pgangeles

While I agree the school day for some children is ridiculously long especially in more rural areas where they use the school bus and are often out of the house for over 12 hours,but the other half of me is wondering what they shall do with the extra time,I suppose it will be iPads,telephones and Internet shops as always.

We will soon know when the already slow internet gets bogged down that little bit earlier with the advent of schools finishing earlier.

How ridicules to shorten hours. Spend that hour learning another language (English?). Thai students are not to sharp to begin with. They need more time in school NOT less and better teachers. With all the vacations and Holidays, they must spend less time in school than most countries. How backward thinking can you get. WOW!

very commendable action by a probably very honorable Thai citizen,

yet I have a feeling it is a bit much to title him a hero, as nobody in this story was at any time at risk of getting harmed.

Well done! but hero... too much

What are you thinking. Of coarse he's a hero and with nothing to gain. How else would they have gotten out? By wishing?

In trying to get out, the elderly gentleman could have suffered a heart attack. Yes, he's a hero.

It would be a good start. I know alot of friends who wont come back ever because they felt cheated and discriminated against. Nothing right about it and it sets the stage for nations rip of the visitor day....

Serious? What, did the 200 baht national park fee break their budget?

Hope they didn't go to Malaysia, Leos, Cambodia . . .

Never bothered me, more to worry about than a few dollars; as per post above, look at it as a discount to the Thai people

Your missing the point entirely. It's the IDEA of being overcharged because your a foreigner. You can't win friends (tourists) if your blatantly trying to take advantage them. You have a problem with police stopping foreigners for a few bucks. Doesn't look good for Thailand. In the US there is no such thing as a tourist tax.

https://twitter.com/pakhead/status/642202002634743808

I'm shocked I tell you, shocked.

"the policeman made a u-turn at the spot suddenly, cutting into his way and making it impossible for him to stop his car in time."

It seems the motorcycle made a U turn in front of the Benz.

Were is the Brit driver at fault?

I don't see the humour.

I find this very interesting. The PM of Thailand has been disallowed from going to the USA, while it allows an convicted criminal on the run from the law to go. The American law, as I understand it will not allow a visa to anyone that has been convicted in a court of law. It still allowed Thakisin Shinitawatra to travel to the US after he was convicted by the court for corruption, while his Brother-in-Law, was PM.

He was not disallowed entry to US. Bad translation.

He can go any time he wishes.

Prayut was not invited, big difference.

ok I give up .. why cant he travel to the USA?

He was not refused entry to US. Bad translation.

He just wasn't invited because of US Law which does not invite Junta leaders. Weather there good or bad for a country.

Prayut can go on his own any time he wishes.

First of all it is not racist, as it is up to the nationality not the race.

Second it is common around the world......In famous ski areas the locals even pay less for the beer in the restaurants than the tourists.

You will never see a 2 tier system in the US.

Hey guys and girls, it's a start. You have to crawl before you can walk.

someone in government told my wife that the current Thai administration has defaulted on some kind of loan made by the US to Thailand

they have not paid anything for 5 months

maybe that's why they are so interested in the situation and support Yingluck

they want to get paid.....

Who knows.

What. New Years?

Must be some sort of miss print.

If not, how in the world do these guys get elected into office.

There isn't a living brain cell in there heads. What a dumb idea, for obvious reasons. Is there one politician that can stand up and say, that is a stupid idea. I guess they don't want to offend there peers. That's NOT a way to run a country. JEEZ.

If any legislator tried to do that in the US, he would not be re-elected because of his ignorance.

I think after the Terrorist bombing in Boston, it will make Americans think again about the gun laws and Obama will have buckley's of getting the law changed now. If anything they will now be buying more to protect their homes.

Sure, all we need now is every one to be armed. Bullets flying all over the place. Let the police and other agencies do the job there trained to do.

OZEMADE, you are the problem. No one is taking any lawful weapons away. Do a little research.

The bill was bs...in America you have background checks regardless of where you buy a gun legally. Criminals don't follow the laws, don't do background checks. Eric Holder is guilty of running guns illegally to Mexico, and should be arrested. This bill was nothing more than an attempt to control the population by an elitest, statist government. That's not a statement against Democrats alone, the Republicans are just as guilty. America is in trouble, it's freedoms eroding daily, and the sheep lining up mindlessly. Obama lied in his press conference, 90% of Americans don't agree with this bill. To buy a gun online requires it to be shipped to a federally registred gun dealer, who then runs an FBI check on you before he allows you to take the gun home. Gun shows the same way. It's the mindless sheeple who fall for the lies that Obama, Bush and their kind spew.

Obama did not lie, 85% to 90% were for more back round checks including NRA members and Republicans Where do you get your news from. Faux News?

I find it interesting that no Brits, Australians, United States, France, Italy, Germany etc. were not even mentioned. Maybe they know something the Asians are not aware of.

yes for those who live here and contribute and support & pay taxes, the yearly hassle to beg for an extention for the right to stay with your own wife and family + the 90 day report hassle...

and before i tought i was an international human right, to stay with your family, wife and children... but hey, we are only guests here, i mean, we are treathed like guests and not residents

Who do the United States think they are ?

Deal with the internal problems of a foreign nation. Thailand has always been proud to be the only nation in Southeast Asia which has not been colionalized.

But they just doing as the USA require. Because of these imperialists Americans, we will have to be subjected to a body search on arrival. A reason why I don't go to America, but impose that there, it's a scandal !

They should rather clean the mess at their home with all the xxxx, rifle massacres there before interfere in things that are none their business !

Where in the article does it say US requires."US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)’s report that Thailand is one of the region’s most vulnerable terrorist targets". Read the article again. The US is trying to help Thailand not hurt it and what does colionized have to do with the current threat in Thailand -0-.

I received this quote from a friend this morning that goes along with your comment.

"Remember, I told you why all non-Americans like Obama - it's because they know the more we have Obama, the less important the USA will be!!!"

Says it all doesn't it?

What an ignorant thing to say."it's because they know the more we have Obama, the less important the USA will be!!! No sense at all." Are you sure you want to quote this guy and make a fool of yourself? Have you forgotten how unimportant we were during the last administration. We were irrelevent. Think before you make statements like that.

Have to agree with you. The last administration was the Obama administration.

Not a joke. Obama did not start 2 wars and a drug program, both not paid for. Try something different, stop watching Faux News for a couple days, you might learn somthing.

Note to The Nation - There is no recovery. More people are out of work than ever before, prices, especially food and gas are at all time highs like we Americans have never seen before. Housing is rising very slightly, probably a cyclical bump. Most people with a an honest job resent most people who voted for Obama. The unions have been given GM (General Motors) illegally stealing money from the bond holders. The unions are exempt from Obama care, the entire Fed workforce is exempt from Obama care. You can liken our budget to a family that makes 60K a year and spends 100K a year for the last 4 years.

Don't believe the mainstream media hype. America is not in great shape financially due to wasted spending, non-competitive regulations, unions chasing jobs off shore, attention to issues which matter hardly at all.

A little bit too much Fox News?

Actually more people are back to work since the Bush recession / job market hit bottom. In other words, more jobs have been created than lost under Obama even though he was handed an economy that was hemorrhaging 100s of thousand of jobs a month.

Housing prices are also dramatically up since the housing bubble that burst under Bush finished bursting at the same time as the employment rate.

Food, gas and just about every other price goes up every year. It is called inflation. From 2004 to 2008 the value of the dollar decrease by 14% while from 2008 to 2012 it decreased 7.5%

You comment about employed people's feelings about Obama voters border on too ridiculous to respond.

It is absolutely false that Federal Employees (including congress) are exempt from ObamaCare. I have never heard the one about autoworkers union but consider all these union members are offered health insurance by their employers ... "if" they were exempt this would just mean they couldn't switch to the government option.

And yes, the government spends more than it takes in and has been doing so for a very long time (minus the last 4-years under Clinton) and currently it is paying off 2 - 10 years war not only not funded by Bush but the opposite was done and tax cuts were given resulting in huge revenue loses during his term while handing off the bill for the wars to Obama along with an economic conditions not matched since the great depression (which by the way took 10-years and a world war to see unemployment numbers get back inline)

US Federal Budget

Year-over-year changes in housing prices

US Unemployment Rate

Actual (not adj. for inflation) Gas Price Avg. - Bush vs Obama

Housing prices are dramatically up?? Are you out of your mind?? Despite the rosy pro-Obama picture you have painted here the US housing market continues to be a disaster and banks are still not lending money. Unemployment is still sky high and the economy has basically been stagnant. You can finger point and blame past administrations all you want but deserved or not Obama's first term record as President has been spotty at best. And his handling of the Benghazi attacks was disgraceful.

Can you imagine where we would be today had we elected McCain?

Like it or not, we are at least headed in the right direction. We were on the verge of total calapse when Obama took office as a result of Bush's Wars and policies. Try not to mislead the many Thais people who read this stuff and think its true.

I received this quote from a friend this morning that goes along with your comment.

"Remember, I told you why all non-Americans like Obama - it's because they know the more we have Obama, the less important the USA will be!!!"

Says it all doesn't it?

Awesome. Anytime teachers get in trouble and more importantly, learning stops, its a good day for mankind. These teachers working hard trying to do good and make ends meet make me sick, how dare they take advantage of a multi-billion dollar company.

How much is the minimum wage ?

Generally 200 baht a day or approx £3.80....... not alot for driving buses, digging holes, driving dumpsters

What do you mean, generally. Min wage is min. wage, am I wrong?

Bangkok would become very boring and a horrible place to live without the plentory of street stalls, particularly food stalls!

I am not sure how crime could be related to the vendors? Seems like another distraction of the public to me: make everyone think the government is doing something about 'problems', meanwhile scams and police exploits go on and on, while the poor who make Bangkok as colorful as it is and who help to distract of the bad smell from black clouds of exhaust fumes are cracked down.

No where does it say crime is related to vendors. Read don't skim if your going to comment.

Note how the US authorities issue an arrest warrant AND withdraw the passport unlike the cerebrally challenged UK authorities that have failed to do so on so many occasions hence there are so many low life Brits hanging out in LOS. I am British by the way so this is not a slander on Brits, rather on the idiot UK authorities...!

I'm not so sure. Our "Homeland Security" and laws empowering it have broadened police powers generally in the United States and reduced scores of earlier freedoms. Here we find local authorities engaging with Federal Passport office to cancel a passport based on a fraud scheme (which however might involve federal charges).

But, I can easily imagine this process being extended to many other lesser felonies, all of them of course just charges, not convictions. Nor in this case is violence asserted as being part of the alleged crimes.

What scores of earlier freedoms were reduced? How has it impacted your life? Just asking.

Wow, Thai complaining about working on a farm with low pay or no pay. I can see the no pay being a crime, but low pay that's standard for any migrant laborer in any country.

I never once seen Hmong or Vietnamese complain about low wages as they picked strawberries in California fields.

Next thing you know, Juan Valdez will be bitching about him getting low pay and extreme working conditions to pick each individual coffee bean for you and I to savior.

Mexican labors don't sue for low wages for picking grapes for your wine or Oranges, apples, vegetables, etc.

Just tell Thai. If you don't like it there, then point to the ocean and say, Thailand is that way, enjoy your swim.

Surely you jest. What a statement to make about your fellow man who were tricked. LITTLE OR NO wages were paid. Mexican laborers know exactly what pay there going to get.

This would be laughable if it weren't so pathetic. Love to hear the PM explain this is was this announced by some rogue cop? Unbelievable.

So I would guess that your thinking is the young adults or children are better off roaming the streets late at night. Force the parents to get off there dead ars and pick up there kid from the police station and explain why there 15 year old was on the street at 1:00 AM. Your right it is pathetic only because some people think this is all laughable.