EnglishJohn

The quality and content of the posts by people on this forum give an excellent indicator to the character types who support Thaksin/Pheu-Thai and those who don't.

It is a far more revealing truth of their personal ethics than the lists given in the original article - and shows things are not that complex at all for most.

Kerry has failed to impress me from the first time I heard him speak and he has only gone downhill from there. I wonder how he has kept this job.

The key problem with this agreement is the notice which must be given before any facility can be inspected. It is very obvious that the Iranians plan to carry on their work. This deal will give Iran at least THREE MONTHS notice of any inspection (if they delay it using the terms of the agreement). Which makes it virtually worthless - and remember Iran will now have much more cash available.

And if they can't move the equipment, they will simply not honour it. What will the USA do then ?.

The only argument I have heard in favour of this agreement is that the alternative is war. And the only other time I know of when people were told the same thing was the Munich agreement in 1938.

If we have only learned one thing from all these problems in the Middle East it should be that you can not trust a single word they say.

It appears the writing is on the wall for all foreign companies to sell up and go elsewhere to make use of there investments Thailand no longer wants you !

real investors are welcome !

Are you one of the illegal or cheating ones ??

Than please leave !!

Only investors who will 'invest' in a company where they must give at least 51% to a Thai are welcome. Which rules out people wanting to setup a small business.

How many Thai's would you trust not to cheat you out of all your money at the first chance they get ?.

The laws are stacked to make any farang wanting to run a small business 'cheat' the system to avoid getting cheated themselves. From company ownership right through to work permits. If they clamp down on those then people will close up shop.

Why does Thailand have this obsession with academics ?.

THEY NEVER DID IT. THEY HAVE NO IDEA ABOUT THE REAL WORLD.

I remember as a new starter as a software engineer with British Aerospace, we got sent to the local university for training on 'software testing'. Looking back after many years of experience, I know now that if those guys had been let loose on a real project, it would have been a disaster.

Get some industry professionals in and see what they say. Oh - I forgot. Thailand does not have any. All technology is imported because the government steals the education budgets.

I occasionally give a few Baht to any beggars along my path and they very rarely, if ever, say or motion a "thank you". Now I'v taken to standing at the spot and saying out loud to them "Kop krun krap"... "Kop khun krap" they usually begrudgingly get the message and mutter a bit of a "thank you" (in Thai) under their breath.

A friend once told me this is because they feel it is they who are doing me the favour by giving me an opportunity to "make merit".....very convenient attitude methinks....especially when it is them who are on the receiving end of the event.

lol - if I do something for a Thai like hold the door open or something and they walk straight through without any thank-you, I sometimes say "Don't mention it." loudly in English.

I doubt they care but I enjoy it.

My GF's parents just left and in all of the years I have never heard her father say 'thank you' for anything.

I have given him a super-bright LED head torch for use on his farm, the odd bottle of Jack Daniels from duty free and all manner of free food while they were here.

Plus, if at any time he feels hungry or thirsty, he thinks it's fine to go through the fridge and have whatever he wants. The nice bit of cake I got for supper, the last bottle of cold beer - anything.

And he will happily sit watching satellite TV all day while I am busy clearing out drains or cutting grass.

Oh - and the motorbike puts on a lot of km while he is here. He has never asked if it is OK to use it.

Is this normal behaviour ?. He is 100% red-shirt and doesn't help my opinion of them one little bit.

Her mum is fine though. Polite and always in the garden helping out.

The Labour ministry has really gone downhill since Chalerm left.

His rooftop parties were a real blast. No they weren't. Yes they were.

2 years in prison with no suspension then released on 200 000 baht jail. I thought the idea of no suspension was an inability to be released.

You don't believe in the fundamental right of appeal?

So you think everyone who found guilty and convicted should be allowed free until they get around to appealing ?.

What a load of nonsense. Once the guilty hammer comes down, he should be escorted to the cells.

This worm belongs behind bars for what he did in the DSI. Absolutely disgusting.

Tonbridgebrit - If ASEAN/EU/US/China etc need Thailand more than Thailand needs them, why is it that Thailand is not significantly more powerful than it is, other than in the minds of a few nationalists and foreign lackeys?

Please try to understand peoples comment before posting your rhetoric. He said they need Thailand's roads and infrastructure to be able to trade with each other. Nothing else required.

Thailand is not powerful because the world laughs at things like dirty politicians who try to give themselves amnesty for all corruption since 2004. Or where the uneducated masses vote in a fugitives sister as PM with no prior experience of politics whatsoever and who never made a decision herself in her whole term. Nobody will bring serious business here : only those who see an opportunity in a country with cheap labour and where they can bend any rules with bribes and kickbacks.

This gaff by the general will make absolutely no difference whatsoever. China know exactly why they want to be 'friends' with Thailand and they will keep smiling and be nice so that they get it. Meanwhile Thai politicians will be running around slapping themselves on the back at how well they did. Right up until China starts making some demands and then the heads will come off as nobody has any clue what to do.

Who cares! Army bosses regardless will dictate outcomes.

After the 310:0 amnesty vote, you should be too ashamed to be making statements like this. Why aren't you ?.

Every indication so far is that it will be a completely free vote. The opposite of what Thailand had before.

Sunsets seem popular

This is untouched from a Panasonic GH2 last night.

The amusing part is that no decent person can argue against the crimes stated to qualify for the lifetime ban. There should be a lot more added to the list as well.

Yet it is seen as the end for Thaksin and Pheu-Thai.

Says it all really.

And who is bantering around the phrase 'political execution' ?. What an imbecile. It's just a job and using words like that will only provoke those reds who are already foaming at the mouth.

"The U.S. has been a consistent critic of the coup and its authoritarian aftermath."

Really ?. From what I have seen, the USA have done the absolute minimum they are required to do by their law.

The bigger picture in the world is the rise of China and the need for allies close by in the region. Anyone who thinks other countries take Thailand seriously with it's corruption and squabbling schoolboy-level politicians is probably Thai themselves.

“They may be afraid that I and other people will engage in malicious gathering in our overseas trip, but let me insist that if I were to really do that, I would not have formally asked for a permission in the first place,” Wattana said.

Oh my goodness. These people really have no idea when they are showing us their true self.

Someone should tell this dirty crony that he should consider himself lucky not to be in prison for abuse of power after the amnesty disgrace.

Why is it such a big deal to you as well Halloween? Seems to me you like to comment on this subject more than what Juttaporn has done, Will it make you sleep better at night? You're obsessed with Thaksin, as much as Prayuth is.

Ha ha ha.

And the irony that you are more obsessed about people being obsessed about Thaksin is completely lost on you. Like most things going by your many, many posts.

You should get away from your forum jockeying once every week or two and check reality. Thaksin is controlling his lackeys and thugs just as much now as he ever was. Go read up on the amnesty bill. While he does that, people are right to focus on him.

I don't know jack about Trump or the US elections - but what I have seen is a lot of stories trying to attack him with personal opinions. It seems to me that they guy is not playing their game and that's OK by me.

The American public are so far up their own asses thinking life is a TV show that they need someone to pull them out. If I see an interview on the news and the person starts crying to the camera, I switch over. They do it for everything now - no doubt thinking it will strengthen some compensation claim.

Off all the problems Thailand is facing do the Junta really see this token scalp as really that important?

It should of been done long ago, and it really shouldn't be this big of an issue. Quite pathetic really.

You are correct : it should not be such big an issue and it really is pathetic.

It's the tomato policeman scared of Thaksin's displeasure which is the problem - not the Junta's.

It seems it is a little too complicated for you to see that.

I find it laughable what they lump under the heading of "National Security"...like 14 students peacefully protesting.

I think you didn't bother to read the story in your hate haste to criticise the junta. None of the new divisions are for protestors - real or puppet. Unless you think they should catch those students under 'illegal drugs' ?.

Now you look a little foolish.

"...The position of Army chief has long been considered to be important to any government's stability.." And therein lies the problem. regime after regime, coup after coup, since the civilians can not seem to ever be in control of the country. Amazing in all my travels and in this modern age that such a military system keeps getting promulgated in Thailand

Well the last coups were only against illegal regimes after failed elections. The problem lies in the fake elections, vote buying, missing checks and balances and weak legal system that should put corrupt, power abusing politicians in jail years before the situation degrades that bad that a coup is necessary.

You are categorically and historically incorrect, h90. Thai history professors all agree that the 18 coups happened because the ruling families had their power bases threatened. Each coup made the same declarations of those in power being corrupt, and needing to save the nation. None of those coups were effective in doing anything about the very issues the coup makers declared as reasons for their coups, not a single one.

The coups were effective in one thing and one thing only -- in removing "undesirables" from the political landscape.

"Thai history professors all agree that the 18 coups happened because the ruling families had their power bases threatened."

Ha ha ha ha. Priceless.

All the presidents of the USA agree that the last 2 coups happened because of a disgraceful and corrupt government following the orders of one dirty megalomaniac.

See ?. Anyone can do it. I can write anything I want, but it doesn't mean I'm not someone who just makes stuff up and I'm so dumb I don't realise only gullible people like me will believe it.

Its not Suthep,we need to worry about,its the other guy

in the desert or wherever he is,if he brings his red thugs

out again,they are the ones that resort to violence,with

bombs,bullets,and rocket launchers,and don't forget arson.

Peace will never occur in Thailand until the megalomaniac

no longer walks the earth.

regards Worgeordie

Seriously!!! When will you people wake up that crying the wolf in Dubai just isn't working any more...

Mark is a political cripple, but if he had some ball's [real policies for ALL Thailand not just BKK] he could stand a chance and win an election rather than having the job handed to him on a silver platter like last time and most things in his very very privileged silver spoon life...

Suthep and the current self imposed PM are a political nightmare, They are both megalomaniac's, full of self importance, ignorance, and completely unaware that their ivory towers will come crashing down sooner or latter.

You can only push people so far, then they will push back, history is a great teacher.

Good grief man - stop with your red-shirt communist revolution claptrap and wake up. Thailand is a better place now than it was when Pheu-Thai were murdering protestors and stealing everything they could get their dirty hands on.

And do you actually believe that Mr T is not still pulling all the strings for Pheu-Thai and the red-shirts ?. Or are you just being a hypocrite ?. And hyena would be a better description than wolf.

How come we never read stories about officials getting sent to prison for corruption ?.

Does it never happen or do the lousy Thai press never bother to report it ?.

Anyone who has watched the behaviour of the red-shirts will know that they will NEVER take to the streets on their own because of any unjust politics (like the people of Bangkok did after the amnesty bill).

It will only happen when somebody hires all the busses and arranges the venues for the parties so that people will get a free holiday and not have to spend anything themselves.

Then the paid thugs can mingle with the regular people and do what we have seen so often already.

So the only question is when the UDD leadership get the order and the funds to make it happen. And I don't see that happening while the junta are in charge because the entire plan depends on dirty police allowing it. I remember at the start of the last protests when the red-shirts were in a stadium near my condo. The police withdrew completely to allow them to carry out their murders and violence - and even guarded a bridge for a sniper.

I think a LOT of plans are being made for when the junta are gone - especially if the reds don't like who is in government.

Pheu-Thai's flippant remark shows their true attitude to the Thai people :

".. giving the powers-that-be an excuse to stay on, and tossing it to people to decide."

Just like tossing some scraps to the dogs.

The economy is in tatters and this is their priority. Speaks ugly volumes.

Major hypocrite alert.

Remember when the lackey Paradorn was making the violence in the South a lot worse ?. What was the DEFENCE MINISTER Sukumpol spending his time doing ?.

Trying to find 30 year old papers to prove Abhisit avoided his draft so they could take away his rank.

This is exposing the rot in the police still goes right to the top. That in itself is useful. And you seriously think this guy's other job is managing the economy ?.

The ugliest part of this thread are those defending the louse in Dubai.

I can't recall anything as absurd as sending an EU 'diplomat' to check if the students had weapons.

Who on this planet is stupid enough to think this is in any way evidence that they do or do not have any ?.

Honestly, red-shirt propaganda is at the level of a child. Hands up who believes it ?.

Oops - it seems I'm wrong. Quite a lot of TVF posters hands have gone up.