Jawnie

Finally, some accountability regarding Thai politicians and their corruption. I couldn't think of a better person to begin with....bravo!

Frankly, Abhisit should resign as an MP for this, it's really a scandal and a disgrace. I hope the public speaks up and demands his resignation.

If every MP who had cheated in some way like Abisit supposedly did were made to resign there would be no parliament.

And of course precious few policemen.

That's a cop out...you've got to start somewhere. What, we shouldn't prosecute or penalize one until we can do it to all? Not workable.

Huh? In this case, Mr. abhisit used a forged document to obtain his commission. He was caught and lost his commission.

simple as that.

Can you show us the results of the official inquiry which found that Abhisit forged the documents?

I believe you need to go to the Defence Ministry, they should have everything you wish to see. Doubtful that anyone here has them....we are all simply reading the same news article. Nice try.

They also expect politicians to stop fighting (60.1 per cent), stop corruption and work for the country's and public's sake instead (25.5 per cent) and create a good image of Thai politics in order to restore people's confidence (14.3 per cent).

Sadly! none of the above can possibly happen under a Thaksin Puppet Government Regime,of Cronyism, his very obvious influence,and blatant hindrance, of peace on his terms, and Victory, only to Rape and Pillage Thailand once again, with impunity.

The PM has the right to consult with whomever she wishes. All Thais knew Thaksin was her brother and the elected her anyway. Get over it, move on.

Still in denial.Do you seriously think that any serious source believes the government has no mandate? You remind me of those barmy and deranged right wing American fanatics who argue Obama has no mandate.We have all seen the numbers from the last election here.The key point is that there are rules to the parliamentary democracy system, and all but fruit cakes don't question the outcome.As it happens Yingluck won a pretty convincing victory, far more so than that of say David Cameron.

Can you please explain "mandate" to me. What defines "a mandate"?

Mandate is simply that you've been selected to represent the views of the people. YL beat Abhisit by 13% points and PTP gained 76 seats and Democrat Party lost 14. Read 'em and weep. Elections have consequences. In Thai politics, it doesn't take a majority to win an election. Like in sports, a win is a win...pretty simple. Get over it...move on.

At some level I assume you realise the absurdity of your endless denials of the government's solid mandate.

When posters stop using phrases like "the people", "all Thais", and "a majority of the people", then I will stop correcting them.

PTP won a majority of the seats. That gives them the right to be in government. Getting 47% of the vote hardly gives you "a mandate", whatever that really means.

I did not say 'all Thais voted for her'. I said all Thais knew Thaksin was her brother....she won anyway. Get over it...move on.

The PM isn´t working for reconciliation, she works for her brother.

The PM has the right to consult with whomever she wishes. All Thais knew Thaksin was her brother when they elected her. Move on......

All Thais knew Thaksin was her brother, which might be why a majority didn't vote for her.

Er, uh.....who won the election and who is the current PM? Get over it.....

The PM isn´t working for reconciliation, she works for her brother.

The PM has the right to consult with whomever she wishes. All Thais knew Thaksin was her brother when they elected her. Move on......

These rates seem quite high. I'd be interested in hearing from those teachers who actually get these rates. And, if so, are the students consistent in attending class or at least in communicating about the class? From my perspective it seems easy to say this is what one should charge, but do you actually get these rates?

I do corporate teaching which is teaching staff and managers in corporate and company offices around Bangkok. I rarely interact with other teachers, or my boss for that matter. I am also a "tefler'. I worked many years in professional environments in the US but was 'aged out' when the financial roof fell in in 2008. Fortunately, I had already been planning to leave the US to teach English and, as as part of it, I got a got a tefl certificate. It is obvious to me, though, that my past work experience more than makes up for the fact that I wasn't an English or Teaching major.

I am well aware of the reputation of foreigners and English teachers...it comes with the territory, I guess. I never deal with underage students so it's never an issue for the clients nor does my employer need to watch out for any 'hanky-panky' in my case. Frankly, I don't even attempt to date the students - there are so many other places to find dating material, why complicate and compromise your job and reputation? One of the biggest lessons I've learned teaching in Thailand is that of "curbing my inner dog' and staying focused on grammar and pronunciation....haha.

These comments by a judge and the fact that a judge commented at all about this just shows how mickey mouse and backward the Thai justice system is. Who cares if a few whackos protest in front of a court....especially a judge - why in the world would he give two cents about it?

There was a big commotion of few weeks ago about PM YL who was thought to have been "too flirtatious" with President Obama and that it "harmed the country." But stupid sh*t comments like this from judges is hugely more harmful to Thailand's international reputation. Chalk up another one for third-world, back water governance!

This is the perfect solution...bravo.

Often it seems we, as farangs, are asked to be very flexible and to respect and follow Thai customs - this is correct as as it should be. But, in this case, ie, relationships, there are two cultures and each needs to be dealt with as equally valid and worthwhile. You chose the correct way to deal with the guy which was simply to tell him to "get a job." Any and all American fathers would expect this of their daughter's fiancee and there is no reason to forego it just because you are in Thailand. Again, I say BRAVO!

The article has one glaring omission: a full-throttled call for the repeal of Article 112 and for the release of anyone in custody because of this abomination of a law.

Thailand will never have the respect of the international community and will always be seen as a third-rate, backwater outpost while this "law" still exists.

It's hard for modern people to take a book that starts with a section about a man on a flying elephant very seriously, even if the material after that makes perfect sence.

I would expect as people understand flying elephants don't exist their would be a drop in people believing in the books that promote that idea.

You are right - there are lots of bad books out there - about everything. I suggest looking for a different book on Buddhism if that is your interest. There are plenty of others. However, all Buddhist schools have texts that include non-rationale and rather fantastic myths and stories - it's part of the territory when engaging Buddhism. It takes some study, time, and thought to weed things out about myths.

On the other hand, some of the stories are literally true...knowing which comes with learning. I read a story about a Tibetan boy, a tulku (re-incarnated holy man) in the early 20th Century. One of his duties as a young boy was to fetch water from the river each day. He would always do it very quickly...nobody in the monastery could figure out how he did it so quickly. One day, his tutor asked the boy how he did it. The boy's answer was that he flew to and from the river because it was faster than walking. The tutor asked him not to do that anymore.

Hahaha? Maybe, but the story is not a joke or a myth - it is a true story.

There are different types of incense for different purposes. If you are buying yours at a supermarket, it's general, all-purpose incense. Seems to me that it's your condo so you should be able to do what you wish. I doubt any Thais would or should be offended by it. It's not necessary to whei when you light incense but you certainly can like a lot of Thais do - whether you whei or not, or do something more elaborate depends on the reason you are burning the incense.

Can't stand either Abhisit or Suthep but this many charges seems a bit over the top. Folks, we are just looking for a little truth, justice, and reconciliation...not a bunch of whacko grand-standing by government prosecutors.

Never read or heard that one form of dealing with a dead body is preferable or recommended over another. Therefore, it would seem that the method is purely personal and/or cultural. Along with burial and cremation, Tibetans use 'sky burial' where the body is taken into the mountains, ritually cut into large sections, and fed to vultures. This is considered an offering and a way of giving to beings, the vultures, as a last embodied, albeit dead, act. My ex-wife's grandfather's body was handled this way about 10 years ago.

For cremated bodies, sometimes the ashes are placed inside stupas or relics. I've even heard of the ashes being mixed with clay and the clay then used to make offering sculptures....these are all Tibetan customs.

A much more important aspect of dealing with dead people is how everyone near the body behaves for the first few days following the stoppage of breathing and of the pulse. The consciousness has not yet completely departed the body and is very sensitive to whatever is going on in close proximity to the body.....so say the Tibetans.

This opens an interesting discussion.

I am a great admirer of the core Buddhist teachings, but have decided that in fact a human being doesn't need to have everything perfect to have a perfect state of mind, and that a "perfect" state of mind is by no means necessary. In fact I think it is just fine to observe the human condition and mental states as by their nature never quite what we want.......that is the nature if dukkha.......but just realise dukkha exists, things are never "quite right", that all our problems arise from the reification of concept. If we accept that and live in as reasonable an equanimity as we can we're doing just fine.

The human psychophysical mechanism has developed to tolerate everything that comes at it and still come out with enough positivity to get by happily. We don't have to stifle our desires, just look upon them kindly and see what's happening.

"We don't have to stifle our desires, just look upon them kindly and see what's happening."

I respectfully disagree, you DO need to 'stifle' your desires"...or rather, "just looking upon them" is not enough. Renunciation means to give them up completely. Because we typically are so completely engrossed and attached to our desires they persist and persist and persist. This is why renunciation is so important...it is the direct method for releasing consciousness bound up in its attachment to desire and renunciation needs to be practiced over and over and over. It is simply mental gymnastics of the ego to say it is not necessary to give up desires, it's the ego trying to save itself.

It seems to me that the core principle of renunciation has been lost. Renunciation opens the door to liberation, renunciation leads one through the door to liberation, renunciation closes the door to suffering. It must be practiced moment by moment, for always. The article has it correct when it mentions the materialism that has arisen so dramatically in Thai society.

In all things Buddhist, whether an action is positive or negative is completely dependent on the motivation of the individual.

I sometimes ponder on this.

If one is deluded, then wouldn't this overule motivation/intention if the action is negative?

I'd say, even positive actions may lack merit if greed and delusion are involved.

Many act with what they think is good intention but due to their lack of awareness (delusion/greed) their actions can be misguided.

Correct.

Live amo?

What do the red shirt apologists think the army should have used against those who were firing live amo and grenades at them, sticks and stones?

It has been said that no black shirts were ever shot but what do you think would have happened if a black shirt was shot, do you think the reds would have held up his body complete with weapons and said one of their brave protectors had veen killed by the ruthless army under the orders of a bloodthirsty PM?

Or would it have been more likely that his weapons would have been passed on and the black outer garments removed so he then became an inocent bystander, or possibly a taxi driver.

I noted on the videos that the black shirts we never far from cover. They would jump out fire a few random shots in the general direction of the army then dive back into cover.

So it would have been no problem to drag their bodies out of sight had one been shot.

It is the duty of the government, any government, to act reasonably even when others are not. Shooting indiscriminately into a large crowd of protesters is a completely unreasonable action by the government. What the Army should have done was to find the people shooting at them, not shoot whoever happens to be there. It is the governments duty to act reasonably, period.

Drip, drip, drip of bad news for those who think the government is soooo innocent. Only taken two years to get this far. Reconciliation, my arse.

Not sure what you mean with the word "ceremonies." A lot of the Thai ceremonies I see on tv seem to be 'ceremonial', ie for show, as opposed to ritual or practice. Everyone seems to being going through the motions but I always have the sense that it's all pretty shallow, that they are just doing because that is what you are supposed to do. It all seems completely divorced from "mind training', which would be another purpose of ceremonies. In all things Buddhist, whether an action is positive or negative is completely dependent on the motivation of the individual.

As you know, Mahayana and Vajrayana have tons of ceremonies and rituals. Theravadins like to say the Buddha didn't teach these, but that's not true. Morever, his subsequent incarnation, Padmasambhava, taught the use of ceremonies and ritual extensively, both personal and for groups. Some people say that the Buddha gave the teachings (sutras, etc.) while Padmasambhava gave the practices (ceremonies). They are all meant for both mind training and for making merit, again, according to the motivation of the individual. I'm not sure whether Theravada emphasizes the motivation and mind training aspects of ceremonies.

Any important undercover sting operation has its dangers - they are inherently dangerous for the actors. I believe, though, that there are lots of Thais who genuinely wish for a better society. Suffice it to say that such behavior, corruption, is stealing which is a breach of core Buddhist precepts, as is the mistreatment of one's fellow human beings. Good people will always want to resist such injustices.

I agree it will be difficult to find recruits, but not impossible. I think the best place to look for recruits is among young Thais who are studying, working, or living abroad in western democracies. I also believe there are enough good Thais already in government to do this. It would have to be ultra secret (not the typical headline nonesense) and would need to include one or two judges who equally committed. It may be difficult but not impossible. All situations are changeable - this is a core Buddhist tenet, as well.