climbertrev1

I don't see how this new law could be enforced. You can't see through these black tinted windows

The black tinted windows make crossing the road riding a motorcycle, bicycle etc a far more risky proposition than it should be. You have no direct clue as to whether a driver has even seen you.

I used to be a motorcycle dispatch rider in London. The only way to survive there was to drive defensively. Generally I would never assume I had been seen unless I had eye contact with the driver. With blacked out windows that vital link is simply not available to you. This makes crossing walking cycling motor cycling or driving a car far more dangerous. i have been told that at night it is extremely difficult for the driver to see out of the tinted windows thus the risk of an accident is probably a least doubled..

As for motorcyclist using the phone whilst driving it is endemic. But lets face reality. In places where efforts are made to make people wear crash helmets people still don't do it despite the stops and fines. In the UK you would end up losing your license if you kept repeating the offense.. 

 

If you run a business and have foreign workers you have to pay the BIB REGARDLESS of the workers having paperwork, ie work visa, work permit, etc,

They even do it at hospitals that have foreign workers.    The top cop buy's his position and can keep it for approximately 10 years after that it is sold too another cop, so the extortion money is for getting your money back with a very tidy profit.   They don't even care that they are on CCTV,   they know they are well protected as it all comes from the big boy's in BKK...   Why don't the internal affairs ever seem to catch these guy's?  OP"S THEY ARE ON THE PAYROLL ALSO HEHEHEHE

 

Everyone pay, even Thai Companies with Thai Staff only.

 

Then it is time for all Thai people to stand up to this extortion. You now have a golden opportunity take it. Of course those who benefit from the extortion will not be happy.

These people are serious........love it.

More of this General, you are doing a good job.

This single action will send a more powerful message to the rich and powerful than anything else that has happened to date. Even they will now realise that they are  not immune...and the military are being really serious about this anti corruption drive.

Perhaps Thailand is really entering a brave new world.

Until the Thai military hauls off a few Thai fishery owners in handcuffs and perp walks them, no one in the world would take this Thai blustering and puffing seriously.

It must be around two years ago that the Mayor of Pattaya promised to stop the rip offs by the scam criminal jet ski operators.

Of course the scams are still going on today. Why should we believe anything we are told by the Thai authorities.

Besides why does it take two years to stop this criminal and immoral behaviour?

I have a question for those in power. Would you wait two years if it was your children that were being used as slaves? The whole affair is obscene and disgusting.

Beginner - แปรงสีฟัน bpraeng see® fan - toothbrush

OK guys... let's get this rolling...

If this is todays word for us beginners, can someone please explain how it is pronounced?

I mean, we've got to have some consistencies in pronunciation, as transliteration into English may not sound quite the same for everyone.

For example, I thought the word for tooth was pronounced more like fun than fan?

You make an excellent point. There is always a problem when you transliterate Thai into English. The only sound solution is to learn to read and write in Thai. Once you can do that the world of Thai language is your oyster.

Tooth sounds much more like fan than fun (to me anyway). ฟัน this is made up of ฟ , which is an f sound, ั , which is a short a sound and น, which is an n sound.

I have just asked my Thai girlfriend how she would transliterate fun into written Thai. Unfortunately she tells me to write ฟ้น for the english word fun.(you will note this is exactly the same as the way they write the Thai word for tooth. That aside I still think tooth in Thai is closer to fan than fun. Some of the hardest words to read and pronounce from Thai script are their versions of English words. They simply do not hear the words the same way we do.

learning Thai is a challenge I have to admit but I love it, I like a challenge. It took me about a month to learn the Thai alphabet from a book. After 2 years of one to one lessons with a Thai teacher and living with my high school educated girlfriend I am still improving my pronunciation and listening skills. I am convinced that anyone over 40 needs to learn the written language to achieve good spoken Thai.

Once you have writing skills and a thorough knowledge of Thai script lots of resources including this thread will become useful to you.

http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/eco-tourism/photos/15-travel-destinations-being-ruined-by-tourism/phi-phi-islands

I bet there was no discussion of martial law, suspension of the democratic process, failure of waste management and pollution control, slavery or the like though.

The EU is controlled by the US so appears along with the US Human Trafficking that the West is unhappy with Thailand...because of democracy? because of slavery? because they can't pay anyone to do their bidding in Thailand?

You will find that the recent EU sanctions are not related to their human trafficking record, but are because there is no legitimate government currently.

No legitimate government?...Of course they have sanctioned Egypt?..Ukraine? Iraq? Obviously you believe the lies...

The military coup in Thailand was the best thing that happened and as they are firmly in control..they are as legitimate as any government..The EU is trying to pressure Thailand via the US behind the scenes & of course not going to publically declare that the US behind this or that they want a Thai government in power that they can buy & manipulate.

So in your world might is always right. You won't be unhappy then if the Russian mafia can put the muscle together and take over Thailand or anywhere else for that matter?

Look, why doesn't Thailand just become a COMEDY Hub, and have done with it?

I think you have summed up the entire thread of comments on this banal article. Now the entire Thai media has become banal and pointless why engage with any of it.

I have no further desire to make any comment on any News story.

Fortunately I am not living in Thailand.

Simply unbelievable but predictable. They have been downgraded due to their own failure to even try to comply and they dismiss this with a shrug and the self righteous conviction that they will be able to talk their way out of this.

If it did not get accepted at Tier 2 why should they think they can do better this time.

They are where they truly belong owing to the complete failure to demonstrate any form off compliance

And they will pay the price.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/jun/25/government-uk-retailers-ordered-improve-human-rights

It will not only be government pushing for sanctions either. NGO's and individuals will also be lobbying government to not backslide on this issue.

While the US breaks and bends every conceivable moral code there is, it arrogantly putting the squeeze on Thailand....... As an American, I resent very much the antics of the US government. Of course, I don't condone the shady things that ocurr in Thailand, but the US would be well advised to clean up its own act.

Being American doesn't make your point any more valid or interesting.

If Thailand wants to play the international economy game, Thailand needs to play by the rules or face trouble.

The USA wears the pants in this economic relationship. If Thailand was so confident in its ability to exist without any significant economic ties to the USA, surely, knowing the general arrogance of the Thai elite, they would simply have cut off economic ties.

So, your sentiment is a bit naive, I fear.

The USA and Japan have more or less made Thailand the 'recently industrialized' country it is today.

Thailand has done little of that significance for any country.

Thailand is the baby. USA and Japan are momma and dadda.

Some posting here think the US government has a cheek criticizing Thailand because its own house is not in order that is simply beside the point.

The information leading to the T3 grading is being provided by all manner of research and investigation by media, NGO's and individuals. The consequences of being T3 for Thailand go far beyond what the US government is prepared to do. Those same groups reporting the injustices will campaign to get Thai goods and services boycotted. Slavery was not abolished because the British Government wanted it to be it was abolished by lobby led by Wilberforce and others. It was called the anti-slavery league formed in 1822. I am reminded of the fight against Apartheid which was led by other activists that forced governments to act against South Africa. The Thai elite military or otherwise is being very foolish if it thinks it can continually wriggle it's way out of problems.

When I tried to talk to my wife about people trafficing and slavery, she dismissed it as being propaganda against the junta and the international community know nothing about Thailand. I guess it is ingrained in them, if not from birth, certainly from the time they are old enough to stand in front of the flag and sing the national anthem every morning at school. A lost cause I fear.

When I tried to talk to my wife about people trafficing and slavery, she dismissed it as being propaganda against the junta and the international community know nothing about Thailand. I guess it is ingrained in them, if not from birth, certainly from the time they are old enough to stand in front of the flag and sing the national anthem every morning at school. A lost cause I fear.

The thing is though it doesn't matter what Thais think or believe about this issue.

Being made T3 affects the way the rest of the civilised world views and deals with Thailand. The Thais can believe what they like but the decisions to ban imports of shrimp or whatever from Thailand will be made far beyond the reach of the General and his minions. Thailand is now wide open for governments and ngos or individuals to boycott Thai goods.

Thailand and it's people will suffer from this negative ranking. Unfortunately it will be the poor and powerless Thais who will suffer worst. I hope and pray that the civilised world can come up with a method of hitting and hurting the people in control.

So is the suggestion they remove the 'Made in Thauland' label to avoid the issue. Why is it Thais never deal with the core problems but will spend an inordinate amount of effort in hiding, diverting attention and misleading the truth. It would be so much cheaper to set up a task force of say 500 soldiers to root out the perpetrators and get a grip of the situation. Send them down with a team of reporters with complete freedom of reporting what was found. Tier two would be just around the corner. All this bull from the people involved is getting tedious.

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa app

I support almost all of what you say but given history and the current situation you may be being a little too optimistic.

reporters with complete freedom of reporting

This is another long standing Thai problem particularly acute at this current time due to complete media control being exercised by the military. Who in their right mind would believe anything reported by the press.

As for pretending that this issue will just go away I think the Thai authorities (I mean the General) are in total denial.

In fact given the current situation everything that is reported has to fit the world view of a single individual. This is incredibly risky in the long term. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are not just nice liberal touchy feely traditions they are absolutely vital to have a society that is progressive and able to make real progress.

I have just returned from the UK. There I would have no concerns about stating my views and would not fear criticizing the powers that be. I am a little concerned that I may have overstepped the mark here in Thailand (the land of the free) the powers that be do not like criticism. Debate is being stifled at every turn.

Thailand I fear will become more isolated the longer free debate and reporting are suppressed. The really destructive corruption will just become deeper embedded since it will be beyond the reach of the press or individual reporting or criticism.

The prosecution has highlighted the issue far better than the report. Good Job, Natural Fruit!

I agree 100% the Thai authorities may well rue the day they took this course of action. This is really about someone reporting malpractice to a foreign news group.

and the authorities in ThaIland attempting to suppress that reporting. It will achieve the exact opposite. I just hope that Finnwatch has the resources to protect their activist. Natural Fruit may well experience some rather different effects of globalisation as a result of this prosecution. I had no knowledge of Natural Fruit until this happened. I do now and will be extra vigilant as a result..

Paid for sex in Thailand , have you?

what does this have to do with his comment?

Quite it could have said "paid for plumbing in Thailand have you? or building or washing or cooking etc

Depending on your definition of Trafficking, in the extreme you could argue that anyone who has benefited from Burmese, Cambodian of Laotian labour are just as guilty.

One only hopes they are out of "work" for a very long time,

"work" it would kill them if they had to do a proper days work,

Politicians here and most countries are leaches on society.

regards Worgeordie

One only hopes they are out of "work" for a very long time, i can only conclude that you are happy for martial law to remain in place for a very long time and have no time for democracy.

"work" it would kill them if they had to do a proper days work, That is merely your opinion . The statement would have carried far more weight if you had used the word some or most . To accuse all is a gross generalisation and almost certainly a wrong accusation.

Politicians here and most countries are leaches on society. Whether you believe it or not in even the most corrupt political systems there are some good men and women trying to make the world a better place. Not all politicians are lazy and or corrupt. Some yes for sure.

Some people are incredibly greedy but some are incredibly generous.

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The hard disk is supposed to be missing and we can be sure it will stay that way unless somebody has kept it for some sort of 3rd party insurance and ever feels it necessary to produce it.

The lawyer quoted that these police officers were threatening legal action , their goose would be cooked, doing that, then everyone will know who they are.

Why should their goose be cooked? If there is no evidence against them they have every right to challenge the allegations of this lawyer.

The facts of this case appear to be buried under pile on pile of slime and confusion. Even the motive for murdering the Billionaire are speculative.

Given that the billionaire made his fortune from conning gullible people (ie Pyramid schemes) out of their hard earned savings would have made him a lot of enemies.

would be good if Taksin Yinglook the clan and hangers on who certainly tool their cut got same and please any Taksin red short supporters dont be so naive to think they did not

To deny Takains regme was not totally corrupt and rotten to core is like denying the holocost

To deny Takains regme was not totally corrupt and rotten to core is like denying the holocost

I don't think you have said what you wanted to say. Grammatically you have stated that the Taksin's regime was not totally corrupt and rotten to the core.

As for your accusations. I prefer to wait and see what evidence is produced against the regime.

Subsidies and government schemes even the best intentioned get abused and corrupted. I remember back in the 80's the scandal of exploitation by Italians and others of EU common agricultural policies. Just because their is corruption at the local level does not prove that there is collusion between farmers, millers and government ministers.

Taksin is not the problem he is a symptom. The question is: can a general who probably purchased his commission be trusted to rid Thailand of corruption?

I would think it would be difficult to cause'damage' as the article states to a garbage dump.

It is the chemicals in the air it generates.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

It isn't just air born pollutants. Low temperature combustion of plastics produces dioxins which will stay in the soil and dust for generations. It will also be absorbed into the water table and again remain for hundreds of years.

Just outside Pattaya is an old gravel and sand quarry. About three years ago it looked to be abandoned and slowly filling with water. Then illegal tipping began. Only Buddha knows what lay submerged below the water. Then about a year ago a makeshift but ineffective fence was erected and t looks like the legitimate owners of the quarry have begun dumping heavens knows what. Building waste,domestic putrescible waste, agricultural waste and possibly toxic waste. Does any body know for sure. Due to the lack of a proper fence I doubt it very much.

No attempt has been made to stop polluted water and leachate leaking into ground water. A couple of months ago it dawned on me that the quarry is located about 2km from and 50 metres or so above Lake Mabarachan. This is actually a reservoir and provides much of Pattaya's drinking water.

The quarry catching fire is probably a lesser but still serious consequence of waste disposal being carried out in blatant contravention of law, regulation and best practice. Sometimes I despair at the short sightedness ofThai authorities.

seizing Government House and calling for an "Article 7 PM" was designed to provoke the military to stage a coup

This is what every Thai I have spoken with is fully expecting to happen. It is historically the way these ordeals cycle in Thailand... the army imposes martial law and sorts out the mess made by the government.

Even though is isn't "politically correct" in the eyes of the rest of the world, it is probably the best solution for Thailand.

The problem is that there really is no one that anybody will agree upon to be the new prime minister. There is nobody capable and admired enough to step up to the plate for this. It seems that no side is going to give way in this fight, and these people need someone to tell them specifically what to do without any negotiation or options.

A coup is probably the best solution... as long as the army is on board with reform and willing to make it happen. Suspend the constitution (which will ultimately have to be redrafted anyway to cover the new reforms) and do some serious housecleaning under the provision of martial law.

Eradicate the Shin clan permanently, finishing what was started in 2006. Once the necessary reforms have been made and stability restored, a new election can be implemented.

Unfortunately, some blood is going to have to be spilled somewhere before the army will take action and this becomes a reality.

Eradicate the Shin clan permanently

What do you suggest hanging, shooting, poisoning of all men, women and children? How far do you recommend the purge goes. 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th cousin? Just what constitutes a clan anyway?

Once the necessary reforms have been made and stability restored

You appear to be calling for a "Final Solution"

I suspect that if your advice is followed civil war would be the direct result. Unlike in the past the Military is now very divided. Both sides will probably end up with powerful weapons to use.

Thailand needs a total political amnesty and proper democratic elections. This means that ordinary people should be able to nominate whomever they want. It is not the job of the Judiciary to be involved in the political process.

'The first 15 m of the project will involve a sandbag wall then 20 m of fill in sand.' So the decaying sandbag mess that can be seen at the North end of the beach will now extend for the entire 3 km. of beach.

Yes that was my first thought as well.

My other thought was the storm drains are perfectly positioned to either wash the beach, existing or planned, away, or cover it in detritus of all descriptions.

As it is now, at low tide the amount of crap and detritus lying on the beach is dreadful Here in Thailand where labour is cheap the authorities appear unable to organise daily beach cleaning. This is routine practice in most other tourist areas across the world.

And as others have pointed out the Jet Ski scams continue unabated in direct contradiction of the official line.

Rainy season is going to be interesting.

I asked if Thailand had any seismic activity and they said "no". No fault lines, no subduction zones and that the country, especially in the Isaan area was the most stable and least likely to have any ground movement caused by earthquakes. They understood the question and I I understood their answer. Odd neither of them knew there was a fault line near Chiang Rai.

I suspect this was a rare occurrence.

.

Just two weeks ago I had two different pool builders tell me Thailand didn't have any seismic activity so I didn't need to consider that when choosing between a pool with tile or a liner.

Wonder what they're saying now?

I didn't feel anything in Bangkok on the 4th floor and this place moves sometimes when heavy trucks speed past the building.

Everywhere can and does have earthquakes but Bangkok isn't a place prone to earthquakes, Northern Thailand is more so. Building codes are different depending on the likelihood of a significant quake .... NY doesn't build to LA standards even though NY gets earthquakes too.

I think you either misunderstood the pool builders or they were telling you something in very basic terms to not make things complicated.

Who did you ask? I would be surprised if it was a geologist or a seismologist. The mountainous areas of Thailand are off shoots of the Himalayas and consequently they are prone to seismic activity. Incidentally Chiang Rai is in Northern Thailand not Issan which is usually referred to as North East Thailand. Issan doesn't have any major mountain ranges and is relatively inactive seismically. Chiang Rai is much closer to the mountains.

Sutherp, I wish you, every success to your quest.

We are all behind you, voters or non voters.

All TVF, members are with you, even if they pretend they support the red shirts, Thaksin or Yingluck.

Because everybody wants this country, that we all love, to go forward and get rid of the vermin, holding us back.

GOOD LUCK to you and your supporters.

Please don't try and speak on my behalf. You have no idea what my views are.

You'd thin that in order to avoid scenarios like this, ATM will be stuffed with as little as possible

money and just have more ATM's with less money in them, sorry, I forgot that this is Thailand,

where common sense is a rare commodity...

I forgot that this is Thailand,

where common sense is a rare commodity...

Another arrogant Farag. I can only suppose that you believe that ATM's never get broken into in other countries.

I love this country and it's people in the main that is why I live here. I sometimes wonder how and why, some people can bare to stay here.