Butterfly

awesome, so does this mean that the man will be outted tonight ? or is this their last shot ?

UOB Internet banking is a joke but so are most Internet banking here in Thailand. The Interface was built by a high school student I believe.

Thailand is "unofficially" listed as a "terrorist friendly" country (thanks to the South) so it might be more difficult to get anything from the US embassy these days, even more if you are a Thai man from the South

Not going to happen. We are all too happy to pay the small bribe to the officer. Can you imagine a private company "maximizing" their profits on car violations ? they will make up new rules just to increase revenues.

What a disgraceful system. Only the US or the UK would go with such a terrible system as they take their population for milk cows

there are only a few thousands animal species while they are more than 20 millions species of insects

Ok I tried the search forum function with Google and that also doesn't work. Only gives me a few topics and a lot of ads on private investigation

Butterfly, I would tell your friend, if she has doubts, confront him on them.

Too many women push their problems about relationships to the back of their minds instead of taking the initiative & getting the issues out in the open. Gut feeling, womens intuition, call it what you like, I always follow mine & if I have a problem with my man confront it head on.

If she can be honest with herself & not make excuses, can she really explain away the things that are making her doubt him. If she can't then the likelyhood is, he's up to something, maybe not cheating but maybe something that needs to be confronted & resolved?

I think that's the heart of the problem. She tried but he won't confront her and complain instead about her being "confrontotionial" or not understanding him. She just want to catch him red handed because she can't find any justification to break up with him. Always hoping he will change. From what she told me, I see all the red flags of him having another girlfriend. It's hopeless. She doesn't want to believe it unless she sees evidence. For me there are plenty of evidence already from what she told but it seems that some women will not be satisfied until they see it with their own eyes. Of course it will make things worse to see the "physical" evidence.

Well to her defense, the search function doesn't work, it's worthless. Why do you think people keep asking the same questions over and over

IPB Software never developed a proper search functions for their board software. Why do you think we have a Google Forum toolbar. Oh wait, I haven't tried that one yet

I guess I don't see why so many people on here have negative things to say of Thai men?

Maybe experience

What about a lease with an option to buy back the building on the land at a given price ? would that be legal ?

Technically, any land purchase through a TLC could be voided if a Thai trying to take over your land has the right connection ?

Use the search forum in the general section and you will find a few contacts, I am sure.

The Search function on this forum doesn't work when the words are too short or too generic.

I am surprised that no one has tried the PI service. I understand that going that far means there are serious issues in the relationship, but for those who have broke up with Thai men, would the use of such service have made you feel better if you suspected something ? or is finding out the hard way a better option ? I know someone who is thinking of using this service and I am trying to convince her not to (may it be for costs or other reasons)

And then you woke up and realized it was all a dream

Thai men are very good at hidding things, much superior in that domain to farang men.

Just be careful and don't fall for the honey pot

They all come feeding on a dead corpse.

Seriously the guy should resign and let's hope the new guy will not be worse (but he will for sure)

Not to be controversial, but with the legends of Thai men (actually I take that back, it should say ALL men) being compulsive cheaters, have you ladies ever tried or think trying to have your man followed by a PI (Private Investigator) ?

If yes what was your experience with the service and did you feel better after finding the truth about your man ? and was it expensive ? any recommendations for a PI service ?

What kind of advice would you give to a woman looking for that kind of service ? Was it really worth it ?

I need to know fast

In the North near Laos, they are still pro-Taxin

Chang Mai population is said to be very Anti-Taxin according to what I hear from natives there, but it could only be noises.

That's what I have been saying all along. Without Taxin, it could be much worse for us.

The real problem is not Taxsin outsing, but reforms. The opposition blinded by hate fails to "recognize" that Taxsin abused a system that was waiting to be abused. The current system is obviously not strong enough and I remember critics who were "predicting" such abuses to happen when the Constitution was being discussed and drafted. Should he go ? sure but that won't fix the problem and it will be another "Taxsin" wannabee taking over. He knows this perfectly and that's why he doesn't want to leave, because even if he does, nothing will change and someone else will get all the great deals. Might as well be him.

I was in Singapore not long ago, and the place has changed a lot. They had been capitalizing on the night scene for the last 5 years while Bangkok was becoming a provincial little town. Bangkok is done, Singapore is next. Wait until this becomes well know around the world, and Bangkok will be a thing of the past.

The Expat community in Singapore is much more vibrant than the one here. They have the nice restaurants (while here, they keep closing down one after the others because no enough business), the girls, the night clubs (Ministry of Sound is the hot place over there, and soon Q-Bar), and a great business environment. They have everything.

All we have is Taxsin and his silly social order

Soi 6 is a well known late night spot where people can drink until all hours; very popular with sex industry workers, massive quantities of drugs that drwarf anything gonig on in soi 4.

The right soi.

Thanks for the tip

BBC reported that Thaksin was about to dissolve Parliament and call for an early election

Has Thailand become a Facist state like America ?

Below is a nice definition of Facism and it fits Taxin to a tee

http://blog.dankim.com/2006/02/10/fascism%...american-style/

Fascism—American Style

Posted on Friday 10 February 2006

I recently read an article that pointed me to Dr. Lawrence Britt’s essay on the Fourteen Defining Characteristics of Fascism. For those of you not familiar with the essay, I’ve posted it below as taken from rense.com.

Fourteen Defining Characteristics Of Fascism

By Dr. Lawrence Britt

Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism—Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights—Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause—The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

4. Supremacy of the Military—Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant Sexism—The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

6. Controlled Mass Media—Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

7. Obsession with National Security—Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined—Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions.

9. Corporate Power is Protected—The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed—Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts—Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment—Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption—Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

14. Fraudulent Elections—Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

Now let’s take a look at each of Britt’s fourteen points, and how America, in 2006, under the Bush Presidency Regime is faring.

Powerful and Continuing Nationalism—I would have to say that this is definitely present. When the Bush regime believes it can dictate world policy unilaterally, what else can it be.

Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights—Also present…we just have to look at Abu Ghraib, the Attorney General’s previous approval of torture as White House Counsel, the NSA spying on US citizens without warrants, and the long history of the Bush regime’s behavior towards human rights.

Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause—The scapegoats and enemies of the state in this case are the ever-lurking fundamentalist Islamic terrorists. Why else would the Bush regime be fighting a “War on Fundamentalism.” Nevermind, that the fundamentalist Christians are just as bad in many ways, and are in power in the Bush regime. Part of the reason I think Osama bin Laden has never been captured is the necessity for him as the Al Qaeda Boogeyman for the Bush regime.

Supremacy of the Military—Check, yup, the military is getting a big fat check, and the lower and middle class are getting royally screwed. Too bad that GWB didn’t see fit to equip our soldiers properly, before sending them off to get killed in a pointless and endless “War on Fundamentalism.”

Rampant Sexism—This is a bit more subtle, but if you look, you will see that abortion rights and the rights of homosexuals are being covert assault as Britt points out.

Controlled Mass Media—Also a bit more subtle than some of the other points. How many of the mainstream media actually were willing to publish the Danish editorial cartoons. How much has the media made of the repeated highly illegal and ethically questionable actions of the Bush regime over the last six years.

Obsession with National Security—The Bush regime has mastered using the “Threat Level” for political gain. They have little hesitation about using fear-mongering to further their political goals, as seen just after the 2004 Democratic National Convention, when the Bush regime raised the threat level based on out-of-date information. The “War on Fundamentalism” is framed as such an issue that many civil rights must be given up in order for it to succeed.

Religion and Government are Intertwined—Also true, as the neo-conservatives are closely allied with the Christian conservative right. Look at their positions on abortion, the death penalty, assisted suicide, and other issues.

Corporate Power is Protected—Also true. Look at who is benefitting from the “War on Fundamentalism” and the resulting high oil prices—Halliburton, the defense industry, and the oil industry… where do the Bush regime leaders have their roots…Halliburton, the defense industry, and the oil industry. I guess Britt’s “The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite” appears to hold quite true here as well. Also, look at the Digital Millenium Copyright Act and other attempts to quash, previously legal, fair use of copyrighted materials.

Labor Power is Suppressed—I don’t really see any signs of this. If I am missing something obvious, please let me know.

Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts—Censoring a NASA scientist… hmm, I guess that would qualify. The lack of defense for the Danish cartoons would probably also qualify here… in a country that is founded on the right to freely express oneself… how sad.

Obsession with Crime and Punishment—Britt says, “Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism.” This would probably cover the warrantless wiretaps, and the use of the military and local police to spy on anti-war protest groups.

Rampant Cronyism and Corruption—I guess this is pretty well covered too. Vice Fascist President Dick Cheney used to run Halliburton, and Halliburton got a majority of the military contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan. George C. Deutsch worked on GWB’s Presidental theft campaign, and he got appointed to censor NASA, even though he was hardly qualified. Another glaring example is the failure of FEMA after Hurricane Katrina due to Bush regime crony Michael Brown not having a clue about emergency management. Another good example of cronyism is Kevin Warsh, who was recently appointed by GWB to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors as seen here

Fraudulent Elections—Here’s another good point in case. Although it hasn’t ever been proved, or even been questioned, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Bush regime stole the elections in 2000 and 2004.

In 2000, the election was decided by a Supreme Court, with a Republican-appointed majority; in a state where: the Secretary of State, Katherine Harris, worked as a campaign manager on the Bush Presidential election campaign and did not recuse herself from making decision regarding his election and stopped the hand re-count; and the governor, Jeb Bush, is the brother of the Presidential candidate in question.

In 2004, the election was decided by two states: Ohio, where the CEO of Diebold— manufacturer of many of the electronic voting machines used in the state—swore he would do everything to deliver the votes of the state of Ohio to the Bush candidacy, and the voting machines in question had no verifiable audit system and have since proven to be easily manipulated; and Florida, where problems plagued the ability of predominantly Democratic voters due to voter registration problems, and the state’s governor was still the brother of the candidate.

Also, please note, that the Bush regime stated that the exit polls in Ohio, which showed Kerry as winning the state, as not accurate—yet exit polls are generally used for that same purpose in monitoring other elections in other countries by our government.

I guess the Bush regime has brought fascism home to America. All hail King George….wait…wasn’t this country founded because of another idiot tyrant named King George. Maybe another revolution is in order.

Again, in terms of full disclosure, I did not vote for GWB in either election, so I am not guillty of supporting and abetting his fascist tactics and behavior. I am a Democrat, but I do not blindly support a party that has failed to pull itself together to confront the fascist behavior by the current government.

Phillippe's on Sukhumvit 39 draws a nice share of the fine-old-Thai-family trade in the middle Sukhumvit area. Plenty of Privy Counselors on their night off from the Palace and that sort of thing. The place is elegant without being stuffy and has about the best bistro-style French food in town. Prices aren't all that bad either. Oddly, not all that many foreigners seem to go there in spite of its location.

Thanks for the tip, OldAsiaHand, I will try it very soon. Always looking for new places.

I noticed that most places here die after only a few good months, which is a shame. New cook, new management or new menu and your favorite restaurant is no more.

I think we need a sticky thread somewhere with best restaurant around Bangkok so we can have direct feedback from TV members with expected costs.

Gusto is OK, used to be very good and yes it's one of the favorite restaurant of one of the princess. I spot her 4 or 5 times over there on my way to cowboy. Definitely overpriced now (1,800 baht per person without wine) as it's not as perfect as it used to. Most 5 stars Hotel have good restaurants if you don't mind driving to an hotel for dinner. I like the city better.

I wouldn't be surprised if PICNIC was paying the bills

Sondhi is a fraud and a right wing nationalist. No wonder his petition to the King are going nowhere. He is not being taken seriously by the institutions.

Wrong thread

I would love to see Taxin go for what he has done in the past, but the current opposition is not credible. At least with Taxin there are no more surprises. We know him. The opposition is a different beast in itself.

I see a lot of similarities between Chavez and Taxin. The "Elite" Venezualans with the help of the CIA pigs tried to "remove" Chavez. They failed. The day after Chavez disappeared, they were enforcing a curfew and shooting at protesters in the name of "democracy" and more "freedom". At the end Chavez returned after his loyal guards of his Palace took over security and chased after the "illegal" self proclaimed president. With a strong support base, the coup was missed.

I think in some extend, this is what happening here, except that the military so far has not been involved. But it took months of protests by the opposition in Venezuela to organize their "coup".

I don't think we are there yet, maybe in 6 months things will be even more different