northernjohn

While there are countless proofs that the yellow protesters are violent, I wonder how Suthep can qualify the government of being violent.

The army does not carry guns, the police stays far away from the protesters, and the government let them occupy whatever they wish...

While, strangely, some farangs support this insane individual, the UN cannot be fooled that easily.

Suthep's letter is good enough for the rubbish bin

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Is it Yingluck's looks or her brilliant mind that fools you.

I really would like someone to explain to me how Suthep can claim to want reform, yet is a staunch defender of the Lese Majeste law -which is the most abused of laws used to stifle dissent and aid corruption. I believe this shows more than anything what a hypocrite he is.

When you ask his supporters about this, they shut up, having absolutely no defense.

Well you are living in a different culture. They respect their king here.

To many people have no scruples and will print any thing that sells newspapers.

Then there are posters on Thai Visa that want every one to think Thailand is going down the tube because it honors the King and does not allow them to put out their usual B S.

All of this starts Saturday.

And will cease next Saturday.

It will take them that long to learn the laws.

Why is every thing the police do announced ahead of time? Why not just go out and do the job?

The maximum daily amount for Aeon is 20,000 Baht and unless you are lucky there is usually a fee at the international end (Australia in my case). So AEON is not convenient for larger amounts. For 20,000 Baht Aeon is very good, with fair exchange rates but my Australian bank charges $4 AUD per transfer.

My Canadian bank charges $5 Canadian but AEON will allow you to make two withdrawals a day on the one card. In theory if I wanted to I could withdraw 120,000 baht with the one card as it is hooked into three different accounts. 40,000 baht on each.

It has been going on for quite a while now. The wife will drink it occasionally and the only reason I look for it is I am in the pop isle getting Pepsi Max. When I do find it there is generally only a can or two there. That is at the Tops at the airport Mall.

Northernjohn

Not sure what you bought for 1 or 2k but they either saw you coming or did you just hand over the money to your lady?

A lot different to my card for 200bt then 100 discount every ticket.

Or did we use the cashier without the calculator?

Blimey,I'd get in for free!

So would all seniors. I think there is a little bit of confusion.

Also if you use the machines you can not get the Seniors discount.

Or the high class seats in the Theater 7 at the airport. Or theater 1 at the central festival.

I had to try it just to see what was so special about it.

I won't be making that mistake again.

I did not have my license on me so had to pay no big deal but targeted for sure.

Driver’s license or license for the motorbike ownership?

I rented a small motorbike (scooter) and was stopped. The policeman quickly told me that the license of the bike was expired and I had to pay a fine.

I showed him the papers I had gotten from the rental shop, took a picture of the supposedly expired license, and told him he could write me a ticket, and I would pass it on to the rental shop.

He then changed the issue to be about my driver’s license, of which I had none (being here on a tourist visa), after a little arguing about wether or not I was supposed to have a driver’s license for renting a motorbike he asked about my passport, which I did not carry with me, which was another finable offense (according to him).

I showed him a picture of my passport that I had on my phone.

In the end I think he wrote me a ticket for not having a driver’s license, though I told him to write it for the expired license. I gave the ticket to the rental shop where the clerk seemed rather disinterested.

Does anyone know what the rules are for foreigners renting scooters and driver’s license?

Are foreigners supposed to carry a passport on them at all times?

And what happens with unpaid tickets? Does it get recorded against the vehicle?

Mine was Drivers License but they can also check the tax for the Bike and also if you have your passport on you (legally supposed too but rarely enforced) they are are all fineable offence's he could also ask for the Green book if he really wanted to be an ass, and lastly you most certainly need a licence to rent a scooter legally

Has anyone got a link to where this is written in Thai law?

I'm not disputing it, but would be interested to see the actual law in writing.

I would imagine it is written in Thai. Can you read Thai and correctly transfer it into English?

A lot can be lost in the translation.

so many anti-corruption posts on tv

nice to see someone putting the case for corruption

giving a bit of balance to the argument

I don't see it so much as 'putting the case for corruption.'

I see it as not trying to force my views on how life should be lived onto another culture.

I see it as appreciating the people doing the actual street work, rather than the bosses behind the scenes.

Does anyone really know where to monies paid into the police station end up, or at what percentage?

The problem I see with it is that we or most of us expats see it as penny anney corruption and many are willing to take part in it and in fact OK it. As I said in an earlier post almost justify it. I said that in different words of course.

That is fine for the expat because they know the difference between 200 baht into an officers pocket and billions into the pocket of the government officials.

The average Thai doesn't have a clue as to the size of corruption. to him or her it is just a means for them to save a few baht on a fine.They have no idea of the size of it. Then when the pollsters come around and ask them if they think it is wrong the majority of them say no they have no problem with it.

So in an indirect way we are helping them to approve of it at the governmental level while at the same time we say it is wrong.

While this incident has comic elements, a man was shot outside and his shooter hospitalised.

Even worse, the head of the govt body responsible for keeping a volatile situation from erupting decided to 'taunt' the protesters.

That sort of thing always goes down well in Thailand I've found, always seen as being a bit of a laugh.

<deleted>, how can this unstable loon be given so much authority, he's a walking disaster.

Who do you suppose is in charge of the PTP, and the government, on the ground? Yingluck?

Theoretically she is. In reality the head of the Government is in Dubai.

<deleted>, how can this unstable loon be given so much authority, he's a walking disaster

.

Not really. He is a sneaking back stabbing piece of dung who is using his own sister to hide behind while he directs the whole fiasco. He was not given the authority he bought it.

Are all you anti democracy posters here the same person but with different niks?

All the same one or two line anti democracy rhetoric but without the ear ache jokes.

Well said.

wHAT'S an anti-democracy poster?

I do know some REFORM before an election people.. i also know some Thaksin get out people... BUt they all ultimately want a stable Thai government system capable of bringing Thailand into the future... preferable without being riddled with HUGE off budget debts..

That description fits the anti government protestors to a T.

Unfortunately the other sided of the coin is for keeping things the same. Which history tells us is impossible. Either you get worse or you start getting better.

We know who it is that wants to get better.

Suthep no matter what his past history is at least is putting out a logical proposal to make things better. I have not seen any where that he is going to be a dictator or the future PM or the chair of the council he is proposing. There is a lot out there and I may have missed it. If so kindly print the whole speech do not take things out of context. Don't waste your time and my time with baseless accusations or things that happened years ago and are not and have not been happening for years.

Where as the opposition wants to retain the same system that has seen a rapid decline in the Thai Government in the last two and one half years. Yes they have proposed setting up a council with the PM as the chair. A PM who has seen corruption grow by 2% under her leadership wants to chair a commission to stop it. Maybe it is just me but there is some thingh wrong with that logic. I notice this is her brainstorm after a more logical one has been proposed. Not before.

Makes me laugh!! Everyday someone somewhere is being investigated for something!

The worst part of it is they are never found guilty if they are a PTP or red shirt.

I suppose it does keep some of the kids of the streets and adds immense amounts of money to some lawyers fortunes. Maybe even a little to the investigators.

It is a sad day when you see religion and politics mixing it together, never the twain shall meet , ideology on both sides are extreme in each of the learning, in Thailand you have the majority in the Buddhist faith, a simple gentle way to freedom and in politics the greasing of the palm faith, what's in it for me, corruption at every turn and bastardry is your friend, never the twain shall meet.

Sadly you are correct. How ever there are those who are working to bring them closer together. I see nothing wrong with that.

"With God on our side", the battle cry of Western civilization. So sorry to see a version of it intruding in Thailand of all places. And Suthep et al shamelessly gave him his own personal pedestal. Another prop needed over here. Army won't be available for photoshoots with protestors.

The battle cry of all civilisations!! Some pronounce it as "Allah Aqbar"!!

Even with 'Le God' on our side Saints still couldn't win anything.

They tried to fool astound with Seahawks what did you expect? I know off topic but I believe the poor man needed some understanding.

In this so called buddhist nation, the people are in NEED of buddhism but not the kind this monk is preaching.

Well I back him in what he is doing but I disagree with this statement

The religious domain has a duty to tell the secular domain what to do -- and what not to do," he told AFP, justifying his role at the vanguard of the protest movement.

It should read

The religious domain has a duty to tell the secular domain what is right and what is wrong.,"

The conspiracy to sabotage the rice pledging scheme has been ongoing since its inception.

It was conceived as a money losing subsidized program from day one. It's a subsidy, and a popular one at that. It was intended to lose money.

Even the farmers know it needs to be reformed, and it will be. I also doubt that the Thai civil service has anyone qualified to administer a plan of this scheme's scale. What makes reform more difficult is political sabotage carried out by (self censorship here).

If Thailand can't even organize an election how can anyone expect them to run a scheme of the rice pledging plan's magnitude. Recall the flood a couple of years ago? They need better water resource managers as well.

I can't find a single G7 country that does not afford agricultural subsidies. They are constantly squabbling about them in the WTO and NAFTA. I think this is why Thailand can't offer an outright subsidy as the competing counties would cry foul to the WTO.

Elitists prefer corporate welfare for those "two big to fail". It's all money politics and in Thailand it is uniquely centred mostly around (self censorship here). Thailand isn't broke and isn't going broke any time soon.

This turmoil will continue until the sad day that the inevitable happens and the question of (self censorship here) is resolved, this because most of Thailand is owned by (self censorship here).

Yes it was doomed from the start. That being said I believe that it had been carefully thought out and was successful in it's ultra aim.

That is for the rich to acquire more land and open up a huge trough for the pigs in the government to get at. They did it with the aim of claiming the government needed another 2.2 trillion baht loan to open up more avenues for the pigs. This was all done for one man. I would like to know how many politicians own rice storage facilities now and get their check for rental every month.

In the two and a half years it has been going I have yet to hear of a small farmer gaining from it. I have heard lots of people say they have but none of them are small farmers. Why is that? In all the road blocks they have done how many of the protestors were rich rice farmers. Answer none because they were the first ones to get paid before it ran out of money and the government in power at the time took no steps to pay the others. They instead dissolved the house so they could hide behind the EC and blame it on others.

Has any one heard them say we made a mistake in not paying the small farmers before we shut the government down?

So yes in it's ultra goal it has been a success. It was never designed for the little people.

Trying to feel sorry for these farmers who voted for Thaksin and his clone, but am having a hard time doing

so. They voted for a liar who told them they would become rich, and now they are paying the price.....

On the surface of it you have a case. But looking at the entire situation you are not even close.

They are paying the price for all the previous administrations lack of providing education. Even today in 2014 we have some schools with dirt floors and no electricity. Given the same back ground you would probably vote for Thaksin or any Shinawatra.

"I received another card with my original one that they always run through the machine. As I said I don't know what it is good for but occasionally the wife will have some pop corn and pop."

It is for 2000 bahts worth of pop corn and pop pre-paid for your wife.

Well I love my wife and that would be OK with me. Problem is I am the one who winds up eating it and drinking it when I didn't want it in the first place.

I think it is a cultural thing. She thinks she is taking care of me in spite of the fact that I need less food and calories.

Such is the price one must pay for having a loving and caring wife. I will struggle through with it.

Personally, I'd rather see the guy on the street who's risking his life every time he makes a traffic stop (who knows if the driver isn't some wacked-out ya-ba freak with a machete?) when we break a law designed to keep others safe get the money, rather than some big muckety-muck sitting safely behind a desk.

Corruption? Sure it is.

Did we break the law that endangered others? Sure we did.

Who took the risk to protect others?

If neither of us broke the law, there really wouldn't be an issue, would there.

I've only ever been fined 4 or 5 times in twenty years and each time it was because I committed an offence. Once I took the easy option of paying on the spot and on all other occasions I took a ticket and paid at the station. I don't see where the corruption comes into it. I committed a traffic offence and paid accordingly, and a relatively small fine each time with no topping of points or threats of losing my licence. Seems quite reasonable to me.

I'd rather pay a slightly higher fine at the station than pay a bribe, because I don't like the idea of paying bribes. If you prefer the bribe that doesn't bother me, but you have to accept the fact that you are perpetuating the very system that you oppose.

The argument that the police are ignoring bigger problems for financial gain is common in a lot of countries now, I hear, including the UK!! The big argument there seems to be that the police are more interested in generating revenue than solving serious crime. Whether that's true or not I don't know, but it sounds familiar.

So you are corrupt only 20 or 25% of the time. I am against corruption but at the same time the BIB due find them selves in some dangerous situations occasionally and they don't make that much plus they are obliged to buy there own uniforms and guns.

Is there any mid week specials going on in any of the cinema?

The airport mall and central mall have a card you can buy for 1,000 or 2,000 baht. It gives you an automatic 20% saving on the 2,000 baht one not sure about the 1,000 baht one. I think it is 10%. Not to sure of the rest of it. Seems like we some how get some free pop corn or pop. Don't really know as I let the wife handle that.

I believe Wednesdays they give you a discount and if you are over 60 they will give you a discount if you show them your passport. For the senior discount you have to go to the counter you can not get it out of the machine. The card is good at both theaters. Not sure about the discount for seniors at the central one.

I received another card with my original one that they always run through the machine. As I said I don't know what it is good for but occasionally the wife will have some pop corn and pop.

The BangkokPost just had a newsflash saying one of the protesters outside the ArmyClub was shot at and hit in the leg. The perpetrator arrested by protest guards, 'allegedly' beaten up a bit when trying to flee the scene and sent to Rajavithi Hospital.

how's that for taunting protesters?

And if you bothered to wait for a bit before posting your sensational report you would have read that it was a policeman who was taking photographs of the protesters. A "guard" later demanded to search the policeman who refused. The guard then told his "colleagues" to beat the policeman up. He fired a shot in self defence and was then severely beaten up and ended up in hospital.

How's that for taunting protesters?

Still hanging out with clueless red shirts I see. Well they have taught you denial real good. I read the article in the Bangkok Post. Admittedly a news paper but at least one with some credibility. Haven't a clue what you are talking about.

So what your saying is that anyone supporting Red shirts is clueless , taking a wide arc there nobernjohn

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No I was very specific I said the clueless red shirts . Completely different than all of them. Is English your second language?

Do not know if anyone told you there are already dead people, and mostly on the one side.

Actually there are just dead Thais, if this continues sooner or later there will be a farang or foreign victim and it dosnt really make any sense to continue to polarise things by choosing a side the country will and is all the poorer for these incidents. Thailands reputation is already in tatters.

Fools one and all.

Thais are people just as much as any other person and people who think otherswise are dispicable.

You've got completely the wrong handle on the post. Englishoak was pointing out that it didn't matter which "side" they were on there is actually just dead Thai's, people who are dead whatever their political bent. Whereas you decided to point out that most of the dead were "mostly on one side" as if this was a football score.

Save your faux indignation.

Open your mind and read both the original and the attempted cover up.

He was making it sound like Thai's were lesser people. Foreigners die all the time here in Thailand and their countries don't come charging in on their white horse to right the wrongs. In fact there are around 50 countries telling their citizens that if they go to Bangkok be careful of where they go.

Care to tell me what is the difference between a Thai and a farong. He went to great pains to make sure we knew he did not consider them equal. Calling people like that despicable is giving them more credit than they deserve.

The BangkokPost just had a newsflash saying one of the protesters outside the ArmyClub was shot at and hit in the leg. The perpetrator arrested by protest guards, 'allegedly' beaten up a bit when trying to flee the scene and sent to Rajavithi Hospital.

how's that for taunting protesters?

And if you bothered to wait for a bit before posting your sensational report you would have read that it was a policeman who was taking photographs of the protesters. A "guard" later demanded to search the policeman who refused. The guard then told his "colleagues" to beat the policeman up. He fired a shot in self defence and was then severely beaten up and ended up in hospital.

How's that for taunting protesters?

Still hanging out with clueless red shirts I see. Well they have taught you denial real good. I read the article in the Bangkok Post. Admittedly a news paper but at least one with some credibility. Haven't a clue what you are talking about.

im waiting for his die-hard supporters on here to chip in there noncence..

I have yet to see a "die-hard supporter" of Chalerm on TV. Please point them out so I may laugh hysterically.

Btw, its: nonsense.

Laugh at me..I like Chalerm. Every government has them....guys who do the dirty jobs and really dont care. Lets clean them Bangkok streets boys...

Who is the one here in Thailand?

There is a big difference between a guy who does the dirty jobs and the guy who protects killers (his son) Also a?loud mouth useless abuser of ear medicine.

So I say to you who is it here in Thailand?

^ I'd have an underwater lair with submarines and sharks with lasers. It would be deep inside in an artificial lake, and the artificial lake would be in the middle of an artificial island within another artificial lake. And there would be a chocolate waterfall. Where my herd of ponies would drink.

The same but my lakes wouldn't be artificial and your forgot the jugglers

Darn I missed that one.