rametindallas

So the USA, the biggest hypocrites on the planet, self appointed world policeman is at it again. I have said it before and I say it again. Who gives a fyling firetruck what the yanks say. Fix your own problems in your own country before telling everyone else what to do.

So you think the yanks should shut up on the issue. Fair enough. So which countries opinion do you think is worth something on this matter?

Thailand's.

They have the right to say who is allowed into their country. It is not the US's place to tell Thailand which immigrants to allow in. Why didn't the US fly them to America if they cared so much? The US if the 'Land of Immigrants'; not Thailand.

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The same old, tired response from old, tired reactionaries anytime the US makes a statement.

Here is a link describing Thailand's history of ratifying multiple International Human Rights treaties. That effectively makes Thailand accountable on the world stage, and it does not have absolute rights to determine the fate of refugees, assuming Thailand is complying with treaties they have signed. Multiple world organizations have condemmed the action, not only the US.

https://books.google.co.th/books?id=u_K3BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA173&lpg=PA173&dq=thailand+human+rights+ratify&source=bl&ots=M2Y2f5euVp&sig=PB8OM8AM8lH9IN5IWqkD9Fw8LxM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=eZSfVcWPBZChugSDkZYw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=thailand%20human%20rights%20ratify&f=false

it does not have absolute rights to determine the fate of refugees

Who said Thailand was determining the fate of those illegal immigrants? Those Uighurs' fates are determined by Karma, Thailand only had a little part to play in their fate. Thailand never invited them to 'escape' to Thailand. Hopefully the word will spread so that future illegal immigrants choose a more pliable country than Thailand to 'escape' to.

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So the USA, the biggest hypocrites on the planet, self appointed world policeman is at it again. I have said it before and I say it again. Who gives a fyling firetruck what the yanks say. Fix your own problems in your own country before telling everyone else what to do.

So you think the yanks should shut up on the issue. Fair enough. So which countries opinion do you think is worth something on this matter?

Thailand's.

They have the right to say who is allowed into their country. It is not the US's place to tell Thailand which immigrants to allow in. Why didn't the US fly them to America if they cared so much? The US if the 'Land of Immigrants'; not Thailand.

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So this is why so many farmers prefer to grow rice. It must be very difficult to steal rice from the paddy.

RFID chips are very cheap so place them among the ripe bananas and let the police catch them at regular traffic checkpoints.

As if the weather weren't enough hardship for the farmers.

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Fried banana chips are quite cheap and every now and again I get an especially crispy one.

What do you suggest the farmers track the stolen chipped bananas with, a tractor?

If you had bothered to read my post with comprehension, you would have noticed that I said police would be looking for active chips at regular traffic checkpoints. If your tractor comment was supposed to be funny, you failed; your chip joke was better but juvenile.

All the stores in Dallas have lightweight sensors at their exits, that sound an alarm if a RFID chip passes by that hasn't been deactivated, to stop shoplifting. They work from as far away as 10 meters. In problem areas, the police could set up a small detector in the middle of the road when they do their normal 'safety' stops and question/identify anyone with active chips in bananas. The chips are tiny so it would be difficult for thieves to find and remove them from stolen bananas. If the alarm goes off, someone has stolen bananas as the chips haven't been deactivated. No extra police work needed. I would hazard to guess that the banana thieves wouldn't even realize how they were caught so couldn't take precautions. The chips are versatile enough to inform which field or farm they come from so the stolen produce could be returned to the rightful owner.

Are you one of those people can who only see problems and, therefore, can't see solutions?

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You are quite right, I did not read it properly.

It was just too silly.

I was stopped on my way back recently, ooh,the police didn't scan the bananas in my truck, they also didn't check my licence, my tyres or anything actually, not even sure why they stopped me.

Dallas isn't in Thailand!

Dallas isn't in Thailand!

Dallas is as far from Thailand as one can get; both geographically and culturally.

Again, if you had read my post with a modicum of comprehension, you would have noted two things: First, it was a suggestion, and Second, I wrote the the police could do it; not that they would or take anyone's advise.

Since you haven't any ideas for a solution, you pick apart other's suggestions. Are you the nit-picker type? It is always easier to criticize than to create.

I'm bored with you on this thread so I probably won't respond...

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There is a fairly large wholesale market on Chakkrawat Road near National Bridge. Foreign buyers go there to secure regular shipments. There are several departments in every government that promote export products/produce. Are you one of those people who see only problems which prevents them from seeing answers?

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No, but when i mentioned this to the wife who owns over 200 rai of land her answer was ,''so who would buy the produce'' if the marketing mechanism is unknown to the farmer no one is going to change crops. I mentioned your post to her,she doesn't know about the wholesale market nor does she know about the government departments, perhaps the state should start there,making market opportunities known first before simply saying ''change crops'' these farmers know rice, they have been planting and selling it all their lives they know their customers. they are unaware of the world outside of rice.

Was she answering 'off the hip' or had she investigated by contacting her local government's agricultural agent, etc., and came to a dead end?

Is her answer, "I don't know how to grow anything but rice so I will go bankrupt waiting for a miracle"? If, because of the prolonged drought, you can't grow rice, do you just go out of the farming business or do you try to grow something less water intensive? Farming is not rocket science and ignorance is highly curable. Even Dr. Thaksin, when he was in office, installed a program for rice farmers in the dry NE to transition away from rice.

I'm hoping that dual-track fast freight/passenger service reaches the NE soon because that will bring industry and alternatives to farming. That region has terrible farming weather.

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Nobody here knows where a 'local government agricultural agent' could be found, there isn't much trust in local government or in government at all here, authorities are best avoided is the motto, probably due to negative experience. As for Thaksin's program,well doesn't seem to have worked, in my area around Surin all i see is rice fields and a few belated attempts at rubber tree growing. We haven't planted anything for two years now since we have't been paid for the 2013 harvest yet. In 2014 we rented out the fields for cash, not very much, this year nobody wants to rent, the amount of fields used for agriculture has been voluntarily reduced. I was thinking of fish breeding and found a government office near Surin doing experimental work with fish breeding, they were there to offer advice, large extensive grounds with fish ponds and tanks and 5 people working in the office, we were given some small pamphlets to look at and sent on our way, no advice, no discussion. I tried my hand at it but it was a waste of time and money ( told you so, said the wife ) so i am careful now about suggesting anything new. Wait for industry and sell the land, farming is a mugs game.

I, myself, was thinking of starting a mushroom farm south of Hua Hin where it doesn't rain much. If you dig the buildings into the ground, line the inside walls with cinder blocks, put curved, corrugated steel roofs on them, and use the dirt you dug out to cover the roof (earth berm construction), the growing room would stay relatively cool and dark; you could use liter-bottles for skylights. According to many articles I've read (loads of videos on You Tube; the INTERNET has more information than any agricultural agent, anyway) on mushroom farming, you can use rice husks as growing media (in Louisiana we used composted horse manure and straw from the local horse farm stalls; it was free). You need several buildings as every so often you need to take one out of production, sterilize the growing media, and start again. You could do that one building at a time in rotation. Mushrooms are easy to grow, easy to harvest, and use little water; especially when they aren't exposed to evaporation in the open air. There is a ready market with so many restaurants using mushrooms and there a large variety to choose from. Because they are grown in enclosed buildings, it is easier to guard them against thieves. If you have the right number of buildings, you can send in a delivery to Bangkok, or other big city, two, four, or seven times a week.

In the US, tomatoes have the highest profit margin for area under cultivation but since tomatoes don't like direct sunlight in the afternoon, you would need lath houses that block the direct sun in the afternoon. Lath houses are cheap to build. You would also have to invest in a good fence to cut down on theft. I hope you find a way to make the land pay. I grew up on a farm and my dad changed crops/livestock several times. It's a good life when it works though you will never get rich on a small farm like we had (80 acres/200 Rai); it did support our family of eight and put three of us through university.

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So this is why so many farmers prefer to grow rice. It must be very difficult to steal rice from the paddy.

RFID chips are very cheap so place them among the ripe bananas and let the police catch them at regular traffic checkpoints.

As if the weather weren't enough hardship for the farmers.

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Fried banana chips are quite cheap and every now and again I get an especially crispy one.

What do you suggest the farmers track the stolen chipped bananas with, a tractor?

If you had bothered to read my post with comprehension, you would have noticed that I said police would be looking for active chips at regular traffic checkpoints. If your tractor comment was supposed to be funny, you failed; your chip joke was better but juvenile.

All the stores in Dallas have lightweight sensors at their exits, that sound an alarm if a RFID chip passes by that hasn't been deactivated, to stop shoplifting. They work from as far away as 10 meters. In problem areas, the police could set up a small detector in the middle of the road when they do their normal 'safety' stops and question/identify anyone with active chips in bananas. The chips are tiny so it would be difficult for thieves to find and remove them from stolen bananas. If the alarm goes off, someone has stolen bananas as the chips haven't been deactivated. No extra police work needed. I would hazard to guess that the banana thieves wouldn't even realize how they were caught so couldn't take precautions. The chips are versatile enough to inform which field or farm they come from so the stolen produce could be returned to the rightful owner.

Are you one of those people can who only see problems and, therefore, can't see solutions?

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"Gold is money, everything else is credit"- J.P. Morgan 1912 to Congress.

"The problem with socialism is that, eventually, you run out of other people's money" - Margaret Thatcher

“A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship.” - Alexander Tyler in 1887, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, said about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior

The sooner the Greeks default and leave the Euro, the sooner everyone can lick their wounds and begin the recovery process. - me.

The IMF is on record as stating that there is no way the Greeks can pay their creditors; why prolong everyone's agony? Is someone making money, behind the scenes, to drag this process out?

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BANGKOK, 9 July 2015 (NNT)-Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattawarangkoon says foreign tourists should always be taken into account when developing a tourism plan.

Talk about stating the bleeding obvious!

The Tourism and Sports Minister said during a trip to Chiang Mai that the tourism sector needed to find a way to encourage foreign visitors to stay in the country longer.

They used to have tourists that stayed longer, i.e. Europeans. It's the current policy that's at fault, i.e. attracting Asians, especially Chinese, who don't have the same vacation mentality as Westerners.

Vendors need to adopt new approaches that will help them sell more goods to tourists. They are also encouraged to study more closely what tourists like to buy, especially the Chinese as they make up the largest number of foreign visitors.

The tour buses seem to know exactly what the Chinese tourists want to buy!

Other foreigners coming to Thailand each year include Japanese, the French and Americans. Manufacturers are urged to focus on applying traditional knowledge to design products that attract more buyers.

The first paragraph states that tourist requirements should be taken into account but here we are, back to what it's really all about."How much money can we screw out of the tourists".

"How much money can we screw out of the tourists"

You mean like this: No Snack for You! Rome Threatens €500 Fine for Street Eaters http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/10/8/115825/285/travel/No+Snack+for+You!+Rome+Threatens+%80500+Fine+for+Street+Eaters

I thought maximizing profits gouging was what it's all about in every tourist area in the world.

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There is a fairly large wholesale market on Chakkrawat Road near National Bridge. Foreign buyers go there to secure regular shipments. There are several departments in every government that promote export products/produce. Are you one of those people who see only problems which prevents them from seeing answers?

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No, but when i mentioned this to the wife who owns over 200 rai of land her answer was ,''so who would buy the produce'' if the marketing mechanism is unknown to the farmer no one is going to change crops. I mentioned your post to her,she doesn't know about the wholesale market nor does she know about the government departments, perhaps the state should start there,making market opportunities known first before simply saying ''change crops'' these farmers know rice, they have been planting and selling it all their lives they know their customers. they are unaware of the world outside of rice.

Was she answering 'off the hip' or had she investigated by contacting her local government's agricultural agent, etc., and came to a dead end?

Is her answer, "I don't know how to grow anything but rice so I will go bankrupt waiting for a miracle"? If, because of the prolonged drought, you can't grow rice, do you just go out of the farming business or do you try to grow something less water intensive? Farming is not rocket science and ignorance is highly curable. Even Dr. Thaksin, when he was in office, installed a program for rice farmers in the dry NE to transition away from rice.

I'm hoping that dual-track fast freight/passenger service reaches the NE soon because that will bring industry and alternatives to farming. That region has terrible farming weather.

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Can anyone comment if the Baht is weakening against currencies other than the US Dollar?

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You need to learn about http://www.xe.com/, but if you believe in Ron Paul the information probably won't save you.

For an 'acharn' you seem unusually thick. I also quoted Vladimir Lenin; it doesn't mean 'I believe in him' or 'expect him to save me'. Are you named like some Thai people? Big, fat people and nick-named 'Lek' and skinny people are nick-named 'Ooan'; you are unusually thick so they call you 'Acharn'. But thanks for the information, 'Acharn'. 555

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Thailand Baht Sinks to Six-Year Low on Outflows Amid China Rout http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-08/thailand-s-baht-sinks-to-six-year-low-on-outflows-china-concern?cmpid=yhoo

China is Thailand's second largest export market, after the US, and China's Stock Market fell 42% in the last month. That's going to sting. Investors are also nervous about the possible exit of Greece from the Euro.

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Oh really? What does the US buy from Thailand?

Thai Rice? You gotta be kidding me.. Aren't enough rice eaters to fill the state of rhode island.

Nikon Cameras? Maybe that's it but the sales of DSLR's are plummeting as smartphones are easier to carry and offer nearly same image qualities.

OK. YOU argue with Blookberg News. It's only one of the top economic/news publications in the US. Do you shout at the television when they report something you disagree with? Sheesh!

You probably didn't even open the link. Argumentative, much?

You know, people who are determined to stay ignorant are called 'stupid'.

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Trouble is Ramatin. that when somebody in this Country has an idea and starts to make money from it then everybody jumps onto the band wagon, and copies it. Growing herbs for medcines is a good idea but if everyone started it then there would be a glut and prices would plummet. Rubber, sugar and cassava are examples of this.

I was thinking that there is more diversity in the types of herbs, medicinal and food, than all the food crops combined. There will always be herbs that no one, or very few others, is/are growing. Lots and lots of niche markets as opposed to the mono-culture of rice, rubber, cassava, etc..

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so who is the customer buying in bulk ? No good growing something without the marketing maybe Prayut will see to that.....or not

There is a fairly large wholesale market on Chakkrawat Road near National Bridge. Foreign buyers go there to secure regular shipments. There are several departments in every government that promote export products/produce. Are you one of those people who see only problems which prevents them from seeing answers?

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Trouble is Ramatin. that when somebody in this Country has an idea and starts to make money from it then everybody jumps onto the band wagon, and copies it. Growing herbs for medcines is a good idea but if everyone started it then there would be a glut and prices would plummet. Rubber, sugar and cassava are examples of this.

I was thinking that there is more diversity in the types of herbs, medicinal and food, than all the food crops combined. There will always be herbs that no one, or very few others, is/are growing. Lots and lots of niche markets as opposed to the mono-culture of rice, rubber, cassava, etc..

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So this is why so many farmers prefer to grow rice. It must be very difficult to steal rice from the paddy.

RFID chips are very cheap so place them among the ripe bananas and let the police catch them at regular traffic checkpoints.

As if the weather weren't enough hardship for the farmers.

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The Thai government is now bending over for China just as they did for the US when they were bombing Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. They sent nationals of those respective countries back to their country of origin to uncertain futures and possible death, splitting inter racial families in the process. Now the Uighur are made to suffer for Thailand's 'interests'. Disgusting country with neither principle nor soul.

Name one country that does have 'principle or soul'.

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The only way to prevent drug-resistant strains of TB from developing is to ensure that patients take every last pill of their regimen and not, as typical, stop when they 'feel better'.

The only way to ensure the TB patients take every last pill of their regimen to to house them, for that period, until they have completed their course of treatment under medical supervision.

When the cost of retroactively treating someone who has become drug resistant costs a million Baht or more, it seems it would be a lot cheaper/better to quarantine all TB patients to be sure they take all their meds and to keep them from infecting others. This is what they did in the US when there were epidemics of TB. It worked.

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Thailand Baht Sinks to Six-Year Low on Outflows Amid China Rout http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-08/thailand-s-baht-sinks-to-six-year-low-on-outflows-china-concern?cmpid=yhoo

China is Thailand's second largest export market, after the US, and China's Stock Market fell 42% in the last month. That's going to sting. Investors are also nervous about the possible exit of Greece from the Euro.

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Thick as s&%t, "Why are we still foolishly growing something that yields small profit?" Because people have to eat! and if you did not grow it then you would have no rice for export or to feed the domestic population.

"They said these subsidences resulted from a base failure fuelled by four factors: the soft soil condition; the sharp drop of water level during the drought season or massive water pumping out of the canal; the heavy traffic pressing weight onto the road; and the steeper canal ridges due to water erosion or canal dredging" They conveniently forgot the root cause of this one - piss poor road construction in the first place!

The government is sitting on several years' supply of rice. The rains will surely come back in abundance in plenty of time for new rice to be harvested before government stockpiles are even half sold. How ridiculous of you to say Thailand is in any danger of running out of rice/something to eat!.

"Why are we still foolishly growing something that yields small profit?

You never did address PM Prayut's question of 'why they are attempting to grow rice when, because of the drought, it is impossible to grow rice and so little profit in it if they could?'. Until the water is available to grow rice, the PM is suggesting the farmers grow something that is possible and more profitable. You seem to have a problem with rice farmers growing something other than rice rice; even if they can't. Do you want them to go broke waiting for enough rain to grow rice? That may not be until the El Nino fades sometime in the middle of 2016.

As for shoddy construction of the roads, were they falling apart at this rate before the drought? No. Haven't you noticed all the roads that are falling apart are next to irrigation canals that, when full, push against the banks with water pressure? Now there is no water pressure holding the banks, the land is affected by gravity. Shoddy construction is the norm but it is not the root cause of this outbreak of highway failure. Point fingers, much?

So, Lenny, I hate to have to spell it out for you but I think you're the one "thick as s&%t."

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You've missed the point completely, if the water supplies were adequately managed then there would be no need for this knee jerk reaction.

"The rains will surely come" or "might not be until the middle of 2016" makes little difference if and when it comes if it is not managed properly.

As for your comment on the roads, how ridiculous is that... Dont you think that by running roads next to canals that some extra engineering should have been carried out initially to avoid collapse in the event that the rains "might not be until the middle of 2016" as you suggest, the roads should have been engineered for worst case scenario - not "they will be okay as long as there is water in the canal" ! Of course shoddy construction is the root cause, the lack of water is only a contributing factor which could have been engineered to overcome at the outset.

I wont stoop to your level and comment about what i think of you.

I wont stoop to your level and comment about what i think of you

You must think more highly of me than you do the PM, then, as your first words were to call him thick as s&% t. I'm protective of the PM because I think he is changing Thailand to be a better place for everyone.

Did you really think that back when that road was constructed that the road builders would plan for the worst drought in thirty years? This is Thailand; they don't plan for tomorrow. The just do today what they did yesterday. They should have built the highway farther away from the canal but that would cost more (land acquisition) and anger landowners along the route; some of them possibly influential. They would rather build the kind of road they always build and try not to ruffle too many feathers. Have you any idea how much extra everything would cost if engineered to 'worst case scenario'? It is much cheaper to repair the damage than than to build it for conditions that may never arise. The government doesn't need to be wasting taxpayer's money building to 'worst case scenario'. Just my opinion.

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Can anyone comment if the Baht is weakening against currencies other than the US Dollar?

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I can, but I will not .. since you posted this .. obviously, your internet connection is sound, and your computer works.

Who ARE you slack arse lazies who can not goggle your own information?

Signed "Ain't your bitch"

touche'

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The BP website reports the PM supposedly told ' ignorant ' farmers to diversify into crops such as herbs that could cure male impotency.

Apart from his own supposed ' ignorant ' language i can't see much of a market for these crops here, imagine the average Thai macho man, complete with gun, admitting he's impotent.

I wouldn't call the farmers. who try to grow rice in a drought when they've been repeatedly warned that there is not irrigation water for them, ignorant. I would call them dumb-asses. Ignorance would imply they hadn't been (repeatedly) warned. Som num na.

Ask your older Thai male friends if they are familiar with 'black ginger' for male potency (many pharmacies carry it and it usually comes in a solution of whiskey in a bottle) two shots does the trick. Many Thai men have multiple wives, GFs, etc. and need all he help they can get because they want to prove their manhood to them all. Remember the secretly recorded conversation in Hong Kong between Thaksin and Yingluck's Deputy Defense Minister, Yuthasak? The first thing Thaksin asked him was, 'Can you still get it up?' and Yuthasak's reply was he used a bacteria grown on the back of a caterpillar and had no problems in that department. I have an acquaintance, a Police Colonel, who has a resort on the Little Kwai River and he grows flowers that are exported to fancy hotels around the world. When he was giving me a tour of his operations, he showed me six different herbs for male potency and two for women's fertility.

Thailand has a rich and diverse heritage of traditional medicine. Every rural hospitals in the NE that I have visited has a traditional medicine department that uses only 'natural' drugs. People in the US are more and more coming to realize that herbal treatments may take a little longer to work but they have fewer side-effects; potency herbs are only a small part of the market. Western countries will be Thailand's market. Herbs are definitely a growing industry and Thailand is well situated to take advantage of it. Bt. 800 for a kilo of unprocessed mucuna pruriens is good money for little work. Processed into a usable medicine it is worth a whole lot more. Rice, even if you could grow it, doesn't leave much profit.

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Can anyone comment if the Baht is weakening against currencies other than the US Dollar?

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been floating around 25 baht for AUD

I only follow Dollars. Is that up or down?

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As for shoddy construction of the roads, were they falling apart at this rate before the drought? No. Haven't you noticed all the roads that are falling apart are next to irrigation canals that, when full, push against the banks with water pressure? Now there is no water pressure holding the banks, the land is affected by gravity. Shoddy construction is the norm but it is not the root cause of this outbreak of highway failure. Point fingers, much?

You are right about the level of water in the canals, but not about the result. The problem is the drying of the soil, not pressure against it.

The soil is clay. Clay is expansive in that it shrinks when dry and expands when wet. A lot. That's why we see big cracks in the ground when it's dry.

If the soil shrinks it pulls back, pulling cracks into the road just as it does on regular ground. That is deep soil allowing a lot of shrinking.

It is shoddy construction for the area. Some of that soil must be removed and the rest disturbed and then compacted when at only about 10% optimum moisture. Then a geotextile barrier fabric must be put onto the soil and covered with crushed rock. The rock is rolled which partly crushes it causing it all to lock together and form the equivalent of a "rock snowshoe".

Drainage must be engineered in so that moisture levels aren't so extreme. Now the proper road base and road can sit there and float on the base forever without breaking. The whole thing is locked together and protected from excess moisture.

This isn't done in Thailand even if the budget for the road called for it, ahem.

Cheers

TYP.jpg

In my early twenties I used to build houses in rural SE Louisiana. The soil is spongy and will not support much weight; it turns to mud when it rains. The highways in that part of Louisiana are worse than the wavy highways in Thailand. When we build a house, first we have to build a road with about a meter thick layer of red clay, that, after a few rains, packs into solid mass that actually floats on the soft soil beneath it. We can then bring in heavy dump truck loads of more red clay for the foundation of the house. This take weeks to do properly. I don't know what the clay is like in the areas where the roads are falling apart but packed red clay is amazing in its ability to adhere to itself and to 'float' on top of soft soil beneath. Highways in SE Louisiana don't use crushed rocks (we don't have any in SE Louisiana) in their construction; it would just sink into the spongy soil below, but they do cut large drainage ditches on either side to keep the water away. Dry soil is more supportive than wet soil.

I've seen 'cracked' earth, from drying out, in the clay soils of Texas and Oklahoma and it is not so drastic as the photo in the OP. Also, from what I have read, these huge collapses are only happening near canals whereas the drought is everywhere. Notice, in the photo in the OP, how the guard rail has migrated towards the canal and the cracks are only where there was a heavy load on the highway and only go in one direction, parallel to the canal. All the slides are towards the empty canal. Are roads that are not near canals collapsing too?

Since there are no cracks any distance away from the highway, I'm guessing that they built the highway too close to the canal. Of course, I'm no engineer, I just play one on TVF.

p.s. I notice in the phot you posted that the geotextile is laid over what looks like red clay and not rotting black soil.

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Can anyone comment if the Baht is weakening against currencies other than the US Dollar?

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"The procurements were carried out between 2012 and 2014,"

He said the DSI had found that specifications had been laid down in a way that looked set to block out domestic manufacturers.

"The equipment procured was finally overpriced, about four to five times higher than the original price declared by the importing supplier," Pong-in said.

He said evidence suggested that some firms were hired to tender bids, only for price comparisons.

This looks like corruption to me. This happened when PM Yingluck was taking care of the 'little people'. Wasn't the Yingluck Thaksin administration always going on about being for the people and and how they were corruption fighters? Now we know that smile of hers was because she was playing everyone who believed in her for fools.

Yingluck stop corruption.jpg

But as you very well know, this issue is endemic and is no better or worse regardless of the politics. It will continue to tear away at the fabric of Thai society and ultimately destroy the economy....it's well on the way to doing that now.

If the General is serious, let's see some action about corporate corruption in addition to these civil servants, chickenfeed by comparison with the big boys

I see you don't want to address the OP, either. You'd rather discuss the corruption endemic in the system. I don't blame you as your primary responsibility is to take sides against PM Prayut's reforms and, if not defend, not condemn Thaksin or Yingluck too strongly.

The PM has already put the Civil Service on notice. None of this corruption can happen without the aiding and abetting of the Civil Service. Some high-level Civil Servants have seen, first hand, the power of Article 44 when they were abruptly removed from their lucrative posts. What corporate corruption are your referring to that isn't directly tied to participating in Government corruption?

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As always someone /\ thinks corruption started and stopped with the taksins, truly ridiculous.

corruption started and stopped with the taksins

Who said that but you? Go ahead and knock that Straw Man down; it's easy. Here, I'll even knock it down for you. Corruption in Thailand did NOT start and stop with the Shinawatras. There, happy now?

The OP is about a specific corrupt activity that took place during the totally honest, non-corrupt Yingluck Thaksin administration. Since you are clearly an apologist for all things Thaksin, I'm not surprised you want to deflect from the truth using your Straw Man argument. Of course you can't comment on the corruption referred to in the OP as there was only Yingluck's Thaksin's appointed people in charge of that department. My only question is did they send a 'tribute' to Lord Valdemort na Dubai.

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"The procurements were carried out between 2012 and 2014,"

He said the DSI had found that specifications had been laid down in a way that looked set to block out domestic manufacturers.

"The equipment procured was finally overpriced, about four to five times higher than the original price declared by the importing supplier," Pong-in said.
He said evidence suggested that some firms were hired to tender bids, only for price comparisons.

This looks like corruption to me. This happened when PM Yingluck was taking care of the 'little people'. Wasn't the Yingluck Thaksin administration always going on about being for the people and and how they were corruption fighters? Now we know that smile of hers was because she was playing everyone who believed in her for fools.