wave

Presently Moose is not available at retail, only bars, restaurants etc are being supplied.

Its brewed in the UK but bottled in Thailand.

Nice cider!

The hypocrisy is strong in this one.

Couldn't agree more.....

Especially considering that Suthep was very keen to increase the number of party list MP's when he was part of Abhisit's government

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/01/06/national/Suthep-denies-Democrats-to-benefit-from-charter-ch-30145791.html

Not asking for bail....they appear to be taking their lumps

It is not possible for these people to really care for democracy and freedom of speech on their own will: they are being manipulated by obscure forces....

Pray tell what obscure forces may they be....

What do you know about this student, I'm not see policemen attack him, we saw a student try to fight and provoke policeman who make is duty.......

You always like to live in a violent world, Thai people not !

Road to democracy is hard to reach, do not believe that all the world reach the real democracy.... And some country who use democracy world in their name a not so democratic (Lao PRD ,Lanna PDR , PDR of China, German DR etc....)

Democracy fail in Thailand because politician fail to govern for the people.

For finish Thailand is a constitutional monarchy, Prayut is just the prime minister

What do YOU know about this student?.

Thai people do indeed live in a violent world, a world that subjugates the people and their democratic choice at the barrel of a gun.

Democracy continues to fail in Thailand not due to the failure of politicians but to the relentless power grabs of the military .

Democracy allows for the failure of politicians and enshrines the rights of the people to elect new ones.

Thailand IS NOT an Absolute Monarchy but a Constitutional Monarchy UNDER a parliamentary democracy.

You appear to have missed this point.

I'm sure the General is uncomfortable, if he doesn't let the students go. their status grows, if he releases them they will continue but emboldened.....Damned if you do damned if you don't.

It's getting hotter at the coalface for Uncle P,

Many thanks for the clarification

I have a non o visa with a 1 year extension, my first 90 day report is due on May 20th.

I will be flying out of the country on May 20th and returning May 25th.

I will be getting a re-entry permit at the airport.

Do I still need to make the 90 day report at an Immigration office before I leave?

Thanks in advance

GMM is a public company that has a duty to it's shareholders, but I don't think that includes breaking into peoples computers. Their digital TV is yet to make any money and the share price, from what I recall, is not recovered to the 97/98 days. Although they did have a good year in 2012. They are as justified to go after licence money as a cable TV concern is from people bootlegging their service or a software company taking action over copied material.

Of course they are justified to collect license money but they are already receiving compensation for public performance via their you tube channel.

Are they able to collect it twice?

Would be interesting to see whether they would be able to successfully pursue a court case based on this.

The reason Grammy set up their own channel was not to make money as such from YT but to promote their artists and to counter the crap quality of their material uploaded by the public. Grammy's material is set to public, but that does not imply it;'s for free public broadcasting by other businesses.

Nonetheless Grammy would be receiving ad revenue from Youtube

Many businesses already pay fees to Grammy (and other labels) for the right of Public Performance. This should cover any Public Performance of the companies copyrights.

I'd imagine what Grammy are whinging about is that no longer will they be able to bust in to someones business, remove the computer, search the hard drive to find some of their material on it. If being streamed from you tube it is somewhat harder to prove infringement....

You could equally argue that due to the ad supported model of you tube any business playing this material has fair usage rights as each play would derive income for the copyright holder.

Interestingly the OP it refers to a landmark court ruling ...."the high court said the music labels can demand licensing fees only if entertainment proprietors have added extra charges or earned profits for turning on the music or music videos." which I imagine draws in to question the legality of fee collection from many establishments already.

Democratic countries won't extradite anybody to a dictatorship. Quite right too seeing that they've already roughed her up once. They're obviously after payback.

she will be extradited. Wait and see.

If the evidence is there and they have a treaty with that country she will be extradited. But even if that is all true it can be a time consuming affair. Remember the Russian arms dealer extradited to the States. That took quite a while.

Does any one know any thing about this dictatorship jesimps is talking about. I know here in Thailand we had a failed attempt at one.

There is no chance whatsoever that she will be extradited.

Any lawyer would be able to crush an extradition request purely on the basis that she will not receive a fair trial.

They would need only to present the photos of alleged black shirt members being paraded by the police in black shirt uniforms.

This by itself would be enough to not grant an extradition request.

Not forgoing her prior detention, claims of abuse and the widely reported restrictions of civil rights under a military dictatorship.

Anyone who thinks there is any possibilty that she maybe extradited is dreaming.

Really Ahbisit has nothing constructive to say and rarely has, he should shuffle of gracefully in to the night.

Its risible for him to bemoan populist policies damaging the economy when he and his party handed out 2000 baht (cost 18 billion in total) cash payments during his gerrymandered tenure.

I fail to see how this failed politician has any relevance in the current climate....

You didn't actually read what he said, did you? What is not constructive about it?

What is constructive about pointing out the obvious.

It would appear that he is only try to position himself for some play in the future.....

The very lack of any civilian oversight of the military has allowed constant curtailment of the democratic process by the military, and is the one and only reason why Thailand doesn't have a "functioning democracy"

When you consider that there have been 18 military coups in Thailand since 1932 and all have failed to deliver a "functioning democracy" it's somewhat optimistic to assume that this one may be any different.

You might also add that lack of civilian oversight of the government has led to the corrupt imitations of government regularly foisted on the people of Thailand. Are you trying to tell me that the rice scam and the systematic murder and intimidation of opposition is what we should be aspiring to in the future? That no reform is required?

Hmmm...There is civilian oversight of the government....That is what elections achieve, it gives the opportunity for the population to vote for there choice of representatives....

Sadly this particular cornerstone of democracy doesn't play to well historically with the military.

No you are wrong.The President of the US is the Commander in Chief of the armed forces.He does not tolerate insubordinate generals with ideas above their station challenging the elected civilian authorities - and if necessary (Obama and Truman did exactly this) will throw the bums out. That is how a proper democracy works.

But this is Thailand, which has never been a proper democracy and certainly not a republic, thankfully. Here, the generals throw the bums out.

Whether or not a country is a republic is irrelevant.The US is a republic but the UK,Japan,Holland,Norway,Denmark,Sweden,Spain and Begium are constitutional monarchies.In all these countries the military is completely subordinate to elected politicians.

In Thailand as you say the generals reserve the right to "throw the bums out", though strangely one of the recommendations of a functioning democracy is that the electorate can do just that.

Exactly, the US is a republic with a completely different system of government, and irrelevant as a comparison. Yet you continually use it as an example.

In Thailand there are many facets of a functioning democracy that need improving before military oversight is removed, and IMO they are more likely to be improved under the current system than the previous kleptocracies.

The very lack of any civilian oversight of the military has allowed constant curtailment of the democratic process by the military, and is the one and only reason why Thailand doesn't have a "functioning democracy"

When you consider that there have been 18 military coups in Thailand since 1932 and all have failed to deliver a "functioning democracy" it's somewhat optimistic to assume that this one may be any different.

If the positions are filled by people capable of carrying out their role in a fair and just way for the benefit of Thailand then they might just get broad support from the population as a whole and the usual trouble from those who oppose a fair, just and transparent system. Why not give them sometime to get their feet under the table and undertake what they will be charged to do.

There are a few problems that I see with this though, firstly how can a group of (largely) Generals and Military men be capable in carrying out these roles, what experience do they have in managing a civil society?

Secondly how could this be a "fair, just and transparent system" when there is little or no oversight and accountability.

When combined with appointing your military buddies it leaves them exposed to the very same criticisms that were leveled at the government they overthrew, namely cronyism and lack of transparency.

As I previously stated they are now seeing dissent from the very people that pushed for Military intervention. How they respond to and manage this will be very interesting.

If they fail to maintain support from their core support base it's wishful thinking to expect broader endorsement from the rest of the population which will be essential in moving the country forward.

Furthermore I don't think they have the luxury of "getting their feet under the table" when their stated goal was to bring in reforms and hold elections in September 2015.

In the OP it appears that the vast majority of the positions are to be filled by the Military, only Industry and Finance have mentions of civilians.

These are all figures that have close ties to Prayuth.

Not really confidence inspiring when you consider all the opposition that was raised to cronyism in previous administrations.

I struggle to see how they expect to get broad support from the population on this, especially as it was one of the main factors driving the recent protests.

Obviously broad support is not required, but will they be able to keep a lid on dissent that we are already seeing from the rubber farmers and energy protesters who both supported the coup??

This is really chickens coming home to roost.

After the Foreign ministry claiming that the withdrawal of the Saudi Diplomat was "normal" the are now claiming that they want to return to normal relations with the Saudis.

Obviously this won't happen until the Saudis get an acceptable resolution to this whole sorry mess.

With the current administration this is highly unlikely and the Saudis know it.

Don't expect anything to change in the near future.

More red shirt naysayers. Think what you want, the army is doing a great job. If it is a choice between PTP so called 'democracy' or what we have today, I choose today every time without a moment of hesitation. Keep up the good work boys.

A new constitution must have the broad support of the population to have any chance of longevity.

The only way to judge that support is to put it to the people.

Unbelievable that there are mumblings about the "cost" of a referendum (will the elections also be scrapped due to the "cost" of holding them)

The potential cost of forcing a constitution upon the people that has limited support is potentially much greater.

I suppose we could just wait till the whole country has had it's attitude adjusted and acceptance would be a "fait accompli"

Is it not possible that the general is neither red nor yellow, but actually just Thai and trying to make Thailand a better country for all its citizens?

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Not very likely.

Vested interests and all that..........

So innocent until proven guilty would not apply in this case?

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Not at all,

Prayuth made a famous speech 2 weeks before the election on July 3rd 2011 urging the electorate to vote for "good people"

He went on to say “If you allow the election [results] to be the same as before, you will not get anything new"

So vested interests and colours were already on clear display prior to the last election.

A criminal swap (whatever you call it) could be an opportunity. There are many British criminals and pedophiles hiding in Thailand. The UK would love to have them back into their country.

Are you seriously suggesting William Hague would approve the extradition of a British citizen to an undemocratic foreign country, that represses free speech and media, to face political charges the UK oppose?

Either your a troll or hopelessly misinformed.

I doubt if the British government would approve of extraditing a so-called British citizen for crimes that are not considered crimes in the UK. That is because the UK is a true democratic country and bear a duty of certain protection and rights to it`s citizens.

But this does not mean to say that this woman has not become an embarrassing problem. It appears that this is going well beyond just a rant on facebook and that this Thai woman is taking her strong anti monarchy and political views against Thailand to higher and even extremist levels.

If this woman progresses with her strong anti Thailand views then it could escalate into something that could affect International relations and even into an International incident, possibly even affecting the British ex-pats living here in Thailand, plus if this woman conveniently meets with an unfortunate accident, is murdered or is physically brought to Thailand against her will to face changes, than Thailand could face International condemnations, so this really is a delicate situation.

I do condemn the British Government that seem to hand out British passports like candy, without properly vetting and investigating the past exploits of the applicants and so the dilemma of this lese majeste case and the UK`s relationship with Thailand is now firmly placed in the hands of the British authorities.

As previously noted there are absolutely no grounds for Rose to be extradited on charges of LM in Thailand.

LM is not a crime in the UK and the extradition agreement only covers acts deemed as crimes in BOTH countries.

Furthermore even if she did not hold British Citizenship she would be able to convincingly argue that she would not be given a fair trial in Thailand.

The Junta has stated that LM crimes will be tried at Military courts, additionally, the likelihood of the proceedings to be held in camera would be reason enough to oppose any extradition request.

There is no "delicate situation" nor is there a "dilemma of this lese majeste case and the UK's relationship with Thailand" as the conditions of the extradition treaty are clear and unambiguous.

Condemn the British Government as much as you want but the right to freedom of expression is a core value protected by law, maybe Thailand should take note.....