Plus

On that day there were rumors here on TV that Abhisit's guard shot two attackers dead.

Sufficiency in this theory doesn't mean being self-sufficient at all. Sufficient here means "enough".

It's a theory based on a Buddhist premise that greed is bad and is the ultimate source of suffering, and that one should know when to say "that's enough", and gain wisdom and knowledge to know when it is actually "enough".

There's little surprise that it gets very negative reactions from some westerners who ridicule people's refusal to "keep up with the Joneses".

Suffuciency lelvel is a very personal thing, you have to learn to live at peace with yourself first. Opponents, on the other hand, always point to someone else - they have more than you, they don't follow it themselves, they want to keep you in slavery and so on. It's always about "them".

Sufficiency theory is first of all about "you", and when you are stong and confident in yourself, then you can look at "them" without envy that eats away your heart and fuels your greed.

Western economic model is built on "greed is good" principle, and Buddhists are not going to accept it, that's it.

It fits very nicely in UN sustainable development paradigm.

That's not too bad, overall.

Hopefully it will spark public debate on the role of elected politicians, legislative and executive branches, and the government.

So far politicians want to be in the government, any position, any ministry regardless of their qualifications and experience. Some even openly admit that they should be given these position as an in-job training.

I will not touch on the motives behind trying to be as close to managing budgets as possible, that's just too obvious, I hope people would realise that being a cousin of the top bloke in Yasothon doesn't make one expert in agricultural policies or healthcare management with billions of baht at your disposal. I hope people realise that there must be far stricter criteria for taking executive positions with enourmous responsibility.

The Information and Communications Ministry, undoubtly one of the most demanding in terms of professional knowledge, has been run by a spa operator, a guy who didn't know how to use Internet, and a nurse who is afraid to hold important meetings because than everybody would see that she's just dumb.

I hope the public debate expands further on quota system when filling Cabinet positions, too.

People get charged and convicted not for how much tax they paid, but by how much they didin't. Politicians are judged corrupt not by how much they "gave" to people but by how much they took for themselves.

Utlimately it always comes back to the questin of law - can some people be put above the law or not. Some argue that in a democratic society if one wins enough votes, the law cannot touch him. Others argue that no one must be above the law regardless of popularity.

Another question is - every politician is trying to evade the law, why single out Thaksin. The answer is that every other politicians hides from the law, recognising law's authority. Thaksin publicly put himself above the law, which is a far serious offence.

If you cared to read my post, last one on the previous page, you'd notice that these traits are not only not obvious, they are non-existent.

I referred to Wikipedia to show that it's not only me who thinks Democrats belong to social-democratic camp, but that point went pass your's and dbrenn's head three times already, I have lost hope.

Being Royalist in Thailand doesn't make it conservative, it's not Europe.

- Economic liberal policies

Such as what? No party in the world states that it's against economic developement. Which policies disqualify them from being social democrats? Which Democrat policies do not carry a burden of social responsibility with them?

- No pro-union policies

Actually it was the Democrats that introduced laws protecting workers after 1997 crisis. Minimum six month severance payments, for example

- No welfare state

Yeah, as if free water, electricity, transport, education and what not is not part of their platform.

- No taxes for the rich

Just last week Korn was talking about introducing unitilised land holding tax, admitting that inheritance tax would take longer to implement. They plan to start collecting land taxes them from next fiscal year.

That's the reality on the ground, not yours or gr8opinionated wishful thinking.

Do you seriously expect the police to catch all perpetrators of Songkran violence? All hijackers of several dozen buses? Interview all witnesses, collect forensic evidence and so on?

It's simly impossible.

Working link from global UN site:

Download

Or Thai news release from local UNDP

http://www.undp.or.th/newsandevents/2007/news_20070109.html

I would try to judge report on its merits rather than on anonimous Internet rants.

I guess you haven't tried to actually read it as all the links on that page appears to be broken....

Sure, it is not for everyone and there are lots of other ways to be entertained, but myself and the dozen people who have PM'd me all think that there is something kind of cool about being able to watch live American TV over here (including a lot of sports that you simply can't get on the Internet or on UBC).

The opportunity to watch American TV in Thailand will not kill UBC, and Thailand is ages away from working Internet television, and the rest of the world is not anywhere near yet, either.

As for the price - there's always a premium for special preferences. If you are willing to settle on popular shows and English football, then you can pay three times less. And you can have your shows and movies in glorious High Definition, too. But if you absolutely insist on clicking channels and watching live weather and celebrity reports from Alabama, you pay three times more.

If a goal is to find whether flash ads will be effective on Thaivisa or not - I'll block them anyway. In these past few days I got rid of that yellow "Breaking news" bar at the top on all my computers.

Most people have flash on, in my experience, this poll is not indicative as only geeks would vote here.

Around 35k, I guess.

Unless they use variable valve technology you can install a cheaper, basic system for half the price but there will be drop in power, no piggyback ECU, and you'll have to tune your LPG manually, as in "unscrew three quarters of a turn and listen for the engine noise".

Well, I am pretty sure that when my Toyota diesel got water in the tank it was that "transmission shape thingy" light that came up, and that the car lost power at high speed and it wasn't a bid deal as I called to a Toyota mechanic and drove to Nakhon Sawan and back before cleaning the tank.

The last gas station I before this problem used soon went out of business, it was a Shell franchise with all the reliability of a family quality control.

This UN Paper gives a pretty good picture.

Thailand Human Development Report 2007

I've checked that South African company a while ago. It costs significantly more than UBC, and it's illegal, of course, so you won't get any service, and your family won't get any Thai subtitles, and they have a lot less channels there.

It makes sense for bars because big sport tournaments here often come without English commentary and money isn't a problem.

Dems have been put in a social democrat camp on wikipedia, it's not just MY whim, though that might have been edited out, I don't keep up.

very good, Plus, just make things up as you go. That would be a rather large "edited out", from one political extreme to the other in one edit...

Quote from Wikipedia:

"The party upholds a centre-right, royalist, socially conservative, and economically liberal position."

Here's the link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democrat_Party_(Thailand)

Here what is said on December 31, 2007, before some "Patiwat" changed it:

The Democrat Party (Thai: พรรคประชาธิปัตย์ Phak Prachathipat) is Thailand's oldest existing political party and, prior to the 2006 Thailand coup, was the largest opposition party. It had a center-left and liberal ideology, although after leader Abhisit Vejjajiva became party leader, it copied many populist policies from the more popular Thai Rak Thai party.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=...oldid=180089121

Patiwat changed the last sentence to:

It had a royalist and conservative ideology, although after leader Abhisit Vejjajiva became party leader, it copied many populist policies from the more popular Thai Rak Thai party.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=...oldid=181121429

And then another guy, gr8opinionater changed it to:

The party upholds a centre-right royalist and socially conservative ideology.

On December 3, 2008.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=...oldid=255592698

This last one also added the irrelevant citation of Chang Noi's article, without even providing a link.

You can read up these "editors" personal pages there, too. They are as biased as they come, both would feel at home among Thaivisa red posters.

>>>>

And in a good tradtion of red posters, no one even attempts to explain how Democrat policies or Abhisit convictions make them center-right conservatives.

There's one bloke on Wiki who sheds the light, though:

"Their social politics are conservative, as they are against abortion and gay rights, while their economical politics are liberal, as they believe in low taxes and a small government."

Yeah, he nailed it. Abortion and gay rights as a litmus test for Thai political parties...

Every fake LV bag sold is NOT a lost sale for LV (which is too expensive). It is a lost sale for a small designer or artisan (quite likely a local, Thai one) that makes an original, legal product in the similar price range as the fake.

That's quite a stretch. Majority of fakes are actually original designs, they don't evern try to copy the real thing, like Nike t-shirts.

There's about a dozen of cases in courts pending Thaksin's return.

None of them was any kind of revelation - they all have been extensively covered in the media while he was still in power, but it took the coup to finally move them from newspages and into the courts.

For examlple everyone always knew that Thaksin was always in full control of Shin Corp, despite moving the company into his children's names.

Sometimes I really want to puke when I hear someone say "allegations" with a straight face.

Semantics again, my dear Plus . "He is about as typically conservative as you can possibly be, by upbringing, education and convictions, in a party that has been founded as a conservative royalist party" and "True Blue conservative" conveys exactly the same meaning: one who has a very conservative point of view.

What you said was "the manifesto of the Dems is true blue conservative". Abihisit's upbringing and education do not equal Democrat manifesto.

And what about Abhisit's convictions that makes him "true blue conservative"? His opposition to privatising public utilities? I think at one point he even wanted to nationalise PTT. Providing free water and electricity? That was Dem's idea adopted by Samak administration. His expanding free education? His plan to scrap charging 30 baht payments altogether?

And what is conservative about Democrat policies overall?

So far you only cite another poster's off hand remark.

And for your information, Wikipedia is an open forum, so everyone can edit it - not just "unknown hacks". In the absence of first hand experience of a topic, the important thing that you should bear in mind when using a tool like Wikipedia is where the information comes from, and what citations are used to support the information.

Their citation is Chang Noi's article from 2002, but the article itself has absolutely nothing to support Wikipedia assertion. Maybe that's why it is not linked from wiki.

Two years ago Democrats were described as social democrats. There has been hundreds of revisions since and it has been re-labeled as center-right, god knows why, but might have something to do with online red activism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democrat_Part...nd)#cite_note-0

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/read.php?newsid=66602

Uh just a guess......Thai reporters are under threat of 15 years prison for saying the wrong thing? No?

And so are foreign journalists staying here.

Besides, nothing of what Samuian posted there concerns LM.

Incidentally, Thaksin personally thrown two journstalists out of the country for saying "wrong" things about him when he was in charge.

All subsequent charges are allegations.

We are not in the courtroom now, no need to use lawyer speak and raise objections at every turn.

Not very long ago people like that argued on TV from the point of "Thaksin is innocent until found guilty". Now that he is convicted they say "this conviction means nothing and everything else is allegations".

With lawyers we know that their job is not to tell the truth but to defend their client. What about these TV members?

Don't tell me you read the local papers.

Local papers are privately owned and reflect opinions of their readers and advertisers, Thai print media is/was considered one of the freest in South East Asia.

Or do you mean we should read clueless ramblings of "international" reporters who can't order somtam if their lived dependent on it? What makes you think they know this country? What makes you trust their reports?

- Pheu Thai Party Party-list MP Sunai Julapongsathorn said some MPs had talked to Thaksin about who should be the new Party Leader.

- "Thaksin has made the decision and will not change his mind," Sunai said.

- Asked if Thaksin would have a say in the decision, Prompong [Pheu Thai Party Spokesman] said no. "The party leaders and party members in each region will be making the decision. Thaksin does not have the power to dictate the matter," he said.

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It's not even double speak!

"Ruam Jai Thai Chart Pattana Party MP Wirat Ratanaset proposed that opposing groups such as the Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship and the People's Alliance for Democracy or former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the oft-mentioned Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda, sit down and air their differences. However, Tuang said unsuccessful discussions could lead to more conflicts."

What are the chances of success then? What are the chances of more conflicts?

A real red:

1- does not cover face, except under Thaksin mask. Real red face is never red - reds know no shame

2- denies ever carrying knifes, swords (Samurai's swords?), ping pong bombs, golf sticks, condoms, krathom leaves, bottles of human sh_t or p__, nail fences, car tyres, molotov cocktails, slingshots, fire extinguishers, bent nails to damage tyres, guns, nice wooden sticks (not temporarily made wooden sticks like taking from a plant, he can admit carrying those).

3- looks charming and relax when being photographed

4- wears red and has red cloth reading "Miss Thaksin", "Love Thaksin", "Red all over the land", "Truth Today" etc. Real red will never wear unapproved garments.

That's about appearance. The actions are:

1- he does not kill people, yellows are not people. Period.

2- he does not cause havoc knowing he will go to jail, he cause havoc when he thinks he can get away with it

3- he does not cause problems to religions and regular people because he wants to be loved and understood, if he is not loved and understood, it's their problem and real red is always ready to correct it, by force if necessary

4- he listens to the red leaders and no one else, red mind must stay unpolluted

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Why does Koo refer to a real red as "he", btw? Is it some other feature of a real red?