zaphod reborn

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Network exit polls, however, showed Trump was not a factor in the decision

Moore was slightly ahead in polling before Trump endorsed him.  I'd say that Trump's endorsement tipped the scale in favor of Jones.

Maybe she was just unable to cope with the frustration of dealing with Thai financial institutions and their ridiculous hold periods on transferred funds which are completed in no more than a day in the States.  I've seen holds as long as 60 business days applied by these dinosaur banks in Thailand.  I hope she recovers from this traumatic event with the support of her family.

Imagine if the Trump administration officials and Congressmen from both parties had to resign for their ties to Russian oligarchs and Putin.  There would be very few elected/appointed federal officials left in D.C.

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Rurik Jutting, who is in his early 30s, a former Bank of America employee, had denied murdering Sumarti Ningsih, 23, and Seneng Mujiasih, 26, in 2014 on grounds of diminished responsibility due to alcohol and drug abuse and sexual disorders.

Legally, you can't deny committing an offense, where you claim diminished capacity.  You are admitting you committed the offense, but should not be held criminally responsible, as you couldn't distinguish right from wrong.  I assume that this legal error is due to poor reporting, and not the court's misunderstanding of Hong Kong law, which is quite clear.  A successful defense lowers the conviction from homicide down to manslaughter.  Hong Kong homicide ordinance

Gutless judge.  Bail should have been revoked.  Manafort is a traitor and over-his-head in the Russian oligarchy sphere of influence.  His flight risk is off the charts.

The chickens, turkeys and pigs are coming home to roost.  Thailand's private swine and chicken producers, who oppose the possibility of pork and chicken meat imports from the United States, have expressed concerns over food safety and the negative impact on Thailand's agricultural supply chain.

5 hours ago, rkidlad said:

I don’t know if he’s telling the truth or not. 

I do.

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he had lost everything - 34 rai of land

As a foreigner, he can't own land.  The land had to be in the name of his wife, so he never owned it.  He has zero credibility in my book for making such a claim.

4 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

As far as I know it has not been opened yet this year. 

Nothing in the news and no announcement on the immigration website.

I work with an agent on PR matters.  He told me yesterday, when I was at the One Stop Service Center, that the PR application process opened this month.  He's pretty "in" with immigration, so it is possible it hasn't even been announced yet.

On 12/4/2017 at 8:57 PM, Arkady said:

The Thai language requirement was only introduced in the early or mid 2000s, perhaps soon after you applied. It started off as a simple multiple choice test that could easily be passed by someone with negligible knowledge of Thai but later morphed into a full blown panel interview.  Curiously the tax language requirement was dropped entirely for citizenship in the case of males with a Thai wife in 2008.  So, if you can't speak Thai and have a Thai wife, applying for citizenship is a better bet than PR as well as cheaper. 

 

Certainly the submission of personal income tax receipts is an important requirement.

Could someone provide some detail as to the type of questions that arise during the Thai language portion of the interview.  I assume that it is standard social conversation (ie, where are you from, what is your job, how long have you lived in Thailand, are you married, do you have children, etc.).  I need to locate a tutor to assist someone to pass the Thai language interview section, so any help in this regard is appreciated.

On 12/4/2017 at 1:57 PM, Arkady said:

 

It's a shame they have not followed up on last year's good intentions.  For anyone preparing to apply this year, don't give up hope yet.  When they set an application date in the latter half of December they have in the past extended the deadline to end January to give breathing space to those going away for the holidays.   

The application process opened this year on December 1, so it is a very short window, assuming it closes at the end of the month.

Planned obsolescence.  The stitches, threading, zippers, buttons etc. of Thai-manufactured garments only last one wear and disintegrate when put through a washing machine.

13 hours ago, halloween said:

Maybe if you read the first sentence of the OP, you might not leap to the conclusion that a Thai was involved based on speculation about the weapon used.

I don't think anyone knows what you are talking about.  If you mean the following, you are assuming that DSI competently chose 300 possible locals based on some kind of nexus to the crime scene, and not just the usual random people to make it look like they did their phony-baloney jobs.  If you think that, you are a Thailand noobie, and probably should excuse yourself from further comments on thaivisa, unless they are hopeless noob questions.

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Although the DSI had checked the DNA of 300 people living near Sukhothai Historical Park, no one matched a DNA sample extracted from semen found on the body of the victim

I would trade all those KFC stores for one Taco Bell.

Tillerson went rogue when he condemned Myanmar for its treatment of the Rohingya.  He's out because Trump is clearly an anti-Muslim racist and won't tolerate Muslim sympathizers in his administration.

8 hours ago, gk10002000 said:

Well I thought foreign tour guides were pretty much illegal and could not have a valid work permit or visa?  Of course I have seen many and they naturally speak the language of their home country and translate to their country folk on the tour. 

And you are incorrect.  It is possible for foreign tour guides to get work permits/visa while working for a tour guide company properly licensed by TAT (100-200K bond required), registered with DBD and insured (the cost is about 50 THB per guest per day, not cheap).  Because this is Pattaya, doubtful this tour guide company was operating within the law.

Maybe if DSI didn't restrict its search for suspects to Japanese nationals who visited the Sukothai area in the last 10 years, they might actually stumble upon a useful lead . . . but, that might be a Thai citizen which would adversely impact the Japanese tourism market.  So much easier to blame a Japanese national for this horrendous crime.

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A police source said the murder weapon may not be a fruit knife as reported in the earlier investigation, but could be a bush knife s the cuts to the victims throat were deep.  More than two hundred people were interviewed in connection with the case including workers in the park, security guards and residents. Robbery was also believed to be a possible motive for the crime as some of the victims valuables were missing.

http://www.samuitimes.com/japanese-ambassador-raises-concerns-safety-japanese-tourist-conclusion-2007-murder-japanese-tourist/

Murder weapon a bush knife, possible robbery motive - it doesn't sound like a crime that another Japanese national would have perpetrated.

I hope they learned their lesson.  Don't post your temple "buttfie" until you're out of the country.

Bypassed safety mechanism - par for the course in Thailand.  Yes, the Chinese tourists overloaded the lift, but a properly maintained lift would sound an alarm and lock in place until the overweight condition was remedied.  DOSH will of course give the hotel and elevator maintenance company a clean bill of health on this incident which was 100% their fault.  Luckily it sounds like there were only minor injuries.

2 minutes ago, Oziex1 said:

OK so another alien not deported from Phuket, just kept for commercial gain. 

The alien croc will need a work permit.

2 hours ago, sjaak327 said:

Most of them actually obtained a valid mandate via the Thai electorate. Prayuth was elected PM by the NLA, all of the members of that body were appointed by Prayuth himself.

Having a "valid mandate" (which I find meaningless in parliamentary political systems) doesn't make these leaders talented or even competent, as can be gleaned from the last PM elevated by the parliamentary system.

4 minutes ago, tracker1 said:

Wearing so many hats one has to be very talented !

As can be gleaned from the list of esteemed previous PMs who also served as Defense Ministers: Yingluck Shinawatra, General Chatichai Choonhavan General Suchinda Kraprayoon, Chuan Leekpai, General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, Samak Sundaravej, and Somchai Wongsawat. 

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Wichien said there were five accidents at the same location on Wednesday alone.

As much as people hate lawyers and litigation, this doesn't happen where municipalities can be held liable for substantial damages where they know highway design is unreasonably dangerous.  In Thailand, even if there was a lawsuit, a death is only worth about US $5,000, so no need for government to take action to make their highways safe.  Yes, speed was a factor in the collision, but as was admitted, the highway had been recently widened and they knew average vehicular speeds had increased.

2 hours ago, stephen tracy said:

I don't think ISIS was behind Erawan, otherwise they would have claimed it. They're never shy about claiming attacks even when they haven't actually had a hand in it.  All of their official claims are released via the Shumukh al-Islam site, which can be accessed via the Dark Web if you have a membership.

OK, you can believe the junta whitewash of the story.  I notice that you didn't refute any of the other claims.  1) ISIS was trafficking Uighurs through Thailand; 2) thousands of Uighurs were admitted into Thailand without passports by paying bribes to immigration officers stationed on the Cambodian border; 3) Uighurs were given fake Turkish passports while in Thailand; 4) the Uighurs were then able to travel to Turkey where they had the right to cross into Syria to fight for ISIS.  Given all of that, if you don't believe ISIS was behind the Erawan shrine bombing in retaliation for deporting Uighurs to China, just because ISIS didn't claim the attack, you are as foolish as the junta.  The bombing may have been ordered by operatives who profited from the trafficking, but it's still inextricably linked to ISIS. 

Recall that thousands of Uyghurs were allowed to enter Thailand through the Cambodian border without passports by paying 10,000 THB as bribes to immigration officers.  They were trafficked through Thailand by ISIS where they picked up fake Turkish passports.  They would travel to Turkey where they were allowed to cross into Syria to fight for ISIS.  When some Uyghurs were caught in Thailand, and deported back to China, ISIS retaliated by bombing the Erawan Shrine.  Prawit is well-aware of the ISIS connection.

The ultimate double-standard by the Republican Congress:

Lie about a bj = impeachment

Lie about treasonous collusion with Russia = forgiven

2 hours ago, rooster59 said:

"I would rather ... get to work with him on the Ukraine rather than standing and arguing."

Still looking for a way to divert oil revenues from Ukraine sales into their offshore bank accounts.  Dam# those sanctions!