bheard

There are a dozen ways they could do this.

1. Make visa issues easier to deal with. Longer visas, less hassle with 90 day checks. Easier to get a retirement or marriage visa.

2. Make it easier for foreigners to buy property. The fear that they will take over the country is unjustified. You can limit the amount of land they can buy, and the number of homes they can own, etc.

3. Increase traffic safety. Get the cops to do real police work.

4. Get inflation under control. No matter what these ridiculous government officials say, inflation here is real. Prices are going up all the time. What most Thais in the tourist industry, or who cater to ex-pats do not seem to realize, is that there may come a point where the place is simply no longer a good value, and at that time, we will be moving on, in droves. I have already seen this on Samui. Prices have gone up so dramatically, that it is getting harder to find good value. Restaurants are driving themselves out of business, with their price hikes. Some hotels, who have been particularly aggressive with their price hikes, are experiencing record low occupancy rates. Apartment blocks have significant vacancy rates. There are hundreds and hundreds of villas which are sitting empty. Part of that is due to overbuilding. Part of it is due to aggressive pricing. Some customers are just saying NO!

I could go on for days. The shame about all this, is that it is so difficult for many Thais to look within, for the source of the problem, so the possibility of these changes taking place is low.

Agree with most of the above, but not this line:

2. Make it easier for foreigners to buy property. The fear that they will take over the country is unjustified. You can limit the amount of land they can buy, and the number of homes they can own, etc.

First, tourism is not about buying property, and

Second, the fear is justified - take a look at Australia - high property prices in part due to foreign buyers. If you see Chinese people at a house auction in Aus, just go home, you won't be able to out-bid them.

Thailand has the right policy in that respect.

They might need to do a little more in depth research before declaring it a success. Such as - did the students learn anything?

Proximity to the Skytrain considered?

Or is it more jobs for the taxi drivers?

" Police suspected he might accidentally fall into the pond while walking back to his hotel."

They would suspect that wouldn't they. It's easier. Do no investigative work and make out the paperwork - accidental death. End of story. Easy peasy. Only a foreigner anyway.

What amazed me was that in the first photo of the road subsidence published was that many Thai people found they were unable to resist the temptation to walk down onto the broken sections of road.

Lots of 'em.

Nup, don't worry about the possibility of any further sudden subsidence . . .

You mean she is still on the loose?

Sick, totally Sick!!

I recently 'helped out' at a weekend seminar which was about secondary school level Thai teachers of Science and Maths teaching their subjects in English.

This was a Thai govt initiated pilot program.

A great idea, but totally flawed of course as the students they are teaching have little or no understanding of English. In this case you've got to start at the bottom, get the English knowledge into tjhe students, THEN develop the program from there.

Result to be? No students learning their science and maths!

In Thailand there are 5000+ children dying every year from drowning (2600 drown) and bites, falls etc.

That's 13 or more every day.

Not 192 as in this report, but still horrifying.

My condolences to the family of the fallen man. Things like this are always a tragedy. However...

Ships are safe in the harbor, but that's not what ships are for. There is an element of danger in most adventure activities. We can strive to minimize the risk but we can never eliminate it completely, no matter how much some might want to. This isn't a Nanny State. If you want that sort of mommy/daddy protection, having your hand held while you walk down a paved road, you can find it back home. The various zip-line companies have been in business for quite a few years, with a safety record that, for Thailand, is pretty damn good. Folks can say 'I just knew something like this was going to happen...: Well yeah! Wait 5-7 years and it probably will. Wait, and someone will probably get hit in the head with a golf ball or drop a free weight on their chest. Just give it enough time.... Skiers now wear helmets on the slops in most major ski areas, and all have ski patrol personnel monitoring, watching for potential problems, yet every year in several ski areas, someone skis out of control, slams into a tree and dies.

Adventure sports are for people who live in the fast lane. Most of us don't play golf. We tend to live on the edge. And while we all say we want safety, what we really want is an element of danger. And sometimes we fall off that edge. “Live fast, die young and leave a good-looking corpse!”

There is no way that Zip Lining falls under the classification of an adventure sport and having an expectation of proper safety procedures and equipment is hardly an indication that you require mommy/daddy protection in a Nanny State. Your analogies are ridiculous.

Absolutely ridicolous.

"This isn't a Nanny State. If you want that sort of mommy/daddy protection, having your hand held while you walk down a paved road, you can find it back home."

What nonsense.

This sort of scam has been going on for time eternal.

Are the cops red faced about taking the time to address it only now?

I don't think so.

These people are so up themselves about this ridiculous law. It seems more important than just about anything else - murder, road carnage, everything!. Crazy!

The news article makes sense.

Thailand has no need for submarines

Thailand needs submarines?

Can't see the logic of that. Thailand does not need submarines!

Just back in Aus from LOS and bought some canned tuna in ALDI.

Turned out it comes from Thailand, won't buy that again!

While I have never witnessed these street racers in Thailand, I did see the other day, for the first time in 10 years of coming here, some TOTAL idiots on the road.

Was in Lopburi, and saw over several nights while walking back to my hotel, boys on hot bikes absolutely pounding along a wide road with little traffic, but with NO LIGHTS.

Very scary for a pedestrian crossing the road, and surely also for the few car drivers turning into the road from side streets.

Idiots with a death wish.

Thai police have way too much time on their hands.

Of course the stray cats were raised for eating, just as the stray dogs are.

Such nonsense.

One assumes the drugs were for her own use.

But as another poster said, the glass ceiling was shattered so someone had to pay.

And especially as that someone was a foreigner!

Dog meat in the back of a truck. Not refrigerated for sure.

Mmmm.

Smells . . . . rotten.

6215 road deaths last year? 17 per day? It is more like 30,000 per year

The WHO number is 26.000 deaths within the last year.

From all countries observed by the WHO, Thailand is the only country where those, who die on the way to the hospital or inside the hospital, are not being counted in the statistics. The WHO calculated the death toll to 38 death per 100.000 inhabitants per year.

Yup, think I'll go with the WHO numbers, much more likely to be true than any number the Thai govt quotes.

Such a pity that the govt agencies can't bring them selves to tell the truth. Probably not too many Thais are going to be upset by the 6215 number, perhaps more would sit up and take notice if the WHO number was told to them.

A little bit like the number of children drowing each year, no govt agency will admit the true number is around 2600, the last numer I saw quoted by a govt agency was 900 . . .

Ummm, how wil they feed all lthese extra mouths?

The seas around Thailand are already being scraped clean of fish, and rice output/rai is diminishing with large amounts of fertiliser being used.

Short sighted policy, needs to be thought through.

The world needs fewer people, not more.

The people with the money behind Prayut have it in for Mr T, and they just can't let go.

One day, they'll regret this, Mr T has the power of the people - something money doesn't always usurp.

If i allowed someone to tie my ankles and then assist me to jump from about 120 ft , and survived. i would expect to then be put into a lunatic asylum........................Bloody idiots !

ABSOLUTELY !!!

Prayut should get on with more important things than worrying about nonsense like this . . .

A good guide to one's behaviour while out of your own country is: Would I do this at home?.

The answer will be - maybe - depends on the location, circumstances, all manner of things.

You are smart to do this test when you are away from home, while bearing in mind the following:

At home you know the rules, the risks, the likely behaviour of other people.

While you are away in a foreign country you have to realise that you don't know any if these things, so you must be doubly careful compared to how you judge a potential situation.

In Australia, which is my home, I know for sure there are plenty of places that I would not dream of going around in, drunk at 1.30am, and I'm just a crusty old male, not a 19 year old girl.

>>Due to Thailand’s strict lese majeste law, which criminalizes insulting the monarchy, Khaosod English is unable to elaborate on the comments he made in the interview.<< Quote

What a stupid and sad old man Mr T is!!

Even a farang arrived yesterday would know better than to insult the institution.................

Thaksin is a wily old fox and knew that interview would get right up Prayuts nostrils. Seems to have worked, Thaksin certainly won't be losing any sleep on what farangs write on TVF. Best to go back to your bar stool.

Spot on. Mr T is indeed a wily old fox, you can bet anything he says when making pointed comments is not 'off the cuff', but calculated.

We can wait with interest to watch develpoments.