Katipo

If a woman insists she is right to the point of starting an argument I just walk away and ignore her. Maybe that makes me a prick, but life is too short for arguments. If that strategy didn't work, I'd find another woman.

The people of Thailand are pleading for a competent leader. We can't all get what we want.

I guess the PTP and their Red supporters had to nip this in the bud before it became a full on farmer uprising. That would truly spell the end of the Thaksin regime. But for now they can carry on claiming they are the champions of the poor.

No excuse for it, no matter what the colour of your shirt.

Unfortunately the sort of people who have the time and the inlination to be security guards in these sort of events are probably not the sort of people who should be guards at these sorts of events.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

It must be quite disheartening forever giving ultimatums that no one ever takes any notice of.

Yeah, I'm getting tired of Suthep's "tomorrow the government will fall!" too.

It'll be interesting which one of them wins this round. Two mad dogs with nothing to lose.

The government told the farmers last year that they could not continue to pay 15,000 baht per tonne, they simply could not afford it. The farmers blocked the roads, the government caved, continued to pay a price that was non sustainable. The votes mattered more than the economy. While i am sympathetic to the plight of the farmers, they decided that they would hold the government to the 15,000 baht price and now they will sell for 9,000 baht plus Bt3,279 per rai compensation from the government. Perhaps they've never heard the expression "if it's too good to be true".

It's easy for us to rationalise it this way, but not so much for certain other secros of society. I've spoken to several locals who still believe the Thaksin's have 'good credit' (I guess this means have lots of money) and thus everything will be Ok in the end.

When you believe in something so much, it can be very hard to let it go even in the face of overwhelming evidence. A scenario that has played itself out again and again throughout history.

It must be quite disheartening forever giving ultimatums that no one ever takes any notice of.

Intensified action? There hasn't been any action so far, so how can you intensify nothing?

1 x 0 = 0

100 x 0 is still 0

Tragic that 63 people from the Northern Provences have lost thier lives due to the weather !!! .... Where is the Government, where is the help ???

Helping herself to a nice new pair of Burberry boots at Paragon with her ill gotten gains. Where did you expect?

This could really be a game changer.

The rural voters had unwavering faith in the PTP because they thought Thaksin had tons of money and would never let them down.

Now it's (finally) becoming apparent to them that while he has tons of money, he isn't going to share it (even if a lot of it was made at the expense of the people of Thailand through corrupt deals).

the banks labour union is telling the bank how to run it's business . (even if they have a point) sounds like yellow shirt supporters wanting to cause trouble

Really?

You don't think they might just be worried about their jobs?

If the bank becomes insolvent, all of these people will be unemployed.

I would expect any labour union in any country to come out if it appeared someone was putting the jobs at risk. That is what labour unions are for.

Not to mention that a lot of the staff might have money invested in the bank in shape or form. If things start to look shaky and there is a rush on withdrawls, the outcome would be very bad indeed.

Not 'drunk with power', just drunk

For all the good he does the goverment, I sometimes wonder if he isn't actually on the democrat's payroll.

Now that Chalerm's delicate touch is back, let PTP 's already wobbly house of cards come a tumblin' down.

What's this? Forward planning? I am impressed.

Let's just hope that no morons do anything stupid that results in the trains being closed.

This is deeply disturbing on so many levels. Hey, politicians and officials! Could you f#ck over the nation's children any more?

It's great that the temples will be looked after, even if only a portion of the money will actually be used for restoration.

Nice attempt at shifting the blame/responsibility for this grade A mess from the PTP who implemented it. I doubt the EC will stand for these tactics, and it could very well backfire (in fact I hope it does),

Having a national carrier is a matter of pride. Letting that carrier go into bankruptcy can seriously damage that pride.... especially in a country where it is as ridiculously as important as it is in Thailand. Ergo, it will not be allowed to happen.

Most accused or murder will try to prove their innocence. An impartial jusdge/panel is needed to decide if there is any truth to their case.

It won't be hard as I doubt things will change in the next 20 years.

A 3,900 baht fee would certainly put people off. Since Thailand is a country that currently goes for quantity of quality, the costs would far outweight the benefits. If they truly did change the type of tourist that they were aiming for, it would change the face of many tourist destinations and have massive repercussions. I imagine those who would be hurt most are the 'Mum & Pop' establishments, from guesthouses, to tour organisers, restaurants, and bars. The truth is, currently Thailand needs these tourists, all of them.

Western countries on the other hand, don't need Thailand so much. While it may hurt a little, there wouldn't be protests in the street and road bloakades by angry tuktuk drivers.

FInnaly, I might add that many countries charge Thais a higher visa fee for a reason. There are a small but significant proportion of Thais who do things in their host countries which they are not meant. This spoils it for others, and costs a significant amount of resources to try and combat. Yes, I know there are plenty of foreigners in Thailand who do the same, but thats because in Thailand it is easy to do... and hey, the Thais themselves lead the way in doing it. It you could show me that perhaps the money collected from this tourist visa was going to be used to clean the scum from Thailand, perhaps I wouldn't mind paying it. As it stands, I know it will go into the back pocket of high ranking immigration officials further fueling the corruption problem, not combatting it.

How can anyone expect things to get better in Thailand when people like this run the country.

I like Kasikorn and SCB.

I should add that SCB also has a very good smart phone app. It's fast and has a clean English interface.