Misterwhisper

"He said that to protect the image of Thailand, he was seriously considering the plan to require pregnant alien workers to leave."

Does that include alien workers who have been impregnated by Thai men? As I hear, that happens quite frequently.

"The aim of the initiative is to discourage migrant workers from having babies in this country in order to end a misunderstanding that Thailand exploits child labour."

Apart from the alleged child labour issue, does Thailand NOT exploit alien labourers in general by paying them a pittance, subjecting them to unusually long work hours, stripping them of pactically all rights while they're here, denying them decent healthcare, denying their children schooling, and so on?

"He vowed to take harsh action against officials involved in human trafficking and exploitation of alien workers."

A noble pledge. Perhaps the good minister - instead of hanging himself up on pregnant alien labourers - should foremost look into the problem that foreign labourers are still illegally "imported" by the truck load into this country in order to be exploited by oh so image-conscious Thais. If discovered, the usual practice is to detain the illegal aliens often for weeks on end, then simply deport them, while the real culprits - the factory owners, construction companies, fishing fleet operators, etc. - generally get away with a slap on the wrist.

"Children of migrant workers have in fact stayed around factories and sometimes help with their parents' work, because if they stay at home, they are completely on their own. But some non-governmental organisations have misinterpreted their presence [at work sites] as exploitation."

How about if the good minister would propose that companies with large numbers of workers with children - regardless whether those workers are Thais or foreigners - were required to set up day care facilities that could accommodate the children while their parents are toiling?

UDDer menace!

My, my, who would've thought that 2 small boobies would have such an impact, having obviously shaken Thailand's morals in its foundations, triggering finger-pointing debates about lying and cheating and unbecoming behaviour.

Thank goodness we can still comfort ourselves with local soap operas, which are of course oh so honest in their depiction of society and which a large proportion of the audience apparently regard as truthful to the bone.

Meanwhile, we continue waving the impressive banner of 'Thainess' as all around us cheating and lying is practised by all elements of society on a daily basis, and we shut our eyes and fail to realise that much-touted 'Thainess' itself is rapidly turning into nothing but a cynical, hollow lie.

But as long as we can hang ourselves up and voice our outrage over 2 small (and allegedly paid!) boobies, everything's just fine.

And another bizarre incident that we 'farang' wil never understand, because it's cloaked in the mystery that is "Thai culture".

How can it be justified that a government ministry bails out culprits who already have been convicted of arson by a lesser court? The government is sending a very clear signal here, namely that the so-called "Redshirts" do NOT constitute an independent public movement, but are instead a government-supported, official organisation.

Question: Can under this precedence EVERY convicted citizen now request bail-out from the Ministry of Interior? If not, why not?

And another question: Have I through my not unsubstantial income tax payments just contributed to the bailing out of a convicted arsonist? I strongly protest, because I expect my money to be put to better use than that, for example flood prevention measures, improvement of the education system, more roads, environmental rehabilitation.

Oh, I know, if I don't like it here, I should better leave, right?

Conflicting news reports, conflicting police statements. "Possible food poisoning, certainly nothing else" > "perhaps Ibuprofen, it's tremendously dangerous when taken with alcohol" > " signs of ingesting a toxic substance" > "hunting for Portuguese men" > what's next?.

Only Columbo can solve this case. Unfortunately, he's dead. Perhaps better sign it over to Inspector Clouseau.

Always shaking my head over the relevance of such surveys, because they more often than not orient themselves on the living expenses of highly paid international expat executives in top firms, who live in grand mansions, are ferried around in luxury limousines, employ a bunch of domesic helpers, join the most exclusive health and sports and what not clubs, eat out at first-class establishments, send their kids to exclusive international schools and lodge in 5-star hotels during their weekend getaways.

Granted, Bangkok is no longer as affordable as it used to be, say, 15 years ago. But it's still possible to rent a very decent apartment or even small house for 10,000 to 15,000 Baht or thereabouts, keep expenses down by eating in "normal" local restaurants and not hitting the girlie bars every single night, and here you can even still afford to live without your own car, because taxis are plentiful and cheap.

Then again, during house searches I've been taken to downtown houses that were offered for "only" 150,000 Baht ($5,000) a month - and were almost unfurnished and from the inside looked dilapidated - with the respective owners arguing that "the location is unbeatable, hence the rent is justified". Maybe so, but certainly not within my budget. Come on, I mean who honestly could say they can afford back home to shell out 5 grand just in rent every month?

If you look at it from this perspective, then Bangkok surely is rather expensive.

Trying and hoping and denying - three things in which this government excels, it seems.

I concur with craigt. You won't need a visa and will remain in the international (transit) area. You luggage will be checked through to your final destination.

Luckily the lass didn't sing along how much her ear itched while she was painting that canvas...

Yes, all that (ex-communist) Weng and his UDD cohorts truly want is reconciliation, of course, and it can be best achieved by 'eradicating' the opposition, just stopping short of throwing the whole lot into hard labour camps for 'defying' the parliament speaker.

Something's sooo fundamentally wrong with this redshirt mindset, I feel like I am going to throw up.

What a circus!

For what it's worth, this almost reminds of the circumstances leading to the deaths of 3 foreign tourists and 1 local tour guide at a Chiang Mai hotel in January/February last year. Immediate reaction by the police? "Food poisoining by eating contaminated seaweed", of course, and they all ate at some obscure restaurant outside the hotel, of course, i.e. the hotel had absolutely nothing to do with it. Took some embarrassing report by a NZ television team who had secretly taken samples from the respective hotel and had these analyzed back home with the result that they contained traces of a nasty pestizide. "Independent" toxicology tests here in Thailand took a 'comittee' a full 6 months to complete with the result - wait for it! - that the most likely cause of death of those unfortunate people could well have been due to exposure to a pestizide!

That supposed restaurant where 'poisonous seaweed' was served was never identified by Chiang Mai police, surprise, surprise, nor was it ever mentioned in the comitee's final report.

In my opinion, the police once again are jumping to conclusions in this sad case and are blatantly over-protective of the hotel (who owns it?).

My honest advice for the two girls' bereaved family is to demand immediate release of their bodies and have autopsies AND toxicology tests carried out back in Canada, advising the Thai authorities through a lawyer to refrain from destroying (i.e. cremating) the bodies.

Can we expect now that these 73 people allegedly identified will be suspended or fired from the police force? Probably not.

^{What tarnishes Thailand's image: Lady Gaga displaying the national flag during her concert}

^{What does NOT tarnish Thailand's image: fake goods sold at avery street corner (including fake Lady Gaga CDs), pornography on open sale everywhere, double-charging foreign visitors, prostitution wherever you go (some NGOs claim there are over 1 million hookers in this country), inept government with clowns acting as MPs, institutionalised corruption at every level of society, jet ski and gem scams, appalling driving standards frequently resulting in horrible accidents, xenophobia, double standards and hypocrisy, a culture ministry staffed by clowns, a country being led from abroad by a fugitive felon, red shirt/yellow shirt menace, etc., etc.}

Get rid of Thaksin, get rid of the problem. He is the ONLY polarizing element. No Thaksin, no redshirts, no yellowshirts, no prblem. No, I do NOT suggest to murder him, I only suggest to convince him to finally shut the **Snip** up and do what a fugitive from the law does: attract as little attention to himself as possible and enjoy his money.

Hold exactly those who call for tougher measure liable, the parents. The parents of those who brawled. When I brawled during my highschool or university days (which I never did, because I was an angel) and my parents would have learned about it, I would have faced severe repercussions. Parenthood is not a blessing, it's a vocation and a duty. If you raise brats, curb them.

And while the police were posing for publicity shots to restore their tarnished image, the suspect was able to slip away quietly and unhindered...

Another reason why they should scrap these Victorian-style "crime re-enactments" that have no place in modern crime investigation techniques.

It's becoming so crystal clear now why that "reconciliation" bill had to be rushed in such a hurry. If "reconciliation" had sailed through, there now wouldn't be a case for indictment of T and cohorts. Although malfeasance allegedly occurred 'when he was a premier' (i.e. prior to 14 September 2006) the AEC submitted its recommendation to the AG to prosecute the case only at some point in 2008, a time which would have been covered by the bill and thus would've automatically absolved Thaksin.

This government really IS a lacky of the Big Bad Wolf in Dubai.

"Thailand's President of Parliament Somsak Kiatsuranont on Tuesday reaffirmed that today's joint sitting of the Lower House and Senate will neither vote on the third reading of the charter amendment bill nor deliberate the reconciliation bill.

Once again, Thaksin's back to the retreating after pushing....following other pushing and then retreating, push, retreat...

and push again in another month?"

And he NEVER EVER stops. He's a bit like that little kid from "The Ring". He doesn't care whether he drags the whole country down the drain in the process, because megalomaniacs are insensitive to such issues. All they ever want is to get it their way, whatever the cost.

How is she going to defend the country against its hordes of enemies? Swinging her luxury handbag at them? Kicking them with her posh wellingtons? Throwing expensive macaroons?

It's about time those obscenely wealthy land owners who're amassing more and more plots at ridiculously low prices and let them sit unused for years for pure speculative purposes finally experience some blood letting.

I am not surprised that this bill has been stalled for so long, because we all know who these rich land owners are - the very same people who have delayed this bill again and again.

But as I can see there are already a lot of provisions worked into the draft that will alow the richest of them all get away with paying almost nothing, while probably Somchai the farmer will be bled dry as usual.

How many parliamentary sessions has she actually graced with her attendance since she became PM almost 1 year ago? Do I need the fingers on both my hands to count or will one hand be enough?

She will not only enter the annals of Thai history as the country's first female PM, but arguably also the PM who primarily was noted by her absence.

Not that her presence - as a mere puppet - would be required as - so it appears - the country's future is decided in Dubai anyway.

Clearly a job for Sarah Lund (although her jumper may not be appropriate wear for Krabi).

Or perhaps Miss Marple, wearing her lace-piped Victorian swimming trunk while Mr. Stringer carries out intensive investigations in local ladyboy bars.