The number of fish swimming past the escalator each minute could be modeled as a random variable with a Poisson distribution.

Can someone please explain this joke to someone not versed in statistics?

Siméon Denis Poisson was a French mathematician.

Poisson is French for "fish".

Bah! Should've seen that. Nice!

that's tremendous and i applaud you

Looks more like harvesting rather than relocating the fish.

Technically they are being relocated, probably several times.

Seems like an immense waste of money for a country that would have no problem doing a big fish fry for the community.

Glory to great leader Gen. Prayuth, savior of the fish!

I wonder if the fish actually ended up helping with the mosquito population?

Yes they would. Tilapia fries would definitely eat mosquito larvae in the water. There were likely smaller species like guppies that would totally keep the mosquitos in check.

They can and do. "Mosquito fish" are a frequent mosquito abatement measure.

Put them in _any_ standing water. Old tires are a notorious mosquito breeding ground: small, hard to individually find, hold water, don't degrade.

Something I always wondered whenever I saw pictures of that mall is why was it abandoned. I've turned to google multiple times but there doesn't seem to be anything about it.

It is stated in the linked article:

"Located in the city's Banglamphu district, Thailand's Supreme Court ordered a partial demolition of the shopping center in 1997 when judges determined that seven of the 11 floors were built illegally"

There have been other large retail collapses in Asia[1] so it is good to see this happen.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampoong_Department_Store_colla...

What part of it exactly makes it illegal? Is it some missing permits or code violations that make it unsafe that would be cost prohibitive to correct?

I would guess not built to code, or perhaps missing things like fire escapes.

Probably sub standard building material or technique, given that it was ordered to be demolished instead of retrofitted.

I Googled and found in 5 seconds:

http://mikeestravels.com/2014/03/09/urban-exploring-bangkok-...

Fair enough. It was posted less then a year ago.

4th paragraph: "Located in the city's Banglamphu district, Thailand's Supreme Court ordered a partial demolition of the shopping center in 1997 when judges determined that seven of the 11 floors were built illegally."

But there were 4 legal floors, which is apparently what is there now. Why were those floors abandoned?

If most of the floors were illegal to the point that the entire structure was ordered to be demolished, it sounds like they must have been fairly dangerous. Would you really want to shop in a building where 60% of the floors are potentially structurally unsound?

Might have lost too much money from building and demolishing 11 levels?

It's incredible to see the escalation of global mall closings in recent years. There is a huge opportunity hidden therein. Thanks for the ::goodnews.

How were they able to keep the water inside the mall?

I am only guessing, but I think it is implied in the article: With the rainy weather common to southeast Asia and an open roof, the mall just became a basin of water, fantastic for breeding mosquitos. Unable to remove the water (or prevent water from entering), enterprising locals stocked the basin with fish to eat the mosquitos.