womble

Transport Minister: bomb plan in England will not cause a delay of opening of Suvarnbhumi Airport

Transport Minister Pongsak Raktapongpaisal (พงศักดิ์ รักตพงศ์ไพศาล) has affirmed that the plan to bomb aircrafts in England will not postpone the opening of Suvarnabhumi Airport, while urging airlines to be more cautious on matters with liquid materials.

Following the interception of the recent terrorism plot in England, Mr. Pongsak has assigned Airports of Thailand to cooperate with Thai Airways in intensifying the transport security measures. He refused to reveal the security plans, but admitted that passengers from Europe may face with some inconvenience during this period. In the meantime, he has requested passengers to arrive at the airport before their flight schedules as the airport has to check all flights before they will be allowed to take off.

He confirmed that this event will not impact on the opening of Suvarnabhumi Airport, which is set on September 28th, and the number of flights will not be lessened as well.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 11 August 2006

Usually when a government minister says something won't happen it happens, so can we conclude that the Government will use security problems as an excuse to delay the opening, i'd say almost certainly they will now use this to cover up the fact the airport isn't ready.

Watch this space................................

''I want to do it quickly, or we will lose the opportunity"

Yeah I think you highlighted exactly the area that sums it up.

Once again his own words betray him.

Although once again absolutley nothing will happen to him as no one here is held accountable for anything.

Even worse the opposition and those who disagree are useless at highlighting these issues and getting them across to the gullible masses.

Things won't change until those in positions of power are held accountable for their actions.

So the main thing on Thaksin's mind seems to be energy deals with Thailands neighbours. Does anyone actually know why? We all know that it's highly unlikley he would be doing this without gain for himself, so is he putting his $ into these ventures? More than likley he will use government funds to make things happen, and somehow award contracts etc to private companys so he can profit. Is there any proof he or nominees hold PTT shares?

Will new companys owned by influential people appear to win these contracts?

Thai leader visits Cambodia for cooperation on energy

BANGKOK, Aug 10 (TNA) - Thailand's caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Thursday led an official team to neighbouring Cambodia on a mission to resolve long-standing land and ocean boundary disputes which have hindered their joint cooperation to develop energy resources in the area.

Mr. Thaksin told reporters shortly before his trip that if the two nations overcame their differences, energy development in the Gulf of Thailand would be of great mutual benefit and help the whole region due to the price of oil having become more expensive.

The Thai leader said he wanted to rush to complete all the work that has been left undone, particularly the ongoing talks regarding demarcation of land and water boundaries.

''I hope this trip will at least bring us close to what we want if an agreement has not succeeded. It would be a good sign for our bilateral cooperation,'' he said.

Mr. Thaksin said there was a high expectation that a large gas field and some oil to be found under the sea where their territories is in question.

''I want to do it quickly, or we will lose the opportunity, since energy is more expensive. We have imported it and suffered greatly from a trade deficit," he said.

The Thai leader said he would propose a new plan on how the two nations could share benefits from the energy sources, if found, by basing it on location.

The closer the location to one country's side, the higher share it would get, he said.

''We will draw it up into three zones and we will share the benefit by half in the middle zone and less in other two zones, depending on the distance from each side,'' he said.

During their last talks, the two countries could not agree on the matter of benefits sharing as Thailand offered 90:10 per cent but Cambodia wanted 60:40 per cent.

Mr. Thaksin is also expected to touch on resolution of boundary demarcation along the Thai-Cambodian land border.

''We hold two different maps and that generates the dispute,'' he said. ''I think no one from either side should be allowed to go in and live in the land under dispute. We should wait until the problem is resolved,'' he said, referring to reports that some Cambodians have already lived in some troubled spots near Sa Kaeo, Surin, and Ubon Ratchathani provinces.

The Thai leader's visit also aimed at strengthening the two countries economic relations and helping the joint promotion of tourism development.

Cambodia was said to have asked for a soft loan from Thailand to develop roads and basic infrastructure on its side of the border to promote mutually beneficial tourism to Angkor Wat.

Mr. Thaksin said Thailand would jump at the opportunity to link roads in its northeastern region to tourism routes in Cambodia's Siemriep province, and that the Thai government would encourage hoteliers to invest on the Thai side as well. (TNA)-E110

I seem to remember the Free Trade Agreement with the US was one of the biggest pledges of the TRT in Feb 2005 General Election, along with the mega projects.

Mega Projects are for the most part on hold or scaled back.

Now the FTA is off and not only that but duty free with US may also be cut and tarriffs imposed which will leave Thailand in a worse position trade wise than before, complete opposite of what was promised during election speaches.

US reviews Thailand over duty-free benefits

The United States said Tuesday it was reviewing whether to renew duty-free benefits to Thailand whose economy has grown rapidly since the trade favor program was launched 30 years ago.

Thailand is among 13 countries facing the review of duty-free benefits known as the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), which is up for renewal ahead of its expiration in December 2006.

The 13 countries, which include India, Russia and South Africa, were under review as they were classified as "an upper-middle-income economy" by the World Bank in 2005.

"The US TR (Trade Representative) is looking to decide whether to limit or change or completely withdraw GSP privileges or do nothing at all," Peter Thorin, an economic officer at the US Embassy in Bangkok, told reporters.

The United States launched the program in 1976 to help developing economies by imposing no tariffs on their imports to the United States, the world's biggest economy.

The duty-free benefits cover some 18 per cent of Thailand's exports to the United States, which rose 10 per cent year-on-year to 17.1 billion dollars in 2005.

Thai export goods under the GSP program are mainly light products such as jewelry, wooden frames for paintings and bags for packing goods, the US embassy said.

If Thailand loses duty-free privileges, the United States can impose tariffs ranging from two to 14 per cent on these items, it said.

The United States ended the GSP benefits to Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan in 1989 and Malaysia in 1997.

Thailand and the United States were also pushing for a free trade agreement but talks have stalled due to the months-long political crisis here over the leadership of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The head of the US delegation for trade talks with Thailand, Barbara Weisel, warned in June that the lengthy political vacuum in the kingdom was jeopardising the free-trade negotiation process.

Agence France-Presse

Oh how things have changed, under the old election commission they could do as they please, but now they have to follow the rules.

It's such an obvious stunt, I feel sorry for those impressed by such puny handouts.

If all the money stolen through policy corruption was given instead of a few stupid handouts, then we might actually see something on a scale that actually has an impact on society as a whole, rather than a few lucky ones who live in areas that voted for tthe 'right' party.

I might be wrong but I thought most of the TRT's support came from poor, rural areas. If so, they could hardly be described as the lucky ones.

yeah but is there enough cows and land titles to go around?

Whilst from the outside it may look like giving people land title deeds is a good thing, but the first thing they'll do is use those titles to get loans. Those loans will go on stuff that is owned by those in power, basically once again making the poor poorer and the rich, richer.

yeah, I have also heard that there is no 80m rule.

There are however zones where building is now seriously restricted.

I have also heard that this will be enforced, and these rules are here to stay. No need for any new laws now as with these being enforced this will be enough to save samui. What a shame the idiots that are in charge didn't come up with the laws before the land was sold.

For those who paid a high price for land that cannot now be built on due to new laws thats seriously bad luck. This shows that no investment in Thailand is safe as laws can be made up and changed whenever it suits those in positions of power.

Oh how things have changed, under the old election commission they could do as they please, but now they have to follow the rules.

It's such an obvious stunt, I feel sorry for those impressed by such puny handouts.

If all the money stolen through policy corruption was given instead of a few stupid handouts, then we might actually see something on a scale that actually has an impact on society as a whole, rather than a few lucky ones who live in areas that voted for tthe 'right' party.

This has now been published in the royal gazette, the zoning proposal is now law.

record sound with a mobile phone, I doubt they would even mind.

Really though honestly, if you have nothing to hide, why should getting the visa be a problem?

One of the things that amazes me the most is just how long this nonsense is allowed to continue with absolutley no end in sight. One of the biggest problems has to be that most Thai people, except those in the deep south seem in the most part not too bothered by the daily killings. It's only when it's a monk or kids or similar that it seems to grab their attention.

As with so many problems in this country, half of it boils down to the electorate not holding their leaders accountable. They do not ask enough questions, and do not demand results.

And what the hel_l is Thamarrak even doing still in government, he should have been booted out long ago for paying small parties.

This place is a complete joke, when will anyone be accountable for anything???

They want to take all your money, but they don't want to give you anything in return.

Take, Take, Take............

Kill the golden goose......

Yeah some 'Hi So' girls have tats (not the protective ones), but i'm sure you'll find they are very discreet tattoos, not like the big ones we were talking about, anyway, even if it was a small one, I doubt most of them would let their family see it, particulary the older generation, infact they would probobally try to hide it. These girls know that by getting tattoos they are rebelling.

Tattoos are definatley not regarded highly by mainstream Thais, they are pretty conservative, and those with tattoos are seen as rebels.

Womble,

Why would it be strange for Thai women to have such tattoos? I know a few ladies who have 'protective' and 'good health' tattoos and nobody seems to take offense of them or think those ladies are weird.

Yeah I have seen girls with them too, but they've always been bar girls or girls from the same level of society.

I don't think you'll find many middle class girls in Bangkok or the provincial towns with them.

So I guess it depends on what socio-economic group you choose to hang with. I think you'll find that if you hang around with the average fairly conservative thai's who work middle of the road office jobs they will not approve.

I may be wrong but to me it looks like the monk is touching her. We all know in Thailand many rules are broken or shall we say, bent. I'm sure the touching rule could be overcome if there are others around to be witnesses that the touching is purely for the sake of the tatoo. More than likely it's the 'donation' to the temple and others helping that allows the rules to be bent.

By the way, I don't have tatoo's and wouldn't get one, but I do quite like the look of a decent tatoo, I just wouldn't get one because like all things different styles go out of fasion, and then your stuck looking like an idiot with a faded green tatoo. Look at all those people that got anchors or love hate, and spiders webs, don't they look right fools now.

Anyway I think you should think long and hard about this tatoo especially if you plan to live inThailandn you will not be respected, they will think you very strange indeed. In Thai society women should certainly not have tatoos. For a women to have this type of tatoo in Thailand would be weird People may be too polite to say to your face, or even may seem like they are impressed but I assure you they will be just trying to save face for you, so if you do get it, don't go showing it off............

The best prison book of ALL time is Papillion by Henri Charriere.

It's not about Thailand, but there are lots of simularities to local prison books and it's too good to ignore here!

Absolutley, there's no other prison book that even comes close, it's a truly epic tale. Anyone read his second book. Banco?

I havn't been able to get hold of it yet, but i've heard it's extremely good. About his life in South America as a free man after his Prison ordeals.

That's tough talking, the strongest yet.

I'd love to see Thaksin relieved of his plundered wealth and booted out of the country.

Try the KFC

Are you that racist, insensitive, stupid, or a good mix of all 3?

I might be insensitive and a little racist (who isnt)! Lighten up dude! I dont think anyone is going to loose any sleep over it.

You are funny.

No one would "loose" sleep if you were killed tomorrow (forgive the bad example) or kicked in the groin because Tan's fingers are crooked, but that doesn't make it right, does it?

"Lighten up! Let's all be insensitive and a little racist, because who isn't!".

This is about black women, not black hearts.

You might want to ease up on the M150's. And check your blood pressure

I assure you there are lots of people out there who arn't 'a little racist',

<deleted>!

I wonder what the fall out would actually be if they did not get ICAO certification.

I should imagine many airlines would refuse to use the airport until such problems were rectified. If it's viewed as unsafe then I should also imagine that insurance of the aircrafts and passengers could also come into question.

Quite clearly the airlines simply won't allow their planes to use the airport if they don't think it's safe. If it's only Thai airways using the airport on 28 september then we'll know there's a problem.

I wouldn't put it past the Government to pay off some of the smaller airlines with financial difficulties to fly on the opening day and the days after to create an image of the 'safe, newly opened airport'.

The bangkok airways flight between samui and Bangkok is much more expensive than other internal flights in Thailand of similar distance.

that info is available for everyone to see whith a simple who is search, nothing wrong with putting it here.

The children would have to be very visible and on high traffic locations to be able to make enough money to be interesting for the exploiters.

Take away the children and do that not only one time but every time and the message will be clear.

Make sure the children are taken care of. I think that is the highest priority and the most effective on the short term.

Meanwhile taking care it will not happen again of course by tracking them down. Making the border more secure is not really possible i think. The hundreds of kilometers of border can be easily crossed illegaly.

Totally agree, round up the kids everyday, they have to be visable to make money, so it's easy to spot. If you keep taking them away they are not earning money so transporting them and paying parents for them becomes a waste of money. The kids can be put in care and the parents punished, I don't care how poor you are, those that exploit kids should be punished severely, the kids themselves will be much better in care than on street corners selling flowers.

And if people wanna know where the money should come from to care for the kids, how about cancelling the elite card scheme and surrakiarts ridiculous campaign for UN secretary general. The money wasted there could have been used on something useful such as this.

"Your last comment is exactly what I was thinking about in my original post when I wrote "If it cost ten-bob to join, I doubt there'd be a snide comment on these forums." Your argument isn't really centred around the programme itself, you just think it's worth $1,000 and I think it's worth $25,000. We obviously value different things differently (and long may that last - it's what makes the world go round).

As far as the government contacts go though (and your insult aside), as I stated, they are "potentially" very useful. Not something I'm counting on, but I spend most of my time in HK (and the bulk of the rest of my time flitting around AsPac) and introductions help enormously; introductions I'd be unlikely to win so effortlessly."

So what do you do in the other 192 countries where you can't pay $25,000 to meet "potentially" useful contacts that your not really counting on anyway.

You'd be better off spending that money on the horses, the pay off from a win could "potentially" be very useful aswell, especially if you go for an outsider or a long shot if you like say 100 nah 200/1....

I know where the smart money is going and it ain't on that card mate.

OK first things first - I'm not entirely sure about the complete accuracy of the article. The original price was 1m for people living abroad and 2m for people living here, but it was changed a long way back to 1m across the board. Indeed the annual fee that was introduced (last year I think?) has also been cancelled (although there are additional fees now for such extras as boat-mooring). So the part about "more than doubling the cost" doesn't make sense (even if they have reintroduced the 2m for de-facto residents).

Anyway, I joined last month and so far couldn't be happier.

The problem with this board as far as TE is concerned is that everybody grumbles because it doesn't suit them. You only have to look at the response to the stillborn TV Visa card to see that. Everybody wanted "this"discount or "that" discount - ie they wanted something for nothing - to make money on the card. TE simply isn't designed to be that. It's a package of services that you buy; the discounts are by-and-large meaningless to those in a position to buy the card. The benefits only fit a tiny proportion of visitors here, but fit them they do. If it cost ten-bob to join, I doubt there'd be a snide comment on these forums.

What makes it worthwhile for me are:

The visa (less opportunity cost than locking up 3m in the bank here, and when I want to stay in LoS for a longer period, my visa-runs every 90 days will be...er...30km to the nearest immigration office).

The breeze that is now going through formalities at the airport. 30 mins lounge-to-lounge last time - for someone that abhors queueing that's worth a bundle on its own.

Efficient transportation is good but not a deal-clincher. Heck, I suppose I could even justify the cost based solely on limos, especially when Suvarnabhumi opens. If I had been looking for a discount card that is. Which I wasn't.

Contacts within the government. Potentially very useful seeing as I'm thinking of investing a stack of dough out here (no, I'm not a wide-boy property shark...sorry...developer).

Concierges who are not only eager to help, but seem to be in a position to do so too (unlike most of these credit-card type "concierges").

Bonus points for the golf membership, the club in the city and other bits and bobs.

Now I'm not naive enough to think that it might not all come crashing down in the future, although I don't now think (as I did - indeed the reason for not joining earlier) that it will be cancelled by an opposition government if they come into power this year. But it might, and I'm sure there'll be many a poster on TV to revel in the news - I'm sorry if I read it wrong, but as I see it, it'll smack of schadenfreude. Anyway, that 1m baht risk is just another cost to evaluate.

The biggest problem was Taksin's hubris over the whole issue. Yes, the original prediction of a million (or 100k) members does seem to have been daft. I'll tell you what though. If they do limit it to 7,000 members, those of us in now have a potentially scarce resource that could appreciate. Do I reckon it will be limited if they get near that new target? Nah, of course not, it's just another promotional tool!

so you got nothing worthwhile other than a few contacts in government which you could have made for free if you mixed in the right circles, which if you are involved in business that needs those contacts you should already have avenues to go down to meet those contacts.

I'm sorry but it's not worth 1m baht to check in quickly, get a bit of transport, play some golf for free and easy concierge.

You've mentioned nothing worthwhile other than the contacts which probobally think your a bit of a joke for being so stupid as to waste your money on this card.

sorry I don't mean to be rude, but I really could not see before your post what use this card was to any paying customer. Now after reading your list of benefits i'm convinced it's a total scam.

If the card was $1000 that would represent good value with the free golf and limo, easy visa stamp etc, but 1m baht no way.

For those dissolutioned by investment and living in Thailand check out the incentives offered by this country for expats. It's long, but you'll be blown away by what they're offering.

Here's a few of the main ones:

No Taxes on Real estate for 20 years

No income tax for 10 years on tourist related business

Construction and importation of items for use on tourist business tax and import tax free.

every two years a new car can be imported ) 0% import tax

They will give residency and after 5 years your own passport

100% ownership of land and business and equal rights as foriegners in courts of law

http://www.fenixpanama.com/panama-tourism-incentive-law.html

For those fed up with being treated as second class citizens maybe there are other places where our investment is wanted and we are treated accordingly for our involvement.

I love Thailand, but when a country can offer incentives it makes you think that maybe just maybe there are places other than Thailand.

I can only see things getting worse for foriegners here, maybe we should take our cash where it's wanted.

Oh and I forgot to mention it's an offshore tax haven.