outsider

I can understand people getting images and statues of Buddha or Guan Yin blessed by monks, to 'turn it on', for want of a better term. Same perhaps, with priests blessing crucifixes. But 'Buddhist' monks blessing dolls with 'other-worldly spirits'? That's not Buddhism at all. Maybe Taoism, but I'm quite sure it's not an actual Buddhist practice.

Any Buddhism experts here in TVF who can clarify this?

That begs the question which charter is going to be used to hold those elections, and subsequent formation of a government and the parameters under which that government can actually function.

Seems no thought has gone into that statement at all.

When has thought got into anything

That's good news. Otherwise there will be one more excuse for them idiot van and lorry drivers on why the wrapped their vehicles around a tree or lamp post.

Poor man was upset about something.

Thai police and guns not a good combination when they get upset.

Thais and guns are already a bad combo, never mind the police.

millions of posts a day, the only way they can do it is to look for certain words. They are scared shit less of social media as they have no power over it, people thinking for themselves just will not do in the new Thailand

I believe that people (in this case, governments) are scared of things they don't know about. Things they think they cannot control. That's natural.

But... as usual, with the current esteemed leader, a high-handed approach is employed. If only they knew, if they can put down their predilection for 'face' and learn how to move with times, be relevant and harness the power of social media. It's such a powerful tool and in my opinion, they're missing the point. Anyway, four words describe these people - low-watt light bulb. And I'm not talking about the LED types

This is National Geographic. Not some half-witted publication with semi-naked 'superstars' gracing the front page and spy shots of who's sleeping with who's mom and dad. NatGeo doesn't run stories without a modicum of truth and solid data behind it. Again, as I've always said, there's no smoke without fire. Want to sue NatGeo huh. LOL... just another day in LOS, I guess.

Curious if they're going to charge tourists 'maintenance fees' in addition to the expected (and most probably hiked-up) entrance fee.

Maybe that's upcountry, in BKK they don't care for 10 baht more or less when it comes to dinner.

They are serious sold out most of the time lately in Topsy so now we also buy 10-15 packs if we see them. We don't visit Tops often so it's always good to have some stock at home.

I guess the other TV-members haven't tried Indomee yet, in Europe we can buy it in 10 different flavours but in Thailand only 2. Also there's a helal version and a normal one but the normal is sure always sold out in BKK.

The other place that sells it is Villa Market. I think Tesco carries it too, if I'm not mistaken.

I guess it's because they all discovered Indo-mee which tastes much better...it's always sold out in Tops last weeks.

Hahaha... I am truly surprised when I saw this as the first comment!!! It was precisely my thoughts. Indomie does actually taste better and have better texture too. But that's subjective. However, Indomie is much, much more expensive than Mama so if people find it difficult to afford Mama, then Indomie is going to be a hard sell.

Let me get this right - you, the host country - expect tourists to pay for their security? Are you serious?

As for maintaining and improving tourist attractions, don't you guys already have a scam in place i.e. charging the locals THB40 (or sometimes free) while foreigners pay THB400?

What about people who come for holidays but do not go to any of your scam-ridden attractions? Can they get a refund on their way out?

In the scheme of scams, this must be one of the mothers of them all. Proper idiots. Properly the hub of all scams.

Said on 15 January there is no info on entry of Daesh (IS) militants to Thailand. Makes a U-turn 7 days later. Maybe the militants DID decide, in the seven days since the first announcement, that Thailand is indeed a very good place to go to? Maybe they're just here on holiday. Positive figures then, for TAT to report, no?

When the brown clowns do get to work, things do get done. Bravo! Wish the victim full recovery.

Ah... I see. I thought CDC meant 'Centre for Disease Control' and was wondering what it had to do with politics...

The headline says it all - foreign mafia. So local mafia is ok and is in fact, allowed to continue operation.

Cut them some slack guys. The Thai govt is only protecting local jobs and employment.

These guys would do really well driving in snow. I guess he got his driving licence in the arcade at Big C.

Or maybe the ubiquitous 'seven'

This attitude is beginning to get really disgusting, especially when it's coming from the top: "Nevertheless, the Prime Minister also advised media in the country to treat the issues carefully so as not to create panic among the public which could create problems for the stock market and the economy."

So all they care about is money. Never mind the lives at stake. Then again, what's new?

Corrupt and being run-to-the-ground as it is, at least the Malaysian authorities and law enforcers (also known to do a much better job than the Thai brown clowns, when push comes to shove) issued an official notice that several areas (mostly touristy ones) are being targetted by 'terror groups'. When it comes to economy, I'd say Malaysia's economy is in far worse shape than Thailand, and would welcome any and all sorts of income possible but still, that did not stop them from issuing a warning to its citizens and tourists, for the simple reason of safety and securuty.

Personally, I refuse to believe that Thailand is immune to these terror threats. From the looks of it, it's the softest target amongst the few major SEA countries. I hope I am completely wrong, but I feel Thailand is just a time-bomb. Anecdotally-speaking, Thailand and specifically Bangkok, has an even larger collection of targets - more foreigners, more 'institutions' that go against the teachings of Islam, bumbling security at every level (or so it seems) and it's not even a Muslim country, unlike Indonesia and Malaysia.

Anyway, let's not talk about this and affect the stock market and economy.

Disgusting.

More 'vows'...

I believe, that if the post is made out of Thailand, the brown clowns have no jurisdicktion (that's NOT a spelling mistake) over it. And by the way, why are they, and Thais in general, so apt to react to negative comments in such a strong, forceful and negative way? There's no smoke without fire. Why doesn't anyone wake up, sit up and notice that there may indeed be something amiss and let's clean house first before being so childish about what can be argued as not-exactly-incorrect statements.

Not really sure why they had to divert to Bangkok. Since the man was already dead, would proceeding to Singapore not have been the better choice? If he was not dead at the time, but in serious trouble, then I do see diverting, so maybe that was the case. As with all Thai reporting, the devil is in the details (or lack thereof).

Maybe they diverted to Bangkok because the plane was still in Thailand airspace. There may be a rule concerning this. Or maybe not.

How about the fact that most people would not like to fly around or share the same space with a dead body (with all due respect to the deceased, RIP). I mean, it will certainly be quite unpleasant if it happened on a flight I am in.

Then again, I'm just guessing. Maybe pilots, airline stafffers or avaiation professionals in TVF can shed more light on this.

Never a fan of these 'animal shows'. Actually hate them. So, when anything untoward happens during one of these shows, I find it hard to feel pity for the victim/s. I only pity the animals, and feel sorry that they have to be subjected to such treatment by allegedly 'more civilised' humans.

Emergency? Well it may have been, however the Thai spokesman said for technical reasons, whatever that may mean. The press everywhere call all diversions "emergencies" regardless of the reasons. As the flight apparently continued to BKK a few hours later it appears that the technical problem was just that. The photo shows an A330 not a B777, however they did say it was a "Thai Airways plane". You would think that they would have a file photo of the correct aircraft type. Typical reporting of aviation events.

I had the same reaction when I saw the pic and read the article. But in hindsight, I think they were just intent on showing 'a Thai Airways plane', for the sake of having a photo to go with the article. I think they were not trying to show aircraft type. At least the caption supports this theory "File photo of a Thai Airways plane". Lucky they didn't write "File photo of aircraft similar to the one that made an emergency landing at Osaka." The latter would've invited a whole new tsunami of bashing... LOL

Anyway, at least they didn't use the pic of a 747. Both the A330 and B777 are twin-engined, widebody planes so in a way, they didn't get it completely wrong. Very few people outside the plane-spotting circle can tell the difference between the A330 and B777. You may even throw the B767 into the mix. To most, they all look the same. Ok, I'm being kind today... LOL

And yes, spot on regarding the reporting. It wasn't exactly an emergency, so I'm not sure why the need to highlight this piece of info. Most planes from most airlines have made diversions at some point in time. Rather this happened, than the pilot deciding to press on in spite of a pending technical issue.

Exhibition = show-boating.

Another knee-jerk decision that hasn't been very well thought-out. Double-decker buses may be inherently less stable than single-deckers, due to the higher centre of gravity of the double-deckers. On the same argument, the single-deckers are less stable than say, pick-up trucks, which are in turn less stable than passenger cars, for the same reason. So ban all buses and pickup-trucks then?

Did it ever occur to these people that most of everything is due to the person operating the machine - i.e. the driver, in this case? Training and education are key. Teach these orangutans how to properly engage the grey matter between the ears in a modern society. Speaking of grey matters... oh well, nevermind.

"...stress the development of traffic laws..."??? Really? It needs to developed? So there is no law now? Then again, why should I be surprised.

One problem here, and maybe the good Gen isn't quite connected with the real world - many Thais drive without a license. Never mind if they drive a beat-up pick-up or or a condo-on-wheels. So, there may not be many licenses for you to seize and by the way, the lack of a license has never stopped most Thais from driving/riding on the road. Sober or otherwise.