Misterwhisper

And for that, you need a doctorate degree??

Yup, amazing, isn't it? No wonder Thai university degrees are mostly worthless abroad.

It's all about what they can get away with, corrupt officials, no infrastructure, no back bones,money goes right to the top, anyone trying to put a stop to this will die,talk and write about the trivial everyday happenings,whinge and wine,but it will be to no avail,my dear friends!!

And a note to all the ignorant dickheads who simply say " if you don't like it why don't you f*** off" well, it's the actions of some of its people,we complain about,not the beauty of the land itself!!

I fully agree with you. It is not about complaining about Thailand as a whole, but about pointing out the criminal elements in this country. That is not wrong. It's constructive criticism. I have been living in this country for more than two decades. I speak, read and write Thai reasonably well, pay sizeable amounts of personal income tax every year and my visa and work permit are always in order despite the increasingly difficult conditions to renew either. But I continue to enjoy preciously few rights in this country as an 'alien' (I might move to Montenegro soon). The vast majority of Thais are amiable, genuinely friendly people. That doesn't dissuade from the fact that this kingdom is brimming with thugs, and that their numbers are increasing as more rosey-eyed 'farang' are pouring in. It's always been 'open season' on ingnorant vacationers in this country, but that doesn't mean that it's also right to milk them for everything they've got. From my experience, the knee-jerk argument "if you don't like it here, go home" is only brought forward by 'farang' who have been living here for 4 years and less. They consider themselves as staunch defenders, even beacons for Thailand. Eventually, and if they survive long enough (and haven't been cleaned out by their former prostitute-turned-faithful wife and her entire extended family), they'll cool down and their views will change. They will see a country that is far removed from 'Lonely Planet' fairytales, has massive social problems, struggles (if at all) with enormous environmental pollution, bows to a a handful of powerful families (who exploit their positions shamelessly) and where only a tiny fraction (a waitress earns perhaps 4,000 Baht a month) of the handsome profits made through tourism ever reaches the lowest echelons of society.

It may be true that "the vast majority of visitors to Phuket" experience no trouble and have a wonderful time. But it is the ones who have been beaten to a pulp, have been grossly overcharged by gently smiling rip-offers and fell victim to all sorts of scams whose stories will be picked up by the foreign media and put Phuket in a bad light.

I couldn't care less about Phuket. It's a destination for rather ignorant tourists who want to experience the "magic of the Orient" amidst pizza parlours, roaring jetskies and modern, airconditioned shopping malls selling "indigenous" handicrafts at shamelessly inflated prices.

But to say that one incident of this kind should be sweeped under the carpet in favour of perhaps 1,000 or even 2,000 "non-incidents" is like saying that one murder should be ignored for the mere reason that statistically only one in every 10,000 people is murdered. It is not the relative scarcity, but the fact that it does happen that is reason for concern and should be incentive enough to take appropriate action.

Phuket's taxi and tuk-tuk mafia has had a rather free hand in carrying out their activities for literally decades. It's about high time they're reined in. Every new report on such incidents will further erode Phuket's image. And it is 'image' that is so very important to Thais, isn't it? Well, if that is true, DO SOMETHING.

Fat chance, though, as half of the oh so image-conscious police and politicians are allegedly in cahouts with those thugs. What an image!

What a clown.... !

OK, guess who will show up in Cambodia on 14 September?

Mr. T? I think you might be right. And it will be an absolute coincidence, of course.

"Inflation accelerated more than expected in August"? Why "unexpected"? A new populist government that will cost this country quite a few safely stored-away shirts and a recent forced decrease in fuel prices, and August inflation "accelerated unexpectedly"? Just wait and see. There'll be more "unexpected inflation" all too soon, I fear.

When it comes to quality in food, people are far far safer here than they are in most western nations.

Yup, that's probably why the EU has a couple of months ago banned imports of certain types of Thai agricultural produce. They are just jealous that Thai vegetables are so much yummier and safer than theirs.

I don't know, but I am starting to get tired of all these hubs they're throwing at us. Meanwhile, street lighting in my entire soi has been out for a whole week, the garbage truck only turns up sporadically and a neighboring vacant plot is starting to look like a landfill as people (from all over town, it seems) dump their mostly plastic trash there in heaps.

Fix the country first before even attempting to becoming a hub of any sort, or at least come up with a new word. How about "navel" as in "Thailand, navel of the world"?

In my personal opinion, frogface has been long overdue for frequent power sessions with a good shrink.

"Bangkok will have alcohol free zones across the city with the move determined to curb violence that often stems from binge drinking....

...to enforce an alcohol free zone on every public park, government building and police station."

Does that mean there is binge drinking going on in government buildings and police stations???

If the Shinawatras appoint a relative as police chief I'm just going to throw up.

Better ready your toilet bowl, because that is EXACTLY what's going to happen. Wait and see.

Nice gesture. Destroy 100 million Baht worth of counterfeit products, about a single day's worth of counterfeit product sales in the kingdom.

Wonderful news considering that half of the illegal casino in this country are run one way or another by the very force entrusted with weeding them out, the BIB.

"There are no illegal casinos in Bangkok," a certain police general just recently blared out to the press.

It took 3 long days for the BIB to "investigate" the casino pointed out by the incomparable mafia rogue-turned-knight-in-shining-armor Chuwit (love the man, we need more of his ilk) the "casino that didn't exist", just to find out that all the equipment had been moved since, no doubt to another location where activities have since resumed.

Jeez, Chuwit even showed a video of people carrying out playing tables!

The result? Three high-ranking police officers transferred elsewhere. It's about high time that police officers neglecting their duties face a little more than being merely transferred.

It's also high time that police officers who allegedly run casinos face more than a transfer to an "inactive" post. Hey, that will leave them with even more time to attend to their mainstay businesses while still collecting their monthly salaries.

I think she has very little power. She wont sneeze without checking with Khun T

And she occupies the #1 position in the world's most powerful clone list. In fact, she's the only one listed...

how seriously one takes such a listing as this Forbes one . . . when at #11 is Lady Gaga, and #18 Beyonce

.

there, that's brightened up the thread

Well, I do understand why Beyonce would make that list, especially in that outfit (drool)!

Let's be frank, shall we? Some radical elements among the redshirts are not one iota better than the brownshirt intimidation and assault squads during Germany's early Nazi era.

And if you're stating such an obvious and undeniable correlation, you are often branded as being "against democracy and social equality" by some of the redshirt sympathizers in this forum. So be it.

Not a nice statement in respect to Thai prisons.

Unfortunately, a true statement in respect to Thai prisons, though.

Bears the question: Who is responsible for designing (and having installed) a FLOOR-mounted power socket in an OPEN-AIR area in a country that is frequently exposed to heavy DOWNPOURS?

Why is it a problem if Thaksins visits japan or anywhere else?

This is just manufactured outrage so The Nation can continue the attacks until they get their coup.

In itself k. Thaksin's visit to Japan is no real issue. It's the Thai government and most likely FM Surapong having requested Japan grant a visa, and then lied about having done so. With k. Thaksin still being a 'fugitive criminal' that seems like breaking the law to facilitate a criminals movement.

I agree with rubi. Nobody blinks an eyebrow if Thaksin travels the world with one of his acquired passports (and he has done so extensively). The issue is that Japan has a clear policy NOT to grant an entry visa to people who have been sentenced in their own countries to a jail term exceeding 1 year. However, Thailand reportedly put the Japanese government under diplomatic pressure by requesting a visa for Thaksin, thereby officially aiding a convicted felon. THAT is the issue. Would pauljones find it correct if his own government lobbied another country to grant a visa for a fugitive from his country's law?

This man is amazing. There he constantly bellows about 'reconciliation' from his exile in Dubai and just doesn't realize that his incessant meddling is one of the main obstacles to achieve that. If only he could take a step back for once and show that he really means what he preaches. But he is too power-hungry, too self-absorbed and considers himself much too important and indispensable for Thailand's future. To be honest: Thailand will be better off without him and his constant intrigues and politics-playing.

Give it up, Thaksin! Your sister is now in power just as you've engineered it. Be satisfied and leave it at that and give her a chance to get to task without your relentless interfering!

The problem with these amnesties (of which we've had dozens over the past decades, by the way) is that they hand politicians the roam-free-and-do-whatever-you-want card.

They know that eventually there will be yet another amnesty that will whitewash them. How will politicians in this country ever learn that they can NOT do however they please without having to bear the consequences if we have one amnesty after another after another?

We know from the past that whenever Noppadon denies something, usually the opposite turns out to be true.

Furthermore, his comment "[if] Thaksin had travelled to Cambodia, ... airline records would confirm this" is deliberately misleading. He knows perfectly well that his boss is not traveling with any commercial airline, but by private jet.

Apart from that, what's the big ruckus about anyway? If the man wants to go to Cambodia and Cambodia let's him in with welcoming arms, so be it.

The point, I guess, is whether he is there (or not) in an official capacity to possibly strike a bilateral deal on joint gas and oil exploration in the Gulf of Thailand. That would be indeed controversial.

Anyone can guess who said this? I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count.

"If you seize power from us, then we'll burn the whole country down. Burn it, burn everything, my brothers — Guarantee: Bangkok will turn into a sea of flames. Those of you who live in the country, it's OK if you cannot join us. If anything happens, just gather at your provincial or city halls. No need to wait for the order. Burn your city halls down to the ground."

Err.....Girly Berry?

Spartacus?

"When they give us [compensation money] without punishing the killers, will we accept it?" she asked.

"No," the crowd replied

Yeah, right. I want to see the redshirt that will turn down 10 million Baht - the compensation sum currently demanded and flogged by uber-redshirt honcho Jatuporn Promphan for the family of each redshirt protester killed.

I thought the OTOP program was still going. When was it stopped?

I was under the same impression. Have been to several OTOP shops when traveling in the provinces over the past few months.

Anyhow, great to see another grandiose plan that is going to be put into action, because I need to mention that during my visits (more or less being dragged there by accompanying Thais), I didn't see a SINGLE foreign tourist at any of those places.

With the idea now being revived, I already can envision busloads of cash-laden foreigners flocking to PTT gas stations to stock up on wonderful products like local foods and dried herbs. Returning from a visit to Thailand without having emptied an OTOP store is like never having been to Thailand at all.

The question is: Since OTOP stores weren't particularly popular with foreign tourists in the past, why should that change all of a sudden?

Wasn't it the dems that allowed Thaksin to leave the country in the first place after his conviction?

Please correct me if I am wrong on this

You are wrong.

The government at the time was led by the People Power Party (a Thai Rak Thai re-incarnation) under Thaksin's brother-in-law, Somchai Wongsawat.

Both Thaksin and his then-spouse Potjaman were free on bail. They requested to leave the country for a short trip in order to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing. They then didn't return to Thailand, but flew straight to the U.K.

Thaksin was convicted and sentenced in absentia, i.e. after he had jumped bail and effectively exiled himself (like every 'innocent' person would do). Potjaman was acquitted, but Thaksin received 2 years.