hardy1943

It would be better to reform the police first - decentralise them and make them accountable to their communities. That was tried under Sarayud but the resulting mutinous sulkiness made him backpedal. Without sweeping reform the police will continue as Thailand's leading criminal organisation. Abhisit already has already passed on a big opportunity to reform them during the backlash against police tomatoes who facilitated the red shirt riots.

Abhisit is just a puppet on a string. I lost complete confidence in him and the police thugs can have their way.

yep, it's Christmas bonus time for the BIB!

You got that right,tried to shake me down 200 meters from my house. They did not even looked like cops I thought they where robbers.

Then they acted like Keystone Cops then I knew. Very rude but I been here 7 years ( actually their harassment just started the last 2 years) and got used to it. Kept saying we can not speak English

but knew how to say " you got money you can go " They got nothing but I made sure my friends and relatives from the Germany and USA will never visit this country again and we can all meet

in Sihanoukville in Cambodia.

20 years might be a little quick, but undoubtedly, Bangkok faces big problems simply because of the uncontrolled construction downtown and in the suburbs which will continue to block natural drainage. I wonder if their assumptions of subsidence and land erosion include the fact that in 20 years time Bangkok will probably have 25 million inhabitants and built area will take up 50% more than it does today.

However this quote is a beauty.

If a major quake hit the area near the Philippines a tsunami would take at least 14 to 17 hours to hit Thailand.

That is alright then. The authorities can't even manage the traffic system as it is today. How the hell would they attempt to move this many people in 14 days, let along 14 hours.

The ChineseThai which actually rule and own Thailand they and their businesses and money be gone way before, so lot less people just the working class be left.

Why are these things mostly Pattaya? This stuff is common in Thailand, but we only hear about Pattaya. Press wants to have a place to prove is bad?

This happens just about in every country , but it make great news and gets everyones attention, just look below how many people are log on this.

Sad things like that happen.

At least in Thailand, Thai nationals own 51% of the business.

and 95% out of this 51 are Chinese Thai and the shops where they HAVE to buy, the hotels where they HAVE to sleep and the restaurants where they HAVE to eat are owned 100% by some Chinese bigheads.

All in all the Chinese are making good money out of the tourism while the normal Thais make nothing at all out of the Chinese groups. But who wonders in a country ruled by Chinesethais? I just wonder why still some ppl here doesnt understand the reds and think the yellows are better.

You hit the nail on the head. You not supposed to tell everyone that the Chinesethai been running and owning this country for centuries.

“Now there will be more plainclothes officers keeping an eye out along the beach and reporting any thieves they see.”

Who are they reporting it to??? I thought cops had the power of arrest??

With the shake downs I have experience lately from the police. My question is who are the real thieves?

Thai hospitality yes maybe 30 or 40 years ago...

I live here and I am so tired of the constant shake down from the police acting more like keystone cops every year

and there where practical none until 2006. Just made a run from Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai US consulate.

Was stopped 4 times going there to Chiang Mai and 6 times back. Had a Thai relative driving as soon

as we where Chiang Rai province things got ugly. It is a long story but I will tell all my friends and relatives to stay home

and never visit me again I do not want them go through what we did.

Yes, and one of the tourists was Elvis

I wonder if the Keystone cops where trying to shake him down?

I have no idea why anyone comes here with their constant harassment.

Before they make new laws:

confiscate the vehicles of the following groups of people,and destroy those vehicles:

all drivers without driving license

all taxi- drivers without proper license

all truck-drivers .. .... ....

From this left-over group :

confiscate the vehicle if they are not sufficient insured.

If there are still thai-drivers in this group :

Check if the vehicle is not stolen and then check the lights,if

this is done ; throw the drunk driver in the yail.

I think that there will be only farangs on the road ?

99.9% experienced drivers.

No problem anymore with helmets

No need for extra roads ,traffic-lights....................

Small hospital is enough....

The sale of shoes will boom ,

............

.............

............

Now stop commenting on what happens in this los

I agree, but better yet give them all a driving test like in Europe or in the States. They all be walking. None of them would even pass how to park a car forget about operate one.

I find it amusing the amount of people who do have helmets and only put them on their heads as they pass a policeman.... soon as they are past the helmet is back off the head into the front basket.

I find it amusing when police is directing foot traffic in the morning in front of schools but everyone drives by them with out a helmet.

I guess that is not their job right now.

Why the need for helmet wearing zones when it has been law for years that you have to wear a helmet when riding a motorbike?

or why have very low helmet safety standards? defeats the whole purpose of a helmet.

I do not think any of the helmets sold in Thailand would pass even i safety regulation in Oz and few other countries.

I mean having a salad bowl on your head, hardly will protect your head, if anything will cause even more damage

More important is that everyone wares a helmet not just the driver. Hate to see mother with helmet and 2 kids with no protection at all.

All of you who are so amazed at Thailand's inability to take care of poor people and people with health problems need to spend a night walking around in Washington DC, or Chicago, or New York City.

Yet another utterly facile argument - what has that got to do with anything???

We all know that the US has the worst health care in the "Western" world but that does not justify Thailand's ineptness to supply proper healthcare for its citizens or others to criticise the government's failure or two faced approach.

Right! But only for the poor or working class in the US but for the rich it is the best MONEY CAN BUY.

All of you who are so amazed at Thailand's inability to take care of poor people and people with health problems need to spend a night walking around in Washington DC, or Chicago, or New York City.

Yet another utterly facile argument - what has that got to do with anything???

We all know that the US has the worst health care in the "Western" world but that does not justify Thailand's ineptness to supply proper healthcare for its citizens or others to criticise the government's failure or two faced approach.

nor expect too much of Thailand as in the US they voted in the governments who haven't achieved on the healthcare issues. Nothing wrong with making comparisons, it's the governments job to make them too and hopefully learn from others mistakes.

THere's a HUGE amount wrong with making these comparisons - they're fallacious and don't follow on form the argument - can't you see that?"I think his point is if a country as rich as the USA can't sort it out then we shouldn't be so judgmental " - well that's ridiculous loads of countries poorer than US have good healthcare and many others are gpoing in the rigt direction but simply comparing apples with oranges is completely off the mark

In 1980's Ronald Reagan closed just about all government run mental institutions. The US is full of street people suffering from mental illness . Many are military veterans. I am a Vietnam veterans myself and I am ashamed how my country does not give a dam_n for the grunts that where willing to give their lives.

What a crock of sh*t. These people will end up handcuffed in local jails like the recent case of the Briton in Pattaya.

As of 2006, the most recent WHO report shows that;

- There are only 17 mental hospitals in Thailand providing 13.8 beds per 100,000 population. In the last five years the number of mental hospital beds has decreased by 7% (There has not been any significant increase in funding since the report was issued in 2006.)

- There is no provision for routine follow-up community care.

- No facility has mental heath mobile clinic teams.

- In terms of treatment, a few patients last year received one or more psychosocial interventions.

- There are no mental health day treatment facilities in Thailand, except the ones specifically for children with mental retardation or for people with substance abuse.

- There are 25 community-based psychiatric inpatient units in regional hospitals with 0.4 beds per 100,000 general population.

- Community residential facilities for patients being discharged from the hospitals do not exist.

Who will take care of these mentally ill people?

- 419 psychiatrists (0.66 per 100,000 population)

- 110 other medical doctors (not specialized in psychiatry but associated with mental health care); 0.17 per 100,000 population);

- 2406 nurses (3.81 per 100,000 population);

- 163 psychologists (0.26 per 100,000 population);

- 465 social workers (0.74 per 100,000 population) (Other reports cite 0.56)

- 125 occupational therapists (0.20 per 100,000 population

The numbers speak for themselves. The mentally ill will not be treated.

There will be no occupational therapy and the problem will continue.

That is the reality. Welcome to Thailand where people that should know better call the mentally ill nutcases.

Where did you get this information? I have been taking for over 20 years a very powerful drug that is also very addictive was only given to me after many tests in the US that is very restricted there so I will not go into convulsion and possible die and every doctor except one here thought it was a sleeping pill and it very easy to get a prescription here and as much as I want.In the US it is only subscribed by a psychiatrist. They all must be in Bangkok I live in Chiang Rai I have not found one yet.

Of course things have improved greatly for farang since Mr Abhasit's been in power..........

You tell me what? All I seen from him lower exchange rates higher prices and twice as many government employees but less efficient.

Bring back the good old days when the military ran the country out right.

Can you imagine the uproar from Thai people if this happened to a Thai national in the U.K. ?

<FONT size=4 face=Verdana>or the U.S.

Then it would be a human rights violation.

I am a working person with no criminal record, still USA refuse my tourist visa application. How can Thaksin get a visa? Thaksin has no job, plus has a criminal record.

Just about all where refused under the Bush. I have a friend that got one in 5 minutes in Chiang Mai and good for 10 years but it was under the new Obama administration. She is a nurse.

It was told it is very important what your job is. I hope this helps you.

Farangs make Thai's do bad things Joe. And the very, very bad things happen in Pattaya. I thought everyone knew that.

i am quite aware of what goes on in pattaya - it's a brothel.

as such is one of thailand's major national disgraces... if it wasn't tragic it would be comical that it's continually trying to pass itself off as a family resort.

i've been there and seen it - it's a brothel.

however to suggest that this is the fault of the foreign men who visit the place is erroneous.

the thai authorities, business people with vested interests, parents in the provinces living off the spoils and every other thai who quietly tolerates what they know very well goes on in pattaya and the other resorts where major sex trade goes on are the ones to blame - they are the ones encouraging or at least allowing it to happen.

furthermore the resorts foreigners visit are only the highly visible tip of the sex trade iceberg in thailand - every two horse village in the country has a karaoke bar, a thai cafe or a massage shop where the local men partake of the services of prostitutes, and the entertainment districts catering to the local trade in the big cities are more numerous and in some cases bigger than those catering to foreigners - just slightly less obvious.

blaming foreigners for the thai tradition of easily available sex for money??

get real &lt;deleted&gt;

Their was no sex for sale in Thailand it all came with the Vietnam war and soldiers on R R You do not believe me asked THE BOYS in power in BKK

Both my marriages failed at around 7 years both parties getting bored; others longer seem to be together just for kids. Surprised no one mentions the cost of extra women. Women have been the most costly item in my life especially when running more than one

We are in our 7th year it was great from the first day but our love for each other is greater then ever and so is our sex life.

Yes, I am married to the most wonderful Thai lady and also I was married 3 times before to farangs. She is the love of my life and we are also best friends.

Why are the thai government so paranoid about Thaksin....let him speaks if the Democrat government has nothing to hide...

the problem is " the truth always hurt "...

It make me wonder too and why not have a fair election not some back room deals by the military? It would have prevented all the problems the last few years.

Someone is running very scared and it is not Thaksin. I personal do not care to me they are all the same.

Piracy is rampant in Thailand everything from CD's, clothing handbags you name it. If someone copies a thai product the shock horror who could possibly do this.

?

Just take a trip up to Mae Sai.............You name it they got it.

Interesting how all the cables and leaks are dirt about other countries, seems USA is as clean as they come.

Apparently you do not know how to read

Another good reason to limit the working practices and impose strict enforcements of the prohibited professions laws on foreigners in Thailand.

I find anyone seeking employment here have to be desperate people. Am I wrong? They don't pay a decent wage. They pay you in peanuts.

Bad luck Russia. Obviously America's bribes were bigger than yours.

OK, smart-ass, let's see your proof that the US bribed/coerced anyone to hand over Bout. Or are you just another one of the "Bash the US Because It's Fashionable and I Want To Be With the Cool Crowd of Ultra-Politically Correct/Nanny State Types"???

To bash Americans on Thaivisa has be fashionable for several years now.When I first joined it was not so.

The latest Wikileaks release is the best thing to happen to government transparency in many years.

Let's hope there are more of them.

So what is the big news. Those private dealings among the elite or should I say leaders has been going on since the beginning of mankind.

If anyone believes what they read in the news paper or get reported on TV or even most of what is posted here may as well believe in the Easter Bunny.