Misterwhisper

Just as expected. A mere 3 days after winning the election they're already scrambling how to integrate Big Brother into the new power structure.

And what a great advertising banner for Thailand it is: Our international trade ambassador is a self-exiled fugitive with a two-year sentence hanging over his head, and in order to carry out his mission he'll have to use the passport of another country (Montenegro).

Apart from being a diplomatically unwise move, it certainly is not the right step towards "reconciliation". Not this early, not this fast, not at this point.

First of all, congratulations to PTP for their - not entirely unexpected - victory. Even if they don't like it, all sides concerned should respect the election outcome. Especially the Democrats can now prove that they indeed deserve the label "democratic" by being a constructive opposition and not crying foul at avery suitable and unsuitable instance, which would put them on par with what the redshirts have been doing.

While it is more than likely that Yingluck will become Thailand's first female prime minister, she first will have to be elected by parliament to assume that post. And here she faces a problem with the many factions within her own party.

Her brother has reportedly already taken steps by ordering all PTP MPs-to-be to sign resignation letters, which will come into effect if they fail to vote for Yingluck. There is the remote possibility that he has (once again) shot himself in the foot with such a potentially back-firing move.

There is the question whether it is actually legal to have people sign such resignation letters, which is nothing short of bullying and perhaps even blackmailing. If so, and if the measure is decided by a court to be illegal, then PTP may face dissolution. I am sure that certain parties are scrambling for such a posibility.

On the other hand, if in all unlikelihood certain faction members decided to vote against Yingluck as PM, their resignations would come into effect. Besides losing their party membership they'd also automatically lose their MP status. That could considerably diminish the simple majority PTP holds so far and open the door for the Democrats to form a coalition government with a slim majority.

The story is not over yet, mark my words.

What an enchanting, oh so very representative line-up of respondents.

I could sum up this whole article in one short sentence: Whatever the outcome of the election, we will be screwed.

Where does sex tourism rank on this scale?

I would say they didn't add the real attractions like massage and go-go bars.

Instead the magnificent, clean, unspoiled beach of Pattaya with its crystal-clear water was mentioned. Rather skewed survey if you ask me.

"Some of these owners are well-known personalities."

There's the problem, as usual these parasites continue to exploit the poor with little chance of any legal proceedings against them.

Operating with impunity.

Oh yes, yet another hub.

"Hub of Misery" ?

Hub of Entertainment,

Phuket is AirAsia Thai hub ,

Health Tourism Hub of Asia,

Medical Hub of Asia,

Hub of organic produce,

Hub of creative and healthy food

Corruption Hub Of Asia

economic hub of ASEAN

Creativity Hub

Regional aviation hub

Transport Hub

Logistics Hub

Automotive hub

'Halal hub'

The Hub of Bridge - Phuket

Hub for counterfeit goods

Investment Hub

Education Hub...

Auto Export Hub

BIOPLASTICS HUB

Hub of thinking up hubs

Hubub.

And another head-on crash. These things only happen due to dangerous overtaking without any regard for traffic rules and road safety. Nothing new here. And nothing's gonna change either.

Wonderful news! I am sure that all those millions of local book enthusiasts known for their rapacious appetites for the written word will rejoice and dance in the streets.

"We have enough as it is. We don't need to go into politics. People who go into politics can't let go of the prestige. He is obsessed by it."

Finally someone who says it as it is. Thank you, Auntie Taowan!

Seems alittle deep. It should start this is a trash can anyone know what it is used for?

Well said, swifty. Start with restricting the use of plastic bags and styrofoam containers. Prohibt 7-Eleven and other convenience stores from putting each single cup of yoghurt bought into a tiny, minute, pygmy, ultimately useless plastic bag together with 3 or more plastic spoons.

A house is currently being erected on a plot next to mine. The construction workers live in stilted shacks built over an adjacent swampy area. Six huge trash bins are a mere 15 meters away for everyone in my soi to use. The garbage comes around reliably once a week. Yet the construction workers' trash goes straight into the swamp, which now starts to resemble a landfill.

The constuction waste (empty sacks, broken tiles and bricks, unused cement, styrofoam packaging,, bubble wrap, etc.) is frequently hauled to an empty plot 40 meters away and dumped there RIGHT NEXT to a sign put up by the district office threatening everyone who litters there with a 2,000-Baht fine. The garbage hill is growing in height by the day. And now "someone" (who do you guess?) has even torn down that sign and uses it as a plankway so their heavy wheelbarrow won't sink into the soft ground!

If you confront any of the construction workers with their filthy habits, they just ignore you. They don't know any better, it seems.

Yes, let's start with the little things and delegate elaborate concepts like wastewater recycling to advanced classes.

I'm sure the crime will at most be punished with one of those 'transferred to an inactive post' or one of those potential sentences with a disproportionate fine like 'faces a maximum of 5 years and a 1000 baht fine'. Hope this guy gets hard time or some revenge. What is an inactive post anyways- pay without activity???

If I'm not mistaken, these disproportionate laws commonly state "5 years imprisonment and/OR a 1,000 Baht fine". As the past has shown, this type of people usually get away with the "OR". Only mere mortals are usually sentenced to "5 years AND 1,000 Baht" or just "5 years imprisonment".

As an added bonus, he will perhaps be transferred to an inactive post, which will leave him with even more free time for a round of golf and/OR another bout of road rage.

I have always wondered about these seemingly senseless penalty combinations that indeed appear so much out of proportion. I mean, where is the relation between 5 years behind bars (in a Thai jail, for that!) and a 1,000 Baht fine? But when you think about it, by cooking up these laws, the relevant parties ensure that they usually receive nothing more than a mere slap on the wrist.

"...otherwise he would be the only Thai who is above the law..."

The ONLY one?...

:cheesy:

Not surprisingly, all those political parties seem to have ignored the real issues that have mired the tourism industry for literally decades:

- gem scams

- jet ski scams

- taxi, tuk-tuk and minivan mafia

- "farang" prices (even officially sanctioned in places like national parks)

- no transparency or simple 'sweeping-under-the-carpet' when it comes to investigating suspicious tourist deaths

- extortion (remember the string of incidents at the airport where out-bound visitors were allegedely accused of shop lifting, illegally detained at a seedy motel and only later released when they had coughed up a substantial amount to 'avoid legal charges'?)

- dirty beaches (well, garbage just about everywhere, to be frank, no only on the beaches)

- con artists (particularly active in the Grand Palace/Sanam Luang area of Bangkok)

- false advertising (with many 'hidden' charges)

- annoying street touts

- gross overpricing in just about every upmarket hotel (THB250++ for a beer???!!!)

..and the list could go on.

It's also very telling that the one party, Chart Thai Pattana, which is supposedly "currently overseeing tourism", was absent from that so-called panel.

Wow! It's like something out of a B-movie.

Yes indeed. It's title is: "Thailand - The Movie"; watch it in a theatre near you soon! I hear it's also one of the top contenders at the upcoming Razzie Awards...

I can fully agree with that assessment. Bangkok used to be cheap, but it ain't any longer. Almost every supermarket visit these days easily sets me back 2,500 Baht or more - and no, I am not stocking up on imported cheeses or expensive wines, just normal groceries. And when I see that fast food pizza (yuck!) can cost up to 399 Baht, then I am wondering who would still consider Bangkok a cheap place.

Yeas, taxi fares are still dirt cheap, and you easily can get a delicious one-plate meal at a small neighbourhood food stall for 40 Baht. But even my local barber now takes 200 baht for a cut. A large bottle of beer costs at least 44 Baht (Chang) even at the cheapest mom-and-pop store, with premium brands up to 65 or even 70 Baht. A local beer in a hotel bar for 250 Baht ++? Out of the question.

"Yingluck, who is Thaksin's youngest sister, said she had become a target for political attacks but was unaware of the reason."

Just to help Yingluck out of her unawareness, here are a few reasons (plural, not singular!) why she is being attacked politically:

1) Her last name is Shinawatra;

2) She is her older brother's clone;

3) She was hand-picked by her older brother to become prime ministerial candidate, and the party only voted unanimously for her nomination because it is tightly controlled by Thaksin;

4) While an amnesty may not be her priority (at this moment), it is still planned, and the main reason why it is to be implemented is - admit it or not, Yingluck - to whitewash her brother;

5) The only jobs she has ever held were in her family's business in postings that were especially created for her or , according to an International Herald Tribune article, "created on her initiative". She's got absolutely no idea how tough a senior management position can be in the free market, where you can be sacked any day if you make one single wrong decision;

6) So far she has been unable to articulate concisely what her party's platform policies are and how they are going to be implemented. Instead, she constantly seems to be surrounded by "minders" who direct her in what she can say and what she cannot. She's basically a puppet;

8) Having a nice face and smile is simply not enough for leading a country. One also must have experience, experience, experience and experience, must be honest, honest and honest and have no vested interests, repeat, no vested interests;

9) Many people are concerned that she is merely a "placeholder" who will hand over power to her whitewashed big brother upon his triumphant return.

Enough reasons? I won't even delve into her alleged involvement helping her big brother to conceal his wealth.

For those who missed her inspired, brilliant, thought provoking interview... here you go. No wonder they don't want her to debate, she'd be eaten alive.

Video News - ABC News interview

http://www.abc.net.a.../01/3233091.htm

This should be sub-titled in Thai and shown to all those who honestly consider bringing her to power. From what I've gleaned in those roughly 5 minutes, her answers were wishy-washy, superficial, without substance. The talk of a diplomat who speaks a lot without saying anything, not of a potential government leader.

Frankly, I have absolutely no idea what this article is trying to say. The "English" is so garbled that I can hardly read, let alone comprehend it.

All I gathered is that a Democrat MP candidate claims to have been assaulted in Phitsanuloke. Well, that's probably the essence anyway...

80% off!! Then it indicates that the tourist areas are overpriced. Why not have a regular season with normal prices, and crack down on fraud.

I fully agree. 80% off is tantamount to admitting indirectly that those goods have been grossly overpriced before, i.e. you are selling at 80% discount and still make a profit on it, otherwise you wouldn't do it, right?

As long as every 7-Eleven is still giving out teeny-weeny plastic bags for every single can of coke one buys and puts 3 or more unasked-for plastic straws into it, too (because we all love to drink softdrinks together with a bunch of buddies out of the same can), Thailand has a long way to go, indeed.

Oh, and have I mentioned the vacant plot behind my house that once was tropically green with banana trees, blooming vines, lots of high bush grass? Well, it is no longer as people have started to dump their household garbage there by the truckload in the middle of the night. Even the warning sign put up there by the district office that unloading garbage is strictly prohibited is no deterrent. The dump keeps growing and growing.

Foreign scammers will get the chop - what about local scammers (jetski Joe and his gang and the tuk-tuk pack)?

Must be erection time.

Exactly my thinking. But then again, Thais are entitled to scamming anybody - as long as the victims are foreigners. I mean it's part of the local culture, and how could anyone deny a local to indulge in their culture, right? And who should do it anyway? The BiB? Politicians? They are the blackest sheep of them all!

[As a pre-emptive strike to all those incurable Thai lovers out there who might - as foreigner, no less! - feel offended: This was a SARCASTIC REMARK and NOT an academic assessment of Thai culture. Please kindly note.]

The bully bulldogs want to set up a watchdog? Hm, and it's going to be its OWN watchdog. How quaint. In that case those watchdoggers probably will keep a most keen eye on all activities concerning the Dems while turning the other way when violations by their beloeved brethren, the PTP, occur. We have come to know the modus operandi of those valiant fighters for democracy, haven't we?

With such disasters it's no wonder we frequently face sugar shortages in local markets.

Can't believe that anyone would vote for these people - but they will.

This ministry is slowly transforming the country into a "Hub of Clownery".

Well, at least it's finally a hub that really, really works to perfection and in all its aspects, unlike all the other hubs that have been declared.