Suffinator

Once again we witness how lazy and greedy they are. They would rather sit on their backsides and do as little as possible and just rip everyone off.

I've managed to persuade 38 people this year alone from visiting Thailand and I'm so glad I no longer live in the dump.

In order to tackle this issue would effectively require the sacking of all police officers and then replacing them. The government is complicit in protecting the police from prosecution; after all they are either transferred or moved to inactive posts.

The article by TIME will quickly be forgotten and the tourists will once again be targeted. It's unlikely anything will really change because you are looking at a government that is inept and complicit.

I wonder if there's a defence for 'Ignorance' in Thai law ... it certainly doesn't exist in the west but if it existed in Thailand it's something she could use for I doubt very much if she actually knew of 50% of what was going on by her brother and his cronies.

So ... if found guilty she gets barred for 5 years from politics. Is that it? No imprisonment, no having to pay back the billions of baht, no risk of having her assets confiscated?

Is it just me or does anyone else wonder why Thailand is corrupt to the core?

Observers say the febrile politics of recent years, characterised by bouts of street protest and violence, is fired by the concerns of competing elites over the future of the kingdom once the king's reign ends.

And this is where we start getting to the truth that few if anyone will talk about. The cake has already been carved up and it's as sure as hell the poor won't get a taste. One of the underlying reasons education has be suppressed over the decades is due to the undeniable fact that it is almost impossible to control and educated nation.

Before I finally left Thailand I had a number of my Thai friends express their concerns for the future and they all feel that the military will tighten its grip in order to protect the elite and ultimately control the country.

Considering the events over the last few decades it is most unlikely that the Thai population will ever see the daylight of democracy. The country, since the military takeover, been subjected to on-going martial law, the removal of free speech, the conditioning of citizens through attitude adjustments and the propaganda of happiness in order to once again attempt to unite the people in defending the ruling elite.

I think those of us who are not Thai should count our blessings.

Yet again covering up the war crimes .... http://meebal.com/chilcot-inquiry-act-treason/

Are we missing lessons from the rice-pledging fiasco?

That's a stupid question and easily answered ... the lesson you are missing is the one where you refuse to prosecute and imprison those responsibly. Thainess appears to dictate that you can be as corrupt as you like for you will be effectively untouchable and you'll retire with millions in the bank.

Is there a word in Thai for 'deterrent'?

Chutima said once the ministry has the document from the NACC, action will be taken within 30 days. She said the maximum penalty for this could be dishonourable discharge.

And this is a clear indication as to why corruption is so widespread in Thailand ... nobody is ever punished because effectively they are all at it. With the amount of money that these people steal it's more than enough to set them and their families up for life ... who cares about losing their job when they have millions in the bank.

This is nothing short of yet another farce in the land of the shameless.

"The prime minister has ordered every public sector to urgently build confidence and fix every tourist problems quickly in order to rebuild confidence for tourists, including hygiene, safety and the transport system development," junta spokesman Yongyuth Mayalarp told reporters.

Carefully constructed sentence that omits the core issues, Scams, Rip-Offs and Violence. It is these issues that are keeping tourists away and as the news spreads continuously greater awareness of the true nature of Thainess is revealed.

Denial comes from the fact that they cannot and will not accept their Thainess is deeply flawed and until they can face these issues openly and honestly then they won't be able to take measures to stop them.

It doesn't take a lot of effort to see what people think of Thailand and those in power are fully aware but would rather stick their heads in the sand in the attempt to save face. Keep on denying and you'll keep on seeing the figures fall ... I wonder what BS they'll come out with if this years figures decline ... what blame it on the Ruble, blame it on all the foreigners for having no money; I guess they'll always find some direction to point the finger of blame but it'll never be their fault.

Thai labourers employed on Israeli farms suffer from low pay, dangerous working conditions and very long hours, Human Rights Watch said in a report published on Wednesday.

So being treated equally as they would in their own country and a damn sight better than Thais treat their migrant workers ... yes the shoe on the other foot is not nice.

It's doesn't matter where you go in the world racism exists ... such is generally caused by ignorance but in this case by those refusing to accept that anything is wrong and who continue to believe Thailand is the perfect country ... it's a bit rich considering most of them couldn't tell you where the US or the UK are on the world map and where few have ever ventured outside.

What they need to do is to learn to take criticism and do something constructive with it ... that is to learn by mistakes made and make the system better ... I'm guessing that is not within the remit of the Thainess campaign.

Prof Brian P Schmidt is beating a drum that might be loud and clear to most but those in power are all deaf.

It's plainly obvious that even basic education here is woefully neglected and as a society that is driven by social class it's not surprising ... you cannot control an educated population.

As long as the ruling elite remains the driving force of all political decisions then issues such as education and poverty will never be adequately address; instead you'll witness continued propaganda campaigns regarding Thainess and how happy the people are.

Educations is a puzzle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma as far as the mainstream population are concerned ... they simply do not understand it or the benefits it can bring; but that's the way those ruling like it.

and this is only the stuff that gets reported, only a fraction of these incidents hit the news

Maybe the security guard could have spent his time better by escorting the man to the ATM rather than whacking him over the head

That would have required a person with common sense and one devoid of Thainess.

The ministry has been trying to protect tourists from scam artists

Good luck with that. The above is not even the tip of the iceberg.

It is not even the tip...it is the tip of the tip of the iceberg.... I am in Thailand for about 5 years and many friends from europe came over here for holiday. Many came again and again and most of them startet to realise after the second or third time that many things are not as nice as it used to be if you are blinded by the beauty of this country as it was when you are a first timer.

Iv'e been her 15 years and never considered the country had any beauty ,apart from the ladies , however whenever you go to a new country, so different from your own, you sort of get swept along by the difference until after a while you realise its not some utopia and certain things get under your skin.Through the fog of memory I do know that many Thais have changed their ways over the years,There was always greed and corruption but now it seems to have escalated and throw in unprovoked violence to the point where many foreigners I meet and know are seriously thinking about moving on.

I left a number of months ago after finally not being to take any more Thainess. I have to be honest it's a breath of fresh air and the best thing I ever did ... the stress levels are now non-existent; no more annual visas and no more 90 day reporting for a start and it's SO much cheaper. Thailand has now procured a very undesirable reputation and it's not getting any better. If I had any advice for the expat it would be to get out while you can and finally acknowledge that life can be so much better

It's unlikely to ever stop until the tourist industry collapses ... only once the money dries up will any action be taken seriously and by then the image will be so bad that it's unlikely they'll be able to recover.

http://meebal.com/continuing-scams-trashes-image-thailands-tourist-industry/ Read this not 10 minutes ago and only goes to show that such is being picked up all over the internet.

Scam Thainess artists destroying image of Thai tourism

This is of their own making and the price will have to be paid sooner or later ... the price will ultimately bring about the end of tourism in Thailand.

The scams, or rather Thainess, could be addressed like all the other problems ... could be and would be are two different things and anyone who knows Thailand will accept that 'would be' is not an option.

The UK reported that a Muslim lawyer ranted on YouTube about it being the fault of westerners for the attack on Paris and that freedom of speech should be denied to stop the criticism of Islam ... yeah it appears fine in their minds to openly criticise us but not the other way round.

http://meebal.com/muslim-lawyer-blames-west-paris-attack/

I still have found memories of the day I finally left Thailand. It was a 35 minute wait at immigration. On approaching the counter the officers examined every page of my passport and then the conversation went as the following:

Imm Off - You no have re-entry permit.

Me - Yes I'm moving to another country but may visit from time to time for a holiday.

Imm Off - So Thailand not good enough for farang. Good see you go, hope not come back.

At the end of that comment he literally threw my passport at me and I had to pick it up off the floor.

Yes Thainess, such a warm and welcoming bunch and since leaving I haven't return and have no plans to do so because Thainess doesn't fit in with my moral beliefs of integrity, morals and common decency towards others regardless of where you come from.

Thailand certainly changed a lot in the near 20 years I was there and unfortunately none of it for the better.

I think the meaning of democracy is used so loosely everywhere that it has become a joke.

Democracy comes with responsibility for each individual involved to make a voice and take action for just. Democracy should be illegal when sense of democracy is introduced either without understanding of this responsibility, or, introducing fear by violence, or, can be bought.

So as Nongkhaikid said, the watchdog will never be independent in a corrupt society and will only be a puppet of people in power who are puppets of people with money.

Correct ...but making that observation correct does not provide a solution, so what should the Junta do? Walk away and let the country back on a path to self destruction and become a fugitive criminals dictatorial state as it was before Prayuth intervened. Or try and find the best solution for Thailand (remembering Thailand as you have indicated has a large population who do not understand democracy) in the interim with that interim being that period of time of whatever it is from when elections are held until Thai society or at least the voting majority have become sufficiently understanding of its democratic obligations, with that best interim solution being perhaps as is being proposed a watch dog group....which I agree with as the best of a mess as long as the watch dogs are giving teeth through likes of the NACC who have to be kept out of the reach of the biggest criminals being the past array of politicians...be that Thaksin's crims or the Democrats stooges. Simply stating democracy should be illegal until those values are present only leaves us with the status quo of a junta government which while it is better than a Thaksin dictatorial ship is still not acceptable long term.

The Junta should never have been involved. Yes the government was corrupt and self-serving but ultimately the were legitimately voted in... unfortunately by a largely uneducated populace.

This issue here is one of learning by mistakes or repeating them until you hit the precipice. Thai society is generally dogged by the lack of education which in turn is deliberately manufactured so that the ruling classes can convince them to vote in their favour ... the rice pledge was what go YS voted in and no Thai farmer could of ever comprehended the economic consequences due to the lack of basic education.

We've seen the merry-go-round of elected government then coup many times in the last few decades and this will unfortunately continue whilst the ruling classes hold such a grip and deny basic education that would allow the Thai electorate an informed choice. The real fear here is how this will transcend over the next decade ... will we see more of the same which will eventually destroy the country and its democracy that will ultimately lead to civil war ... we hope not but the writing is on the wall but in my view the elites will never give up the power they hold and once it does all go to the wall they'll be leaving in their private jets whilst Thais will be killing Thais on the street.

“The organization functions as a coordinator among the government, the parliament and the people. Thus, it must be independent from political influences and equipped with sufficient authority to investigate power abuse. The organization is considered a hope to help maintain a healthy democracy after the national reform. Moreover, a watch dog like the one on human rights should work in cooperation with the ombudsman like in several countries,” Wisanu said.

Actually a pretty good idea. The difficulty here is finding the right people; those who are not and cannot be corrupted and those who are not and cannot be intimidated. Ombudsman's in other countries are generally not subjected to brown envelopes and most do not fear of being assassinated if they don't play ball.

Thailand will first have to weed out corruption and dismantle elite rule before anything resembling a democracy can be achieved.

Yea just think of all the poor rice farmers that have facebook accounts

big mouth.jpg

Interesting choice of picture ... did you know that a group of baboons is referred to as a 'Parliament' ... so now we know who are running the country.

Oz has a law against offensive language, while a section of society deserving criticism is also VERY easily offended. Should we side with Charlie's right to free speech, or with those who's offence entitles them to commit murder?

BTW ridicule is such an effective offender of religions only because they are so ridiculous.

Just because you find something offensive doesn't give you the right to respond with violence. Intelligent people take offense and debate it in the hope of getting their views across. Have we not developed enough as a species to tackle such issues with cognitive thought and reasoning or do we really need laws to constrain us?

A proper explanation is needed for what constitutes 'hate speech', amid fear the law could be exploited politically.

One persons view of hate is another persons view of the truth ... this is a nefarious move to stifle free speech.

I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it., Voltaire

Interesting article today on how the British gov are looking to make the right to express your opinion a crime and being labelled a terrorist. - http://meebal.com/expressing-opinions-label-terrorist/

This goes to show you that the death of democracy is also being considered by politicians who laud democracy.