truethailand

what a much better than average leader the PM is

we r so blessed to have him

I say get the murders of the 90 innocent people found and tried so that my family stop asking me why our government are hiding the truth.

Are your family educated ?

I have just read your first 2 posts on this thread and then saw your name.... say no more Be careful at xmas there is a big demand for turkeys

Abhisit is already on the run, he can not appear in public, you will never see him out on the streets again. To stay alive Abhisit has to be lucky everyday, the people waiting for revenge only have to be lucky one day. Same goes for all the perpetrators of crimes against the nation.

Is that a treat or a promise?

I dont make threats. If you knew anything about civil unrest across the globe 'has to be lucky everyday, the people waiting for revenge only have to be lucky one day' is my version of a statement made by the IRA. I dont wish death on anybody especially a young man with a family but my post is supported by his lack of public appearances, and the others, since May 19. Heres another quote ' this is not the beginning of the end, this is only the end of the beginning'' and the present government know this is true thats why all the main players, on both sides, are living in fear of revenge.

GOOD

Maybe the truth will come out and the government shown for what they are

Abhisit will be the next fugitive

You red shirts are getting more desperate. Next you will be claiming that you had no weapons and no one received money and every one there paid a per die-um for there food.

You had some good things to say at the outset the problem being they were not the reason you were there. You wanted to cause trouble and you succeeded. Don't take your victory as a excuse to be stupid unless that is your natural state and in that sorry case carry on.

You Yellow shirts lol!

Sure go ahead and shoot the protesters who are carrying weapons but how many of those killed had weapons?

Answer = 0

Abhisit is already on the run, he can not appear in public, you will never see him out on the streets again. To stay alive Abhisit has to be lucky everyday, the people waiting for revenge only have to be lucky one day. Same goes for all the perpetrators of crimes against the nation.

But there must be something more to the conflict when the poor happen to be led by the richest man in the country, he said.

He should have said "the richest Thai man outside the country", and add that this man fled to escape numerous corruption charges and is now wanted for terrorism.

He should have at least mentioned corruption to add to his argument that it's not just a simple "class war".

Where do you get this crap ' richest man in the country' check the forbes list and see who is the richest man in thailand, and all his wealth cannot be declared. The richest man in this country has more wealth than the next nineteen put together. Work that out and you will see thailands problem. Too many government workers trying to sway the opinion of simple farangs. We are not that simple. We do not believe thai tv. We can think for ourselves

NEWS from Phuket Gazette

American confesses to murder of Phuket bar hostess

At least six top-ranking Region 8 police officers were present for the arrest, which followed the issuance of a court warrant earlier the same day.

The Gazette has as yet been unable to independently confirm that the suspect also goes by the name of Ronald "MadYank" Fanelli and is a poker player with a blogsite containing several posts about his life in Phuket.

However, posters who expressed shock at the arrest on one online discussion forum dedicated to poker have confirmed that the man pictured was a regular contributor who went by the user name "NewTeaBag".

Mr Fanelli told police upon his arrest that he carried out the murder while under work-related stress.

After the murder, at his home in Wichit Village 1, he rented the new home in Karon, police said.

More details about the arrest are expected at a police press conference scheduled for 10am tomorrow.

link here http://www.phuketgaz...ail.asp?id=8966

Why is it that when somebody gets arrested the big boys moved their butts from the golf course to be photographed doing some work. Saw it in Khon Kaen last week, must have been at least 50 bobbies surrounded some land where two fugitives were hiding( stolen gold, car chase). Helicopter with spotters flying low to seperate the trees with the air from the rotor blades, coppers in bullet proof vests and arm with rifles. I am standing about 80 meters from the action with a crowd of people and a fortuner, with chaffeur pulls up behind us. The passenger appears to be a big copper who stands near the car, I see the fugitives being nicked and then the big boy goes over to join in (he was waiting near me for 5 mins and in contact with nobody). The coppers did a great job considering the possibility the fugitives were armed but the big boy waited until the game was up. Not unusual until next day I saw a photo of the big cheese escorting the villians into the police station yet the little boys did the dangerous work. Pinching the limelight

Quality children starts with responsible parents.

How many chidren are being abandoned into the care of grandparents or other relatives, and how many husbands walk out of their pregnant wives?

Arjan is spending too much time with his books and computer and lacking fieldwork.

If there was not an unwritten law that decrees the poor people of the north will be the migrant workers of Thailand the parents of these children would be home everynight with their kids. Build the <deleted> factories where the labour force is and not only on the land of the chosen few. How much actually gets exported from Rayong etc. Through the North there is EWEC and if governments take their foot of the development of this road it will allow industry to come North. Give the incentives for the foreign businesses to open shop up North. Silly me I thought I was back in the west for a moment, ignore this post only dreaming

Cambodians are very peaceful and wise because they (the ultra nationalists) make their small stuff in Phnom Penh.

The Thais are crazy because they (the ultra nationalists, Yellow Shirts) make their provocation at the border TO CREATE A WAR.

Cambodian police should prevent incident to arise. Thai army obviously helps, sometimes, the Yellow to CREATE A WAR.

Cambodia does not have the military capacity to fight a war against any of their neighbours; and their military are too busy enriching themselves to bother.

Much the same could be said about their Thai counterparts. Though the Thai military on paper is much stronger than the Cambodians, I am unaware of ANY successful campaign carried out by Thais in the last century. What makes you think that they want to spoil their perfect record?

Why do either country need a military? Could it be to stuff their own pockets and over throw a voted in government on a regular basis?

And in the last quote here you have the story in a nutshell..... only 170,000,000 to spend this budget... some cluster bombs will be a good deterrent for them oiks up North.. those chappies that sold us them bomb detectors might have a few in stock

Cambodians are very peaceful and wise because they (the ultra nationalists) make their small stuff in Phnom Penh.

The Thais are crazy because they (the ultra nationalists, Yellow Shirts) make their provocation at the border TO CREATE A WAR.

Cambodian police should prevent incident to arise. Thai army obviously helps, sometimes, the Yellow to CREATE A WAR.

Cambodia does not have the military capacity to fight a war against any of their neighbours; and their military are too busy enriching themselves to bother.

Much the same could be said about their Thai counterparts. Though the Thai military on paper is much stronger than the Cambodians, I am unaware of ANY successful campaign carried out by Thais in the last century. What makes you think that they want to spoil their perfect record?

Good post

The defending army will always have more motivation / strength than the invader. In the present case, the invader is Thailand. Every time Thai tried to take some Cambodian territory during the past 2 years they had casualties.

I'm not sure the Thai population is ready to have dead soldiers for a land that, anyway, they'll have to give back to Cambodian due to international laws (unless they want to be a rogue country).

Thai army is tops..... as long as the enemy is not shooting back aka May 19 2010

The problems started prior to 2005.

So, the premise is false.

I started noticing serious problems right about the time Thaksin was elected.

Things changed after that, and not for the better.

Agreed.

The situation started going south back in 2001 when the judiciary neglected their responsibilities in a democracy and cleared Thaksin of his obvious guilt on what amounted to the flimsiest of evidence. Until that time, there was a movement going on that people should be held more accountable. A good decision at that critical moment in history could have proven to all Thai people that nobody is above the law, independent of how popular or rich they might be. Sadly, that wasn't the lesson learned.

The peak occurred right then and there. After that point, it was obvious to some that the old ways could return if they attached themselves to Thaksin's coat tails, and he was riding high on popularity at the time. The gloves came off. Rule of law again started increasingly taking a back seat to corruption, and the fledgling attempt at people's democracy was destroyed.

It took several years of a continuously deteriorating situation for a coup finally to try and sort out this mess, but the damage was already done. The only way forward now is to remove the instigator completely from the scene and from the public psyche and try and reset the system. That is proving extremely difficult.

I don't know if it will even be possible until the main protagonists die. Another attempt could be decades away. Too bad for Thailand. It still has hope, but not in the near term.

Do you really believe that takky is the reason for Thailands problems..he is just part of it. Just my prediction ....There will be a catalyst that will see the army divide into at least 2 camps. Those that could not be trusted to remove red shirts and those that could murder red shirts and the fight that will ensue will make everything previous look like your daughters tea party. The outcome is hard to predict bcos on one side you will have the army conscripts(mainly)led by Seh Daeng friends amongst others, and the people and on the other you will have the army regulars(led by the real leaders of this country, about 25 army generals).

I just wrote the above bcos I am peed off about people talking about things getting better and reconcilliation..it aint happening folks. This government is now battoning down the hatches awaiting the impending catalyst. Armys that stage coups are only doing it to prevent democracy and retain their power(wealth).

I wonder what will happen at the end of next year when there is still no reconciliation?

Will Abhisit find some way to not have an election because there is still work to be done

or if any party wins except that backed by the army, will there be another coup?

I dont believe there will an election, I believe that elections will be called but will never take place because the army will find reason to stage a coup. Democrats cannot win an open election and they know it and they cannot allow the reds in. Letting the reds in and then using the courts and the military to remove them would just be a tad too much for decent people. The reds will not need to buy votes, pictures of dead protesters will ensure their votes. Reconcilliation - not coming to a place near you soon. Nobody wants it. It would be nice if it happened but the army need to concede ground and the reds have to forget revenge... wont happen

Very sad yet predictable. I read an article in the Post sometime back about the adverse effect that thai tv has on the behaviour of the nation and this tragic event is one of them. The academic who wrote the article stressed how in the absence of the parents( usually working away and grand parents asleep) that the tv was the biggest educator/role model for young children. What we see in thai tv is mirrored in everyday life. Take your pick from violence, unable to communicate always shoutings, upper class characters referring to their maids has lower class, shootings and my favourite the digustingly white faces of the leads actors.

Then when the adverts come on we are bombarded with whitening creams and beauty products, at which point the tv gets turned over to watch more soaps. Have you ever been watching thai soaps and they keep flicking over the channels at adverts but dont return to the original programme when the adverts are finished. They may return 10 mins later and just pick up the storyline like they never left it. The reason they can do this is because every soap on every channel on every day is near enough the same storyline. Handsome (white skinned) hero, beautiful (white skinned) leading lady, evil (white skinned junky) mother, A katoey (white skinned), a midget ( skin colour optional), a gang of thugs with machetes (always brown skinned) and a Tom (usually white skinned) who none of the other cast realise that she is a tom.

The storylines include dying people in hospital who always make miraculous recoveries in time for next weeks show, vendettas, men attacking women etc. We should not discuss the acting skills of these characters because there are none. It reminds me of old time vauderville, where the actors had to over emphasise facial expressions so the people at the back of the auditorium could see. In short its mind numbing <deleted>.

Coming from a country who have a 'watershed' time of 9pm for certain programmes supplemented by parental guidance i now understand , after being here 7 years, how dangerous the goggle box is. In thailand the tv is the biggest cause for a disfunctioning society. There is no choice what to watch, the shows sponsors dictate the storylines which means they are all the same. Give a young child ubc and he will end up watching programmes like 'Animal Planet' and english speaking cartoons. Wheen a child on channels 3 5 7 9 11 and this will inevitably go in some way to determine his future behaviour.

The tv should be used to inform and educate the masses not dumb them down. My two young children are not allowed to watch any of the thai channels until such a time that they are able to decide for them selves what is right and wrong. It is obvious that the people cannot in general decipher what should be taken light heartedly and what tv should be believed. It is the governments responsibility to protect its citizens, so do the country a favour and turn this crap off.....

And who are you Mr. Sherman. What are your credentials ? Did the Nation or the Thailand Government pay you well for your rebuttal ?

Thank you for your opinion piece, but it only supports the government and does not help any any type of national reconciliation. You are being used or willing being used. The government propaganda fight to ward off any blame at all in Thailand's problem is well served by you.

I for one would believe CNN and BBC and rather than Mr Sherman AND THE NATION, but I am a long visitor to Thailand to I do not need any of the propaganda to help me make my own decisions. I see it with my own eyes everyday.

You seem to ignore the fact that the above piece mentions a lot of vital information that was simply IGNORED by the mainstream press; forget about who's site you think you're own, this is just simply what happened...

Unlike the writer of the above piece, you immediately take a stand and feel the need to express you're political views. Why the need for this? Just discuss the topic at hand; nobody cares about your political views. The writer didn't seem to express any view favorable to either side; he just criticizes the reporting done by CNN and BCC, and I think he's right in doing so (and many others who have been criticizing the mainstream media).

Don't try to turn every topic relating to the protests in another thread about annoying farang Expats who feel the need to vent their views.

Would the reporter now like to write a piece about the coverage provided by the state run media in Thailand. What a disgrace and insult to Thai people

I had some sympathy for the redshirts before the hatred, violence and firestorm that they initiated in Bangkok. However, they have proved that the Prime Minister is right. Many of the leaders are acting like terrorists.

They need to stop the threats and do things legally and peacefully. After Bangkok, the government is justified in whatever measures it takes to stop them from ruining the country. They are cutting their own throats with their recalcitrance.

Follow the money. Stop the flow of the money for payment to these peoples you will have a result to stop these nonsense vioplant protests. I am not against protest, but the result of past two month showed these people are not foe anything except to disrupt the life of bkk people even though no real benefit by their actions.

So keep a permanent emergency act in place till they run of money.

They need to wait for election to show their influence if any left after all acts of violence that came from them

When we talk about stopping payments. Who was funding the yellow shirts for months. Lets expand the debate

Abhisit, the best way to gauge Thai public opinion is to hold an election.

Have the election then let the winning party/parties hold any reconciliation plan discussions. Elections nowhere on the horizon. Anyway if the wrong party wins the real ruler of this country (Prem) will call out the troops to squash it. No point having any discussions to be truthful, its all a waste of time . The army as been behind 3 massacres of its own people in the last few decades (where if the truth be known 1000's of lives were lost or unaccounted for) and after every massacre they learnt nothing bcos they went on to do another massacre. Anybody would be a fool to believe that what happened in April and May will not be repeated. If a threat to the military junta was there tomorrow they would order the massacre of their own people again and again and again.

I believe Abhisit is an educated man and lived in a truer democracy for over 20 years, he knows what right and wrong is, so why does he allow the slaughter of his own people. The truth is he is not the leader of this country, he does as he is told like all previous leaders of this country. Failure to complete the orders of the ruling army usually resulted in a coup. The problems of Thailand, over the last century lie with the Army and its stranglehold over all power. Is it really much different than Myanmar. Events likely to happen over the next few years will really test the power of this junta. We have seen various protest groups over the last few years and by now we should be able to see who is backing who. Why is Prem depised by the normal people, because they all know what damage he as done to this country whilst filling his pockets and those of his colleagues. Take a look at the military budget up for approval. How many countries are they proposing to go to war with... only one

Its all about luck!!! Was at the Vientiane consulate on Tuesday morning with passport and application in hand. The lady took my application and passport. After flipping through the pages she handed the application and passport back to me and said she could not take my application for a tourist visa. No rejection stamp or anything on the passport, just not accepted for processing.

I've had many tourist visa's previously, a double most recently, but have also flew to America this past December so technically only one double-entry. Its all about how she/he feels if you've had too many.

PS... Another person I was with had many more previous visas, but applied with a new/clean passports. He got two tourist visa with no problem. Its not the computer, its the person taking the application.

Best of Luck!

Think you hit the nail on the head "No rejection stamp' because then you can go outside and pay some shark 2000 baht and he will acquire with no problem. A rejection stamp then a visa granted is not going to look good, same happened to me and two others I know. Numbers at consulates have decreased dramatically since the troubles in BKK, so not enough newbies to pay 2000 to the touts. No point having total power if you cant abuse it. W..kers

Can anybody please list for me all documents required to get my 3 month O visa in Vientiane Laos. I am married with children born here. The bit that worries me is that they can ask for any further information they require. Minefield.... I never renewed my 12 month O and floated about on free tourist visas until they refused me for having too many double entry tourist visas. Are they more farang friendly at Savanhaket.

All the government has to do is play the translated clips of the red leaders encouraging their supporters to burn Bangkok with the red shirts cheering.

Game over.

Good point... have they got any tapes, has any thai not connected to either side heard these tapes. If they truly had such dammimg evidence why not shut up the foreign press ( who they believed reported the story biasedly). Thai coverage of the whole 2 months of protests was pathetic. I honestly never saw any army firing any guns in the same way that I saw on Al Jazeera and youtube etc. Why did they not invite the journos to photograph the arsenal behind the stage... maybe it was not there. Just put some new guns on a table and invite the press in ( did you see that foreign army guy looking.. his face said it all.. still had the price tags on)

Why did they prohibit certain pics from the censure debate, I only saw ones that where already out there for public viewing (did some democrat suggests pics had been altered in photoshop LMFAO). There has been so much manipulation of the state run media

Before I go (for now) ask your self these questions

1. Why has Porntips report into the grenade attacks on the general public at Sala Daeng not been published. Who does it incriminate (answers not needed)

2. Why have the Democrats gone alittle easier on the word 'Terrorists' in recent days and why has the Thai government contacted all 197 countries(reported on the Nation TV news today), Under Interpol, to explain why it is important to bring Takky back to Thailand. Only my opinion but if Takky had a terrorism charge to answer he would be on a flight home now. I think Interpol have told them 'get the F..k out of here you might fool your own people with this nonsense but not us'.

There is so many untruths being reported by the state media but the best was that they where trying to blow up the Emerald Buddha not the Defence Ministry.. and it hit a wire and did not reach its target... more f..king clowns than a circus. I banged my head when I fell off my chair laughing at that one

check out the news from the provinces. its war.

WHAT news from the provinces?

Trolling I think.

Do the Yellows call anyone who is educated and watches the news a troll? Calling someone a troll in a reply is a bit weak, don't you think?

You have mentioned several times that there is "news from the provinces" without providing any details, or any links, or anything.

The fact that you can't provide anything to back up your several statements, I take that as just trolling.

Not trolling..5 mins ago on Al Jazeera. Reports of burning town hall in Udon Thani

check out the news from the provinces. its war.

WHAT news from the provinces?

Trolling I think.

Do the Yellows call anyone who is educated and watches the news a troll? Calling someone a troll in a reply is a bit weak, don't you think?

He called the planted news a troll message.

One would never call your good self a troll.

At this moment red cheerleaders are more like headless chickens.

Please.. we are not cheerleaders, we just have a different view to others... Democracy

What the heck are you responding to? Are you picking an argument with yourself?

I am trying to educate you. Do you know who Michael Collins is?. I will give you a few minutes to google it.

JC doesn't understand True so there's no point replying to his posts. How he could think you're arguing with yourself, I don't know. Never mind.

I just heard that there's chaos in the provinces. Abhisit could have avoided all this if he dissolved his puppet government at the very beginning. But he had to please the ruling elite. And now this has happened. Abhisit and his government will get what's coming to them - give the people time.

The time is now

This is not the end

this is not even the beginning of the end

but it maybe the end of the beginning

(maybe slighly mis quoted)

Go on JC tell me who quoted that one

Good you googled it. Will you not agree this is where this situation will go. Bangkokians may be suffering hardship now but if Collins tactics are used they will live in fear for years

This was always a possibility regardless of the gov't action so long as Thaksin didn't win. The analogy with Collins and the IRA is misplaced, however, for the simple reason that the IRAs campaign was based on religious grounds, in fact you can take it all the way back to Henry VIII and the establishment of the Protestant Church. The IRA scenarion has more in common with the troubles Southern provinces (independence and religion mixed in) than with Thaksin's insurrection.

Remove Thaksin and the trouble is over. Despite what you're hearing, there is little sentiment for an independent Isaan and there is no religious subtext to this.

Agree the reasons for the conflict are not the same. I was trying to make the point that Collins was recognised as the man to first use 'hit and run' tactics to defeat an enemy with superior numbers and fire power. That would appear to be what will happen now.

This one does not have a link or I cannot find it. Just stop getting your 'facts' from thai tv

PS... have you found out who Michael Collins is? Bcos when you do you will understand what will happen after this day.

What channel? I am confident I can find a link and provide it for you.

(note I am not displaying trollish behavior by continually trying to jump to another topic)

I think you r avoiding the issue. When you tell me who he is and what he is famous for then I will know you can debate at my level...and not yours

why bother

Good you googled it. Will you not agree this is where this situation will go. Bangkokians may be suffering hardship now but if Collins tactics are used they will live in fear for years

check out the news from the provinces..its war

WHAT news from the provinces?

Trolling I think.

850 posts in less than a month. Troll or a government plant

This one does not have a link or I cannot find it. Just stop getting your 'facts' from thai tv

PS... have you found out who Michael Collins is? Bcos when you do you will understand what will happen after this day.

What channel? I am confident I can find a link and provide it for you.

(note I am not displaying trollish behavior by continually trying to jump to another topic)

I think you r avoiding the issue. When you tell me who he is and what he is famous for then I will know you can debate at my level...and not yours

Check the news from the rest of the country. Blockages in Chiang Mai, Ubon, Khon Kaen. If you cannot control the country please step down from government

Typical red shirt apologist- too lazy to post a link or too dumb to know how...

I cannot post a link to a thai cable tv station. PLease dont insult people of a different view to your own. I am no apologist, I just see a country in transititon. If you want to debate facts, not those facts from thai tv, I will be online for a while. If anything you are trying to apologise for highly armed troops shooting people. Maybe another ex military man

re: I cannot post a link to a thai cable tv station

Why not? They all have websites and if they provide news most have live feeds or at least recaps of what is on their broadcast channels.

This one does not have a link or I cannot find it. Just stop getting your 'facts' from thai tv

PS... have you found out who Michael Collins is? Bcos when you do you will understand what will happen after this day.