Fat Haggis

You can sense there's a conflict going on within the military. The new Army Commnader has thrown out a lot of his predecessors implementations, perhaps the rumours of a counter coup are gaining Merit after all?

I have to shake hands with people I can't stand every day, who are doing their best to fark me over, and take my job from me, I don't really make a big song and dance about it, my thoughts on them don't change just because of a courtesy hand shake.

You need to start thinking about what you will do after you reach puberty Mr. PM.

What a pathetic piece of kite flying by the junta, aided by their tame mass media presstitutes.

Who cares what the junta spin doctors call this latest outrageous attempt to control Internet content? It's the concept which is at issue, not the name they invent to "sell" it to a gullible public.

The very fact that this kind of chicanery is now being hatched in plain sight, rather than covertly, is a measure of the contempt in which the un-elected current leadership holds the Thai electorate.

Roll on 2017,

What is happening in 2017?

The insurgency in the south will be over?

Staging an illegal coup didn't seem to bother him !!

He will do what he wants, his memo that was leaked last month instructed this to be in place by the end of September, he didn't seem to give two flying fraks about legality or civil/human rights then

why are we constantly subjected to a stream of ifs buts and maybes why don't the police get it right they have found the source of funding for the bombers but they are not quite sure if its legal or not I am sure they could find out if they used their brains ?

Money transfers are not illegal, unless proven that they were used for supporting an act of terrorism,or bomb making causing death

(terrorism) or other illegal acts in which case the people who sent this money should be arrested as co- conspirators in an act of terrorism.

But then this would have to be classed as an international act of terrorism no Uighur could be put in this class as Chinese loose face and so do Thai, no smudge will have to prevail here I wonder what excuse they will come up with???

Maybe it was a humanitarian act of kindness to buy food for Bilal because he very hungry waiting to become truck driver in Malaysia after not getting paid to murder and maim.

But this wasn't an act of terrorism according to the Junta/BIB , so these wire transfer are just normal every day transactions.

Is there anyone in this country in an official capacity that can actually just tell the truth - no spin - no twisting - no deflection - no fabrication - no agenda, just the honest to god black and white truth ? if noses really did grow there'd be some real whoppers

They would become the hub of pole vaulters !!

Not often I agree with you outside of the Koh Tao thread but this is pretty much spot on.

"Westerners in Thailand need to show some restraint. When I am invited to your house for dinner, I don't continue to tell you I hated the food"

Mist of use were not invited to Thailand/dinner, we found that when we got here the meal/dinner was pretty enjoyable, so much so we decided to visit our favourite destination/restaurant all the time.

Some of us struck up friendships and relationships with the patrons/staff of our favourite eating place, and it was really nice to keep coming, intact it was so nice that going there daily was better than our old favourite restaurants in our homelands.

Then sadly the favourite restaurant changed ownership, and the menu changed, the new chef doesn't know how to cook beans, never mind a la carte, the food was not as palatable as it was, it's still not bad enough to stop going altogether, as there's a longing hope that if a new Chef comes along, the menu will get better, and everybody will start enjoying their favourite meals there again!!

I continue to be amazed at the venom directed at the Prime Minster by a group of people who have absolutely no legitimacy . None of you can vote; your are all guests in Thailand and yet you sound as if the PM should listen to you. I don't blame his irritation. Whether Obama or any other leader shakes his hand is irrelevant. The United States opinion of the coup is well known. What is not so well known is that the US foreign policy continues to be erratic and hypocritical. Egypt had a coup- no criticism- because the new government got rid of an elected government that was supported by the Moslem Brotherhood- an enemy of the US. Thailand doesn't have oil; isn't near the Middle East or Israel and thus is treated differently because America has no real concept of the real dynamics of Thai politics and its search for political reform.There is no Thai lobby in the US to influence opinion as there is a huge Middle East lobby.

Westerners in Thailand need to show some restraint. When I am invited to your house for dinner, I don't continue to tell you I hated the food.

Prayuth has one person to blame and one person only......himself, he's stumbling and bumbling from once crisis to another, he's not used to having his orders questioned.

You do realise that he can step down at any time he wishes and heaven forbid, actually use article 44 to hold snap elections using the military to protect the polling stations and prove once and for all of he's as popular as the polls and TVF pundits make him out to be.

Reforms reforms reforms, 18 months down the line, what reform has even begun, or is complete?

Token gestures only, his accomplishments are not that many, a few beaches where it didn't really matter free of scammers, but what about the encroached lands in Surat Thani, the beaches in places like oh say KohTao and Samui that have been encroached upon?

All too easy to do it in the North East and Korat, where the "influence" isn't so strong.

Sorry, but he (Prayuth) pretty much brings all the wrath on himself, he failed to get the press and media onside right from the get go.

He's lying about the single gateway too. It's already in place at his command. He's every bit as paranoid as his predecessors in the big seat.

Just a final point, don't forget that many anti Junta posters are also fully aware of EXACTLY why the junta simply HAS to be in control at this point in time. And it's got nothing to do with reforms or curtailing corruption!!

in other words your personal lives were pretty much the same, and not one of you suffered any more or any less, than at any other times of your lives and that you're all basically whingeing and moaning over something that you don't even have control over or a say in.

I thought as much.

Poster Ginjag dismissed other posters who HAVE noticed discontent, so how can you state he's spot on? what you're basically accusing other posters of is not living in Thailand, when you mention afar, you're another ignorant poster sir, you don't think people can communicate with family and friends that they have ALL OVER Thailand?

Thank god social forums exist for the likes of you to vent your frustration otherwise I can't imagine what you would resort to!

What's that supposed to mean? what I'd resort to? I wouldn't resort to anything, I wouldn't be trying to interfere in Thai affairs like you sycophants for starters.

you'd also be surprised that my live in Thailand is pretty good, I've not seen a single change in anything in my near 4 years here, I keep myself to myself, have integrated into the village quite nicely, I don't have much of a beef with anyone other than the expats here who constantly paint a picture that it was a nightmare living here under the Shins... Thai politics is for Thais, if one man wants to pay people to vote for him, that's down to them, get over it, vote buying has been happening for years, it happened before Thaksin came along.

The problem with you lot is you haven't lived outside of Thailand for any length of time, you're in a bubble, no country is perfect, but most of the countries expats hail from are not running it like an oppressive regime, which is what the Junta are doing. blah blah blah the Shins did the same, well that makes it worse in my opinion, as the junta are merely a mirror image of everyhting that was wrong with the Shins.

You say the Shins stole, and you're so sure that the current snouts are not raping and pillaging the systemn too, because they're very very very transparent aren't they? They just haven't been caught out yet... they're whiter than white. They have lied through their teeth since day one "no army personnnel are involved in human traffiking " ... oh dear oh dear "The Army didn't kill innocent students down in the South" ... oh dear oh deart oh dear.

Had the army actually started reconcilliation, they would have been more acceptable, but they are still in the "studying" stage, maintianing a tight grip on some regions, why?

Ginjag said it's all sweetness and roses, your beloved Junta doesn't seem to agree with that, so either Ginjag is right, and that everything is just fine, and there's no need to maintain article 44/Martial law, or the Junta is right, and there's simmerings of discontent and that Martial Law/article 44 stays in place in certain regions?

I would love to believe the country was more united than it ever has been, but that's NOT the picture the Junta itself paints.

The rankings of a tyrant, instead of brushing it off, he's making it sound more and more desperate and just drawing more attention to himself.

The saviour of Thailand? I don't think so, he's doing more harm than good now, and has lost his way.

TOPIC Rising anger in the North East ??? I am smothering the area UDON and honestly ---I mean honestly without a word of a lie-----what rising anger ????????? city and locals are not even mentioning any thing. Not angry mood, this topic is provided to let us all see who are the agenda people on TVF. and it shows, rallying to the reds----Ha ha ha.

Yes because they're all going to tell you, a complete stranger and a farang at they that they're pissed off with the junta... Dream on, maybe you missed the post by others who live in the North East, and I can also tell you that people are not happy in and around parts of Korat that I go to, and that's coming from family members, especially the ones who grow rice!!!

Your post smacks of ignorance and reeks of " I know it all" and that your some sort of expert, reality check is that like most farangs here, Thai people tell you what you want to hear, and I don't believe for one minute Thais you don't know openly discuss politics with you. Especially one who has an agenda!!

YOUR post smacks agenda----Korat is ONLY the gateway to the N/E, go a bit farther and your really in ex Thaksin country. move up north more. They grow rice in ISSAN Korat is the gate to that AREA only. I do not have to have an agenda----only living through more than you will ever do HERE.

I have nothing here to gain, having said so many times, You can have your reds---you can have your Yingluck, voted in many times---and thrown out as many.

City farm-------There is NO repeat NO massive anti government anger, as you seem to want, minority yes-----if not they would be on the streets, Thai people do these things if it is bad. Do not tell me they are not on the streets because the army have GUNS-------get a life agree there always will be people opposing---same you.....................if it was hostile I would be the first one to feel it and see it. Go into Nong Khai---Nong bua---K Khen---Udon----Ubon-----Maha Sarakham--------show me where the anger is with most people.-------and you have the audacity to say I have an agenda. I will welcome elections once the Thaksin bank money stops paying for problems.

My only agenda and wish, is for the Military to stop interfering and stay out of politics, you of all people, with your millions of years here can't seem to see that the military is the common denominator, they were interfering way before Thaksin was in politics.. but it's always the reds you blame... and you say you don't have an agenda?

and your typical sycophantic bullshit response in "I've been here and will see more than you" crap is pretty juvenile, that's your problem, you've been here so long you've been brainwashed, you've been cut off from the real world.

please tell me since you're such an expert and old timer, what exactly was so bad with your way of living under the Shins, not one of you sycophants have given an answer, as you can't, as your life was no different than it was 10 years ago, or even 20 years ago..

What I dislike more than the reds and more than the yellows are the old age pensioner farangs who were raised in an era where a world war was fought against tyrannical countries, such as Germany, and Japan, and the it was the like of you who used to throw it into the youngsters faces about how your fathers fought for freedom and justice and oppression, and here you sit, as bold as brass supporting a junta, that's denying all of those to the people..

People like you who came from Britain, who stood against such tyranny all through the second world war, the Korean War, who now believe in a Junta, I'd just love to use the D word, but I'd just get banned, just make me sick.

Here's a word you should be familiar with.. Quisling..

You do have an agenda, get over yourself, you're just like the rest of us in this country.. a NOBODY !!!

Shame on Obama.

The handshake is a betrayal of democracy, freedom and human rights - all things America supposedly stands for.

Guess nothing gets in the way of US corporate economic interests.

You are excessively regrettably naive. Churchill shakings hands with Stalin umpteen times, presenting Stalin with the priceless Sword of London, was way way more than what you call here "a betrayal of democracy".

Oh wise one, in case you haven't noticed, it ain't the 1940's anymore!

Obama has sacrificed US integrity to not lose a pawn in the economic pseudo fight with China in exactly the same way George W did when he gave the all clear for the US to torture!

Prayuth represents the opposite of everything America supposedly stands for - shaking hands with the man just gives the unelected regime usable material for their ongoing propaganda campaign and therefore prolongs the misery Thais have to endure as they struggle to live under these clowns

"Oh wise one, in case you haven't noticed, it ain't the 1940's anymore!" So?

He a hoot isn't he? He should have been saying this to the junta as they seem to be living in the past!!

Good luck with that - its gonna be like watching an Orangutang work as a dentist ...

They can just see the ip-numbers who all came at the same time, they are logged.

Ask the internetproviders who used the ip-numbers and there are the names....

Even an orangutang can do it.....

Yep, can you please show us all an orangutan working traces on a computer please. Mind you they have them in Government positions right now , so maybe you do have a point!!!!

They forgot to mention that by 'abroad' they actually meant Dubai!

Even the man in Dubai is not that stupid.

If he was involved (and I believe he is ), he would certainly make a complicated transfer procedure.

We saw that with all his stock transfers.

Yes, his 7 million baht reward was a red herring indeed!! And that's sarcasm by the way.

Have you stopped and thought about this for a minute?

You think Thaksin would use banks at all, if he's smart he wouldn't have any paper trail.

Just how many paper trails have been discovered to any of his accounts with regards to the rice scam ?

Some of you need to get a grip, and see beyond your hatred.

The cops have misled and miss investigated this incident since day 1 !!

Thaksin is an a-hole, and he's never ever going to run Thailand again, there are too many Sutheps out there to keep the hatred and bitterness going.

The problem with some people here is they can't see past their own hatred and agendas, there is a much bigger picture to view.

The divide in this country will never heal until attitudes towards each other changes, and here in TVF is every bit as bad at times.

No democracy is perfect. But it's better than the alternatives. The US knows full well what democracy is and what's going on here.

As far as relations improving, there are laws the US has to abide by when a coup happens. No choice but to abide by them. The EU is doing the same thing.

I prefer this safe and undemocratic government over the crooks that were here before. The shootings and bombings that were not solved until the army stepped in and shown it were the red shirts who were the lap dogs of the government. A government with a extremely violent wing that cheered over deaths of opponents on stage with high government representatives there.

That does not sound good at all, on the other hand I don't like how the current government wants a single internet gateway and some other stupid plans. But so far this government is doing something else instead of bringing a convicted criminal back and in doing so making violence come back to Thailand (the amnesty is what set it all off) So one can see the priorities of the PTP.

Anyway for now I prefer the junta.. if the make many more stupid plans I might dislike them as much as the PTP. For now they are the least of 2 evils.

Its a shame that people like Obama can't see that there was no real democracy before, because in a real democracy governments play by the rules and don't have an armed violent wing.

Robb do you ever think why people are seemingly driven to violence? Could it be the fact that time after time machinations work against what people want and try and install someething that they dont want. The fact that there had been a dozen coups and still mass corruption prior to Thaksin even becoming to PM should tell you all you need to know with regards the liklihood of any desire to meaningfully reform or halt corrupton. How many prosecutions or reforms have been implemented in 18 months so far? What corruption has been unearthed and stopped? Which bodies badly in need of change have even been touched?

ISIS and other terrorist organizations make that argument too.

The Shins organized their own private militia and controlled the police. Possibly some will see that as a counter balance to the military which supports the establishment. But, once you legitimize a terrorist organization you invite the devil to dinner. Ask the Israelis.

No they don't ISIS have a very different agenda, and a very different ideology and are driven in a very different direction than say Hamas, or Hezbollah.

Look at what's happening in Syria right now, the Russians went in and bombed everyone who "they" considered terrorists, not what others considered.

I'd like to see a link that shows the UDD as a terrorist organisation , maybe perhaps from a credible source, not that deals with terrorism, foreign and domestic please.

Just because a few junta fans call them a terrorist organisation doesn't make it so, do they have a nasty element within, sure they do. What your actually describing here is something similar to Sinn Feinn, the political wing of the IRA.

If the UDD were truly a terrorist organisation, answer a simple question, why hasn't the junta smashed it, and arrested and detained every single member? Why hasn't the Army gone in and killed every last one of them?

For me the answer is simple, it all comes down to agendas again, if you smash the bogeyman, then there's no need to keep the tight control of the people, the Military need a convenient bogeyman, and the Reds and in particular elements of the UDD for that bill perfectly.

Otherwise there would be no need to keep article 44 or martial law would there?

Out of curiosity, how many farangs died in Bangkok during the protests of 2014?

How many have died under suspicious circumstances since the protest?

How many were killed last month at the Erawan shrine but it wasn't a terrorist bomb?

Bangkok is a dangerous place 24/7 and you can lose your life there to acts of violence, to state that you feel safer since the army took over is laughable really.

Try selling that point to the murdered at the Erawan shrine!!!!!!!!!

The Govenment stated that it wasn't an act of terrorism it was just "revenge" what complete and utter <deleted>, what happened there was NO DIFFERENT to what was going on during the protest.

Only those with political agendas would think otherwise !!!!!

I had no beef with the article, like I said, it's the junta themselves who are keeping the embers burning here.

The reds are indeed trouble makers but it needs some thing antognistic to set them off normally.

I still think you're giving the army way too much credit, it takes two to tango. The army are running a fear campaign, it's very noticeable if you're not wearing blinkers.

As much as you don't trust the Reds, I don't trust the military, they have been putting their fingers into pies way way way before there was a red shirt movement, way before Thaksin too, as much as you don't like it, they're still part of the problem of things today.

The constitution should never have needed redoing, The junta are doing the very same thing that the PTP were accused of doing by trying to amend it, they have double standards as far as I'm concerned.

We will always have opposite views about the junta, and I respect that too, it's healthy, and we keep it civil.

Totally agree but people here can't let the past go, they live in it.

No Rob, why was Martial Law maintained and replaced with article 44?

One of the main reasons was that there was still "unrest" coming from a certain Region.

There's enough articles published by Thai Visa from the Nation about the juntas claims of unrest in the North East.

Wasn't there a promise to hold elections sooner, rather than later, but this was canned with " still concerns about national security"

Bloody right there's concerns, it was the same concerns that dismissed the Erawan bombing as a "grudge" but the fact it was carried out by foreigners is a national security concern.

Just who was it here in this very forum, that was linking this bombing to the red shirts right from the get go.

Who in Govenment stated pretty much within days that this was an internal political issue?

Which former Police chief has stated that there's links to the red shirts in their perfectly concluded case?

These are not coming from Reuters or Thai Visa, they are coming from Govenment officials Rob, the press are then reporting what is being fed to them.

It's simple, if Ginjag is correct, and that its a load of crap and that the North East is as calm as a pond, lift article 44, lift martial law country wide, and return everything as it was prior to the coup.

I will bet you that's never going to happen anytime soon.

He's away to change his dollars into Thai baht before the rates drop again

Thaidream is one of the few posters on Thai Visa who posts with intelligence and not prejudice. You are 100% right and you have expressed what is undoubtedly the case. Well done.

At least you're admitting to having a prejudice, and to a degree Thai dream is spot on, right up to the part about the military, the military are at the centre of everything, staging coups is about the best thing their military does as they keep staging them.

The minute the Military begin to be held accountable for their actions and coups will be punished accordingly, then Thailand stands a chance of moving forwards. The military are at the centre of every domestic issue, and have been since the 1930's, they are the common denominator in all of Thailands power struggles, not Thaksin, and the sooner some folks here realise this the better.

The army only care about two things, protecting the monarchy, and I hope this isn't breaking the rules here by saying that, and the other one is themselves.

They don't care about the general population, they care about what happens to them next.

They are a very large part in Thailands internal problems.

No need for them if YL had not brought up the amnesty, that is what fired it all off. Without it there would not have been street protests and no reason for a coup. The army only stepped in when the previous government made such a mess that people rose up against it. Without the violence from the reds there would still be no excuse (but again the bombings and shootings gave the army the perfect excuse).

The army just took advantage of the situation that was created, I do wonder what they would have done if the PTP had not offered them this golden opportunity.

Really? And here's me thinking that the protests in 2014 were all about stopping corruption ? Also pretty sure that the amnesty bill was killed off at the end of 2103 due to the backlash that happened during the first round of protests around November/December. And after Yingluck dis loved Parliament according to the constitution, to call for a General Election.

All done with the Royal Decree, which kind of makes me wonder why Suthep and his goons were not charged with LM , well we all know why don't we

The Army deployed on the streets early on, with a mandate to protect the "people" but the people they didn't bother protecting were the people trying to cast votes.

You had a democrat leader who didn't turn up for the party as he knew they'd be squashed like bugs, so his bottle went. Enter the Generals pit bull Suthep, who is ON RECORD as stating that him and Prayuth had been conspiring since 2011 to over throw the Shins, soon after that Suthep "decided to become a monk!!"

He does his penance but now is getting restless as none of the reforms his good people , his chosen group , want before any election happens again, time is running out for the Junta, they have already broken their initial elections soon promise, Suthep and the mental monk are now getting more and more vocal, but oddly enough it's not seen as political, and the junta allows them to stir the shit.

Where is the reconciliation fitting into all of this? The only time this country will be united is why a sad and dark occasion happens, but it will be only grief that unites them, and afterwards, the real power struggle begins.

This whole divide goes way way way beyond any amnesty bill mate, and I do believe you're not naive enough to not know this.

Have you never wondered what would have happened if the Army had protected the polling stations like they should have done, or had the spineless abhisit had actually believed that the PTP were done.

The polls and the kool aid drinkers keep churning out stats to make it sound like Prayuth is a Demi God and saviour of the country, but he and the likes of Surhep will keep putting off elections indefinitely. Well till after th dust has settled and the spoils have been divided ...why do you think that is?

Perhaps, just perhaps the good General and all his cronies really aren't as popular as they believe they are, as they keep changing the goalposts, doesn't sound like the actions of a confident man to me, sounds more like the actions of a desperate man, leading desperate people,who will hold on to the bitter end, just like Yingluck tried to do.

Personally I can't wait to see the courts treat and handle Prayuth and his cronies the same way they've treated the shins, over their abusers of power, article 44 being the ultimate abuse.

Somehow there's more chances of THAI airways A380's being flown by pigs than expecting Prayuth to keep to his word, and step down after elections, you might believe in him Rob, I don't, he's not fit to run a country, you don't get the support of the country by introducing bone ideas, like the single gateway, banning alcohol within 300M of schools without first having done feasibility studies. He's doing nothing to get the country to endear to him, when he locks people up for having "negative thoughts about him and his government" that sir is not how a great leader treats his people, that's what people who are certain word we're not allowed to use are

Your right he is not fit to run the country.. just more fit as YL.It was all about the amnesty-bill cant believe you forgot it already. It was not really killed it was put to sleep and could have been revived after a certain period and brought back without a vote. That is why they wanted her to step down. Can't believe you slept through that one it was all over the news.

This divide goes beyond the amnesty bill but people rallied because of it, a fatal mistake made by your darling and without it she would still be in power. You cant blame the army, blame the one who is really responsible who wanted the amnesty.

His single gateway and other ideas are idiotic and I oppose them but he is better as the PTP thugs, have you seen any corruption cases being tried or land encroachment during YL .. no.. same as me. But during this government i see them and some is better as none.

I rather have Prayut step down as he is really a PR disaster, but I rather see him as YL and her goons. So actually I am not happy with either but I just choose the least bad.

TOPIC Rising anger in the North East ??? I am smothering the area UDON and honestly ---I mean honestly without a word of a lie-----what rising anger ????????? city and locals are not even mentioning any thing. Not angry mood, this topic is provided to let us all see who are the agenda people on TVF. and it shows, rallying to the reds----Ha ha ha.

Yes because they're all going to tell you, a complete stranger and a farang at they that they're pissed off with the junta... Dream on, maybe you missed the post by others who live in the North East, and I can also tell you that people are not happy in and around parts of Korat that I go to, and that's coming from family members, especially the ones who grow rice!!!

Your post smacks of ignorance and reeks of " I know it all" and that your some sort of expert, reality check is that like most farangs here, Thai people tell you what you want to hear, and I don't believe for one minute Thais you don't know openly discuss politics with you. Especially one who has an agenda!!

No, my quote is HANDS IN IT , do not attempt to change my quote, it's against the forum rules.

I know exactly what I meant.!!!

I'm not here to amaze you, what amazes me are you sycophants who still don't post how horrendous your lives were under the Shins, as my couple of years under Yingluck were not any different than they are now.

Well apart from reading more sycophantic bullshit here, other than that, no change, still have to comply with the laws of the land, still can't own a home still can't work without a permit.

I have often wondered what the Army actually get out of becoming the ruling body, when it was quite obvious that they control EVERYTHING that goes on, from the National budget, all the way down to controlling the flow and passage of information.

They are the ultimate fat kid let loose in a cake shop, and not a single check or balance in place to oversee them.

It's no wonder that relinquishing such control is hard to do when you're the only one who can put your hands into the cookie jar