Misterwhisper

What the hell is an "innocent" university student doing in the car of an alleged drug dealer and his accomplices (on the backseat) while they're supposedly on their rounds delivering illicit merchandise?

As the saying goes: "Caught together, hung together".

No sympathy from me, because I suspect she knew exactly who they were and what they were doing.

Oh, and now poor mom is up in arms and wants to sue for - probably - millions of baht. Perhaps she should have taught her daughter not to associate with drug dealers in the first place.

As per the fleeing police officers, it really doesn't get much more absurd than that.

To her credit she doesn't fly an oh so fashionable Nazi swastika flag on a long pole behind the pillion seat. Now THAT would've made headlines!

But: Can we expect lots of complaints from individuals and possibly even government agencies in the U.S. for her placing her butt firmly on those sacred national symbols? Probably not.

Now just imagine it to be a video showing a FOREIGN biker sitting on their seat upholstered with the colors of the Thai flag or - heaven forbid! - the 'garuda' symbol or even a Buddha representation. That without doubt would have raised an angry storm within Thailand's social media citizenry!

I know, it ALWAYS only goes one way as far as Thais are concerned, doesn't it?

"I did it because I was under the influence of alcohol."

What a pathetic, deplorable - nay, DISGUSTING - excuse for a BUDDHIST MONK to justify his raping of an underage girl.

Perhaps celibacy should be replaced by a requirement that everyone who decides that entering the monkhood or priesthood is their life's vocation must subject themselves to mandatory castration to keep those raging hormones in check and ensure that they don't succumb to weakness of the flesh. Just an idea. After all, it's a small price to pay for the bliss of being able to work for a 'higher power' (however delusional that may be in the first place).

There was a popular song in the 70's in Germany that went something like this:

"60 years old and not one iota wiser,

having learnt nothing from previous mistakes,

60 years old and slowly becoming a geezer,

and yet still acting like an ignorant child..."

[it rhymes much better in German ]

Replace the "60" with "64" and this - in its Thai translation - could well become Thaksin's personal hymn. Not that he's a particularly gifted singer, of course.

"The source noted that the OAG had not, however, allocated funds to find and arrest former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was sentenced in absentia by the same court to two years in jail."

Very telling. So, next time you claim there are no double standards deployed by state authorities, please allow us to roll on the floor in laughter for a few minutes.

And what? A whole 200,000 Baht (approx. $6,500; another reason for a ROFL) to "locate" Vatana? Just ask around in Poipet, where every other bloke on the street knows that the fugitive is hiding out in style and luxury at his very own casino.

Will Yingluck be one of the contestants?

I think that is the issue. She genuinely thinks she's both brilliant and beautiful.

I think this answers your question:

"Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has come up with an idea to boost her flagging popularity..."

Operative keyword: her

Try and find the woman in the picture and interrogate her, too. I bet she'll insist that it wasn't her in the photo, but her sister.

How about levels 5 and 6?

Level 5: Active police officers earning a little bread and butter on the side by moonlighting as contract killers

Level 6: Active armed forces personnel putting their combat training to lucrative use

Fact is that in many newspaper reports (I would estimate one third to one half) about apparent contract killings, the eventually apprehended alleged hitman/hitmen turn out to be in the police force or army; or at least have been employed by either at one time or another.

Dear GK,

This is my personal reward for your stalward defence of the real PM of Thailand. It shows the class and sophistication of the benefactor and saviour of Thailand and the ASEAN region. Enjoy it while it is still available on the net.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tRqn3K_hCc

edit: found one more gem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF49H8E7TMo

Thailand is an incredibly lucky country that he decided to go into politics instead of becoming a professional singer. Just imagine the damage he could have done!

Maybe they should just erect a temple for him somewhere, so they can worship their saintly idol all year round - and gain merit points from him by making generous donations, because by his own admission last year to a Korean newspaper, he is now "down to a few million" (although he cleverly 'forgot' to mention whether that was dollars or baht).

It would have to be deep in a jungle.

He tends to steer clear away from Thais in large numbers if they are not on his payroll.

Could have been Euros but he forgot to mention his diamond mines.

Does any one know where he has hidden the money he is making of the rice scam. Buying more property to grow more rice on to sell to the government at over valued prices and process at over priced costs in his other holdings.

Well, obviously they could install a lavishly decorated sign at the main entrance reading:

"Only if thou are a faithful believer and have seen the good deeds of thy Lord as He hath replenished your earthly possessions with generous gifts may thou enter these hallowed halls and worship thy Saviour in this world and beyond."

That should help keeping out the unworthy riff-raff.

Maybe they should just erect a temple for him somewhere, so they can worship their saintly idol all year round - and gain merit points from him by making generous donations, because by his own admission last year to a Korean newspaper, he is now "down to a few million" (although he cleverly 'forgot' to mention whether that was dollars or baht).

"... said her husband was a renowned masseuse in the community they were living in. But when most of his regular customers weren’t coming back..."

I'm not sure that statement makes sense. If he was oh so renowned, why would his regulars suddenly abandon him?

But then again, while the headline calls him a "masseur" (i.e. male), the statement mentions him as being a "masseuse" (i.e. female). Perhaps he dressed up in women's clothes and a wig, pretending to his regular (presumably mostly male) clientele to be a chick and became renowned for certain "additional" services - until they eventually found out and fled in droves, that is. Exposed, shamed, frustrated and having lost a good deal of face, he popped a handful of yaabaa, grabbed a knife and went on his rampage.

Please don't laugh at this absurd scenario. We're in Thailand after all, and everything (EVERYTHING!) is possible here.

AyG is correct.

But I also would insist that the Thai Will includes a paragraph that explicitly stipulates that the Thai will does NOT cover any and all of your assets abroad (i.e. outside Thailand). To be even safer also include relevant information referring to that separate Will regarding your overseas assets (e.g. date written, and where and with whom it was filed/deposited).

Good luck with an extradition request to the US. Look at how well Thailand has responded to the case against Juthamas Siriwan.

The request for extraditing the former governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Juthamas Siriwan has not resulted in a formal response from Thailand, as of August 2012.^[29]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand%E2%80%93United_States_relations#Extradition_request

http://blogs.wsj.com/corruption-currents/2012/08/01/us-struggles-to-extradite-thai-official/

Hm, that could be a perfect opportunity for the U.S. authorities to offer a deal: "You give us Juthamas, and we'll send you back your ex-monk. Sounds fair, no?"

If I were the mother, I'd have filed a suit against the monk for 70 million and another against the grandmother for 30 million, because it was the latter who willingly and deliberately farmed her granddaughter out to the monk. According to media reports the grandmother even complained that the monk never compensated her for pimping her granddaughter. Those comments alone not only show intent to commit a fellacy in exchange for financial gain, but also suggest that she was fully aware of the situation and proceeded nevertheless.

Has anyone told the good minister that sending judges for "intensive training" (in handling tourism-related cases, I presume) in a foreign country does not exactly look as if Thailand's own training of judges was up to par? Beware, minister! A loss of face is in the making!

Or perhaps they're being sent there to improve their French skills, which will be incredibly helpful for the vast majority of foreign tourists who're having their cases tried.

Okay, so she swallows a spoonful of cooked rice and now public confidence is fully restored. See how simple it all is?

Murphy oh Meyer, sometimes I really think this government takes us all to be idiots. Even IF that rice would be contaminated, it's not like anyone had ever claimed that if one ate a spoonful of it, one would immediately drop dead.

Also gotta love that picture. It speaks volumes about her true feelings: "I've GOT to restore public confidence in our rice. But honestly, I'm NOT too confident about eating it. MUST go through this. MUST. Okay, one, two, three, SWALLOW!"

It's good to be Thaksin's nephew the PM's son a spoiled rich kid.

Hm, let's assume she gets those 40 million. Let's do some tabulations, shall we?...

Okay, 40 million

minus 50% for the lawyers for winning the case

minus 20 % for paying off mom's assorted debts (which of course she will claim she has accumulated, because she had to care for the child all those 11 years).

That leaves 15 million.

About 10 million of that will be spent on a house, a pick-up truck, a sedan, a motorcycle, gold jewellery, a state-of-the-art karaoke machine and a whole slew other necessities absolutely required to provide a suitable environment for the child.

Another 4 million in cash will be dispensed to various family member - including a generous stipend for oh so caring grandma - who are suddenly emerging from nowhere and claim that they've also had a helping hand in the child's upbringing.

The remaining million will be invested in various amulets, spent on underground lottery tickets and merit-making at Wiraphol's former monastery.

One day the by now 18-year-old child will return home from government school and confront mom with his wish to go to college. Mom will of course decline and say that there is no money for the college fees.

Upon which the child will rightfully ask: "What happened to those 40 million Baht?"

Mom's reply: "We spent it all on YOUR welfare, you ingrate!"

This saga has been going on for almost a month - and the DSI wants to freeze his bank accounts only now? A tad late for that, methinks.

They better rush now and impound those 70 cars before they're driven off to Cambodia or Malaysia.

It's always a wonderful idea to have your intended moves splashed across all newspapers so suspected criminals have enough time to plan and implement suitable counter measures.

If they wanted to create controversy by juxtaposing "good superheroes" with "bad superheroes", why didn't they stick to their very own "bad superhero" in the first place? I mean former prime minister Field Marshal Plaek Phibulsongkhram, a self-admitted admirer of Hitler and fascism.

Drive down Ratchadamnoen Nok Avenue and marvel at the fascist architecture lining both sides of the boulevard together with the clearly fascist architecture-inspired Democracy Monument.

Phibulsongkhram (whose first name Plaek interestingly translates as "weird") also introduced the greeting "Sawasdee", which - you may have guessed it - literally means "Hail!" (or "Heil!" in German).

The good Field Marshal also is the one who re-named Siam into Thailand (Prathet Thai) in 1939, because he felt that it would better suit his extreme nationalistic policies to stress that this country is FOR THAIS ONLY; not Malays, not Cambodians, not Laotians, not Vietnamese, but Thais, and Thais only.

He also is the one who sided with the Japanese and made his country a de-facto ally (and thus it was NOT a victim of Japanese Imperialism like its neighbouring countries as often falsely claimed; Thailand was an ALLY). The only reason why Thailand was not treated as being on the losing side was that Plaek was deposed literally weeks before war's end and the new government quickly renounced the alliance.

Not that Thai students would know about these facts, because to this day Plaek is indeed depicted as a great man and thus would rather be classified as a "good superhero".

Well, I guess the lad just relieved the monk of something he was not supposed to possess in the first place.

Sorry, I couldn't help it. LOL

I used to live near it. It was located in Sukhumvit Soi 31.

It was closed rather abruptly about 8 or 9 years ago. Some say that was because it operated in a residential area and was ordered by BMA to pull out due to the late-night noise it generated. Others claim the foreign owner ( a bloke from the U.S., I believe) was no longer willing to pay off Thonglor Police and assorted other authorities, which must have amounted to quite a pretty amount each month. Personally, I find that a much more likely explanation, because after all we know in which country we're living ;-)