badmedicine

Could you set up a confidential hotline (with English language operator) for expats to report people known to be staying here illegally?


There are many good people staying legally in Thailand who would like to help remove the criminal elements who come here and abuse the system. Criminals are often known more easily to other expats than they are to Thai officials, so a hotline would be a great aid in enforcing the law.

Also, saw a farang food-vendor in Chinatown / Yaowarat area about six months back.

Good news for all those "schools" that offer Education visas for foreigners who want to learn Thai, I expect.

Next up: 90 day notifications. How long before the penalty for missing that starts getting serious?

I like these coup people.

One by one, they're sorting problems out that have needed to be sorted out for decades, but ignored both by Thaksin and the Democrats.

I'd rather have benign dictators than evil parliamentarians. Long may their good intentions last.

It is a good and a fair policy, HOWEVER the problems will arise with immigration officers, especially at land border crossings and it will create more opportunity for corruption and bribes at the land border crossings

Personally, I hope they're serious and that this isn't just another flavour of the month headline story that will shortly be forgotten, but I have my doubts.

As ever, how successful this policy is will depend on how they implement it. What kind of checks will be made? Will they be consistent? Will the checks themselves be logged? Will any 'evidence' presented be verified? Since most hotels just print out bookings on a standard printer with some dodgy headed note pater, printing out imaginary bookings at home would be child's play that you wouldn't even need Khao San Road for. I can also see the officials being quite happy to take a backhander rather than messing about making phone calls etc to verify every foreigner presenting themselves at the border. Phone calls cost money, and if they were really confirming every tourist is a tourist, this would be an expensive policy.

Chances are nothing will change for most illegals except there'll be an extra hoop to jump through and some extra baht needed. All those visa run "tour" operators will find a way round it to keep themselves in business. A few cases will be highlighted in the press to make it seem the policy is a success, but unless there's consistency and thoroughness at all border points, I doubt this will have the result they're looking for.

the police have a suspect in mind

Boyfriend of one of the cashiers = Prime Suspect No.1.

At present many police officers do little more than issue a small fine to bar owners...According to current legislation, the Entertainment Venue Control Act of 1966, means that a venue can only be fined a sum of 2000 Baht if they stay open beyond closing time.

Meaning, 2000 baht is the max backhander the BiB can get for turning a blind eye.

Under the proposed new legislation, much more severe fines for late night opening, ranging from between 60,000 and 200,000 Baht, would be issued to venue owners who are caught breaking the rules.

Ah, there you have it. Pay rise for the Bib. Backhanders to the tune of 20,000 a month will do very nicely.

 

What this country needs is a police force that actually drives on the roads and pulls these idiots over.

You hit the nail on the head there. I've yet to ever see a highway patrol pulling people over. Every now and then there's a roadblock and that's it, but there's no enforcement out among the moving traffic.

Two weeks ago a car transporter (ironically carrying a mashed up Mercedes that had been involved in a collision) was swerving around behind me, inches from my rear bumper and when he eventually managed to find a space between me and the thousand other cars that were log jammed on the A4 back into Bangkok, he pulled up alongside me then swerved straight into my lane. It was clearly a deliberate attempt to either hit me or force me off the road. I had to slam the brakes on and its a miracle that the cars behind me didn't pile straight into me. I guess the people behind him had eased off seeing what a jerk he was being. I then noted that he did the same thing to the next car he came up behind.

People like him will never be educated, and until the Thai Traffic Police actually start enforcing the law with highway patrols, they never will.

I used to let the Lucky Indian guy on Sukhumvit go all the way through his routine. At the end of his hypnosis/suggestion routine when he tries to get you to eat a small piece of paper I agree but request that he now answer a few of MY questions and confirm a few of MY assertions. I even asked him about his success rates.

Yeah, I've had him, but I didn't let him get past the second "lucky". Now you mention it though, what scam exactly is he trying to pull?

 

Why on earth should she sit in the same room as someone who has threatened to have her and her family eradicated?

 

How about because she's supposed to represent the government as the "Prime Minister" and he clearly represents the opposition that is trying to oust her government. Pretending anything else only exacerbates the problems.

Advisor to Minister of Education Kitti Limsakul said on Monday that theShenzhen Yitao Intelligence Control company, the winner of the tablet procurement auction for Grade 1 students in four regions, was closed down on 30 January 2014.

30th January, huh? Am I the only one that wonders why news of this wasn't announced BEFORE the election on Feb 2nd?

Speaking to AFP from his hospital bed, where he is under 24-hour armed guard, Kwanchai predicted Puea Thai would sweep to victory on Sunday.

Er, well obviously, being as the opposition aren't contesting it.

Like others, can't see why so many people are getting themselves in a lather about this. Seems eminently sensible to me. The title was probably asking for trouble, though.

On to the issue, my mrs was having exactly this dilemma: to not vote or to vote 'No vote'. I've heard some say they're concerned that even if you abstain, those votes might get unscrupulously counted for PTP. How much oversight is going on in 'the red villages' I wonder as for fair and double-checked tallying of votes?

Oops! [removed: I see it's been discussed in detail already]

What the hell is "Dithering"?........

You know when a lass goes shopping and can't decide between buying a new Prada bag or having some political opponents shot in the night? That's 'dithering'.

No gathering or more than 4?

Schools out?

 

IIRC the whole thought process behind initially backing Thaksin was he's so rich he won't need to be corrupt. Well they got that one wrong didn't they?

Nope, I never heard that one before. Thaksin's whole selling point has always been "Yeah, he's corrupt, but he's a strong leader who gets things done". In contrast, Abhisit was seen (after his first and likely only shoe-in as PM) as weak and ineffectual. All talk and no trousers.

Even some of those who supported the ouster of Thaksin in 2006 turned round and voted for Yingluck in 2011 because they felt that the country would move forward (economically) better under Thaksin-by-phone than under Suthep-by-Abhisit.

Sad state of affairs. The Dems need to dump Abhisit quick sharp, and if the affiliates and second-rung lieutenants of PTP/TRT lot have any sense, they'll find a way to politically prosper without Thaksin and his toxic family.

I'm sure everyone would be more than happy to respect other's votes if they were sure that they'd voted in good conscience and not been paid 500Baht and given a free day out to the polling station by the local Puu Yais, who, along with the local police chief, are all taking backhanders from the mill owners, casino owners and other organised crime sub-bosses who are themselves a rung down from some party list MP.

There's no such thing as democracy in Thailand; it's a feudal country run by allegiance to one power group or another.

Don't the police generally take a commission for sorting out who pays who and how much whenever there's a collision? I can't see them having any interest in reducing the number of accidents if that's the case.

Oh dear, you are actually calling for responsible government?

Irony noted, but there's nothing idealistic about it. The point the elites on both sides will have to eventually realise is it's in their own best interests. It's not really a matter of "if" they'll do it, it's just a matter of "when" or how long its going to take them to figure out that's the answer that best serves their own self-interest.

The fact that serving their own self-interest rationally will benefit Thailand as a whole is inconsequential to them, but a fortunate pay-off for the rest of us.

Thaksin wasn't on the electoral roll,

For the reasons I gave earlier, that was clearly beside the point. The electorate have a far better understanding of the nuances of Thai politics than most of the posters on TV give them credit for.

All of the policies you refer to were widely reported and understood as at that time coming from Thaksin.

Why does it matter where the policies came from? Most people voted for the policies, not for Thaksin.

Well, I made that point in response to an earlier poster who claimed that YS gov't was illegitimate because it was run by her brother who wasn't voted for. My point is that people knew full well WHO they were really voting for. I know lots of Thais from a broad spectrum of society, both pro-Rcd and pro-Yellow, rich and poor, and I've never met a single one that didn't think YS was a proxy for TS in 2011. Moreover, everyone realises that her recent denials are not either meant nor should be taken as true, only expedient (because if she were to say anything else that would legally constitute a reason for banning her party). Both the red and yellow supporters I know accept that, and neither think there's anything particularly worrisome about it. What they disagree on is not 'who really runs the country' but who should be running the country: Thaksin or the Democrats.

As both sides are busted flushes in terms of ever achieving a peaceful consensus, it's time they both started looking at changing themselves. The sooner TS's acolytes realise it'll never be 'business as usual' till they sacrifice him, the sooner they'll have a chance of slurping from the gravy train in peace. Equally, the sooner the Dems chuck Abhisit for a new leader AND start managing in a responsible, transparent way, the sooner they'll be able to win an election.

One thing is absolutely for sure: if both sides remain in the same status quo as they have done since 2004 (2006 was only the tipping point, it started before then), then there is only going to be more of the same whoever is in power.

Time for all sides to change. Get rid of the toxic leaders, and realise that only if you genuinely start offering to run the country half-properly are you ever going to be able to enjoy the privileges of the ruling classes in peace.

I still feel that a coup is Suthep's and the Democrats' endgame. They know who the Army will support. And how can Suthep continue to fumble toward the creation of a People's Council? Does he really think that he will have any legitimacy? Suthep and the Democrats cannot accept a 'Democracy' in which they are the minority party -- simple as that.

Yeah, I'm inclined to agree with that. There's no support AFAICT for Suthep in the middle ground, and far more support for a re-run of 2006. The problem I think for all on that side is how they're going to transition from a military coup (which the West will not accept in anything but a limited term) to a "democracy" where they win.

This is why I see Suthep's entire strategy as counter-productive. The Democrats best bet is to accept the dissolution of parliament, and work twice as hard to convince people that they will actually manage in everyone's best interests. They need to get away from slurring Thaksin and start looking towards both a leader and a set of honest policies that people will believe in. Unfortunately, Abhisiti's a busted proposition, so they need to find a new leader and start talking to the electorate in an open and honest way. Anything else will only continue to exacerbate the problems we already have.