kraplung

Will Max play in gaol?........oops, I meant goal.

Who's going to notice a few more reptiles on the loose in Pattaya!

He could back any time he wants, there is a prisoncell waiting for him, whats the problem. He serves his term, comes out, keps all the promises his chums have made, promises to be good boy from now on and here we al are at the end of the rainbow. Now rewind and check for twist and turns along the way.

And at the same time he could provide details of his promise that everybody will be rich in 6 months.

How long is it now since he was sentenced by the highest court in the kingdom? If only the Immigration Dept were so flexible about people not showing up on time!

I am shocked. Is Thailand's new police chief and close confidant of Thailand most famous policeman telling us that the Thai police cannot be trusted?

THAI's service has always been good but so is the service on most airlines. Travel overseas is more convenient if you are travelling from somewhere in the kingdom other than BKK but their high prices are not matched by the quality of their aircraft.

Be fair............. this government has more pressing priorities.

Thaksin once told us that Thailand has one of the best education systems in the world as more Thais get university degrees than almost anywhere else in the world.............

Only 80 per cent?

So Chalerm blames the previous government for doing nothing to help a fugitive from justice and then cliams his own government has done nothing either.

Now we all know Chalerm isn't very bright, even PT know that as they use him as their sacrificial pit bull, but surely a few active brain cells are required to be a deputy PM in this goverment?

No, no, no!........ this will not do. Thai people are very happy with the politicians and the economy. Yingluck is such a pretty girl and very soon everyone will be rich. This is not just the land of smiles any more but the land of miracles now!

Aproximately 2,500 with 1,400 accepted as being innocents either in the wrong place at the wrong time or killed to get the numbers up as those area officers who recorded numbers below their target were punished whereas those that had "bumper" amounts of peope bumped off were promoted!!!!!!!

The issue of the drug war has been discussed at length in other threads. There was a significant difference between the loss of life that occurred during the suppression of armed criminal gangs and the the mounting of violent illegal coups. The key difference is that there was no intent to kill innocent people by the government when the drug curtailment program started. If there were people killed in error by the government, the responsibility lies with the police and military officials that were responsible for the anti drug cartel program

As an aside, the numbers used by you and others takes into account all of the deaths. It does not account for the daily death rates due to the drug cartel activities leading up to the crackdown. As I explained in another thread, the drug related deaths fell off significantly after the crackdown. The fact of the matter is that the inflated number you cite as being due to the government response to the narco criminal gangs were in fact reflective of the people dying on a daily basis as the drug gangs fought it out for turf, with the police and with each other. To dumb it down, the number would have been greater had there not been a crackdown. Don't believe me? Go and look at the mortality rates leading up to the intervention and then compare them to the period after the intervention. Not one person in TVF has ever acknowledged the mortality timeline. Instead, simplistic accusations are splattered about.

Even if you wish to personally blame Mr. Thaksin, and there was no legal culpability ever determined, but even if you want to throw that canard into the discussion, one can hardly compare the drug campaign with coup leaders that gave orders to fire into crowds of civilians. There was a significant difference. If you cannot understand the difference, then nothing I write can change your view. However, even if you want to blame Mr. Thaksin, the fact of the matter is that the precedent was set by the military with the pardons given to the generals. A pardon was given to the man responsible for Black May. If you were here at the time, then surely you understand that civilians were being shot indiscriminately and in great numbers with crowds being targeted.

You have ignored the fact that the generals were pardoned. Deal with it. No one can ever say that the request for a pardon is out of the ordinary because pardons have been given before.

I was living here at the time of the crackdown ordered by Thaskin and carried out by the police. Simple fact peoples names went on a list and then died. No day in court. Yes the police said it was gangs killing each other but since when do the police have that kind of credibility? I watched it happen on the Television where a gang of drug dealers were executed in a shack while they were handcuffed and the police excuse was they tried to get away. The Policeman in charge of that nightmare went to jail for that act. This is a fact and no amount of statistical brake down can change this fact.

Geriatrickid......... I really do think, as your name hints at, your faculties have deserted you whilst you remain an ingenue in the ways of Thai sen yais.

Hun Sen is also a brilliant strategist.... but I wouldn't want him running Thailand.

Why does everyone still think that just because Thaksin has his friends and family running the government, the police and sitting on panels in judgement on him that they will not be completely independent in their actions?

Haven't you heard? This is the land of Miracles now.

@steveyinasia............ Don't knock Thai degrees. They are the best money can buy!

I hesitate to ask this but I can't help wondering what if the decision came back in the negative?

Where can I get a bet on him to win?

@ Kerryk................. I guess an old culture vulture like you will have to stick with Pattaya!

Who actually decides whether the convicted criminal is pardoned?

The crux of this whole thing is that some think the law was used fairly and properly and should be upheld under any circumstance while some think the law was used unfairly (a substantially bigger group than the first judging by the recent survey discussed in Thai, but not english language media) and thus the conviction should be quashed and of course many dont even care. The problem is how do you either decide it was a fair conviction without causing those who think it was a poltical decision to have no faith in the law or how do you quash the conviction without causing those who think the law is even and fair to think it is undermining law and of course you dont have to worry about those who dont care. This is a very political issue now and politics is never ever about right and wrong or black and white but about accomodations. This is one reason why some people do not want to pass the pardon on. Accomodations need to be made at the political level but to date they cant be.

I don't agree. It's a very straightforward issue: He has a conviction, he did not appeal. Even if you believe the sentence is "unjust", court decisions sometimes go the wrong way against ordinary people and they just have to live with it. If you throw out the law for the benefit of a politician, you have to accept that others may discard the law when selecting methods to oppose it.

Thailand's has all the institutions and legal mechanisms required for a functional democracy. The reason it does not work is because the law is not applied. Making (another) exception to the law for the personal benefit of a corrupt politician is a step backwards and will perpetuate the situation, which is a mess.

He was sentenced by the highest court of law in the Kingdom and to the best of my knowledge they are a higher authority than any (as a famous British TV inquisator once put it) here today and gone tomorrow politician.

Allthough the link provided in the Pattaya Daily News doesn't work, for me anyway, this one does http://ukinthailand....sR&id=653358582

I'm the first to complain about the lack of support from the British Embassy but I will complete the survey, I just wish they wouldn't refer to me as a customer.

But you are a customer, a very valued customer. Have you seen the price they charge for a passport renewal now?

So it would appear that in this latest hole PT has dug nearly every civil servant would earn the same no matter what their grade or experience. Let's hope none of them are has heard of erosion of differentials!

But as someone alluded to earlier in the private sector we might see an end to companies insisting on a bachelors degree as a minimum qualification.

A nation is only as strong as its families. If Thailand follows the bad example of Western nations, they will suffer the same consequences of social decay.

There is a lot of truth in his words........which part do you find amusing?

All civilisations which have worked have been built around the basis of the nuclear family. It's not for everyone I admit but without it you end up with something like Pattaya.

Incredible how politicians here twist the interpretation of the law to their own dodgy logic to support the 'innocence' of someone so obviously dodgy. This is the old way in Thailand and they overlook the fact that a burgeoning educated middle class will not have the wool pulled over their eyes any longer, in the same way the poor will no longer let themselves be ignored.

Let the courts decide, and that is, a court not stacked with friends of the accused.

The thing about Chalerm and Thaksin is they have doctorates in Law and Criminology, yet us mere graduates can see that their PhDs are more about how to skirt the law than apply it in the spirit of justice.

It might surprise you that Thaksin's Phd is "honorary" (Texas University) and not earned the traditional way. Don't know about Chalerm, can only assume.

From all the evidence it would appear Chalerm's degree must be in Advanced Bullshit.

I can't help but get the feeling the new Tourism minister isn't too experienced in the line of tourism. He seems to have a good line in fortune telling though.

As a matter of principle, I avoid as much as possible to do any business with foreigners in Thailand. What ever the negative story about Thais posted in this forum, I know a worst story involving foreigners.

Most foreigners who do business in Thailand do it illegally, which means they are involved witha lot of not-so-nice people and they have developed over the years a crook mentality. It the same for the Thais involved with these people. You do business with them at your own risks.

What kind of foreigners do you associate with exactly? This is an outrageously inaccurate and unfair statement.

Absolutely Jurgen. And the Germans are the worst of all.......