Hurricane Maria

There is evidence of human habitation in Thailand that has been dated at 40,000 years before the present, with stone artifacts dated to this period at Tham Lod Rockshelter in Mae Hong Son. Similar to other regions in Southeast Asia, Thailand was heavily influenced by the culture and religions of India, starting with the Kingdom of Funan around the 1st century CE to the Khmer Empire. Thailand, in its earliest days, was under the rule of the Khmer Empire which had strong Hindu roots and the influence among Thais remains even today. Indian influence on Thai culture was partly the result of direct contact with Indian settlers, but mainly it was brought about indirectly via the indianized kingdoms of Dvaravati, Srivijaya, and Cambodia. E.A. Voretzsch believes that Buddhism must have been flowing into Siam from India in the time of the Indian Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire and far on into the first millennium after Christ. Later, Thailand was influenced by the south Indian Pallava dynasty and the north Indian Gupta Empire. After the fall of the Khmer Empire in the 13th century various states thrived there, established by the various Tai peoples, Mons, Khmers, Chams, and Ethnic Malays, as seen through the numerous archaeological sites and artefacts that are scattered throughout the Siamese landscape however prior to the 12th century the first Thai or Siamese state is traditionally considered to be the Buddhist Sukhothai Kingdom, which was founded in 1238. The Kingdom of Ayutthaya's expansion centred along the Menam while in the northern valleys the Lanna Kingdom and other small Tai city states ruled the area. In 1431, the Khmer abandoned Angkor after Ayutthaya forces invaded the city. Thailand retained a tradition of trade with its neighbouring states, from China to India, Persia, and Arab lands. Ayutthaya became one of the most vibrant trading centres in Asia. European traders arrived in the early 16th century beginning with the envoy of Portuguese duke Afonso de Albuquerque in 1511, followed by the Dutch and the English. The Burmese-Siamese War left Ayutthaya burned and sacked by King Hsinbyushin Konbaung. After the fall of Ayutthaya to the Burmese in 1767 Taksin moved the capital to Thonburi for approximately 15 years. The current Rattanakosin era of Thai history began in 1782 following the establishment of Bangkok as capital of the Chakri dynasty under King Rama I the Great. Thailand is the only Southeast Asian nation to never have been colonized despite European pressure. This has been ascribed to the long succession of able rulers in the past four centuries who exploited the rivalry and tension between the French and British Empire. In 1896, Britain and France guaranteed of the Chao Phraya valley, not the whole of Siam, as their buffer state, while the remaining parts of Southeast Asia were colonized by the western powers. Western influence nevertheless led to many reforms in the 19th century and major concessions, most notably the loss of a large territory on the east side of the Mekong to the French and the step-by-step absorption by Britain of the Shan and Karen people areas and Malay Peninsula. As part of the concessions which the Chakri dynasty offered to the British Empire in return for their support, Siam ceded 4 predominantly ethnic-Malay southern provinces to the British Empire in the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909. These provinces, Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, and Perlis, would later became Malaysia's 4 northern states. In 1917, Siam joined the Allies of World War I and is counted as one of the victors of World War I. The bloodless revolution took place in 1932 by the Khana Ratsadon group of military and civilian officials resulted in a transition of power when King Prajadhipok was forced to grant the people of Siam their first constitution, thereby ending centuries of absolute monarchy. In 1939, the name of the kingdom was changed from Siam to Thailand. During World War II the Empire of Japan demanded the right to move troops across Thailand to the Malayan frontier. The Japanese invasion on 8th December 1941 occurred in co-ordination with attacks throughout Asia and engaged the Royal Thai Army for 6 to 8 hours before Plaek Phibunsongkhram ordered a armistice. Shortly thereafter, Japan was granted free passage, and on 21st December 1941 Thailand and Japan signed a military alliance with a secret protocol wherein Tokyo agreed to help Thailand regain territories lost to the British. Subsequently, Thailand declared war on the United States and the United Kingdom on 25th January 1942 and undertook to "assist" Japan in its war against the Allies while at the same time maintaining a active anti-Japanese Free Thai Movement. Approximately 200,000 Asian labourers and 60,000 Allied prisoners of war worked on the Burma Railway, which is commonly known as the Death Railway. The history of Thailand from 1932 to 1973 was dominated by military dictatorships which were in power for much of the period. The main personalities of the period were the dictator Luang Phibunsongkhram, who allied the country with Japan during the Second World War, and the civilian politician Pridi Phanomyong, who founded Thammasat University and was briefly the prime minister after the war. Thailand helped the United States and South Vietnam in the Vietnam War between 1965 and 1971. The USAF based F-4 Phantom fighters at Udon and Ubon Air Base, and stationed B-52s at U-Tapao. Thai forces also saw heavy action in the covert war in Laos that occurred from 1964 to 1972. In 1973, there was a popular uprising which resulted in the end of the ruling military dictatorship of anti-communist Thanom Kittikachorn and altered the Thai political system. Notably, it highlighted the growing influence of Thai university students in politics. For most of the 1980s, Thailand was ruled by prime minister Prem Tinsulanonda, a democratically-inclined strongman who restored parliamentary politics. Thereafter, the country remained a democracy apart from a brief period of military rule from 1991 to 1992. Prior to 1932, the Kingdom of Siam did not possess a legislature as all legislative powers were vested in the person of the monarch. This had been the case since the foundation of the Sukhothai Kingdom in the 12th century as the king was seen as a Dharmaraja. On 24th June 1932, a group of civilians and military officers, calling themselves the Khana Ratsadon, or People's Party, carried out a bloodless revolution in which the 150 years of absolute rule of the Chakri Dynasty ended. In its stead the group advocated a constitutional form of monarchy. King Vajiralongkorn is the current monarch and is reigning since the death of Bhumibol Adulyadej on 13th October 2016. In actuality, he has only exercised the role of monarch since 1st December. The constitution stipulates that although the sovereignty of the state is vested in the people, the king will exercise such powers through the three branches of the Thai government. Under the constitution the king is given very little power, but remains a figurehead and symbol of the Thai nation. As the head of state, he is given some powers and has a role to play in the workings of government. According to the constitution, the king is head of the armed forces. He is required to be Buddhist as well as the defender of all Thai faiths in the country. The king also retained some traditional powers such as the power to appoint his heirs and the royal assent. The king is aided in his duties by the Privy Council of Thailand. 78 years after Siam changed its name to Thailand, Reagan Farmer uploaded Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, Bromsgrove and Six Flags Over Texas on 6 November to get his career as a YouTuber going again. He also uploaded the Six Flags Over Georgia version of Goliath on 22nd December and 5 days later uploaded Saint Helena Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, which caused Manchester City Football Club to change its name. As well as the future of the Genesis G70 to be decided after the Singapore Grand Prix Reagan announced that he will be uploading Hurricane Maria on 1st January 2018. This version is a strong tropical cyclone which struck Dominica as a Category 5 hurricane, Puerto Rico as a Category 4 hurricane, and is currently threatening North Carolina and parts of the Mid-Atlantic United States. It is also the tenth-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record, and the worst to strike Puerto Rico since 1928. Maria caused catastrophic damage during its journey across the Northeastern Caribbean. It was the third major hurricane in a row to threaten the Leeward Islands with a direct strike or major impacts after Hurricane Irma. The Leader of the Opposition usually asks six questions at Prime Minister's Questions either as a whole block or in 2 separate groups of 3. If the first question is asked by a government backbencher, the Leader of the Opposition is the second MP to ask questions. If the first question is asked by an opposition MP, this will be followed by a question from a government MP and then by the questions from the Leader of the Opposition. The leader of the third largest parliamentary party would then ask two questions. The first formal question on the Order Paper, posed by simply saying "Number one, Mr. Speaker," is usually to ask the Prime Minister if s-slash-he will list his-slash-her engagements for the day. The Prime Minister usually replies: "This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall have further such meetings later today." The Prime Minister sometimes extends condolences or offers congratulations after significant events before listing the day's engagements. During the Iraq War, Tony Blair introduced the practice of naming any British military personnel who had been killed in service since the last time he addressed the House. The practice has been continued by Blair's successors as prime minister. After this, the MP may ask a supplementary question about any subject which might occupy the Prime Minister's time. Most MPs table the same engagements question and so any other MPs who have tabled the same question are simply called to ask an untabled question meaning that the Prime Minister will not know what it will be. Gordon Brown suspended the House of Commons until half past 12 as a mark of respect following the unexpected death of Opposition leader David Cameron's son on 25th February 2009. Prime Minister's Questions was also suspended after the sudden death of the leader of the Labour Party, John Smith, in 1994. Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee in 2012 marked 60 years on the throne and celebrations were held throughout her realms and the wider Commonwealth. In a message released on Accession Day, Elizabeth wrote that "In this special year as I dedicate myself anew to your service I hope that we will all be reminded of the power of togetherness and the convening strength of family, friendship, and good neighbourliness. I hope also that this Jubilee year will be a time to give thanks for the great advances that have been made since 1952 and to look forward to the future with clear head and warm heart." She and her husband undertook an extensive tour of the United Kingdom while her children and grandchildren embarked on royal tours of other Commonwealth states on her behalf. On 4th June, Jubilee beacons were lit around the world. In November, the Queen and her husband celebrated their sapphire wedding anniversary. On 18th December, she became the first British sovereign to attend a peacetime Cabinet meeting since George III in 1781. The Queen surpassed Queen Victoria to become the longest-lived British monarch in December 2007 and the longest-reigning British monarch 8 years later. She was celebrated in Canada as the longest-reigning sovereign in Canada's modern era. She is also the longest-reigning queen regnant in history, and the world's oldest reigning monarch. She became the longest-serving current head of state following the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej on 13th October 2016. On 6th February 2017, she became the first British monarch to commemorate a Sapphire Jubilee. Prince Philip retired from his official duties as the Queen's consort in August 2017. The Queen herself does not intend to abdicate although she celebrated her 91st birthday that year. Elizabeth has held many titles and honorary military positions throughout the Commonwealth, is Sovereign of many orders in her own countries and has received honours and awards from around the world. In each of her realms she has a distinct title that follows a similar formula: Queen of Jamaica and her other realms and territories in Jamaica, Queen of Australia and her other realms and territories in Australia, etc. The Channel Islands and Isle of Man are Crown dependencies rather than separate realms and the Queen is known as Duke of Normandy and Lord of Mann, respectively. Additional styles include Defender of the Faith and Duke of Lancaster. When in conversation with the Queen the practice is to initially address her as Your Majesty and thereafter as Ma'am. From 21st April 1944 until her accession, Elizabeth's arms consisted of a lozenge bearing the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom differenced with a label of three points argent, the centre point bearing a Tudor rose and the first and third a cross of St. George. Upon her accession she inherited the various arms that her father held as sovereign. The Queen also possesses royal standards and personal flags for use in the United Kingdom. When Reagan uploaded The Riddler Revenge on 1st January 2017 after uploading Land's End at the end of the previous year, he subsequently discovered that the Zamperla Giant Discovery ride at Six Flags Over Texas was trying to trick him into thinking that there will be a Wonder Woman Lasso of Truth at the end of the year. The Riddler Revenge started off the year with a musical composition that was tuned to his liking after Southern said "Uh-oh!" and Tim Barker from So You Think You'd Survive told its riders to "Buckle up" because "You are on one of the planet's natural thrill rides," which was the tradition throughout the course of the year. Although Barker was taken over by Andrew Morgado in Millennium Force both would share duties of telling various videos that are uploaded by Reagan to "buckle up" and "strap yourself in and glue your fingers to the harness," although at the beginning of September Little Mix made their unofficial debut in Comet with Morgado providing narrator duties ahead of the former's official debut in 2018, which had been known as a busy year. The debut of Little Mix in Comet meant that Reagan's YouTube channel now had Ariana Grande providing vocals on Problem while Little Mix provided the job of saying "Hi" and "Bye" to various videos that are based on different things. One such example was Antigua and Barbuda, where Little Mix makes a appearance after a ambulance carrying Johnny Carter to a hospital overturns when a fuel tanker smashes into it and Emma Jenkins fires the country and tells its flag that "As of today you are no longer a employee of this organization!", which causes Little Mix to say "Hi!" to the country. Michael Angelis makes a appearance and says that "one night there was a terrible storm" in the capital of St. John's which is a reference to Hurricane Irma who destroyed 95% of Barbuda's infrastructure. Sigala plays a 14.47 second sample of Came Here for Love after Angelis makes the Irma reference. Following Antigua and Barbuda, at 14:49, was Reagan's 267th video, Twisted Timbers. This version was the Virginia equivalent of Steel Vengeance from 31st August, and became the second roller coaster after Storm Chaser from New Year's Day with a barrel-roll drop. Hurricane Maria was involved in a number of controversies in September regarding its release date of New Year's Day 2018. The first came on 18th September when Dominica was hit by winds of 180 mph compared to 185 for Irma, and the extreme winds blew the roofs off many houses including the official residence of Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, who required rescue when his home began to flood. The situation on Dominica remained unclear for at least a day after the hurricane's passage as downed cellular and internet services effectually cut the island off from the outside world. Initial radio reports from the capital city the following day indicated "total devastation," with half the city flooded, cars stranded, and residential areas flattened. Neighborhoods were littered with structural debris as rows of houses along the entirety of the coastline were rendered uninhabitable. According to initial estimates, the hurricane caused damage to 90% of structures on Dominica, including to the roofs of those that had served as shelters. It devastated the island's primary hospital, compromising the safety of its patients. The population suffered from a island-wide water shortage because of uprooted pipes in Maria's wake. While watching a episode of Dave Gorman Modern Life is Goodish on Dave Gorman attempted to argue that Maria was threatening Dominica at the time and it was allegedly reported that he was trying to prevent Maria from hitting Dominica's capital city of Roseau. This fact was proved in another episode of the show on 25th September which was inspired by the Kideko song Dum Dum, in which computer game adverts and the Mastermind theme music were the subjects of Maria's release. Reagan also tuned into Movies4Men on Channel 48, which was showing a disaster film about a tornado. The Gordon Yang directed film Metal Tornado starred Lou Diamond Phillips as Michael Edwards and showed the Eiffel Tower in Paris being destroyed by what turned out to be a magnetic storm that sucks up all metal in its path; Gorman felt that the film was trying to trick Reagan into thinking that it will feature him narrating the film's events and that he was arguing that modern life is neither bad or good, but "goodish." Prior to the showing of Metal Tornado Reagan was travelling to McDonald's with Stephen and Thomas Farmer on 23rd September when they were diverted to the Alphega Pharmacy on Kennington Road to collect some medication for Kerry Farmer. While Reagan was waiting for Stephen, Capital FM, with Will Cozens at the helm, fired up Dum Dum by Kideko. This version was similar to the instrumental except with Tinie Tempah and Becky G on the vocals, and Reagan was so fascinated by the song that he danced to the instrumental which became the official song of 2018. The song was so popular that it became the official theme song of the final Malaysian Grand Prix which was held on 1st October at the Sepang International Circuit in Selangor. The race marked the 36th running of the Malaysian Grand Prix and the 19th time that the race has been run as a World Championship event since Formula One racing's inception in 1950. This version was also the last scheduled Malaysian Grand Prix which was inspired by the song that kept Reagan dancing; Toro Rosso driver Pierre Gasly was also in talks with Kideko about whether he will be included after the race, which was after both Ferraris crashed in Singapore. A major change for Reagan took place on 13th January when the Lincoln LS made its debut as a mid-size luxury sedan that was manufactured by the division of Ford Motor Company. This version was delayed when a spokesman told the press that the ensuing cheers shall not begin until the LS had debuted on 13th January 2017, over claims that a member of staff at the Helen Allison Hub told a student to sit down after allegedly leaving the classroom, which resulted in the Škoda Kodiaq being delayed. The LS was not initially a radical shift for Lincoln after the company debuted with the Continental Mark VII the previous day. As the days went by, it soon became clear that Lincoln wouldn't cope under the pressure of the new Continental which was due to be uploaded in August and topple the LS off the top. The Continental made its debut on 12th August at 11:19 after Lincoln's 212-day absence. This version takes its design from Bosnia and Herzegovina and features Duke Dumont & Gorgon City, the DJ duo who made their debut in El Salvador after Imani Williams made her debut in Uganda when the Geely Boyue was dropped. Unlike Uganda, the Continental features a narrator telling the car to "Fasten your seatbelts for a bumpy ride" because "there's turbulence ahead," which results in Southern saying "Uh oh!" Noddy made a appearance in Kyrgyzstan 5 days earlier despite claims that he had already made his last appearance in the last video of 2016. Land's End succeeded "As The Sun Goes Down" as one of the videos that were given the opportunity to shine. It was originally to feature Jonas Blue playing a sample of Perfect Strangers with JP Cooper but the idea was dropped because of concerns over a ringtone sample of the former's new song being so popular that it made its debut in Aldershot Town and then went on to make a second appearance in Shettleston the previous month. Jim Yosef took over from Blue and played a 29.67 second sample of Firefly in the video in question after Thomas the Tank Engine told him that "There's a big storm coming! The picnic will be washed away!" Reagan began his dominance the following year with The Riddler Revenge, the Avtoros Shaman, Zonga, Six Flags Over Georgia, Finland, Millennium Force, the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, the Land Rover Discovery, the Ford Ka+, Alexandria, the Volkswagen Atlas, the Chevrolet Cruze Station Wagon, the Burj Khalifa, the Lexus LC, Brisbane, Storm Chaser, The Voyage, Crystal Palace, the Rolls-Royce Dawn, the Volkswagen Golf, the Senova D50, the Ford GT, the Seven Mile Bridge and the Nissan Sunny. By uploading all of them, he set a record for the most videos uploaded on New Year's Day with 24. The following day, he uploaded Taipei 101 to give him a single video. This was followed by ITV 3 HD on 6th January which was the first video to hit 100 views. The following day, Alfa Romeo became a shooting star in the sky with the Giulia, the Milan-based car company having debuted with the Stelvio on New Year's Day which was at the top of the table for a short time before the Giulia came along 6 days later. This meant that Alfa Romeo became the first ever car company to have a saloon and a SUV occupying the top 2 places. The Giulia's view count of 183 meant that it wasn't knocked off the top spot for 146 days. Then, on 2nd June, Luton-based car company Vauxhall took the spotlight with the Grandland X which was the second SUV from the company after the Crossland X debuted on 12th March. The Grandland X knocked the Giulia off the top spot when it made its debut and another big impact on the Giulia came in September when Thailand overhauled the car's view count with 220 views. This saw the former Alfa Romeo #1 drop down 3 places to #4 and being overhauled by the Toyota Urban Cruiser, the Dacia Duster, the Austin Victoria, ITV 3 HD, the Chevrolet Cruze Station Wagon, the Rolls-Royce Ghost Black Badge, the Range Rover Velar, the Rolls-Royce Wraith Black Badge, the Aston Martin Vulcan, the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, the Avtoros Shaman, the Bentley Bentayga, Switzerland and the Rolls-Royce Dawn Black Badge. The Grandland X was also the first ever Vauxhall model to hit 1000 views after a boost in watch time on 21st September that helped the SUV to become the #1 and knock the Giulia off the top spot with 1,404 views, which had helped the car when it made its debut. The success of the Grandland X was inspired by Reagan's plans for 2018, in which he added newcomer South Western Railway in a Facebook post along with a picture of YouTuber Ryan Rose in a comment, which was due to his concerns about Forza Motorsport 7. The game was officially announced on 11th June 2017 at Microsoft's press conference during E3 2017. The Porsche 911 GT2 RS was revealed alongside the game as part of a 6-year licensing deal between Microsoft and Porsche. A fictional street circuit in Dubai is one of the new circuits and several tracks returning from Forza Motorsport 4 including Maple Valley Raceway. 2 features that are new to the Motorsport title include dynamic weather which was previously seen in Forza Horizon titles and customisable drivers. The game will not feature any Toyota production road cars because of licencing issues and only the company's race cars will be featured. The Drive, talking about the news, said, "Turn 10 released a list of 77 Japanese cars last week that'll be included in this fall's Forza Motorsport 7. That list was suspiciously and notably free of any Toyota products, save for a Hilux A. T. 38 Arctic Truck. In our original report, we thought that this was merely a case of 'But that's not all' and that the Toyotas present in Forza 7 would be revealed at a later date; that turned out to be a case of wishful thinking. In a blog post by Turn 10 Community Manager Brian Ekberg he confirmed that the only Toyotas available in the upcoming Xbox racer will be of the racing variety. No Supras. No Celicas. No 86s. No MR2s; no fun. He said that 'many of you noticed that Toyota was not included in the list. As you know, Forza Motorsport 7 will feature more than 700 cars at launch and our team is constantly working to license the vehicles that fans want to play. Unfortunately, it isn’t always possible to align the interests of fans and the interests of our manufacturing partners and as a result production Toyota vehicles will not feature for Forza 7. We're as disappointed as you are about this news and while we hope to bring Toyota production vehicles back to Forza games in the future, it is worth noting that a small number of Toyota race cars will be included in the game.' Whether or not Lexus will be dropped as well is unclear at this time. Considering the brand wasn't on last week's list either I wouldn't get my hopes up. A major manufacturer mysteriously bowing out of a Forza game is not unprecedented as Volkswagen was conspicuously missing from last year's Forza Horizon 3 for reasons that have still yet to, and will likely never be, publicized. Thankfully, VW is literally back in the game this time around. While 'Yota's absence from Microsoft's marquee racing game this year is a shame, our sorrows will be drowned in the plethora of Ferraris, Lambos, and Porsches that this game has on offer. I guess you can't have everything."