LuukKoeyKorat

You're happily content with the fact that any form of law & order in this country seems to be going down the drain?! How do you react if a bunch of PT supporters surrounded the PDRC headquarters, and the police did nothing to protect? Are you saying that right now its OK for anyone to do anything they please, ie totally disregard any or all laws of this country? What exactly are you advocating?

Ahaaaa.....

I said there was something afoot when the protesters pulled out yesterday....lol

Now we know why.

Open it somewhere else and it will happen there too.

Can't you lot take a hint?...... No elections before reform, especially with an obviously 'Thaksin tainted' Election Commission.

Well if comes down to numbers in street protest in the end - then the next step is for the Red;s to show their cards both in Bangkok and provincially and then for fights, burning down of government building's and the like. Then before you know it the problem escalates out of control, the army comes in coup and then back to square one. At some point there's going to be a civil war which in other asian countries has manifested in the past as anti-Chinese sentiment but will be more nuanced here in Thailand but will have large elements of the rural Thai Thai's against the Bangkok sino-Thai elite. The poor of Thailand have got the message loud and clear doesn't matter who or how many times you vote we will steal the result away from you time and time again.

Please, get some objectivity into your argument. It is widely known that the previous election was a travesty of Shiniwatara and PTP manipulation , bought votes and outright fraud. The current opposition want reforms in place prior to any election in order to try to obtain a true objective on the voting practise. An election now would simple lead to more of the same and perhaps you have not noticed but there are many in Thailand that have simply had enough of this goverments malfeasance ,ineptitude and outright corruption. Insanity is in doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.. The people of Isan are no more special than any other area in Thailand with the exception that the Shiniwatara's have successful exploited and manipulated them for personal gain. The PTP cares not about the poor and rural but only about votes. If they are truly on the side of the poor then ask yourself why they have done bugger all to alleviate the rampant terrorism that prevails in the South. If the south voted PTP I am sure help would be forthcoming however ,thankfully they have a little more integrity than their cousins in the north.

Well, lets get some political reforms in place then! BUT they are not going to happen by holding a constitutionally-demanded election to hostage...a proper (democratic) process is to stand for elections, sell your political and reform ideas to ALL the electorate and put it to the vote. Making the election wholly 'conditional' on 'pre election reforms' totally undermines the democratic values that Southep is selling as the moral champion he aspires to be right now. If he is serious about the good of the country (and not just for himself and the peoples he represents), then he should offer to negotiate, and compromise, (and win compromises!) on the issues at hand. Without the caretaker government or the opposition making the effort to come to any sort of future agreement..these deep divisions will continue for a long time. Too long.

Doesn't really matter what the numbers were they proved their point that they can bring the center of BKK to a standstill, showing that they can do it again.

If there are no serious moves towards reform in the very near future and the election goes ahead on 2 Feb then it will happen again and it will be for a longer period next time.

Over to you Yingluck wherever you are hiding.

The numbers quoted are not reliable nor even close. It would have been physically impossible to fit all of those people in the protest zones.

The only numbers that count will be at the ballot box.

lol some of you guys really craic me up

You are right when you mention just the protest Zones but you must also consider all access roads and areas around these zones were rammed with people as far as the eye could see, also consider that these numbers reflect only those that made it to Bangkok - there were also protest in other cities, you could be looking at a total country wide count of as much as 20 million - now that is one protest that any government should be taking notice and not ignoring their demands - I noticed Yingluc was staying close to the Northern Border

Does it really matter if it was 4 million or 6 million 20 million - it was a massive show of people power and is still falling on deaf ears

Quantitative area counting from the air is not new and is considered accurate

Come on, there was nowhere near 2,3 or 4 million people on the streets (even collectively) yesterday. Do you have any idea what a crowd that size looks like?? These are inflated figures to serve a purpose. But add however many peeps you want who didn't turn up to BKK but uttered their complaints between dinner and evening Lakorn. I agree with you is that there are a lot of people pissed off with the current political status quo, and its I think its not falling on deaf ears - but the way the current opposition and protest movement is operating is not acceptable. That's the crux of the matter.

For sure...to include the conurbations of Cha-Am, Hua Hin, Chonburi, the daily 80,000 tourists passing through Swampy........

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Live_aid_londres_propiedad_propia.JPG/361px-Live_aid_londres_propiedad_propia.JPG

That was officially 72,000 people. I'm sure everyone remembers that great afternoon.

Quite a mass of bodies, wouldn't you agree?

Now multiply that image by 83 - and you'll get to approx 6 million people. Put simply, the entire population of Laos would have walked around the streets of Krung Thep yesterday afternoon.

I've seen all of the photos of the demo yesterday....somehow...just somehow.....these numbers thrown around by PDRC don't seem to make much sense to me.

Just my 6,000,000 Setang's worth....

The population of BKK is 6.3 million (granted it's actually probably closer to 10 million). Are we sure they weren't just including everyone that happened to be in and around central Bangkok in these calculations?

And I'll just add... Iwas lucky enough to go to an extremely posh school in the UK, part of whose tradition was to take a school photo in the middle of <deleted> freezing Nov. every year :-). I know what 1000 people stacked together looks like ...I have 7 of the bloody pictures on my Mum's living room wall! The OP's pic realistically looks more like 8,000 people...let alone 2 million

They stand united! So far, pretty much everything, they have planned, has worked in their favor. I think, soon it will be "Bye, Bye Miss Yingluck" or Yingluck runs out of luck

I'm not so sure. So far Yingluck and PT have played an extremely smart game, by giving in to most opposition demands. curtailing the red shirt mobsters and basically gaining the moral high ground. However I'm convinced when push come to shove, the status quo on the streets will change and the current -caretaker- government and its supporters will not stand idly by and the whole business will descend into chaos and bloodshed :-(

Suthep is starting to act like the mate who's great fun and the life and soul after a couple of drinks but when he gets really pissed becomes boorish until you say " leave it out pal'

LOl - that's spot on mate, thanks

Does anyone in the area have any more news?

many thanks

100% spot on, well said.

While pro-democracy student activists of the 1970s campaigned against the influence of the military in politics, General Boonlert Kaewprasit, chairman of the Pitak Siam group, said the military was currently idle, in a posture of waiting and seeing, and indecisive when it should have taken a stance.

The military is doing what it should be doing, preparing to defend Thailand and performing humanitarian programs. It should never be an agent of political change.

"no beer here in Rhek Thum."

555, you live in an area named rectum? Sorry mate, that one made me laugh. Oh, and sorry, no news on beer Lao.

made me giggle too ....way too much Beer lao here in Luang Prabang for my own good , try the dark beer..its delicious! Good luck in your hunting!

They should send the judges to study law first.

while the Tourism Ministry will also help improve manpower by sending judges to study tourist law in France.

Interesting idea, sending the judges to study tourist law in France.

10/10, Einstein. Thai people don't need to buy a Thai visa to enter their own country which is....hmmmm....Thailand.

Furthermore, official visa stickers don't just 'disappear'...it usually takes an insider job to manage that, and I doubt whether the local Malay counter clerks have the appropriate clearance. A more realistic scenario is that a bored, underpaid and STUPID Thai employee of the embassy in KL decided to make a few extra bucks.

Thai people will not buy stolen Visa.

Only Farang will do such a stupid thing.

I think I know the one in Than Sadej market - next to the delicious Khao Ka Moo restaurant?

As of yesterday 09/09, still the same situation in Luang Prabang with BCEL. I believe its an ongoing indefinite exercise from the Lao central bank :-(, well atleast until they get rid of the shadow currencies.

I seem to remember them doing this a few times in the past. If you do get stuck with only kip in Nong Khai there are a few gold shops in the big market who will change kip to Baht for quite a good rate

As of yesterday 09/09, still the same situation in Luang Prabang with BCEL. I believe its an ongoing indefinite exercise from the Lao central bank :-(, well atleast until they get rid of the shadow currencies.

Following on from SBK - try walking past a place making fresh Kanom Jin noodles....the fermentation smells are truly awful..but tastes great later!~ :-)

"However, the Department is keen on fixing that problem and finding a way to entice prospective buyers to take part in future auctions, it added."

Hmmm...try dropping the price?

In all honesty does it really matter what is the value of the Ms Yingluck's accessories?

She's a very rich woman and I'm sure there are thousands of rich women in this country with handbags, watches, jewellery, cars etc worth as much or more. She seems to have good taste in some things, just like Marie Antoinette. It's only money. I wish I had a fraction, but that's not the point.

I don't care how many watches she has or indeed the numbers of silk underwear she possesses. What I think is worth caring about is the number of times she shows up at parliament to do her job on behalf of all the Thai people, rich and poor alike and the number of times she tells the truth when asked a straightforward question.

I think the problem is she flaunts it in front of the poor and hungry who she is suppose to be working for and helping. She can still look good but doesn't have to walk around looking like royalty wearing the crown jewels. The only message this sends out is that she is growing wealthier whilst the poor go without. Keep your extravagance for after politics.

Isn't that part of Thai culture? Respect is gained by how much money you have and the material things you own and flaunt.

Also, Udon Thani airport has a very old 747 parked for years. Not sure if it is still used for training? I don't have any contacts for the airport, sorry.