retsdon

So let's get this straight ... This used to be land owned by farmers.... But now owned by non farmers...

So presumably the land was sold by the original farmers who owned the land (illegally) and the transfer was signed off by government official in area land office (illegally) ....

And the bad guy is the one who bought it?

And the plan is to take it from the person who bought the land and give it back to the people who sold it the first time?

Any charges to be placed against those who sold the land illegally ?

Any charges to be placed against the presumably corrupt government officer that signed off on the transfer of ownership?

'Caveat emptor' as the old saying goes. Sure, if this thing goes through a lot of people will have got burnt. But that was the risk they took when they bought cheap land without a proper title. There was a reason that it was cheaper than chanote titled ground....

Maybe as Tony B has been to meet the General this week, he will be using his obvious skills to assist the Thai Police in creating the right 'documents' and make their case for a prosecution.

Once Prime Minister of Britain, now peddling public relations advice to assorted military dictators around the globe. It might make him a few bob, but looked at squarely, it's a shameful descent really.

Pity. Couldn't have happened to a nicer fellow...

The social contract between national governments and their peoples has been torn up, and replaced by connivance between international capitalists and careerist politicians,

Just read on another thread that the British have summoned a Thai diplomat to a meeting in London.

source please?

It's in today's Guardian.

You can link that no problem.

It's in the same article that's linked on the other thread about Burma asking for the case to be reopened. But in fairness, it simply says, ' ...the foreign office has called in a Thai diplomat to discuss concerns...' so it might be referring to the summons a couple of weeks or so ago - or whenever it was.

Just read on another thread that the British have summoned a Thai diplomat to a meeting in London.

source please?

It's in today's Guardian.

The brit police could have at least said good bye.

Talk about rude. Everyone was so excited. The brits are coming yahoo.

We all had such high expectations.

They came and went like a silent fart.

What did you expect? That they were going to issue a slew of off-the-cuff press statements and take part in photo ops? They'll do what they're paid to do - which is to report back their findings to the British Goverment. And the British government is not going to say anything until the current case against the Burmese resolves one way or the other.

And then we'll see. Silent farts invariably take a little time before their full effect becomes apparent.

'The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again, but.... It was impossible to say which was which.'

Animal Farm, George Orwell

Any update on the cure? Seems to have went quiet.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/22/ebola-serum-in-weeks-and-west-africa-vaccine-tests-by-january-says-who

Apparently there are ongoing trials currently being run through the WHO. Thailan'd's cure doesn't get a mention.

the protected ones phone records would put an end to all speculation whether he was on the island or not that evening

Do we have to go through this again?

The phone records will only show where the phone was, unless it had to be surgically removed from his body.

Good point as in my part of the world we just pick up any old phone and use that, so clearly if his number was being used in that area in the early hours of the morning anyone could have been using it.

Clearly if it was your family member you wouldn't be expecting the police to look into this. Never know why police bother with such pointless information in the West.

Checking phone records would be about the 3rd thing they'd do. It would give them evidence. Either hard irrefutable evidence, or circumstantial evidence, which was, last time I checked, admissible. It would enable the construction of a time-frame, it may even help them join a few dots... the obvious conclusion is that they don't want to join the dots... as it seems some here don't either.

The biggest problem in Thailand is that the police are cogs in a very hierarchical social structure. They do what they're told. Why for example, were there a bunch of uniformed police officers standing around like tailors' dummies to witness Nomsod's DNA testing? The police hadn't requested the test - it was done at the instigation of the boy's father. But the police had obviously been instructed to come along and provide scenery for the photo-op, so they did. Anywhere in the west they'd have told whoever was asking them to go to hell - the whole thing being an utter waste of police tiime. But here they're too kreng jai to do that to some kohn rui or bigshot.

Likewise if they are told that a line of inquiry is off-limits, then it'll be off limits. That's just how it works unfortunately.

If they have nothing to hide why not send the results back to the British gov?

Because they have made a decision to front it out. Whatever the consequences which result from that decision, they will be easier to deal with than those which would result from finding the truth. Because the truth would reveal to the world that the whole of Thai society is rotten and corrupt. And that would be too much to deal with.

We must all stay modest and cautious:it is a very difficult inquiry!No material proofs,no witness!!!!!

It would be a very hard work for any police...even a western one....

Not really. An island surrounded by miles of ocean that nobody could get on or off; a crime scene only hours old; a raft of DNA evidence; a slew of witnesses who were with the victims until just before they were killed; cc tv footage; etc; etc; etc....

And they STILL managed to make a horse's backside of the investigation - turning it into a shoddy Thai soap. They didn't even secure the crime scene for pity's sake! What a shower of clowns!

I might have added - a crime committed on SAND on which every footprint......sigh

We must all stay modest and cautious:it is a very difficult inquiry!No material proofs,no witness!!!!!

It would be a very hard work for any police...even a western one....

Not really. An island surrounded by miles of ocean that nobody could get on or off; a crime scene only hours old; a raft of DNA evidence; a slew of witnesses who were with the victims until just before they were killed; cc tv footage; etc; etc; etc....

And they STILL managed to make a horse's backside of the investigation - turning it into a shoddy Thai soap. They didn't even secure the crime scene for pity's sake! What a shower of clowns!

People buying iPhones on credit are outwith my sympathy orbit, I'm afraid.

Haha, it's straight out of Shakespeare. The powers that be would love to just forcefully silence the dissent, but they're fearful of the consequences if they do. So they let "'dare not' wait upon 'I would', like the poor cat I' the adage.' It's Macbeth, being lived out in

21st century Thailand.

There's nothing new under the sun.

Came into Bangkok airport this morning . Never seen it so quiet.

I came in last month, it was the same. At immigration it was a question of choosing the minuscule queue. Stand behind the two Indian looking folk or go with the four westerners. That snake queue between the ropes was empty - the first time I've ever seen it like that. The Thai line - which I normally piggy-back on when I come through with the missus and kids to jump the line. -was way longer.

And this is what it looks like. These dogs are in Laos headed to Vietnam.

Those dogs are being humanely transported compared to the ones I was stuck behind on my motorbike. The ones I saw were packed in on each other with no separation. There were at least two broken legs sticking through the bars, and God knows him many bodies twisted out of shape by the sheer weight. Unbelievable cruelty....

When you have a culture that revels in willful ignorance; when you have a culture that bows to power and wealth for its own sake; when you have a culture in which putting moral principle above temporary pecuniary gain is laughed at - real democracy wil always be stillborn, no matter the midwife.

Everytime these people open their mouths, it's another PR disaster. Does he honestly believe that some vague threats will quell the online speculation which was put in train in the first place by his own officers' bungling investigation and media grandstanding?

So what' s he going to do? Start charging people for posting their opinions online? Good luck with that. The term 'dinosaur' springs to mind.

Positively Victorian idea to keep animals in cages and look at them, serves whoever right if they get eaten by 1. No need for these john merrick type freak shows IMO.

Oh dear.....Chelsea Flower Show is the highlight of your year dear?

Jeez mate get a life. The bloke went into the tigers den and got bit. Big deal. He lived and won't do that again.

You don't need to keep animals in a cage to be exciting.

Ever tried pig hunting in Australia? 100+kg boar coming at you..Better have a good couple of dogs.

Ever saw the manta rays jumping at sunset in Dalywoi Bay in Arnhem Land in a 12 foot tinnie.?

The width of the rays is twice the length of your boat.

I don't expect you to understand the lingo.

No of course not...just be nice and safe.

A 45 kilo bar girl at 5 paces is enough to scare most expats.

Haha. The pigs. Many years ago, I worked on the drill floor of a North Sea oil rig with a bloke from South Island, New Zealand. One day, in a moment of idle conversation, I asked him what he did at home for entertainment.

'Hunt pigs' came the reply ( he wasn't a big conversationalist)

'Really', says I. 'So what calibre rifle do you use for pigs?'

'Rifle? , shooting's for cissies! We use a pack of dogs and a knife!'

But he was an animal this guy. Not only was he the naturally strongest person I've ever come across, he was combative to a degree. One day we were waiting in line in the galley to get our food. The food was pretty good in the North Sea, and you always had a choice. This day it was roast. Now, the stewards on the rig were, for some reason almost always gay. Anyway, Billy gets to his turn, and the little steward says,

'So what would you like?'

'Lamb!,

So the steward cuts him a few slices and gives him the plate.

', that's not enough! Give me some more!'

So the steward cuts a couple of grudging slices and adds them.

'Are you paying for this yourself? Here...'

And he reaches across, picks up the whole joint of lamb and puts it on his plate.

'There! That's a proper <deleted> meal'

And he then proceeds to add half a kilo of veg before going to his seat and eating this enormous joint of meat like a chicken bone.

I suppose it's because of blokes like Zaire that the All Blacks are a perennially good rugby team..

Let's face it, you have to be pretty dopey to just walk into a tiger cage.

Many years ago, I got stuck behind one of these dog trucks on my motorcycle. The smell, the sight of it, it was absolutely stomach churning. The image of it stayed in my mind for weeks afterwards - and as an old livestock farmer I'm not exactly squeamish. Hell, I've castrated lambs with a pocket knife and my teeth before now.

But that truck was a different dimension. Hellish is the only adjective to describe it.

Why does it have to be a filmed circus?

While we're all speculating....it's not unreasonable to speculate that the British might have arrived with their own DNA data. And it's not unreasonable to speculate that it is this which has prompted the current flurry of testing and re-retesting.

To say that Scotland Yard almost certainly has access to better forensic expertise in Britain that the RTP do in Thailand is not to denigrate Thailand at all. Nevertheless, it's almost certainly true. So Scotland Yard might want to test what they have against fresh samples from the Burmese. If the RTP believe that they are holding the right people, they'll naturally go along with the idea because British agreement of a match would support or even strengthen their case. In any event, it would be hard for the RTP to refuse without appearing obstructive.

And while they're at it, the Brits would appear to have managed to persuade the RTP to rope in Nomsod too. You have to wonder where the benefit is in that, and why Nomsot is offering to go along with it if he's guilty. Could it be that Brit forensics have managed to find additional DNA deposits that were overlooked in Thailand? Ones that were not sexual, but nonetheless indicative of bodily contact or violence?

All will be revealed in due time, I suppose.