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Steely Dan
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Posts posted by Steely Dan
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Not sure how many people will read this, but here's my two baht worth:
It will be a huge mistake for any western country to interfere in the north African/middle east unrest - it will ultimately lead to resent and (justified) suspicion of motives.
This is an opportunity for the Egyptian people to show their support for their Libyan neighbours and send their army in to liberate Tripoli. I am pretty sure the Libyan army will shrink away from a real threat and Gadaffi will be vanquished. Once order has been restored, the Egyptians pull out and suddenly there is a clear message to all these despots - listen to your people; use force on them and we will intervene (and by the way, our Libyan, Tunisian allies will join us)...
Gadaffi has already given the go-ahead for foreign soldiers to fight on Libyan soil, so I see no need for six months deliberation by UN, EU, USA, NATO before a resolution is passed. Invade now Egypt!
Western powers are already complicit in the length of tenure enjoyed by various middle eastern despots, and history does tend to show that every time we intervene it's for an alterior motive, namely oil. A shocking example of how little the west really cares is demonstrated by the Hama massacre; In 1982 president Assad of Syria violently put down a rebellion in the city of Hama, the death toll was estimated between 17,000 and 40,000. Syria has no oil. I'm not sure how many hundreds have already died in Libya but I think outside intervention would be forthcoming before we get anywhere near the Hama level.
Incidentally I would love nothing better than for Gaddafi to stand trial for his crimes though preferably in Libya rather than the Hague.
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Aw give them a break for once. If the aircraft they are replacing are so obselete then eventually you have to bite the bullet and make the outlay.
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I was discussing the events in Libya with my wife this morning. I commented on the rise in the oil price this has already caused and remarked that if Saudi Arabia goes the same way we will have a massive world crisis on our hands. Her reply was that there is nothing we can do about it so what's the point in worrying? My wife by the way is a dentist who has travelled outside of Thailand many times so I thought to myself that perhaps there is something in the native mindset which turns off all curiousity when considering matters not strictly parochial.
To break out of this mindset takes effort and as with the Truman show Truman had to paddle very hard in order for his boat to reach the edge of the filmset.
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Intel Inside?
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Welcome to the Third World.
So; why don't all you righteous beholders of this so terribly flawed Thai society just pack your bags and return to your perfect "first world" home countries where all the politicians are honest, all the police above corruption and all the citizens committed to behaving within the framework of their flawless society and where everybody drives with the utmost care and nobody ever dies in accidents.
What is difficult to figure is where you are all going to go? Great Britain?, I don't think so, not according to the Daily Sun. How about France?..whoops, forgot about the PM and his wife. Maybe you can all go to Germany or Sweden, I never read anything bad about those countries in their press; of course, I can't read German or Swedish. I don't need to read Italian to know that Italy isn't going to cut it these days
America?.. Canada?..OK, lets really have a laugh: Australia!! I hear New Zealand is quite orderly.
Don't forget to close the door behind you.
Ah the traditional close door behind you post. May I suggest that if you don't want matters like this discussed it would be helpful that they never made the press then we can all happily continue living in utopia. I guess you do have a point in so far as nothing will change until a majority of Thais want it to and are prepared to demand it, until then ignorance is bliss.
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To be fair, there is evidence that those Gazans who don't openly support the corrupt Hamas government often do suffer poor treatment. From fellow Arabs.
Coincident with the last major Israeli incursion into gaza Hamas wasted no time in rounding up whatever fatah leaders it could find and lynched them. Hamas have contempt for all life including their own. As for Israel building settlements I would just say that when surrounded by fanatics Israel is never going to allow porous borders which allow extremists to enter - note that the number of suicide bombers in Israel has also declined as well as the number of incoming missiles.
Perhaps the U.N could turn it's attention to more pressing issues such as a maniac like Ahmadinajad attempting to gain nuclear weapons.
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On this issue I agree with you 100%. But what of the accomplices who apparently escaped after 'shooting their way out'? Do we take it that this was just yet another bungled police operation, or was the escape pre-arranged as with red shirt leaders escaping down ropes when the police came to arrest them?
Could have been a bungle or a pre-arranged escape. We'll probably never know.
The Police help their fellow officers regardless of the crime; including murder and especially in the murder of foreigners as we have seen previously in the murder of the two British backpackers in Kanchanaburi by the off-duty Policeman Somchai Wisetsingh, he was aided in his escape over the border to Burma by fellow Police officers and then subsequently assisted in his alibi. In Pai, the local Police aided and covered up during the murder of Leo del Pinto by one of their own, and he went on to kill again, only this time it was a Thai and he's got to go down for that one. Still, can't help thinking it wouldn't have happened if he had been properly apprehended and punished in the first instance.
Nothing surprises me about them, and they always will protect their own; murders, violent criminals and psychopaths, they're still one of the boys
Your previous posting I quote here "The Thai Police are merely a product of a flawed cultural and societal system.
They are representative of Thai society itself, and the country as a whole."
You are right in your assessment.
That is the core of the problem. I know cases of officers in the army and police who cannot get a higher position because they do not have the money to pay to the higher-ups who would grant the promotions. Police is grossly untrained because most positions from lieutenant on down are routinely purchased or granted as political favors. It is graft not merit the backbone of the police department.
I am deeply saddened by the state of affairs but I understand that it is endemic to the region. This applies also to China where graft and corruption reach unreal levels.
Copy on China, I know of a regional office of a multinational company who had a transport manageress arrested finger printed and told she was in big trouble because one of their vans had hit a wall causing minimal damage. As it turned out the incident could be overlooked providing four police officers were taken out on a jolly, I will add they were very specific about the callibre of restaurant and number of drinks which would have to be purchased.
To return to 'flawed cultural and societal system' may I suggest the difference is essentially between guilt cultures and shame cultures, with the former regulation of behavior relies on an internal morality guiding the individual as to what's right or wrong, whereas a shame culture is one where an individual suffers no self-regulatory guilt but is only controlled by those of a higher rank publicly shaming them.
Edited to suggest googling guilt society and shame society
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The Thai Police are merely a product of a flawed cultural and societal system.
They are representative of Thai society itself, and the country as a whole.
They can never be changed or improved until the cultural flaws are addressed.
On this issue I agree with you 100%. But what of the accomplices who apparently escaped after 'shooting their way out'? Do we take it that this was just yet another bungled police operation, or was the escape pre-arranged as with red shirt leaders escaping down ropes when the police came to arrest them?
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Abisith refused any ceasefire.
Army signs with Hun Sen's son...
Who is in charge?
One more time, this is a Thai internal politic squabble.
Abisith NEEDS this war, maybe by personal tastes, but first of all because it would help him to win the polls.
Don't the democrats already have about 50% of the electorate intending to vote for them according to oppinion polls? I suspect it's marginalised would be power brokers who want to make some mileage out of this rather than Abhisit needing to.
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PAD was formed in the first place for one reason!
Revenge!
When 2 friends become worst enemies over money there are no boundaries.
Funny they have become active again just before elections.
Yes that about sums it up - two squabbling Oligarchs battling to the death with Thailand being the arena, this does resemble the Truman show as so many people on the inside get diverted swallowing diversionary red herrings hook line and sinker instead of realising this is all about the alignment of a few snouts at the head of the feeding trough.
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and shot medics, independant journos all unarmed... Do me a favour... go pull the ears off your teddy
Didnt you see the pic of the journo (as you put it) injured by a red grenade posted on this forum today.
Your memory is short.
Far to short to remember all the things we, who were here, saw the reds do, if not in person then on TV every day.
Send me a link to the page with the photo...please
Another wild statement sir. You dont know where I was, and what tv I watch but be sure it wasnt only Thai Tv because the coverage was so one sided. I watched coverage from CNA, CNN, AL JAZEERA BBC, YOUTUBE, unblocked sites with front line images, read foreign reports online etc. Consider all the evidence before making a statement. Dead nurses, journalists, medics paints a picture I for one cannot ignore. You obviously can
Anyone with a memory longer than that of a goldfish would balance that with the hospital occupation, Bangkok being set ablaze after redshirt leaders were filmed encouraging this act and finally when it was clear they had lost the rampaging redshirts turned on journalists as another convenient scapegoat. Nope, you may have fooled the international press for a few days but by the end they had seen for themselves what the reds were really about.
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Well the pantomime season is truly upon us (as if it ever left) and we have a ridiculous fabricated thread of unsound conclusions and downright lies to try and get Abhisit to stand trial in the Hague, or perhaps just resign.
I think anyone not looking through red or yellow coloured spectacles can see this as nonsense and could only have any legs if powers that be behind the scenes wanted it so. It's about as likely as a prime minister having to step down for appearing on a cooking show.... Hang on.
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If Abhisit were British wouldn't he have to do visa runs? I must say I've never seen him on the minivan to Mae Sai so he no doubt flies to Singapore instead.
Incidentally if this pantomime is to continue perhaps the multi-billionaire megalomaniac Montinegrin should be tried by the ICC due to the 2000+ deaths he was responsible for during the so called war on drugs.
P.S It's especially ironic that this 'issue' is brought up by Jatuporn who hides behind parliamentary immunity in order to avoid being banged up along with the other red terrorists.
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So I see that the TPN believe they have sacked Veera's legal councel even though they didn't appoint him. Seeing as TPN and the PAD seem so practiced at overstepping their authority perhaps they would also like to sack Hun Sen on behalf of the Cambodian people and overturn the ICJ judgement giving the temple to Cambodia while they're at it.
Finally they could click their heels together three times and shout 'We're going back to kanchanaburi Toto'.
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If they were going to make heroin with it, wouldn't they have refined it first? Opium is not really a hard drug compared to speed or heroin.
By the looks of things those cats are anything but refined.
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^ I agree that one of the core issues of all this is really over the askew and laughably drawn maritime border line that turns the Gulf of Thailand into the Gulf of Cambodia if one were to accept this incredulous demarcation.
Ah, I'm glad we agree on this being a core issue. I don't know what deal Thaksin may have struck with Hun Sen regarding the temple and the division of maritime resources, but I suspect it went something along the lines of you develop the temple as long as PTT get the contract to explore for oil in waters agreed to be Cambodian. When the PAD started kicking up a stink about the temple this may have scuppered any agreement reached on oil, if so Thailand stand to lose on both issues if Vietnam/China get exploration contracts and the 1962 ruling on the temple remains in force. I'm sure Khun Abhisit is well aware of this but events outside his control are causing him big problems.
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Actually, it doesn't.
In addition to the disclaimer in the headline of the linked article is a disclaimer at the end of it.
KI-Media note: We cannot confirm the above report.
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To use a line from a Clint Eastwood film 'Do you feel lucky punk?' China and Vietnam are both going to be interested in Cambodian oil and gas resources and it is far to close to their backyards to let the U.S or it's allies stake a claim. I grant you the report is unconfirmed but it is a move I predicted and is it worth taking a chance over 1.8 sq miles of land?
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The very reason why Hunsen wants third party organizations in are that their troops already occupy the adjacent disputed land. The offer to cease fire, mobility freeze, and allow peacekeeping force in means they can occupy it indefinitely. This will follow by Cambodian unilateral area development, and no need to spend more on military guard force their. The Thai can only watch it going on, if they are stupid enough to agree...
According to recent reports it is not just Cambodian forces who are close to the border but also a division of Vietnamese tanks. I think it's time to talk with the UN, ASEAN or whoever mediating before this snowballs out of control - Thailand brought more tanks to the border and Hun Sen has called and raised by bringing in Vietnam.
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After giving reasons why Cambodia has things to gain fron inciting a war with Thailand the article finishes with:
Only Thailand would want a war in order to seek its national popularity which was lost during the Red Shirtscrisis.
Which of course is absolute B S.
The Thai Govt is gaining popularity all the time as indicated by the polls and the dismal preformance of the opposition in parliament.
Thailand has nothing to gain and a lot to lose in any war with their neighbours.
Well as it stands the democrats have estimated at close to half the Thai population on their side so they do not need war to bolster their popularity, especially as Pheu Thai have descended into farce. This is imho all about the PAD who have lost a lot of their grass roots support and are trying to play the nationalism card to bolster their popularity. The scary and unknown factor is to what extent certain factions in the military may be supporting PAD for their own benefit - this could be the usual hidden powers at work or even down to events we are not allowed to discuss.
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Vietnamese tanks moving to Preah Vihear to help Cambodia: Unconfirmed online report
16 Feb
2011
LGV
The following translation from French is an
excerpt from a post on Le Grand Village. The original article
in French is available here.
A division of Vietnamese tanks crossed into Cambodia to travel to the border with Thailand. While the UN is pushing for a
dialogue within the ASEAN framework, the protagonists are getting ready for fighting. Vietnamese tanks cross Cambodia and China
provides fighter jets I can tell you and it was a big shock for the
witness who recounted to me the scene [of the Vietnamese tanks]. Twenty years
earlier, the witness saw the arrival of the Vietnamese tanks which came to
“liberate” the country from the Khmer Rouge regime. These Viets stayed and they
looted and took away wealth belonging to a country that was then in agony. The witness thought he would die from fright
when on Saturday, early in the morning, he saw a new column of Viet tanks
following the same path, twenty years later, to “save” Cambodia once
again! These tanks were sent to scare Thailand and to
act as a counterweight in the negotiations. However, Vietnam, just like China,
had obtained well earned compensation for this help. In addition to the
strengthening of their influence within ASEAN vis-à-vis the loss of credibility
of the Thai capitalism, Vietnam and China have their eyes fixed on the oil
reserve recently found in Cambodia (furthermore, Vietnam already offered to
provide oil – which Cambodia needs while waiting to be able to pump out its own
resources – in exchange for future exploration rights). The escalation of violence and the preparation
for war worry NGOs in Cambodia, and they also alarm the expats. The risk of
embroiling the region is small but real. The regional and international powers
will not allow Southeast Asia to be embroiled in fighting. Being too sensitive,
the region has numerous interests and it also attracts the US, as well as China
and India. None of these superpowers want to see a war between Thailand and
Cambodia, and even less within ASEAN itself. Only Thailand would want a war in
order to seek its national popularity which was lost during the Red Shirts
crisis.
This confirms my prediction several weeks ago that Hun Sen would not hesitate to use Cambodian oil reserves as a bargaining chip to enlist the help of Vietnam should Thailand continue sabre rattling. In case the significance of this has escaped anyone this is a game changer as the Vietnamese are formidable fighters who beat the U.S even without air cover. Not to mention the fact that the temple is the one issue that unites Cambodians - Apart from some Thai nationalists I can't see the same unity amongst Thais.
I will continue my analogy of Thailand playing drafts when everyone else is playing chess and make a new prediction. Should Thailand try to escalate this by enlisting the help of U.S military support they are risking here being the battleground for the (thus far) economic war between the U.S and China. A lot has to go wrong before it comes to this but the presence of Vietnamese tanks should be a big big warning to Thailand.
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'Top Lizard Poacher' Makes it sound as if they compile performance statistics for this (ahem) occupation.
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Yes, I don't know how many times I have to tell people to take the fully prescribed cure and not stop after 2-3 days...
Overprescription combined with very little awareness or education concerning the use of antibiotics means that any antibiotic made available to the Thai medical fraternity has it's effective days numbered, and sadly I doubt this problem is confined only to Thailand.
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<Snipped for brevity>
In 50 years Singapore will be a financial giant and Thailand will still be Thailand. In the past 60 years Singapore was able to get rid of corruption, Thailand was not. I could tell you why but it is illegal even to discuss the reasons.
my point! I could tell you why but it is illegal even to discuss the reasons.
Perhaps you can broaden and generalise sufficiently to make your point by observing that any society which puts a great deal of effort into telling people what to think while discouraging them from obtaining skills relating to how to think is far more likely to resemble the Truman show than a society which places great emphasis on education and open discussion of social issues.
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Time does not make any difference. Both Thailand and Singapore were corrupt 60 years ago and after WW II both in bad shape financially Dead Singapore 50,000 7% Thailand 7,700 .04%. Singapore's change had nothing to do with elections. A strong man took control and reformed the place. He realized education was key, and foreign investment and public safety among other things. The fact that Singapore had a British/Chinese work ethic helped.
Singapore people are boring workaholics. Thai people are lazy and fun loving. For fun Singapore imports Thai people.
50 years is not going to make any difference. Singapore and Thailand both were equal 60 years ago. If anything Thailand had an advantage. Compare GNP then and now.
In 50 years Singapore will be a financial giant and Thailand will still be Thailand. In the past 60 years Singapore was able to get rid of corruption, Thailand was not. I could tell you why but it is illegal even to discuss the reasons.
Good post! Yes the British model of organization twinned with the Chinese work ethic made Singapore what it is. I have often noted an undercurrent in Thailand which seems to resent how the Thai Chinese are so relatively successful, but there is more to it than that - Perhaps a beneign dictator along the lines of Attaturk is needed to knock the place into shape, but at the end of the day I think the ruling elite benefit greatly from the status quo, which is why democracy here seems to be such a facade - Still, except on the days I have to drive a distance or deal with any organ of government I would rather live in Thailand than Singapore.
Fidel Castro says US ready to order NATO invasion of Libya
in World News
Posted
And there was I trying to be diplomatic. As a British citizen I do view with shame the moral cowardice and greed of successive British governments when dealing with despots. The last UK government released one of the Locherbie bombers from jail obstensively on humanitarian grounds but really down to commerical interests, the 'camel corp' foreign office are also noteable in their reluctance to overlook the countless human rights abuses commited by despotic oil states and their readiness to condemn Israel at every opportunity.
There I said it now, but I think you are right about who this impacts most judging by the price differential that has opened up with Brent Crude some 12% above U.S crude when historically they have traded at parity.