Plus

I, for one, hardly ever go to BP webiste - all important stories get reposted here anyway.

Thaivisa is like RSS feed itself, expect instead of headlines you get to read WHOLE news articles.

In general I support that "Society for Online News Providers" - they should get their royalties for reposting their content, which is not free to produce.

That's what Bangkok Post should try to negotiate - share of the revenue for reading their articles on TV or anywhere else. But if they chose to forbid reposting and even quoting - it's their choice, I just hope they eventually realize that it's not the way to move forward. They might hurt themselves, but, on the other hand - no one here, on TV, would be happy if they go bust, or if the quality of their reporting deteriorates - that's not what we want to see in Thailand.

For now the ban is a ban. Hope they still allow links. That was not clear from George's announcement.

Are they ok with posting links to their articles?

It's not surprising that reds have regular meetings upcountry but it's not a sign of the progress either.

They can meet until cows come home but their agenda still makes no sense.

Scott, rather than taking a step back, why don't you take a step forward and explain to us what the reds really want, and why should we, and the rest of the Thailand, listen to them?

Unless they can present some compelling reasons to the mainstream society they will isolate themselves further and further like a classic cult movement. Hope it doesn't end in mass suicide for them.

On the other hand, if there's a coup against Democrats, no reds will drive their taxis in the tanks or hang themselves from lamp posts.

Well at least they aren't rallying over a "stupid" old temple and the chuck of dirt around it.

Maybe they should.

The temple issue is bigger than PAD and it should be resolved. Nation's Supalak who has been regularly writing about PAD stupidity over the temple for a year calls for dealing with Hun Sen, too.

And, of course, what better way to avoid questions about red agenda than deflecting the thread to another topic.

Way to go, Scott. Should I ask the mods to discourage off topic discussions?

First serous talk with Newin was by Suthep, not by the army. Don't forget that after the coup Newin was one of the very few people detained, and he was stripped naked and searched, they had no love for him then.

It's much more likely that the switch was orchestrated by Suthep, and the army saw the chance of outmaneuvering PPP politically and jumped on it.

Back in Thaksin's days Newin was given a free reign, now he is facing Abhisit resistance at every turn. Dems DO keep him in check.

After Thaksin tried the revolution the army probably doesn't care about his stolen billions, he's far more dangerous to the country than a thief, so Newin+Abhisit is clearly the lesser of all evils. It would be nice if everyone voted for Abhisit, but they don't, so, if people get the governments they deserve - Abhisit+Newin is just about it, or even better.

Also, don't overestimate army's ability to meddle in politics. Last year PPP just laughed in Anupong's face after the "TV coup". If generals want something, they should do it like all other politicians - by making deals, not by force. The only way the military can override Abhisit is if they cobble up some other alliance, but their options are limited it's either Dems or PPP, so they sit quiet - they played their hand already.

Isn't funny how no one comments on what they are protesting about but rather on their right to protest?

And it was the same with Sept 19 rally last month - everybody here and in the media talked about what didn't happen (violence), and no one remembers what they wanted to convey to the public.

Of course it's the same old same old - the stupid petition and return of 1997 constitution.

On the constitution issue - it's a total red mess. If they want the 97 chapter - why don't they talk to their MPs? They've got Jatuporn, their leader, as an prominent MP in the opposition camp.

What's Jatuporn's position here, btw? What does he want - six point amendments done in parliament without people participation, or is he backing the street movement for 97 version?

And in parliament - how those MPs can talk about amendments for reconciliation when the red shirts do not want them and campaign for the old version instead?

My questions are for pro-red posters here - can you explain what they want?

Yeah, over 220 hp taxes are a murder - Mazda Rx8 with 1.5l engine cost what - 4 mil?

I would not consider the Protons cheap. I test drove the Gen2 and it is the same class as a Honday City. The City costs 645,000 and the Gen2 630,000. On the resell value in 3 years I am sure the Proton is losing out!

There's a smaller model than Gen2.

And there's also Nissan NV, or Wingroad - looks like a small pickup and costs less than Vios/City.

There's also Chevy Aveo.

There's no 220hp limit - it's just the next tax bracket.

To the OP - 40,000-45,000 and 47,000 are not that far apart. Try prices for RAV4, which is very similar to CRV.

It could be Avanza done right.

Or it could be a flop - too small for a family, and Jazz is already spacious and practical, so why bother?

Thaivisa has all the background you need, it was a long time ago, though.

Some of the proceeds were used for the sponsorship, I believe it was "one Tamboon one suicidal student" project where young children were torn from their families and send somewhere really cold like Russia where no one could speak either English or Thai. The program was largely successful, as about half of the convicts were released before their due time and I believe all of them would never ever think about going abroad or taking government money again.

Catch them while they're young, as they say.

It's not like Newin didn't have a say in Samak or Thaksin's governement.

In fact PPP downfall started with Newin pushing for Samak's second coming and not getting his way. That push was awful, but it was also a chance for Suthep to talk to Newin about alternatives.

The man with 32 MPs brought down mighty PPP. In political games he is not be underestimated, and he is not a Democrat creation. The friends of yours should actually thank the Democrats for reminding the public how creepy that character is, and for bringing all his shenanigans to the public spotlight - it's not like he just started misbehaving, the other guys simply covered for him.

But if it's an open season on Democrats, who can stop you? By all means, indulge yourself, and then elect someone like Thaksin or Chalerm for an alternative.

They were posting news as the court read the verdict, and perhaps at some point, when the court found the scheme illegal, it probably appeared that everyone would be found guilty and forced to compensate.

Compensate what?  I don't think any money was missing or unaccounted for, it was collected from the sales and spent on education.  The charge being it was done to make Thaksin popular, what Pol has never spent other peoples money doing that before?   

They started the program without a proper vote in the house and that was wrong, its not a corruption case its a procedure & rules case.  Most likely because some unelected monk or other person watching out for Thai culture could have vetoed it at some point and thats a pain in the .....  well thats a different issue.. at any rate.

If there was money taken illegally, there's always the case to compensate.

Compensate the state? The govt? The people? - hel_l if I know. I didn't write the headline.

They've changed it. My bad (theirs, really).

If you want to keep safe, use one of the Nigerian channels. Anti-corruption police is watching over everything related to Thaksin right now, so please keep it on the safe side, you don't want to feel sorry afterwards.

They were posting news as the court read the verdict, and perhaps at some point, when the court found the scheme illegal, it probably appeared that everyone would be found guilty and forced to compensate.

He doesn't stand for anything and he fills the cabinet with incompetents. But he only needs 30-50 locally elected MPs to get into the government and bargain for ministerial positions.

Bus leasing scheme was approved by NESDB, btw. The cost is justified, and they even gave several warnings that might see budget overrun.

For example "income disparity which is the source of the polarisation between the countryside and Bangkok". It's just an old tired leftist cliche that doesn't hold any water. There's no polarization between people, there's no polarization between countryside and Bangkok (at best a couple of countryside regions), and the source of that polarization is not income disparity.

What is the cause of the polarisation in your view then Plus?

There's no polarization. There aren't any signs of polarization. There are remnants of Thaksin fan club running around but no one knows what they want and no one cares, even the media.

When reds were at their peak the leftist ideologists saw the sign of a great revolution coming. They naively thought that reds were just a tip of the iceberg, that there was massive discontent brewing in the country, that red movement was growing beyond Thaksin.

Then there was Songkran that killed any public taste for revolutions, and then there was petition that killed any "beyond Thaksin" pretense, and poor lefitst were left peddling their ideological shares in a bankrupt company.

And once reds were placed in their niche of Thaksin groupies with potential for trouble, all that political divide, income disparity, bureaucratic polity and other assorted horseshit suddenly disappeared from public interest.

They are not real issues that bother people, they are subjects of leftist obsession and/or tools to rally Thaksin foot soldiers.

Fluorescent, energy saving bulbs are great, but I doubt the cost of replacement justifies the savings.

Based on energy savings alone it's worth it. Buy Philips or another solid brand of CFL and they last a long time.

thats what i thought with Phillips, they didnt last long either

My experience as well.

There are only two brands in most stores - Philips and Sylvania.

Hammered, constituencies might indeed go the way you describe, but in party list polls Democrats will clearly dominate, and so whatever non-Democrat govt the House manages to cobble up together will not enjoy a lot of support. Remember, Abhisit is the last chance to prove that "old" politics can still work. They'll be fastening their own demise if they shut him out. Don't forget that a quarter of the population supports new politics, even without any positive campaigns. This support would grow exponentially if we get Chalerm-Newin coalition instead of Abhisit.

There must be a show in December at Muang Tong Thani.

Visiting local dealers for every brand out there is a pain in the ass, but if you already know what you want, you can get the same promotions locally.

There's a tax on the kind of vehicle - SUV, sedan, or pickup truck, and then further taxes on engine displacement, with 2l and 2.4l being thresholds. CRV gets the worst tax hit here, and so cost more than Fortuner that is bigger in every aspect and carries half a ton more metal and plastic.

You see, in Thailand auto-market they tax the rich when they want to display their superiority. The more luxurious car you want, the heavier the tax. Want to drive a faster car - slap a million on top, want to show off some Euro brand, slap another million.

While this issue might unite a certain segment of the PAD and even bring in some new recruits it will also lose them support of other segments previously supportive.

It depends on how they behave in the future. I bet no one in Thailand thought "yeah yeah, he's right, we need to bend over and smile" when Hun Sen's speech was reported yesterday.

Even staunchly anti-PAD Supalak in the Nation wrote that Hun Sen cannot be ignored in his column today, and so did Nation's editorial.

This is the kind of sentiment PAD could capitalize on, just like they capitalized on broad anti-Thaksin sentiment.

Then, of course, PAD would be blame for doing everybody else's dirty jobs, like actually removing Thaksin from the system or putting Hun Sen in line.

Abhisit is and will continue to pay the price for his actions. Maybe his motivatuions were even good. It doesnt matter though as he will soon reach the poitn of being too discredited or weak to be a future PM. Thaksin remains too divisve to come back. That all does however, raise the question of who is future PM material? There arent many names springing instantly to mind. Maybe we continue with weak proxy PM for power brokers for some time yet. I also dont know who woudl want to take the poison chalice of Thai PM anymore you end up discredited, reviled, possibly jailed and possibly with attempts on your life.

Abhisit takes his job seriously and works for the people, selflessly. Surely he would piss off all kinds of vested interests and they might even push him back for a while, but you can't fool all the people all the time. There's absolutely no one even close to him if it comes to run off kind of elections. Parliamentary system is different, of course, but Democrats only rivals in the House are PTP, and they suck. I expect they'd be totally trashed in party list polls come the next election and would rely on weak coalition of Thailand thug gallery that will be praying for PAD to come and kick it out so they can blame it on someone else.

Ok, how about this - Thitinan's views are rather odd by Thai standards. Nobody seems to be in agreement with him, except old Giles and possibly Nation's Prawit. Out of all divergent opinions on Thai politics he sticks out like a sore thumb, and so whatever he says must be taken with a grain of salt.

And most of it IS nonsense.

For example "income disparity which is the source of the polarisation between the countryside and Bangkok". It's just an old tired leftist cliche that doesn't hold any water. There's no polarization between people, there's no polarization between countryside and Bangkok (at best a couple of countryside regions), and the source of that polarization is not income disparity. And nowhere else income disparity is more obvious than in Bangkok itself.

internationally respected analyst

He's the second only to probably Giles in getting quoted in foreign media, and when Giles got in the local news, most people went "Giles who?"

More of a testament to the poor international coverage of Thai politics than to Thitinan's credibility.