puntmeister

The guests should be accommodated and should pay the bill when they can access their funding

Have you had any in depth dealings with Russians, other than mild chance encounters?

Its pretty much a given that these tourists - and yes, they are victims of the bankrupt RUSSIAN tour company - would NEVER cough up a penny for the hotel bill.

Short of insurance policies and legitimate, functional legal processes limited to Wetern countries, the way this situation should be handled: The hotels muscle as much cash they can squeeze out of the Russian tourists, the Russian tourists in turn fight with the bankrupt Russian tour operator (they'll get nowhere, but that's a notch closer than the Thai hotels would get....)

That is terrible for them and even worse the Hotel refused them access to their own safe-boxes, can they do that?

I was staying in a hotel in Pattaya last May and there were mainly Chinese and Russians staying there. My wife had a friend who worked at the hotel and she told her that they hate the Russian tourists because they are unfriendly and mean, whilst the Chinese are friendly and generous. Apparently the Russians want everything for nothing and nothing about the hotel is ever good enough for them. Seems these stranded types will not be getting any special treatment if hotel staff feel this way about them.

I once stayed for a week in a resort hotel in a coastal town in Egypt - about 95% Russians in the hotel. The resort was easily 4 stars - rooms were about $30/night, including buffet breakfast, lunch, and dinner (a fairly extravagent buffet). The rooms/grounds were spotless. The Russians griped and griped and griped.

Now I, personally, have stayed in many hotels and apartments in Russia and Ukraine. For $30, you get to sleep under a bridge. For $100, you get a dingy room, a lumpy mattress, and a shower in the basement of the hotel ($5 extra fee for shower). 4 star hotels - only found in a couple major cities - ballpark, $400/night (and STILL no smiles from the staff!).

Russians aren't known for being fair and reasonable.

That is terrible for them and even worse the Hotel refused them access to their own safe-boxes, can they do that?

If you were the hotel owner and someone didn't pay his bill, what would you do?

And a devil just got his horns.

They are the victims, any hotel manager worth a salt would know this and allow access to their property and provide them with every convenience necessary until things are straightened out. And a bottle of vodka.

Well, the inherent problem is that, if the hotel doesn't fight for their room fees, then the hotels are the victims! Its a rough quagmire - either the Russian tourists get stiffed (by haveing to pay twice, since they already paid the tour operator for the hotel), or the hotel gets stiffed, as they never got paid.

I can assure you, if the tables were turned, and it were Thais (or any foreigner for that matter) in Russia - the hotels would collect their money! If you tried to call the Russian police for assistance, the only result would be that you'd be stuck paying off the police to leave you alone, in addition to paying the hotel's thugs to keep them giving you a beat-down.

I realize these tourists aren't to blame - but let's not for a second think the Russians would be the slightest bit compassionate if they were operating the hotels.

This story is so generalizing.

Their are some people in Thailand making huge money on this abuse of elephant, Save The Elephants bla bla bla. I have visited the elephant camps there are no baby elephants being ridden. Plain common sense tells me this story is BS. There could be a million reasons why people are killing the wild elephants.

Just about every elephant camp in northern Thailand has baby elephants. Mae Sa has two that are under a year old plus several others that are 1-4 years old. The elephant camp in Mae Win has two that look about 2 years old. Even the Chiang Mai zoo has young elephants.

If there are "a million reasons why people are killing the wild elephants", and selling the ivory is not one of them, how about giving us just one or two other reasons.

That's right almost every elephant camp has baby elephants, but not from the wild. Because they have baby elephants means that elephants were killed? Get real! They may have been killed because they were encroaching on some agriculture land. Who knows? The point is to blame the elephant camps for being the problem I would argue that the elephant camps are a great way to keep the elephants employed and off the streets and from logging work. Elephants are a migratory animal in the wild. Domesticated elephants rely on humans for food period. People forget that the elephant handlers love their elephants as well as being a part of a unique culture. Sad that the elephants were killed, and the persons responsible are to blame period not tourist who visit elephant camps like the article suggest. The Does work for you?

So long as the elephant camps aren't knowingly buying wild elephant calves, then they aren't to blame (though its kinda hard to imagine they could be duped in this process). And yes, the camps are a good idea - but only insomuch as they do NOT poach wild elephants in order to supply their herds.

How is it you know that the baby elephants in the camps are not from the wild?

The author of this article sounds credible - and its sounds like he has done plenty of first hand research. I am open to hearing opposing arguments, if they offer equally credible evidence.

This story is so generalizing.

Their are some people in Thailand making huge money on this abuse of elephant, Save The Elephants bla bla bla. I have visited the elephant camps there are no baby elephants being ridden. Plain common sense tells me this story is BS. There could be a million reasons why people are killing the wild elephants.

Wow, such a confused, thoughtless post. No, no one is riding the baby elephants - but, you know, for an elephant to become an adult - it must first be a baby. Where are the camps getting the adult elephants from?

There are actually only a handful of reasons why anyone would kill a wild elephant - and none of them good, short of, "I was taking a stroll through the forest when, out of nowhere, a wild elephant tried to trample me, so I whipped out my elephant gun and shot it in self defense"

The Thai culture is totally different from the Western culture. They are mainly Buddhists and believe in karma, everyone eventually gets what he/she deserves and "shit happens", too. Look how many of them wear helmets. Mai pen rai.

If you come to Thailand and stay for a while you have to accept that or get lost. Actually I like that attitude more than the Western one, that's why I keep coming back. If you focus on the bad possibilites too much you will only make your life miserable and still not be able to avoid your accidents.

Just my 2 cents.

There are certainly more annoying people than the Thais - their free-loving attitude is pleasant to be around.

However, their 'mai pen rai' attitude has its consequences - ones that are perfectly avoidable, 100% human caused disasters.

Riding around without a helmet is one thing - riding with a an infant on a motorcyle is another. Riding with an infant, at night, with no headlights, the wrong way down a highway is yet another (sounds far fetched - but anyone who has lived in Thailand for a bit has seen this kind of thing....its all too common, really).

A free-loving, easy going attitude is great. Blatantly irresponsible behavior isn't.

"The detained man told police about the Hezbollah plot."

If there was a Hezbollah plot, involving Thailand, how does that make a statement that Bangkok is a POTENTIAL target alarmist non-sense scare tactics.

What WAS the plot?

Exactly. The US wasn't scare mongering - they were giving a warning about a very real threat.

Although it is unfortunate such a warning may negatively impact tourism, its not the US embassies job to boost the Thai tourist industry - their job, first and foremost, is to aid and protect US citizens.

In any event - the core problem isn't the warning - its the plot itself. Thailand needs to stop blaming the US, and refocus efforts on weeding out all of the unsavoury characters roaming Thailand (meanwhile - they go out of their way to make things difficult for benign retired pensioners).

For those looking for more specifics: ask the terrorists. Its unlikely the US officials have any more specifics - if they knew who, when, and where - well, they'd probably be able to nab the terrorists, now wouldn't they? And the US is not shy about snatching suspected terrorists off the streets.

As to whether or not the threat is even crebible: I find it highly unlikely the US embassy would have issued this warning if they did not have credible reason to believe it to be true. Considering the fairly amenable relationship between the US and Thai governments, the already dismal situation in Thailand (and Bangkok in specific) due to the recent floods, and Thailand's reliance on tourism as a major component of their GDP, I find it hard to believe the US would issue a warning which could negatively impact tourism (with or without an actual terrorist event) unless the threat were real, and substantial.

That said - let's all hope the threat, whether legitimate or not, does NOT come to fruition. Its the last thing Thailand needs right now.

My plan going forward:

Wipe off all the numbers. Enter a code. Then apply grease to 4 numbers I did NOT use. Fingerprint the 4 unused numbers.

Not only would the would-be-thief not be able to crack the code, they would get thoroughly frustrated as well!

China is the 900 lb gorilla sitting in the corner of the meeting room, that no one appears to notice - but they all know it's the premier power player.

China intentially didn't sign on to the Mekong River Commission, because it want to do what it wants (dam all the headwaters) with no interference.

The SE Asian talking heads (along with Chinese absentee experts) are neophytes when it comes to environmental concerns. It would be like convening a group of Sudanese high schoolers to discuss how to safeguard ancient Korean manuscripts. They're just out of their league. Their horizons are papered with dollar signs - that's their God.

Unfortunately, I think you are just about right.

I suspect the dam will go ahead - Laos could care less about any damage to the health of the Mekong, and Thailand is about as ambivalent. Vietnam and Cambodia, the major opponents, don't have enough political muscle to stop it. So, it will likely proceed, and the consequences will outweigh the benefits by many many catfish.

They should have done this long ago, no country should deprive their citizens from their nationality , ID or passport cuz governments easily could use this as a political weapon , that's why i don't understand how so many countries call themselves democracies and still they have this kind of laws. :jap:

No... it must be very undemocratic to cancel the passports of convicted felons.

it doesn't matter if you have been convicted or not your government should have no authority to cancel your passport, even if you are convicted , if you are convicted they should prevent you from leaving the country, an if you still can run away then they should use Interpol or something , but they should not touch you citizenship at all and i say this not cuz i support Thaksin i say it just cuz is my view and in particular case of K. Thaksin there is a lot of political motivated s... involved

To my knowledge, revoking someone's passport doesn't equate to revoking their citizenship. The sole reason they cancel passports for felons is to prevent them from leaving the country. Its very tough to prevent someone's departure if they still have their passport.

As posted on the "global drive to help tourist industry" , thailand is more expensive than many europen countries especially as far as food is concerned, and i just cant understand why local fruit is so expensive, bananas and melons are cheaper in the uk,as are many other fruits , when taking into account the wage differences , thai fruit is about 400% more expensive, if it was'nt a hot country and had heating bills to contend with it would be impossible for most thais to exist, even if it was only cool in the evenings as with many other hot countries.......... chicken, eggs, pork ,are about the same,... so is beef of poor quality , biscuits, cake , spagetti ,quality lettuce, potatoes,coffee ,milk ,all more expensive here, and so are clothes, its a myth that they are cheaper here, they maybe about the same but usually of poorer quality , try buying branded trainers here, or sandals , they are double the price, i bought reebok classics, and slazenger sandals before my return this time at 1,200B, and 250B ,...... try getting them here for anywhere near that price, another poster says cans of beer @ tesco for 459B ? ........so are 15 cans of stella or carlsberge export in the UK...................... ..THAILAND IS EXPENSIVE !

In many ways, I would agree with you. It is a bit of an illusion that Thailand is cheap. The illusion mainly stems from the cost of street food: For 30 baht, you can eat a decent stir-fried lunch. Not really possible to eat lunch for under a Euro anywhere in Europe, or for $1 in the US.

Rent is generally cheap as well - but, then again, secondary cities in the US tend to be about as cheap. No, you can't find an apartment for $100/month - but none of them are 150 square feet either...On a PSF basis, cost is equal, or cheaper, in the US. Perhaps not so for Europe.

Beyond that, most everything else is more expensive in Thailand. And if you want your kids to have decent education and healthcare - well, you had better be filthy rich.

"The condition is set that to receive 1 egg, residents must retrieve 20 clean styrofoam packages, 10 plastic-bottled with caps, and 20 boxes of milk."

That's a lot of trash for ONE egg!

Rewarding by weight of recyclables gathered might be a better idea. Imagine if you collected 150 styrofoam packages, 80 plastic bottles, and 15 boxes of milk. You still wouldn't qualify for a single egg.

Yeah, the overall theory behind the plan is good. But the details are flawed. Why limit the payment for collection of styrofoam packages, plastic bottles, and milk boxes? What about all the other trash?

This really isn't fair to the rest of the trash. If I were a soda can, I'd be miffed.

While part of this disaster is due to human error, the climate is actually getting warmer, and it's easily measurable by looking at sea temperatures. Even very small increases have large consequences like melting polar ice and increased rainfall. This year's rainfall in Thailand is nothing unique, but part of a general trend. Anyone who can read a chart will realise that very quickly, but let me remind you also that the central province of Thailand have been seriously flooded for 5-6 years now. Unfortunately, it took a situation where Bangkok was threatened for it to make newspaper headlines.

As for the reasons for the warming, that's another discussion...

Actually, according to the very recent BEST (Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature) study, temperatures have not risen in over a decade. (note - of course the spin from these studies was the usual appocalyptic hyperbole but you can't deny the statistics which are laid bare)

Also, last year Prof Jones of the infamous 'Climategate' scandal admitted that there had been no warming since 1998.

These are not skeptics, these are full blooded warmists using fudged warmist data and they still can't find warming.

... but the sea temperatures have, and when it comes to rainfall, that's one of the deciding factors.

Another thing to consider is that, even though average temperatures may not have risen, many areas of the globe have seen changes to the extremes, warm as well as cold, which has been one of the predictions of moderate climate scientists. And while there's more rainfall and flooding, there's also more drought, which, if I've understood things correctly (not always the case), was one of the reasons for the gamble with water levels in the reservoirs here in Thailand this year.

You are wasting your time arguing with the global warming skeptics. It isn't about science for them, its about religion. The right-wing Republican party told them not to believe in climate change, so they don't. Its that simple. Some of the more energetic amongst them will go out of their way to find any scrap of information which seemingly contradicts global warming, most just go on (bad) faith.

While I could proceed to provide evidence global warming is real, it would be a waste of time - those who understand global warming have already read/seen enough, I have no new first-hand evidence to offer them. Those indoctrinated to believe it is all a conspiracy - no evidence will convince them otherwise.

Unfortunately for Thailand, the tropics and sub-tropics will bear the brunt of the inevitable climate extremes. In absurd twisted tragedy, the United States (epicenter of global warming skepticism, and largest contributor to green-house gas emissions) will be one of the least affected nations. (I can say this without being an America basher, as I myself am American, and also recognize that the US is, in other aspects, in the forefront of documenting and recognizing the dangers of climate change).

When I look back at when I was just a tourist considering my first visit to Thailand, I realize that your average first time or even repeat tourist probably doesn't care much about any of the local problems (cultural or otherwise).

I came here, and before I could even leave the airport, I was scammed by the approximate 100 USD BMW 7-series 'taxi'. You know, I should have been more cautious, but it didn't matter to me because I had money and it was 'part of the experience' of going to a third world country.

Now that I live here, I hate this aspect of the culture, but I doubt average tourists will be affected by this unless their safety is threatened in large enough numbers and, most importantly, unless major traditional and new media outlets report on it.

I mean, people from the US STILL goto Mexican resorts in fairly high numbers even with their civil drug war affecting much of that nation.

So, sadly, Thailand will probably not change much because the equation is not much affected by the many unscrupulous people here who prey on foreign tourists ...

I live here too and, although the Thai mentality is frustrating and annoying, Thailand is still a relatively ideal vacation spot. If the worst that happens to you is you pay $100 for a taxi ride in a BMW 7-series, then things aren't so bad. (May not have even been a ripoff. How far was the ride? Bear in mind, that car probably costs $100k+ in Thailand, gotta recoup serious capital cost). I've lived in Thailand for roughly 3 years, and never been ripped off a single time - it is surpising, actually, but Thais rarely 'double price'. Yes, there are exceptions - the jetskis are a major 'avoid'.

Like you say, consider Mexico, where the worst that happens to you is that you end up riddled with bullets, caught in the crossfire of a devastating drug war. The first time that I went to Mexico (for a whopping 3 days) I was robbed - by the police - long story, but, either I hand over all my cash, or be hauled to jail for cocaine posession - cocaine which I didn't posess, the police did.....

That said, Mexican tourism IS suffering. Check out Rocky Point - once a major destination for weekend travellers from Phoenix area. Now dead. Completely. (although new passport requirement, and collapsed Phoenix economy, are equally strong contributors).

$100,000+ for a 7 series beemer? Guy I know paid 15 million baht for his M6, which at the time was $469,000.

Which would make a $100 ride in sed car a rather good deal....

When I look back at when I was just a tourist considering my first visit to Thailand, I realize that your average first time or even repeat tourist probably doesn't care much about any of the local problems (cultural or otherwise).

I came here, and before I could even leave the airport, I was scammed by the approximate 100 USD BMW 7-series 'taxi'. You know, I should have been more cautious, but it didn't matter to me because I had money and it was 'part of the experience' of going to a third world country.

Now that I live here, I hate this aspect of the culture, but I doubt average tourists will be affected by this unless their safety is threatened in large enough numbers and, most importantly, unless major traditional and new media outlets report on it.

I mean, people from the US STILL goto Mexican resorts in fairly high numbers even with their civil drug war affecting much of that nation.

So, sadly, Thailand will probably not change much because the equation is not much affected by the many unscrupulous people here who prey on foreign tourists ...

I live here too and, although the Thai mentality is frustrating and annoying, Thailand is still a relatively ideal vacation spot. If the worst that happens to you is you pay $100 for a taxi ride in a BMW 7-series, then things aren't so bad. (May not have even been a ripoff. How far was the ride? Bear in mind, that car probably costs $100k+ in Thailand, gotta recoup serious capital cost). I've lived in Thailand for roughly 3 years, and never been ripped off a single time - it is surpising, actually, but Thais rarely 'double price'. Yes, there are exceptions - the jetskis are a major 'avoid'.

Like you say, consider Mexico, where the worst that happens to you is that you end up riddled with bullets, caught in the crossfire of a devastating drug war. The first time that I went to Mexico (for a whopping 3 days) I was robbed - by the police - long story, but, either I hand over all my cash, or be hauled to jail for cocaine posession - cocaine which I didn't posess, the police did.....

That said, Mexican tourism IS suffering. Check out Rocky Point - once a major destination for weekend travellers from Phoenix area. Now dead. Completely. (although new passport requirement, and collapsed Phoenix economy, are equally strong contributors).

Although global warming will certainly exacerbate the flooding problems in Thailand progressively in the future, to suggest Thailand can counteract this by promoting alternative energy within its borders is a bit naive, at best.

I'm all for all countries making an effort to curb GHG's, but Thailand's contribution to this effort won't have much impact, one way or another.

Rather, Thailand needs to accept that global warming is real, its going to get worse, and the flooding will get worse - so they need to find direct solutions to the problem of flooding.

I'm no expert on the subject, so I won't offer definitive solutions - but, they need to focus on where they build, and how they manage the inevitably heavy rains.

#1: Reforestation of key areas. Trees absorb massive amounts of water.

#2 Curb development in natural wetlands/floodzones (largely too late, but, via tax policy, can actually enourage relocation out of floodplanes).

#3 Design and build a system of flood water management (retention and flow).

#4 Educate and equip the most vulnerable people in the event of floods (disease prevention, water filtration systems, swimming lessons....).

There must be some water experts here but it is doubtful they are the most expert in the world in that particular field. However they will be sure to have 'local knowledge' which would be necessary and useful to interlace with any solution. it is doubtful that any Thai can set aside his ego to work alongside the, (to their mind), inferior foreigner and actually give any value to the knowledge the more savvy foreigner might be willing to share. Xenophobia in this country holds it back dramatically. Unfortunately Thais do not appreciate how scant their real understanding and knowledge is in so many areas. (How can they understand properly until they experience and learn deeply rather than just learn and copy solutions without sufficient deep and real understanding of the underlying principles). Unfortunately Thais, on the whole, learn rather shallowly and since this is all they experience, cannot begin to understand the whole picture. Hence the whole way business and the country is run is rather immature, concentrating more on personal gain (financial and egocentric) rather than benefit to the whole.

Any water management plan has to be comprehensive and must of course consider all aspects including the effect on local bio-systems and the full ramifications of any solution. Social implications might include the effect on local farmers or communities which might lose a water supply or get in the way of the proposed route of some new watercourse. Obviously any plan has to consider those issues but in any advanced society there is an understanding of the greater good and it is certain any competent expert will be well aware of most of those issues and if not local would be open to learn the intricacies of the problems here in order to integrate them with the solution..

Will anything concrete be done about this problem? Thailand should expect a thorough and competent examination of the issues and a well thought out effective solution dealing with the expected worst case scenario together with a solid disaster plan should the actual worst case exceed the expected. I don't think the mentality of the people in power will provide that. It involves planning and a long term view - neither of which seem to be particular strong points of the average Thai psyche - come to that even the above average have difficulty. Worse than that would be using the flooding as a mask or excuse for usurping the national funds by kickbacks from the contracts that will inevitably be borne of the solutions that will be picked on the basis of graft rather than effectiveness.

The Dutch obviously want to get in to get the contracts before other countries but will it be the best solution for the country or the solution that provides the most kickbacks that become adopted?

I feel so sad for Thailand struggling with out of control corruption everywhere and scant effort to even bring it under control let alone reduce it. So sad.

Your point is well taken. Thailand needs to get serious about fighting corruption, or it's glory days are behind it. Most other countries in the region are making a serious effort to fight corruption (good examples being the chinese developer who was sentenced to death last week) with real anti corruption committees in Malaysia arresting officials weekly, and bringing them to justice, anti-corruption activists like Anna Haraze in India, major battles against corruption in Indonesia, and other efforts being made throughout the region. Thailand is left way behind in all of this, as they do not even have an anti-corruption committee, to any real degree. The fight never started. Zero effort is being made. The Thai government has not even had the courage to admit how much of a problem all the corruption causes. So, the battle against the flooding is going to have to wait. Perhaps many, many years of this kind of tragedy, before they push aside the robber barons, and greedmeisters, who helped all this to happen.

Seemingly off topic, corruption is a central element to the challenge ahead.

In that light, I offer a past conversation I once had with a Russian (back in my more naive days). Russia, of course, also suffers from intense corruption. Key to the 'success' of corruption in any country is for the police force itself to be corrupt - indeed, the Russian police force is fiercely corrupt. The conversation:

Me: "Why don't they just fire all the police, and start over?"

Russian: "And hire who in their place? All Russians are corrupt."

I already see ministers from France and Belgium visiting Holland and tell us how to handle coffee shops (this is where you buy soft drugs in Holland which is legal)

Do you think we - The Dutch - would follow up their recommendation(s)?

We will listen to them, look at their proposal, put in in a drawer and lock it - thank you very much for you opinion!

Same in Thailand, same as anywhere else in the world, don't tell us what to do, we know better.....

Cloggie

Not very analagous. The French and Belgians give 'recommendations' as to how deal with coffee shops, not as a means of improving health or safety in the Netherlands, but because they want to stop the flow of drugs into France and Belgium.

More analagous is the 'aid' the US gives to Colombia to stamp out cocaine production.

a rivers and klongs having limited capacities and when these are exceeded lives are lost and industries ruined.

"no, Tirak, you don't understand. This is Thailand. It is different here. Not same same falang land".

Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said on the second and last day of the joint House-Senate debate that he was not seeking to politically exploit the flood crisis or seek to undo the Yingluck Shinawatra administration for the meantime.

Whilst I do have a good amount of respect for Abhisit, I wonder if someone who understands his MO better than I can explain the apparent disparity between his reported 'vow' of the OP and the Nation article entitled:

Abhisit backs group set to sue the govt

which can be found on this page:

http://www.thaivisa....is/page__st__25

This article is about suing the gov for mismanagement of the floods. So what's going on?

Cheers!

Big mistake on his part, chiming in on the lawsuit.

Personally, I'm all for the lawsuit, but not for partisan political reasons. I can chime in, as my opinion counts not at all.

Abhisit grossly misunderstands his own hypocrisy - stating the disaster shouldn't be politicised, yet jumping behind a lawsuit suing the government while the flood waters are still raging.

And if the elections were to have been held when they were actually due, which was this month November, it would be Abhisits dems who would be getting the flack and heading for an even bigger defeat then they actually had.

Unless of course anyone is naive enough to think the dems would have coped with it better?

Perhaps Abhisit was aware of the coming flooding, bit like Noah, that was to cause chaos in Thailand and arranged the elections accordingly.

This sounds closer to the truth...

BTW- I wonder if we'll ever know who gave the order to the folks (still in their same Dem seats after elections) in charge of the dams? That is the 2 trillion baht question.....

According to the article, the Ministry of Agriculture made the decision to hold back the water, so as to allow farmers downstream to finish harvesting.

Only thing is - the need to limit the release of water would occur every year. Yet, per charts I have seen, less than average amounts of water were discharged (prior to the heavy rains). Still no entirely clear explanation for that.

Puntmeister,

I suppose I should have underlined the word "who" in my second to last sentence to put a bit of emphasis on it... and yes still no clear explanation. Why would the Agriculture Minister want to become a martyr and very disliked? Very "unThai" if you ask me.....

Well, as you allude to, the article actually states it was the minister, not the ministry - thus, in theory, the actual miniser is admitting blame. I wouldn't just go on this article alone, though.

It would make sense, and it is perfectly plausible, that it was indeed the agricultural minister. I know that doesn't fit into any conspiracy theories, but its likely the truth.

As to why he would admit to it? Who knows. I don't know him well enough (at all, really) to know how responsible he is. Yes, I get it - most Thais are irresponsible. But, then again, most Thais aren't departmental ministers either. Perhaps he is a more honest, responsible type than the average. Perhaps the evidence was overwhelming. Or perhaps (fititing with potential conspiracy theory) he was pressured into it.

And if the elections were to have been held when they were actually due, which was this month November, it would be Abhisits dems who would be getting the flack and heading for an even bigger defeat then they actually had.

Unless of course anyone is naive enough to think the dems would have coped with it better?

Perhaps Abhisit was aware of the coming flooding, bit like Noah, that was to cause chaos in Thailand and arranged the elections accordingly.

This sounds closer to the truth...

BTW- I wonder if we'll ever know who gave the order to the folks (still in their same Dem seats after elections) in charge of the dams? That is the 2 trillion baht question.....

According to the article, the Ministry of Agriculture made the decision to hold back the water, so as to allow farmers downstream to finish harvesting.

Only thing is - the need to limit the release of water would occur every year. Yet, per charts I have seen, less than average amounts of water were discharged (prior to the heavy rains). Still no entirely clear explanation for that.

Robbery is robbery, no matter where or how, and needs to be dealt with accordingly.

Profiteering - or any form of unacceptable business practice - on the other hand, is most effectively dealt with by the customer. Thais, for years, tended to accept what they were given without complaint - call it saving face; call it saving the other's face. Who knows? - but that is changing. As has been demonstrated many times before, customers can impact a business positively, or negatively. If customers were to boycott the boat operators, and other businesses that have engaged in profiteering, how long do you suppose it would take for those con artists to recognises the error of their ways? With their excess profits receding with the floodwaters. Their normal profits plummeting. Jobs threatened. Not very long. Moreover, it is unlikely it will occur again.

But it cannot work without the customers taking their stand and putting up with some temporary inconveniences.

Thankfully, I'm not in a flooded zone myself, BUT, I do see where it might be a bit tricky to boycott boat operators - at least for those people trapped in the floods...

That's the whole gripe here - the boat operators taking advantage of disaster struck individuals with little or no choice but to accept their extortionary ways.