Wavefloater

(Since there's a very small limit on how many quotes can be nested here, we'll have continue this way.)

I said:

Well. we can all "bet" on information, which of course is unproven speculation, but why don't you gather your facts before insulting people or their posts.

If indeed the UK population is in the habit of stabbing each other to death over pretty incidents and the over-zealous importance of losing face in petty situations, that's very sad, but please provide the FACTS to back up your insult.

Then Possum91 said:

When I lived in the UK, you could hardly read a newspaper without reports of a stabbing, Thais are more likely to attack you at odds of about six to one, but 99% of the time it is because they have been provoked in some way, often through drunkiness. If you want FACTS, you will have to read UK newspapers.

Now I say:

You have still have not provided any facts, and nobody has supported your posts. Are you ever going to actually defend your statements with facts? And I don't have to read the newspaper because I'm not the one trying to convince people that my opinions are the same as facts.

The venomous hatred spouted against Yingluck on every thread where she gets a mere mention only expose the bitterness and insecurities that taint the expat community, especially towards Thai females.

I am of the opinion that if she is so deeply unpopular with the expat community then she, much like Thaksin before her, must be doing something right.

Another poster called her "out of touch", another more appropriate phrase to describe the political savvy of the vast majority of expatriates you could not find.

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I'm always perplexed why people love and revere this woman so much when her role of PM is nothing more than a joke. Would she be in office if Thaksin wasn't her big brother? Of course not! Hasn't Thaksin made it VERY clear that he's the one actually running the show? Of course he has!

When she flaunts herself as being the one who's running (or is that ruining?) the country, it's offensive, so for me, it's nothing to do with her gender. If it was Thaksin's little brother pretending to be a big shot, I'd be just as offended.

you must be xxx joking right? eeven the thought of this government maybe doing something for thailand is already ridiculous

I don't see where I said anything positive about the current government in my post. As a matter of fact, I said, "...running (or is that ruining) the country..."

Please read more carefully before being nasty to me.

Thais showing us once again how dangerous a country this is, They constantly send us reminders that ANY confrontational situation, regardless of how minor it may seem, can be potentially lethal because these people have no emotional self-control. These types of violent overreactions are become more and more commonplace.

That is absolute garbage. Take the UK for example, I would bet there are far more stabbings there than in Thailand, and the Thai population is a little bit more than the UK.

Well. we can all "bet" on information, which of course is unproven speculation, but why don't you gather your facts before insulting people or their posts.

If indeed the UK population is in the habit of stabbing each other to death over pretty incidents and the over-zealous importance of losing face in petty situations, that's very sad, but please provide the FACTS to back up your insult.

i am not surprized by the Thailand stupity jibes here. However this is exactly the sort of crime that poor, uneducated people carryout around the world all the time.

Its just sad. And knife crime stats are especially high in London.

Are you at the right thread? I just read all the posts here and not once was the word "stupid' or "stupidity" used -- not even a synonym. Perhaps if you're very eager to defend Thailand against people calling Thais stupid, you should wait until there's an actual target in sight before pulling the trigger. Doing that might save a shred of your credibility.

I'll add another vote for putting the whole lot in jail. Within minutes of this happening the fingers will start pointing at the real culprit. Cripes, knowing Thais, they wouldn't even make it 100 meters down the road in the police car before the truth is exposed.

I see Thaksin is once again working hard to remind everybody that little sister, Yingy, is undoubtedly nothing more than a jet-setting puppet for him. I wonder if she really hates big brother some days for always throwing this fact in her face. It must be humiliating for her.

BTW, I love all the other posts pointing out the irony of the "King of Corruption" wanting something done about corruption (when he can't directly take his chunk of the action).

The weirdest thing about this is that she convinced an Applied Physics professor of something so nonsensical. I mean, of all the disciplines, surely Applied Physics would be the one least likely to believe in nonsense such as past lives.

Good grief.

Yes, but you're talking like students actually learn something in Thai government universities. Nobody fails in the Thai school system (due to government policy, I suppose.) So, I would never assume that a Thai Applied Physics Prof. knows his subject or has any more common sense than a northern rice farmer. I would assume this man is in his teaching position due to one or more of the most likely reasons: nepotism, cronyism, or corruption. And I think this situation show that very well.

However, what's particularly perverse about this situation is not giving bail to a woman who used no violence in her "crime" (if preying on someone's stupidity and superstitions really is a crime). However, a drugged up drunkard with no integrity who plows down a Bangkok motorcycle police officer while driving in extreme excess of the speed limit is released on a laughingly low bail because daddy is one of the richest men in the country.

I think this proves that Thailand's "face saving" is a crock of hogwash. There is obviously no need for it in the Thai "justice system".

Can I have that 2 minutes of my life back please?

LOL No Kidding!!!

It started off bad as the title suggests the writer is going to both defend phat krapao and those who ban it. How strange, I thought. Unfortunately, it goes downhill from there.

You all might makes jokes, but I consider this real progress. You have to realise that fines in Thailand seem low, but that is just the real Thai economy (not the tourist economy).

This is the part I really like ...

“If Mr Danaichet is caught committing a crime during his probation, he faces a penalty of three months in prison,” the officer explained.

THB 1,000 may be a lot to the average Thai person; however, it is nothing compared to the amount the jet ski operators are extorting from tourists.

This is a huge step. Now we have a name and possibly a face we can post online of the offenders. 1000 baht is chump change for these jet ski guys. But let him do it again and 3 months without his cheddar.

The only legal system down there was the disgusting excuse of people you would call police. They were to settle the manner in a dishonorable way. Finally the Thais got smart and put this power out of their hands! The legal system is holding douche bags responsible for their actions. This is a victory!. Let's hope it continues.

I wish I could be as confident that justice truly would be served in the case of a repeat offence. And we shouldn't forget that his 3 months will be reduced to 1.5, which is standard in the Thai system if he confesses and saves the court people from actually having to do their jobs. Of a 1.5 month sentence, he would probably do 2 or 3 weeks away from the beach. But I just don't have any confidence that he'll be in court again if there is a repeat offence. Too many people get their palms greased by this scam.

As a cook of 25 yrs id say i can teach them more than most of the schools here---seems more like "Assembly"..not cooking...

I think that's a really good point. There are no sophisticated techniques like making a mousse or a souffle -- just doing the assembly and preparation for the most part. Then not much more than throwing the ingredients into a very hot oiled pan in the right order.

For those who just want to dabble in Thai cooking, I found a good Thai cooking school that's FREE. It's called YouTube. Lot's of video instructions there. I just entered "youtube cooking Thai food" in Google and there were 32,400,000 results available. And if course, the results can be refined by specifying which Thai dish you care to attempt.

I've always wondered how beneficial it would be to learn how to cook Thai food if one wants to take those skills back to the Western world to use there. Seems to me that one needs a real "Thai kitchen" with gas ring and and tonnes of ventilation (to make sure he or she doesn't die of constricted breathing when the chilies and garlic hit a hot pan). Also, can we get the necessary ingredients in many US, Canadian or British towns?

If it's true that the usual fine for physical assault on a fellow human being is only 500 baht in Thailand, that's a very sad statement on how the value of life is viewed here. Physical assault can do serious psychological damage to people. That's why it's not treated so lightly in civilized countries. (From some instances I heard of, it seems that the understanding of psychology is extremely poor here in Thailand, so it stands to reason that such a superficial society wouldn't consider mental damage in a situation like this.)

Saying that, if this thug actually did appear before the court, it IS a step in the right direction and beats having the situation concluded by a cop at the beach who's only waiting for his cut. Unfortunately, the Phuket Gazette has shown that they don't know the facts in this situation, so I think we are still in the dark as what is happening with this one. The problem is that operations like the Phuket Gazette (and those other horrible e-rags in Pattaya) are happy to publish exactly what the police tell them to, so we really can't have any faith in their journalistic integrity.

It sounds like they're at least doing something about pot holes in your areas. Where I am, potholes can sit for months and months without anything being done. There is a village on the Phoenix Golf Course road about 1/2 way between Sukhumvit and highway 331, and a couple of the bigger potholes were filled with coconut shells by the locals (as nothing was being done about them) years ago. The shells actually sort of worked, but they'd be pushed out of the holes within a day or so. It seems that some kind soul would push them back in again. I guess the Poo Yai finally felt like he was maybe losing too much face by doing nothing, so the holes were eventually fixed in the conventional way,

I will not comment on YL trips to other countries, because I'm no a PM and don't understand the job she is to doing. What I understand is we need to explore outside of our comfort zone if we want to have outsider's support and not sitting back home waiting. This is all depending the person mind, business minded or not? I totally support what YL is doing and I think they are doing the right thing for the future.

Hey, that puts you and YL on the same turf, so go ahead and comment. She's no PM and doesn't understand the job, either, so say your piece.

I see that in view of the pathetic 1% growth of exports this year, compared to the 11% they were aiming for, they have quietly discarded the "Yingluck's trips help to boost exports" talking point.

Now it's just fuzzy, intangible things, like "improving Thailand's standing" and "the trips denotes a confidence of many foreign governments toward Thailand".

I would guess the terribly botched rice pledging fiasco might have something to do with other countries losing confidence in the quality and value of Thai products. When a government grossly over-pays producers for its #1 export and jeopardizes its quality by storing it in questionable situations for long periods with questionable methods (of pest control, for example) importers have got to question the value and safety of all Thai products.

Also, (as stated in my previous post in this thread) I've really got to wonder how much confidence in Thailand has been lost by Yingy's farcical visits to other countries, pretending to be a real PM when everybody knows it's truly her convict brother running the show from Dubai. Perhaps it reflects a level of insincerity that is actually a bit insulting to real world leaders.

Where common sense should tell the "educators" that very large class sizes don't allow for an environment where the students can get the help and attention they need to learn, here another report (to ignore) is required. Just another example of the superficiality of this culture. As long as somebody is sounding official about education problems, that's good enough and nothing has to be really done.

Assuming there is a need for Thailand to represent itself around the globe with visits to other nations, is this woman the best person to do it? Certainly, real world leaders are aware of Thailand's farcical political situation, where Yingy's convicted brother sits in Dubai and is the de facto leader. They are well aware that there's 0% chance this woman would be PM if it wasn't for the huge Northern popularity (through damaging populist policies) of Thaksin, and they fully know that she doesn't have the qualifications required for that of a national leader. I suspect they (the real PMs and Presidents in other nations) have a good chuckle and shake their heads in disbelief after the visit is completed and Yingy is jet-setting her way to another fluffy, superficial little meeting. I would offer the argument that she would be more respected globally if she quietly accepted her role as Thaksin's puppet and just went through the motions. As it is now, she acts like she really is the PM and has valuable wisdom to impart and negotiations to complete. She must be viewed as a child who is playing make-belief (because that's much closer to the truth.)

What!!! You don't completely trust a Thai bar girl??? I'm confused.

Seriously though, follow your gut instincts and look for the red flags. If there are logic gaps in the story, I would assume that the situation is not kosher.

It's amazing how easily the smaller head can take over some someone's thought process. (Not saying that's the case with the OP -- just a general statement.)

Coca Cola is one of the most vicious companies in the world, especially in South America, where workers are routinely exploited and paid a pittance. Watch the documentary "The Coca Cola Case" and see what this company is all about. If I remember correctly. something like 8 people who attempted to unionize the exploited Coca Cola workers were assassinated within 1 year in Columbia.

I don't use their products and almost heave when I see their warm and fuzzy advertising campaigns -- "...teach the world to sing in perfect harmony..", etc. is very offensive IMHO

Well you might be right about the poor working conditions... but most of the leading brands of any category has the same story.... phones, garments, electronics like Phones, printers, HDD etc all has the same story...

so there is a high chance that you are using many things apart from coke, that treats their employees like what you mentioned about Coke does. This has become a Harsh Reality.... sad to say but in reality we cant just stop using all these products...

Certainly Coca Cola isn't alone in exploiting its workforce, but the topic of the thread is about the Coca Cola company, so... Also, I don't think you could find (many) other cases where such extremes are seen -- the near-instant killing of so many hopeful union organizers.

IMO, the bigger and more financially successful a company (or family) is, the more blood can be found on its hands. I really do have a strong suspicion of the methods of big business, and this has led me to be somewhat of a minimalist. Before making a larger purchase, I really weigh the options and evaluate the need. As a result, I don't crave much in the way of material goods, and my bank situation is quite healthy. (Thank god the world's economy doesn't depend on consumers like me. LOL)

so the new owner (when sold) will have to pay the tax back when the car is transferred to there name

Is that the official policy, or are you only speculating?

If it is the policy, I can see a situation where re-sellers of used cars will try to get close to new car prices (as the fundamental business rule of supply and demand (plus depreciation of cars) is not observed in Thailand). Then the sucker who buys one will have to give the government up to 100,000, which could mean they might end up actually paying more for a used car than a new one of the same make/model. Sounds crazy, doesn't it, but you have remember where you are and realize that logic here is 180 degrees opposed to sane logic.

If it's not the policy, those who are letting their cars be repossessed aren't likely ever to pay back the tax credit they received, and this money will be tacked on to the billions wasted by Yingy and her buddies with populist policies.