Cthulhu

Someone driving at the people guarding the Mosque would most likely be right wingers.

It looks like the clash of civilizations has begun.

No, it's not a clash of civiliaztions.

It's a clash between Islam and civilization.

Without prostitution Thailand would easily lose 50% of Tourists.

People who deny this are just liars and/or ignorant.

But it's all about appearances and saving face.

Sorry, I thought you meant 50% of losers.

The real losers are the fools who buy the whole cow when they can get the milk by the bottle.

A (quite irritating) friend of mine always used to respond to these types of crack-downs by saying:-

"Well, If you aren't in bed by midnight you might as well go home (or back to your hotel etc)".

I guess this is what Jungle Jim and the other "I never drink or stay out late" moralists are trying to tell us. They do say that sex without beer is a lot more enjoyable; if I were ten years younger I might be tempted to give it a try.

Last year the average stay was 9.8 days the highest in the ASEAN .

However due to a military coup martial law the KohTao murders and continuing scams we are once again reduced to having to put out articles like this to try and put a spin on what we have to offer.

Now if you were a betting man what's the odds on them cracking down on walking street after the recent crack down on the happy endings in bkk ?

How, exactly, would they "crack down" on W S? it's legal to walk around in Thailand, even in Pattaya.

Actually, the word round the town is that they will wait until mid-December in order to inflict the maximum economic damage.

Get rid of the Christmas/New Year crowd and get "quality" tourists.

Lots of words about assets seized and nothing about drugs seized, or drugs searched for, or how these assets tied in with illegal drugs. Is this bad reporting or questionable police work?

Quite. Plenty of crowing about how many hundreds of millions worth of assets seized but nothing about any actual drugs.

The potential for property seizure must be a massive temptation for corruption and the settling of personal scores.

I wonder what public accounting there is of the property seized and where the money goes.

Neither product is currently registered under any Thai laws, officials said.

<snip>

Officials said that despite its widespread use, shisha is in fact illegal

Anyone else notice a contradiction here?

Not really. It's the old principle that "anything that is not expressly permitted is forbidden".

It used to be the rule in the old Soviet Union and the Communist states of Eastern Europe I believe. I guess it still applies in a great many countries.

Situation normal on TV.

Serial RIPping for a farang kid who died of yet unknown causes in a previous thread, and now arguing over the state of the education system in Thailand and reminiscing about the 1950's school discipline in England.

Very little mention of the young lady shot to death.

The hypocrisy.

OK..so we're all hypocrits in your view.

But the murder of a young girl is not normal school/college competition/rivalry. It is a serious social pathology that needs dealing with before too many more young people die.

The references to the UK are not hypocrisy, but simply a way of trying to illustrate the point that school or college kids can be highly competitive without commiting murder. The place for rivalry is on the sports pitch, not the street.

Despite your comments I think we all feel for the parents of this young, girl but public blubbing is not going to help them; swift action by the authorities might however just prevent other families suffering the same pain.

I honestly don't get it...

When the government wants to clamp down on visas everyone complains that its not fair - now they are opening it up - what happens - you bunch of whining useless pricks KEEP ON COMPLAINING!

What the hell do you want?

Extending visas to open it up to whoever wants to stay as long as they need up to a reasonable time - maybe 3 months, maybe more - would be good for some and not affect others - but for <deleted> sake stop complaining that they didn't do exactly what YOU want - whatever that might be - and accept that a blanket policy is just that - it has to cater to as many variations as possible, so it may very well allow people to stay longer than they need, but for others it will be just right - jeeesus H christ!

What a vile contribution!

Obscene abuse towards other posters in the first sentence and gratuitous blasphemy in the last.

Does this forum have moderators or not? If so why don't they do their job?

Anyhow the principle complaint is that the whole thing is meaningless since European tourist visa holders already get 60 days on arrival, plus the 30 day extension if needed.

Whatever peoples feelings on the coup are, The General has so fr managed to do more in a couple of months, than has happened in the past 10 years. He's not flawless, no one is, but he's done a decent enough job of getting some stability back into the country, and that is a beginning.

You don't have to tell "us" toady, we can see what a good job he is doing and the results are there for all to see (if you want to see them, that is)

But you are wasting your time telling "them", because "they" are either not too bright, trolls, or are paid to post their stupid pro-red comments.

They can say what they like about the General, but at least he is not a criminal on the run who cannot/will not return to his own country for fear of being locked up.

At the end of the day nobody really cares what we think about the political affairs of Thailand, but the people who do matter, the people of Thailand, are seeing a vast improvement since the General took control, and they like what they see. Except the Thai Rouge of course, who lost their gravy train.

How can you possibly know that? Have you conducted an independent survey where people can speak out without fear of the consequences?

No of course not; it's just another TV "sez you" type comment.

The Thais I talk to don't seem quite so overwhelmed with gratitude, but they do feel a need to watch what they say, at least in public.

However, I'm glad you now know what "sycophant" means and it's very appropriate you called the previous poster "toady". I was tempted to say the same in response his post.

Who is Abhisit ?

I've now been in Thailand for almost one year and I'm probably not the only one who have now idea who that Abisit fellow is and what he stands for.

He's a Geordie lad - born in Newcastle UK. But rich; educated at Eton & Oxford along with David Cameron (PM), George Osborne (Chancellor of the Exchequer) & Boris Johnson (Mayor of London).

He came to Thailand and ultimately became Prime Minister, after the courts disqualified the elected majority party MPs on a technicality.

He used to spout the usual political stuff in beautifully modulated public school English, just like Cameron does back in the UK; entertaining for we ex-pats but a bit too English for most Thais who gave him the heave-ho in favour of Yingluck.

All you need to know really.

You could try the Powerline jobbies if your circuits can take it.

Faster than Wifi and works through walls.

http://www.tp-link.com/common/subject/powerline/TL-PA211/?siteid=3

Is this available in Bangkok? I still don't understand how it works? Do you buy one or several?

Would you know where we can get this?

You might find this UK link helpful.

http://www.shop.bt.com/products/bt-wi-fi-home-hotspot-500-kit-9BRT.html?ql=9brt-8w3v

Similar products are certainly available in Thailand; I've seen them in Tuk Com in Pattaya. I guess Pantip Plaza would be the place to start in Bangkok. I've no idea though whether the dodgy nature of the mains in Thailand would compromise their safety.

Maybe Chicog can advise us on that.

You could try the Powerline jobbies if your circuits can take it.

Faster than Wifi and works through walls.

http://www.tp-link.com/common/subject/powerline/TL-PA211/?siteid=3

This seems to be very much the preferred option in the UK and I 've been tempted to try it here, but is it safe with the 2 pin, no earth circuitry?

Also when you say "if your circuits can take it" - do these things impose much extra load on the system?

It seems to me the way to go if it's safe.

Couldn't The General just adopt the principle employed in the old Soviet Union; ie everything that is not expressly permitted is forbidden?

It would be much more efficient than having to dream up a new ban every day.

I walked past that bar on Saturday night.

Ok, I was invited to step inside and enjoy a cool beer, but just smiled and said, "Sorry girls, not tonight" and got a couple of cheery, "why nots?".

What I did not do was come out with an aggressive mouthful of foul language.

Many Westerners simply do not realise how offensive people of other cultures can find "f*** off" as a first line response; presumably now because it is so overused by Hollywood and in television drama.

I do know what the Thai language equivalent is, involving unpleasant references to one's mother, and I have never had it used by a Thai towards me, in any situation.

 

 

Pol Lt-Colonel Natteerit Harnsanehlak, a senior expert-level inquiry official at the Crime Suppression Division, said police were gathering evidence against the pair. This man is a hero. He should be given a parade down Sukhumvit! The fact that there is a battle against corruption going on at all is amazing. Now, the next question is, once the arrests have been made, are they going to be able to find a prosecutor and a judge who is not compromised? And courageous enough to put this guy away for many, many years, and give him and his family a massive fine, in the neighborhood of 10-30 million baht? This is what he deserves. He had a high position, and he filled his account abusing his position. He has been called out. The rats are getting flushed out of the sewer finally. This is a beautiful thing. Let us hope it continues, and let us hope these guys get locked up, where they can enjoy the company of some new "boyfriends". 

 
This is a spendid example of what makes TV so unpleasant in so many ways.

1 The immediate assumption of the guilt of the accused.

2 The demand for an extraordinary degree of punishment: "put this guy away for many, many years, and give him and his family a massive fine, in the neighborhood of 10-30 million baht".

3 Reference to people in the most derogatory terms: "The rats are getting flushed out of the sewer finally".

4 Grovelling obsequiousness towards the new guys in power: "Pol Lt-Colonel Natteerit Harnsanehlak...This man is a hero. He should be given a parade down Sukhumvit".

5 And finally, the truly vile hope that they will suffer homosexual rape in prison: "let us hope these guys get locked up, where they can enjoy the company of some new "boyfriends".
 
Appalling.

I would not withdraw one iota of the post. How many of these officials are NOT guilty? He was just caught. Apologize for him all you want.

 

I'm not apologizing for anyone, but I have the good fortune to come from a country where publicly claiming someone is guilty of an offence after they have been arrested, but before they have been tried, is regarded as contempt of court and as detrimental to a fair trial.

I appreciate that this does not apply in Thailand (or even the USA) but it is a principle of justice that I personally admire. Also I do not refer to people as rats, or express the hope they will be homosexually raped while held in prison, on the basis that they have been arrested on as yet unproven charges.

But hey, we each have our own standards of what constitutes justice.

 

Pol Lt-Colonel Natteerit Harnsanehlak, a senior expert-level inquiry official at the Crime Suppression Division, said police were gathering evidence against the pair. This man is a hero. He should be given a parade down Sukhumvit! The fact that there is a battle against corruption going on at all is amazing. Now, the next question is, once the arrests have been made, are they going to be able to find a prosecutor and a judge who is not compromised? And courageous enough to put this guy away for many, many years, and give him and his family a massive fine, in the neighborhood of 10-30 million baht? This is what he deserves. He had a high position, and he filled his account abusing his position. He has been called out. The rats are getting flushed out of the sewer finally. This is a beautiful thing. Let us hope it continues, and let us hope these guys get locked up, where they can enjoy the company of some new "boyfriends". 

This is a spendid example of what makes TV so unpleasant in so many ways.

1 The immediate assumption of the guilt of the accused.

2 The demand for an extraordinary degree of punishment: "put this guy away for many, many years, and give him and his family a massive fine, in the neighborhood of 10-30 million baht".

3 Reference to people in the most derogatory terms: "The rats are getting flushed out of the sewer finally".

4 Grovelling obsequiousness towards the new guys in power: "Pol Lt-Colonel Natteerit Harnsanehlak...This man is a hero. He should be given a parade down Sukhumvit".

5 And finally, the truly vile hope that they will suffer homosexual rape in prison: "let us hope these guys get locked up, where they can enjoy the company of some new "boyfriends".
 

Appalling.

This may be more a reflection of the fact that the current powers that be are actually enforcing long-ignored laws and regulations. We cannot (at least I cannot) applaud the ending of forest and beach encroachments and the clean-up of the taxi mafias and then complain when they enforce a long-standing rule that gets in the way of our personal fun. Special license for later hours - with set and public fees paid to the government - is much better than brown envelopes under the table.

And IF they begin to enforce no pimping laws and do away with the girlie bars? Will all the lounge chair haters get behind that one, too?

What about the nominee companies with foreigners holding land...? That one I find particularly odious.

And the recent suggestions on here that marriage is a handy way to get a long term visa extension? There may be very good reasons to get marriage but that sure as **** ain't one of them.

Nobody needs to be complaining. It is in the law ! They are just enforcing it now.

Exactly the same for the border runs and back to back tourist visa crackdown.

Nothing good happens after 2am anyways... drunks and thugs out on the streets.

Good to clean it all up and get back on the enforcement.

Sez you! Absolute rot!

Anyway the original law about 2.00 am closing was passed in the 60s when Thailand had a power shortage, which it does not have now. That was a logical response to a real problem. The endless midnight, 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock rubbish came later, simply to stop people having a good time and demonstrate moral superiority.

It would be much more sensible to allow venues to open in response to demand (eg late night clubs, discos etc) but subject to there being no unacceptable trouble or disturbance to neighbouring residents; not impossible to achieve with proper supervision. Other countries with a tourist industry seem able to do this.

My Christian/Catholic upbringing doesn't allow me to pray to Buddha.

Can I follow Christianity and use the workings of Buddha for my time on earth? A lot of people tell me that Jesus and Buddha were alike. I like what the Buddhist religion has to offer. Could I follow the teachings of Buddha but maintain my Christian upbringing?

Thanks.

My understanding is that those who pray to Buddha don't understand his teaching.

One should not worship him but respect him for his Dharma.

The power of the Buddha lies in the regular practice of his teaching.

Buddhism is a system of personal ethics, not a religion with an omnipotent God. I believe somewhere in Buddhist scriptures it is recorded that the Buddha himself did not believe in a supreme God, ruling all of creation. And praying to Buddha would seem to be a fundamental misunderstanding; he was a man who sought enlightenment through living a particular way of life.

Also I believe, some years back, the previous Pope, speaking vis a vis other religions, said something to the effect that he had no problem with the core beliefs of Islam, but did have a difficulty with Buddhism as a godless religion (in the literal, rather than the derogatory, use of the term "godless"). In practice your Catholic upbringing should allow you to follow the Buddist ethic of right behaviour, in so far as it does not contradict Christian teaching, if you can still maintain your faith in God.

However your priest might well tell you very differently.