pomeloseed

Yes its (Israel) a state specially for only one specific ethnic/religious/cultural group.

Israel is not perfect society (where is there one?) but it's much more open than any of its Arab neighboring states.

Ever since hominids grouped together and attacked other groups of hominids, there have been wars. Even before that, if you count other aggressive animals and colonizing insects. Wars get waged, leaving some winners and some losers. The losers usually lose territory and they usually suffer more killed than the winners. Sad but true.

Maybe they got tricked or maybe they lost pitched battles, but some of the earlier inhabitants of that region (mid 20th century) were either killed or forced to move elsewhere, and others took over the land. Armed conflict has been going on in that region, arguably the crossroads leading out of Africa - towards western Asia and Europe - for millenia. It used to be lush, with plethora of animals and plants, now it's mostly desert, barely useful for a protected environmental wasteland. As to 'who is the rightful owner' debate, that's bordering on ridiculous. You can look at nearly any region on the planet, and you'll see all sorts of inhabitants at different times. Even the Caribbean was once inhabited by peaceful tribes before the fierce Carib tribes took over. Should we find some surviving original peaceful members, and summarily kick out everyone else, including the Dutch, French, Americans, Danes, British, African descendants, Mexicans, Chinese et. al?

The Israeli / Palestine region is about half the size of New Mexico and about half as environmentally nice, yet it's the hotbed of this planet because miserable people are hassling non-stop about ownership of its sand dunes. Best thing all those folks can do for themselves is stop having babies. Next best thing is to try and teach their children tolerance towards others. Since neither of those things are going to happen, expect another several decades (at least) of internecine bickering and violence.

"The main leader, Jatuporn Promphan, served as secretary in the ministry of natural resources and environment in the Thaksin government

It would be interesting to know what the Jatupon did for the environment. Maybe he once put a water reducer on a garden hose to save water usage. Thaksin was abysmal at implementing any useful environment policies, and I can't imagine big mouth Jatupon being any better.

I think freedom of speech is rather good in Thailand. Certainly, compared to most of its neighbors, and to Asia in general (particularly China and PRK and Burma) Thailand's freedom of speech is quite fair. Letters published in Bangkok's two main Eng.lang newspapers saying almost anything.

One indication of free speech, is how much satire is allowed to be aired. On that level, the US is as fair or fairer than any other country. Just listen to what's said on US radio and TV shows (and print media), and you'll see that essentially nothing is banned. Any and all public figures can be parodied with no restrictions. That's the polar opposite to free speech restrictions in dozens of other countries. Thailand is somewhere in between.

She is certainly better looking than her brother. She has got my vote!!!

Here's a very interesting link about her.............:jap:

http://onopen.dreamh...tor-spaces/1758

"Talk with Open" ? Where do the Thai's get their English translations, sesame street?

Interesting reading about the 'insider trading' allegations against Ms Yingluck. It appears because Thailand's rules regarding what constitutes 'insider trading' are weaker than what many western countries define as such, then she probably won't have legal consequences from those transactions. The 'Luck' in her name reflects the luck she has in dodging consequences of her shady business dealings. How will her luck hold out when other questionable dealings are questioned? Time will tell. She's in the limelight now. She can hide behind her brothers thoughts ('Thakin thinks, Puea Thai acts') for awhile, but even if she's proxy leader, she's got to stand for something someday - other than her apparent guiding principle: 'get rich as fast as possible while dodging government regulations as much as possible.' ....or maybe not.

.......and I thought James Brown died, but now it appears he came to Thailand and got a $900 sex change.

Jatuporn says emphatically, "I have not discussed anything with the red-shirt movement or the Pheu Thai Party......"

For those who are new to interpreting what people like Jatuporn and Thaksin say, here's how to read it: Take what they declare, reverse the meaning, and that's closer to the truth of the matter." If it was an equation, it might look something like this: Statement Inversed = Truth

Crew are pumping large amounts of water in, yet levels are falling below the rods. Earlier we had several posts on this thread by a poster who resides in Japan. He said, in effect, "what's the big deal? The radioactive water is in the containment area."

All I have to say is, water has an odd way of seeping to all sorts of odd places. We've already seen how thousands of tons of extremely radioactive water was leaked from the plant into the sea in recent weeks. That's just what we can see, and it could be ongoing. The amounts of water leaking elsewhere (into the ground, under concrete pads or via vapor emissions, etc) could be vast.

Do the bosses at EGAT take such things in to account when they tally the possible costs of Thailand going nuclear? Doubtful.

Hello, I'm the manager here at Dunkin Donuts near the jail. I just got a call from Dubai from a Thai man who sounded like he was disguising his voice. He asked if he could send a large box of jelly donuts to the head man at the jail. The caller said he'd have someone come over and put an envelope in the donut box, and that I should take payment for the dozen donuts and not tell anyone about...... wait, here's the courier now. So, my question to T.Visa members is: Should I put the donuts in a larger box, because the envelope I'm being handed is quite thick - filled with pieces of paper or something......

Is their motto really; 'Thaksin thinks, PTP does'. ....?

That's got to be more a parody than reality. That's got to sink their boat, even if PT's myriad drawbacks don't. I never had a sister, but I've shacked up with some women, and I can't imagine any woman, once she gets hold of the reigns of power, doing what a man tells her to do - especially over the phone.

He gained national prominence by his fortune amassed from running the country's largest massage parlour.

Not entirely true. He gained much prominence by being the top thug who hired pick-up truck loads of thugs wielding wood and metal sticks - who showed up one night and leveled an entire city block of downtown Bangkok. That event violently destroyed many regular vendors' modest enterprises. Authorities knew he was the head honcho and paymaster, but when Chuwit surfaced days later (after hiding out by the side of a hwy), he threatened to reveal dirt on the top brass of his local police force (read: he knew first hand who was getting bribes to allow prostitution, and how much each was being paid), that the police chiefs let Chuwit off the hook.

The man is a, ''Maverick.'' I admire his stance he actually gave life to the comment , ''The Enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Stirred a few hornets nests or two and he debunked more than one of the old stuffed animated political Dinosaurs that abounded, and still in Thailand

Yea, Mavericks make good movie characters, but if you look closely at how they manifest on a day to day basis, you won't want to be on their bad side - could be quite painful - like a baseball bat to the head.

Against the backdrop of a sky cluttered with radioactive clouds, it's clearer than ever that nuclear power is not an option we can live with safely.

If ever there were a time to rid the planet of these ticking atomic time bombs amongst us and commit to harnessing safe renewable energy resources, this would be it.

J.T. CASSIDY, Yokohama

Well put, sir. May I add: American futurist Ray Kurzweil accurately predicted that a computer would beat a man at chess, and that a worldwide communications network (the internet) would emerge by the 1990s. He made those predictions years before they came to pass - and years before others perceived of those possibilities.

Kurzweil was recently part of a panel convened by the National Association of Engineers and, together with Google co-founder Larry Page and billionaire investor T. Boone Pickens, concluded that solar energy technology is improving at such a rate that it will soon be cheaper than fossil fuels or nuclear. Here is what Kurzweil said about solar's future:

"One of my primary theses is that information technologies grow exponentially in capability and power and bandwidth. If you buy an iPhone today, it's twice as good as two years ago for half that cost. That is happening with solar energy — it is doubling every two years. Every two years we have twice as much solar energy in the world.

Solar costs are coming down rapidly — we are only a few years away from parity. And then it's going to keep coming down, and more people will be gravitating towards solar. Even those who don't care about environmental issues will go with solar, just because it makes economic sense.

Right now, solar is at half a percent of the world's energy. People tend to dismiss technologies when they are half a percent of the solution. But doubling every two years means it's only eight more doublings before it meets a hundred percent of the world's energy needs. So that's 16 years. People say we're running out of energy. That's only true if we stick with archaic thinking. We are awash in energy from the sun."

from a recent letter published in the Bkk Post - written by Ken Albertsen

Two guys who sorely hope T's sister will be the next PM ......and soooooon.

IAEA reactor status summary

Unit 1:

Reactor pressure Vessel is assumed to be leaking most probably through connected recirculation system (Pump seal LOCA).

Unit 2:

Reactor Pressure Vessel is assumed to be leaking most probably through connected recirculation system (Pump seal LOCA).

Containtment is believed to be damaged.

Unit 3:

Reactor Pressure Vessel is assumed to be leaking most probably through connected recirculation system (Pump seal LOCA).

Containtment is believed to be damaged.

http://www.slideshar...riefing-11-0505

And yet, there are still people who claim nuclear is 'cleaner, safer and cheaper' than other types of power generation.

Who are they? Look no further than the bosses at Thailand's EGAT

Prime Minister Kan takes bold decision

On Tuesday, May 11 Prime Minister Kan took another dramatic step, announcing that Japan would cancel its plans to build new nuclear reactors, and would seek a new national energy policy that puts an increased emphasis on renewable energy and conservation. "We need to start from scratch," Kan said in a press conference. "We need to make nuclear energy safer and do more to promote renewable energy."

Kan's decision means that the government will drop an energy policy released last year, which called for the construction of 14 more nuclear reactors before 2030; that plan called for nuclear to supply 50 percent of the country's energy needs.

In a major development, Chubu Electric Power Co. agreed on Monday May 10 to suspend operation of its Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka prefecture, about 200 kilometers southwest of Tokyo, "until further measures to prevent tsunami are completed." The decision came after Prime Minister Kan's May 6 request that the power company cease all operations at the plant, citing concerns over its safety. Kan said the government had predicted that there's an 87 percent chance that a magnitude 8 earthquake will strike the region within the next 30 years.

That's like a family head who notices the roof on his house, made of playdough, is crumbling. 2 months later (after storms continually flood and destroy the house) he announces to his family, "We may not rebuild our roof with playdough. Instead, we will research a better material for building roofs."

I actually feel a bit sorry for the lady. She's got vulnerabilities. If her sordid biz dealings and tax dodging episodes get exposed, she could get angy, vindictive, depressed, frazzled, and start slapping defamation suits right and left. I bet she won't look so cute after her prior biz dealings are exposed.

Now my country of my residence can move ahead! Remember , she is a great business woman.. For a number of years whe was the leader of holding on the SET., and yes I did read the book!

People also say Thaksin was a great business person, but consider: he never had biz success until his late 30's, he hid his assets with his chauffeur, he avoided taxes illegally, he used Air Force transport planes to ship near-rotten fruit (which couldn't be sold in Thailand) to Thai embassies worldwide in the hope it would be sold overseas. He invested in Dubai real estate right before their market slumped, ....the list goes on.

He's good at making and breaking promises to heads of small governments (in exchange for passports), but time will tell how good he is at trying to control a bereft political party from the other side of the world. He's also good a lying to the Thai government (saying he'd return right after the Beijing Olympics), and he's good at keeping his quotes and face on the front pages of Thai newspapers.

True to the spirit of 'head in the sand' Arafat. Hamas sounds like they're determined to reside in the problematic past, rather than check out the possibility of a bright future for the long suffering Palestinians. Incidentally, if Palestinians can find a way to peacefully coexist with their Israeli neighbors, then large foreign grants will be given to them from other countries. It happened in Bosnia and in E.Timor and various other places which were able to break free from the cycle of oppression (whether real or perceived).

Yingluck Shinawatra remained an elusive woman yesterday, and it must have had something to do with fears she could become a political sitting duck.

No it was because I was giving her all 3 inches of sweet love.

Sticking your nose in places it shouldn't go, are you?

A return to democratic rule, AND a pretty face? Thank you, Lord!

Wonder if it'll still be a "pretty face" when she has a nervous breakdown during a televised debate with Abhisit. Or is she too pretty for that?

A televised debate is not going to happen. I do not think she would stand a chance in a debate with Abhisit. The loss of face would be huge.

Pretty Thai faces have compelled many men (Thai and farang) to go cry in their beer while calling out to the bar room walls, "Where did I go wrong? She was so cute and sweet when we met. Now she and her family have brand new cars and fancy houses, and I'm peddling a rickety bicycle back to my matchbox-sized room at the guest house."

Open mature political debates aren't part of Thailand's democratic process. Plus, the Shinawatres are swift at slamming defamation suits at anyone who may insinuate they're less than sterling examples of humanity.

Now might be a good time to apply to be her butler or chauffeur. If picked, open a few bank accounts and get an open ticket for an outbound flight.

It will be interesting to see whether the opposing political parties will be smart and brave enough to dig some dirt on her past endeavors - shady business dealing, tax avoidance, shuffling assets to and fro, etc. ......or whether the Dems will figure, "well, she's an attractive looking woman, and we don't want to offend anyone, so perhaps we should continue to be wishy washy and ineffective."

She's got platform shoes, but does she have a political platform?

She's been good to the skin whitening lotion industry, but will she choose to grease the carte blanche to Thailand's richest (such as continuing to allow them to pay no taxes on their vast property holdings).

Wait a second here. This is the same woman who declared she would not and could not join or lead a political party as she was not ready. Correct?

Let's put it in context: If she's anything like her "I'm through with politics" brother, she can't avoid telling lies. If you look at the long littany of declarations make by Thaksin in the past 10 years, you'll find that: the more emphatically he stated something, the more likely it was a lie.

Does she have a political platform? Does she worship anything other than money? Did she pay any taxes on all the billions of baht of stock transfers to and from her family members over the years? Does Puea Thai have a political platform? Does PT stand for anything other than getting one of more Shinawatres back in the power seat? What is her stance on environmental issues? What is her stance on whether Thailand should go nuclear? What is her stance on whether the richest Thais should continue to pay zero taxes on their vast property holdings? Are any of these the type of questions Thai voters want answers to? (answer: no).

Yingluck gets my vote

Why because she has physically nice features? OBL was a good looking guy, would he get your vote also? Dick Cheney was handsome in his salad days, would you have hired him to be a babysitter for your kids - perhaps to give them a shower in the bathroom where you store the ironing board?

The only way a VIP Thai gets disciplined - are if his trespasses are revealed by farang on the international level. It never happens 'in-house'. Earlier, the former head of Thailand's Cultural Dept. got in trouble because a farang couple from California were indicted in a US court and her name got mentioned. Her travails would have never been exposed or mentioned if the matter was looked at by Thai authorities. Similarly, this FIFA thing won't go anywhere if Thai authorities are relied upon. If there's any disciplinary action, it will come from outside Thailand, by farang investigators and farang institutions.

Good, they're all guilty as sin. Mubarak was super strong man for 30 years, now he's playing the game (so common among former dictators worldwide) of being too sick to zip up his own fly. I bet he sorely wished he and his corrupt-to-the-core family had pulled a Thaksin when they had the chance.

Sorry, I had to add this: If/when Thaksin is returned to Thailand and (if Phue Thai is not at the helm) he's compelled to face justice, he will pretend he's too infirm to participate.

BTW, what happened to Saxena? Last we heard, he was playing the same game, (of being too weak to face justice) - what's the latest on his court proceedings, of did he simply pay his way out (?), as so often happens when rich people get cornered.

update: I just did a search for 'saxena' on T.Visa and there were no search results.A google search for 'saxena thailand' shows the most recent mention of him in the news is Oct 2009 - that's a year and a half ago! Proof that Thais have short attention spans. Once a big story is done with its initial 'splash' - then it's boring, and time to go on to more important things, like banning spaghetti straps or too-tight shirts for college girls.

25 years is a long time - about 1/3 of a healthy person's lifetime. I admire both of them. I read the letter Arnie wrote when leaving his 2nd term as governor - it was brimming with wisdom, as well as salutations for the man taking his position - truly a mature and intelligent transition which rarely happens in other countries (the opposite of transitions in places like the Middle East or SE Asia). If California was a country, it would have the 6th strongest economy in the world. An admirable man and visionary leader. I wish them both well.

He also claimed many times that he had nothing to do with the attacks on WTC.

Where did he ever claim he had nothing to do with WTC? source please.

Many have voiced suspicions over the sudden appearance of a number of politically outspoken newbie Thais. Why should they be suspicious, we are now in the run up to an election in Thailand will will effect the lives of all, Thais and farangs. I further noticed that those most suspicious are the vehemently anti Thaksin Farang brigade, could it be that they are upset to discover that there are intelligent, educated Thais who do not agree with their opinions.

The present government, with much military help, has managed to close and shut down most of the avenues for political opinion which exist in western society, so is it any surprise that supporters of Thaksin are starting to appear here in the run up to an election? Even if Thaivisa has a limited Thai audience.

To me, all these people voicing doubts about the newcomers are simply using the old tactic of attacking the messenger rasther than the message.

I don't know what you're trying to say. Are you saying new members of T.Visa are less experienced and less aware of Thailand's challenges than T.Visa members with many posts? That's a flimsy premise. I'm a new member here, but I've been residing in Thailand for over an eighth of a century. As for opinions, particularly re; T and the Reds, you might note that during the Red's commandeering of downtown Bkk in Spring 2010, a bunch of new T.Visa members popped up all of a sudden - all supporting the Reds and using similar phrasing in their posts. It's not a stretch to imagine that one or a few Thaksin supporters (possibly T and/or his family members and Amsterdam) were gaining several T.Visa memberships each, and thereby voicing their monolithic opinions to appear like a consensus. Not surprisingly, all those 2 dozen or so monikers disappeared as soon as the Reds left Bangkok.

Drugs aren't all bad in all situations. Sometimes they're just recreational, and people laugh or dance or have interesting conversations while high. Thaksin himself uses the #1 most harmful drug in the world: alcoholic drinks - as do most Thai legislators. Indeed, if you want something done (or a contract approved) by a Thai official, it's almost mandatory to give that person a bottle or a case of Johnny Walker. Every village in Thailand has 40 proof (80%) alcohol moonshine for sale, and many bottles of that varnish remover get sold every day. Is T going to come back and get his hired goons to kill dealers and users of Thailand's #1 most harmful drug? That would be interesting. In that case, I'll invest in a coffin company.

Hhhhmm, the most corrupt promising to clean up the corrupt. Doesn't sound like a solid plan to me...........If the head leader scoffs the law, he's only going to accomplish the task of teaching everyone that no one needs to respect Thai laws.

Thaksin was a big influence for many younger people while he was in office. He inspired them to lie, cheat, avoid paying taxes and worship money above all else. Great news to hear he plans to return to continue his destructive and money-grubbing ways. If Thais vote him back, then they deserve the mega problems he will bring.