womble

Personally I would be happier of money was spent instead of on a museam or the macarbe use it to bury power lines in scienic areas, employ a crew of beach cleaners (really how expensive would this be) to clear the rubbish on our beaches, improve waste management, create public transport solutions to  tuk tuks in tourist towns, etc etc etc.. ###### even sorting out that dog pound would be a worthwhile cause IMHO..

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Totally agree these should come first, but it's never gonna happen, if they want to attract 'The high end Tourists' in larger numbers, these are all things that need addressing first.

Worldwide so far this year there have been 10 other quakes equal or bigger in size to this one. It's not really worth reporting, and is damaging to Thailands economy to report this, it's a noteworthy earthquake, but not a newsworthy earthquake.

Why is Atlantic salmon imported through Tasmania???

That's a long way to go fishing from Tasmania.

It's not imported through Tasmania, it's imported from Tasmania. Just like chili was brought here from South america and farmed here, Salmon has been imported from Europe/Canada and is being farmed in Tasmania.

It's not as tasty as the scotch wild salmon tho!

This isn't something the Thai governement can brush under the carpet, people will not forget this one, I think they should spends big $ on making a world class museum that tourists can visit, this could also help educate the local population, and be a huge tourist attraction.

A lot of interest has been created in the phenomenom of Tsunami, they should use it to their advantage.

It was always going to take a while for things to start kicking in, but I think the western tourists will be back in the high season, as the article says tho Asians may not be so quick to return.

Why is the government persisting in nighttime entertainment area crackdowns in tourist areas??? You'd think they want all the tourists $ they can get at this stage, by entertainment I don't just mean go go's, but respectable bars too.

I heard one of the beer bar sois was raided by armed police the other night in Patong, although not exactly 100% respectable you have to wonder what the power that be are thinking when they order such things.

WHY ARE THEY TARGETING TOURISTS?

How can censorship be honest?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not sure about honest, but no swearing or nudity before 9pm etc is sensible censorship.

This all sounds very dodgy indeed tho, seems like another way of the government controlling the media

Just come back from Phuket, and there is definatley a huge inprovement since my last visit a few weeks back. Theree were people in the restaurants, and people in the bars, whilst not as busy as this time last year obviously, it is a marked improvement on last month.

There was a distinct lack of Asian tourists tho, most of the tourists seemed to be farang couples, at least most of those I saw in the restaurants in Patong were. I didn't walk up Bangla, but driving past the bottom along beach road at about 8pm I looked up the street, and it seemed like there was a fair few people walking up and down, unlike last month when hardly a soul could be seen all the way up.

This is great news for Phuket, and very encouraging, the lack of Asian tourists is a bit worrying, although totally expected due to their belief in ghosts etc. Phuket must start targeting the farangs, who are not put off by ghosts etc.

I didn't get a chance to see other areas, but Patong looked like a different town from my last visit. The depressing feeling I felt last time has changed into one of optimism.

The only downside is the building, and damage on the quieter areas of beach road, it seems only the area between Bangla and Mc donalds is being repaired properly.

If the Government had any sense they would realise that they should spend Govnernment $ on rebuilding, as a more attractive seafront will attract more tourists. It seems the TRT government have done F$%^ ALL to help the people of Phuket and Khao Lak.

Shame on you!!!

Remember when he promised to solve all BKK trafic problems in 6 months

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If you listed all the promises he had failed to fulfil, the length on the list would be truly mind boggling, it's true politicians regualary break promises, but in my whole life i've never witnessed so many broken as by Thaksin. Simple reason for this, most politicicans only promise thinghs they think they can achieve, they think before speaking, unfortunatley for them sometimes circumstances change which leads to unfulfiled promises.

Thaksins case is quite different, he makes outrageous promises that are impossible to keep. "Drug Free in 30 Days". Actually drungs is one area he has been quite successful in, steet prices have risen which shows this, but how many people had to die?

Also how foolish to think you can eradicate drugs when a country such as the US with huge resorces can't control the spread. Thailand has a porous border, and surounds manufacturing and cultivation countries. No country will ever be totally free of drugs.

This is a complete mess for the Government, as much as they try to downplay it, it's front page news everyday. I don't suppose mentioning legalising casino's had anything to do with trying to divert public attension away from the debate.

It didn't work anyway, and Thai Rak Thai is looking vulnerable, soon as the economy falters (which it already has started to) and Thaksinomics is proved to be a failure, we can wave good bye to the only PM to be re-elected. By Thai political standards he's well past his sell by date anyway, at least 2 years past!

See "The Australian"on 19th May......contracts have already been signed for casinos in Phuket and Khao Lak (obviously that was before 26/12) and yes, the winner is Shincorp.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Have you got a web reference link to this little beauty?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If it really has been awarded to Shin Corp, then it is a total outrage, if it is to be legalised, it should be state run and all profit should go directly into Government coffers, by that I mean so it can be used for the people's benefit, not the benfit of those who hold the power.

Do you have a link to Substantiate this?

Camilla as Queen That'll be funny!

Will is still young though, so after Charles then maybe, unless the lurid British tabloids pick up some dirt.

Prince William looks set to become a fine King in the future, he has so far kept his nose clean unlike brother Harry, and could be perfect for modernising the British Monarchy and gaining back it's respect amongst the British people which has dwindled in the past 15 years.

Although second in line, in ten years or so he could be a far better option than Charles, should Charles wish to hand the posotion down to his Son.

This government has a poor record with relations to outside countries and organisations. Remember "The UN is not my Father", not the best thing to say when one of your party members is in the running for the Secretary General job.

Also relations with Malaysia have worsened as the government has blamed KL partically for the violence in the south, the problems in the south have little to do with religion as in other problem areas of the muslim world, it has more to do with this governments policy's towards the treatment of Thai muslims, which is very poor, they are treated like second class citizens, much like ourselves.

Regional Autonomy is a possible avenue to explore, maybe a similar route as to which the UK took with Scotland. I'm not saying this is the answer, it may well not be, but it should at least be discussed. Anything that may stop this violence spiraling out of control has to be at least worthy of consideration.

I'm just remembering when Thaksin compared himself to Bush, looking at Bush's approaval ratings now, I wonder if thats something he would like to forget, his approaval rating could easily fall to that level very soon if he isn't careful.

As I said, I'm not sure the details of this EURO GPS/ press release deal and it's implications with Thai exports. Can you summarize it for me in blatent terms?

http://etna.mcot.net/query.php?nid=39742

This is taken from a TNA press release today refering to the shrimp quota impossed by the EU.

"Thailand had hoped that the EU would grant Thai shrimp exporters the GSP in July 2005 as part of its assistance to countries hit by the last December tsunami."

Now forgive me if i'm wrong, but didn't the PM bodly announce he didn't require any outside assistance. Suddenly now with the great need for increased exports due to the miss management of the economy and unexpected negative factors such as the rise in oil price, they're using the Tsunami as an excuse.

The public is not stupid, they just don't bother. TiT.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah thats true, most have given up on politics.

It won't be corruption that brings this govenrment down, it'll be the economy, the only time most Thai's really start acting is when they're pockets are being hit. The government can't control outside factors. They have no control over rising oil prices, had they been more careful macroeconomically they would have ensured a stable base for continued growth, not gone for maximum growth without strengthening the weak areas. This is why imports are becoming such a problem for Thailand.

The other thing they have no control over is official documents obtained from outside Thailand, such as some of the US and Singaporean documents shown in the censure debate. This proves the government investigation was completely flawed, obviously no proper investigation even took place.

If the thai people start to doubt the government, and more and more people start to turn against the government, I wonder will the media finally change their tune and start speaking out and reporting unbias articles.

Thai Rath took the middle ground, Matichon predictably went against TRT and backed the opposition, interestingly though many of the local papers apparently went against Surriya, there hasn't been negative reporting against TRT on this scale probobally during the entire time they have been in government.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=38117

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

"A recent government investigation into the case found no Thai government officials involved in any bribery."

Has anyone else noticed that every single press release from TNA on this scanner scandal ends in the same two lines. I have seen it used as the last sentance countless times in the last week or two.

The trouble with this sentance is that if the public believe him to be guilty, then the whole govenment looses it's credibility as they had already carried out an investigation, and the government investigations findings do not follow that of public opinion.

The public arn't stupid, they know how to smell a cover up, this makes the whole problem a lot bigger than just resting on Surriya's shoulders, it could have implications far higher up.

Questions are now being asked whether the money was used to fund the previous election campaign, afterall a very large sum of money has already been paid out, and no scanners had even been shipped.

Perhaps questions should be asked where exactly the money is now, this should be followed up and those that have it or were involved should be prosectued and be made to pay it back, it is afterall the people's money.

From a 493 votes cast, 367 votes were cast in favour of Surriya. We knew most of TRT would vote that way anyway as they had already been told to 'toe the party line'. There were a 119 no confidence votes and 7 undecied votes.

The interesting thing is TRT has 377 votes, providing all members were present. So unless 10 members were missing, some voted against or undecided for Surriya. I wonder who they were. The wang Nam Yen faction numbers about 30, so some of them obviously bottled it.

It's funny how by having such a large mandate, it can actually work against the government in the eyes of the public. More than 50% of the public surveyed didn't believe surriya, so now they all know that TRT members were told they had to vote for him regardless of the debate. This now brings the whole government under more scrutiny from the Public, as one of the major policys put forward was a purge on corruption. However in the eyes of the public, there was certainly some wrong doing, but the government is willing to do nothing about it.

This could have serious implications for credibility of this Government, is it possible that such a large mandate could be one of the factors that leads to TRT's downfall?

On monday Abhisit proved himself to be a capable leader, and his speaking in the house was very impressive, this was possibly the best PR the Demorcrats could have hoped for, suddenly Mr T's strangle hold on power is looking a little shaky to say the least.

Anyone following channel 11?

What I meant was I would advise friends on short holidays to visit other locations for the time being as they will have more fun there. For monger or regulars, Phuket is a good option at the moment, but for first timers I would recommend other locations for the time being, mostly because it's depressingly quiet. I just feel there's better places to have Sanook at the moment.

Anyone asking about next high season I would say go to Phuket, but until nov, I think tourists would be better off elsewhere, not because Phuket isn't ready for them, most of it is, but because sheer lack of numbers there makes it boring.

The businesses in Phuket need people, I know this, all of my posts have refered to what I believe most tourists would prefer at this time though, i'm looking at this from the buyers point of view.

All of those who loudly raised their objections earlier obviously have businesses in Phuket, which clouds their judgement.

I'm not trying to put people off, i'm stating the truth and you know it. Whilst trying to lure people back, it is not wise to misslead them.

I still stand by what I say, 90% is not back to normal.

My business takes me to many parts of Asia, i'm not a tourist, and I think the reaction by Baht and Sold was a bit over the top. I merely stated what I saw from my own eyes, not what I saw from TV.

I'll have to go back there again eigher this week or next week, and will have a more detailed look at things, and just how many of the businesses in Patong are actually open as 'normal' again. It's been about two weeks since I was last there, so if lots of new stuff has opened in the last two weeks, thats good news.

From my last vist I agree with what Lotnoikop says, around the Bangla area things have been mostly rebuilt, but the further you get away from that area, the worse things get. Also I noticed alot of the businesses on the smaller sois running off beach road were closed due to damage, and didn't it look like much buiding was going on.

I stand by what I said, when I was last there, certainly much less than 90% of businesses were operating as normal. I will be back soon, and will be ready to rivise that figure, but on my last visit around two weeks ago, it was definatley far lower.

I'm sorry, but there is no way 9/10 businesses are back up and running. I don't know the statistics, but it certainly isn't 90%. There's still lots of buildings that should be pulled down, plenty more that still need repairing, also there's many of the shops on the beach road havn't been repaired, the owners obviously were not insured.

Obviously the people of Phuket want people back, and they need people back, but I wouldn't advise any of my friends to go there right now, not if it's a holiday. Fine if you live here, but if you've only got two weeks Samui is a much better choise at the moment. For those that visit regulary i'm sure you wanna go to Phuket, but in my eyes for a first time visitor, at the moment Phuket is depressing to say the least, lets hope the high season brings in some tourists. From what i'm hearing from friends who have resorts in Phuket though the booking arn't coming in for next high season, and they should be coming in by now. Very worrying!

I have been to Phuket 4 times in the last 2 months on business, and anyone who says it's back to normal is deluded.

Patong seafront is a building site, half the shops are closed down, lots of the restaurants have closed along the seafront, and many of the beer bars in the smaller sois are closed.

I've been in both Samui and Pattaya in the last few weeks and both places are busy, and there's far more girls around in Samui than ever before, infact it's the busiest i've ever seen it this time of year.

Karon and Kata were even quieter, I have to say the whole Island felt rather depressing, i'm going back there next week, no doubt it'll be even quieter.

I love Phuket, but really cannot see anything for the tourist there at the moment. If your a whorist, you'll have much more fun in Pattaya.

If you like things a bit more upmarket Samui is the place. I'm convined this Tsunami is going to speed up developement on Samui very quickly. My last few trips to the Island I have been very impressed, some very nice new hotels and restaruants, and now a few bars that could rival those in Bangkok for style and music.

I think Phuket will take a few years to get over this, in the meantime my prediction is Samui will grow into Thailands most popular high end tourist destination.

70,000 villages to be drawn into anti-drugs network

The government hopes to create a network of 70,000 anti-drugs villages over the next four years to reinforce its existing narcotics suppression measures, the secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board revealed yesterday.

Speaking in anticipation of today’s UN International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Pol. Lt. Gen. Krissana Ponanant announced plans to expand the existing 10,000-strong village network by another 60,000 villages.

Under the plans, each village would have at least 10 residents acting as network representatives.

Pol. Lt. Gen. Krissana also announced plans to crack down on drug use and trafficking among tourists. (TNA)

It's the last paragraph that worries me

I agree that they have to fight against drugs, and tourists shouldn't use them eigher, but if they start piss testing and searching lots of innocent tourists in bars and clubs, then it's another nail in the coffin of the Tourist industry.

Right now they need tourist $ coming in, it's an export afterall. Asians are scared away and not coming back soon, families are sticking to the gulf coast and island resorts such as Koh Samui.

They need to attract as many tourists as possible, they should open up bars and clubs till 4am minimum, everywhere else in europe it's till 6am or later. Longer opening hours will attract more visitors for sure.

But what do they want to do, hassle innocent tourists who are out enjoying themselves.