Suffinator

He also demanded the EU to consider Thailand’s efforts in addressing the problem in a fair and transparent manner without prejudice and in line with the real situation in Thailand.

Demanded? Ummm, I suspect any demands will be ignored considering their history. The real situation in Thailand is it's problem of 'Thainess' and they are soon to learn that the west doesn't atone to their ideologies of mai pen rai on all critical issues such as human rights abuses, slavery, human trafficking and so forth.

Transparency is not possible in a country that corrupt to the core and where people are ruled under the threat of violence or imprisonment on the whim of the elite.

EU said on Tuesday that it denounced Thailand’s shortcomings in its fisheries monitoring, control and sanctioning systems and concluded that Thailand is not doing enough. To avoid the ban, Thailand must “implement a tailor-made action plan to drive illegal fishing out of its waters within the next six months, said EU.

That's a bit worrying ... The Thais are actually pretty adept at coming up with action plans; they have one for everything but unfortunately appear incapable of implementing said plans. What the EU needs to do is to insist on a plan that will be followed up with measurable achievements; anything less than this would be a farce.

The facts remain ... Thailand was issued T3 from the US and this is NOT the first time the EU has asked Thailand to take action. As usual the only thing the Thai gov can do is throw a fit and act like babies; yeah it's just not fair and I want my rattle back.

This attitude won't get them anywhere and if sanctions are imposed the billions lost will certainly be felt and to many this is the only way to force the Thai gov into any type of real action. Of course they could take the usual Thai stance in that they are the greatest nation on earth and don't need any type of foreign contact, business or otherwise. Alas for the educated they will know that in the real world most economies rely on exports and foreign investment in order to survive.

Death penalty. Another scumbag off the streets.

Thailand’s Transport Ministry may have to ground substandard airlines.

Just about says everything about Thai safety standards.

Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha announced that the grounding of substandard airlines may help the country’s standard airlines be approved by the International Civil Aviation Organization

Another moronic statement ... if airlines meet the ICAO requirements then those airlines being compliant wouldn't need help.

Prayut is doing everything in his power to ensure that the ICAO is confident in Thai airlines once again.

I wonder what this entails ... he's going to find out real quick that his 'power' means squat diddly with the ICAO.

The prime minister further elaborated on the concerns and doubts of the ICAO, stating that the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) is too small to handle the number of Thai airlines. While the number of airlines has increased, the number of people working for the DCA has not.

So he finally admits that the DCA is NOT up to the job of handling air safety due to inadequate and incompetent staff.

Prayut has ordered Gen Prajin to determine which airlines have not complied with current safety standards and to ground their flights as a result.

You mean he STILL doesn't know?

Add this debacle together the the EU planning on banning fishery products from Thailand and this country is heading for economic disaster. Can't blame this all on Prayut that's for sure but it just goes to show that Thainess doesn't achieve bugger all.

And in other news ... 99.99% of the people are now delighted with the Junta, most females have said they want to have Prayut's baby and that he should rule the country with impunity forever. Yes, just more BS from the gov.

It's about time but the EU is not overly effective at following through. Likely the Thais will cry foul and then be followed by a number of extensions.

Regardless of that thought this is well over due.

If all the recent threats by western nations were implemented then the only ones Thailand could turn to would be their new buddies in Moscow and Beijing.

From the original OP ... It was also revealed that the company behind the Hotel have up to 10 other projects in Pattaya which allegedly breach planning regulations and may be subject to similar demolition orders in the future.

So for a very long time they have been constructing illegal structures. Of course that wouldn't be possible if someone, somewhere, wasn't being handed nice big fat brown envelopes. I should imagine the owner is pissed but at the end of the day corruption and illegal activities will always come back and bite you where it hurts.

This only goes to show just how broken the entire system is.

does anyone really give a rats tit where they travel?

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has instructed different ministries to launch investigations into scandals involving their civil servants allegedly involved in corruption.

He should get them to write it on a toilet roll; there might just be enough room on a couple of packs.

Gen. Prayut said civil servants suspected of corruption would have to be suspended if the initial findings indicated their links to unscrupulous activities. Should further investigations confirm their wrongdoing, the officials involved will face criminal prosecution.

And when will Prayut submit his own financial records for public scrutiny?

Thailand's top cop says his task is to revive trust in a graft-tainted force, but observers believe his real brief is to be a hatchet man for a junta trying to tame the police -- and their patron, billionaire ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

I'll start believing in their efforts to eradicate corruption when all the top officials atone to complete transparency of their assets. This will then allow for the removal and imprisonment of all corrupt officials. Only issue here is could they find a big enough prison. At the current rate of corruption in Thailand you might as well just build a wall around the country and declare it a penal colony.

Until last May's coup, the stock of the police force had soared under successive elected Shinawatra governments, vexing an army whose primacy is normally assured by its massive budget, ties with the royalist establishment and penchant for seizing power when things are not going its way.

Which is just another form of corruption that attempts to balance out their unrelenting theft.

The bottom line will always be transparency but alas there are so many crooks in the pot those who would be ousted will likely just point their dirty fingers at their accusers. If Prayut is sincere about peace and harmony and the eradication of corruption then he needs to step up to the plate and open his wealth to public scrutiny ... oh and by the way I'm launching Piggy Airways next week with 1st Class tickets from Bangkok to London Heathrow for just US$10.00 and according to my calculations (which is solely based on TAT's model for delivering tourist numbers) I will make a profit of US$9.90 per person. I'm sure this would all sound more than reasonable to anyone.

I don't see why Tantai Wongsaeree would have a problem with any of this ... it's called Thainess.

“Secondly, the security systems at the airport should be more accessible. We are a tourist destination and we should be able to help people when and where they need it,” he said. Well yes but that doesn't equate with Thainess or the mai pen rai attitude.

According to the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA), a public organisation, Thais usually spend around seven hours a day online and most of that is spent on social media.

Let's be honest, they are either playing on their mobile phones, eating or sleeping ... no wonder this country is in the economic sh***er.

As for Thais reading the news I doubt that occurs very much; they are either talking nonsense on Facebook or playing games.

So effectively what happened was that those in positions of power were removed from one post and awarded another ... and they call this BS reform?

The education system needs a complete overhaul; that means sacking all the dead wood, hangers on, friends of friends in high places and starting fresh.

If it was me the first thing I do is bring in Finland and ask their advice for the Fins have one of the best education systems in the world.

Of course this would mean asking foreigners for help which ultimately wouldn't serve cronyism. Seriously this country doesn't have a hope hell of reforming anything.

Now waiting for the next propaganda declaring Thailand to be the HUB of Education. What a joke.

One big issues is that many hotels were unable to raise their rates during the high travel season because of global economic instability. Many in the tourism industry feel outside economic situations are to blame for the lack of tourists and revenue.

Really? So nothing to do with martial law, article 44, strength of the baht, murders on Koh Tao or all the other issues facing this county ... and if that wasn't bad enough the ICAO tells the world that Thailand continuously fails at meeting flight safety standards. But of course none of this is their fault it's the outside world who are to blame.

I'm actually amazed Thailand has any type of tourist industry at all and if they were ever to enforce the laws and eradicate prostitution then it's likely the numbers would plummet.

Despite these setbacks, the Tourism Council is still confident that the country will see 150 million visitors this year.

What? How many? Look I know the Tourism Council produces a fair amount of BS but 150 million visitors .... surely someone is either completely delusional or can't type.

Top Places to in Thailand to Retire in ...

Let me see, ummmm, for a start the Baht is way too strong and everything far too expensive so living on a pension is getting much harder.

As for other issues ... well there's the crime, corruption, scams and the fact that Thais generally don't like foreigners so it's not exactly a welcoming place to retire.

Top places to retire ... anywhere but Thailand. Take your pick.

However, he believes 3.5-per-cent growth in exports this year is possible even though the export sector has not seen much of a recovery because of the sluggish global economy.

Yeah let's not worry about what's happening around that world because they are not as special as Thailand and therefore Thailand's exports will grow.

In other news Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha said they caught a suspected cow thief carrying beans and the gov plan to plant them so as to have access to a golden goose that will boost the economy. That of course will be right after he announces his illustrious magical achievements over the last 6 months ... what these are of course is a state secret and likely to be misunderstood by anyone listening to them but that's ok because he knows that plenty of BS on a rose bed makes for beautiful flowers.

I remain perplexed as to why so many expats complain about the high baht. You could do what any other sane business savvy individual has done ... leave and find a place that offers better value for your money. What bitch about the price of bread in one store when a store not 2 minutes away is selling it for half price? Are you all totally stupid?

The Thai economy is going down the toilet fast, over-inflated currency with a dropping GDP. It's like going to the cinema and the place is burning down around you but you insist on staying so you can see the end of the movie.

And they say the Thais are dumb.

And the moral of the story is ... don't do any business in Thailand.

Deputy Prime Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan said today that security authorities now know who are behind the car bomb attack at Central Festival Samui shopping plaza.

But still security is only closing in on them ... no actual arrests.

<deleted> me.

There are two critical elements to unifying this country and it's people ... the eradication of corruption and the installation of measurable and effective education.

You need to find someone who isn't corrupt and can't be corrupted and remain complete unbiased to the political factions. Prayut could have been that man but he remains unwilling to lay bare how he managed to become a general and how he managed to accumulate vast wealth. What is lacking is true transparency and until you (the people) have it then distrust will fester and grow.

Once Thailand manages to find an honorable, decent and respectable human being they can't move on and as usual the education system will continue to fail the masses so that they remain ignorant and therefore cannot voice an educated opinion or see the real truth.

Geographically Thailand could truly be a great nation and prosper but sadly there are forces at work that are only interested in their own self-worth and how they can retain ultimate power that ultimately continues to enrich them.

Considering the issues with Thai airline safety, or rather the severe lack of it, I wouldn't have used the word BOOM in the article.

It's actually a pretty good idea. The age limit should be say 20 but what is really needed is professional lessons and then a proper test.

Another survey by the every popular propaganda gov.