bangkokfrog

Looks like there must be a people trafficking inspection / report update coming up.

So typical. With all the immediate problems facing aviation in Thailand, they are getting sidetracked with a "big budget" project like this. I think I know why.

But be that as it may, this article is an example of why Thailand has so many problems. I expect that it is almost identical to the AOT press release on the matter. Where is the investigative reporting? What evidence is there that this facility is really needed? Why Chiang Mai? etc. etc.

If this story is for general consumption, it shows how out of touch the government is with the real world. If for local consumption, another shameful attempt to mislead the public as to how great they are.

And if you think this is Thai bashing, you are right... not against the Thai people, but against whatever idiots in government think we have any chance at all to get a UNSC seat right now.

I always feel sad when I see undergraduate freshmen entering vocational colleges or Rajabhat Universities. They are generally full of hope for the future, not realizing that for 90% of them their diploma/degree will count for naught and they will be lucky to get a job as a shop assistant or working at 7-11.

Thailand = land of the free... as long as you are rich and are on the right side of the government.

...in the drawing contest titled "Our Home, Our Country Together", jointly organised by the Public Relations Department and the PM's Office.

Very well organized I must say. 929 entries from 10 age groups across the whole country?

A wall is only as good as the people who patrol it. In fact, the fees may go up slightly to cover the rental cost of ladders.

This is a tough one. Thinking ahead during good seasons and planning for the bad is part of what makes a successful farmer in other parts of the world. But "thinking", let alone "thinking ahead and planning" are neither taught nor encouraged in the Thai education system. Also, governments of all persuasions feel that they have to throw money at farmers year after year to get their votes. So it is hard to blame the farmers here.

What is really needed is a government that is not worried about re-election (cue the current Prime Minister) to make some visionary long-term decisions to restructure the industry, including breaking up some supply and purchasing monopolies (I know, good luck with the last bit). As some of Thailand's neighbors have shown, small scale rice farming can be a viable and sustainable family economic model if done efficiently.

So all the farmers will have to starve?

Or lose their farms when they can't repay their loans?

Probably both points are true.......just indicates the level of care elitists in the government, military etc, have for the 40 odd million rural people

Surely if there isn't going to be enough water for irrigation ( remember farmers don't pay for the water they use, just any cost for pumping it out of the klong ) then it is better to tell them now.

Otherwise they will borrow money ( many from loan sharks at exorbitant interest rates ) for cultivation, seed, fuel, fertilizer, spays etc only to find that in 3 months there is no water and their crop dies, but they still owe the money they borrowed. And then they will ask for money to cover their debts and to feed themselves.

Much better to let them sit with their mates under the shade of a large tree and drink Lao Khao for 4 months

You are 100% correct, Gunna... but how many farmers will listen? How many times have we heard about "bans" like this before that are never enforced (or enforced selectively so that water still reaches those who can pay)? Until we have a government that does more than just talk, farmers will do what they have done for generations. They have families to support and it is hard to blame them. Until there is transparency, consistency and an end to corruption here these kind of problems will continue. Unfortunately, our dear P.M. has shown that he does not have the power and/or cojones to make the call.

Yes, and a very misleading headline. Who cares about the victim... its all about the possible loss of tourist dollars.

"I said, 'Don't you remember what you were doing here?' Think hard! Are you confused today?'" Prawut said. "It's a psychological technique. I wanted him to talk more. I have a master and doctoral degree in psychology."

So it took 2 postgraduate degrees for him to learn this advanced interrogation technique? I wish I could think of such clever things to say!

A sad indictment on Thailand

Sad indeed, but I don't know about an indictment on Thailand. Can you name another developing country (or indeed developed country outside a privileged few in Northern Europe) where this could never take place. And what about the teacher who picked it up and those who have helped since... we should be applauding these rather than using the story as another excuse to bag Thailand.

So easy... Amendment 1. No more inactive roles and change "jobs for life" mentality to require cheats and non-performers to be sacked. Amendments 2-17: See Amendment 1.

To any thinking person, such sessions would harden anti-government attitudes rather than change them. But then soldiers of all levels in the Thai army are not paid to think but do what they are told from "above".

Well thought out. I look forward to seeing the cameras in my wife's local fertilizer supply store (in Uthumphonphisai, Sisaket Province). Also at all the other well known terrorist haunts across the rest of rural Thailand.

So sad when a minister thinks he has to treat senior public servants like children. I wonder if they also need to be reminded to wash their hands after going to the bathroom !!

A Pol Lance Corporal would hardly have enough loot stashed to spend the rest of his life on the run. Also, probably not important enough to be subsidized by whoever paid him the fire the RPG for the rest of his life. It will be interesting to see if he has disappeared or was disappeared.

Would help if the good General would micro manage the judiciary as close as other nonessential issues.

Don't remember where I read it, probably Wyatt's history of Thailand, but the Kings of Thailand used to have to clean out the corrupt courts with every reign change. It's hard to change a culture. In an economy where high office depends on personal and family connections, many activities and transactions that are accepted as the normal way of doing things look different to outsiders, who judge by their own narrow experiences.

I would be interested in the source. My understanding is that in those days senior government officials were not paid but worked for "love of king" and the ability to squeeze personal benefits out of their positions. I imagine that any change of officials under new kings was not a "clean out" but rather a re-arranging of the pigs at the trough. However, your conclusion is still valid... it is hard to change a culture, especially since some grandfathers of current incumbents could well have grown up under such a system.

What price a life? 120 million among the 862 people affected, including the princely sum of 400,000 for the families of those killed. The Yingluck government came up with a figure of 3.25 million in compensation for those killed between 2005-2010, which is being investigated by the NACC because the program was allegedly rigged in favor the red shirts. She may not have got much right, but I have to agree that this is a far more realistic amount for families who lose a bread-winner.

The sad thing we learn from this is that, even if a foreigner cares enough about Thailand to go through the hoops and become a citizen, he/she will still be treated as "second class" and doesn't seem to have any more rights than a tourist. Can someone please explain how a person who is a citizen of a country and holds a passport be "blacklisted" without some sort of court process and revocation of the passport? Only in Thailand !!!

Even if he has been released, the damage has already been done. More great publicity for the xenophobic and short-sighted "powers that be" in Thailand.

One could be forgiven for thinking that the NRC's voting down of the charter draft was all part of a master plan to "innocently" extend elections out another year (or more).

More nonsens from this clueless PM-Office ... Nobody is rushing with wild guesses and conclusions more than the Govt and RTP ...

Incredible that thais take this kind of bs daily ...

Yes it is... and Thai governments of all persuasion wouldn't want it any other way.

"he trusted that executives of any ministries were capable of handling high-level management tasks, no matter what knowledge they had"

How could he disagree with this? It is the same argument used in Thailand for years when putting washed up, out of touch army generals on the boards of major corporations. And of course for arguing that being head of the armed forces equips one to run a country and its economy.

I knew that the PM was an education expert as soon as he introduced the 12 values into the curriculum. I love to trick my niece by asking a question like "What is value number 9?", and the only way she can answer is to recite them all by rote until she gets up to the required number. What a wonderful new skill she has been taught !! And then comes the blank look when I ask her to explain or give some examples from the news.

Anyway, this new idea is sure to be a winner with teachers. Extra-curricular activities usually require extra charges, so expect to see a lot of headmasters in new cars.