Ousted Premier Thaksin Shinawatra ended his 17 months of exile. He is back to Bangkok. His plane arrived at 9.53am Thursday February 28 2008.

Supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra waved banners and were in a joyous mood at Suvarnabhumi International Airport at the time of his arrival.

On English-language radio news the top Thai general in charge of the armed forces is quoted as saying there might be 'a third party' trying to cause unrest when Mr Thaksin returns and Air force chief Chalit Phukphasuk said on February 7 2008 there are other ways than a coup to terminate roles of those in power.

This 'invisible hands' are already working hard: Newspapers here are full of 'letters to the editor' defaming the new Prime Minister, the members of his cabinet and Mr. Thaksin.

We may sit here, insulated from reality, but much of the rest of the world seems to look at Thailands leaders as genuine kooks of a banana republic.

Taking a cab from the airport could cost more after Airports of Thailand (AoT) takes over running the taxi queues at Suvarnabhumi from March 1.

AOT plans to charge cabbies 10 baht per trip and raise the airport taxi surcharge from 50 baht to 75 baht.

Pattaya residents have been advised to prepare water reserve tanks for consumption during the dry season, and city hall is preparing for the probably inevitable drought by surveying and repairing existing public storage facilities.

There were about 8'000 to 10'000 taxi trips a day from the new airport.

The Mayor of Pattaya said a public campaign to save water and to install water tanks will take place. There will also be water trucks on standby 24 hours a day to deal with any emergency water supply problems. The Mayor did mention that the Maprachan Reservoir is suffering from months of no rain and the situation could become worse in the coming months.

Anyone preparing to build a house or a commercial property in Pattaya now has to ensure that an adequate water storage tank is included in the designs for the project, otherwise Chonburi Province would withhold permission for the construction work.

Pattaya residents have been advised to prepare water reserve tanks for consumption during the dry season, and city hall is preparing for the probably inevitable drought by surveying and repairing existing public storage facilities.

Why not simple close all swimming pools? Pattaya has a beach and its water is as dirty as the water the city supplies during the dry season...

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said the government will revive the war on drug campaign.

The campaign was initiated by the Thaksin Shinawatra administration to stop the spreading of narcotics.

The military junta stopped the campaign. Since Sept. 19. 2006 drug smuggling in the North of Thailand is on a steady rise. The current situation is as severe as it was six or eight years ago.

Almost all smugglers benefit from help from men in uniform. Some people believe that Thaksin's war on drug was the main (but unmentioned) reason for the coup. Thaksin wanted to clean up the military from untrusty people.

During Thaksin's war on drug campaign drug traffickers were killing each others so authorities would not be able to track down their big bosses.

The father of a Canadian killed in Thailand last month wants stronger warnings issued about Thailand in the wake of other violent attacks during this month.

His son was shot in the head and chest in the northern town of Pai during an altercation with an off-duty Thai police officer in early January.

Last week, a 48-year-old Canadian was shot to death at close range in his house in Ranong. His 27-year-old wife, her lover and an alleged hit man have been arrested.

This week another Canadian was shot in the back while riding in an open-sided taxi with his wife in Chiang Mai.

Thailand has a high murder rate. It is roughly five times higher than in the UK!

Thais aren't nearly as calm as your travel guides like to tell you. If they 'smell money' or believe they will loose their face, they get unreckonable.

The public health ministry has warned that dengue fever is back with a vengeance this year, with more than 2,800 cases reported so far and 4 deaths. Up to 70 per cent of sufferers were in the central region.

Symptoms of the disease includes high fever for more than two days. Mosquitoes are the main carrier of this disease.

Public health authorities should warn as many people as they can about the disease and encourage them to destroy breeding grounds for mosquitoes, a spokesman of the public health ministry said.

The provincial cultural council of Ayutthaya called for strict monitoring of love nests for underage couples on Valentine's Day. They range from love motels to internet cafes. Motel operators should make sure that their customers are not minors by requesting their identity cards at check-in. The sale of condoms at grocery stores also encourages sex among youngsters, Ms Jiraphan Pimpan, the council's chairman said. Media hype surrounding Valentine's Day had encouraged teens to skip classes to engage in sexual activity, she said.

The new law, which took effect on February 2 2008, strips the prime minister and defence minister of the power to make unilateral decisions regarding the reshuffling of generals.

Instead, the decision of appointments of top generals in the armed forces will be vetted by a seven-member committee. Along with the prime minister and defence minister, the committee comprises the leaders of the army, navy and air force, the supreme commander of the armed forces and the permanent secretary for defence.

The law was drafted during the tenure of then prime minister Surayud Chulanont and secretly approved by the military-appointed National Legislative Assembly on Dec 20 2007. The new law was unknown until Saturday, when it got published.

Outgoing Defence Minister Boonrawd Somtas denied the law had been introduced as a direct attempt to block Mr Samak from exerting influence over the armed forces.

Gen Boonrawd said the law was not directed at anyone or any administration in particular and would have to be followed by all governments. Any party given a mandate to run the ministry has to follow the rules. His ministry had followed required procedures and pushed for the law for a long time, but the law was ready only recently and took force, he said.

It was only coincidental, Gen Boonrawd said, that the law which came into effect Saturday removes direct oversight from the defence ministry just at the time when Mr Samak is becoming the defence minister...

On February 1 2008 the all new Club Blu opened with a great party and a lot of beautiful ladies. As usual during opening parties, the farangs outnumbered the lovely ladies by far.

If you have a good insurance and are out for an adventure you can try the shaky spiral staircase to the first and the second floor of the building...

Many executives see themselves as prodigious multitaskers - checking e-mail while simultaneously talking on the phone, eyeing stock quotes, and performing all sorts of other busywork. But they're probably doing a lousy job if they're trying to focus on more than four things at once, a recent study maintains.

The multitasking cap is not affected by the complexity of one's thoughts. Surprisingly, as many complex concepts can be retained in short-term memory as simple thoughts, the researchers found.

That makes the human brain dissimilar to an electronic gadget like an iPhone, they said.

According to hotel managers in Pattaya, Phuket and Chiang Mai the the tourist season 2007 / 2008 is disappointing, if not to say a disaster.

Some blame the economic stagnation and a possible slowdown of the economic for the situation - but for most managers mantioned the political uncertainities as the main reason. Educated western tourists steer clear of military juntas.

Travel agencies in Europe are also blaming the country's political problems as well as the September 19. 2006 military coup that many tourists from European countries resist to book holidays in Thailand.

In their eyes, Thailand's military did a very bad job. History books confirm that a military coup never solved a problem; it always created new ones.

Six people from five provinces have been put under surveillance for possible bird flu infection.

The first outbreak struck the country in January 2004. More than 60 million fowls were culled or died. A total of 25 people were infected with the virus and 17 of them died.

A bird flu scare has gripped Nakhon Ratchasima province after a farmer in Non Thai district reported his chickens and ducks were dying of unknown causes. He alerted the provincial livestock office that 20 of his chickens and 10 ducks had died over the past week.

The coup-makers have insinuated that they do not want either Mr Samak or PPP deputy leader Gen Ruengroj Mahasaranont to be defence minister

Gen Anupong played a key role in deposing Mr Thaksin from power in the coup on Sept 19, 2006 led by then army chief Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkalin.

Both Gen Anupong and Mr Thaksin were members of Class 10 at the pre-cadet school.

Deputy Prime Minister Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, the man who ousted Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006 coup d'etat, said he has phoned the deposed premier for 'national reconciliation'.

'There are several people who are concerned about the nation. They want to see a peaceful country. So they advised that I speak to him, with the help of a mediator,' Mr. Sonthi said.

Gen Sonthi insisted that the coup was not a failure, and dismissed speculation that he fears Mr Thaksin may seek revenge against him.

According to companies from Rayong and the Maptaput Industrial Estate wages range from 7,600 to 8,500 baht for applicants with primary school class 6 certificates, 8,500 to 10,000 baht for those with secondary school class 3 certificates, and 10,000 to 13,000 baht for applicants with vocational school certificates and higher levels of education.