sonnyJ

"Uthai initially fled"

Cops here AND their bosses just have to be the worst liars... Amateurs.

What do you expect? What has changed here in mentality, lets say... ever?

Kinda same same like thaivisa.

To quote all 35 responses.

Yes, tourists on a holiday often don't know how to behave in this country.

The common locals fear the police more than any farang can imagine.

Usually we farangs get the good bit of their work. So not to realize the real dark side.

Sad sad sad.

Small mistake .. i voted AS corrupt, as any other, but afterthought , shouldv'e defenitely voted LESS corrupt , due to the major difference>> He HAD already made his fortune, as an etrepreneur by the time he was elected !> so as opposed to others, he didn't NeedeD to enrich himself from public funds, in the first place, hence leavin more fund available for his initiatives to help the poor , like 30 B medicare etc.. think & think again .. Defenitely Much Less Corrupt.. one of the reasons for the coup >> to rlease the honeypot to the generals

Way more corrupt than anything Thailand has known in the last 30 years at least, because he removed all the checks and balances in the system and established a parliamentry dictatorship under a very closely governed kleptocracy, where family and friends were the principle beneficiaries. He was a plonker really, as he could have remained the richest man in Thailand and the PM for a long time to come, but his absolute greed and cynicism with the people of Thailand, were his ultimate downfall. He used Thailand as his own personal little fiefdom, hiding behind a cloak of democracy, which in the end slipped leaving him bare and exposed. Ironically, exile has allowed him to pull up his Little Emperor's cloak once more and pull the wool over people's eyes once more. Buying Man City is one good example.

I disagree with asiaworld as well. I understand that pure numbers and statistics can show him more corrupt than ever before. I think every new one will be more corrupt than the ones before. It's so stuck in the way thinks work here and the change will be slow. Thaksin did manage more positive improvements as well, more than the ones before him who usually are just all about money.

add:

I think we can't separate politics from personal life when talking about ex-PM. How corrupt is your personal life? Do you steal from yourself frequently?

I'm not sure if I can answer the OP's question directly.

I do somehow can relate to many replies from female (farangs?) here. I'm sure the Thai females expect similar things from men. But. To get back to the Thai society. Just a few days ago I happened to witness a conversation between 4 females, including 3 Thais in their late 20's. I don't mean to insult anyone here, but will just tell it straight. The topic was why they all have farang boyfriends. They all agreed that it's rare to find a Thai man who will be able to accept that his wife is more successful than he is regarding the income and education. It would be very hard for him socially. So would be more likely to move on to find a younger gal. Maybe this is more of an issue in Thai/Chinese circles. Well I see and hope times are a-changing in Thailand as well. So to conclude, you still might have a chance..

OK, the English speaking world can't understand each other, just great , what will be next?

Last time I went to my SCB office to pay a bill and make a deposit they gave me a cool king calendar for the next year.

I'm sure it's easy for everyone to slip in to it but as soon as I found myself doing it I'll try to correct it immediately. I am not 1st language English speaker so I try to improve my English as much as possible. Speaking pidgin English to Thais does more bad for them than good on my opinion so I try to speak as normally as I am able, they might even learn something new. If they never learn new words how can they improve?

I have an american friend who is an engineer. Most of the time when he talks to his wife he uses the same language he would when at work. Most of the words go straight over her head. Rather than her saying she does not understand she just nods her head and acts as if she understood. You cannot learn new words if you fail to understand any of the sentence.

If there is no will to learn it's almost impossible. Ofcourse a complicated word you can guess is not probably understood needs an explanation. Learning a language is slow but not difficult process.

31. and 1. are official holidays.

I'm sure it's easy for everyone to slip in to it but as soon as I found myself doing it I'll try to correct it immediately. I am not 1st language English speaker so I try to improve my English as much as possible. Speaking pidgin English to Thais does more bad for them than good on my opinion so I try to speak as normally as I am able, they might even learn something new. If they never learn new words how can they improve?

At any rate, not only has Thailand done this for the USA.... but many other have.... if it is true that they did do this..

I think every country has something to fear from the terrorist who would rather blow-up innocent people than fight a soldier.

Rather than point the finger at Thailand (Or clasp your hands over your mouth and gasp), tell us that your country does not participate in Renditions and secret detention...

My country is usually solving other people's problems. GOOGLE ex-president Martti Ahtisaari for example.

6 British Military Policemen were killed in the village of Majr al-Kabir on the 24th June 2003.

Thanks for clearing that out.

They knew the risks involved and were paid for it monthly I presume.

Sorry for Bulmercke for destroying his great thread.

I just read it as let's talk about the truth topic.

Another anti-American thread. Tiresome. And always the same suspects spewing the same venom. Get a new act boys.

If I remember correctly in the last USA bashing related thread I defended USA from a completely stupid bashing attempt. Anyway maybe we should open a world section to discuss important things, that is our home right, the World?

Why not just open a "USA Sucks" section?

It would give the usual suspects a place to hang out. Kind of like the kids table at Thanksgiving.

I think The Situation of The World Out Side Or Thailand included, Maybe The rest of the world tomorrow, would be more catchy but what do I know.

Another anti-American thread. Tiresome. And always the same suspects spewing the same venom. Get a new act boys.

If I remember correctly in the last USA bashing related thread I defended USA from a completely stupid bashing attempt. Anyway maybe we should open a world section to discuss important things, that is our home right, the World?

I,m not taking any moral high ground at all.

I believe that if opposing enemies want to play dirty............make videos of beheadings.......then they get everything they deserve.

Chucking them out of a plane is too quick. IMHO

So we are back on the topic, videos. It's their culture what can I say, at least Talibans send them for the world to watch.

Let me see.

If a member of Al-Queda captures a foreigner, chances are pretty good he/she will lose their head. If we capture a member of Al-Queda ..............we interrogate them.

The difference is that People captured by al-qaeda you hear about on FOX or any other news are captured for ransome, th people captured by USA are captured for interrogation.

One thing you got right is that many off them are innocent.

Ransome? By Al-Queda?

Maybe by the criminal Shia gangs...............

Personally...........I think they should just chuck them out of the plane on the way over to Thailand.. .....preferably at 30,000 feet.

There are many Muslims in the world. It's easy to catch the wrong one. Even in Thailand, who would have thought..

As Bulmercke was saying USA is spreading it's tentacles as far as possible around the world, also to Thailand. I am very much against these kind of policies, god knows how long it has been on. We don't want to see a full out world war. Right? These are my opinions.

Unfortunatley a minority of americans give enough support to the neo cons for their ficticious war on terror - a prelude to the next world war. Fox news is a powerful weapon against feeble minds.

During the 70s and 80s in the Uk there was a war on terror. Just a few incidents eg: A hotel in Brighton was bombed, seriously injuring a senior cabinet minister, Norman Tebbits, wife. Queens horses were blown to bits. Major cities were bombed and bombed and bombed - but successive governments of the time didnt through away the constitution 'to protect us'

Unfortunatley america has become a soviet style police state and many americans cant see it!

It is more difficult and unpleasant for a foriegner to enter the USA than to enter the old eastern europe or todays Russia. But of course americans wouldnt know or even have the insight to aknowledge the fact. Most americans dont even hold a passport. Although thats not surprizing - i dont suppose they issued passports to the troops prior to entering iraq!

With all those insulting words... (I just looked at your post again... not so insulting... Just a strong opinion.. Sorry for claiming you to be insulting) I just stopped reading after the first line... But the facts are that the USA is at war and there is a war on Terror and other countries who may suffer from terrorist will give assistance in the shadow when they think there is something in it for them.

Besides Thailand, there are other countries that have done the same thing and they were never known to be friends to the USA....

So maybe one day Fox news and the Neo-Con's will control the world, but if I were you, I would invest in learning to speak Chinese.

Yes there was a War On Terror declared by USA and it's "allies". So how many wars was USA tied-up right now?

Let me see.

If a member of Al-Queda captures a foreigner, chances are pretty good he/she will lose their head. If we capture a member of Al-Queda ..............we interrogate them.

The difference is that People captured by al-qaeda you hear about on FOX or any other news are captured for ransome, th people captured by USA are captured for interrogation.

One thing you got right is that many off them are innocent.

EDIT:

I can speak some Chinese if it's important.

As Bulmercke was saying USA is spreading it's tentacles as far as possible around the world, also to Thailand. I am very much against these kind of policies, god knows how long it has been on. We don't want to see a full out world war. Right? These are my opinions.

I remember that just a while back, there was fear that the Taliban had a reach into the south of Thailand.... The USA also offered Thailand help but the official reply was "Thanks but no-thanks." No one knows what came from that.....

There was also some guys in Thailand selling nuclear material.... If I remember it right....

Also during that time many of us wondered if there would be war in Thailand.....

I can understand that Thailand would allow the USA question a terrorist on its land. Given that so many terrorist acts were going on at the time.

If you understand breech of the Geneva convention and the UN human rights, then. It's your business. I will not.

As Bulmercke was saying USA is spreading it's tentacles as far as possible around the world, also to Thailand. I am very much against these kind of policies, god knows how long it has been on. We don't want to see a full out world war. Right? These are my opinions.

I am American and don't have a problem with our government capturing enemies during war and interrogating them.

Sure we can put them in a posh prison, but our media would consider any prison in Asia as torture.

By the way, I love FOX news. It is a shame that so many get so upset because Fox does not follow the news-line as the New York Times puts out.

One thing I appreciate in Bangkok is that you can read many papers reporting the same story and each reporter writes the story from their own point of view. Here in the USA, all news agencies seem to be in lock step when reporting the news. Fox stands alone at times when it comes to reporting the news and has the high ratings to show for it.

What I would like to know is what is this war people are talking about? The war in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq, the war at the Gulf? Please explain.

If you want to know about the war than look it up on the net. But if you just want to have a message board argument than I am sure some will play with you.

Only trying to provoke you to think a little by using a counter argumentation. Sorry I guess this is close to the definition of trolling. War?

I am American and don't have a problem with our government capturing enemies during war and interrogating them.

Sure we can put them in a posh prison, but our media would consider any prison in Asia as torture.

By the way, I love FOX news. It is a shame that so many get so upset because Fox does not follow the news-line as the New York Times puts out.

One thing I appreciate in Bangkok is that you can read many papers reporting the same story and each reporter writes the story from their own point of view. Here in the USA, all news agencies seem to be in lock step when reporting the news. Fox stands alone at times when it comes to reporting the news and has the high ratings to show for it.

What I would like to know is what is this war people are talking about? The war in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq, the war at the Gulf? Please explain.

Forgot the "Israel" war.

The Democrat Party, which was the opposition group while Thaksin was in power, boycotted the event and held its own rally about 200 meters (feet) away.

Someone hasn't quite got the hang of metric/Imperial conversions.

200 metres = 656 ft 2 1/64 inches

200 feet = 60.960 metres

Or has Thailand switched to the water meter as a unit of measurement?

Maybe they were not sure how strong a tele-lens the Democrat's had on their camera to steal the show to their screen.

Anyway the Loy Krathong shows looked a lot better than this one.

Who knows, maybe all the parties tried to put their effort together and collect some money to give to orphans and other unlucky kids at Christmas..

And peace on earth..

Believe this "no booze days" requirement is going to be strictly enforced - and may well extend to private gatherings - so keep the party noise down for fear of a visit from the boys in brown

So extending to private parties/gatherings, maybe? I hope the nice government guys would tell us was it more than 2 or 3 people not allowed to gather...? This starts to sound good. Especially on pre-election days. Will they crack down on 5 person in bangkok sharing a studio?