vitalia

The Tourism and Sports Ministry is seeking Bt1.6 billion to stimulate tourism in both domestic and international markets, with plans for joint promotional packages in cooperation with foreign airlines and travel agencies.

The spawn of Banharn is clever in seeking 1.6 billion at this time. Like a good little politician, I am sure he will profit from the situation and ensure that the money goes to the right hands/pockets.

What a joke !

I have a hard time seeing the yellows being able to pose any kind of threat to the Reds, it seems the Reds would have them way outnumbered and it wouldn't even be remotely close.

Don't forget...Yellow = Military

It is true that we don't know who shot those grenades yet... and we may never know for sure. However, the only ones who will benefit from escalating violence are the Reds themselves. Furthermore, the grenade attacks that started during the Yellow protests and have continued to the present have always targeted people or institutions that are seen as being hostile to the Reds. While a 'false flag operation' is always possible, this would be an unusually prolonged one!

I do hope that the army does not respond rashly to this provocation. A harsh response is exactly what the more extreme Reds want. Also, it would be a huge PR boost for the Reds if the Red Guards arrested the extremists who did this and turned them over to the police.

1. How does the media know for certain that the explosions were caused by M-79 grenades? After all, they exploded and no trace remains except perhaps for fragments. The M-79 fires different types of ordinance including explosive, anti-personnel, smoke, buckshot, and illumination rounds (Source: Wikipedia). Which type was shot?

2. If they were M-79’s, then as weapons of war (fired from a launcher) they would be almost exclusively used by the military and therefore must have originated from that source. As far as I know, M-79 grenades are not available for sale in Central Department stores nor can they be imported legally by the general public. Of course, those high up in the Reds could probably obtain these weapons of the "back of a truck" but I would be surprised if they were easy to obtain.

3. Therefore, if they were M-79 grenades then the likelihood is that they were fired by military units who were in the area.

4. Given that the Reds were facing armed military and police, it is unlikely (and stupid) that they would provoke an attack. I have heard reports that some Reds had guns but I know that ALL Police had guns and probably the Military were armed accordingly with high powered assault rifles.

I hope we do not have any more incidents tonight and I offer condolences to the family of the person that was killed in the incident. I fear that this is just the beginning.

QUOTE (needforspeed @ 2010-04-01 10:15:56)

20 B on alcohol drinks sold to foreigners,

Its a shame and very sad people who making this rules i feel realy sorry for them, what is there next step.

White people banned on the streets between 19.00 and 07.00

Crazy

Followed by a move of all non-asian foreigners to detention centers and labour camps. The middle finger has definitely been raised high in the air and I, for one, no longer recommend Thailand as a place to do business or visit in Asia. The last person out, please turn off the lights. Or dont. Who cares.

Police and soldiers man a security cordon outside the Supreme Court opposite Sanam Luang on February 23, 2010. Security around teh court has been tightened ahead of the verdict on the Thaksin Shinawatra assets seizure case on February 26. (Photo by Apichart Jinakul)

All tourists that stay in the Kao San Rd area are near the hot zone. Another possible hot zone is Victory Monument.

As long as you stay away from Government buildings in the area near the Palace and Sanam Luang, my guess is that you will be ok. The rest of this HUGE city is perfectly safe as always. I have been through 3-4 coups (lost count) already here. Have a cold one and relax.

If the BIB spent as much time catching criminals as they do devising plans to relieve foreigners of cash, there might be some hope for this country. As it is, this is just another plan for Pattaya BIB to extort money from Pattaya foreign residents.

Mai Pen Rai + Nuclear Power = YIKES!!!

I am a big fan of nuclear power. But in a country where the elevator in my building stops 2 inches higher than several of the floors, so they put little ramps there, I am not sure if Nuclear power is the best option. What about hydro-electric? God knows Thailand has enough rivers, it is clean safe, and alot easier to maintain.

Agree. Nuclear is certainly cleaner (in terms of air pollution) and cheaper. Thailand cannot really take advantage of hydro electricity and even if they could, they probably could only manage very small output. Thermal energy was considered but it turned out that the thermal springs were not hot enough (so I am told). Solar, bio and wind are nice ideas but not practical for large scale power generation. I just hope they contract with a professional organization with lots of experience in nuclear energy. The Canadians have been trying for years to start something up here.

Should make a good photo when they are into construction. Imagine the dome of a nuclear power station surrounded by bamboo scaffolding!

Worse still, when the construction companies, in collusion with politicians, cut corners on the quality of concrete and amounts of re-bar etc. Unless this project is managed and run by expatriate project managers, we will end up with another Suvarnabhumi. All falling down. Sorry to sound cynical but I have been here way too long to have any faith in the transparency of mega projects.

So much for my plans to take over Cambodia *sigh*

Hmm...only back a few days and already he managed to pay someone off. The power of money. Methinks he will walk free soon.

Interrogate the tourists. All part of their holiday experience. Maybe someone will write a book about it.

I suspect that the authorities will look at a passport quite closely and if there are back to back tourist visa stamps for extended periods of time (i.e. over a year or more) that these will be rejected. A legitimate tourist need not fear interrogation, but your sarcasm is not lost on me.

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Guys - dont be too hard on Thailand.

Shutting the door after the horse has bolted? Ok, yep, sure. But to be honest, most of OUR western health and safety rules are in place under precisely those circumstances.

It unfortunately takes a terrible tragedy for people to learn from their mistakes, identify the problems and try to do something about it.

On the face of it, Thailand is doing something. Yeah, it may be too little too late, but at least it appears to be a step in the right direction.

Frankly, it's better then doing nothing isnt it?

Sorry to sound a bit cynical but after 20 years here, you get to see many of the same things over and over again.

Does anyone remember the Royal Jomtien Resort fire in 1997? Sure there were fire exits but...they were all locked.

How about the Kader Toy Factory fire in 1993? Same thing but this time, 188 workers killed due to exits being locked.

I could go on.

The fact is that the cost of upgrading or in most cases, completely rebuilding venues (adding fire exits) is simply too much for owners to bear. Perhaps new buildings will be required to have proper safety installed but I seriously doubt that established places will be upgraded. Futhermore, once the dust settles, I suspect all will go quiet again and the tragedy will be forgotten, much like the fires I mentioned above. I am also positive that the owners of Santika will not see one minute behind bars.

Safety is simply not a big concern in this country. However, money is.

T.I.T.

What is your problem here ? If you run a company here, you should not need to leave and renew your work permit & visa outside of Thailand. You can either do it at immigration in Bangkok or at the BOI one stop service centre.

I have been here for 11 years on a work permit & visa, running a company and at no point have I had to leave the country to renew my visa & work permit.

Of course, if you don't have a work permit & are working here illegally, then it would be an issue.

I have to agree. Multiple Visas are convenient for those that need to travel out of the country on business from time to time and help to avoid all the hassles of getting a single re-entry each time. Furthermore, as other posters have commented here, this "news" seems to be only relevant (if indeed it is confirmed as truth) to visa runners who go to Penang for that very purpose, hence skirting the laws of this country. I suspect that Thai Embassies in Singapore and other major cities have never heard of such news anyhow.

Another poster made comments about how much the Thai economy would be hurt by the loss of 51/49 foreign run small businesses with paid up cap at 2 million. I suspect that most of these companies are not really benefiting the Thai economy at all.

Perhaps they should consider the kinds of business being operated instead of the amount of capital involved? for example, businesses that bring in X number of tourists or X in foreign currency from exports (these are statements we make on our WP applications as well). In other words, prove your worth to the country. Prove WHY you need to have a multiple re-entry visa. Prove WHY you should be given a work permit and the right to stay here long term. Remember, you are a guest in this country.