Katipo

They should have kept quiet and asked the bus company to advertise that a lost bag had turned up - please call this number.

Just because they left a bad full of weapons on a bus doesn't mean they would be stupid enough to fall for tha.... oh, wait, never mind

I think the writer tried to under play where they were coming from when he mentioned the South.

Lets face it they were coming in from northeast Thailand. Not the south. Two different kinds of lunatics. And as we all know northeast Thailand is not exactly a hot bed of high intelligence.

Your use of the term, "intelligence", in this context speaks volumes about your knowledge of the Northeast and it's people as well as your own ...

If by 'lacking high intelligence' one meant the individuals being referred to had received a failed education from a corrupt education that meant they remained at the bottom of a cultural class system that perpetuates inequality at all levels of society I think he is right.

They should have kept quiet and asked the bus company to advertise that a lost bag had turned up - please call this number.

Just because they left a bad full of weapons on a bus doesn't mean they would be stupid enough to fall for tha.... oh, wait, never mind

Bleh, suspended sentences... i will cheer the day these crooks start serving actual time!

Agreed. Once again we have a misleading headline

I work in Ayudhya, and I have to say while some of the temples are lovely, there just isn't the infrastructure. All but no public transport suitable for such an event, small congested rounds in and around the city, not one world class hotel (although the Kantary is nice), no shopping to speak of, few restaurants that are of the standard necessary, and so on and so forth.

Bangkok, Chiang Mai..... and I hate to say it Phuket, would be far better suited.

Can't blame an airline for recognizing that it cannot afford new equipment. It seems to me that the previous CEO was intent on the equipment purchase that would taken on so much debt that the airline would have collapsed, Can there be any doubt now that the airline did the right thing in sacking him?

While I see your point, one of Thai's biggest problems is it's aging fleet. Competing airlines offer customers offer newer more modern planes. We have a Catch 22 situation here.

Increase flights between 02:00 & 05:00? I am sure the neighbours will be delighted.

Can we in turn write a letter to Starbucks asking them to stop serving overpriced garbage?

Where do you drink coffee or do you prefer to make it at home. Starbucks is on the high side but they don't serve "garbage."

The 84 likes on my OP say otherwise

Good on Myanmar for sticking up for herself. Although you can be sure there will be plenty of back room diplomacy taking place now. So perhaps Myanmar is just posturing to gain some advantage.

Deep down inside however, I would love to think that Myanmar has seen all the mistakes Thailand has made and is making an effort to learn from them. There are already signs of a developing sense of environmental awareness there for example.

Sad they let this go on...The whole of Sukhumvit, Soi 3 and now even soi 4 has many of Eastern European prostitutes. It has grown massively since all the Arabs moved into Soi 4 hotels etc. As most cater for them. If you walk from Asoke to Soi 3 at around midnight to 2 am the streets have many Africans and Eastern European girls. The whole demograhics of this area has changed. It now has an edge at night, feels slightly unsafe and some very questionable people. African pimps, young Eaastern European men who runs girl. One buidling my friend lives in in soi 4, Omni Tower seems to caters for groups of Eastern European prostitutes. The big fat lady pimps and young guys who run the girls sit outside openly and are always there when I meet my buddy. It is so obvious you would have to be an idiot not to realise what is going on. So why they are not arrested I do not know. Sad to see it happening as it just ruins the area, the crime goes up, and socially it looks horrible. I feel sorry for anyone who lives around there.

Totally agree. I live in Soi 11 and the Middle Eastern population has increased dramatically one condo at a time. Only a year ago there were very few, now they make up over 50% I would say.

There are some families and people here for work etc, but judging by the number loitering around the streets most are not.

One has to keep in mind that the Middle Eastern scum in the area are just replacing the Western scum, I guess we just notice them more because they look different to us.

Give him a kilo of H, a locked room and a needle and let him get on with it! People like this do not deserve to be in the public eye, nor have any fame or attention dished out on them. He was/is a crap singer who came to fame because he dated a beautiful model, it is this fact and his notoriety and bad behaviour that led to him being able to charge high fees for his attendance at events, in no way should an oxygen thief like this be able to afford a 12K a month rehab clinic. There are better people living on the streets of London this very day that deserve a fraction of the opportunities this clown has been given.

Agreed, also all alcoholics should be tied up and have booze poured down their throat until dead.

I hope you are being sarcastic !

If not, then get a life. Next thing you will be suggesting all smokers are made to chain-smoke until they get cancer or all homesexuals to stop using condoms until they catch AIDS. Maybe all wan#ers should be made to masturbate until they explode.

The smokers idea isn't bad at all, well done! A drug addict, is a drug addict.

Don't bring homosexuality into it though... apples and oranges.

If we killed all the wanke_rs, the human population expire in 100 years, max!

You would think that they could have gone out and got a more recent photo rather than one that's been on file for a couple of years.

And an elephant in the street--illegal ???? good promotion for tourist-exploitation of animals for personal gain. Pleeeaaase if yo are in a position to promote you do not put elephants on the street-likewise you do not show photo's of some canals, or jet ski-or friendly police ! you show Tiffany's-hill tribes-unspoilt islands(if there are any left), floating markets, Thai traditional dancing-muay Thai, But you must also show Pattaya-Nana-pat pong- and the bars-boy/girl, YES these are the attractions. Not forgetting traditional Thai massage.

What isn't exploitation in Thailand? Girls in bars because it's the easiest/only way for them to support their families, under-paid "insert service industry" job staff working 12 hour days so their greedy bosses can live a life we only dream of, mafias of tuk-tuk, taxi, jet-skit etc etc the list goes on. The truth is, it would be very very hard to have a holiday in Thailand without directly or indirectly exploiting someone.

During the redshirt siege of Bangkok the soldiers I saw live or on TV were restrained, and even polite. They had the respect and admiration of the local populace. The same can't be said for the police, but that's another matter.

The army have their flaws, but anyone who witnessed the events in Bangkok with their own eyes knows exactly where the trouble came from.

You must have been very scared in the live fire zone.

Did you see only army?

Were the demonstrators not polite?

I lived at Ding Dang, and no the protestors were not polite... especially when I tried to take a photo of them waving sticks and acting all important.

One time I was riding alone Thanon Si Ayudhya towards Rachaprop on my motorbike. The traffic was backed up for about 1km with only the bikes making progress. Up ahead I heard a volley of 3 shots. The bikes all started to slow down. Then another 3 shots, and we all did U turns and started to ride against the jammed traffic. People in taxis got out and started running. Those in cars were stuck.

In my rear vision mirror I saw a dwarf running towards me. A second later he vaulted on to the back of my bike. <deleted> little man! He furiously started tapping me on my shoulder and telling me in Thai to ‘go go’. “No shit little man, what do you think I am doing!?!” We dart through the U-turn area and speed back towards Din Daeng. Little Man starts shouting directions. He ain’t going where I am going, but I figure I must get some massive karma for helping this guy out. Obviously he is terrified and just wants to get home. Obviously I was freaking wrong.

Next thing I know I am back at Thanon Sri Ayudhya under the expressway amongst a group of Red Shirts who have spilled out of the neighbouring slum. Little Man bounces off the back of my bike, picks up a 4 by 2 and goes screaming up the road. Shit! I’m an accessory to a militant dwarf! Still, I figure since I am here I might as well stop and take some photos.

There are about 15-20 Red Shirts 20 metres up the road; behind them a much larger group of onlookers. The Red Shirts have rocks, bottle rockets, Molotov cocktails, and are setting tires alight and rolling them down the road and round the corner. Around that corner is an army van and a small number of soldiers.

After a few minutes of watching and taking photos of the red shirts hurling their arsenal accompanied by taunts and laughter, the army respond with rubber bullets, 3 of them. Next thing I know the red shirts are all running towards me frantically, and crowd starts to disperse, some of them crying. Being somewhat scared and not entirely stupid, I was still wearing my motorbike helmet and pollution filter mask, so I didn’t feel the effects of the gas. I joined the crowds in pulling back about 20 metres, only to watch everyone take their original positions again a few minutes later. This same process of increasingly confident red shirts hurling home-made projectiles only to flee when the arm fired a couple of shots repeated itself another 2 or 3 times. As far as I could see, no one was hit by either rubber bullets or anything that the Red Shirts were firing.

Having a motorbike allowed unprecedented access to all sorts of areas during the occupation. The army I saw were always disciplined, although I don’t claim to have seen everything. The red shirts ranged from a menacing and truly dangerous mob, to mums and their kids camped out harmlessly under the BTS. Not far from the BTS near Chula, I saw many simply queued up to fill out a form, handing in their ID, and receive their payment from the organizers.

I don’t blame these mobs just because they are red shirts. If you get a group of lower socio-economic disenfranchised young men together, and give them a cause that gives their life some meaning, some importance, of course you are going to get trouble. As the same time, there is no good excuse for their behavior too.

As to who is ultimately to blame? Those with the money and the power on both sides, are so adept at telling lies that as, the real truth will likely never be known

Great story about the little man, haha. He's no doubt shared the story as well.

Do rubber bullets have a different sound when fired or were you close enough to see them loaded into the rifles? Do you think the crowd knew they were rubber bullets? Do you think they would be panicking to escape from non-lethal ammunition?

If you get a group of lower socio-economic disenfranchised young men together, and give them a cause that gives their life some meaning, some importance, of course you are going to get trouble.

Are you suggesting that it is okay for lower socio-economic young men to be relegated to a life with no meaning or importance?

No, and you are reaching if you try to draw that from my words. However this group of people are never going to attain equality as long as they are pawns in the games of the rich and powerful. 'Grass roots' movements don't bring down the elite, the middle-classes do. Only they have the means to bring real change to the country.

My only hope for Thailand is that the 'middle class', particularly the women, reach a tipping point where they no longer accept the <deleted> they are fed from a corrupt and broken system.

During the redshirt siege of Bangkok the soldiers I saw live or on TV were restrained, and even polite. They had the respect and admiration of the local populace. The same can't be said for the police, but that's another matter.

The army have their flaws, but anyone who witnessed the events in Bangkok with their own eyes knows exactly where the trouble came from.

You must have been very scared in the live fire zone.

Did you see only army?

Were the demonstrators not polite?

I lived at Ding Dang, and no the protestors were not polite... especially when I tried to take a photo of them waving sticks and acting all important.

One time I was riding alone Thanon Si Ayudhya towards Rachaprop on my motorbike. The traffic was backed up for about 1km with only the bikes making progress. Up ahead I heard a volley of 3 shots. The bikes all started to slow down. Then another 3 shots, and we all did U turns and started to ride against the jammed traffic. People in taxis got out and started running. Those in cars were stuck.

In my rear vision mirror I saw a dwarf running towards me. A second later he vaulted on to the back of my bike. <deleted> little man! He furiously started tapping me on my shoulder and telling me in Thai to ‘go go’. “No shit little man, what do you think I am doing!?!” We dart through the U-turn area and speed back towards Din Daeng. Little Man starts shouting directions. He ain’t going where I am going, but I figure I must get some massive karma for helping this guy out. Obviously he is terrified and just wants to get home. Obviously I was freaking wrong.

Next thing I know I am back at Thanon Sri Ayudhya under the expressway amongst a group of Red Shirts who have spilled out of the neighbouring slum. Little Man bounces off the back of my bike, picks up a 4 by 2 and goes screaming up the road. Shit! I’m an accessory to a militant dwarf! Still, I figure since I am here I might as well stop and take some photos.

There are about 15-20 Red Shirts 20 metres up the road; behind them a much larger group of onlookers. The Red Shirts have rocks, bottle rockets, Molotov cocktails, and are setting tires alight and rolling them down the road and round the corner. Around that corner is an army van and a small number of soldiers.

After a few minutes of watching and taking photos of the red shirts hurling their arsenal accompanied by taunts and laughter, the army respond with rubber bullets, 3 of them. Next thing I know the red shirts are all running towards me frantically, and crowd starts to disperse, some of them crying. Being somewhat scared and not entirely stupid, I was still wearing my motorbike helmet and pollution filter mask, so I didn’t feel the effects of the gas. I joined the crowds in pulling back about 20 metres, only to watch everyone take their original positions again a few minutes later. This same process of increasingly confident red shirts hurling home-made projectiles only to flee when the arm fired a couple of shots repeated itself another 2 or 3 times. As far as I could see, no one was hit by either rubber bullets or anything that the Red Shirts were firing.

Having a motorbike allowed unprecedented access to all sorts of areas during the occupation. The army I saw were always disciplined, although I don’t claim to have seen everything. The red shirts ranged from a menacing and truly dangerous mob, to mums and their kids camped out harmlessly under the BTS. Not far from the BTS near Chula, I saw many simply queued up to fill out a form, handing in their ID, and receive their payment from the organizers.

I don’t blame these mobs just because they are red shirts. If you get a group of lower socio-economic disenfranchised young men together, and give them a cause that gives their life some meaning, some importance, of course you are going to get trouble. As the same time, there is no good excuse for their behavior too.

As to who is ultimately to blame? Those with the money and the power on both sides, are so adept at telling lies that as, the real truth will likely never be known

During the redshirt siege of Bangkok the soldiers I saw live or on TV were restrained, and even polite. They had the respect and admiration of the local populace. The same can't be said for the police, but that's another matter.

The army have their flaws, but anyone who witnessed the events in Bangkok with their own eyes knows exactly where the trouble came from.

Battery life is nowhere as good on HTC one x as S3.

S3 overall software experience seems smoother also.

Disagree. I have a One X, and my friend at work the S3. We get very similar usage. He might get an extra hour, but nothing more.

I am an constant phone fondler... What's App, games in the toilet, music to and from work, browsing the market, and surfing the net, mail etc. I usually get 12-14 hours of use per day from my One X.

I had the Galaxy Note before, and much prefer the HTC interface too, although I always use a 3rd party launcher for extra customisation options. That's what's so great about Android, you can do what you want.

Perhaps if those whose job it is to uphold the law better respected it themselves.....

Yingluck says "Hurry up".... Thank the 'insert your deity here', all our problems are solved.

" The important thing is that our officers must not accept money [from tour operators for looking the other way]. This problem would end right away if the appropriate action were taken,” said the legal expert."

This would solve a lot of problems.

This would solve just about every problem

Quite simply, he 'forgot' to give his superiors their majority cut. This sentence is a reminder to others on the beat who may be entertaining such a foolish notion.

Dykes are 50cm higher than the flood waters of last year? That seems a little overly confident.

They have obviously never been to Terminal 21, the toilets there far outshine the boring semi-clean porcelain of Central World or any other public facility in Thailand. The Terminal 21 toilets are so fine, sometimes I will go there for the sole reason of relieving some after meal pressure.

This is good news, but it's kind of pathetic that it requires a government directive such as this.