Good afternoon,

The train strike seems to be coming to an end, insofar as it is ever possible to tell what is going on in Southern Thailand – nothing seems to have been done to improve safety – the most recent derailment was blamed (as ever) on the driver who subsequently claimed to have somehow ‘passed out’ and allowed the train to go where it should not have gone and failing to explain the absence of the ‘dead man’s brake.’ Apparently, according to union leader Wirun Sakaekum, “Armed police take control of locomotives arriving at Hat Yai station, he said, suggesting that it may tarnish the image of Thailand’s train services.”

The strike has provided opportunities for fools and charlatans to have their say – there has been a lot of nonsense about privatization, for example, as if there were a stream of would-be investors who imagine they can make a profit out of Thailand’s railway system and the poor people who have to use it,

The number of deaths attributed to H1N1 (swine flu) influenza in the Land of Smiles has risen by two to 176, according to the Ministry of Public Health. Vaccines are again delayed because of some ‘technical reasons’ and the first batch of imported vaccines are due in December (they are, apparently, about to start vaccinating in the UK today).

My article Tragedies of Shakespeare: King Lear has been published at Bookstove (Macbeth is due up next).

Back – well, off to Singo tonight and tomorrow is a holiday anyway (it is King Rama V Chulalongkorn Day) and, because the Sunday flight was 7,000 baht more than usual, I am coming back on Monday at lunchtime. I may have opportunity to post in the afternoon thereafter or else it will be Tuesday.

Leicester? Schmeicester.