Lunchbob

Legalize marijuana. Allow citizenship or some kind of secure residency to people who can build the future.

A few have mentioned this already, but 1 major obstacle is subservience when meeting arrogant doctors. They have no discussion. Doctors do not know everything. You have to discuss and guide them. Be responsible for the vaccines and antibiotics you pump into yourselves and kids. Ask questions, discuss reasons, alternatives. I know this is difficult, maybe impossible other than very long term.

You have no choice with childrens vaccines in Thailand.

They take them, or they don't attend school.

If you refuse a vaccine for the kid, they often make some excuse to get you out of sight, then inject it anyway.

And very few have the courage now to question them.

A few have mentioned this already, but 1 major obstacle is subservience when meeting arrogant doctors. They have no discussion. Doctors do not know everything. You have to discuss and guide them. Be responsible for the vaccines and antibiotics you pump into yourselves and kids. Ask questions, discuss reasons, alternatives. I know this is difficult, maybe impossible other than very long term.

I'm having some difficulty understanding how "Thailand is now keen to join the............TPP Free Trade Agreement.........because it will boost trade" while, at the same time, Thailand will "reduce it's dependence on exports"?

It is the newest strategy invented by the scum who started the tpp to pretend there is initial agreement among so many and things are moving along nicely, but this is baloney. The tpp will never develop.

Eat dirt farmers.......

These people just suffer and the government only exacerpates their suffering by telling/ordering them to stop growing the only major crop they understand...........it's quite apparent, that water management here is managed by incompetents !

They willhave just harvested rice so they could eat that rather than dirt.

This is great because there can be no doubt who is willing to sell out the people of the country to western corporate blank blank.

No way. Crazy talk.

Lisgen, certain groups try to use the word, terrorism, to achieve an agenda. Their time is quickly ending. Stay tuned.

Can anyone share contact info to respond to this? Thank you.

The good side, another previously corrupt structure exposed.

I would be interested if any one living in Issan can verify the comments on the creation of wells and alternative employment. My Issan friend has gone to Phuket to work in a restaurant, is this what they mean.

Is the advice on alternative crops backed up with any science?

If changing crops is voluntary, I would think few would take the option.

I have a small farm in issan and I am converting and have from rice field to other crops. Some of the challenges: corn or whatever still needs water, so you must have access to it, a pond, canal and then you need a machine to pump and move it and hoses, etc...it is not easy or free. Most rice fields are severely degraded soil from plowing so much and from so much water. No oxygen, compacted, etc...you cannot just toss corn on to the rice field and expect it to grow. You will need rows and other crops are more labor intensive. Because a rice field is flooded you do not need to weed. But corn or whatever, a diff. challenge. You cannot really make a living from rice, so most get the rice planted and ready and then leave to go work somewhere else. Growing rice is pretty easy compared to corn, sorghum, etc...Things easy to farm: bamboo, bananas, papaya, sorghum, napier grass. Most part time farmers have seasonal orcontract work elsewhere, mostly labor for building. But, most of that is gone now too.

I hope this means the roadblock extortion will end.

Well done. Now we know the good guys clearly see.

The resources and influence of the actual fomenters is rapidly drying up. A final, desperate attempt to screw everything up again is not impossible, but things are looking very good for the moment. Look to the new bank in Shanghai to offer support. Once the worm turns good things will happen fast.

I hope when they really start to protest, that they direct their anger towards the person mostly responsible, the one who screwed them over on the rice scheme and ruined Thailand for years to come, the one who encouraged them all to get into debt and buy new cars, trucks, houses and smartphones, the one who claimed to be doing everything for their benefit. But they won't, cos he's their hero and can do no wrong and it's always someone else's fault.

They might want to start looking at growing alternative crops and different ways of farming rather than repeating the same old tired cycle over and over again hoping for a better result. That's insanity. One of my friends up North has done this, and they're laughing. Diversification, works wonders.

If they all bought new cars, n houses, and smart phones, then they have themselves to blame not 'their hero" for money problems.

As for the poor farmers that I see and have known over the last several years, well not to many are getting around in their "new car's, and most still live in the family home that is in much need of repair.

The problem is rice is at an 8 year low, and cost of living is going up, simple math, less money and more expense, Not only that but the lack of and sometimes NO mains water supply in some areas for weeks on end brings further challenges to the working poor.

Now as for them new cars n houses augment, I'll help you out a little to understand a bit more, You see these things were mainly purchased by government workers, not poor farmers. BTW, not real sure how familiar you are with farming in Isaan but they don't just grow rice, like wood for paper, sugar, fish farming, prawns, Thai potatoes, fruit & vegie growers, chicken and egg farms, corn, so there is diversification in Isaan,

sometimes NO mains water supply in some areas for weeks on end

Goodness me, there have been farmers in Issan for hundreds ( ?thousands ) of years and they all survived without mains water supply.

Perhaps they need to think about how things were when they were young.

My wife grew up without electricity, and definitely no mains water.

Remember too folks even when there is water you must pump it. Not easy. Have you tried? Hard work and expensive. The machines are very heavy. The oil expensive. Also, in a drought. You must keep watering more and more and more.

It is easy to miss, but many farmers do not want to be farmers. To them, the farm is a misery, a place of suffering. You must enjoy working onnthe land and want to improve it in all of the ways easily available to learn before the changes are made. They are farmers because they have no other choices or at least no easy choices and then they are weighed down by immediate obligations. A trap. The land for them is a burden. Some want to get rid of it, but no one will buy! The farm neighboring mine is always asking us to buy it. Why? Their son wants a car or the loan sharks are getting nasty. We politely tell them no.

Conscription is barbaric and disgusting.

I hope when they really start to protest, that they direct their anger towards the person mostly responsible, the one who screwed them over on the rice scheme and ruined Thailand for years to come, the one who encouraged them all to get into debt and buy new cars, trucks, houses and smartphones, the one who claimed to be doing everything for their benefit. But they won't, cos he's their hero and can do no wrong and it's always someone else's fault.

They might want to start looking at growing alternative crops and different ways of farming rather than repeating the same old tired cycle over and over again hoping for a better result. That's insanity. One of my friends up North has done this, and they're laughing. Diversification, works wonders.

A few friends and I converted the rice field to mix by digging swales by hand. It holds more water and gives you a raised area to plant bananas or whatever. The locals antagonised us, laughed at first, but now everyone can see the huge difference.

It will be the biggest white elephant in the world , another tourist attraction for TAT

You may be closer to the truth than you know..............

From another thread about Isaan...

"The vast Platinum 168 shopping mall on the outskirts of the provincial capital of Udon Thani was built during the boom, but it is now less than a third occupied and no longer charging tenants rent."

There's only so much crap people need. Next year will be a tough one for the country. Water will be in short supply if the weather we've had continues.

Time to prepare for a wild ride. There is no way to educate folks as to the real reasons why they have been kept in depserate circumstances all of these years. Same problem all around the world. In a way, peoplehere will adapt better in day to day life, but not in understanding while those in the west will have greater understanding, but really struggle day to day.

This is a ridiculous idea.

The types of classes and the amount Thai students take is ridiculous. The classes are designed for an audience of QA chuckleheads and not for the students. They schedule the end and the beginning of classes at the same time. The same students go from class to class together. What a mess. I am guessing that an old generation is running it poorly and blocking a younger, more progressive group from leadership.

Bravo, Mr. Prayut.

The first year after a harvest a lot of rice grows from fallen seeds. Do nothing and it grows. If you are growing it to eat you are fine. It is very easy to prepare the field for bananas and papayas. You just dig up swales, etc...you still need some water, of course.

Great article except for the World Bank reference. The WB is a dated, obscene ex. The member countries do not really participate. WB is a disguised IMF, disguised other......Look at the scam, agenda21 style projects. What malarkey.

The internet is a very democratic institution: it allows everyone to participate in discussing any topic -- whether or not they have any knowledge or expertise about that topic.

Unfortunately, almost all the responses to and opinions expressed about this topic reveal a complete ignorance about the process of learning a second language.

1. Comparing the learning of one's native language to learning a second language is a false analogy. You are immersed in your first language from birth, 24 hours a day Starting to learn a second language around the age of 7 of 8 years of age in the classroom for even one hour a day will ensure that progress is painfully slow. Two years in a classroom is equivalent to one week in the country of the target language.

2. Those who advocates "speak first; grammar can come later" fail to realise that even the simplest phrases ("Hello, how are you") are based on correct grammar. There are three goals of language learning: reading, writing and speaking. The last one (speaking) is the hardest to acquire and requires years and years of practice.

3. Without some study of grammar all second-language speakers will speak fractured English -- O.K. for everyday communication, but a handicap when aiming for better-paying jobs (e.g. hotel receptionist).

4. To conduct an intelligent conversation in a second language requires approx. 3000 hours of study and practice -- that is, 10 hours a week for six years. Individual results may vary (some people have a "knack" for languages), but the average person will never speak truly fluently with a wide vocabulary without years of study and/or years spent in the country. How many farang do you know who speak fluent Thai? What percentage of the total number of permanent residents do they represent?

Trust me, I'm a Doctor - a retired Professor of Languages.

Doctor, can a person who does not speak a language teach it?