plachon

On 6/21/2017 at 8:40 AM, Myshkin said:

People with mental illness should not be allowed to drive in any country in the world.

That would probably mean about half the world's  drivers would be taken off the roads. Good for easing traffic jams, but perhaps not so good for the economy or the mental health of perfectly capable drivers banned from driving. You clearly, like many on this thread, have little idea of the range of mental illnesses and the proportion of a population that suffer from them.

This guy definitely studied at the Chalerm school of policing. Next he'll be releasing tantalising first letters of the name of the bomber: "It's Mr Sor Gor and we'll soon be making an arrest". Codespeak for: "We don't actually have a clue, but if it keeps the media happy for a few more days, then we can come up with a suitable scapegoat in the meantime". 

Kamalasai wouldn't be too bad an option to live in, if you like living in the sticks, as it gives you the option to bai tiow in Kalasin, Roi-Et or Mahsarakham for a night out or shopping trips. Another benefit would be that house rental prices should be cheaper too, while the air would be cleaner than the towns, so it's win-win-win!  The only potential downside is having too many nosy in-laws near at hand, eating you out of house and home, but some are great and can be a real asset, such as house and pet-sitting, when called upon. 

I'm guessing things must be getting a bit tight for the boat drivers along that part of the Mekong who used to be gainfully employed smuggling wood and wildlife into Thailand and Thai-produced goods back to Laos. The wood and wildlife are virtually gone, while Lao people can so easily nip across and buy goods in Thailand these days, that smuggling is hardly worth it. So it makes perfect sense to switch to drugs running. Ganja has always been grown on both sides of the Mekong in that part of Isaan, controlled by local politicians and "men in uniform", but there does seem to have been a definite uptick in drug busts recently, suggesting more dope being grown and smuggled than a few years ago. The Navy need to have a rationale for their existence on the Mekong, and making the odd drug bust provides it, so long as it's only a small proportion of the overall trade. 

Yet another good reason to steer clear of the King Power duty free monopoly rip-off when going through airport (to add to the other 99). 

What to do with too many coins? I thought feed 'em to the nearest captive turtle for good luck was the culturally appropriate way in Thailand. 

But I am sure I read not 2 weeks ago that the chief of the Meteorology Dept said that the rainy season would start at the end of May and there would be no flooding this year. I wonder if he gets to keep his crystal ball or job for providing such accurate forecasts? 

6 hours ago, robblok said:

 Its alcohol related as it states in the topic.. guess that is hard to swallow for some. 

Lao khao in its neat form is bloody hard to swallow, indeed. That's why I used to mix it with honey and lemon to make a passable cocktail. But you are correct that this appears to be a/ alcohol related and b/ related to the son's probable mental disorder from his earlier drug habit, and possibly, his experiences in the army. This can break some people not mentally equipped to handle the stress. Then there is the social rejection he likely had in the village and the result can be lethal, as indeed it has proven in this case. 

Nearly, every village I have come across in NEThailand has its handful of harmless drunks and then one or two that are borderline psychopaths, who can flip at a moment's notice. It seemed the poor father pushed the son's trigger point, which was possibly nothing to do with the pork bones, but something that was said. Sad, whatever the reason.

3 hours ago, NanLaew said:

So? Where are they now?

 

If the Red Bull Killer was allegedly happy at home in Thailand until the 25th April, there's no telling where these far less prolific figures could be now.

Also, having dozens of properties, businesses and being an ex-PM of Thailand didn't seem to stop Thaksin fleeing for China. Perhaps someone ought to respectfully remind the court that there are one or five hundred precedents  of civil servants  wanted on criminal charges going AWOL....

The helpful map above (thanks Prem-R) shows that the fare is 15 B for adults and 10 B for children/students. NB: Not 150 B as someone indicated earlier, which would make it more expensive than a cab! Seems like a good new service running every 10 mins from 08.00 - 20.00 and every half hour thereafter. 

1 hour ago, cloudhopper said:

Translation - the pilot realized far too late that the aircraft was overloaded and dropped the load. Oh, and that all the previous reports about tranquilizers wearing off etc. were fiction.

No mention was made in earlier reports that the bear was in a sling, but it was supposed to have been in the helicopter itself, so clearly there is need for an investigation into earlier explanations given to the public, in what seems to be a clear cut case of truth obfuscation and misleading reports. Guess the senior officials responsible are counting on a collective case of amnesia and "mai pen rai" in the unnecessary death of this bear.  

39 minutes ago, ddavidovsky said:

I remember the Spittin' Image-type puppet show that used to lampoon politicians. No chance of that sort of thing now.

You ignored the point about the possibility of better democracy down the road. To that extent it was progressive.

 

I've been visiting Thailand since before Thaksin came to power and noted a marked opening-up and westernisation during those years - not to mention impressive economic growth. It's no good trying to peddle the myth he was a dictator.

 

And to all those still spluttering the 'convicted criminal' line - there was only one alternative to Thaksin and you've now got it. As corruption seems to be your main concern - you call it progress to sweep away democracy entirely in order to grab power?

I was living in Thailand in the decade before Thaksin came to power, and for various periods during and after the Thaksin years. The only time I felt more insecure and threatened was during the military coup and Suchinda era of 1991. Thaksin turned back democracy with his populist dictator style of governance, that  was not unlike the Field Marshall Sarit and Thanom era in terms of authoritarianism, where he centralised power upwards to himself (CEO of nation), while giving the appearance of decentralisation to villages (1 million baht village fund, etc). But he generated the most fear from his anti-drugs policy, where he gave the police carte blanche to send death squads into the countryside and take out drugs dealers. Trouble was, they extended their black list way beyond drugs dealers to exterminate a whole number of people they, Thaksin, his cronies, etc took a dislike too, as well as a significant number of innocent people killed accidentally (mistaken identity or being caught in the cross-fire), put down as "collateral damage". 

The economic growth you mention came at a terrible cost and left Thailand bloodied and bruised, as well as heavily in debt at the both state and private levels, through his opening up of easy credit to all policies, even when people clearly had few means of repayment. While this phenomenon is not unique to Thailand and the US and other states were just as guilty of handing out credit to uncreditworthy people, Thaksin turned it to his advantage through his telecom and other monopolies to personally profit from his own policies, thus partaking in policy corruption on a breathtaking scale - hence the eventual freezing of his family assets over the Ample Rich shell company scandal. He hated all instruments of conventional democracy, beyond the populist vote element, especially the rule of law and respect for human rights (remember "the UN is not my father"?).

While this definitely seems to be a case of wanton vandalism, perhaps by a jealous local competitor, I am not sure about the blasphemy angle, or whether worshipping a mythical serpent creature is entirely appropriate in a "Buddhist" temple? not that there is any shortage of animist beliefs practiced as standard in most Thai temples, which are generally wonderful mixes of mostly Brahminism and animism, with a smattering of Buddhism thrown in for good measure.  

1 hour ago, Bluespunk said:

Yep, that fear will certainly deter those fleeing war, persecution and violence. 

And its not as if the migrants, refugees and asylum seekers are not held in detention centres in one European country after another, including the near-concentration camp conditions in Hungary. But kippers and their ilk imagine it is all wine, roses and honey being a migrant or refugee in Europe.

8 hours ago, clockman said:

The golden days are over. Somebody will have to pay the piper!

That statement applies to the US and a bunch of other hopelessly indebted countries, every bit as much as it does to Thailand. The bill for the "feast" of the last few decades is about to hit the doormat, and it's going to be an ugly sight when there's a collective gasp that the cupboard is bare. QE has failed, insofar as it has just shunted the problem along for a decade, without tackling any of the underlying issues. 

59 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

I don't blame Songkran for everything at all but after seeing almost 50 of them I can give a perspective that many people cannot and I guarantee you that many foreigners and many Thais do not like the way Songkran is currently celebrated.

I can avoid it if I want, some people cannot and do not want to participate because they have other things going in their life. My issue with the current Songkran is the fact that there is no respect for those who decline to participate. You want to have some fun go ahead but if someone else is not interested- your dousing of them is not fun for them. Anything wrong with a little respect being shown?

My tolerance of Songkran revelry tanked over 20 years ago, less than a month after my daughter was born prematurely and we were taking her back to the maternal family home across Isaan a few days beforehand. We went fairly early to avoid the worst of the afternoon water fights and stayed mostly dry to Roi-Et, where we had to take a tuk-tuk across town between bus stations. So we are traveling in the tuk-tuk with a tiny baby wrapped up in my wife's arms, and a few people are starting to throw water at passing motorbikes. Mostly they ignore us, but then one <deleted> steps out with a bucket and douses all of us in water of uncertain origin (dirty klong water for all we know?). Result was we were all soaked, including my daughter and all our luggage, etc. He must have seen there was a small baby on-board, but just couldn't give a flying f...k, in his twisted view of what was sanuk.

As anyone knows who has suffered such boorish behaviour at Songkran, this isn't isolated behaviour, but the norm for a lot of people who lose any sense of kreng jai  towards others and make the festival my least favourite. Good reason to avoid Thailand this time of year.

When General Suchinda tried the same lines about being disinterested in wealth or power back in 1991 (to loud guffaws), the middle-class rose up and kicked him out, albeit after a bloody conflict on the streets of Bangkok. This time around, the middle-class are utterly supine about a brutal military regime holding on to power and privilege, making one wonder whether they are just biding their time until the economic situation slips below a certain threshold before protesting en masse, or whether they really are prepared to forego any pretense of democracy ad infinitum, in the interests of weak notions of "national unity" and fear of a Thaksin bogeyman return?

Although context is rather different to the early 90s, sensible explanations please about how long the middle class patience will last before something snaps and street protests erupt? 

9 hours ago, hobobo said:

I bet he is so upset now that he will turn himself in

Don't think your sentence is complete. More appropriately: "I bet he is so upset now that he will turn himself in to a shape-shifting lizard, or perhaps a water monitor"......now hold on a minute, wasn't one of those creatures seen being helpfully freed by the cops in a local klong? 

10 hours ago, GOLDBUGGY said:

I believe they are guilty because I don't believe the made up story they came out later after they first admitted to being guilty.

 

Sitting at the beach all night and even going for a swim near the murder scene but not seeing anything or anybody all night. Missing clothes from their late night swim, when everyone is in bed, which makes you also wonder who would steel some old clothes or flip flops, which they must have thought turned up at the murder scene. Remembering everything that night except what time they got home, as they said they were too drunk.

 

Not seeing anyone all night long but being able to spot a Black Cell Phone in the Sand at night time, which turns out to be David Millers. Yet with both of them being quite poor, they decide to give this expensive cell phone to a friend based only because he has helped them in the past. But this story gets better and is my favorite one. How does this Friend show his appreciation to the Accused for getting such and nice expensive gift like that for doing nothing?

 

Their Friend tries the cell phone but it doesn't work. Does he: 1) Try to get fixed so he can use it later? 2) Give it back to his Friends with a Thank You for the gift but sorry it doesn't work. 3) Put it on a shelf and forget about it. No to all answers! What their Friend does is he puts it in a Plastic Bag, takes out a hammer so he can smash it up to small pieces, then throws it in the jungle in his back yard never to be found again. The Police only knew he had it because the Accused told them, when they first confessed.

 

Believe that if you want to but I don't. For the court case it was other evidence as well they claim to have, like DNA, which they felt was far to overwhelming and enough evidence to convict them. The Appeals Court agrees to that verdict. Whether it is or isn't, has always been up for debate. But it is what it is.

I think somebody needs to develop a slight sense of scepticism for what is reported in Thai police accounts to the media, or next they'll be believing there is no prostitution in  Bangkok (once reported by a senior Thai cop) and that Thai police never use torture to extract confessions from suspects. 

Am surprised Myanmar doesn't get a higher ranking than Thailand as a "hybrid regime". At least Myanmar's current set of leaders came from elections and they have made great strides in allowing civil society to have a role in the nation's development, and arguably, have a freer press and  better freedom of speech than their eastern neighbour.

Also interesting is France's ranking as a "flawed democracy", on a par with the US (correct ranking). I know which country I would rather live and be an active citizen in - and it ain't Trumpland. 

12 hours ago, SpaceKadet said:

You would be surprised how much I know about nuclear power plants construction, operation, maintenance and decommissioning. Hence my comment regarding going nuclear. There is simply no better price/performance option available. Even including the long term storage of waste.

While you might think you know a little about these things, it is immediately apparent you know much less about the present economics of nuclear, solar and other forms of renewables, either in Thailand, Europe or elsewhere. There are tens of thousands of commercially viable solar plants worldwide, from small to large operations, even in mid-latitude countries like UK. And each year, the number increases at a staggering rate. By comparison, the economics of nuclear power continue to get worse year on year, as the full costs of construction, generation and  decommissioning become apparent.

Only in nations that cross-subsidise the power generation and defence side of nuclear programmes are continuing down this route of power development, at an ever greater cost to taxpayers and energy bill payers, who will ultimately have to underwrite these white elephants. In the UK, for example, after having said that they would not subsidise nuclear, the Tory govt have reneged on their pledge by guaranteeing the strike price of power produced at Hinkley Point C at twice the present wholesale cost of electricity. More expensive than the present generation cost of offshore windpower, incidentally. And all for a design of reactor not tried or tested elsewhere by owners EdF, who have messed up with building similar plants in France and Finland.  Solar generation costs are reducing all the time, and with advances in battery technology, represent a bright future for countries that make the transition from fossil fuels and nuclear dependence.

Blaek jai! - no one pointing at the offending stiff (either of them)? 

15 hours ago, robertthesculptor said:

With the amazing abundance of sun, wind, and water power available at a better longtearm price, why would anyone go backwards to a technology of maybe 150 years ago.this is a serious problem as it only hurts the environment and the future of Thailand. 

Try telling that logic to the 'coalocracies' of fossilized Australia and Trumpland. 

Maybe it was Phra Dhammachayo in disguise? After all he can walk on water, levitate and transform himself into whatever he wants.... 

It seems to me like a Buddhist version of Father Ted is long overdue in Thailand. It could be set on Phuket,  in a small forest wat with a bunch of dysfunctional monks of little faith getting up to the kind of exploits these dudes were busted for. It would bound to be a blockbuster series on Channel 7, and make a refreshing change from the endless rich & poor know their place, marry-your-rapist,  crazy female histrionics at the slightest excuse, lazy stereotypical ethnic group representations, poor acting and Bangkok-centric soaps. And of course, the star of the show would be constantly drunk, tab-smoking, yaa-baa popping, football betting, leching old monk in his 80s who swore and belched like a trooper and never missed a trick.

What would be the Thai catchphrase equivalent of "Feckit!" I wonder?