pointoffew

Summarised: encroaching on forestland and extorting others is strictly reserved for Thai nationals.

Tharit "urged members of the public to alert the DSI to any suspicious activities." May I suggest that you open a hotline where anyone can anonymously report fraud and extortion, and I will be reporting until I drop.

It will take an experienced sniffer - like me - to trace the rightful owners.

"She said (...) they worked fixing clothes..."

Fixing holes in ladies' knickers?

This is a mean-spirited response to this tragedy.

"Police said due to heavy traffic congestion in the area, cars are often stuck on the rail crossing during the red light."

Tells you something - admit: we knew for long - about the police....

Cars DON'T get stuck on the rail crossing "due to heavy traffic congestion" but due to a total lack of brains and/or manners.

Call it unrivalled selfishness, if you will.

Somnamna indeed.

Didn't mean to be mean - but meant every word I wrote.

"Police said due to heavy traffic congestion in the area, cars are often stuck on the rail crossing during the red light."

Tells you something - admit: we knew for long - about the police....

Cars DON'T get stuck on the rail crossing during "due to heavy traffic congestion" .but due to a total lack of brains and/or manners.

Call it unrivalled selfishness, if you will.

Somnamna indeed.

I thought tainted milk was a typical Chinese phenomenon...

Like most statistics, this one - or the article about the survey - only tells us a small, insignificant part of the story.

The rank - and climbing it or dropping down - is relatively irrelevant. The actual score, e.g. 6.7 out of 10, is what counts.

When Morocco climbed "21 places to 94", how much did it improve (if at all) in terms of overall score? The article doesn't tell.

Thailand climbed 3 places to 17. In theory it's possible that it's score dropped.

But journalists generally understand little - if anything at all - about statistics. And unfortunately, many readers in turn don't understand that.

As for the situation in Thailand: there are loads of laws, rules and regulations to comply with. The "good" news is: if you have the "right" connections and/or deep, very deep pockets, you don't need to comply with any of those laws etc.

Given that most Thai schools and universities are primarily committed to issuing certificates and unworldly Thai teachers are not at all interested in, or informed about, the world outside Thailand, this should come as no surprise.

It is cultivated ignorance in its purest, yet deadliest form, as cherished by the elite.

Tit 4 tat

TIT

Next, can we see some oversight by FDA for MSG and items using MSG? Though it's only toxic for a small % of the population, it's toxic nevertheless.

MSG is a "natural" product made from seaweed so calling it "toxic" is a bit extreme. Some people may be allergic to it but that doesn't make it "toxic."

Whether or not MSG is natural, why couldn't it be toxic?!

Do I understand you correctly that - in your mind, mouth and body - lead and arsenic aren't toxic?

However, MSG is a naturally occurring non-essential amino acid and, unlike what MattabarRetail claims, it is NOT banned in western countries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monosodium_glutamate#Australia_and_New_Zealand

Asking for reimbursement of travel expenses is clever - in most countries this would be regarded as FREE sex.

"They make their living by selling fish"

Shell fish?

Given the fact that Suthep is not only in charge of national security but is THE man with ALL the power - or so he claims - ALL the positions, ALL the responsibilities, even in the position to assign "the Tourism and Sports Permanent Secretary the responsibility of preventing tourist fraud in Bangkok and at Suvarnabhumi Airport" and given the fact that he has done NOTHING over the past many years in favour of protecting tourists, tourism or, for that matter, national security, he should step down - and be prosecuted for gross negligence.

If you want to be THE MAN - accept to face the consequences of total failure.

"Somyos said most people did not know that the National Health Security Office conducted free HIV testing twice a year."

So why was I charged 420 baht for a test? I am under the Social Security scheme!

Given that there are 500,000-600,000 HIV infected people still alive, 10,000 new infections per year is an unlikely low number.