retsdon

The problem is that these things are self-reinforcing. You ride roughshod over people, and they resent it and they grow fractious. So you ride roughshod over them some more to quell the fractiousness. Soon they start to develop ill-will towards you so you are forced to ride harder to keep them down. And so on and so forth. The sad part is that Thailand has been down this road - how often? And it has never, ever, turned out well.

As I've mentioned elsewhere, my own belief is that this takeover is a holding operation in preparation for an inevitable upcoming event. The difference is that this time, after the event occurs, there will be no entity to pour oil on the troubled waters. Onwards into uncharted waters with a deeply divided crew. It's a worry.

"Article 44 legitimises PM Prayut's powers"

That depends on ones interpretation of the verb legitimize.

Why is assistance to farmers always referred to as a scheme?

Farming is very difficult.

Environmental conditions and market fluctuations make i event more difficult, sometimes impossible to make ends meet.

Without assistance many could not farm.

What would the world eat without farms?

Farming has always been a gamble, assistance guarantees that people can continue to farm, even in bad times.

Assistance to farmers in tough times is insurance....not a scheme.

'There are three certain ways to lose money. The fastest is horse racing. The most fun is women. And the surest is farming.'

The late Lord Astor

Rightly or wrongly, military juntas don't play well in the west. On a popularity scale they're down there with paedophiles or practitioners of FGM. Probably because amongst the kind of people who visit Thailand, the memories of people like Galtieri or Pinochet still strike a dissonant note. What's more, they all learned in school that Mussolini had the trains running on time. It's all probably very unfair on the affable Prayuth, but that's just how it is.

It's just a matter of time before contrary opinion is dangerous. On Thai boards, it probably is already. The posters on Thaivisa who criticize the junta are getting a free pass because their viewpoints are not influencing the local population. We are irrelevant.

For those posters who support this legislation, I have a question. Would YOU want to be at risk for saying what you think? If the answer is no, then your position is untenable.

Anyway, at the end of the day we all know what this is about. Thaksin and Yingluk might have been dodgy, but that's not the issue. This whole situation came about because certain people wanted a firm hold on the chair when the music stopped. Even the venal Democrats couldn't be trusted with the job. Nothing will change until the band stops playing and the chairs are reorganized. Until then, just hunker down.

It's just a matter of time before contrary opinion is dangerous. On Thai boards, it probably is already. The posters on Thaivisa who criticize the junta are getting a free pass because their viewpoints are not influencing the local population. We are irrelevant.

For those posters who support this legislation, I have a question. Would YOU want to be at risk for saying what you think? If the answer is no, then your position is untenable.

Anyway, at the end of the day we all know what this is about. Thaksin and Yingluk might have been dodgy, but that's not the issue. This whole situation came about because certain people wanted a firm hold on the chair when the music stopped. Even the venal Democrats couldn't be trusted with the job. Nothing will change until the band stops playing and the chairs are reorganized. Until then, just hunker down.

Why would the military's corruption stop them from installing measures to restrict politicians greed? It's no loss to them.

And yes, I meant ignorant and educated, but still possessing enough naivete or venality to try and grasp the illusion offered or the short term benefit. Policies need to critically examined, audited and discussed widely and political lies exposed. If the people in the north are so bloody intelligent, why did they jump at the rice scam when everybody else knew it had failed before and would again? Because nobody told them how bad it was, or because they thought they might benefit and bugger everybody else?

BTW We don't live in BKK, nor does the extended family. But its not hard to see improvements here and in the north that could have been made with B700 billion to throw around.

It seems you assume a corrupt military that is in no way accountable to the people will govern better than corrupt politicians that have to answer to the voters. You should drop your arrogant "Thai people aren't smart enough to vote" attitude, I've never met a Thai person as naive as you.

I don't assume a military government will govern better, I can see it happening.

And I don't think "Thai people aren't smart enough to vote", but I do think they are not educated and/or informed enough to see through BS policies that promise much and deliver nothing, to the voters at least. That's why I consistently advocate auditing and critical analysis of party policies, and measures to prevent campaign lies.

Quiz custodiet ipsos custodes? All political parties lie. All political parties gerrymander the budget to reward their supporters. It's not unique to Thailand. Sure, Thaksin is a rogue. Many in his party - think Chalerm! - are outright criminals. And they were running the country into the poorhouse.

Never mind. EVENTUALLY, the chickens would gave come to roost, and they'd have lost their popular support. Yes, it would have been expensive, but at the end of the day Thailand would have come out of it with a solid and repeatable political system for the future, and the electorate would have learned a salutory lesson. And the electorate would (as they should) have been the guardians of the guardisns.

What's happened with the coup is a disaster. Thailand has been set back 30 years and power now rests wholly in the hands of those with the biggest lethal arsenal. And there is nobody guarding them at all. They can set up an ersatz parliament to do the day to day petty administration, but the control of everything else remains with a self-appointed group who derive their power through the use or threat of violence.

It's been tried before, and every time it has, it's ended in tears. There's nothing to suggest that this time it will be any different.

What's the betting that in years to come, 'Article 44' will have the power of one of those dark phrases from history, loaded with infamous connotation. A reminder for future generations on how NOT to do it.

Yeah, like 'Area 51' something for idiots to write about on the internet. Cue for Twilight Zone theme..........

Area 51? What are you on about? No, more like Article 12 Cambodia 1975, or Section 10 South Africa 1945, or several other instruments of blanket legislation that have robbed people of their human rights and subsequently gained sinister notoriety. You weren't aware of these? Oh, well...

Area 51 indeed..haha

Debt must be resolved, and if the amount is such that the loan is so large that it's impossible to repay, then the debt must be either rescheduled or forgiven. That's just how it works - you can't get blood from a stone.

This farmer problem, which anyone not simple could see coming a mile away, was caused by the widespread pushing of credit to the financially illiterate - the credit being supposedly secured by illiquid assets like land or farm stock. I don't mind betting that when these loans were granted, nobody in the bank ever required a proper forward cash flow projection, or any kind of evidence that there would be sufficient cash generated to meet repayments. Instead, it was just glance at the rocketing price of land in a bubble economy, do a back of the envelope calculation on loan v equity, and grant whatever the farmer asked up to a set percentage.

Well, here we are.

Why don't they try to encourage foreigners from other countries to visit? Only having foreigners from one country [China] is like putting all your eggs in one basket. Not a good policy at all.

If anything, diversity in visitor arrivals should be encouraged. As nice a country as China is, but I don't want to be swamped by people only from one country, I want to see people from various different countries. Why is it that only Chinese are being talked about? India has the same population as China. Why aren't they all coming 400,000 of them at once? Strange...

Maybe because when Article 44 gets into full swing, the Chinese will be the only ones who will come.

What's the betting that in years to come, 'Article 44' will have the power of one of those dark phrases from history, loaded with infamous connotation. A reminder for future generations on how NOT to do it.

His reform of the RTP has amounted to knocking off undesirable "connected" people for reasons other than corruption.

His reform of the political process has been to indefinitely postpone it and when resurfaces will undoubtedly be controlled by a body of appointed people selected to serve the long standing Central Thailand elite.

Oh that's right, he's temporarily run off some grungy jet ski operators who will return just as any liquid falls to the lowest possible depths.

Mr. Happy is a crackin good gent! And yes, like no other before him. Just ask the teachers who suddenly had to test their students on his command and incorporate the results in their evaluation books. Just ask the students who have to now forego a real subject like English or Math to study the all important 12 values.

Now that has never before been seen round these parts!!!

Genuine question. Was Maths and English really removed to allow students to study the 12 values?

According to my pal the teacher, they cut a three hour a week English grammar class by one hour to make room for the course. That was mid year. He also says they threw in a year end exam for certain levels that was mandated to be part of their final overall grade, so they had to delay their grading books to supervise these exams, grade them, and then find a place to put the scores into the grade books. This was mandated a week before finals week, no planning, no notice

!

Plus ca change, plus c''est la meme chose. When I worked in Thailand almost twenty years ago, they did exactly the same thing to us. A different arbitrary and absurd reason, but the same thoughtless ignorance and autocracy with zero notice. It's hopeless, really it is.

It's getting better slowly. Twenty years ago, you neve saw anyone reading in Thailand. These days it's not uncommon at all.

But really, until the education system is overhauled from top to bottom nothing much is going to change. I once had a class of middle-management bank employees, not one of whom had even heard of Pol Pot. They were completely and utterly ignorant of what had happened the other side of their own country's border within their own lifetimes. And as for simple geography, I've had classes of university students unable find the Atlantic Ocean on a globe without looking at the writing first. Their simple geography was worse than my five year old's. And this was at tertiary level.

And there's the problem in a nutshell. Most of this political wailing and gnashing of teeth can be laid at the door of straightforward ignorance. The growing pains of spreading equality and democratic aspirations are nothing new. There are plenty of societies that have gone through the same process, and the routes they've taken, and the checks and balances they've instituted to guard against reversion or derailment are there for all to learn from. But from top to bottom the Thais are unaware of other's achievements and mistakes.

It's like watching a gang of blokes struggling to shift a load from A to B. You feel like shouting, ' A wheel! What's the matter with you? Just use a pair of wheels and a damned axle, for Pity's sake!'

But of course, if they're utterly ignorant of how a pair of wheels and an axle work, the advice is useless. It's like that with Thai politics. You say,' use a democratic vote and the rule of law'. But they don't know how it's supposed to work or at it looks like. And that's because of the pitiful education system.

All that was ever needed all along was for the laws of the land to be applied as written. But the fact is that laws in Thailand simply don't apply to the powerful. Sons of prominent politicians, politicians themselves, the offspring of corporstion owners, the army, all the way down to the five-ball of 'kon ruay maak' who every Thurday afternoon make playing my local course a 6 hour ordeal for anyone unlucky or unknowing enough to get stuck behind them -these people are all the same. For these people, the rules - whether for murder, theft, constitutional treason, or even golf - are an irrelevance unless they want to use them as a stick to beat some lesser sod with. These people are NEVER held accountable and they know it.

Until that changes, nothing which is said or done will fix Thailand's woes one iota.

The ARMY needs a lot of budget. ......

Amazing post from a newbie ??? Target the army---I wonder why ?? another one joins the bashers.

Of course it is the army that created this mess---ha ha ha-----go and have a strong coffee.

I think you are making a little too much of the above post. The army does have a very large budget and he did not blame them for the crisis. I'll have a coffee if you've got the kettle on, though...

Not really mate, everyone is aware of the budgets here in Thailand, Education one of the highest in the world Population wise---and so on.

He indirectly implied that it was a main reason or else why did he not speak about a million other budgets. It was the ARMY he was targeting was it not ??? no one elses fault ???

They may have a large part of their budget allocated for Education, but I don't see them getting a good value on that money spent. After two years experiencing University graduates in their various workplaces, I'm not convinced they've actually been challenged to learn something, with the consequence of failure. They pay, they graduate, they have a 'degree' and are much more qualified to manipulate their smartphones and tablets and post on FaceBook, than actually know a thing about their freaking job.

I worked in Thai education for a while. The money all gets stolen. What actually gets spent on EDUCATION is pitiful - a tiny fraction of what is supposedly allocated. And that was the situation before Taksin was ever elected. It was ever thus.

Half the country wave flags in support of a clearly dodgy spiv, and the other half wave flags to do themselves out of the right to vote. As the man said, people get the governments they deserve. In this case, you can't help but think that it's true. It would be amusing if it weren't so sad.

_{well he wasn't a "nobody" and I doubt if he had financial difficulties with this CV from Macquarie Bank}

_{Ellis Moate}

Director

_{Ellis has over 25 years business experience with major Australian and Global companies, including General Management responsibilities encompassing Commercial, Information Technology, Sales Management and National business accountability.}

_{During his time with Macquarie Marketing Ellis has worked with many major Australian and Global organisations to optimise their Sales and Marketing processes. Ellis has deep experience assisting his clients' retain, develop and grow their customers through - customer and market segmentation, benchmarking, process redesign, along with raining and coaching.}

_{Ellis has worked extensively throughout most countries in Asia in his business and consulting career, gaining first hand experience with the managerial issues of developing and implementing world class Sales and Marketing practices across the region.}

_{Ellis brings to all his projects a successful formula based on deep management experience, successful hands on consulting assignments, extensive international business exposure and a personal drive and energy that ensures the highest standards of customer satisfaction and project quality.}

_{another profile of him from this thai company Business Research Specialist....}

_{http://brs-thai.com/newsite/why-work-with-brs/our-team/}

To me that sounds like a CV for a dubious "Financial Advisor" aka snake oil-merchant!!

Why did this highly successful need to teach tennis, when in Thailand??

Just a CV. Here's a link to the chap's company. A pretty solid client base by the look of it.

http://www.macquariemarketing.com/about_2.html

You really would have to be on the distant side of batsxxt deluded to believe these endless polls. Dear Generals, if you are going to manufacture this stuff, at least make the percentages vaguely credible.

Well if you don't trust these results, why don't you go and conduct your own poll?

No, no....of course, how silly of me? the only Poll you'd know anything about would have a Dancer attached to it!

The results are fine. Fifty one percent of Thais have been unaffected by the coup. Actually, it's a surprise that the number is so low. The issue is that this completely neutral response is spun as 'most

Thais agree with the current political situation'. It says no such thing at all. In fact, the number agreeing is really 31% or whatever (I can't be bothered to page back).

So how does 30 percent suddenly become 'most Thais'?

Most Thais have been indoctrinated with obeisance when they were young. This brainwashing is will be hard to change in our lifetimes and probably our kids.

It's hardwired into the national psyche. Look at the language. In Thai there is a whole plethora of personal pronouns, the purpose of which is to convey or recognize the relative social status and power of the interlocutors. In English we simply don't make those distinctions. Conversely, in English we utilize a whole range of sophisticated grammatical devices to express possibility, hypothesis, timescale, etc, and we do so unthinkingly all the time. In Thai, no such structures exist. What that tells us is that in Thai, it's most important to recognize who it is you're speaking to. In English or other European languages, the most important thing is to convey accurately the meaning of what it is you're saying.

How did they manage to extrapolate the headline from the numbers quoted in the poll?

Just for once it would be heartening to read a headline along the lines of ' Prayuth says - insert topic- is not his business'.