soalbundy

No, the public isn't stupid, they all know what is going on. Prostitution is work and should be regulated for the health of the punters and girls (healthy pussy checks), then there is the enormous tax revenue, the police would of course lose out. This is not about morals, it's about money, lots of money.

I rather doubt his statement unless pue thai has a landslide win but even then would the leaders welcome a grey eminence who would likely remove them and take charge himself, he is just stirring the pot

Very commendable but they should have lied about that.

I doubt that she will be, it doesn't matter if she was involved with the perp or not, she knows (knew) too much, who could trust a 16 year old girl to keep her mouth shut.

What I was trying to say was that in the main people in Thailand are generally happy and can lead a good life, political freedoms are only important if one is engaged in politics and for the most part people aren't although come election time emotions can run high for a few weeks, afterwards things get back to normal and politics are usually just a foot note for most. As long as one isn't oppressed in daily life I don't care who holds the scepter. Politicians and CEO's have been found generally to be sociopaths and corruption is the norm, in the west it's just better hidden. Every country has its own way of dealing with its society, it has grown organically, even in the west there are huge differences under the umbrella of freedom, most Europeans would be horrified to have to adopt an American way of life for instance. It is wrong to push the standards of one country onto another, shoving democracy down the throats of people who haven't been used to it doesn't work and some countries get by ok with a benevolent dictatorship, stay away from politics (and religion) and one is usually safe.

There is a lot of talk about freedom here, perhaps one should define it. If you live in any society you are not free, you have basic freedoms given to you by the state but no more. Let us take a young man in any western state;- must you pay taxes, yes, must you obey the laws of your state, even if you disagree with some of them, yes. Is it required that you work for a living, yes, If war is declared would you be called up to fight, yes, If you break an important law of your state would you be imprisoned, yes, are you allowed to express views that could cause offense to others or lead to violence, no, etc. etc. Our constrained freedom, which seems satisfactory to me, is can I choose to work and live where I want to, yes, can I spend my money legally as I choose, yes, am I protected by law from violence or theft, yes, If I am ill will the state look after me, yes, can I choose to leave the state when I wish, yes, is my privacy respected, yes, do I have the right to a fair trial, yes, is there a free press, yes. Anything else is decoration, philosophical banter for an average citizen, who cares who holds high office, PM's, generals, come and go like the seasons. Now of course if I have a state like Myanmar all bets are off, the state is not worthy but it would take courage to rebel, would I find the courage to fight a state from within like Nazi Germany, China, Russia, Myanmar, no I would not. Life is a compromise, there are those, tall like oak trees, willing to risk all, unbending in the pursuit of 'freedom' and then there are small bushes like myself, growing in their shade.

Missed that, good for them but I presume this was a temporary thing due to covid lock down. The food banks in the UK are permanent and increasing with proper offices and rooms. They don't just provide food but also clothing, blankets, kids toys, and even electrical equipment. They can't keep pace with demand, these people have to provide confirmation from social services as proof that they are needy. Another thing on the increase is debt help services, people are maxing out their credit cards for basics, food, rent, gas, electric etc. and are seeking help how to deal with their debtors. I've seen examples on YouTube of families, now homeless, with debts totaling 40,000 pounds. Marriage breakups, kids on tranquilizers, it's heart breaking, life in a Thai farming village would seem like paradise. 100 million pounds for a coronation and two aircraft carriers and a new class of nuclear submarines though so we must be doing OK.

I realize that but it just isn't an issue in my (large) village. At the height of the last 'confrontations' I only saw two pickups full of red shirts at the market town 17km from me and a demonstration opposing violence and unrest at the council offices, there was flag waving and a bit of shouting between the two factions but no violence, the red shirts weren't even from our Ampour, they had traveled from Surin to stir up trouble and in the end the police saw them off. The only army I saw during the coup was at Surin railway station, when they saw me, the only farang on the platform they lowered their M16's and grinned sheepishly they were just kids, I got chatting to them, they were pised off and wanted to go back to barracks.

In Surin province it was even easier, medical cert. license and passport. had to watch the one hour video but they let my wife watch it for me because I had to go back home to get my yellow book. It was all done at the transport office because the DL center was upstairs.....no problem.

If you want to see inequality try the UK, I haven't seen any food banks here, in the UK even teachers and nurses use them and let's not talk about homelessness, the only country in Europe tackling this huge problem is Finland. I live in a North Eastern rice farming village, whoever is in charge makes no difference to them, army or pue thai, it's just smoke and mirrors, they get on with their lives and farm and from what I can see they have a decent standard of living. At a neighbour's wedding yesterday 400 people turned up in their best, were wined (beer) and dined watched a stage show and danced, money was collected to help pay for everything, we all had a good time. No old aged pensioners having to choose between heating (aircon) or eating here, Bangkok is a long way off, I speak and read Thai, never heard anyone speak about politics at the local shop (an informal get together place in the mornings and evenings). Big city folks will argue about politics, hot air, it will make no difference.

Tell me country which has democracy other than in name. It has been said that true democracy can only be had in a society numbering less than 5,000 people, they can vote on every issue passed into law. As it is once politicians are in power they don't give a flying fart what you want (I wonder how many people wanted the council tax or wanted to send troops to Iraq). What we have is a compromise governed by international market forces, parliament can only react to the stock exchange and at the same time keeping an eye on the 'free' press which molds our opinions according to which fat cat has control of it.

I don't even care what happens in the UK let alone Thailand. Interference can get you into trouble here and it isn't appreciated by Thai citizens whatever colour shirt they wear. Thais must sort their own problems out and these can't be that big otherwise they would have done so by now. Yes there have been political protests, mostly half hearted and not very long lasting mostly because when all is said and done the Thais generally have an agreeable life and society functions in a Thai way they are accustomed to, god forbid we should have situations as in Myanmar. Europe needed 200 years of political reform before we have the standards prevalent today led by galant souls protesting against unspeakable exploitation and poverty, by and large Thais live in a rather benevolent society by comparison due in no small measure to the past struggles in Europe. I don't want to see violence (the last coup was relatively peaceful) and we probably wont, some political upheaval and protests, yes, that's just the way it is until things settle back to the status quo. Thais don't need high and mighty westerners telling them how things should be done, if it's so great back home what are we doing here?

Why on earth should we farang take any notice of Thai politics? We can't change anything and whoever is in power doesn't affect us, the last coup almost went unnoticed where I live, life went on as normal. A coup would have entertainment value only as far as I'm concerned. Whoever has their snout in the trough will go unnoticed by us, corruption will continue and the comedy that is Thai politics will continue its merry dance.

Yeah, thanks for the warning, got it you holidaying farang ? if you want to holiday in a 3rd world country in Asia and take a whore back to your room.......leave your Rolex at home.

You don't know when he bought it, when life was more benevolent to him, before his child was born perhaps ? If one is going to err then it is better to err in the belief in good, there are enough dark skies and gloom in life. He appears to be young, a young impoverished parent doing his best to do the right thing, there are enough Thai fathers who abscond when the girl is pregnant, I prefer to honour him as a decent father.

Considering the cost of air travel and the money spent on hotels and entertainment, 37 Euros isn't going to break the bank. I thought that 500 Baht was reasonable, the fact that they are considering to double the fee shows that all is not well as much as TAT would like it to be.

It's pointless arguing with greed, it's an inherent human quality and a bullet has an argument all of its own. Laws never stopped murder or theft and no religion has ever stopped sin. The best we can hope for is the famous Buddhist 'middle way', a little of this and that but not to much of either. The greatest works of literature and philosophy had their birth in evil, heroes need a tyrant to prevail over, the gallant struggles of reform by the workers in the last 200 years needed the all powerful owners of industry and rich land owners to fight. We don't have perfection in the west and perhaps that is a good thing, struggles against injustice are the juices that sustain vibrant life, perfection is the death of society.

The electorate can't even prevail in the west, if they could there would be no need for food banks and homelessness, Liz Truss in the UK was shown that the markets rule not the government. In Thailand even the army must be wary of the power of international market forces.

"A bright future for the country"......sounds a little naive to me, nothing corrupts so thoroughly like power. What starts off well meaning can soon get crushed under the weight of bundles of 1,000 Baht bank notes. Remember, regardless of which party, we are talking about politicians not saints and the army is always there to remind them where the real power lies, if bank notes wont do it then tanks will.

True, if those arrested were working they are obviously needed, just bureaucracy slammed on the poor but then it's always easier to go after the little guy.

regarding your last sentence ;- Like, that matters?

Well I live in 'red country' the people in my village will vote for who pays the most, no elevated moral convictions here. Lowering the cost of electricity or raising the price that the government pays for rice paddy is all it would take for victory. Prayut can go or stay it makes no difference, we all know who is really in control, political parties are the necessary cosmetics to give a semblance of democracy. Things would have to get really bad for society in order for pressure to grow, let's face it Thais by and large have a reasonable standard of living compared to some of their neighbours. When I first came to this farming village 18 years ago most houses were wooden houses on stilts, now there are mostly brick built bungalows with many two story houses. The nearby market town has a Tesco filled with Thai customers, Surin 50 km away has a 'Big C' whose variety of goods rival any western supermarket and are full of Thai customers, no food banks here. I don't smell anarchy in the air. It's maybe different in Bangkok which is more sophisticated but even there you will only get token resistance to the status quo. The Romans knew this, keep them happy with bread and circus.

I don't think anything will kick off. what did all the red and yellow shirt riots bring them ? nothing, one would have to have a heart of stone not to laugh at their naive enthusiasm knowing that politicians don't matter, power lies with the army and the rich establishment groups, they are the puppet masters and they are difficult to get rid of as Myanmar well knows (and the UK come to think of it)

It doesn't affect us, I doubt they will make any political progress whoever is in control, their main problem is corruption in local government more so than in national government and here the main damage to the population is done but really peoples lives don't change much after an election.

Well this getting exciting it's been a long time since we have had any political riots, get in the popcorn and lock the doors.