EnglishJohn

My my, those 'protestors' (with their English signs) got there quick didn't they ?.

How foolish they must feel now she is being released on bail.

So we have a big outrage because of a few 'students' getting arrested - who really wanted to be arrested anyway - and a woman spreading dissent on facebook while under an interim military Junta who are trying to keep the peace after civil war nearly broke out.

How terrible things are. I preferred it when women and children were getting blown up by grenades thrown at them by their own government.

Blaming the coup for anything is nonsense. The country is in a much better position than it was. Only those with vested interests pretend to think otherwise.

Thailand is not fit to sit on any security council IMHO. The 310:0 amnesty vote was a very clear sign of just how deep corruption is in this country. I wouldn't trust it's government with anything - whoever is in charge. They are all the end-product of the same culture where the biggest crooks always win because nobody stops them.

I feel sorry for the Thai people who are used and abused by these people - often without them even realising it.

I'm a software engineer who also designs the hardware it runs on. I've been mulling over the possibility of a climate control system for growing things in a green house.

You know the sort of thing : humidity sensors + water sprays, temperature sensors + fans, maybe monitor CO2 and open shutters.

Plus of course have it remotely monitored at a laptop in the house so you know everything is good. Plus remote monitoring over the internet I suppose ...

Wow, what a high-tech list of capabilities. Will they be training up Thais to develop the software and systems ?.

Or will the Thais just be cheap labour and a target market ?.

There won't be any reconciliation while the BKK elite keep snatching away the rights of the majority of Thailand's poor. It's just s vicious cycle.

And here we have an excellent example of why there will never be reconciliation.

What rights have been snatched away ?. The right to take whatever wealth the country has and simply steal it through massive corruption and dribble a bit through to others who eagerly await a bit for themselves to get their vote ?.

If you people demanded fair and honest politicians who could stand in Parliament and make laws which benefit the poor while gradually eroding the powers of these mythical 'elite' you have been taught to hate, the country might swing around and things would develop slowly with hard work and reinvestment.

But you don't want that. You want to 'get rich quick' and don't care where the money comes from. Most of you support Thaksin because you think you will be rewarded when he comes back. Your politics are shallow, greedy and untainted by ethics. And most of all unsustainable. Like Maggie said : "The trouble with communism is that you soon run out of other peoples money to spend.".

Reconciliation demands both sides to act in good faith. Not a chance.

If people want to go join ISIS then they should be allowed to take a one way journey. After that they are terrorists who are never allowed back into the civilised world.

They believe everything is according to Allah's will (as preached by a power hungry human being of course) and so they can meet their fate at the wrong end of the weapons their God mysteriously gave to the other side.

It's a win-win situation.

You certainly don't want to encourage these people to come to your country.

""threatens the right to freedom of opinion and expression that is supposed to be the bedrock of Thailand's democratic society."

What democratic society? It disappeared a couple of years ago when the army took over and there is no right to opinion and expression anymore. They even want to give jounalists lessons on how to ask questions that dont offend the rulers !!

Really ?.

It seems to me that we are getting a LOT more articles which are critical of the government than I ever saw against Pheu-Thai despite their absolutely outrageous actions while in government.

A thinking man would put it down to the fact that Mr T and his pals have cronies in every organisation which might be useful. In Thailand virtually everyone can be bought. As we saw with the 310:0 amnesty vote.

Is that 'freedom of expression' you miss ?. Along with the right to be blown up by their UDD thugs throwing grenades if you look like you are going threaten their power ?.

In your naivety, I expect you think this would never have happened before the coup. The reality is that there is far more chance the government will take action now than there ever was before.

LOL. I see you guys have stopped claiming people give the desired answers because they are scared of being arrested.

Now you move on to a different excuse to try and rubbish the poll.

Did you ever think the poll might be right and it's you who has the problem ?.

What an old tosser, what was he doing at a 'Battle of Britain' event? Neither him nor any other member of his family with all the medals on their chests

fought in any wars.

Well you're wrong aren't you.

Philip fought in WW2. Andrew in Falklands. Harry in Afghanistan. And Queen Elizabeth (then Princess) was in the RTS like many other British females her age.

There are others as well.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_service_by_the_members_of_the_British_Royal_Family

Wouldn't give you tuppence for Harry. His stint in Afghanistan involved sitting in the most secure place in the country. We never saw this of course : one day he made a quick trip to a machine gun and sat posing as if he was ready to fire it and it was in every newspaper and news report.

Utter hypocrisy. Not his fault I know but is a pointer to the BS we get fed to maintain the Royal Family (or rather the privileged thousands who benefit from them).

'Govt 'should respect right to criticise'

To think otherwise as the anti-demicrats do, shows their ignorance about the underpinnings of a constitutional Democratic form of Govt.

It is an adversarial system, with an elected Govt. exposed to an Opposition in Parliament. Lack of understanding this, is also the basis for their talking about a "Parliamentary Dictatorship"

But is this just ignorance?...... I don't think so....... It is "willful ignorance" and not wanting to accept their perpetual electoral minority reality.

"BANGKOK: -- ACADEMICS SAY INTERIM CHARTER ALLOWS PEOPLE A CHANCE TO SPEAK"

Too late for that.

Shows how these so-called academics are in the camp of the anti-democrats.

Trying to legitimize discussion now, is like closing the barn doors after the horses are long-gone.

What is the point of discussion when the anti-democrats have completed their constitution/Senate stuff, in a thoroughly non-inclusive manner.

To now talk about talking, is cynicism to the extreme and politically biased on the part of these so-called academics..

You are right - in a democracy a democratic government respects the rights of the people to criticize.

Unlike the anti-democratic Shin clan dictatorship. Their infamous threats to sue any who speak against them, intimidation, throwing of contaminated blood and excrement at people's buildings, burning pretend coffins, giving out judges telephone numbers and addresses, suggesting children are kidnapped, random shootings and grenade throwing, attempts at suppressing the media and social media, etc etc. That's what you get when a criminal fugitive runs the government.

Time some real new political parties who represent the people, truth, democracy and justice came up.

QUOTE "Unlike the anti-democratic Shin clan dictatorship."

You left out the anti-democratic YELLOW SHIRTS/DEMOCRATS/BANGKOK ELITE.

They should qualify to be included in your ant-Thaksinista opinion.

The Thread has nothing to do with Mr. T but with the Military Charter the current regime chooses to ignore.

OCD ?

LOL, this is what I find so amusing about the red-shirts on here.

They accuse others of something which they are FAR more guilty of themselves. I can see you foaming at the mouth as you wrote the bit in capitals. OCD is right : Baerboxer wrote a sensible comment : you wrote a rant - probably whilst fondling the huge chip you keep on your shoulder.

I have noticed that in this world there is a level of intelligence where if you are below it, you do not have the wit to judge yourself and realise what is immediately obvious to others. There are many such people on this forum and by and large, they wear the same colour shirts.

If these cretins were also out protesting against Pheu-Thai and the absolutely disgraceful way they were running the country with their lies - like the false rice deals by ministers in the highest positions - then I apologise for calling them cretins.

But I would bet my house that these typical red-shirt hypocrites did not.

They have no clue what they are talking about. Why is Thailand obsessed by a few students ?. The rest of the world treats them as what they are : people just beginning to learn about real life.

Those rejoicing that Porntip is a defense witness should be very cautious.

The generals gave her her job back, she was a vociferous supporter of the coup, and the political movement behind the coup, and she is connected to the current junta by a web of patronage. This doesn't require a big conspiracy theory. A single phone call saying " We are very glad we reappointed you to your old job Khun Pornthip. Are you enjoying it? Oh Good! I hope this Kho Tao case does not turn out to be embarrassing for Thailand, don't you? Good. I thought not."

It doesn't take much.

She has demonstrated already that she will deny the principles of basic science if given a pressing outside reason. I do not believe someone with a Ph.D in forensic science, requiring a thorough grounding in basic physics and chemistry, genuinely believes an empty box is a bomb detector, working on a principle as yet unknown to basic physics and chemistry. She is not a technologically ignorant general.

So this is not a matter of differing fields of expertise, but a matter of honesty, of trustworthiness.

Calling her as a defense witness may backfire hugely. The only statement I have read from her on this case was one casting doubt (completely incorrectly and inappropriately) on the whole concept of retesting the DNA, by implying the samples may not be retestable, and that retesting is rarely done.

In all forensic labs the first directive is to divide your sample and store portions in a permanent and stable manner, in reserve, in case retesting becomes necessary for whatever reason. Since the samples were sent to the Forensic Institute in Bangkok, they presumably know how to store DNA stably, in freezers, indefinitely. This is standard. There is no chance that the DNA will not be retestable if stored as every DNA lab in the world stores DNA.

Moreover the innocence project in the US tests DNA from evidence samples collected many decades ago, before DNA fingerprinting existed, and is often successful, even on incorrectly collected and stored samples. So there would be no valid scientific reason not to try a retest even on a degraded sample.

Why is Pornthip reported as casting doubt on the whole concept? Hopefully this is merely a result of the inaccurate reporting that makes all attention to anything said ouside the court room a waste of time...She must know as head of the Forensics institute that properly stored DNA lasts indefinitely, and she must know as Head, that her Institute stores DNA correctly.

Concur.

The Khunying has forever lost all credibility. Her insistence that the bomb detectors were based on scientific principles demolished her credibility for good.

No matter how much the Royal Thai Police hate her, no matter how reviled she is by bent cops who fear her, she ruined her own credibility permanently with her incredible statements insisting that the bomb detectors were legit instruments.

Absolutely.

The red children here excuse themselves by calling all farang Junta lovers. We are anything but : it's true they are infinitely better than the last Parliament of dirty cronies, but they are far from a civilised government.

Remember Prayuth too went on public record saying the detectors worked. A fact I remember every time he makes some sweeping statement.

The world spotlight has shone into the rank and file of the Thai police and they have been caught with their pants round their ankles. It would invoke a big review and overhaul of the system in a Western country. They will just say "Stop asking me about it" here.

These students are the Mandelas of Thailand.

They have armed themselves with the spirit of democracy to confront the sword of facism.

They are heroes.

That's funny. A certain junta 7% troll on here claimed Suthep to be the Mandela of Asia

Yes, Mandela was a terrorist as well. That's where the similarity ends. Red-Shirts stand for corruption and greed.

End of story.

As for the Suthep line : an excellent example of the low-calibre dross we see so much of on here. I would expect better from an 8 year old. Are you embarrassed about it now you look back ?.

"I want to ask everyone, how much would it cost for us to risk our lives?"

In the civilised world, we recognise that students have no <deleted!> clue about what goes on in the world and yet in their ignorance they are so certain they are right. We've all been there. When these kids are 40, they will look back and wonder how they could be so naïve and gullible.

Who is actually risking their lives ?. Red-shirts have been programmed with this line yet everyone gets released unharmed.

If this student had any wits, he might think back to how many of the protestors went to the streets and lost their lives without getting a single baht - and did it freely. About 27 dead wasn't it ?. Then he might ask himself why the educated masses in Bangkok decided to do this. And then he might ask himself who murdered them and wonder why he is following such people.

But he won't because it doesn't suit his purpose. The word 'student' in Thailand does not infer any intelligence. And that's why I see most educated farang who do write intelligent posts on here do not support the red-shirt movement.

This may sound crazy.......and many will skoff. If you buy a can of tuna in spring water...NOT BRINE.....mix it with plain yoghurt......and equal olive oil, about half a cup each......mix it and warm it.....then apply it and leave in for 30 min.....wrapped in a towel........Rinse...no soap......Try it.

YES - it worked wonders for me - though I had to leave it under the towel for 2 hours to get noticeable results. I did use strawberry yoghurt though.

Wait a minute. I thought Thaksin paid red shirts to lob bombs and terrorize. These people are protesting peacefully. Maybe, just maybe junta lovers, these people are genuinely aggrieved with your beloved, paranoid, heavy handed junta.

I'd love To go down there and show My support, but I know as a whitey I'd be carted off for attitude adjustment straight away. These students are far braver than I.

I was there a couple days after the red shirts burned buildings in Bangkok......There is no excuse supporting them, even if they are peaceful this time until they see an opening.

In order to know red shirts burned buildings, it is necessary to know their identities. Can you name them please?

Jeeze. What a dumb comment. No logic whatsoever.

Another thread which does nothing but confirm that red-shirt supporters have the mentalities' of semi-educated schoolboys. If you want people to take what you say seriously, try to put some actual intelligent content into your posts instead of just whining.

I'm sure that you would have been happy if the Army stayed out of it and the police continued to allow the terrorists to roam freely. I wonder how many hundreds more would have been murdered before the people became so afraid they stayed at home. Yet not a single one of you will acknowledge that this was the alternative to the present situation. You are too primitive for democracy : maybe in another 50 or 100 years your children or grandchildren will understand.

I suspect the currently incarcerated fourteen students would not want an amnesty as it implies they were 'guilty' of something, and they aren't.

... errr .. they are guilty of breaking the law. Or do red-shirts think the law does not apply to them ?.

I remember someone saying how the police were getting fed up because when they stopped a red-shirt for something, they thought they were immune from prosecution because they won the election.

If you had any intelligence you would be asking yourself WHY we have this law. Here's a clue : grenades and terrorism from the same organisation as these political activists (NOT protestors) belong.

They can ask for ice cream, a TV in their cells and a bedtime story too, for all the good its gonna do.

However much we might think their crime is not so bad, they broke the law.

As we all know, acting like Prima Donnas does not go down well with Thai authorities.

Even Win and Zaw worked that one out.

When you're in pokey, you take your lumps

What are you talking about , they voiced their opinion peacefully and are now in Prison. Maybe they will do it to your kids one day , what an idiotic thing to say

Well at least they are not dead like so many other peaceful protestors.

Which - coincidentally - is the WHOLE reason we had a coup in the first place.

Because of that we are in an interim Junta who are doing everything they can to stop people who WANT a wedge through Thai society from doing it again.

But I don't expect you to understand. There are a lot of people in this world who cannot see anything except that which is right in front of their face.

What's funny is that they are usually the ones who also think everyone else are the idiots.

These students are not protestors, they are political activists. There is a BIG difference.

And Thailand does not need political activists trying to cause trouble at this time. Their kind took the country towards civil war with their terrorism : now they have to wait for the grown ups to make some ground rules. Then they will get another go which they will undoubtedly try to mess up again with their corruption.

They will be released soon - then all the red-hypocrites will suddenly never mention it again and move on to whatever they can find next.

Remember that Thailand is under military rule because the Thaksin was prepared to take the country to civil war rather than lose the chance for his personal amnesty.

You should get your protests ready for the next elected government and teach them a bit about democracy. You should have done it last time, but you didn't. Never mind : you will get yet another attempt before long.

For now you must put up with the consequences of your actions.

Mr. Naronghchai should try a few himself before making such statements.

I have them all around my house (maybe 40 bulbs) and one or two blow every week. The problem is that the LED's are all in series so if one goes, the whole bulb goes.

It's easy to use a broken one to fix others as they go (if you have the equipment) but I get nothing like the life they claim from new.

Maybe they work forever with a perfect power supply, but it seems they can easily pop with the rough and ready type we get in Thailand.

Just a big game of chicken.

My prediction is a very-last minute compromise to tide it over for yet another 6 months.

The rest of the EU taxpayers will have to cough up whatever it costs to keep them in the club. The ONLY thing which is important is that the gravy train keeps going and the politicians can claim to represent X million people on the world stage.

After what these dirty cronies did under orders from their paying master before the decent people of Thailand took to the streets, I have zero respect for a single one of them. I hope they all do jail time.

I'm still wondering why nobody is being charged with abuse of power for the amnesty disgrace. Maybe that one will come next.

What happened to the noble principles of democracy which involve putting the people you represent and your country above yourself ?.

Red-shirt hypocrites should look to these people as the ultimate reason for the coup. But they won't because it doesn't suit them.

I think a lot of people are unable to grasp that the USA has only one interest : the National interest.

Sure they would like every country to be democratic and free, but that is not their prime concern. The are happy with a friendly dictator : the only issue there is he might change his mind.

So when it comes to the Junta/Thaksin/Pheu-Thai or whoever, they don't give a damn about the internal politics. The only concern is that the USA has a friendly place to put some bases and (if they have oil) a nice place of business for American interests.

The bottom line is that they would be quite happy with Thaksin as PM because they know he and his followers can simply be bribed. They don't give a stuff about the detail. They described Thaksin as telling Thai society "That greed is OK" and they knew full well how corrupt he was. But that means they have easy access to oil and few deals in the right direction give them a political decision they want.

Don't get me wrong : I'm a big supporter of the USA because they are the only ones who will stand up for what's right in the big picture but they are far from honest bedfellows.

would be nice to see what they lecture....political science, art, etc.....

Why?

They have the right to opinions and votes.. do you have the same rights as these students or these lecturers?

Seriously so what if they lectured political science, their opinions and ability to protest are being cocooned by a Junta hell bent in stacking the cards in their favour.

It's all going to end in tears.

14 Pissed off students are far from being a threat to National Security, they don't need to be dealt with by a military court either.

Prayuth COULD, if he wanted to, win over a LOT of people, if he simply released these protestors and stated he understood their frustrations, but there's a time and a place for everything after all, he allowed Bangkok to be ground to a standstill, and by all accounts of the bold Suthep, complicit in the aims, and shenanigans of the PDRC protestors.

Can you please tell me exactly what's being done in 13 months after the coup with regards to reconciliation, which should have been the number 1 priority, as all I can see is a divide between the two opposing factions every bit, if not deeper than it was prior to 22nd May 2014.

Prayuth's strategy for reconciliation is to try and prevent the red-shirt activists from continually driving a wedge through society.

He's done pretty well up to now : the usual thugs like Chalerm and Jatuporn have been kept quiet. Now they are using children.

The rest of your post is the usual dumbass horsesh1t we have come to expect from someone who spends all day on forums because people don't give him the time of day in real life. The Army started manning checkpoints because the police were letting the terrorists through. They then made it a full coup after giving Pheu-Thai chance to stop the murders and they refused. Hypocrites and liars about what really happened (just like 2010) are the reason reconciliation isn't going to happen.