; moving slowly and with characters that are regressing not
progressing.
Peggy Olsen's character
is a shadow of her former self.
And why on earth would
Don Draper accept such a humble role in his old firm?
29 April 2014
The Dubai airport
capacity problem in a simple summary:
Helios
Consultancy:
"Whilst airport
capacity can be constrained for many reasons, the most significant
constraint at Dubai is the runway − and resolving runway capacity at Dubai
is particularly challenging. As well as ever increasing demand, there are
a number of other obstacles to overcome, some of which are unique to
Dubai.
The airport is located
in complex airspace close to several Flight Information Region (FIR)
boundaries and in close proximity to several other major airports. It also
suffers from testing environmental conditions which, when combined with
the two closely spaced runways and a unique traffic mix – including the
largest A380 operation in the world – pose a significant challenge in
achieving optimal runway utilisation during peak traffic periods."
*************************
Here is an interesting tale: Kottak may have behaved like an idiot but if
he was in transit he never actually entered Dubai as he would not have
been required to clear immigration.
From the Gulf News:
"Scorpions drummer James Kottak has been jailed in Dubai for one month for
getting drunk, cursing Muslims, making an indecent gesture to a group of
passengers and removing his pants at the airport. The American musician
also insulted policemen.
Kottak was arrested at Dubai airport on April 3. He was in transit. Kottak
was flying from Russia and was on the way to Bahrain to perform at the
Formula I concert when he was arrested.
Kottak, 51, has been fined Dh2,000 for drinking and will be deported. He
admitted to drinking, but denied gesturing indecently in public and
cursing Muslims."
**********************
Emirates new tagline on its press releases: "Emirates, a global connector
of people, places and economies."
I don't know - maybe an
opportunistic connector of places...but at least it does say what the
airline's focus is - getting people from A to B via a stop in Dubai.
*********************
Emirates will fly daily from 5 September 2014 to Brussels, the Belgian
capital: Emirates’ new daily flight to Brussels will depart Dubai as EK183
at 0750hrs and arrives at Brussels International Airport, at 1315hrs the
same day. The return flight, EK184 will depart at 1445hrs* and arrives at
Dubai International Airport at 2325hrs the same day.
Brussels will be the
eighth new destination from Emirates this calendar year following the
earlier launches of Kiev, Taipei and Boston as well as Abuja and Kano
launching on 1st August, Chicago launching on 5th August and Oslo
launching on the 2nd September 2014.
*********************
Elisabetta Polenghi, sister of Italian slain photojournalist Fabio
Polenghi who was shot to death during the 19 May 2010 dispersal of red
shirt protestors in Bangkok, died of cancer Monday. She had been tireless
in her efforts to find justice for the shooting of her brother - battling
Thai bureaucracy and an army in denial.
Well done the FCCT for
this tribute issued by email to members:
"The Foreign
Correspondents' Club of Thailand is saddened to hear of the death of
Elisabetta Polenghi, the younger sister of the Italian photographer Fabio
Polenghi, who was shot dead during the military operation against Red
Shirt protesters in Bangkok on 19 May 2010. Elisabetta was an
indefatigable campaigner for a full investigation into the circumstances
of her brother's death. She visited Thailand on a number of occasions to
press the Thai authorities to hold those responsible for the more than 90
deaths during the 2010 turmoil accountable for their actions. Our thoughts
are with the Polenghi family at this difficult time."
*****************************
In an article titled “Courting disaster: Can Thailand’s Monarchy survive
Democracy?” uploaded on April 22 in the Indo Pacific Review, independent
scholar David Streckfuss, author of a book on Thailand’s lčse-majesté law,
wrote: “No matter how this latest conflict is resolved, the crisis of the
monarchy remains.”He warned: “The more the royalists draw on the monarchy
to legitimise naked attempts to thwart democracy, to claim exclusive
loyalty to the throne, and to use the lčse-majesté law against perceived
enemies, the farther the star of the monarchy will fall.”
One of the most
sensible article on the ongoing Thai crisis that I have read - so sensible
that many Thais will dislike it and once again will parrot their daft
arguments that foreigners should stay out of Thai affairs.
Streckfuss has lectured
at Khon Kaen University for years; foreign investment has driven the Thai
economy; foreign tourists keep drive employment across the nation.
Thailand has chosen to be a part of the global economy; it has to accept
and welcome foreign interest in the nation's stability, well-being and
prosperity.
27 April 2014
Former Malaysian PM Dr
Mahathir Mohamad said in an era where passenger planes can be tracked on
mobile phone, and spy satellites operated by some countries can photograph
and identify a person on the ground, Boeing must explain how all these
means of tracking the plane “can be disabled, can fail”.
“Either Boeing technology is poor, or it is not fail-safe,” he said.
“I would not like to fly in a Boeing aircraft unless Boeing can explain
how all its system can fail or be disabled.”
Very not helpful. He
blames Boeing. Getting senile.
*****************************
So Chelsea went and won at Liverpool - with maybe only 3 certain first
team players as they save their team for Wednesday's European Champions
League semi final.
Here is the Guardian on
the game:
"That was some
performance from Chelsea. It wasn't pretty and at no point was it too easy
on the eye but the shape and discipline that he instilled in his team was
incredibly effective and has resulted in Liverpool's title celebrations
being put on ice for now. Liverpool found it tough to break them down and
for once this season, really looked shorn of ideas and imagination and
resulted to pot-shots from distance. It will be interesting to see just
how they react against Palace in their next game."
26 April 2014
It is now the 50th day
of the search for MH370.
25 April 2014
The VICE.com
documentary on Thailand's PDRC ferrari driving leaders is well made - but
in reality it is just some dumb rich kids saying dumb rich kids things.
The documentary does not get into the key questions of who is on the
streets and why?
The
Vice documentary is here.
VICE News' second
documentary on the Thai political crisis centers around two young, rich
men from well-connected families and their involvement in the
anti-government protests.
This is where the strength of this piece lies: lacking any self-awareness
these guys ride around in vintage sport cars while later decrying nepotism
over cigars and spirits. They explain their involvement in the protests
with amazing political naivety.
23 April 2014
Back in Dubai after a
long silence here and a tough ten days or so.
My mother-in-law and
her family were incredibly strong. organised and thoughtful during week of
funeral rituals.
I felt guilty about
leaving them to head to Rome but had already booked to spend Easter and
Alex's birthday there. And the change of scenery did feel needed and
welcome.
16 April 2014
My mother in law
explained last night why she supports the yellow shirts in Thailand -
because the red shirts do not love the king.
Its a load of nonsense
- but does show how the yellow shirts and the Suthep mob have hijacked the
Thai flag and nationalist sentiment as a rallying cry to their cause.
************************
We are back in Thailand for my father-in-law's funeral after he died in a
road accident. The accident was Saturday night; he never regained
consciousness and was dead later Sunday morning.
12 April 2014
It is not all going
entirely well for Emirates newest route launches:
Milan to JFK, court
ban; Conakry, epidemic; Kiev, threat of war and Clark (Manila) probably a
good idea in the first place.
11 April 2014
The masters cut rule:
following the second round, golfers with the low 50 scores, plus ties,
plus any golfer within 10 strokes of the lead, advance to play the final
two rounds.
9 April 2014
To celebrate 10 years
in Austria, Emirates will fly a one-off Airbus A380 to Vienna on May 26.
8 April 2014
"Panic ensues among
players' wives and girlfriends as Adam Scott announces his Masters
champion's dinner is going to be a barbie."
Naughty - but good -
from twitter.
**************************
Can't wait - there is a new Paddington Bear film starring Hugh Bonneville,
Nicole Kidman, Sally Hawkins, Jim Broadbent, Julie Walters and Colin
Firth, due in November, produced by David Heyman.
7 April 2014
Cebu Pacific Air (5J,
Manila) will temporarily transfer its daily Manila to Dubai service from
Dubai Int'l to Sharjah for the duration of runway upgrade works. As such,
Airline Route reports that the service will be scaled down to 5x weekly
from May 1 to July 20. Cebu Pacific uses A330-300s on the route.
**************************
A quick backgrounder on the Thai Contsitution and why the 2007
constitution took the country backwards.
The 1997 Constitution
provided for a fully-elected Senate. Then came the 2006 Coup. The
Establishment could not control a fully elected Senate so after the 2006
coup, the 2007 Constitution reverted to form and we got a mixed system of
77 Elected Senators and 73 Appointed Senators.
The Appointed Senators
are appointed by 7 “good people”, namely President of the Constitutional
Court, the Chairperson of the Election Commission, the President of the
Ombudsmen, the Chairperson of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, the
Chairperson of the State Audit Commission, and a judge of the Supreme
Court (per Section 113 of the Constitution).
Having 73 Appointed
Senators was done so the Establishment could maintain some control. The
estimate is that 60 out of the 73 Appointed Senators belong in the
anti-government camp.
The Establishment does
not want this balance changed and thus the Court decision last year
finding returning to a fully-elected Senate unconstitutional even if a
fully-elected Senate is the wish of the majority of the people.
6 April 2014
Bad traffic news ahead:
Traffic diversions on Sheikh Zayed Road, towards Abu Dhabi, will begin on
October 25.
Work on the diversions, a result of phase one of the Dubai Water Canal
project, will commence in July. No date was given for when the diversions
will end.
************************
Gross:
Passenger aboard Emirates flight to Hyderabad found heavily bleeding in
restroom.
************************
In Thailand Suthep Thaugsuban gets more outrageous: yesterday he
told supporters to get ready for a “final battle” and added: “When the day
comes, we will seize the ruling power immediately.” Another final battle -
there have been many since November.
Local media quoted him
saying: “Our words will be law. We will seize the assets of the Shinawatra
family members. They will need to report to us. We will appoint the prime
minister of the people and submit the name to His Majesty, to be
countersigned by me. After that, we'll set up the People's Council, which
will lead reform before the country can proceed with a fresh election.”
*************************
Stories like this are both sad and unnecessary. "A maid who suffered a
miscarriage has been arrested at the hospital where she was treated after
being accused of having sex outside marriage."
This is one area where the UAE needs to learn that compassion can earn you
a great deal of credit. This woman has suffered enough already. Putting
her in chains and sending her to prison maybe enforcing the laws of the
land but it is a cruel and unnecessary act.
*******************************
An Australian Navy vessel is investigating a separate ping detected 90
minutes ago in a different location from that reported by the Chinese
vessel.
5 April 2014
"Chinese patrol ship
Haixun 01 searching for flight MH370 discovered a pulse signal with a
frequency of 37.5kHz per second in south Indian Ocean waters," the
official news agency Xinhua reported today, as the search entered its
fifth week.
But CNN has noted that
the Chinese findings were announced independently of Australian-led search
coordinators, and the location appears to be outside the formal search
zone.
So much for a co-ordinated
search.
3 April 2014
Emirates will start
flying daily service with the Airbus A380 from Dallas/Fort Worth
International Airport to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on Oct. 1, the
airline announced Thursday.
*************************
Emirates Airline has a new customer support twitter account: "We’re here
to answer your customer service questions. Please tweet them to @EmiratesSupport
between 8am-8pm GST daily.
It really should be
24/7 support. Especially during the peak hours at the airport - 11pm to
4am and 6am to 9am.
2 April 2014
The last two episodes
of The Good Wife have been terrific television. Firstly kill off a key
character and then deal with the immediate grief.
No jumping forward
months. The Good Wife went from the killing of Will Gardner and straight
into how the people around him started to grief and to ask questions and
in the absence of facts to arrive at their own answers. It was powerful.
Remember this is a
network tv show - they have to turn out 22 42minute episodes each season
and keep viewers' attention though advertising breaks. It is a very
different model from the cable networks producing shows such as Mad Men,
Breaking Bad and House of Cards.
***************************
An interesting comment on the Emirates twitter feed - I wonder how they
will respond to this:
"@emirates please
separate your alcholic passengers from the non alcholic to ensure the
dignity and respect of the Muslims isn't hurt"
They probably
wont respond. But it is easy to see why this might be an issue for some.
The counter argument is
to be tolerant.
Though I for one would
be happy to see all airlines ban alcohol on board - it would have to be
all airlines at the same time....or it will never happen.
But it would likely
make flying safer and more tolerable.
*************************
Finnair on 2nd May 2014 plans to operate 1-time Helsinki – Dubai Al
Maktoum service, on board an Airbus A321 Sharklet aircraft. This flight
replaces previously planned operation at Dubai International (DXB).
AY961 HEL0915 – 1620DWC 32B
AY962 DWC1720 – 2255HEL 32B
That's a long haul in
an A321.
1 April 2014
It was a tough day for
EK's A380s yesterday.
Flight 381 from Hong
Kong arrived over 3 hours late after being diverted on the outbound leg to
Guangzhou - due to storm in Hong Kong.
Meanwhile the A380 was
supposed to debut at Gatwick - and rather than one A380 LGW got two.
Emirates had to switch equipment after the inaugural A380 service was
operated by A6-EDZ. The aircraft went technical issue at LGW causing the
return EK10 to be delayed overnight.
Emirates A380 A6-EDT
positioned Dubai – London Gatwick in the early hours of yesterday morning
in order to operate yesterday’s delayed EK10 London Gatwick – Dubai as
EK10D.
Meanwhile A6-EDZ
positioned London Gatwick – Dubai in the evening as EK7002.
An expensive inaugural!
**********************
The delay on EK381 meant that Alex missed his flight onto Geneva so got to
stay with me for the night and left on EK89 this morning.
We had a good
day...lunch at social house and a crawl around Kinokinuya....always
enjoyable.
30 March 2014
I do wish EK would
actually tell people what is happening when a plane is delayed - in the
age of immediate social media saying "Flight delayed due to operational
reasons" is just not good enough.
***********************
Oops: Emirates switched equipment on the EK9/EK10 Dubai – London Gatwick
service from B777-300ER to A380 operation today. The inaugural A380
service was operated by A6-EDZ. This is the first regular scheduled A380
service to London Gatwick.
It landed on time at
LGW - the return is currently delayed from 21.15 to 09.00 in the morning.
*********************
How England should line up for the opening game of the 2014 World Cup:
Hart, Johnson, Cahill,
Baines, Shaw, Lallana, Gerrard, Henderson, Sterling, Sturridge, Rooney
Actually if they are
all in form it is not a bad side.
**********************
Three weeks after the loss of MH370 there is, in essence, no
evidence of anything other than that the aircraft did not go to China as
planned.
|
|
28 March 2014
Emirates SkyCargo will
launch service to Atlanta, with weekly freighter flights starting April 6,
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport officials announced Thursday.
***********************
EK took delivery of two new A380s today with A6-EET and A6-EEU joining the
fleet - taking the todal number of A380s up to 47.
*************************
Still no trace of MH370 - The Australian-led search for missing Malaysia
Airlines flight MH370 has shifted 1,100km to the north-east after
investigators calculated the plane was going faster and using more fuel
when it disappeared than previously thought.
That is over an hour of
flying time. Can the earlier calculations really have been that wrong?
After all they could
have re-programmed the flight details and weather data into a simulator
and worked out the likely flying range?
27 March 2014
Back in Dubai - flying
Thai Airways last night. 6 hours and 50 minutes into Dubai. Unusually
long. And now back in Dubai on a tourist visa.
26 March 2014
"The lesson for
governments – not just Malaysia's – is that clear and coherent information
is what relatives need most when they face a bewildering loss and
complicated investigation. Swift reassurance that a country's most senior
leaders are doing their utmost helps too. Sending caregivers, supplying
flights and offering belated statements of sympathy are simply not
enough."
Tania Brannigan in The
Guardian
25 March 2014
The Malaysians have now
said that they are certain that MH370 went down in the South Indian Ocean.
They have no debris.
But their conclusion is based upon a detailed study by Immarsat of
satellite ping data transmitted from the airliner.
As flight.org said on
twitter: "Congrats to Malaysia on finding a plane without having any idea
where it is. #MH370"
Maybe a bit premature
from MH. We are all fairly certain that the airliner has crashed and that
there are no survivors. But the families want closure; and like it or not
they need to see debris and even bodies recovered. As it is this is still
a missing plane. And people cling to hope.
22 March 2014
The Ferrari F1 team
have evicted the relatives of MH370 passengers from their KL airport
hotel.
The Malaysian F1 race
goes ahead as scheduled.
Poor.
***********************
Good marital advice from today's Guardian - Tai take note:
Cooking tips
If your wife or husband is cooking, don't mess with them unless you have
specific, ideally written, permission. Don't pick up the skillet and
doubtfully rearrange the onions. Don't taste the sauce and wrinkle your
nose. Keep out of the kitchen. You can peel a few vegetables and clean up
afterwards. Otherwise, butt out. And always remember to say thank you.
***********************
Abhisit is such an unpleasant mealy-mouthed individual - his latest -
agreeing with the head of the Election Commission's comment that the
government must be responsible for the 3.8 billion baht wasted in holding
the Feb 2 poll.
Err - Who boycotted the
poll? Who supported the protestors? And who was reponsible for running the
election?
Worth remembering that
the Constitutional Court was appointed by the September 19, 2006
coupmakers. Some of the judges also drafted the 2007 charter they now
defend and which replaced the 1997 People's constitution.
What the court has
ensured is that the remaining 50 parties, as well as 20 million people who
turned out to vote on February 2 are now paying for abiding by the law
while the court ruling rewards those who protested and boycotted the vote.
21 March 2014
Gary Lineker on twitter
today: "Wonderful landmark for Arsene Wenger to reach 1,000 games as
Arsenal manager. He has given the game in this country grace, dignity and
joy!"
I suspect Arsenal fans
would have preferred a few trophies...
*************************
Emirates announces new routes with such a noise - canceling a route is
rare; and done with just a whimper.
But the airline appears
to be canceling Dubai – Clark service from 3 May 2014. This is currently
served by Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Last flight departs Clark on 03MAY14.
Operational schedule in April 2014 as follow.
EK338 DXB0400 – 1620CRK 77W D
EK339 CRK1800 – 2305DXB 77W D
That said it always
seemed a rather unlikely and low yeild destination for EK.
***************************
The British satellite company, Inmarsat, says it had indications the
missing Malaysia airlines flight may have crashed into the Indian Ocean as
early as 9 March, two days after the aircraft disappeared.
“Inmarsat shared their data with a partner company the following day, on
March 11, and with Malaysian investigators on March 12,” ABC News reports.
It was a week before the search moved from its initial focus on the South
China Sea and Malacca Straits to the Indian Ocean, which would have given
any debris from the plane lots of time to drift from its potential crash
site.
19 March 2014
It must be really hard
to ask difficult questions of an airline when you have just accepted and
enjoyed an all expenses paid return trip to Boston.
Which is why any
journalist with any sense of integrity should never accept freebies.
17 March 2014
The Malaysian
authorities have spread more confusion about the final communication with
the missing plane by issuing new details about the timings when contact
was lost. They said the plane’s reporting system was switched off at some
point between 1.07am and 1.37am on Saturday 8 March. Malaysian Airlines
estimates that the plane had enough fuel to have flown on for about 30
minutes after contact was lost.
***************************
Oh good: Abu Dhabi and the central bank of the United Arab Emirates have
agreed to refinance $20bn of debt that was extended to the Dubai
government as emergency aid during its financial crisis and comes due this
year, the state news agency said on Sunday.
****************************
The news of Tai's sister is not good.
The surgery was
successful. But there does appear to be damage to brain cells and the
possibility of paralysis.
Very difficult times
for the family.
15 March 2014
Our Chiang Mai weekend
came to a sudden and unexpected end as Tai had to rush back to Bangkok
this morning as her sister had emergency surgery.
Everyone is praying for
a speedy and complete recovery.
*******************
Abu Dhabi Airports has announced that one of its runways is likely to
remain closed until the end of this year to enable an upgrade works
programme to be completed.
In a statement, the airport operator said the South runway will be off
limits to aircraft as it is upgraded to allow it to accommodate larger
superjumbo planes.
The South runway is the
older runway closest to the existing terminals.
The North runway is far
enough away from the South runway to allow Abu Dhabi to operate both
runways simultaneously.
The timing means that
the UAE is closing one runway in each of Dubai and Abu Dhabi at the same
time. This could cause problems in the event of poor weather or the
temporary closure of one of the remaining runways.
14 March 2014
Still no sign of MH370
and now the search and rescue efforts are being mocked by
the Onion:
“Why didn’t the pilot
send a distress signal? Why aren’t we finding a debris path? What are we
to make of the contradictory radar information? Where did the universe
begin and can it be said to have a limit or an edge? What is mankind’s
role in it? Is there a God? If so, what is God’s nature?”
13 March 2014
Emirates will start
flying daily to Oslo, Norway from 2nd Sept using a B777-300ER.
Planned operational
schedule as follows.
EK159 DXB0700 – 1210OSL 77W D
EK160 OSL1355 – 2250DXB 77W D
***********************
The Railway Man - official movie trailer:
http://youtu.be/yn5F6M45STs
This will not be an
easy film to watch. But maybe in the end it is a film about forgiveness
and finding peace.
12 March 2014
In the regional news
department and part of the continuing escalation of the pact between the
UAE, Saudi, Bahrain and Egypt the UAE and Egypt yesterday concluded joint
military exercises.
The Gulf News
breathlessly stated that the exercises also seek to highlight historical
and strategic relations between the two countries besides strengthening
cooperation and sharing knowledge and expertise in the military domain.
On twitter @habibahamid
noted that "Can someone not advise the UAE MOFA that optics of joint
training with a murderous junta might NOT be a great look."
Nails it. But it is all
about regional power plays and a paranoid disquiet about the influence of
the Muslim Brotherhood.
*************************
Wizz Air Ukraine will end Kiev Zhuliany-Dubai World Central service from
16th March -
That did not last long
- just a few months - presumably failed due to the political situation in
the Ukraine.
*************************
Constitutional Court rules Bt2 trillion loan bill for infrastructure
development projects is unconstitutional
**************************
The IPL is coming to town: From Wednesday 16th April to Wednesday 30th
April, at least 16 matches will be held in the United Arab Emirates. This
is due to the Indian election which runs at that time and means the police
simply do not have the resources to support the election and the IP
cricket.
9 March 2014
Alex is staying with us
in Dubai for a few days - very good to see him - but it does mean there
are less notes here than usual.
****************************
Very happy for our friends Brendan and Nina who gave birth to their first
child yesterday, a baby girl, Indy.
Everyone is well -
albeit a little tired.
*****************************
With the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the UAE withdrawing their ambassadors from
Qatar it is worth noting that on nearly every imaginable indicator, the
new Egyptian regime is more repressive than Mubarak. On press freedoms, it
continues to get worse.
Qatar, of course, was a
supporter of the elected Morsi regime, removed in an army coup in 2012.
The arrest and trial of
Al Jazeera staff is a new low in press harassment.
Loyalty however has its
rewards: "Dubai's Arabtec wins $40 Billion contract with Egyptian army to
build one million low income housing units" Reuters reported this evening.
5 March 2014
It is not words
and rhetoric that ay stop Putin's ambitions for Russia - it may just be
simple economics: On Monday Moscow's stock lost a
staggering 11% of
its value while the rouble fell to a record low, prompting the Russian
central bank to spend at least $7bn supporting it.
4 March 2014
It has been a
remarkable summer for Australian cricket - their batting can still look a
bit frail but Warner may now be the best opening bat in the world, Steve
Smith is proving to be a very good number 6 and someone usually comes up
with runs. But it is the bowling attack that is relentless....and Johnson
and Harris may be the best new ball attack since the West Indies were in
their 1990s prime.
England were decimated
- Trott, Pietersen and Swann are unlikely to play test cricket again. And
now the South African captain has announce his retirement.
Graeme Smith is just
33, but only if you measure in terms of years. In real terms he is much
older, having worn the unprecedented burden of captaining South Africa for
11 years and 109 Tests.
Not just any country; South Africa. He was captain at 22, an age at which
most people’s greatest responsibility is putting the washing in the
laundry bin so that their mother can do it. When he took the job, his
father said to him: “Are you actually mad?”
He built the world’s best team on the rock of his own massive mental
strength. He built a team that would do anything for him; a team of
incredible unity. England take note!
But this Aussie team
have now seen him off as well.
***********************
Obama is smart enough to understand irony - but this is a remarkable thing
to say:
“What cannot be done is
for Russia with impunity to put its soldiers on the ground and violate
basic principles that are recognised around the world.”
Err - Iraq,
Haiti...etc.
Meanwhile US Secretary
of State John Kerry has also forgotten about the Iraq War.
How else could he appear on "Face the Nation" and, with a straight face,
slam Russia for "invading another country on completely trumped-up
pretext"?
3 March 2014
Thai silliness - a
ridiculous reaction in a society that is far too quick to use litigation
to try to save face: the Election Commission will file a legal complaint
against 688 individuals who allegedly spread the accusation the EC used
deliberate stalling tactics.
They had better start
with The Economist and the Financial Times - both of whom noted that the
EC had sought to delay the election.
*******************************
Athens will be double daily on Emirates from 1 August
EK105 DXB-ATH 1005-1405 B77W
EK106 ATH-DXB 1610-2145 B77W
EK3109 DXB-ATH 1640-2040 A332
EK3110 ATH-DXB 2325-0500 A332
The 3XXX number is
given to temporary flights - the extra ATH flight will be operating only
from 01Aug until 29Oct. Summer seasonal addition only.
2 March 2014
Realistically the
Ukraine government has already lost Crimea.
The question is how
much more of Eastern Ukraine will they lose.
**************************
Russia
Today - "RT’s priceless headline "Tea, sandwiches, music, photos with
self-defense forces mark peaceful Sunday in Simferopol"
Reads just like
Bangkok's The Nation newspaper.
**************************
The big news from BKK over the weekend was that anti-democracy protest
leader Suthep Thaugsuban announced that his Bangkok Shutdown “will be shut
down this weekend.”
He really had no option. The numbers at the rally sites had become too
small to sustain the sites. Suthep has withdrawn his remaining supporters
to Lumpini Park, where it began four months ago.
Of course the PDRC is claiming that the shutdown campaign has succeeded
leaving a government in disarray. Desperate.
Is this part of finding
a way out as the conflict his elite backers realise that the protests are
causing huge economic damage to Thailand?
Worse despite the
protestors efforts and entreaties the military continue to sit on the
sidelines.
Is it over? Probably not. In the end the protesters themselves could never
oust Yingluck from office. Only the courts or a military coup can do that.
Over to the courts and I suspect that is not far away.
We had felt that the judicial coup required the street protests to
accelerate the many cases against the government. Perhaps that is no
longer the case as a deal seems in the works. The cynics amongst us might
suggest that the conviction of Abhisit Vejjajiva for “dereliction of duty”
may be an indication of a deal being done.
If there is a deal, it will likely be one in the interests of elites on
both sides of the political divide. At the present time, though, we’d be
betting on a judicial attack on the government.
***************************
EK Cargo add Quito, Curacao 18th February Mexico City and Los Angeles 2nd
April Houston 6th April, Paramaribo 20th October according to their
schedule, 777F being used.
1 March 2014
It is inconceivable
that Putin's ambitions begin and end in the Crimea. He was always going to
be the empire builder. It was just a matter of when.
If the EU wants to
expand into the Ukraine it will have to do so without the Crimea.
And I suspect Putin
will annex Crimea very quickly.
The Russian veto in the
UN renders the UK near on worthless in this crisis. No more than an
overpaid debating society.
And the G8 conference
in Sochi in June may end up as a G2 - with just Russia and China in
attendance.
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