Suffinator

Ah yes there's nothing easier than conning a greedy moron.

Ah the so-call 'Untouchables' ... yes Prayut and his crew are such a wonderful bunch.

And why is this 'news'? Only the seriously stupid fell for this.

There must be a lot of seriously stupid people then.

Oh yes!

Well I've said it before ... You'd have to be a complete and utter moron to buy property in Thailand. Who in their right mind would think about handing over 51% of their assets to what is little more than a nation of thieves?

It's a shame the UK, US and EU countries don't apply the same rules to Thais but of course we understand the importance of foreign investment and we also know that they can't dig it up and take it with them.

The other issue has for many years been pricing; in most cases the property market especially in areas such as Phuket, are so over the top it beggars belief anyone would think they are buying a home / villa or apartment of good investment value.

I honestly cannot understand how anyone could be stupid enough to buy property in Thailand ... there again the Nigerian 419 Scam continues to catch the very stupid and greedy and I can only conclude that the expats who brought property in Thailand fall into both categories.

Ambassador Pisan Manawapat presented his credentials to the U.S. president Friday along with a letter. Obama replied personally, stating that the United States and Thailand have shared a long friendship and have cooperated on many issues, including countering wildlife and illegal narcotics trafficking, assisting displaced persons and refugees, helping to find cures for deadly diseases, protecting the environment and fighting international crime.

You've got to love Obama; that's one sick and twisted moron who could find his own butt hole if his life depended on it.

The letter also stated that the U.S. will continue working with Thailand’s regional institutions to help stimulate economic growth and trade. Some of Thailand’s biggest investors are American companies, and the United States is its third largest trading partner.

And there you have it, the US and its corporations will do business with anyone, including totalitarian dictators, providing there's a profit it in. And people wonder why humanity is seriously f*** up.

It's an attempt to clean up the beaches. Shame that they don't practice what they preach and remove all the sewer pipes that all the restaurants, hotels and bars are connected to in order to get rid of their waste.

The whole fiasco is a farce. I used to watch tourists splashing around oblivious to the fact they were swimming in human waste.

Friend of mine emailed me to say that there is an acute shortage of tourists this year (apart from the Chinese) and it's going to get worse. Personally I'm amazed why anyone visits Thailand at all.

Most of what is flushed gets piped straight out. Basically tourists are swimming in crap.

Before I finally got out of hell I hadn't used the beaches in over 7 years - I just didn't appreciate the idea of paddling in an open sewer. Are the Thais ashamed? Of course not, they don't care providing the dumb tourists keep on bringing in the money.

Young, stupid and delusional. These are perfect candidates for being turned into extremists. The UK gov should revoke their citizenship and leave them to get on with it.

in other words, "we dont care that we have committed any crimes we want to be let off so we can cause even more problems". Why are they talking to criminals about what they can do, these people broke the law and deserve jail time, they should have no say in any sort of pardons, once again we see them trying to take the easy way out, what a sham, doesnt matter which side they are on, they all need to serve their sentences and not get out early.

You're missing the fact that one criminal element is talking to another. The current gov has no legitimacy under international law; no junta does, so basically a criminal entity is discussing reconciliation with other criminals in order to find a way to expunge their criminal activities.

It's a farce but what do you expect?

At one point Thailand had it all but their own greed and stupidity put paid to that.

It is possible to revive the European market but that would require a complete change in Thai attitudes (basically do away with Thainess). On top of that it will also require hard work and a firm resolve.

Considering the factors of Thainess, hard work and a firm resolve I suspend the European market will stay well away from Thailand.

Prayut said pollsters had the right to collect political opinions, but not if they aimed to oust his administration or the National Council for Peace and Order.

Yes we wouldn't want a coup would we.

Ethics? This will conflict with Thainess and therefore ethics will never play a part in politics. I wonder if Prayut considers the act of treason ethical?

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has stressed transparency in the administration of the public sector, which would lead to reform in Thailand and the development of sustainable democracy.

Well maybe he could start with himself ... time to stand up and admit that he committed the act of treason for his part in the coup.

You can't have transparency in a country where a few want all the power and all the money. Greed and corruption can only be tackled when those in power, who are the worst offenders, are brought to justice and ultimately serving long jail sentences.

Words General are hollow without the substance of ACTION.

A positive move and a good idea. All they need now is a decent uniform so they don't look like thugs but rather professional police officers and some training on speaking English.

The UK doesn't even have one

The Queen Elizabeth II is due to be launched soon I believe; and it's slated as being one of the largest in the world.

http://www.queenelizabethcruises.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/CVF-queen-elizabeth-class-aircraft-carrier.jpg

With many westerners having abandoned Thailand as a tourist destination, mainly due to the scams, over-pricing and increasing violence, this is all you have left. Ultimately Thais are only interested in quantity as they think the masses will spend money. This is not the case as most of them on are a packaged deal and spend very little.

I'm afraid, despite the glaring truth, the Thais will never learn and will just march on in madness regardless.

Would be nice to give expats and husbands the same rights what their counterparts receive in Europe...

It would be nice; in fact allowing such would put an end to Thailand breaking the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights to which it is a signatory.

It is illegal to deny any person their right to family life and yet the Thai gov will happily deport any foreigner who fails to meet its criteria. It is fair to say that all Western nations have their own criteria but this is to ensure that its welfare system isn't abused. Thailand doesn't provide such so there is no real excuse for it to insist a foreigner should be able to show over 4 times the national average monthly wage - even that is clear discrimination that the UN turns a blind eye to.

The solution ... either foreigners started leaving by the thousands or they all get together and petition the UN for change.

Don stressed the government's stance on combating human trafficking through law enforcement and fighting corruption. He said it was the government's top priority to tackle the issue, pointing out that an increased number of corrupt officials had been punished for their role in trafficking.

Yeah, either transferred to a different province or moved to inactive posts with a slap on the wrist.

The solution:

1. Strip them of ALL their assets

2. Minimum jail sentence 25 years

If they have half a brain this situation should worry them. If the EU starts to apply sanctions, especially to areas such as the fishing industry, then their GDP will plummet.

What a load of <deleted> ... seriously just when you think they couldn't be any more stupid they come out with this. Merit Making ... ask the monk who just fleeced his own temple out of 700m and then pull your head out your ass and get a life.

The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment were tasked to work out ways to implant such values in the younger generation

Would that involve the 'Attitude Adjustment Program'? For a population that considers Thailand to be the greatest nation on earth I've never understood why they would treat it like a garbage dump. You would see adults and kids outside a 7/11 on a daily basis all throwing their garbage on the floor whilst a bin not two feet away sits empty.

If I was the Gen I wouldn't bang on too much about the garbage disposal in Phuket; the incinerators was, when I left, in serious need of replacement as it couldn't cope and the cost was a perceived 1 billion (that's around 300m for the unit and 700m to line the pockets of the greedy and corrupt).

For the amount of rain Thailand gets water shouldn't be a problem. Make every home have guttering that feeds into an underground tank. You can also filter the water so that it becomes potable ... it's not rocket science.

On trade competition, Gen Prayut said the country needs to become more competitive faster in every area, from product development to trade and exports to innovation.

Yes Prayut is spot on with his assumption. Unfortunately he and the others in control support protectionism and nationalism which doesn't allow for competition and without that you can't learn how to be competitive. Thinking that anything you produce is just top notch because a Thai made it doesn't make it so.

Reconciliation without principles would bring problems with the law

Again absolutely correct. So when is Prayut going to hand himself in to the authorities so he can be tried for the criminal offense of treason?

Certainly makes some good points in his latest weekly address but alas there's no substance to anything he says. It's crystal clear they know what the problems are but they simply do not have either the intellectual capacity or will to actually implement change. Still no doubt his latest speech will result in a ton of 'Feasibility Studies' that influential friends of friends of family members will be able to produce for a few million a pop.

Seriously if I was a Thai I'd denied it and sue anyone who said otherwise.