soalbundy

If you want a word of mouth tourist number increase......put up the prices, works in bars with too few customers....not.

How was he able to get away with this over a period of 25 years ? Jimmy Savile comes to mind, a wall of silence.

Yet! but things will change if the old gang is given power. Up until now the street has remained calm and surprisingly civilized, this has emboldened the Junta, possibly a fatal miscalculation.

Unfortunately THIS will be the harbinger of violence, now the street will speak.

Having a friendly postman or postwoman is a plus, they go the extra mile for you and don't 'mislay' your post. My one has rung me up while sorting the letters at the post office, "That letter you keep asking me about is here now, be with you shortly", she now stops for a coffee and chats with the wife, relax, you're retired, not running from danger.

I have never had this problem. I can give you an example. The electrical wiring in the loft in my new house was a disaster, Spaghetti. I asked around in the village and found (oh wonder) a qualified electrician, he had the papers that qualified him to wire a hotel. He looked in my loft, muttered something akin to swearing shaking his head. "You buy me what I tell you and pay me 500 Baht a day," this was 18 years ago. I agreed. He gave me a list, wire class A, yellow plastic tubing, screws, drills, etc. He arrived with a helper but the electrician would pay him himself. It was the hot season, stripped to their underpants they worked, I think, 4 days. I looked in the loft, it was empty of hanging wires, neat plastic tubing screwed to walls and rafters. I gave him a 1,000 Baht per day, he was utterly shocked and tried to refuse but I insisted. Two days later he came to my house with a fuse box, "It's not new but it's better than the one you have, I'll put it in for free, you've already paid me too much," I blushed with embarrassment, I wouldn't have worked in that loft for a 1,000 pounds a day.

Uniforms were designed to stop the differences between rich and poor, everybody had the same clothes so nobody could come to school wearing the latest fashion and sneer at the poorer students ( children are cruel). Unfortunately uniforms are more expensive than they should be and someone with 3 or more children find it difficult to pay. My parents in England had 6 children and only my father worked, looking back now in my old age I wonder how they managed. At school you are not only taught facts but also how to learn, the logic of dissemination. At my son's school (which I consider very good, highly disciplined) students are often given homework on subjects that the teacher has only superficially touched on, the students are then asked detailed questions on the subject which forces them to search for themselves using their iphones, here the internet is of great value and they learn how to hunt out information for themselves. As a European I have no problem in paying for an iphone but I can imagine for a rice farmer this is no small matter and yet many of their children (where I am) have gone to university. My eldest step daughter won a scholarship at this school and was sponsored by Toyota to do business studies, my other stepdaughter is now an electrical technician. Farmers do know the value of education and sacrifice a lot for their children.

I beg to differ but can only speak for my own village in Isaan. The people are house proud, when I first came here 18 years ago most houses were wooden on stilts (built by their or their father's own hands, I doubt many Europeans would be able to do that); today most are brick built with all mod-cons and the best car in the village is my well kept 15 year old Honda Jazz, the others are old pick-ups used in farming activities or a motorbike. These people aren't brainless, the greatest tragedy that could befall them would be to lose their land through debt so they do plan ahead as to what they can afford. Much has been spoken of iphones, as well as communication devices they take the place of a falang's computer for entertainment which they can't afford, they use the wifi from the pu jai baan, the village shop, the village clinic, or the government office, my wife regularly watches films on her iphone and my son uses his to gather info for his homework which is why the school requires the students above a certain age to have one, He now has a laptop and we cant get him off it.

I think many comments here are a little unfair, stereotyped Thais, lazy, no forward thinking etc. Many have no other option than to borrow for things like school activities, school uniforms, fees, learning materials etc. (also iphones, required at my 16 year old's school) especially as farmers are relying on the coming harvest, they've invested in their crops but haven't received any money yet. Also many small employers, garages, shops, builders, don't even pay the last minimum wage let alone the new one. I know enough Thais with two jobs not just one. I certainly don't find them lazy, the builders at my local temple are erecting buildings that are works of art and work enthusiastically in all weathers with no safety equipment even though, as the foreman told me, the pay isn't that good, their midday meal is the monks left overs. Europeans with guaranteed wages, bonuses, holiday money, sick pay, pensions etc. enjoy benefits that a Thai can only dream of and due to low state pensions often have to support their parents as well as their own children. Many of you have no idea what these people go through because to save face they don't grumble, at least not to a stranger, they are an admirable proud, stoic people, corruption/rip offs among the little folk here is understandable. Unlike the UK, where every 7th person is on the poverty line and in debt, there are no food banks or charitable organizations (that I know of anyway) to help out. The system is wrong, not the people.

He is showing his lack of political experience, he will talk himself into obscurity.

It's obviously one of the few crimes he wasn't involved in.

So coming to Thailand in the winter to get some sun (among other things) isn't going to be a priority, watch the tourist numbers fall, in many places in the USA and Europe it's hotter than Thailand. The Brits must be confused.

If it's a really nice expensive bike they are guilty.

Which one ?

Precisely, given enough booze everyone is a penis

Possibly, the stance on this issue surprised me somewhat, it was flagrantly not PC, Thai people are a conservative lot when it concerns the monarchy and with a coalition government I doubt Pita could have got any changes passed in the house. An unnecessary fight before the main battle.

Yes, we are just a few horse trades away for PTP to take the reigns, a compromise, a lesson that can serve Pita well, don't talk so much, lose your innocence (that will always happen in politics) and learn to trade horses.

I have yet to see any big protests on the streets. What's all this talk of a possible coup? That isn't needed or wanted by anyone. Pheu Thai is a compromise that would be acceptable to the establishment and the people and that is the way it will go, then I think Mr T will return.

Yes they are acting to the letter of the law but this was to be expected, next time round Pita will better prepared and that could be sooner than we expect, a new government without MFP will be frail and short lived. I don't expect any huge demonstrations with violence, more of a token rally. The army will be mindful of international condemnation and stay in the barracks, no need for an uproar, the future belongs to the MFP, this may be a silver lining and give MFP more votes, perhaps an overall majority, in the future.

I read an interesting article a few days ago (BBC?) saying the new tourism trend is to head for colder climates, Nordic countries and the like, Europeans, Americans and Asians have grown sick of the hot weather, of course these holidays are more expensive. My brother who lives in Australia took a cruise holiday with his wife to the Antarctic this year ( cost an arm and a leg)

ooooooooh condemn, scary.

Ukraine agent?

The 27 year old had his arm twisted by a fat old farang. Since he has Thai citizenship he may geht away with a couple of years, can't doubt the word of a Thai, even a Pakistani one.

No. I don't do Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. I watch a lot of YouTube which can be informative, WF for instance but 70% is clickbait rubbish. The news is depressing but necessary, I read English, American and German publications, the mix is in order to get a semblance of truth. I'm a cynic and don't even trust my own thoughts but everyone else knows the truth.

Basically that is what I was saying, we start off pure and innocent and then the world 'happens', we change constantly, mostly not for the better. It is probable that many politicians when young, like Pita for instance, are idealistic, full of new ideas, until reality hits home and they have to get involved with intrigue and deal making, eventually they become the old war horses that they wanted to replace. Politicians are groomed at a young age, 'The young Conservatives,' The young Liberals' etc. The political arena has its own laws, loyalties and constraints, representing the people doesn't take up much of their time. In Germany the trustworthiness of politicians was voted below that of used car salesmen in a poll taken 20 years ago when I still lived there.