SamMunich

Me thinks, these are proposals, what should be done, not plans, what will be done. After all this was a seminar with people and organizations sharing their thoughts, nothing more.

And in general they are right, the income gap is far too wide and growing, leading ultimately to social unrest. But as already stated here, those which the money decide, and their decision is, that they need more money, before they can start pondering, if they might reduce the speed of their wealth growing.

Hazing is by idiots with idiots willing to be hazed in the name of an obscure bonding. Anybody with brains will laugh at the proposal by those upper level students to take part in a hazing. That is not for childredn, that is outright childish and shows, how little those involved have learned about the real life.

I still have problems to understand, how such a nonsense can take hold in Thailand...

An educated guess:

The money for the maintenance was prepared and set aside, but then - in a very strange way - disappeared. Right into the pocket of the top guys of the Airport Link,- just before they were sent to inactive posts by the new strong men.

I wonder why there is never a way to get this kind of fraudulent money back from these kind of guys...

Line,whatsapp , Facebook and others, are the sum of most Thai people life centers around now days,

the hell with real knowledge, real learning, world's events, Nope, it's all about gossip,

frivolous, mindless information exchange, I feel sorry for this generation's dependency on these

gadgets for every aspect of their life...

What makes me wonder: why nobody starts a campaign to diss these shit things like Facebook etc. I could imagine, that a movement to show, how un-cool this virtual world versus the real world is could gather momentum around the world. People are wasting time of their life in order to make the Suckerbugs et al richer than ever...

Folks, language is a vital part of a national identity. And being able to use your mother tongue well is a skill you can enjoy all your life. That ABR (abbreviation nonsense)is not much different from using "cool slang" words, and ABRs are an American language usage issue. This 'slang only' language is awful, when the people can't talk a decent language as taught in school.

I mean, who enjoys reading a book/ebook, that consists only (!) of slang and ABRs?

Rickirs wrote:

The problem of illegal weapons will never be solved as long as it is so easy to smuggle in weapons left, right and center. Beside that, it's a cultural thing, that people think, they need a weapon or that they are incomplete personalitiies without a weapon. Say thank you to the Americans. And as long as there is a policy, that the one with more power can do as he pleases, everybody tries to gain power by having a weapon.

And all that is beside the fact, that some have hidden weapons for the big final countdown between political sides.

What do you expect in a society where over the last 80 years there have been 13 military coups? Government by the gun is a Thai cultural tradition. How can you expect its citizens to have hope for a peaceful democracy? If the Democrats thought they could not (at least according to Suthep) rely on military intervention to prevail politically, they would either resort to weapons or free and open elections but obviously the latter has never worked. Compare this to America which has some of the most liberal gun laws in the world and never in its almost 240-year history never had regime change through military coup.

Sorry, there is no relieve in numbers. Most if not all coups were restricted to powergrabbing by top-echelon military folks, getting their opponents grabbed and taken away, but with nearly or no fighting at all. Pibulsongkram, Sarit, Thanom and later Suchinda or Sonthi in 2006. So that can't be the reason for the widespread ownership of weapons. The weapons used by military and police are "legal" weapons, they "own" the state monopoly on weapons and on killing others.

Weapons among regular citizens are most likely used in private altercations or fighting to gain advantage in a business (like illegal poaching, illegal ressorts, getting farmers off their land). They have little (as opposed to nothing!) to do with politics, except in situations like the red vs. yellow fights. The only ones to train to use weapons in a formation are the red shirts prior to 2010, when they had training in nearly every changwat in the Isaan.

And if I compare this with the USA? There are daily killings, nearly monthly killing spees at schools and all this would of course also happen, if there was no free gun ownership. That's why these school massacre also happen every once in a while in Western Europe, e.g. in GB or FRG. France is a sligthly different story with their North-Africans.

Back to Thailand: The military has always been involved in politics, since they (together with civil servants) overthrew the absolute monarchy. Their influence is diminishing, but it is still there and if the top guy thinks enough is enough they will just intervene. Still I think a coup in Thailand is very different from a coup e.g. in Africa. And that's what Western governments fail to realize.

The problem of illegal weapons will never be solved as long as it is so easy to smuggle in weapons left, right and center. Beside that, it's a cultural thing, that people think, they need a weapon or that they are incomplete personalitiies without a weapon. Say thank you to the Americans. And as long as there is a policy, that the one with more power can do as he pleases, everybody tries to gain power by having a weapon.

And all that is beside the fact, that some have hidden weapons for the big final countdown between political sides.

I would like to personally nominate this post as the most moronic America

bashing post ever seen on TV. Along the same line, I also propose some

sort of basic IQ test prior to being allowed to join TV.

America is to blame for militants in Thailand having weapons ? Wow.

Wait a minute. Was that statement satire ??

I would like you to do a comprehensive reading test before you post.

A comprehensive reading test or a reading comprehension test?

I'm a liberal, I leave it up to you <wg>...

The problem of illegal weapons will never be solved as long as it is so easy to smuggle in weapons left, right and center. Beside that, it's a cultural thing, that people think, they need a weapon or that they are incomplete personalitiies without a weapon. Say thank you to the Americans. And as long as there is a policy, that the one with more power can do as he pleases, everybody tries to gain power by having a weapon.

And all that is beside the fact, that some have hidden weapons for the big final countdown between political sides.

There was a time, about ten years ago, when a lot of American religious NGOs in Cambodia were hunting for Paedophiles. Problem was, about 87% of all paedophiles in Camboland were locals, according to some research. So in order to deliver the quota to be eligible to stay on in P.P., many resorted to "helping" the detection of paedophiles by sending young boys to places like the Capitol restaurant and pester the tourists there. The kids would approach the tourist and the NGO staff was waiting with a camera in place around the next corner. Showing empathy for the poor kid? Click did the camera. Give the kid some money to buy some food? Also click. Not being touched or getting any money, these kids would demand 10 US$ or else they would say, they were touched indecently. The only way to get rid of them was to offer them a beating, which wasn't in the NGOs interest. Finally the local police cleared out the place of these young buggers.
Why I tell this? because it sounds very similar to what is happening in Pattaya and what happened to Chris. Young Cambodian street urchins? They think they can go free due to their young age. And at the same time, if anybody knows their handler, it is easy to order and pay for an "incident".

Of course the local police in Pattaya knows this, but they don't stop it, as it provides them with lots of under-the-table-money! And as they know their public image is lower than that of any other living creature, they don't care about their image any more.
Now I have met Chris a few times and I can tell you, that he has - wonder, over wonder - an official dual citizenship, being both US and Canadian citizen. So don't continue on that nonsense lead.

Chris is spearheading legal action against an European, who will probably be deported and declared persona-non-grata, and that guy has not really many friends left in Switzerland either, if I read the web messages correctly about this guy. So I would guess, that this guy, in his desperation, has turned to the Cambo-Boys handler to set up Chris and hoping, that would de-rail legal proceedings against him. A guess of mine, but I dare to say, an educated guess, nevertheless!

I just switched to TRUE, because I had problems with my TOT DSL-line. Every now and then a hardware failure in one of the TOT switch boxes would take down my Internet access. but NOT the telephone signal!

If it was a soft problem it helped to lift the phone and check, that I got a signal, after which the DSL signal also remembered me again...

If all else fails, switch off the router for a few seconds, that switch in on again. Tunring a device off and on again solves about 50% of all errors/problems, no joke!

The hot weather has calmed down, so let's do the same and calm down as well.

It is good, that finally somebody is going after those, that thought they can do whatever they want without being held responsible. Now that the protection is gone, they can be caught. What most have assumed, now it turns out to be the most likly outcome, that most harrasment and killing came from the red shirt camp.

Give police a little more time to go after the real big bosses, but don't give them too much time, until everybody has fled the scene.

And after they got the heavy duty culprits, let's remember, that most red shirts (as many on the other side) were only joining due to peer pressure. So we better start the grand discourse among all people in Thailand, how the future should look like.

Or as Khun Karl the Marx would have said: Shirts of all colors: unite! You got nothing to loose but your buttons!

Last Friday immigration came and busted a car detailing outfit close to here. All but one we taken away.
On Saturday the place war seemingly working as before.

My guess is, immigration got paid off, the workers are back and will most likely have to work for free, until the bribes are paid off.

We should look a bit deeper and in detail:

There are Cambodians and Burmese and others with a legal status, i.e. visa and WP here. They need not fear gettting busted,- at least not according to official notion.

The majority are illegal here. But still they are humans like everyone else here and everywhere, so a bit of compassion would suit us all. They are not voluntarily here, but because their situation at home made coming to Thailand look the better alternative. Let's not forget there were and are also tens of thousands of Thais working abroad,- for the same reason. Working abroad is a heavy burden on everybody: no family, no friends, likely different food and miserable accomodation. And on top of that most likely your boss is cheating you out of some or all of the agreed amount of money. And don't mention occupational health hazards.

Why so many of them came here to work? Because they are the cheaper labour, compared to Thais. Because they are not so lazy (be it true or not), that is why the companies prefer them. Daily minimum wage is 300 Baht/day, at least on paper. I don't know, if the law stipulates, that this is also valid for foreign staff, but certainly not for illegal staff. So especially those companies, that are very unproductive have to rely on cheap illegal labour, else they could not continue to exist. There have repeatedly been articles in the newspaper, that non-Thai crew members on fishing trawlers were thrown overboard to drown. Nobody will ask questions...

So this issue has two sides. The reasoning, that these foreigners take away jobs from Thais is BS. We have somewhere between 1 and 3% of unemployment in Thailand. Compare that to around 8% in the USA or 25-30% in countries like Spain, Greece or Italy. And by the end of next year the borders are open for these people to come in to work legally.

If it is a measure to get rid of unproductive sweatshops, I can agree with it. Or a measure to reduce criminal attacks like beating up the men or raping the girls. But my fear is, that this is a measure to push the nationalistic button in Thais. And that is a bad thing!

dru2

Good, I hope to see Bangkok under water in the next few years.

You really are a very self-centred and stupid Thaksinista!

Folks, don't get taken for a ride by a funny snide. Taksin is out, Future is in!

I'm glad the generals dare to stop such big-scale project, as most others would have said, it is too late to stop it now.

For the anti-flooding projects as well as for the 2.3 Trillion (?) Baht infrastructure project a re-checking should be made on their usefulenss and the cost of it. Prefably from local and international experts from universities etc and not from companies, that have a financial interest in these projects.

So far, the generals have made no mistakes...

Quite frankly I think the best the police can do is to dissolve the traffic police unit. Or at least let them only handle the traffic at the exits of small sois.

But the fundamental problem is, that there are too few roads for too many vehicles. True, you can get a better ratio, when using a motorbike instead of a big car, especially, as most cars transport only one person.

Next problem is, that people need to travel long distances to work and back home. That keeps them on the road for longer time. I knwo people travelling 2 hours each to and from work! Find a job around where you live would reduce the use of traffic.

Increase public transport infrastructure, MRT and Skytrain are too little to make a difference.

And also throw out those old laws, that are only useful for the police to receive bribes. Let motorcycles go across bridges like at the Thai-Belgium bridge. Allow all vehicles to use all lanes. That specific law is from 1932, when motorcycles probably didn't even exist in Thailand...

And finally either reduce the amount of taxis OR find other ways to take them off the road, like with taxi queues for (taxi) cars. And revoke a licence, if the driver has been found to drive like an idiot for 3 or more times.

There migth be more solutions still...

That is the typical statement of somebody who feels he needs to show, that he is important. Of course the parties all do exist as before, else in all other sucessful coups before all parties would have been disbanded with the tearing up of the constitution. The Democrat party is around 60 years old, Banharn's outfit is also pretty old and I wonder, who are the remnants of old Chart Thai Party, not to mention Chart Pattana Party.

If that were due to being organic laws to the constitution, well, the the Election Commission doesn't exist either since May 22nd....

Strip or Chip,- the cards with a chip are the way to go, as they are used more and more overseas. Also look at the newer credit cards, and somew of them can be used at local ATMs. Reason is said to be simply more security and the ability to put more information onto the chip.

But I guess it's like with many other issues: You make something foolproof and within short time the hackers/thieves et al have managed to break the technolopy or circumvent it.

Better to be careful when using it:
* Use ATMs you know and where you can see, if any changes (or holes) have been made to the outside or surface of the machine.

* Watch out, that nobody can see your PIN and NEVER give away your PIN, not even to friends to draw money for you with your card (A favourite among Thais!).

* Use a non-standard PIN (e.g. not 1-2-3-4 or such). And you can change your PIN every once in a while too.

* If possible don't use an ATM at night but during the bank working hours. If anything goes wrong, you can enter the bank and claim/report immediately. However the ATMs are set up and run not by the banks but an external company names ATM Pool (or similar).

brianinbangkok asked about taxis after 22:00:

There are taxis on the road, even after 22:00, but I can't tell if they are free or with passenger. And they are certainly not as many as normally. I have seen taxis as late as 03:00 on the road.

If you stay at a hotel, let the reception get you a taxi. They might have a taxi driver's phone number to call. And a 100 Baht extra is still better than missing your flight.

I think there are a few facts, that will decide on the future of the coup. Let me point out first though, that I am a democracy loving person,- but not a stupid democracy loving one.

Will the military be able to nip upcountry resistance in the bud? I hope so, as else we will really have a full scale civil war. If the military can isolate the red shirt leadership, the rest will not be able to organize. A positive sign in that direction is the promise to pay for the pledged rice. If they can pull that off, they take a lot of wind out of the sails of the red shirts.

Secondly they must soon show, that they mean business in regard to reforms and also in regard to (at least) reducing corruption. You can't stop it in just one go, but at least reduce it substantially.

Third they will have most business on their side if they really implement major infrastructure projects. Not much left then for the common man, but they only know the old style of politics.

But the one top priority issue is to break the backbone of the Taksin network.

And yes, take away all Thai passports from the fugitive criminal, he has enough other passports.

It would be nmice to find a listing of who is in, who is out of "military care" and who madfe it in time to leave the country.

Quite frankly I wonder where is Nuttawut, but I'm glad Chalerm didn't make it across the border this time as he did in 1991.

So Yingluck is in 3 to 7 days daycare.

Where is Suthep, in or out?

I read two PTP big shots were kept in daycare, while the rest were released but have to stay in reach. What about the Democrat delegation to the talks on Thurday?

Questions and even more questions, but one answer for sure:
It is easier to ride the tiger than to get off without being eaten...

The bad aspect is, that it needed the military (again) to intervene in order to get things sorted out,- at least temporarily. The positive aspect I guess is the population and business are glad the poitical stalemate is over and everybody hopes to get back to a regular life or business.

As for democracy, this is a step back for some time. Let's hope not too long, but long enough to make it impossible to create such an awkward situation again. If the military can achieve (can you call than a military achievement?) this, the military will be the sweetheart of most Thais for a long time to come.

As for the elections, both sides, red and yellow (to put it simple) are eager for elections, but the reds think they are the substance of democracy, as they can gain from elections, while the yellows want free, fair, common and secret elections, like as the international standard calls for. Without outrageous election promises or promises that are gains only for some but a (tax) burden for others.

And let's all hope, this will reign in the corruption, which is like a blood-sucker on the national development of all Thais.

mrtoad

Can he ask Chalerm to stand up and say:

"You're a colossal p***k"

Chalerm is probably too loaded at this point to stand up and speak.

Chalerm has propably already arrived in Singapore, just to avoid being caught by the military. He is burned from 1991. So now every time a general puts down his foot, Chalerm is on his way to Singapore...

Ademin, please delete this double entry. A quirk in the software produced an error, which in itself was an error...

Don't expect the military to come out in the open with tanks etc.
But I'm pretty sure, there is some "discussion" and "convincing" going on in the back. There are lines still open from the military leaders to both sides and my guess would be, that the military is using these.
A military coup would not help anybody, and the generals know that.

The problem right now is to avoid any "solution", that would bring us all back to square one. Now or even in two or three years. We had that and it didn't work out.

As much as I understand, that everybody wants this situation to end, we have to go through it to the end, else all the hassle in the past was good for nothing and in vain.