historyprof

Makes no difference really, unless you are positioned in that you can just leave, then no matter what unfolds on the stage you will remain in the audience. You have no choice but roll with it, adjust, adapt and hopefully overcome whatever it may be.

10 years ago we did not have the doom and gloom posters because the pound and dollar were strong. Now they are not and we have a group of people trying to depress the baht. I have to admit 10 years ago I didn't post on TV. I read it but not as much and don't remember the terrible Thai gloom posters that we have now. Seems to me people were saying when the baht was at 40 to hang on and it would go to 60. But, like I said I didn't post and only read maybe once a week.

Worst smelling place I have ever lived was in Oregon, Tualatin on a hill overlooking a dog food canner. The donkeys cooking was enough to gag a maggot. I moved to a farm in Arkansas and had chicken houses on one side and a pig houses on the other. So I moved to Thailand and have had no problems here.

The only really negative economic information; bubbles and things like that are presented on Thai Visa by people who have most of their assets in currencies other than the Thai Baht.

I once had a session with this guy Nattawut, he could not speak or undertsand english properly and needed a translator plus I really think he lacks understanding any kind of business or strategic initiative. I really have doubts about his educational level and quality and how the hell is he holding this position.

Sounds about right, in a country where promotion is not based on skills, knowledge, or wisdom. Instead, promotions are based on a person's social standing and whether that person is able/willing to pay higher ups for promotions.

It's a similar reason why, top generals at Kru Sae and Tak Bai (during Thaksin's PM'ship) made bad decisions. And recently; the general who met with Thaksin, first denied he was there, and later claimed the tape was 'edited' said of himself; "I was suffering from a lot of stress, and had trouble thinking clearly."

Yup, that's the type of characters Thailand has at the helm. Is that the best there is?

How has the British Empire done since they abolished the purchasing of commissions in 1871 (Cardwell reforms).

I take it that now Thailand is a hub for fighter jets. but as a falang i will not be allowed to see them ,just like we cant go on their navy destroyers in Satahip ,

The public goes on the aircraft carrier in Sattahip. It's no wonder after reading this thread why they don't want Farangs on board.

I would be more concerned about the rankings here.

"Political and policy instability, excessive red tape, omnipresent corruption and clientelism, security concerns, low reliability and high uncertainty about property rights protection seriously undermine the quality of Thai public institutions (85th). Poor public health (74th) and education, two other critical building blocks of competitiveness, require urgent attention."

Of course the government is not interested in improving any of that. Just sweep it under the carpet.

The World Economic Forum who wrote the words that you are quoting is more concerned with the overall picture of Thailand which gives it a 37th in the world ranking.

You have your opinion but why should we put your opinion over the leaders of the top 1000 corporations in the world? Just asking because The Coca-Cola Company, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Dow and Dupont, Microsoft, Siemens, SK Group and Standard Chartered to list a few don't agree with you.

I like you have not a clue what you are talking about. All your big name companies and people said was Thailand had moved up from 38 on the list to 37. They did not say Thailand had become more competitive. the information you are running around waving proves that. But it does not prove Thailand has become more competitive. In fact it could have become less competitive.

As I said in my opinion backed up by the facts you not me have posted is they moved up a notch on the scale number wise. Statistics is a collage course and I never touched it but even I know that this ranking is meaningless except for bar talk where you may ascribe all kinds of dreams mixed in with facts to it.

I also stand by my opinion based on facts you have provided

"I would be more concerned about the rankings here.

"Political and policy instability, excessive red tape, omnipresent corruption and clientelism, security concerns, low reliability and high uncertainty about property rights protection seriously undermine the quality of Thai public institutions (85th). Poor public health (74th) and education, two other critical building blocks of competitiveness, require urgent attention."

Dolly you been conned.

The Nation hates to write any articles that are pro Thai when the current government is in office. Therefore they took the Global Competitiveness Survey and ran the results and then looked in the country profile until they found some negative information and put that with the main story.

You can confirm this by going to the World Economic Forum website. The information you are quoting was a small part of the total information that was used to come up with the Competitiveness Ranking of 37th out of 148 economies. You can confirm this with google. Google, "Political and policy instability, excessive red tape, omnipresent corruption......." You will find this only in the story from the Nation. The Nation also left out the positive things in the country report such as, "on a more positive note, Thailand ranks high on the macroeconomic environment pillar (31st, its best showing among the 12

pillars) owing to a very favorable fiscal situation, its high savings rate, an inflation rate under control at around 3 percent, and—in international comparison—a relatively good debt-to-GDP ratio of about 44 percent in 2012. In addition, the county continues to improve in the financial development (32nd) and the market efficiency pillars (34th), having progressed 17 and 10 places, respectively, in the past four years."

So to sum it up you are quoting a small part of a big report that was selectivly reported in the Nation to only list the negatives to counter the positive of Thailand's positive competive growth.

Thanks for your post. I would never have searched the World Economic Forum website unless you had made a point of the information. It is a great example of how the Nation slants news and we just eat it up not checking the source. Anyway you can check the website all of the informaiton is there.

http://www.weforum.org/

I have worked for logistic companies, of which there are thousands in Thailand, teaching employees the basics of business English. I can do in 90 days what the Thai education system failed to do in 12 years.

This is not an exaggeration.

Solid principles of pedagogy will always spectacularly trump the ineffective rote learning and the rigidly hierarchical non-interactive dynamics of the normal Thai government school classroom.

Kudos to the poster, and keep up the good work (for which he is certainly getting paid much better than the average farang in a Thai government school!)

I don't make too much. Not as much as a Pattaya BG per hour but close. My students also get paid. I hold thier timecards and sign them at the end of class.

Sorry to fail to add a joke, but I think these people really believe their shit. They really do believe they are the chosen few. Never mind that they are uneducated, can't speak English, don't have the rule of law, and as the old saying goes, "that's no way to run a railroad."

Not only won't they be the HUB of ASEAN, but I can't even see them fitting into it at all, or even allowing a reasonable attempt. TIT

If you were ever in Thailand you would know there are Kerry logistics trucks everywhere. I see at least 3 every day. Thailand is already a logistics hub.

Check out the meetings in Bangkok that are going on right now.

The 10th Thailand International Logistics Fair 2013

http://www.logisticsfair.com/seminars/

2013

1. Number of Exhibitors 150 companies/ 329 booths

2. Participation Countries Thailand, ASEAN, Korea, Japan, China and India

3. Exhibition Area 9,600 sq.m. 9,600 sq.m.

4. Number of Visitors 9,157 10,000

5. Major Visiting Countries ASEAN, China, Japan, U.S.A., E.U., Taiwan, India and etc. ASEAN, South Asia, China, Japan, Taiwan, Middle East, India, U.S.A, Australia, E.U. and etc.

Only 3 per day, how many Linfox trucks per day do you see, a dozen or more?

Anyway these are major international logistics and supply chain companies and probably have the monopoly in Thailand. Thailand can hardly take credit for the hard work these companies do and claim HUB status for itself.

Who cares? Thailand could farm out all the brothel management to Kings Cross brothel managers and they would still be Thai brothels. Aren't all the cops in Hong Kong British trained but they are still Chinese cops eh?

Reading writing and arithmetic. Teach them by rote or by mental telepathy. It makes very little difference. Teach those three things good and their employer will do the rest. Millions of Thai children do not know how read and write Thai. Forget about English. Let the employer handle that.

I have worked for logistic companies, of which there are thousands in Thailand, teaching employees the basics of business English. I can do in 90 days what the Thai education system failed to do in 12 years.

Industry has always been years ahead of education. It is easy for them to do and difficult for the Thai education system to do.

pseudoscience.

Balderdash, poppycock, flummery and malarkey to refer to the World Economic Forum Competitiveness report as pseudoscience.

I would be more concerned about the rankings here.

"Political and policy instability, excessive red tape, omnipresent corruption and clientelism, security concerns, low reliability and high uncertainty about property rights protection seriously undermine the quality of Thai public institutions (85th). Poor public health (74th) and education, two other critical building blocks of competitiveness, require urgent attention."

Of course the government is not interested in improving any of that. Just sweep it under the carpet.

The World Economic Forum who wrote the words that you are quoting is more concerned with the overall picture of Thailand which gives it a 37th in the world ranking.

You have your opinion but why should we put your opinion over the leaders of the top 1000 corporations in the world? Just asking because The Coca-Cola Company, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Dow and Dupont, Microsoft, Siemens, SK Group and Standard Chartered to list a few don't agree with you.

Great news. Regular sonic booms and the roar of low flying jets are just what the islands need, peace and tranquility was so 90's.

Little late to complain. Thailand has had jet fighters since 1956.

And crashed most of them. Is this latest bunch of big boys toys foolproof?

No you are wrong.

Thai Visa rule #15

Not to use ThaiVisa.com to post any material which is knowingly or can be reasonably construed as false, inaccurate.

The following is a list of fighter jets flown by the Thai Air Force. No they did not crash most of them.

B.Kh16 Republic F-84G Thunderjet US 1956-1963 31 first jet fighter

B.Kh17 North American F-86F/L Sabre US 1961-1972 74 First RTAF swept-wing fighter. Replaced by F-5

B.Kh18 Northrop F-5A/B/C US 1966-2008 25 First RTAF supersonic fighter. Its derivatives, F-5E/F/T still in service.

B.J7 Dornier Alpha Jet A Germany strike/trainer 19 n/a Ex-Luftwaffe. 5 spares. 1 lost. RTAF fitted AIM-9P/M.

Bret Cox L-39 - Reno Race -58 .jpg

B.KhF1 Aero L-39A/ART Czech Republic strike/trainer 36 n/a Westernized Aero L-39, with Israeli avionics and AIM-9.

Northrop F-5E (Tail No. 01557) 061006-F-1234S-073.jpg

B.Kh18 Northrop F-5E/F/T United States fighter-bomber 27 n/a F-5T and some F-5E/F to Capability Improved Program.

F-16 June 2008.jpg

B.Kh19 General Dynamics F-16A/B Block 15OCU/ADF/MLU United States multirole fighter 56 n/a 12 F-16A and 6 F-16B undergoing MLU[2]

JAS Gripen.jpg

B.Kh20 Saab JAS 39C/D Gripen Sweden multirole fighter 8 C 4 D n/a 6 delivered 2011, 3 delivered 2013, 3 more to be delivered 2013.[3]

Great news. Regular sonic booms and the roar of low flying jets are just what the islands need, peace and tranquility was so 90's.

Little late to complain. Thailand has had jet fighters since 1956.

Sorry to fail to add a joke, but I think these people really believe their shit. They really do believe they are the chosen few. Never mind that they are uneducated, can't speak English, don't have the rule of law, and as the old saying goes, "that's no way to run a railroad."

Not only won't they be the HUB of ASEAN, but I can't even see them fitting into it at all, or even allowing a reasonable attempt. TIT

If you were ever in Thailand you would know there are Kerry logistics trucks everywhere. I see at least 3 every day. Thailand is already a logistics hub.

Check out the meetings in Bangkok that are going on right now.

The 10th Thailand International Logistics Fair 2013

http://www.logisticsfair.com/seminars/

2013

1. Number of Exhibitors 150 companies/ 329 booths

2. Participation Countries Thailand, ASEAN, Korea, Japan, China and India

3. Exhibition Area 9,600 sq.m. 9,600 sq.m.

4. Number of Visitors 9,157 10,000

5. Major Visiting Countries ASEAN, China, Japan, U.S.A., E.U., Taiwan, India and etc. ASEAN, South Asia, China, Japan, Taiwan, Middle East, India, U.S.A, Australia, E.U. and etc.

Every farang who has experienced Thai teaching methods first hand realizes that, no matter how much money they spend, as long as students are lectured to and not taught how to think and reason for themselves, the education will not happen. Unfortunately, this suits the politicians just fine as a thinking population might question their wisdom in governance.

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." William Arthur Ward. Thailand is in great need of teachers who inspire their students to be inquisitive and to study and become lifelong learners.

That's just silly. The basics are rote memory. Thai kids can't read Thai and can't write Thai and don't have basic arithmetic skills. You are talking college. I'm talking grade school. They don't need any more brain stress. Start with the basics. Teach the Thai language and basic arithmetic skills and then send them out to make a living.

A "teacher" married to a "policeman" lives across the street from us. She "teaches" pre-schoolers." She proudly wears her govt. uniform and makes sure her new car is always clean. The govt. made the loan for the car and requires minimal payback. But the LOOK she and other car driving teachers present is remarkable. Unfortunately they do not TEACH adequately. SHAME for their impact on the youth of Thailand and the country's forward movement into a fully modern democratic society. I'm glad I am NOT a teacher in LOS.

Your post reeks of envy (car driving teachers). How do you know she does not teach adequately? And why shouldn't she keep her car clean?

He probably doesn't know; but I do.

Most people spoke Middle English. For an example of this see Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

The nobility also spoke Norman French and probably Latin as well.

AnotherOneAmerican; had you taken the time to read the whole post of mine which you partially quote, you would have seen that I do say this explanation is almost certainly incorrect.

The common misconception is that this started in the Hundred Years War, before the Battle of Agincourt.

The story is that if French soldiers caught an English bowman they would cut off the index and middle fingers of his right hand so he could not draw a longbow. So, prior to the battle the English bowman would wave these two fingers at the French whilst shouting "Pluck yew!"

Over time the gesture came to mean "F*** you!"

However, this story is almost certainly not true.

Only nobles and others who could be ransomed were, if caught, kept alive. Commoners were not worth a ransom and feeding them etc. would be costly, so any captured during or after a battle were usually killed.

So one has to wonder what the point of your post was.

Whan that aprill with his shoures soote

The droghte of march hath perced to the roote,

And bathed every veyne in swich licour

Of which vertu engendred is the flour;

Whan zephirus eek with his sweete breeth

I like Chaucer. (That is the point of my post) His I don't know.

Reality rears it's ugly head on Thai Visa. Only 9 countries finished lower than Burma. Vietnam was number 70. Laos 81. Sweden (6th), the Netherlands (8th) and the United Kingdom (10th) fall. Germany moves up two places (4th) and the United States reverses a four-year downward trend, climbing two places to fifth. Hong Kong SAR (7th) and Japan (9th) also close the gap on the most competitive economies.

I think If Thai Visa did the survey it would not quite be the same. Anybody care to guess what the results of a Thai Visa poll would be?

The World Economic Forum was first conceived in January 1971 when a group of European business leaders met under the partronage of the European Commission and European industrial associations. German-born Klaus Schwab, then Professor of Business Policy at the University of Geneva, chaired the gathering, which took place in Davos, Switzerland. The Forum is perhaps most widely known for its Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters. Membership, "The 1,000 leading companies of the world."

http://www.weforum.org/history

Has it ever occurred to Thai ladies that very few men (none?) go to Thailand desparately seeking a white skinned girl ? For those men who care about this issue, the opposite is more likely. The caucasian men could have saved themselves the airfare.

Has it ever occurred to you that almost no Thai women want a non Thai man?

Never. My experience is entirely to the contrary. Only one of my wife's many friends and acquaintances has a Thai partner.

I have known 10,000 Thai women (I'm a teacher). How many friends does your wife have who you know? Perhaps your wife is encountering the ethnocentric exclusion familiar to many Thai women with Farang husbands. What percent of Thai women would you say have non Thai husbands? I'll bet you less than one percent. 99% of Thai women have Thai husbands. I think that says it all.

I know white guys hear, "hello handsome man and Thai man bad" all the time but don't you realize it's a con by now?

Also, most drugs that are prescribed today are no longer patented and generics are already avialable. Yes, some of the best drugs still being used are legally generic. So we're just down to the patents.

When was it 1995 that the drug companies in the US wanted some more money so the changed the patents from 18 to 20 years, billions more profit. Now, if you read the OP, they want to change it from 20 to 30 years. Come read the OP and get with the program, enough Thai bashing, look at the OP and tell me why you think the patents should be raised another 10 years? Swiss drug companies going broke?

So it means millionaires and those on the best government insurance have a higher cost. A little disingenuous.

How much do you presume the average wage of a Thai person is? And do you know anything about the limitations on value for medication and exclusions. I paid for my and my families private insurance so I know that what it costs to properly insure a family.

I would wager that private health insurance is taken up by less than 5% of the population. My father in law was a government employee and was provided 18k per months worth of Alzheimer's treatment. Go look at the cancer coverage on your bupa plan. A one time payment. Whooopee. Great for that ongoing medication.

Somchai on the factory floor will not be able to afford insurance to get access to this.

Please learn how to post quotes. It is almost impossible to understand what you write as it is.

Not the average but many Thai people can afford health insurance at 1500 baht a month. Somchai on the factory floor of Ford or any of the large Thai corporations already has health insurance in addition to the old 30 baht scheme as do all the government teachers....... Should I go on? Your statement, " millionaires and those on the best government insurance." is false.

I wonder just exactly these life saving drugs are as there aren't many drugs that are life saving, I would descibe them as more likely to lead you to an early death rather than saving your life!!

I believe chemo therapy and AIDS drugs although they were not mentioned by name. Also all of the drugs that have patents expired recently would be under patent for another 10 years as I read the OP.

There are many, many life saving drugs and they are very expensive to develop while the money to develop them is at great risk. As I posted above, only about 1 new drug in 5,000 is approved for use, and even then it can take as long as 12 years and gobs of money to get it approved.

Thailand is corrupt in every corner and can not join the world stage until it cleans up its act. Other countries should stop buying from Thailand until it stops stealing.

There has to be some rule on Thai Visa to prevent members calling for an international boycott of Thai products?