Tarragona

Toxin has once again outsmarted the opposition. He has basically given them what they wanted and now there is no one in the wings who can beat him in a new election. I think he will be around for a LONG time to come. Between now and April the opposition has to come up with a viable candidate. I don't see that happening.

Don't confuse the demonstration leaders with the political opposition. The main opposition party is the Democrats. They have a leader, Abhisit Vejjajiva. He was once the darling of the Bangkok middle classes and seen as a very capable young man destined for the top job. His performance as leader has probably been disappointing to many and the Democrats have not really taken a visible role against the PM. He would be the most obvious political alternative to Thaksin.

In Thailand parties can spring up overnight over a certain issue, only to disappear just as quickly shortly afterwards. I don't know if it's possible for a new party to be formed by the anti-Thaksin allies or whether they would be united enough to get anywhere. It would probably be better for them to put their collective weight behind the Democrats to try and dislodge the PM. A tough job, I think.

In Thailand, Lese Majeste has most commonly been used as a pretext to deal with political opponents and HRH has issued pardons to sort things out. I also seem to remember reading that the penalties have been made harsher in relatively recent times. I think these are the cases HRH wishes to avoid.

If the young man was indeed insulting he deserves whatever he gets, though I doubt he'll do any time.

When the new constitution was being pushed for, a colleague put a large sticker supporting constitutional reform on my bag. It made the wife nervous but I didn't remove it. One morning on the songtaew I used to take to work, I was given a bit of a lecture by a fellow passenger, who I know worked in local government, about how inappropriate it was. We were already on nodding terms and she went about this in quite a friendly way and we remained on nodding terms afterwards (with the sticker still on the bag).

If you were wearing an anti-Thaksin badge I'm sure some people would notice. Most wouldn't say anything but you might get some comments directed towards you. How would you respond if someone asked you to remove it?

Chamlong holds great respect, no just among Bangkok's disenchanted middle-class, but also more importantly, among ordinary folk up-country.

I don't think that's quite right. Chamlong never really connected with ordinary country folk and so could n't expand his political base outside Bangkok. Also, the suggestion put around by certain parties that he was partly to blame for the bloodshed in 1992 damaged his standing.

Just lost that record about not beating the Mancs in the FA Cup for 85 years or whatever. That'll do la.

I fully agree that a 12 year old cannot give consent,it is not condoned.But what I was refering too was the term RAPE was used.which was not the case.Another case of reporting on hearsay without the full facts.

I'd call it rape - whether the 12 year old 'consented' or not is irrelevant to the use of the expression in this case.

1/ 12 year old girl gets raped,we all jumped on the bandwagon , but did the article saying that it was consensual get much publicity?

I know SJ has commented on this already, but the mind boggles at the suggestion that it might not really have been rape because a 12-year old gave her consent!

The traditional sideshows at the temple fairs. When I first visited the annual Chedi Fair in Paknam (about 15 years ago) you could still throw a ball at the target to dunk a girl in the water. It seemed to be one of the most popular attractions too but just disappeared completely a few years ago.

It costs about 1,300 baht / flight with Thai.

We farangs might found ourselves in a very dangerous situation if Taxin must leave. The guy is bad but so is the other side.

There isn't really another side here though, not in terms of a party that will win seats and have a chance of being in government after the election. Sondhi makes a lot of people nervous and he seems to be getting the message on this. I don't think a political party in which he had a significant role would do very well.

I didn't watch much of yesterday's event but last week it was a bit disturbing to hear some of the speakers, including Sondhi. They actually presented very little in the way of substance. They really need to focus on getting across to the public exactly what Thaksin has done wrong.

If I was Thaksin I'd be tempted to call an election - he could still find himself with a democratic mandate, even at this stage.

but they rarely seem to say please or thankyou.

from tone , body language and "ka /krab" words can imply to be "please /thank you"

example

Chauy yib num hai keaw neung na ka

ช่วยหยิบน้ำให้แก้วหนึ่งนะค่ะ

even no exacly "please" word in this Thai sentence, but when translate in eng , it will be ..

"please give me a glass of water"

after someone give me a glass of water, i node my head, and smile (it means Thank you..even i dont say the word"thank you") , ( but use for people who is younger than me)

I think the use of ช่วย in a Thai request is often worth a 'please' in an English translation?

If you're working here and paying your taxes then you automatically get the Thai equivalent of National Insurance, what they call "Baghan Sang Kom". This covers all medical expenses at any government hospital in the country.

This is just 1,500 Baht a month, however true to Thai policy for exactley the same service Thais only pay 200 Baht...!!!

Social Insurance is a different payment to tax. They're always shown separately on my slips. The amount you pay is related to the amount you earn and the maximum employee contribution is 750 baht per month. I guess the employer's contribution makes it 1500 baht ? It's no different for Thais.

I reckon that for every concerned Thai citizen that actually turns up at Lumpini each week, there are many, many others who for whatever reasons: apathy, fear, employment etc. etc. who don't show, but are just as enthusiastic and supportive of Sondhi as those present.

I believe there are also many who might get behind a focused campaign on definite issues but are not prepared to follow Sondhi wherever he may take them. It seems to be more of a personal vendetta to him. "One dog fighting another dog" as a well-educated Thaksin-hating Thai colleague put it.

I heard on the radio this morning not long after the accident happened that the back of the pickup was fitted to hold the passengers "double decker" style. The driver apparently survived with a broken leg and a very small child travelling in the cab escaped without injury.

In the case of a minor travelling to the UK alone who should be present to submit the application? My wife and I have been together for about 18 years but never registered the marriage. My daughter is 13 and has my surname and a Thai passport. She would be staying with her grandmother during her summer holidays (March-April). Her only previous visit to the UK was when she was 2 when we all went. Should both my wife and I go to make the application? As we're not officially married, will my wife need to submit some kind of formal permission agreeing to the visit?

All help appreciated.

Nothing in politics is stagnant... "Strong support" can change swiftly. His plummeting approval ratings attest to that.

That is true. Low popularity ratings, though, don't necessarily have to translate to people on the streets trying to bring down the government.

I think Thaksin is safe unless his own MPs begin to jump ship. Or unless the campaigners can come up with one big issue for the public to focus on, rather than the drip-drip of allegations that have been responsible for his current fall from favour.

I've recently bought a Toyota and the financing was done through Tanachat. They preferred it to be in my name with my wife as guarantor (I'm working, with WP, while the wife is a housewife but owns the property).

with3.000 people it,s still an unusual situation,

if it was widely reported then it could gather pace,

how many more people are disgruntled but do not know of these activities and when they are organized

Sondhi's activities have been quite well-reported and publicised over the last few weeks. The Friday gatherings are a regular thing. I can't help feeling a bit suspicious of Sondhi's motives and, taking the cynical view, it could be suggested that this latest action is an attempt to put some life back into a campaign which seemed to be losing steam. Bringing hidden facts about the PM's administration to light is certainly worthy of praise and I think it's already doing a decent job of opening people's eyes - but I'm not sure that the wider population, especially outside Bangkok's middle classes, will see the need to provoke conflict.

The rally brought back the memory of the beginning of the antigovernment protest in 1992 that culminated in the collapse of the military government headed by strongman Suchinda Kraprayoon.

That's really quite shoddy reporting. It's not like that situation at all - there is nothing like the huge groundswell of public opinion there was at that time and Suchinda hadn't been elected into office.

What is a responsible media supposed to do? Come on down and help us have a riot? I don't think so.

Of course they shouldn't tell people to come and riot, but you said it, "a responsible media" should be reporting a significant domestic political event in a responsible manner, explaining who is involved, what they are trying to achieve and why.

Do some searches and you'll find companies offering freelance work over the Net. As long as the arrangements for receiving your payments suit your situation this is a good way to work.

Also has there been any numbers crunched as to what percent of the population does vote. 

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I think turnout figures are usually given following elections.

Green street is the biggest pile of toss i've ever seen. 

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I'd have to agree with that. Never mind the accents or the acting, the whole story was just so far from reality.

I read this article recently about the attraction of Green Street to Americans and their own sports hooligans - never knew about any of that before:

Blinkered America is already among the thugs

If you can read Thai and you love history, but not necessarily from a textbook perspective, then

นิทานโบราณคดี by

สมเด็จเจ้าบรมวงศ์เธอ กรมพระยาดำรงราชานุภาพ

is wonderful. One of my all-time favourites in any language.

They've turned themselves in - that could mean they've got connections and are confident of getting away with this.

I've known a couple of guys who've tried this kind of thing. One went the language school route and this required a lot more contact with the MoE, approval of curriculum etc. The other was more interested in in-company contracts and set up a company with just an office at home. There was no school and this made things simpler. The first guy didn't last very long; the second did OK for a while but in the end there were still hassles (some along the lines of those mentioned above by Steven) and he went back to the States.

Answers to the questions:

1. Yes

2. None that are obvious.

3. None that I know of.

From what I've personally seen, I'd guess that many companies feel they get very little return. They often have very high expectations but go for the very cheapest options. There's a lot of competition at the lower end of the price range and that of course often ends up being reflected in the quality of the teachers sent out to teach the courses.

4. See Steven's answer - and I think it also depends whether there is actually a school or not.

You'll have almost no chance at Alliance Francaise without qualifications and you'd need good qualifications to get a full-time job there.