ginjag

Is their vote really a secret especially in tight knit villages with dominant power structures? I doubt it.

Even if it were completely secret, many would still never believe it, and still feel obligated to vote the way they were paid to or suffer consequences.

Town and village intimidation, or be an outcast in your village, the village head man will see to that. The town voted in head of government. 46 villages in our town area, all the village head men are paid by him. Lose your part time job 6k a month. or conform. Simple isn't it. In the cities I have no Idea, but here in the sticks in Issan, Fact....some posters will say in my village it doesn't happen, but they are also blackmailed.

I like THAI. The stewardesses always hit on me.

Stewardesses are "" chubby chasers"" Chunky !! :lol: :bah:

What kind of idiot carries 300,000 Baht in cash? DOH! A fool and his money are soon parted.

Plenty, it would seem, including many on here who think it's far better to bring in cash and maybe save 0.01% than do a simple bank transfer. The pair were either very lucky or had a little help from Mr Swede, or another close to either party.

I think I am nutty at times, but what on earth was the Swede doing letting a German change his euro's, into baht, and what in he-ll would he want that amount changeing for?? a night out ??..Is the Swede housebound ?? One can only think that that money could well have been used for monkey business !! why didn,t he get a police escort, for safety-like the V.I.Ps get on the road. :lol: . god i've met so many westerners with no white matter between the ears.

They should cane adults as well. It won't help in a lot of cases, as plenty of folks have been slowly 'caned' (or more like have had the will crushed out of them) all of their lives, but it will help as a deterrence for those who aren't yet completely jaded by the system.

As a child in the 50s we got caned, but it wasn,t for bad behaviour really, it was for treading on rose gardens, or fighting in the playground, or talking in class. Our discipline was taught from a baby, not hardly verbal, a look from dad was enough to put fear into you. IT'S got to be taught at HOME, correction-with love, right and wrong, the black and white, the good and the evil,--I used to hear parents say if you don't behave i'll go and get a black man-or a policeman. That is not good-but in them days it worked. Where most kids get wrong is when you get non caring adults, allowing their spoilt kids to run amock

, here they call it FREE STYLE,--it happens in the u.k. ----start it at an early age--home-school- sunday school, and not forgetting aunts and uncles had a role to play. Here in general kids show no respect to parents-police-WHY-they are not given it early-so they don't know how to show it. ...........thats my twopence-worth.could be worth ten bob if they would listen. to add we had good respectable police always having time to come to our school to help.and advise. School was good. Me,Graham Taylor ,Tony Jacklin, those were the days, learn from them times, we have to go back a long way -and start again.

Question for any Long Time BKK Residents ...

Is it true that BKK air used to be significantly worse than it is now? I have been told the city used to look like it was engulfed in a constant fog from all the pollution.

From my 30 years+ here, difficult, as many would look at it at the time of their hols-or visit, it is always difficult because of this part of the worlds monsoon season, A quick answer would be no, but it did at times look very hazy. the actual pollution is more bad, rivers waterways, but the populous has expanded, hence it's worsening state, there IS sure more rubbish than before thrown around, I will be honest if I say the peoples attitude has got more bad regarding this, I do find the people are NOT as proud as before. In my experience the greed has grown, and with it the never-mind attitude. The hostility to foreigners is now more bad than 30 years ago. Chiang Mai comes to mind, it is 10 times more polluted than the earlier days. Wouldn't you have thought it should have improved-like the west- but it's not learning, There is no-one to teach.

Perhaps this is partly/all a new order, but they have already placed others, which might explain the apparent mathematical snafu ? And there is the added complication of aircraft for the new LCC-subsidiary, are they included in this announcement, or not ?

Certainly Thai's P.R.-people ought to have picked-up on this apparent confusion, but perhaps they were too busy considering, what they might spend their bonuses & pay-increase on ?

And it will be interesting to see how the new aircraft will be financed, with the strong Baht it's a good time to buy outright, but with TG's delicate finances, leasing would be more likely.

Thai inter-have a newish aircraft on lease, from an Indian airline, a 777 e.r. that says a lot, and they are strapped for cash.?? but want to start a second budget airline, Is this greed again??............

It seems at least 2 or 3 times a month we hear about these van and/or bus accidents with numerous deaths and often it is a single vehicle accident. Clearly something needs to be done but I know I will not ever ride in one again unless the seat has seat belts.

Nisa, would you ride with the underaged, unlicenced driver at night then--but only if it had seatbelts. you would ???

RIP. Very very sad and my heart goes out to the families.

I hate taking any form of public transportation in Thailand for this reason. Large buses, Mini Vans etc all seem to want to go so fast and are crazy drivers. I dread when I HAVE to take one. The Government REALLY needs to adress this and set some better standards etc. Who cares if we arrive 1 hour late as long as we arrive alive.

Again, my heart goes out to the victoms families and RIP

I have noticed on several different journeys that the driver clocks in and out at stages of the trip. Is he on a timed run ??--does he have to arrive at a specific time, deadlines to meet. Knowing how fast these buses go, work it out. k.m. p.h. and time of arrival. between two cities, if you look his average speed in many cases is over the speed limit--thats average speed. frightening-yes !!!! Udon Khon Khen approx 2 hours-kilom 200 approx. busses restricted to 70/80. you guess who's fault, well the drivers -but--comments.

"ordering 37 new aircraft and decommissioning 46 existing aircraft with an aim to making its business more efficient in future. After the planned purchase, the national carrier will have a total of 105 aircraft from 85 at present."

I t might just be me. BUT the math seems a bit out on this article

You need to be a rocket scientist to understand it....

Did TAT do the sums? I set my 10 year old Thai niece the problem, she did the arithmetic in her head and got the right answer first time. My friends 30 year old lady who has a Master's degree in Government failed the test - twice.

All this talk from the new man in charge, to turn around Thai Inter., some posters said give him a chance, cause he is brilliant , with a fantastic gift for business, now this--I wonder if he has read this rubbish, surely he didn't give the person the figures to publish, TAT, ?? sounds a bit like their numbers, its a scream, everyday I enjoy T.V. sometimes I want to cry-but really it's a comedy, the news that comes out -reminds me of the "comedians on -I think ITV. u.k. years ago.

The modern world likes to introduce their "packaged" goods to third world countries, but fails to educate their customers about how to properly dispose of the "packaging." In the days when most prepared food items were sold in banana leaves or decomposable woven baskets there wasn't such a problem. Now it's mounds of plastic bags and bottles and Styrofoam containers everywhere.

Asiawatcher has the right idea. Using a widely admired and respected personality to spread the word usually brings the best results.

Many of the package designs seen in Thailand are Asian "inspired", not western creations. Although Thailand is backward at times it is not third world. Thailand's mess was put there in large part by native Thais, not westerners. The first step of dealing with the problem is not to play the blame game, but to lay the responsibility with those that made the mess: Thais.

I totally agree with you. What strikes me as somewhat of a contradiction is; how proud Thai people are of their country on the one hand and how poorly they treat their land, water, seas and air. It would be nice if they would take care of what they are so proud of! You see someone with a new car, wiping and polishing all the time then throw trash out the window as they drive along.... Just for one example.

Try to find a garbage can walking around tourist areas. In part the public needs to be educated as it really is amazing how much cleaner the USA is compared to the 70s in terms of trash being thrown or dumped. I think the other problem is the cheap labor in Thailand and the need to employ people. They have so many people cleaning the streets and public areas that most people don't really see the consequences of their actions in terms of throwing or dumping trash as if they are used to somebody else picking it up. I was shocked when I visited Koh Larn a couple weeks ago with its beautiful waters and land to see so many areas that people used for dumping trash.

Nisa agree with you on the whole-Koh Samet -the same as Koh Larn, on the boats going across people throwing stuff overboard,amazing, In our Tambon-Udon, rubbish bins were provided to every household, got to start somewhere !!!!---but no collection service is provided, so the locals tip the contents out and burn it, 55555. Just to add, the government in the local areas, all have to have a university degree to be employed, so your third world here has the brains, but is not using them, keeping it third world. Now where do Thais go to learn better, the government locally are not showing how its done. But just to add there are areas that are showing signs of improvement. We keep saying it's up to the people, a lot of outside comments are classed as not our business.

Is there such a word/phrase in the Thai language as Environmental Concerns? Why am I not suprised about this report.

rural thai- every street is a tip, countryside is used as a tip, local people try to burn bottles and tins with the rubbish, thinking it will-burn. school education, enforce the law on sugarcane burning, black bits falling from the sky, we call it black snow, again police nowhere-no patrols, not care, dog sh--t everywhere. Kids throwing plastic out of cars-learn from mum. unclean houses and kitchens-outside most houses are like gypsy camps. This is a disaster--Bkk-canals--under the noses of the mayor and officials. Food markets stink, no health checks on sellers. all rivers polluted-so the fish for sale are full of poison. this is last years report-and the years before. No one is doing their job properly-goverment departments are using money allocated on other money making contracts. I live in a rural village, if anyone dissbelieves me then he has blinkers on. It is serious, but like everything reports and a news splash and its forgot. Sustainable-was a word we used in helping other countries-AID- if it wasn't no money was forwarded. This government should follow -sustainable.

I don't know about Bangkok but ( outside of a road block stopping motorcycles or a police pickup at the scene of an accident ) you've got more chance of seeing Bishop Desmnond Tutu riding a unicycle singing " 4 and 20 Virgins " in Khon Kaen at night than a police patrol. It always amuses me when you watch " Cops " or " Road Wars " on True and the caption says " Denver, Coloarado - 3 AM - Street Patrol " or the like. In Khon Kaen it would read " Thanon Sri Chan, Khon Kaen - 6 PM - Officer Chaiasit going home to get drunk and stand in his soi firing his service revolver in the air threatening to kill his neighbours "

Isn;t if funny when we always laugh at the truth. :lol: :lol:

But why can't he just expand Nok-Air again ?

Why? Would you? Have you seen what their noks looks like? lets not embarrass ourselfes any further....

What the aircraft look like is nothing to do with anything, apart from the fact that many Thais like it. Nok Air is a pretty good airline and deserves to be expanded.

I might draw your attention to Bangkok-Airways' tropical-designs, or the TG-Jumbo with a royal-barge painted down the side, or even Air-Asia look pretty colourful, it seems to be fashionable here, to have colourful paintwork-designs.

Just as long as the plane is well-maintained, has well-trained crews & goes on-time for a good price, that'll do for me !

Mr chaiman, instead of spending a bil on the budget, Make Thai International more affordable, your service is Cr-p and your planes are ancient. I was a big deal card holder, but not any more. Your prices have doubled on the domestic route, since oil prices halved. Do you have to charge upwards of 2000 bht to Bkk-from Udon. I can fly at less to Singapore. Air asia is the one-domestic. its cheap if you dont have food -seat No.......... take hand luggage. Nok air prices are high-but instead of flying in comp with air asia-they go to Don M. Get your act together with THAI-look after your dwindleing customers.

Hold on a sec , you mean to tell me at 17/18 years of age you were home before 10pm!!!!

At age 17, thats correct sir. The only time I may have been out later than 10pm whilst 17 was when working late, but I would make my way home immediately from there - NO EXCEPTIONS. It never did me any harm, but I had alot of respect for my elders and understood the rules were there not only to protect me but to make a better person of me.

"The only time I may have been out later than 10pm whilst 17 was when working late", well you were out later than the 10!!

As I said in my post " but at an age when you are legally entitled to work and drive its a little silly "

No, no, back to the original article for you. Children on the way home from uni, legit reasons are exempt. There might be people at that age working at 11pm, so beit, as they leave work they obtain the necessary documentation & make their way directly home, EASY.

As I said, in another group of threads we had certain social bleeding hearts stating that children (under 18's) can't be held accountable for their crimes etc, so perhaps they shouldnt be on the street until their old enuf, which according to the bleeding hearts is 18.

ha ha ha :lol: :lol:

What is the lessor evil?

That groups of kids can hang around everywhere, and do everything as long as they are not getting caught in something currently illegal?

Or that the police now can take action against troublesome groups and individuals, and contact their parents that their kid is in trouble with the curfew-law?

In my own experience, most policemen on the street are nice people with a genuine interest in keeping things running without trouble.

Giving them power to act on dubious kids hanging out in the night might be a very good idea to reduce crime and saving some youngsters from getting on the wrong track.

Why couldn't the police take action before, if they were on the streets in the first place, surely they would have seen what was going on. Do they need to be 'woken up' to act ?? So they were on the wrong track before eh !! who let them ??? these mad splashes amaze me. But it would be good to see a SUSTAINED improvement. kid street sellers, Seems to be a minors problem in Thailand. I would have dropped it a year, or 2. could have better results at 16 -give it a go cops-results or get out of the force.

A rule kim jong il would be proud of

Thats silly.

Children have no place in the streets late at night. They should be at home, simple as that.

100% right! But we are not speaking about children here. We are speaking about 17.5 years old people. Some married with a baby already.

This curfew should be only for less than 13, 14 or 15 years old kids.

Hold on, we have the Social Workers on one thread crying about how a 17 year old is 'JUST A CHILD' and then we have others claiming that 17 year olds are old enough to roam the streets.

Perhaps if the 17 year old parents werent on the streets at age 15 they might not have become parents at such an early age. Please, don't shoot the messenger but surely these 17.5's with families in toe have already demonstrated the reasons why there should be a curfew.

The people need to be controlled.

ps: I note the update mario & clearly this is a step in the right direction.

Agree totally my friend, Do the parents know they are out after 10-Yes, do the parents know if they

are drunk-Yes, Do the parents know if they are on drugs-Yes, also sex for money, theiving, gambling, motor bike racing, they know Yes===if they dont WHY ?????...this is where the control should come from, the police could clean up after them.

Look on the bright side - at least they wont be recklessly driving borrowed cars on the motorway after dark.

You do mean 17 year olds ??

UPDATE

Cops to grill kids who stay out after 10pm

By Suparat Iamtan,

Mayuree Sukyingcharoenwong

The Nation

Youth who stay out of their homes after 10pm in Bangkok must have good reasons to do so from now on or police could summon them for questioning.

Metropolitan Police Bureau spokesman Maj-General Piya Utayo yesterday said the measure was intended to prevent youths from ending up as criminals or victims of crime. However, some people are worried about the measure.

"Police will conduct patrols to ensure youths do not engage in inappropriate activities," he said.

He said the Metropolitan Police commissioner had instructed his subordinates to strictly monitor youths aged under 18 who were out of their homes after 10pm.

"If we find them road racing or hanging out at Internet cafes, we will send them to police stations," Piya said.

He said the parents of the youths would then be alerted so they knew about the problem and could bring their children home. "But if the youths engage in illegal activities, they will be charged and face legal action," Piya added.

"It's necessary to take preventive measures, otherwise the children may become criminals or crime victims," he said.

Piya said children who had valid reasons - such as taking evening tutorial courses - would be allowed to stay out late.

Senator Wallop Tangkana-nurak, who chairs the Senate committee on children, women and the elderly, urged police to implement the measure cautiously. "If police stop and arrest children who are heading to a party at their friend's home, they will be violating the children's rights," he warned.

He said police should just ask the children where they are going and check if they are telling the truth or engaging in illegal activities.

Wallop also pointed out that it would be very sensitive if police conducted body searches on girls or took them to police stations for unclear reasons.

Panadda Chamnansuk, a lecturer from Kasetsart University's Faculty of Social Science, was even more worried. She said the measure would not fit in with Bangkok people's lifestyles.

Panadda said she believed police should focus on risky places such as auto-accessory shops and gaming cafes.

Wallop suggested police implement the measure by setting up checkpoints at night, claiming it would be more useful. "Check the adults too so as to effectively prevent crimes," he said.

-- The Nation 2011-01-14

I dont understand that this update is still referring to Bangkok, And last night it was announced on T.V. (Thai) that it was to cover the whole of Thailand. Its vital we know who is correct, as posters will be thrown.

I have no statistics on this, but doubt criminal cases against 17-or-less old children committed by farang are only a very minor part of all crimes against children. Most is 'Thai only' business. Mind you the new curfew is also meant to combat crimes by children.

PS to be sure, in no way do I want to defend 'sick-minded' farang, neither sick-minded Thai.

I hate it when I make a mistake like this. I hope all understand 'doubt ... are only a very minor part' should be 'doubt ... are more than a very minor part'

Sexual crime against minors by Caucasian men be it in Thailand or in western countries is widely documented. It is not very difficult to find the information to validate my statement. Anyone can simply google it on the internet, e.g, the recent case in the UK: http://www.bbc.co.uk...hester-12143586 It is no wonder that kids in the west are scared to venture out on their own be it during the day or in the evening. If these men were not so perverted they would not spend their money travelling all over the world to abuse minors. The notoriety of male farangs in Thailand is widely discussed and there is nothing you people can do to alter the locals' negative perception. I don't doubt that there are some Thai men who are sick-minded, yet I don't see them going abroad like a lot of their Caucasian counterparts do - to carry out these heinous acts against children. And if they did, they would be punished severely. I find it utterly hypocritical of farangs to keep lecturing the locals about their sexual morality when they seem to have no problem breaching their own code of ethics.

Where is this" widely documented?" Yes there is abuse all over the world. As there are far more people who live in the "West" than in Thailand there will certainly be a larger number of incidences worldwide involving westerners. You dont see Thai men coming to the west to commit these acts because most cannot afford to travel and most cannot even obtain visas to countries like the US, UK and Australia without great difficulty. Anyway, why should they travel when they can get what they want at home without threat of any meaningful enforcement. You site one case in the west. I'll cite one to you then - my wife was raped by a Thai man in her village when she was 14. Unfortunately I cant give you a court citation because the man was never prosecuted despite everyone knowing who he was and what he did. So why would Thai men go abroad and face meaningful prosecution when they can get away with rape with impunity right at home. I dare say farang do not get away with such behavior even in Thailand, nor should they. The difference between the west and Thailand (and Asia in general) is that in the west there is usually meaningful enforcement against a rapist or abuser. In Thailand enforcement against a local is a farce and used primarily against foriegners. So it would only make sense that in a country where women are viewed as second class citizens whose main role is to take care of their male counterparts, and sexual abuse is not prosecuted, they would suffer more abuse from the local men as there are simply more of them. While sexual abuse cannot be condoned by anyone, it is not the farangs who created a society that fosters and tolerates this kind of abuse.But you must blame the west because as we all know, face saving is far more important than facing the truth in the LOS.

Your reply would be the reply I would have made, Spot on, thanks for doing it for me, cheers.

Hi, I am an Indian who has been residing in Thailand for about 16 years now and simply love it. Most of my best friends here are Thai. Coming to the issue as to whether Thais are racialistic......well they are basically racialistic to everyone including their own kind ie Isaan versus The Northerners versus the Southerners etc....let along the different ethnic foreigners. They are racialistic towards their own neighbours ie The Burmese, Cambodians, Laos, Vietnamese, etc. It all originates from their own insecurity and ignorance. Once you understand that, simply play it cool and do not take things to hard. Racialism exists everywhere....The US, in Singapore, In UK, everywhere.

I have never had any problems in my 16 years in this country and sometimes it boils down to the individual.....how you conduct and potray yourself.

Having said that, you can also rest assured.....one of the reasons that I love this country is that everything has a price and the locals here.....even if u are black, indian or an old, ugly looking and dirty farang, will lick your private parts without any hesitation, if you pay the right price!

Some of those who claim to be educated and speak English are also the same. Some of those ladies who are married to farangs and pretend to be hi-sos and make also say things like their kind hates blacks and farangs.....are most of the time also discriminated by their own fellow thais who normally label them as .......you know what.

About the issues of hating Indians.....ya .....me myself sometimes hate some of the Indians u see here..........they are such miserly and crude business people....worst than the Thai Chinese......but unlike the Thai Chinese......they keep a low profile......most of the hotels, service apt businesses, diamond trading, colourstone trading, garment manufacturing, land businesses, plastic and chemical businesses are all controlled by Indians here. who never give anything back to society.

Any yes, on the lower end ...u have those pathetic Indian Money Lenders, Peanut Sellers who really need a wash!

Again, Thais cannot differentiate between Indiand and Pakistanis. (The latter known for various criminal activities here in Thailand and often creating a bad name for the Indians who assume they are Indians. According to the Indian Embassy......there are only about less than 5 Indians languishing in the various in Thailand. Now compare that to the number of British Citizens, Taiwanese, Chinese, Malaysian, etc.......

About the Lord Buddha....whether he is Indian or a Nepalese (Thais still hate Nepales and still lump them up as Kek.)why the Thais are praying to a "smelly kek" , i will never know. In fact they also pray to a lot of other "smelly" Indian Gods ie Lord Ganesha, Lord Shiva, Goddess Lakshmi, etc.......Guess it tell a lot about them.

But then again....as I said ealier on.....just relax and chill out......its a great place if you know how to play it....when people are stupid and ignorant......use it to ur advantage and always pretend to be nice to them......there is a thousand and one things to get revenge in a sweet way.And remember, always be financially above them....as money is actually their God here and you can do anything with money here....its fun!

Anyway.....coming back to the main thing.....I do not thing that the crime was perprated towards the OP,just because he was an Indian......I think that those lower life forms would have targetted anyone that they could take advantage of.

What I am curious is to wait and see waht else the OP has done about the legal issues ie police reports etc. And perharps he should also use his capability in the papers to have releases sent to other foreign papers so that people would be more careful about coming to Thailand.

That was one of the best posts I've read in a while. I will learn from it, and a better person for knowing

I just replied re the curfew---it applies to the whole of Thailand

Piya said if police found children under 18 hanging out at night without justified reasions they would be takenn to police stations and they would be have criminal records and their parents would be called to pick them up.

I assume Thai parents in Bangkok will still be able to sent kids to the shop around the corner to buy beer, whiskey and cigarettes late at night?

It has just been anounced on Thai T.V. that the curfew applies to the whole of Thailand. So my earlier post is now only partly correct. PLEASE NOTE THIS.

No worries i've seen lots of em were waiting for shoppin centre to open at 11 am erm...they supposed to be in school? wait only in BKK? how about another areas? wow that'd be great!!

So your not at risk outside of Bkk, 13-18 is o.k. in Pattaya always has been, and Ph/ChM/Sam-the rest. O.k. kids if you want a good time go out of Bkk area, So students are o.k. exempt--then many can still ply for trade after 10-as long as they study first. Its more of a joke everyday. I have not a brilliant brain-but I think a lot of common sense, To think how much money they are paid, to come up with a totally brilliant--stupid idea.

In Udon province they have a planning office, 1-you register with the local head village, 2 get licences from the municipality (town) 3 Udon for the main trading licence to operate only when photos are supplied of the premises, and its not near residential areas, (music/Karaoke) 4 tax to be paid at the town and registered. Now are they saying (10 businesses) dont have, and have been operating for some time.....had Phuket admin had done their work properly then the business would never have been able to open. Why for h--l sake do they advertise a crackdown. if they have the manpower for this then they have it to prevent businesses opening without licences in the first place.

A troll post and numerous replies to it have been removed. The person who made the post is on an extended holiday.

5555555555555555555555 good one