hardy1943

Thats why expats should direct everyone to thai beaches. Koh samet and the like have almost no issues.

Yes we should, but very undesirable non Thai hang out in Pattaya and now also Phuket. Sorry to say Pattaya looks beautiful on the outside but has become a septic tank.

Abhsit haters will decry this, but the man is the best PM we've had in 10 years, and (while not perfect by a long shot), is a hell of a lot better to any PTP mouthbreather as PM (or Sanan, or Sanoh, or any of the other marshmellows).

Oldest party keeps getting older. Look for house dissolution in April, and current coalition wins majority and is back until at least 2014. :jap:

So, what difference will it make. The military has the last word and when they say jump better jump high.

I must be in one of my lucid dreams. A well written, concise, open minded information packed article by a Nation writer? WOT the..

Indeed, somebody pinch me.

Whatever happens in the coming months, the only real losers will be the ordinary Thai people...... again.

Beg to differ

If Abhist survives the upcoming election Thailand will finally have a chance to clean up the mess they call government.

Lots of talk about education. The one thing that all Thai's should learn i that who they elect makes a big difference.

Where is the difference? Will their income or status change? I think not. Richer will get richer like in any country nowadays. This is not only in Thailand this is the Global fashion nowadays.

Those girls poor? he's relatively rich? go figure - it's disgraceful

True, but what is more disgraceful just grease some palms and the party goes on. They would not be here if it would not be so easy.

With the strength of the baht this is no surprise.

Took no economist to fore see that one. Lets see how bad it will get.

If this sting is not a publicity stunt for fund raising, rescuing 15 year olds, sounds like they were prisoners, why did they only target the western owned bar?

If indeed there are 15 year olds needing rescuing, then go up the street and rescue the hundreds more working in the 20 or so bars up the street.

Unless of course the Thai Police own those bars, and we cant really raid the bosses bar, he wouldnt like that,duh. This story is just stirring up shit for someones purpose, not any girls either. The padlocked doors and bars on the windows,implying they were being kept in, I would suggest keeping theives out is more likely.

Having said all this, there is a big problem with child exploitation, and something needs to be done, but there has to be a beter way to fight it than publicity stunts like this.

Yes give everyone a fair wage and a decent living and you will see a rapid decline. However they elite and privileged will never allow it no matter what country they are the benefactors financially.

From what i hear from radios and discussions almost 100% Thais disagree with abortions.....

yeah.... wait till you get pregnant while still in school or that uni course you are taking ..... then I'll come back to you and ask you again...

legal abortions is only for the rich...

Sad but true.

Why oh why dont they just say Life in Prison,instead of juggling ridiculous figures around.

Makes them feel important or is that saying to much?

This would require the Elites to pay out money to build, control and plan for decades ahead.....with no real "profit" to be made, so why would they?

Let us not forget, Thailand is run for what the Elites and Millionaire Generals can make, not what is best for Thailand and the nations future.

I don't know why you single out the "elites". This is a pretty standard characteristic of most Thais at all levels of Thai society.

Who do you think been running this country for the last few thousand years. The peasants.

I wish her luck in securing her release and in dragging Burma out of the hole it is in. By the sounds of things she is their best albeit only hope.

Para

Great News and I see that everyone here calls it Burma except for THE BOYS in BKK but then they where never known for their knowledge.

Is it really worth bothering?

They love to beat a dead horse

I'm glad the Thai's have a, relatively, favorable opinion of Abhist. He does seem to be a good, honest person. With an incredibly difficult job to do!

This is what bothers me:

72.3 per cent believe the corruption problem in this country won't change

I hope they don't give up on trying...

Corruption is like the love of papaya salad. Sorry it is part of their culture.

I hate 711's when you go in 1 poor bast*rd is doing all the work while 5 of them are picking their noses and sending text messages - idiots

Here is the only place I have seen 4 standing behind the counter with store full and one cash register open.Like you said others ones picking their noses or scratching their a****s .

Is this for REAL?

:lol: :lol:

TIT!

Have to agree.Is this an April fools joke?

What is the point of 3G with delays like this? That means 4G by about 2020!

We are lucky to have dial up internet.What you expect in this banana country

So the Immigration Officers will not be involved in the campaign then?

the airport needs cooperation from crucial organisations such as the Immigration Bureau

Good luck on that one.

Best city in the world ??????????

One can only but wonder how the assessors missed the crumbling pavements, the hoards of street vendors blocking the sidewalks, the unrelenting traffic flow, the corrupt police force, the child pornography, the inefficient local government, the prostitutes, the smiling but back stabbing inhabitants and of course, the duel pricing at major hospitals and institutions to name but a few things.

I suppose there is the Paragon centre and the BTS that are worthwhile.

Bangkok - the worlds best city - I wonder who paid who to get this title.

I saw this thread and after having been in Thailand for ten years, had to do a double take. The guy above has it about right. Maybe there was a secret criteria ??  " The city with the best looking girls that are available to tourist" ???  I actually like Bangkok, but the city has some serious issues to deal with. Unfortunately the money needed to deal with these issues has long since been sucked away by corruption. They could start with the sidewalks, which would seem to me to be a fairly basic product needed by tourists......... 

I love living in Chiang Rai. However one day in Bangkok every years is one day to many. Been in Sidney, Vancouver Canada, Seattle , Berlin Germany, Paris just to name a few far out class Bangkok .

The writer makes some good points. Overcrowding, antiquated teaching methods and poorly trained teachers are some of the big problems in the schools. The "no-fail" policy is another, but is inextricably linked to the culture of "losing face" on both the part of the school and the student, and the overcrowding problem.

However, I think the writer ignores one of the biggest problems with big budget education reform programs: corruption, which is rampant among the educational administrators in Thailand. Spending more money doesn't do any good, if it just lines the pockets of administrators.

With respect to the English as a second language declaration, while it is true that the proposal to recruit retired teachers from America got a poor reception from current TEFLers in Thailand, let's face the facts: why would any U.S. retired teacher travel 8,000-10,000 miles to work in overcrowded, under-resourced, poorly managed schools, for under $1,000 per month? It's just not going to happen.

[/quote/

You are so right. They problem here is not so much the Thai teachers most of them try hard and my hat off to them. However they so called administrators almost all are a joke.

The writer makes some good points. Overcrowding, antiquated teaching methods and poorly trained teachers are some of the big problems in the schools. The "no-fail" policy is another, but is inextricably linked to the culture of "losing face" on both the part of the school and the student, and the overcrowding problem.

However, I think the writer ignores one of the biggest problems with big budget education reform programs: corruption, which is rampant among the educational administrators in Thailand. Spending more money doesn't do any good, if it just lines the pockets of administrators.

With respect to the English as a second language declaration, while it is true that the proposal to recruit retired teachers from America got a poor reception from current TEFLers in Thailand, let's face the facts: why would any U.S. retired teacher travel 8,000-10,000 miles to work in overcrowded, under-resourced, poorly managed schools, for under $1,000 per month? It's just not going to happen.

[/quote

You are so right. They problem here is not so much the Thai teachers most of them try hard and my hat off to them. However they so called administrators almost all are a joke.

PM Considers City Re-planning to Combat Recurring Floods

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva says he's now considering projects aimed at replanning Bangkok and other flood-prone cities to prevent future flooding. He admitted there are concerns Bangkok and nearby provinces will soon fall victim to the latest flood crisis.

Better late than never.

Well, lets see what the military has to say about this. They are the real force in this country and controlling the purse strings. Abhisit a nice guy and all but he is dancing to the tune of the military.

Unlike the typical, old man dies of heart attack in condo "news story", this is REAL news. What a story. Hopefully more details to come.

In the course of their investigations officers discovered that Mr. Victor’s five bank accounts had been accessed everyday since his disappearance with a withdrawal of approximately Bt100,000 per day from teller machines around Pattaya

Five bank accounts? Guess Thai authorities haven't heard anything about the Russian mafia so far?

Amazingly, they can bring their prostitutes into Thailand without a passport or any other ID. Just because the Thais like Russian hores?

Mafia wars and real estate business. money laundering and there's no end. At least local cops are making good money too....... :jap:

They are all getting very rich but Russian Mafia is more then a hand full. Putin himself has a problem with them and I can just really see them flourish here. As long as the stay in Mafia City and leave the rest of the country alone. I understand that in Phuket they are getting a foot hold there too. Well, stay there and leave the rest of us alone.

oh no, we come to pattaya for the shops and the haute cuisine...

Understood. However, my feeling is that the beach promenade should be a pleasant place for everyone, including the many families we now DO have here in great abundance. The prostitutes are so thick there that they soil what should be the most important geographical feature of any urban beach resort. There are still hundreds of thousands of prostitutes available anytime within mere minutes of the beach road promenade.

Frankly put it is not a family city.It is build for old drunken Farangs.With the prostitution I think the crackdown is they are freelancers and police and politicians are not getting their cut.

^^

Yawn.

Should be allowed to criticize the PM and the article definitely does not praise him or just blame others.

He is appealing but does he really run the country? My guess it is the military establishment. He kept them happy with there new bought toys.

The OP article is not clear. It seems to dwell on logistics, rather than the basic premise of whether English should be Thailand's 2nd language. Of course it should! What other language comes close, in importance and validity?

And yes, there are logistical hurdles to overcome. Most English teachers in Thailand are Thai, and most of them have a poor handle on the language. To compensate, they burden their students with archaic and unnecessary semantics. Classrooms have too many students, therefore not enough conversational learning via student interaction.

The Imm Dept has been making visas for farang increasingly difficult, therefore thinning out the numbers of potential English teachers who are native speakers. It's grossly counter-productive in the big picture of things. If Thailand wants to be a player on the world stage, it needs lots more English speakers. I go in to large department stores, large business places (banks, hospitals, government buildings, etc) and if I'm lucky, perhaps one person out of dozens is able to speak an English sentence of more than 3 words.

Since Thais spend so much time watching TV (rather than reading books or doing outdoor activities), then how about more English speaking programs on Thai TV? Keep it simple and entertaining. Perhaps have a little quiz at the end of each program.

Having it on TV is a great idea or is it? Seems the TV'S are on all the time even when no one is there. I am not sure they paying attention maybe it is there to produce noise Thai seem to love it.

You're never going to have hygenic toilets when people squat down and shoot their diahorrea all over the place and proceed to put their shitty toilet paper in a bin next to the toilet rather than flushing it.

I could not agree more. Are the really a toilet? I think a hole in the ground is a better description.