TimCM

Second to China, Thailand has the worst drivers in the world. This is a culture that has grown for many generations and will not be easy to overcome. There are not enough police in the country to change their habits.

In Chiang Rai it has to be one of the worst places. It has been so long since I have seen a traffic policeman I have forgotten what they look like. Where are they? Hoping that the army can do something about this major problem. Chiang Rai deaths during Songkran is still the highest per capita in the nation.

Having lived in both countries for many years, I would say the Chinese are better than the Thai's for driving. Though that is like comparing which type of cancer you would prefer. At least the Chinese drive on the right side of the road, most of the time.

And the police in China don't seem to target people for petty bribes like the BIB

Well Myanmar is no longer using the name Burma. Maybe Thailand can rename itself. There was a great country under a military dictatorship

And can someone give the yellow party a dictionary, then maybe they could understand what democracy means.

maybe test them for Yaba as well. That will reduce some traffic

One wounders just what contribution Thailand made in WW1 involving France.

Easy, they won against all other countries

Just ask any Thai

ps. don't ask what other countries were involved lest you be accused of not understanding Thainess

Automotive R&D requires a well educated workforce and the ability to think critically

I think Thailand will need to become an education hub first as I can't see any manufacturer spending billions of dollars for Thainess

"We're confiscating your boat, but we'll let you jump overboard in the heavy seas that sank your tug boat, and let you swim for it."

Sounds a lot like what pirates in the days of yore used to do (but with more fanfare and walking of planks and such).

(Or did the fishermen all jump overboard before Burmese ship arrived, so they wouldn't be arrested and tossed into a Burmese prison for awhile ? Or did the Burmese "let" them jump overboard as it would be less paperwork than dealing with 20 prisoners ?)

(Normally if there are people in the water (man overboard) all ships in the area try to rescue them. Seems odd that the Burmese would "let" them escape by jumping into rough seas, even if they were fairly close to land.)

10 nautical miles or 14km is a hell of a long way to swim for the vast majority of us. Thais aren't normally considered to be good swimmers, not even if they're fishermen or live by the sea. Having said that I don't think anyone would have found such a swim, in rough waters, to be like a walk in the park. These men were lucky indeed. If they were dropped just 500m from shore it wouldn't have been that bad, but this is negligence bordering almost on attempted murder if you ask me. No civilized country just drops men into the ocean allowing them to drown, even if they've committed a criminal act and especially not for having trespassed territorial waters like in this case. Despite all the negative press, there is no way Australia would ever do that. But then again it's not like Myanmar is a civilized country, as nice as that country is, but it's not like I'm surprised here.

Yes, in a civilized country, they would be sold as slaves and any women locked up for use in the sex industry

In favour of the idea, but would have serious doubts the courts would be capable of determining those who were guilty. Those with connections here already get away with murder. On bail of coarse

How many foreign husband/boyfriends would be accused to dispose of them

There are some posters here who were opposed to the PT corruption but think that the BIB's are ok if it saves them time. Corruption is wrong anytime and the police in Thailand are a sad joke. They have no interest in helping anyone except themselves. This is ok according to some posters as they are on a low income. Every cop in Thailand I have met has been very wealthy due to this corruption and if the dear leader was serious about corruption (not just press conferences) he would tackle this issue with jail time for those involved.

I'm confused.

I thought the Thai government said that tourism was a small percentage of Thailand's income and it was insignificant.

Why the big push?

They always claim "tourism" only amounts to 6-7% of GDP (and this figure rarely changes), but that doesn't make any sense whatsoever given the importance/emphasis they continue to place on tourist numbers and their dollars.

That is because a lot of the money that comes into the country through tourism does not get declared for income and hence is not in official GDP figures. For export industries such as automotive, the figures are inflated due to favorable tax treatment causing offshore profit shifting. The real figures for tourism (inclusive of long term stayers and the sex industry) would be around 20%.

Of coarse TAT figures are all just made up to look good at a press conference. Does anyone at TAT actually do any work or do they just write press releases

I am sure the TAT can do the figures for him so all can be happy with Dear Leader's genius economic management skills

I also assume that the 2% number was pulled out of someones a$$ and not based on economic modelling

Revisionist history, although the Japanese remain the all time champions by a wide margin, is alive and well in Thailand. Aside from the obvious disconnect between aerial bombing and the discovery of an anti tank missile, it is interesting to note that the allied bombing of Thai territory is attributed to the campaign to expel the Japanese military from the country which remains proud to have never been colonized by a foreign power.

Heeeey wait a minute ... How could this 'never been subjected to colonization or subjected to the control by a foreign power' reconcile with the presence of the Japanese in WW2?

Perhaps a more truthful, albeit unpalatable explanation of the allied bombing of Thailand in WW2 would be that military and strategic targets in Thailand, as an ally of Japan and member of the Axis powers in WW2 until late 1945, were routinely bombed by the enemy forces of the allies including Great Britain and the USA.

The Japanese could not have overrun the Malay Peninsula leading to the capture of Singapore without the active support of their Thai compatriots. And to be sure, the atrocities of the Burma Railroad and rows of graved of young Dutch, British, Australian and other nationalities resulting from the Japanese disdain for the value of human life would - which took place in the heart of Thailand half a day's drive from Bangkok - would not have taken place without Thai government complicity.

You no understand

Japan was crushed by the greatest fighters in the world when they tried to invade Thailand. Afterwards, the Thai's,being such caring people and feeling sorry for their vanquished foes, allowed the Japanese to come and build a railway from Burma using foreign slave labour.This has been useful for setting a precedent for the fishing industry to follow later on.

So as you can see, they never lost or were occupied by a foreign power. And as you can see, the Japanese are still here,investing in industry. Any other conclusion is just jealousy of inferior nations

The Thai airforce still uses F5's from the 1950's, so maybe these can be used on them

Yes, fire an anti-tank missile at a plane.

From a plane

The Thai airforce still uses F5's from the 1950's, so maybe these can be used on them

That might be tricky as the first flight of an F5 was on 30 July 1959 and it didn't come into USAF service until 1962.

Royal Thai Air Force: F-5A retired. Now operates F-5B/E/F/T, F-5B/E slated for retirement in 2011–2012, to be replaced by 12-JAS 39 Gripen. The last F-5 fleet, upgraded F-5T Tigris and F-5F will continue to serve to 2015–2020.

Google is your friend.

So as I said, still in use.

Note that I used an 's' designating many models F-5A/B/C/D etc

Yep, google is good, but if you don't understand the content, useless

The Thai airforce still uses F5's from the 1950's, so maybe these can be used on them

Love the way they just try to say sorry and think it will all go away. These people were/are absolute nothing but violent scum and all need to be rounded up and thrown into jail for as long as possible. Then round up the mad monk.

When you say ALL these people, you mean the anti government protester guards?

What about the 24 people murdered by the side you support?... what are they if not much much worse than scum. Child murderers etc....

Talk about complete blind bias opinion.

Well.... A 'biased opinion' is 'no opinion' at all.

Lest we not take into account the FACTS that the actual stupidity of the guy who drove right up to a well documented protest site that has been there for six months in the dead of night knowing it was heavily guarded and a major target for terrorist attack and got out of his car and removed cones so he could drive into the site.

I mean.... come on, let's be balanced about this. What if ha had a car full of explosives? If that had been an army checkpoint at such a sensitive site and a huge terrorist target while terrorists were stalking the area nightly looking for the opportunity to strike, the results would have been the same or even worse... he would have probably been shot dead before he even got his hand on the cone.

If I did something moronic like that... I would have no problem at all accepting people calling me an idiot and that I deserved it. Acts of complete stupidity often have dire negative consequences...

I liked this comment from his mum.

"She added, "But I will forgive your bad karma. Please accept the fault you have committed."

So if she believes in karma... I suppose her son being shot in the ankle was him getting his own bad karma then.

Could you show where chooka said he supported the reds in any way.

You are clearly biased if you think dragging an unarmed person away to be shot an beaten is ok, just because your beloved yellow thugs did it.

The report must have some serious in depth analysis given how quickly it has been completed. All face, no body.

When Thai's realise they are no better than those from other countries, then there may be some progress

Drop it to B10 000.

Seemed like a good number yesterday

Whoever started this stink (not you ND, I mean the Thai official) is a dumb xxxxxx

I could only imagine all the discussions and panic on all the social networks!

I will be passed off as 'farang don't understand thailand'

All those foreigners fault for the problem. Now give me money

It's gonna snow here in Bangkok next week!........

2.2 trillion is almost better than the GDP!..Wank**s

Actually, it is about 10% of current GDP. 2.2 trillion is in Baht