My English study: June 2010

Thursday, June 24, 2010

No Politics Expected on Former King’s Vietnam Visit

http://www1.voanews.com/khmer-english/news/cambodia/No-Politics-Expected-on-Former-Kings-Vietnam-Visit-96491749.html

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer | Washington DCWednesday, 16 June 2010

Photo: AP

Former King Norodom Sihanouk and Queen Monineath greet Cambodians from a limousine after a ceremony.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Who Is this Jim Loy Person?

© Copyright 1997, Jim Loy

Well, for one thing, I'm not just any idiot. By, the way, this picture of me is from the Great Falls Tribune, several years ago.

Mail: 1104 S. Montana, H7, Bozeman, MT 59715: I live in Bozeman, a town of 23,000 or so people, in a corner of the Gallatin Valley, in Southern Montana. Bozeman is the home of Montana State University, or vice versa. It has a road which will probably be under construction for generations to come. We've got disgusting traffic problems. It has a family of beavers which builds a dam whenever the city isn't looking (beavers work on weekends, the city does not). Currently (Aug. 1996), there is a lot of smoke, from forest fires, in the air. Lewis & Clark passed to the West of here (I missed them that day). Custer died a ways East of here. Yellowstone Park is a ways to the South of Bozeman. There is a mountain range, near here, which apparently is called the Beartooths, according to bumper stickers. I'm originally from Columbia Falls, MT, just West of Glacier National Park.

Family: I'm single. My mother, father, and grandmother live at Lake Blaine, near Kalispell, Montana. My mother is a housewife. My father is a retired saw-filer and machinist. My grandmother is 103 years old, so far. She's a retired housewife. My brother is a mathematics teacher and basketball coach and tennis coach at Lincoln County High School, in Eureka, Montana.

Checkers: I am currently the District 9 Checkers-by-mail Champ. I am currently playing in the Inter-District Checkers-by-mail Tournament. I am writing a book on how to play checkers. You can read many of the chapters, in the checkers portion of my WWW pages. The book will not be completed for a long time (a year or so). I'm a member of the American Checker Federation.

Art: I paint pictures (mostly water colors), and design petit point (a kind of needle point) pictures. Some of my work is in a few galleries, and I have won a few prizes. I'm finding it difficult to do this for a living.

Chess: I used to play a lot of chess, I was Montana Chess Champ 4 times (sharing it once). Two of my games were published in Chess Life, one in Chess Review, and two in the L. A. Times. I sometimes contribute articles to the Montana Chess News. I'm a life member of the U. S. Chess Federation. I collect postage stamps, with chess as the main subject.

Bridge: I am a (relatively strong) novice bridge player, who has gained some fame reviewing bridge software on the Internet. See my latest review in the bridge portion of my WWW pages.

Pool (pocket billiards): I am a member of two pool leagues, and sometimes do well in tournaments. But I can't handle all of the cigarette smoke.

Tennis: I am sometimes a member of the U. S. Tennis Association (not currently), and sometimes play in doubles events in tournaments. I once won a bronze medal in the Big Sky State Games.

Bowling: I'm currently struggling with my bowling. I once had a 185 average, and took second place in my division in the Montana State Tournament.

Computers: I am a part-time computer programmer, mostly programming in dBase. I am currently trying to learn Java.

Music: I listen to "Classical" music, mostly Romantic era and 20th Century (Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Debussy, & Messiaen especially). I was a member of my high school "Band Hall of Fame" as a trombone player. I no longer perform music.

Education: I've got a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics, from Montana State University, in Bozeman. I majored in Computer Science for a while. I have been a fairly successful tutor of algebra and geometry.

Army: I served in the U. S. Army in Vietnam, as a radio-teletype operator in a headquarters artillery battery, first in Phu Bai (near Hue), and later in Da Nang.

My car: My car has been run into 3 times in the last 4 years. I have to keep moving the bulls-eye. But it still gets 30 miles per gallon.

MM's Curriculum Vitae

EMPLOYMENT

Current: Owner/Operator, Mr. Micawber's. Private lessons for business, academic and conversational English, and language test preparation. I also write test questions for TOEFL, TOEIC and Eiken STEP, and offer proofreading, rewriting and editing services for corporate and individual clients.

1994-95: Corporate and Commercial Language School English Instructor on contract to GEOS, Simul Academy, TOFL Seminar, Career Development Inc., YMCA, and Sony Communications.

1992-93: Head Teacher, latterly Curriculum Manager, Bi-Lingual Language Institute, Yokohama. Responsible for supervising teachers, advising them on teaching texts and methods, liaising with sales staff and head office, advising staff and customers on curriculum, curriculum planning, daily class scheduling, student file maintenance, and other school operations.

1990-92: Corporate English Instructor, Bi-Lingual Language Institute. I taught corporate classes at Nissan, NEC, Hitachi, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ajinomoto, Kirin, Maruzen, Fuji Bank, Macnica, IDEC, Isuzu, Kanebo, Nikki, Nippi, and many other companies.

1988-90: Office Manager, Los Angeles Audubon Society, Los Angeles, California. Active management of a non-profit environmental conservation organization.

1983-86: Auditor, Office of the Auditor General of the Province of British Columbia, Canada. Financial accounting and auditing while working toward chartered accountant (CPA) certification.

1977-81: Production Manager, Department of Drama, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. Overall responsibility for coordination of production facilities, schedules, budgets and technical staff. I was also a Stagecraft and Stage Management instructor, teaching two undergraduate courses and a graduate seminar.

1968-77: Production Manager, Stage Manager, Technical Director and performer for theatre and dance companies in the USA and Canada, including Les Feux-follets, Canada's national dance ensemble.

1967-68: English Instructor, Berlitz School of Languages, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Private and group ESL classes for francophones.

EDUCATION

1997: Tactile English Workshop, International Management Institute, Tokyo, Japan
1996: TOEIC Item-Writing Workshop, Educational Testing Service, Princeton, NJ
1994: Advanced Certificate in TEFL, Tokyo, Japan
1985: School of Chartered Accountancy (Income Taxation), Vancouver, Canada
1983: Associate of Arts (Business Management), Camosun College, Victoria, Canada
1980-81: Graduate Studies (Behavioural Ecology), University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
1979: Production Management Seminar, Banff School of Management, Canada
1966-67: Graduate Studies (Theatre), University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
1965: Secondary Teaching Certification (English, Biology), State of Florida, USA
1965: Bachelor of Arts (English), University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS, PUBLICATIONS AND INTERESTS

I have been a member of the Japan Association for Language Learning (JALT), Canadian Actors' Equity Association, and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. Special interests include content-based language instruction and authentic materials development. I presented on the latter at the JALT '97 International Conference, and published on the same topic in The Language Teacher, September 1998 (V.22 no.9). I have edited several short works on kyudo (Japanese archery) and produced a trilingual Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Japan.

PERSONAL

'Dual' US and Canadian citizen, in good health, born Kinston, North Carolina, USA. Permanent resident visa in Japan. Third dan in kyudo.

18 people call over acrobat HIV scare

Queensland Health says 18 people have responded to a national appeal for information from anyone who had unprotected sex with a HIV positive circus acrobat.

African-born Godfrey Zaburoni has been remanded in custody after being charged with knowingly spreading HIV by having unprotected sex with a Gold Coast woman.

The case has sparked a national health alert, with authorities urging anyone who had unprotected sex with the 32-year-old to contact them and undergo an HIV test.

Queensland Health confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that it has received 18 calls.

A Queensland Health spokesman would not confirm the callers' gender or which state they were from.

But the spokesman told AAP it's possible some of the callers could have been men who had associations with the women that had unprotected sex with Zaburoni.

He said it was difficult to confirm whether the names Zaburoni provided of 12 women with whom he'd had unprotected sex in Queensland, NSW and Victoria made up some of the callers.

Zaburoni faced the Southport Magistrates Court on Wednesday on one charge of causing grievous bodily harm and one charge of intending to cause grievous bodily harm.

He was remanded in custody for a June 9 hearing.

Sex, bribes in banknote deals

A RESERVE Bank currency firm was willing to supply prostitutes and pay bribes to win contracts, according to a federal police witness at the centre of Australia's most serious corruption investigation.

The revelation is one of many made by a key witness in the federal police inquiry into the Reserve Bank company, Securency International, which makes polymer banknotes.

The witness has told an investigation by The Age and ABC TV'sFour Corners - aired tonight - that a middleman hired by Securency to win contracts from foreign governments told him that he intended to bribe a central bank governor from an Asian country.

The witness, who was a Securency employee, has given the Australian Federal Police his diary in which he recorded the middleman telling him in 2007 that the ''governor would be very happy if the commission [payment] was increased''.

The witness has said that one of the most senior Securency managers told him to arrange an Asian prostitute for a visiting deputy governor of a foreign central bank.

''Next time that this official was in town, [I was told] that I was to procure him a bodyguard, and with raised eyebrows and a wink … a particular type of bodyguard being an Asian woman. He was suggesting I might like to procure a prostitute for one of the central bank officials on his visit to Melbourne,'' said the police witness in an interview with Four Corners. The witness said he did not act on the request although he believed other employees had arranged prostitutes.

In a 2008 diary entry, the witness recorded that a consultant employed in Asia by Australia's overseas trade agency Austrade told him that to win contracts Securency needed to hire someone to bribe officials or ''to pass white envelopes for you''.

Austrade this week confirmed the Securency employee-turned-police-witness did report the comment to an Australian ambassador in the Asian country where it was made in 2008, but said that it had never been brought specifically to Austrade's attention.

Austrade also stressed it had never endorsed bribery .

Securency is a Melbourne-based polymer banknote company half-owned and supervised by the Reserve Bank. It has employed a network of global agents to help it convince foreign central banks and governments to buy its banknotes.

A federal police taskforce is investigating Securency for allegedly bribing government officials in countries including Nigeria, Malaysia and Vietnam.

International figures, including former Malaysian deputy prime minister, now opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and Nigerian central bank governor Lamido Sanusi, have urged the Australian government to reveal how far the RBA's bribery scandal reaches. ''How could Securency allow … huge bribes in the name of commissions?'' Mr Ibrahim told Four Corners.

''It's something very difficult for me to comprehend, how is it a system [in Australia], with such a strong institution and respect for good government … could allow this,'' he said.

Labor and Coalition senators have voted against a motion by Greens leader Bob Brown for a parliamentary inquiry into Securency's overseas dealings.

In a 2008 diary excerpt by the police witness, a Securency employee is recorded as telling him the RBA firm paid very high commissions to middlemen to secure a contract in Nigeria because so many people were ''feeding off it''. ''A range of senior government ministry officials and central bank officials would've been getting a slice of that 20, 25 per cent commission,'' the witness said.

In March, the Securency board released a scathing audit of the company's dealings with its agents, who have received almost $50 million in commission payments since 2003. After the audit's release, the board, chaired by RBA assistant governor Bob Rankin, announced the departure of the two top executives, Myles Curtis and John Ellery.

See Four Corners tonight on ABC1 at 8.30 for more on the banknote scandal.

Invading our coastlines, swarms of jellyfish that can paralyse swimmers

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Last updated at 8:47 AM on 15th June 2010

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Swarms of giant venomous jellyfish have invaded waters off the British coast.

Swimmers are being warned to be on the lookout after scores of Lion's Mane jellyfish were spotted in the sea off Cornwall.

The jellyfish, which can grow up to 8ft in diameter, are a danger because their toxic sting can cause muscle paralysis, leading to suffocation and heart attack.

Danger: Swarms of giant Lion's Mane jellyfish have been spotted off the Cornish coast

They are usually found further north, in the Arctic and northern Atlantic oceans, but the freezing winter means the seas further south have become sufficiently cold.

It is also thought that flourishing plankton - a key food source for jellyfish - have lured the creatures.

The invasion was spotted by Andy Pearson, who was surrounded by more than 200 Lion's Mane jellyfish while looking for basking sharks at Sennen Cove, Coverack Cove and Kynance Cove in southern Cornwall.

The diver also saw swarms of the smaller and rarer blue jellyfish - which also carry a nasty sting.

Mr Pearson said: 'Usually there will be one or two but the jellyfish were literally everywhere in the water. It was worrying.'

He added: 'Lion's Mane jellyfish don't normally travel as far south as Cornwall but the cold winter has made the sea temperature drop and these jellyfish are most at home in cold water. They feed on plankton and there's a lot around at the moment too which has probably attracted them.'

Deadly: Lion's mane jellyfish can grow up to 8ft in diameter and their toxic sting can cause muscle paralysis, leading to suffocation and heart attack

Swarm: The invasion was spotted by a man looking for basking sharks in southern Cornwall who was surrounded by more than 200 of the jellyfish

But he sounded a warning to anyone heading to see the creatures.

'It was really spectacular to see so many jellyfish so close but we had to be careful to avoid getting stung by the tentacles,' he said. ' Swimmers really need to be careful because the Lion's Mane can give a potent sting.'

The tentacles of the Lion's Mane - one of the largest species of jellyfish - can reach up to 10ft long and are covered in stinging cells which can cause blisters and severe muscular cramp, which can affect the respiratory system and heart function. The sting itself is not fatal.

Ruth Williams, of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, also warned swimmers to take care.

She said: 'It's unusual to get them in such massive swarms in Cornwall.

'They are one of the more dangerous jellyfish and their tentacles are incredibly long.

'They can give a nasty sting. I would warn swimmers to stay well clear of their trailing tentacles.'

A spokesman for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution said they were aware of the danger and advised beach users to be careful.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1286652/Invading-coastlines-swarms-jellyfish-paralyse-swimmers.html#ixzz0rC4wB4Rt

The computer program that warns drivers one hour before a traffic jam appears

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Last updated at 4:45 PM on 15th June 2010

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Computer giant IBM is developing new software that can predict whether a traffic jam is about to form an hour ahead.

The system will give drivers the chance to change their planned route up to an hour before they become snarled up in heavy traffic.

Using so-called predictive modeling, the software uses a combination of real-time data from road sensors and cameras with historical traffic information and weather forecasts.

Every six weeks it checks back through the data to tweak its model to make it as accurate as possible.

Christmas travel chaos as thousands are caught up in jams on the M6. The new software will warn drivers so they can change their route

The information will be sent to drivers’ sat-nav systems and to electronic roadside signs. Voice recommendations would be sent to a driver’s mobile phone

It will be able to balance traffic across routes so that one road does not automatically become clogged as a result of its warning.

It will even be able to customise its messages so that only a quarter of drivers will be given the warning and so balancing the traffic load across a number of different routes.

In the US, IBM is working with mobile phone companies to let them track how many phones are on a given stretch of motorway to make its model of how busy the road is even more nuanced.

The identity of the individual phones would not be discloses, the report in the Scientific American magazine claimed.

Earlier this year it was revealed that phantom traffic jams - queues of stationary cars that develop for no apparent reason - can be caused by the actions of just one driver.

Dr Eddie Wilson, from the University of Bristol, unveiled research showing that, under the right conditions, one individual's bad driving can create 'a traffic tsunami which can affect traffic up to 50 miles away'.

Working with a team of fellow mathematicians, Dr Wilson analysed driver behaviour on a 10-mile stretch of the M42, which is one of Britain's busiest stretches of motorways.

While accidents did cause tailbacks, the researchers found that the major cause of congestion was nothing more sinister than sharp braking, unnecessary lane changes and lorries overtaking one another.

Under the right conditions, any one of these innocuous events can create the 'perfect storm' which Dr Wilson said can lead to 'traffic chaos'.

During pilot tests in Singapore, IBM’s system forecasts were correct 85 to 93 percent of the time. Similar tests were also successful in the US and the firm has signed contracts with two U.S. transport authorities to roll it out in full.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1286825/The-program-warns-drivers-hour-traffic-jam-appears.html#ixzz0rC51e2d9

Electric cars won't save the planet

Electric cars won't save the planet (they use too much power)

By SEAN POULTER, CONSUMER AFFAIRS EDITOR

Last updated at 9:31 AM on 17th June 2010

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The technology used for electric car batteries is so backward they will die after just two years, experts have warned.

The cars will also be extremely expensive to run and cover far less distance on one battery charge than previously claimed, they say.

David Cameron recently confirmed the Government would go ahead with a £20million grant to help Nissan build electric cars in the North East.

Dark future: Electric cars may not be a viable proposition for consumers

As part of the drive to replace petrol and diesel-powered cars, a Government incentive scheme also offers those who buy electric vehicles a £5,000 rebate.

There are also plans to spend millions on building a network of charging points in London and other cities.

More...

MICHAEL HANLON: Electric Cars - it gets worse

However, research by the Institution of Engineering and Technology suggests claims about the performance of electric vehicles are 'pure fantasy'.

A team at the institution's magazine, E&T, found the batteries are likely to burn out within two years, requiring expensive replacements. And it says the batteries, which use the same lithium-ion technology as mobile phones, are unlikely to be able to run for more than 100 miles between charges.

Experts at E&T said the gap in performance between conventional cars and electric vehicles is so huge that consumers will not want to convert to electric.

They pointed out a standard model Ford Focus or Volkswagen Golf is capable of travelling more than 360miles on one tank of fuel, easily maintaining 70mph.

Enlarge

For an electric car to offer a similar level of performance, the batteries alone would weigh 1.5 tons.

They would be larger than an entire conventional car and cost approximately £100,000, experts warned. The cars themselves will cost around £30,000.

'Manufacturers' range calculations are based on running a complete-cycle from full battery to empty,' the E&T experts said.

'Yet, they already know that to have any hope of getting a reasonable life from lithium-ion batteries they should not be run from full to empty but should be kept between 20 and 80 per cent of their charge.'

Peter Miller, of automotive consultants Ricardo, said: 'To get a vehicle that behaves the same way as a petrol or diesel model is not viable for the foreseeable future.'

Nissan claims its Leaf electric car, which will have a range of 47-138 miles, can be recharged to more than 80 per cent of its capacity in just 30 minutes at charging stations.

Nissan seems likely to get around the problem on battery burn out by leasing them to customers, so they don't need to go to the expense of buying them outright.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1287173/Electric-cars-wont-save-planet-use-power.html#ixzz0rC5ealS3

money can buy happiness

You've heard many times that money can't buy happiness. That probably never stopped you from shopping. But a new study suggests you might want to spend more on doing things and less on stuff.

Buying life experiences rather than material possessions leads to greater happiness for both the consumer and those around them, researchers announced today at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.

A meal out or tickets to the theater result in increased well-being because they satisfy higher order needs, specifically the need for social connectedness and vitality — a feeling of being alive, the researchers say.

"These findings support an extension of basic need theory, where purchases that increase psychological need satisfaction will produce the greatest well-being," said Ryan Howell, assistant professor of psychology at San Francisco State University.

A survey in the journal Science in 2006 showed that income plays a rather insignificant role in day-to-day happiness. There are situations where cash helps, however, including for those who become sick or disabled, another study found; for them, money matters. Another study found giving money away can bring some measure of glee.

Participants in the new study were asked to write reflections and answer questions about their recent purchases. Participants indicated that experiential purchases represented money better spent and greater happiness for both themselves and others. The results also indicate that experiences produce more happiness regardless of the amount spent or the income of the consumer.

Experiences also lead to longer-term satisfaction.

"Purchased experiences provide memory capital," Howell said. "We don't tend to get bored of happy memories like we do with a material object."

Howell notes that several studies going back at least 35 years show that money does not make people happy. Yet the belief persists that it will.

"Maybe this belief has held because money is making some people happy some of the time, at least when they spend it on life experiences," Howell said.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Vietnam Tet traffic deaths soar

Officials in Vietnam say more than two-hundred people have so far been killed and nine hundred injured in road accidents during the week-long Tet holiday, marking the Lunar New Year.

Traffic police say most incidents occured in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city, and were caused by motorcyclists.

They say although the holiday produced a sharp drop in traffic, the amount ofdrunken driving more than compensated.

Correspondents say Vietnam has one of the worst road accident rates in the world; last year more than twenty people were killed every day.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

Thai surfers dodge traffic jams

Big traffic problems in Bangkok

By Geraldine Carroll in Bangkok

Jaraf Tosomphab is stuck in traffic again.

Jaraf, a 34-year old Thai businessman weaves his way through 20km of Bangkok's notorious traffic every day.

His Toyota inches along Sukhumvit Road, a district adored for shopping but despised for the stench of exhaust fumes.

Jaraf is one of millions of motorists in the Thai capital who share this daily ritual of road congestion, in which a two-mile journey downtown can take close to two hours at the peak of rush hour.

But thousands of frustrated motorists are now using the internet to solve their traffic headaches.

Government webmasters at the Office of the Commission for the Management of Land Traffic have created a website to allow motorists to monitor traffic in Bangkok.

Police will be able to see the entire road network so they can move cars from heavily congested areas to lightly congested areas

Padet Praditphet

Padet Praditphet, website manager at the Commission's Traffic and Transport Information Development Centre, says the website will benefit drivers and traffic police.

"The system was set up to give information for people to travel. And police will be able to see the entire road network so they can move cars from heavily congested areas to lightly congested areas."

Thailand is a country of car lovers and almost eight million vehicles clog the streets daily, coating the environment in black exhaust fumes.

The traffic problem is exacerbated by an archaic traffic management system in which traffic police manually operate traffic lights based on what they can see on the roads and with little coordination on a city-wide scale.

The website offers the latest news about road accidents and fires supplied by the traffic police and is updated by website compilers.

Parts of Bangkok are plagued by exhaust fumes

When the site is finished in the coming months, road maps will indicate the severity of traffic congestion with a simple colour scheme.

Red indicates heavy traffic, yellow means light traffic and green indicates flowing lanes.

"It's brand new for Thailand and very relevant but looking on the web using a search engine, there are some cities with some kind of traffic information, but it's not a standard feature. Los Angeles and some US cities have it but they are not necessarily interactive or real time," says Tony Waltham, IT expert and computer editor of the Bangkok Post newspaper.

Computer penetration in Thailand, a developing country, is very low with generous estimates counting one million computer users, which is less than one per cent of the population.

It's a good idea but I don't think it will be useful to the general public because most of them don't have a computer

Janthana Luengtragool

Compared to Singapore or the United States where computer penetration is more than 50%, it is questionable whether the new website is a practical solution to the huge traffic problem in the Thai capital.

Janthana Luengtragool echoes the sentiments of many Thai motorists who say monitoring traffic on the internet is a good idea, but searching the web for solutions is still foreign to most Thais.

"I've seen the new website. It's a good idea but I don't think it will be useful to the general public because most of them don't have a personal computer.

"I think even when it shows the road maps, it will not be perfect because on the internet there is limited space."

But IT experts insist that over time, Thais will realise the value of the internet.

	Traffic jam buster site
	4200 hits since opening 2 months ago
	Site to be linked to television and radio
	Information fed to web maps

"The technology can be applied everywhere and it is as relevant here as it would be in the West, it's just the level of access is not as high as it is in other countries.

"Therefore perhaps the perception is that it wouldn't be of interest, but once people have the access, they would find it just as compelling, just as interesting to check these things," says Tony Waltham.

More than 4200 hits have been recorded since the site opened two weeks ago. The site will soon include links to local television and radio for taxi and truck drivers. Bangkok's Area Traffic Control System will feed information automatically to the maps.

Problem endures

Experts say Thailand's new multimedia approach to traffic management will help bring Thai motorists into the internet age, but insist the archaic methods of the traffic police must also be improved.

"Applying technology to the traffic problem is a very interesting one and while it would be very interesting to have the real time information at our fingertips so to speak, the other side that should be looked at is the computerisation of the traffic through traffic lights and management which has been addressed over the years," says Tony Waltham.

"More than 20 years ago, there were traffic engineers looking into this, but I understand that it never really has gotten off the ground and that would be a big step forward.

"Currently the police at most intersections manually work the traffic lights and that's sort of based on what they see and the flow.

"But it's never coordinated and if that were coordinated on a city-wide scale, I think it would improve things a lot."

Internet penetration in Thailand will undoubtedly increase as more people gain access to home computers.

But in a country where owning a car is a symbol of luxury and status, it is unlikely Bangkok's traffic problem will disappear any time soon.

Skytrain to clear the Bangkok air

Wheelchair-bound users have tested the system

One of the world's most polluted cities has a new weapon in the war against congested streets with the opening of a $1.5bn transport system.

Bangkok's Skytrain - the city's first electric train service - began regular commercial service on Sunday.

The opening was timed to coincide with the 72nd birthday of the Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

We hope this will ease up some of the central portion of the city

Bhichit Rattakul

The Thai capital has long suffered some of the world's most appalling traffic jams.

The 23km (15 mile) Skytrain route - which is built on concrete pillars running above the city streets - is the first part of what city officials say will be a much bigger integrated transport system.

They say Skytrain will eventually be joined by an underground train line and a number of feeder routes.

'Moment of truth'

However, even before the system opens, critics have complained that the new station stops have been built without car parking facilities, and that ticket prices are double those of the bus network.

Trains run above the city streets

The operators have conducted extensive tests along the elevated track, anxious to ensure as smooth a start-up to the system as possible.

For Bangkok governor, Bhichit Rattakul, the moment of truth has arrived.

"We hope that after this route has been started, it will ease up some of the central portion of the city, where the heavily-congested traffic happens during the daytime," he said.

"We hope the people who drive their own cars and people who use taxis will be shifting towards this mass transit."

The Skytrain project has had a chequered history surviving environmental opposition and the fallout from the Asian economic crisis.

A row over the price of fares was only resolved at the last minute.

But it remains to be seen whether the speedy blue and white trains really will banish the mammoth traffic jams for which Bangkok is justly renowned.

Royal celebrations

The opening of the railway was one among many events that marked King Bhumibol's birthday.

Revered by his 62 million subjects, King Bhumibol has ruled for 53 years and is the world's longest-reigning monarch.

Thais regard the 72nd birthday as particularly important, since it marks the end of the sixth of the 12-year cycles into which a man's life is divided.

Celebrations over the past month included a procession of gilded barges down the polluted Chao Phraya River, and 572 skydivers setting a mass freefall record over Bangkok.

Flags were waved and temple bells rang to mark the birthday itself.

The 1,500 Thais serving in the East Timor peacekeeping force held a candlelight vigil to coincide with a similar event involving tens of thousands of people in Bangkok.

My English study

Thursday, June 24, 2010

No Politics Expected on Former King’s Vietnam Visit

No Politics Expected on Former King’s Vietnam Visit

Photo: AP

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Monday, June 21, 2010

Who Is this Jim Loy Person?

© Copyright 1997, Jim Loy

MM's Curriculum Vitae

EMPLOYMENT

18 people call over acrobat HIV scare

Sex, bribes in banknote deals

Invading our coastlines, swarms of jellyfish that can paralyse swimmers

The computer program that warns drivers one hour before a traffic jam appears

Electric cars won't save the planet

money can buy happiness

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Vietnam Tet traffic deaths soar

Thai surfers dodge traffic jams

Skytrain to clear the Bangkok air

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