northernjohn

The rice farmers are guaranteed to have their money prior to Feb 2. Now let here it from the vote buying gang of Yellow Skirts. Timing is everything in politics.

you poor deluded fool do you still think theirs goigm to be an election on 2 nd and even if their is (now 80%+ will not) then so what they can't form a government due to 95% rule

must be hard seeing your heroes corruption and evil ways being brought to light to even most blind red glassed people here

IF as hoped Taksin at last goes I will personally have a great big party and toast all tossers like you for at least giving me a laugh

Thaksin is not doing well. I was watching a half hour report on the red shirts in Thailand. It was mainly interviews with day to day member's plus the three leaders and comments from one academic. He was saying that there is talk of forming a Thaksin less red shirt party from the existing red shirts.

This of course would cut into Yingluck's support as Thaksin will still be pulling her strings. The only hope she has is to get rid of his cronies and higher some decent aides and intelligent writers.

i hope pressure keeps mounting to get rid of Taksins regime but for sure he will fight with all he can to end including if he can trying again to cause a civil war

Well done Suphet without your stand Thailand would probably never have a chance to rid itself of this evil lot

Im just praying at long last Thailand can be rid of Taksin his clan and cronies but Just Taksin will be enough since then rest will scull away to rocks they belong in

Wishful thinking.

The Country has woken up since he came on the scene. Not listing his great achievements again. they are well documented and that some of you yearn for the days when poor people were treated like dogs, had little access to education, no health care and no representation is your own affair.

Sad world that you inhabit that you could latch onto the spoutings of somebody like Suthep, see documented FACTS of 18 coups and 3-4 Judicial Coups, see documented Facts of Election results, that time and time again even under rules set out by the army and the elites that show the Democrats to be despised by most of the country. See all this and still support what is going on now.

If you don't like democracy, you can't complain about anything in that happens in the country. You are implying that everybody should lay back and let uncle Suthep take care of the money and graciously dole out and that may be spare after he has finished paying off his backers. Last time they got in, their first big move was to increase the army budget by 35%. Is that what you are hoping to see again?

The Irony is with all the talk of corruption and non-accountability etc. that there were checks and balanced. The current state of affairs shows clearly that an unpopular bill (The Amnesty Bill) can be gotten rid of even if it is supported by the major party Pheu thai in this case. The removal of the bill and the calling of elections, disproves all that Suthep says about them leading a dictatorship...

Thai's are not stupid and the North has come on in leaps and bounds. You'd all do well to stop believing they are and wake up to the fact that PT party has something to offer them as opposed to the absolute nothing they had prior to Thaksin.

You'll have us all tugging our forlocks and doffing our caps again won't you.

quote

"The Irony is with all the talk of corruption and non-accountability etc. that there were checks and balanced. The current state of affairs shows clearly that an unpopular bill (The Amnesty Bill) can be gotten rid of even if it is supported by the major party Pheu thai in this case. The removal of the bill and the calling of elections, disproves all that Suthep says about them leading a dictatorship..."

Sounds good but fails to explain why slowly but surely Yingluck is giving into the peoples demands. Maybe you are missing some thing.

"...a new setback to her government following weeks of mass opposition protests"....This is not a setback...This is expected.....Its' called a 'judicial coup"...It has been clear that the Elites have decided to go the Judicial route to achieve their coup-intentions....Enabling their coup using the military wasn't going to fly internationally, and working via judicial vehicles creates smoke Internationally, when outside Thailand the judiciary is considered normal.....The PTP/UDD/RS are also expecting this and see the theft of their electoral choices by these so-called Independent bodies in the same light as if there was a flaming military intervention....Their reactions will be the same......As an aside, I am hearing that the military is being used primarily as a check on the police, preventing them from managing and controlling the coup-mongers....I understand the coup-mongers are even charging fees to pass their locations, essentially creating 'toll roads'.

Take two aspirin and call me in the morning when you are feeling better. I will explain it to you then.

no its no clear at all!

bravo you turned the usual hot topic (that come back quite often) into a farcical one( look at your post #22)

and by the way as i said, its the SUM of the daily small rant from everyone (about the bad news, the scams, murders, stupidity etc etc the list is so long) that give this overwhelming feeling of hate... when its just a tiny rant from different members.

Well I am not going to deny what you say. It is certainly true.

I was just wondering what would be on that list if it was restricted to Things that only happen in Thailand.

Or another list where people posted the good experiences they had with a Thai.

I know for my self I have a list that is not good of the experiences I have had with my Thai wife. But it is far outweighed by the list of good things.

"

‘Yingluck’ chairs first formal reform forum

BANGKOK, 16 January 2014 (NNT) — Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is charing a political reform forum for the first time on January 16 at the Royal Thai Air Force Base.

Ms. Yingluck will this afternoon chair a reform forum in an attempt to help alleviate current rifts in the political arena and change the country for the benefit of the Thai people. The first meeting will be held at 1.30 pm on January 16, today, at the Royal Thai Air Force Headquarters.

The Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) has helped select related agencies to take part in the political reform forum aimed at moving the nation forward.

Permanent Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office Thongthong Chandrangsu stated that he believes all who attend this forum will be able to clearly voice their view points to resolve the political impasse the country is now facing - adding that the government is open to opinions from all sides.

-- NNT 2014-01-16

I think the PDRC made some suggestions and every one if them was rejected.

"adding that the government is open to opinions from all sides." as long as they agree with the ones that she has received from Dubai.

The worst scene as I see it would be to make no changes just go ahead with the election on Feb.2 The best results would be to do as the PDRC suggest. Then have an election. It would not help the people understand the issues Ity will be at the minimum one more generation before the education level in Thailand gets good enough to do that. but it would sure put a rein on the party that winds up in power. They will have to conform to the rule of law. If the Constitutional court rules they will have to obey it or be instantly disbanded. No matter who they are.

In my opinion building for a stronger Thailand is a good thing. Maintaining the current wide open to corruption system is just going to further hurt Thailand. Yes the voters would have to wait a little longer to cast their vote but they would be allowed to cast it. The Government that receives it will be bound to work for the good of Thailand as a whole.

Also the people should be allowed to vote for the person they feel will best fill their needs not just be a yes man for some one else.

Tongthong said that the forum would not start from zero as the proposals for reform have been made before by several stakeholders, including the People’s Democratic Reform Committee.

Lopsided and controlled by Thaksin and will be about as acceptable as the elections.

To even hint at the PDRC proposing anything that goes on inside that room is an absolute delirium.

Just another site for targeting by the student network if you ask me.

This government seem to be just going along completely devoid of all acknowledgement about what is happening on the streets.

In reality though, I will wager they are more nervous than they make out. Deep inside i bet they are feeling fears never before felt by a Thai government since Japan signed the declaration of surrender back in August 1945.

Not sure what to think.

She has not surrendered to the opposition but every time you turn around she is making a step towards it. The last time I heard any thing about a reform council for Thailand she was going to set it up after the election now it is before the election. I wonder if one of the seats at the table will be occupied by Skype?

One thing for sure with her chairing it. The dress code will be very nice.

You say it's not about Thaksin when it very much is (unless you are totally ignorant of the protestors' goals) and you are not a red shirt or Thaksin supporter. Complete rubbish. Your other comments are far more revealing (& truthful) about your stance.

Most of the prorestors are not Suthep suporters. He is a catalyst for many people being sick and tired of the Shin dynasty and their corrupt, un-democratic and autocratic rule which, even before the protests have had Thailand going downhill.

This is about "the opposition" wanting power for themselves. In the bigger picture, Thaksin is simply the "catalyst" to gain that power.

Once they get power, one has to wonder how they will manage to keep it.

Will it be democracy? Will it be eliminating corruption? Or, will it be something else?

You seem to have ignored what Suthep & others have been saying - the clearest is that he (Suthep) has no power grabbing agenda, that he will not be a part nor a leader of any reform group.

The so-called 'getting power' is a straw man which posters build and then speculate on how awful things might be, just as you've done.

IMO the country needs a short pause in the fake democracy that currently exists. An independent reform group with a fixed timetable should be formed, elections temporarily suspended, with a referendum on the findings of that group followed by a general election.

Most people know that it is impossible to completely eliminate the Shin dynasty in the short term but a real organisation - with teeth - to combat corruption and at least abate some of its worst aspects is badly needed. Even if Suthep & co completely fail to reach their objectives, they have raised the corruption (& all its side-issues) menace to a much higher level of awareness and it can't just be ignored like Yingluck & her brother have always done.

In the main I agree with you. No place have I seen where Suthep plans to be the leader. He has no political affiliations at this point. The ease that people fail to see that he is calling for elections after a reform of the government has been arranged by a non political council goes rite over there head or in one ear and out the other. These people are as you say not aware of what is going on. There must be some protection built into the constitution to protect the people from corruption that is right in your face and a government that says it will not obey what the Constitutional court says. What kind of a person knowingly backs that kind of governing.

As I said earlier I just watched a half hour show on Thailand. It was mainly looking at the red shirts point of view. the interviewer did not challenge any thing they said no matter how stupid it was. Interestingly enough he did mention the three different parts of the red shirt movement . He mentioned that one of them has not but will probably divorce them selves from Thaksin. Not sure how that can be done and still support Yingluck and the PTP.

If nothing else a pause long enough to make the elections fair. No more the party with the most free floating money getting elected. It would be a start. As the present older generation and upcoming older generation disappear more and more the people will be talking about the issues.

Edit

I forgot to mention that none of the red shirts or leaders mentioned the side issues.

9mm automatic pistol for self defence I can understand....but what kind of people need 4 grenades for self defence? Sent from my GT-I9200 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Red shirts.

I just got done watching a half hour show about Thailand on News Asia. The red shirts should have claimed no understand. One even blamed all the countries problems on the anti government protesters. The interviewer was kind. He didn't even try to ask the guy how the protesters got all the money that was supposed to be spent on rice. A lot of them just said one man one vote. What a novel idea. I wonder if it will ever catch on. In fact I wonder how many votes he cast at the last election.

The sad part was not a one of them said any thing about the issues. Not a word as to what Yingluck has done for them. It just reinforced in me the need for a real education here in Thailand. Who ever or when ever the next PM comes into office I hope they have the guts to make that the first thing on their to do list.

Its the shop holders I feel sorry for. They will have committed to lengthy expensive leases, and many if not all will be losing money.

.

But as I alluded to above, the shop owners went in with their eyes open...didn't they?

I would think initial leases were probably quite cheap, to encourage the thing to be successful at opening time and encourage others to come in and lease on more expensive deals.

Of course, when you're sat there with no customers, I supposed even a discounted lease has got to hurt.

You are correct the original leases were low. I think part of the problem was the lack of preparedness when they opened unofficially and officially.

As MESmith has pointed out it is hard to see where all the shops are by just standing around. For myself I need the exercise and truth be known I still don't know where all the stores are in the airport mall. I do enjoy the openness of the Promenada. Also the comparatively quiet compared to the Central Festival. I don't think acoustics were taken into consideration when they built the central Festival.

Edit

Yes it would be nice to have a map of the Mall. I was in the Festival today and I think there was at least three staff at the information booth. Pretty straight forward mall mainly walk in a big circle With a small wing on the South West corner.

isn't there a new italian restaurant going in there? backed or run by owner of Dukes? Wonder how that is gonna do?

Well from what I hear Dukes is doing OK there. If there are no other customers there it would pretty well speak for the quality of food and service there. Can't imagine a lot of people going to a shopping mall on a regular basses just for a meal if it wasn't outstanding. I would imagine if he opens a Italian restaurant the quality would also be there.

Visited there for the first time last month and everything I'd heard about the place was true - bad parking, empty shops, etc. We decided to have dinner at one of the new Japanese restaurants. Once settled in I realized the other customers in the place were in fact all off-duty staff and their friends hanging out - my wife and I were the only real customers. Food was ok, but I had to rush home with a very upset stomach. Yeah, I guess I actually prefer the noise and crowds at Central Festival, and perhaps a lesser chance of eating expired food too.

Someone who works at a shop there told me that the group which built Promenada are now soliciting investors for a similar mall in Myanmar. Anyone else heard this?

bad parking? at first this was the case. but now, there are more vacant parking spots than anywhere else. piece of cake to pull in and get a spot near the door which is handy if you are shopping at Rimping.

Yes I was wondering about that bad parking bit also. Kind of makes one wonder about the rest of the post.

Thais really do live in a galaxy far, far away. In a country where real human rights abuses are all too common, I will throw in Tak Bai and Mr. T's war on drugs as examples, yet the NHRC has to tell protesters not to insult those they oppose. Words fail,

If I insult someone but end the insult with Krap will that make it acceptable ?

yes right!!!!! These bad professors using bad words only because people don't get proper medical care because all the money is used by government corruption.....They are sooooo evil.

Killing 3000 people (half didn't had any connections to narcotics)...never mind, everyone can make small mistakes like that.....

No, but some of them come from the same culture of arrogance and privilege as Mr Abhisit. They need to learn to be less patronizing to those whose labour pays their wages

Also not sure why H90 keeps trying to bring up the death penelty law many Asian countries have the same policy, if you get caught trafficing hard core drugs its the death penelty. I remember when Abhisit was in charge he was asked if he would continue with the policy and his reply was, while there has been a very small percentage of calateral damage (questioanable whether they where guilty or not) he thought it was a good policy.

While I do think the policy is quite harsh, it is what it is and many countries have the same policy and much lower drug related crime!

In other countries it is a death penalty after a trial where you are found guilty. Not in a police station where the cop doesn't like you. That was the Thaksin policy. Abhist was referring to the legal process. Please try to understand what you are talking about.

Thais really do live in a galaxy far, far away. In a country where real human rights abuses are all too common, I will throw in Tak Bai and Mr. T's war on drugs as examples, yet the NHRC has to tell protesters not to insult those they oppose. Words fail,

If I insult someone but end the insult with Krap will that make it acceptable ?

yes right!!!!! These bad professors using bad words only because people don't get proper medical care because all the money is used by government corruption.....They are sooooo evil.

Killing 3000 people (half didn't had any connections to narcotics)...never mind, everyone can make small mistakes like that.....

The name Shinawatra gives you special privileges not available to other Thai citizens.

this is something Thai do all the time...put it down to ignrance...or just plain thick

Or lack of understanding the culture you come from. They obviously know about as much of it as you do theirs.

Beetlejuice, on 08 Jan 2014 - 19:34, said:Perhaps it`s just you they don`t like? You`re just not fitting in.

The whiners, the moaners, the discontented, the persecuted and the oppressed, Thai visa seems full of them.

For many of you who live in Thailand, life must be very unpleasant and stressful.

Nice to know about you.

You have described yourself in full detail.

Couldn't do better than that.

A lot of his posts seem to convey the message of being unhappy here. Then he comes out with ones that sound just the opposite. Sound like he is in the Garden of Eden before Eve ate the apple. Some of them make me think he doesn't like himself and living here is his punishment. Hard to decipher what he really feels like.

I wonder the opposite.

Why is their hearing so insensitive?

Why does music need to be so loud that it is distorted?

Why do they need to yell at each other when just having a normal conversation a few feet away from each other?

Why do they like to have their vehicles a loud aas possible?

I wonder if they hear very well at all?

I also wonder when I turn the Television up to about 2/3 of the volume the wife uses to talk she wants me to turn it down?

I'm really glad I left Chiang Mai and moved down to Bangkok. By the sounds of it, life up there in Chiang Mai is becoming incrediably tough and borderline unbearable.

Hope things get better for you soon!

-Mestizo

If it is not to big of an inconvenience to you could you tell all the people from Bangkok how good it is down there and how bad it is here so that they will go back to Bangkok?

They are making a mess of are traffic.

To be fair if all parties wanted to find a mutually beneficial outcome to the current fiasco whatever it may be, it seems churlish for parties not even to attend. No one said they had to agree on anything, i expect that the wider audience will summize it just goes to show that certain persons dont want to resolve the situation anyway other than their own. I think even if it was for PR reasons alone, it would of sent a good signal for everyone to be there to at least give the impression that they had intentions to solve this situation amicably rather than heading down a potentially very dangerous and violent path.

It is non negotiable to the protesters. They have drawn a line and are not going to cross it. Some people have to be hit over the head with a two X four to get the message. The anti government people want reform not cheap talk.

I have no problem understanding Yingluck. She wants to negotiate a way to have an election with out electoral reform first and after the election which she will win as there are no Democrats running and if they get enough seats for a quorum she will form a commission to talk about reform. That seams to be the line she has drawn. What is the mystery?

What is so difficult to understand about either side. I believe an agreeable middle would be have the electoral reform first then go ahead with an election. One where in order to enter the race each party would have to sign an agreement to take part in a commission to be set up for the purpose of reform. It would be one composed of many different parts of society. Not just Thaksin fans. Yes there would be some of them there to.

Yingluck is super rich, she doesn't need the job. The question is, why is she holding on to power,

what is her benefit? If so many hate her, why doesn't she just leave?

Is there going to be some kind of consequence for saying "I quit"?

She's worried about something.

Taksin said don't quit, you'll go to jail.

You don't go to jail for quitting your job, so what is she really afraid of?

She does not represent the people of Thailand, she represents her party and her party's interests only,

that's pretty obvious at this point.

I see it a little different. Yes she is rich they all are. That is the ones who have been in a while and earned their way at the trough.

The way I see it is she is the only Shinawatra who would have been acceptable at the time of the election. I am just guessing now but I think she might have thought she could have made a difference. Remember the give me six months quote.

It took her that long to learn that she had nothing to do with it. It was her brother Thaksin's show she was just a figurehead.

Now she is stuck with it and can not lose any more face and is fighting back. Not very well but fighting back. The only way she can come out of this looking good weather she wins the next election or not would be to publicly condemn Thaksin and disassociate herself from him. She would also have to get rid of his cronies that he has placed in power. That would include an end to the nepotism.

At that point she could walk with her head held high.

She has never really been given a chance to show her potential if she has any. Even in private industry it was just a position created for her due to the nepotism factor. With out her there was no need for the position. It is going to be an interesting two weeks. I just hope the red shirts do not accelerate the violence. Bombing Abhist house was a over the top action and did nothing to improve the image of the government. Suthep also has his hands full with trying to keep it peaceful. All though not organized like the red shirts there are anti government protestors willing to get violent.

Well the party is off to a roaring start.

Chuwit Kamolvisit, leader of the Rak Thailand Said it was pointless with out Abhist and a rep from the Anti government protestors.

So he got up and left.

quote

"A labour representative urged the government to join the election and the EC to create a positive election atmosphere to build trust among Thai people and the international community, after which a national reform can take place."

Is he saying the government is not trying to create a positive Atmosphere of trust?

Bring the popcorn. Are they set up for Skype?

She and hers have beaten the old fool at just about every turn and will likely do it again as the residents of Bangkok realize they have been Sutheps pawns.

The larger percentage of respect of the world stage is currently in her corner and any credibility whatsoever in the Suthep camp is rapidly being eroded by his increasingly ridiculous actions.

Accepting olive branches to at least talk have been dismissed out of hand as has any form of compromise. The PTP Thaksin camp would have won the world poker championships hands down with the way they have played their hand in this confrontation.

I firmly believe at one point Suthep may just have achieved a fair proportion of his objectives but his continued belligerence related to all things Thaksin has clouded what little judgement he and his masters may have had.

Hopefully it will just peter out and there will be no additional confrontations. And as mentioned by an earlier poster on TV, perhaps the potential savior of Thailand is out there somewhere, but conspicuously absent at the moment.

The biggest losers in this at this moment in time are Abhisit and his "Democrats" and sadly and most importantly- the Thai people.

Just have to say my friend, there is an old adage which goes something like this... Its better to keep your mouth shut and let peoples think you are a buffoon, than to open it and give them the proof... and to add.... there will be no losers in this present conflict... there will be only winners, the peoples of Thailand...hurrahhh

Absolutely no idea what you are talking about.

I think he was talking about Your statement

She and hers have beaten the old fool at just about every turn and will likely do it again as the residents of Bangkok realize they have been Sutheps pawns.

You go girl. She got more brass balls then Suthep

I wouldn't go as far as to say that.

But she defiantly has the biggest set in the whole clan. To bad they are not connected to her grey matter.

If so Thaksin would be skyping other people to try and ambush her.