kropotkin

Back in about '95 I got stopped by the old bill outside the 'Made in Thailand' market in Pattaya. I'd pulled a major wheelie on my bike for some distance along second road.

They took me to the police station where I got off with a 100 baht fine for dangerous driving. Then congratulated me on a "good wheelie"

Another incident around the same time was speeding on my 1100cc Suzuki. Highway police nabbed me, but I got off with a promise to buy them some Marks & Spencers shampoo and shower gel from London. I never did of course.

Anyhow, most of the time now, if I get stopped I just give the knowing smile and discreetly hold the 100B note under the door sill of the wagon. Never be blatant as it's not good form to be seen taking a bribe even though they're happy and willing to do so (allegedly).

And to you blokes handing over 300, 400, 500 baht....what are you thinking? You're ruining it for the rest of us!

Can you refuse to pay the bribe? Yes of course. If you want to sit there and argue the toss for the next hour that is.

One occasion that springs to mind was four or five years ago. Riding the ped down central road, it'd been raining and PC copper rides past me just at the wrong time as I rode through a puddle and splashed his shiny booties. Blimey, I thought he was gonna lynch me!! He held his hand out demanding 1000B.......1000B? you must be mad.....Let's go to the station, I said. Of course he's having none of this and drops the price to 500B. No way I said, let's go to the station seeing at it's just over there. After much wailing and gnashing of teeth he waggled a finger at me and rode off. I didn't part with a bean.

Oh yeah, you can argue it out, and on a couple of other occasions when I've been feeling less than generous, I've put my foot down with a firm hand and got away with doing nothing wrong. But is it worth it?...sometimes.....usually not.

Yeah.

Right.

Corruption is fun.

Just a game, nothing wrong with it.

Silly poll question.

I have never bribed in my life, no.

But the police have extorted money from me, yes.

So my answer is ??????

This may sound like just another visa run/extortion story.

It is.

But there is a twist.

So maybe keep on reading.

Visa run to Ban Laem, touts operating under the eyes of thai immigration.

Nothing new.

Walked to khmer immigration.

Officer tells me that 20 dollar is price for longer stays, same day return is 1.100 baht.

Nothing new.

However, the smiling / grinning thief tells me that next time it will be only 1.000 baht.

Because thaksin is now boss, we friends.

Now who said asians do not have a sense of humour????????

PS..... stamp in my passport says 20 dollar......

Legitimate? If the judiciary were neutral, which they are not (yet), how could they defend dissolving the party with such a mandate from the people? Parliament is the law, and the people have chosen a new parliament haven't they?

No, the constitution is the law. If you are trying to say that the PT should not be subject to the constitution because a lot of people voted for them, then that would be called mob rule I think.

That being said, I can't believe the Democrats are doing this again. They may be justified in their complaint, but it seems the best thing for them to do at this point would be to grin and bear it and let the PT hang themselves with their own rope.

WARNING: do not post balanced posts.

You might end up like me, I was called an extremist for calling reds and yellows extremists.

The carmine gemmish poster who said this, thought i should not mention red and yellow in the same frase, because one color - i forget which one - was far worse then the other one.....

advanced member we all can see which side your coming from , why di you really wont to give the party another go , they lost no matter what , and having people like you on yr soap box don't help Thailand unless you are one of the rich !

You talking to me?

I agree its predictable. And if they're wrong they will FAIL. The courts are part of the democratic process in action. What you totally fail to grok is that IF YOU COMMIT ELECTORAL FRAUD YOU ARE DISQUALIFIED, even if you "win". It's like winning a gold medal but testing positive for steroids. To keep that gold medal you have win AND not get caught cheating.

I am shocked at how man otherwise intelligent people struggle with this simple concept.

And who does the disqualifying? The FIFA? euhhhhhh

Legitimate? If the judiciary were neutral, which they are not (yet),

What's your proof for that? They found Thaksin guilty so they can't possibly be neutral? They refused the 2 million baht bribe his lawyers offered on his behalf, so they must be biased?

or perhaps the Chidchob/Sunthep government offered more?

Can they not just appoint a new electorate?

I have been coming to Thailand for long enough, so I know the facts.

I also spent 5 years working in Saudi Arabia.

First of all it is NOT Thailand who blocks the Saudis from coming here. In fact it is the Saudi authorities who often refuse a Saudi the right to go to Thailand. They do this by trying to prevent the Thai consulate in Saudi Arabia from issueng visas to Saudi citizens for travel to Thailand. There is no prohibition on Saudi citizens coming to Thailand here in Thailand.

Secondly, in Saudi Arabia there is an active "religious police" for the purpose of keeping Saudis from straying off the path of their own strict and orthadox intepretation of Isalam. That includes discourageing young Saudi males who want to go to Thailand for the "bars. booze, and loose women" scene.

Many Saudis who come to Thailand first get a visa to another Asian country...Singapore or Malaysia are favorites...and then make a "detour" and stop-over in Thailand during their journey. Saudis can also easily drive across the causeway to Bahrain...and get a visa from the Thai consulate there for Thailand.

Now, as to what happened:

A wealthy Saudi had some of the jewelry in his house stolen...it was a group of the foriegn servents from Asia he had hired who were the culprits. At least one of them was a Thai. All the thieves fled the country.

The Saudi who had his jewelry stolen managed to trace the Thai theif to Thailand. He had influence, and was able to get the Thai police to arrest the thief, and recover some of the jewelry.

While the thief was in jail, some of the recovered jewelry was "lost" while in the possesion of the police.Shortly afterward the wife of a high ranking Thai police officer was seen wearing what was claimed to be a necklace with some of the jewels from the stolen jewelry at a dinner party here in Thailand. She claimed that the necklace was purchased here in Bangkok. This may have been true, apparently the thieves had removed the stones from the jewelry and had them remounted here in Thailand. So the woman may have bought the necklace without knowing the source of the jewels. At any rate, this caused a big problem between the Thai police and the Saudi government. For a period the Saudi authorities did stop Saudis from coming to Thailand, but that ban was later recinded. Now the Saudis just try to discourage the Thai consulate from issueing visa to saudi citizens...as I mentioned above.

If I recall correctly, all this started in the 1980's...not sure exactly when.

And another point. Many Thai bargirls do not like and will actively try to avoid any Saudis that come into the bar where the girls are working. I saw this with my own eyes. I was in a bar, early in the afternoon, before there were many customers. A group of 3 Saudi males entered, sat down and ordered drinks. They made obvious attempts to try to attract a group of bargirls without a "customer". The bargirls would not accept a drink from the Saudis, would not talk to them, and turned thier backs..litterly... on the Saudis. The Saudis realized they weren't wanted in that bar, quickly finished their drinks. and left. As they were leaving one of the bargirls made a rude jesture at the departing Saudis...basically the Thai equivlent of "giving them the finger".

At the time I was talking to another bargirl who I knew and I saw the whole thing occur. Since I had once worked in Saudi Arabia, and wanting to express my then general opinion of the Saudis I had known, I bought the bargirls who had rejected them each a drink. I made sure the mamasan who served them the drinks let them know why I had bought then a drink also.

That was some years ago now, and my then active dislike for Saudis has now simply turned to a more mild preference to simply avoid ever talking to them.

The full story would include gruesome murders....... Google!

Keep on posting... That keeps his name at the top of the topic list. I doubt if it is dissuading many people from checking his school out.

MSPain

I see your point.

And there is the expression "all publicity is good publicity".

But that expression goes back a loooooong time, people are generally much more educated and aware now.

Am I the only one that has the impression that the OP is not at all trying to beat inflation, but is rather bashing the new government?

Not that I take sides, but if you want to say something, say it, and do not disguise it.

Walen added me as a friend. I deleted the friendship.

Walen added me again as a friend. I deleted the friendship again.

Will this be a long and boring story?

For the sake of his students, I hope that Walen's schooladministration is in a better shape than his marketing.

But of course, you can study russian at that school, get an ED visa for that, and not risk that immigration will ever test your progress.

Walen, we spam.

I sent you a friend request, perhaps it was twice. If this bothers you so much just block and delete me. Simple solution. It was not meant to upset you. Also sending you a friend request is not spamming.

Shame on you Walen.

You just added me a THIRD time.

Fix your software AND your attitude.

Simple solution - if I may be so bold as to quote you.

Walen added me as a friend. I deleted the friendship.

Walen added me again as a friend. I deleted the friendship again.

Will this be a long and boring story?

For the sake of his students, I hope that Walen's schooladministration is in a better shape than his marketing.

But of course, you can study russian at that school, get an ED visa for that, and not risk that immigration will ever test your progress.

Walen, we spam.

ust to avoid misunderstandings, I was not talking to you but to Olav.

I hope my reply will not lead to new misunderstandings, I am NOT making a pass at you.

Thai joke (with Thai learn English)

A: You see girlfriend? yet?

B: Not yet!

A: Why not?

Thai always laugh

Olav, you need an ED visa for learning to tell jokes.

Surely Walen can help you.

Walen.......... only joking.....

Sorry, I do not want to get to know you.

We have that in common, at least...

Just to avoid misunderstandings, I was not talking to you but to Olav.

I hope my reply will not lead to new misunderstandings, I am NOT making a pass at you.

I know nobody in Thailand, Thai or foreigner who not commit one of 3 crimes.

Hanging out with the wrong crowd, perhaps??

Hey, perhaps you want to get to know me ?

Sorry, I do not want to get to know you.

Greek situation.

Military Dictatorship, revolte, than a little bit democracy, one time right wing, one time left wing. No essential change.

Now the "red gouvernment ( socialist) has to confront the red mob to resolve the economic crisis.

Phuai Thai Gouvernement confronts the same problem.

Economic problems cannot be resolved ( too many pigs on the trough).

PT can buy some Red Leaders, but not the criminels and and and .............

Next party of the reds is programmed.

I do not understand this post.

and euhhh...... is Thaksin a socialist? Or do you use "socialist" only as a swear word, like fachist or atheist or .....?

Atheist is not a swear word, it is a term of appreciation that someone has reached a stage of enlightenment where they no longer need to believe ancient myth. Ra, Thor, Zeus, and Jupiter are all long gone - just one more and you are there.

Neither atheist nor fascist are swear words.

Lungmi makes perfect sense.

Economic problems can not be solved with all the snouts feeding on limited resources.

Of course the this is window dressing to hold the proletariate in check,

the real goal is the oil and transport rights and infrastructure to western china in the coming decade.

We are seeing the end game of the same dance Thailand has now, in Greece at present.

The arab sporing revolts are what might have happened if Thaksin had solidified power after 2006

and then hit his later 70's and it all went bad.

The PTP's big problem is there are not enough sops to be had, to stave of the lower or more radical reds demands, and this will cause splintering of factions. Some want big gains for their small circles, others want whole sale restructuring of the national structures including the purges this means. Others are truly brainwashed zealots, whom some are trying to marginalize now that they are not needed, but will they just 'fade away'... not likely.

So Thaksins triangulation of forces has opened up pandors box. This is not going to be any easier to 'put back in the box' than it was when Weng and Thida were student zealots hiding in the jungles shooting at army helicopters. Their dream was revived by Thaksins needs for boots on the ground to back his Perception Management mass mind control plan.

It is rather ironic that they call Thida not radical enough. They have just managed to put a unreconstructed Communist / Socialist ideologue, and long winded speaker, into parliament to change from within... what more do they want.... Oh, maybe ask Jatuporn and Da Torpedo...

Meanwhile, in the US, comrade Obama ........

And since sarcasm is not understood at this hour of the day, may I add that I am being sarcastic again......????

In response to MaxYakov 's "wake-up call"

A broader range of courses IS allowed. They also have programs that finish .... (mostly) .. but you can study another language, cooking, etc etc etc .. but you can't study for years and years typically unless it is Thai .. or a degree program in a Uni.

You assumption that you can only study Thai is simply wrong.

Walen ...... russian course ...... immigration can not check your skills...... how about elementary school course....... loopholes ....... the good pay for the bad .......sigh!

Well, we seem to have successfully got to the nub of the issue, having divided ourselves fairly neatly between two schools of thought:

1. The Illegals

I can do what I want so long as it doesn't affect you.

2. The Legals

If you're here, play by the bloody rules!

I doubt this thread is going to get much further than this impasse, but please someone wake me up if it does.

I think you've summed it up perfectly.

What the "illegals" do, DOES affect the others.

Why do you think immigration tightens the rules for everybody? Because they are fed up with the "illegals"!

In this very tread Walen promoted its russian course as a way to get an ED.

Walen, loopholes for all.

Greek situation.

Military Dictatorship, revolte, than a little bit democracy, one time right wing, one time left wing. No essential change.

Now the "red gouvernment ( socialist) has to confront the red mob to resolve the economic crisis.

Phuai Thai Gouvernement confronts the same problem.

Economic problems cannot be resolved ( too many pigs on the trough).

PT can buy some Red Leaders, but not the criminels and and and .............

Next party of the reds is programmed.

I do not understand this post.

and euhhh...... is Thaksin a socialist? Or do you use "socialist" only as a swear word, like fachist or atheist or .....?

Atheist is not a swear word, it is a term of appreciation that someone has reached a stage of enlightenment where they no longer need to believe ancient myth. Ra, Thor, Zeus, and Jupiter are all long gone - just one more and you are there.

OK - my mistake - it is late, and therefore I should not use sarcasm.

By the way, I did not choose the nickname "Kropotkin" by coincidence.

Greek situation.

Military Dictatorship, revolte, than a little bit democracy, one time right wing, one time left wing. No essential change.

Now the "red gouvernment ( socialist) has to confront the red mob to resolve the economic crisis.

Phuai Thai Gouvernement confronts the same problem.

Economic problems cannot be resolved ( too many pigs on the trough).

PT can buy some Red Leaders, but not the criminels and and and .............

Next party of the reds is programmed.

I do not understand this post.

and euhhh...... is Thaksin a socialist? Or do you use "socialist" only as a swear word, like fachist or atheist or .....?

Bands of thieves, murderers and general scumbags forming the Pheu Thai. Like Thaksins mess's prior to the 2006 required coup to clean out the trash, it will only be a matter of time before this lot implode with their greed and in fighting, and the Army will be needed to clean them out again.

Starting to agree with a few other posters in perhaps the wisest thing the Democrats did was not win this election. Sadly though it will be Thailand as a whole that is going to go through the whole process to nowhere again with this Red scum.

Your subtlety is astonishing.

Behind it hides a great intellectual.

You may want to google "intellectual".

They don't want us here do they?

The feeling that I get from fellow Thais is that they really don't mind. In general they don't care enough to consciously not want you here, unless they personally know you to a complete and utter throbber.

Sometimes farang give Thai bureaucracy far too much credit. Taken at medium focus, Thai bureaucracy are not dim. There are some very sharp pencils in there but even with the best of intentions, there are so many competing / conficting priorities within the civil service that end-result is often somewhat cack-handed.

Mind you, I think this education visa crackdown is a fair cop. The 4-hour week requirement is quite a benign pisstake as it is. No need to take the piss!

That sums it up nicely.

To those talking about the phrase used by the Imm. officer. There are a million ways to respond to it. I am not going to butcher Thai using karaoke spelling but .. answers could have been as simple as.

It is the same all over the world.

sometimes the little fish get together and get the big fish

it reminds me of politics

(for those more literal minded people)

oh, how sad!

Why don't you separate the big fish from the small fish?

(for those that were lost by the metaphor)

I am sorry but I understand the words but not how you mean them.

Saves money on fish food?

I hope the little fish were inexpensive..... etc etc etc

The man in question had not been studying Thai for a few weeks or months ... this was his7th straight year on an Ed visa for Thai.

Or: So you have a Pieter Breugel De Oude here? can I see it?? Is it the original?

If some find learning Thai so hard what about learning Russian?

We have an Russian course that qualifies for ED visa for 3 years, yes, you do have to attend your classes at least twice a week for 2 lessons.

Some may question my fluency in Thai ( I can certainly improve ) but I am a fluent Russian speaker so I can take good care of your Russian learning needs.

Walen School - teaching Russian!

Truly amazing.

Bona fide students coming to thailand for studying russian.

Why not for an elementary school education - then let immigration try to test you.

One loophole closes (maybe) - an other one opens.

Walen school - opening loopholes.

No, you split half of what is acquired during the marriage. What both of you had before the marriage is left out of a divorce settlement.

assets in TH yes

assets outside TH, depends on which euro country marriage is registered, but in all Scandinavian countries she is entitled to 50% of all assets outside TH unless a prenup is entered and made valid in that country

But...... thai law will not give the foreigner half the land the couple owned in thailand.

Will the european courts then still split the european assets 50/50??