Government Leans On Central Bank To Cut Rates

The Bank of Thailand (BoT) should reduce its policy interest rate to ease the pressure of foreign capital inflows on the movement of the baht, the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) said on Wednesday.

In his capacity as Finance Ministry spokesman, FPO advisor Somchai Sajjapong spokesman said he agreed with the central bank's move to end capital controls because it could boost investment.

However, he said the bank should also consider cutting the key short-term repurchase rate as well as easing pressure for the baht to appreciate as a result of foreign capital influx.

The spokesman said the interest rate cut would help stimulate investment. [via Bangkok Post]

 

 

Sierra Tangos

•  A casino in Pattaya will transform the local economy. Pattaya City News view of what a casino will do to the area.

 

• Thai court orders Bangkok night bazaar closed. A Thai court has ordered shop owners at Bangkok's Suan Lum Night Bazaar to pack up and leave one of the city's most popular tourist spots. The Crown Property Bureau, which owns the land on which the sprawling market of 3,000 shops, restaurants and a Thai puppet theatre sits, said yesterday a court issued an order on Feb. 13 for tenants to leave within 30 days. [via Reuters]

      
• No contact between PM, Thaksin and Gen Prem [via Bangkok Post]

 

• You can find a new website for 'newbies' at Pattaya Newbie

 

• BBC 1 are showing a documentary/expose tonight at 10.35pm on Pattaya and sex tourism. The name of programme is a bit of a surprise - The City Of Sex

 

•  The Nations English language Daily Xpress launches on the Internet

 

• Things - ‘Getting Things Done’ simplified [Mac Only]

There are many Getting-Things-Done (GTD) apps for the Mac. Some, like Midnight Inbox and iGTD are just too complicated for everyday use and require too much planning for GTD-beginners. Others, like Actiontastic are very multi-functional, but most of us just want something that simply works. This is where Things steps in and it’s my favourite.

‘Things’ is essentially a straight-to-the-point task manager. You won’t need to compile all of your information, emails, images, PDFs, etc in preparation for this application. Basically, all you need to do is: recall your To-Do’s and start entering them in. Like most GTD apps, new entries automatically go into the Inbox. After you’ve emptied your brain of your daily, weekly and monthly chores, you may begin start to sort them out according to priority, and this is where Things shines.

Priority of your To-Do’s is divided by their due dates, which makes it much simpler than colour-coding tasks or assigning importance from 1-10. If your task needs to be completed today, just click and drag it into ‘Today’s Focus’. Tasks which you need to complete after the more important ones are done go into ‘Next Focus’. And tasks which you might want to do, but are just too lazy, go into the ‘Someday’.

For every To-Do, you can assign tags, notes and due dates (which I think is just all you need to get something done). Once a task is done, just add a check to its box, and by the next day, it will automatically be transferred to ‘Completed’.Another feature of ‘Things’ is the ability to organize tasks by Projects.

A Project is a group of tasks required to produce a result. So inputs like:

• Buy a diary
• Buy a pen
• Start writing my thoughts
• Repeat daily

may be collectively added into a ‘Writing a Journal’ Project.

Besides Projects, there is a broader collection of tasks called ‘Areas’. Let me explain. Let’s say after writing a journal, I’d like to publish it. So, the Project ‘Writing a Journal’ and the task ‘Go to the printers’ may be added to an Area called ‘My Autobiography’. This category is generally for larger, long-term accomplishments.

Currently, ‘Things’ is available as a free preview until Spring 2008. You may download it from CulturedCode’s website. And oh, it’s Mac only. [via MakeUseOf]

Ed. This is for William B.B. who sent me an impassioned e-mail requesting tech tips for Macs on Pattaya Rag. Hope this goes some way to putting meat between his bread. 

 

• Kruptos 2.0: Your one-click encryption solution - Kruptos 2.0 allows you to encrypt your sensitive files with 256 bit file encryption for storage or for transfer on a portable device.
  Encryption? Isn't that just for the government types and the hackers with their Alienware laptops?
  Maybe it used to be, but Kruptos 2.0 might just change that: its ease of use and simple effectiveness might have us all encrypting photos of our dogs as if they were top-secret images.
  Kruptos 2.0 has two main encryption features: you can encrypt the file as it stands, though that means you'll need Kruptos again if you ever want to unencrypt it; or, you can create a self-extracting file that contains your encrypted files and the software necessary to decompress the contents.
  This second feature is very handy. You can transfer your files in a secure, encrypted manner, and unlock them on any computer, Kruptos or not. All that's needed is your password.
  Kruptos integrates well with Windows Explorer, offering its main functionality from the right-click menu.
  Kruptos is free, and requires the Microsoft .Net framework. It is compatible with Windows XP and 2000, but has yet to be tested on Vista. [via Download Squad]

 

 

• Amii Grove, Emma frain, Krystle Gohel Front magazine April 2008

 

 

•  Playboy Babe Shelley Russel

    

 

• An elderly couple was attending church services, about halfway through she leans over and says to her husband, " I just let out a silent fart what do you think I should do?" He replies "Put a new battery in your hearing aid."

        

• Thai Hairdressers

 

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