plachon

2 hours ago, Jeremy50 said:

The repetitiveness and futility of this place. 1000 years of relative civilisation in Thailand, and farmers have not yet learned how to prosper in one of the most predictable climates on the planet. In four months they will all be complaining about the floods..

Another way of looking at it, could be a "1000 years of relative civilization in Siam" allowed farmers to prosper living close to the seasons and nature and then 60 or so years of a rapacious government bureaucracy that has profited on the backs of the farmers by endless state projects that have reduced their former independence/resilience as land and water managers, while never solving the underlying problems. This is manifested in turning predictable seasons of dry periods and wet periods into "crises" and "natural disasters" that  can then be used by politicians and state officials to leverage water resources development funds from the government that benefit these groups far more than they benefit the farmers, who are regarded as passive levers of resources in the game of development. It is repetitive and futile, but it is how hydraulic development proceeds in much of the erstwhile "third world" nations, now more commonly called "the developing world". This latter category should include the USA as well, by the way.  

Curious story......40 villagers lose 40 million baht of savings, meaning an average of 1 million baht savings each. On the face of it, this would seem like a lot of money for average villagers in a rural area of Pitsanuloke to have saved.

But it says Mongkhon offered them favourable terms for loans before disappearing with "their savings". Perhaps the story should have read "loans" instead......which would imply that they borrowed the money, it was put in their bank accounts and then the dodgy bank manager ran off with their dosh....which was not savings, but a loan from the bank....and should in theory be reclaimable, if indeed Mongkhol ran off with it.

Omsin is a govt bank, so he should be a karachagan with lots of links/ties and therefore traceable, with a wee bit of clever sleuthing. 

13 hours ago, oxo1947 said:

I was not speaking about Donald Trump--but about John Bercow's stupidity,

Bercow sat with  and allowed  leaders of China, Kuwait and Qatar to speak in Parliament.

 

--other leaders speaking to the British parliament  that no one seems to have a problem with include 

Japan's Emperor Hirohito-- Japan's wartime head of state

Romania's Nicolae Ceausescu-- Romania was then, already well-known as one of the most corrupt and oppressive of the Soviet Union's Cold War satellite states.

Russia's Vladimir Putin

Qatar's Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani

The Emir of Qatar - a country which practices Sharia Law, involving lashes as punishments - was welcomed by Mr Bercow on October 26, 2010.

 

Bercow-- You really are living proof of reincarnation. No one could possibly get to be so stupid in just one lifetime.

 

One of the problems of being a Trump fan, is that your're prone to believe any bit of bullshit (read: "fake news" in your favourite demagogue's lingo) put out by the Trump-media, even when it is so patently false that a reasonably educated 12 year old kid could sniff it out as BS from a mile away. 

For the benefit of readers who hold the faculty of fake news scepticism, I look forward to you providing proof of the dates and occasions that Hirohito, Ceaucescu, & Putin have addressed the UK parliament....... 

Fact-checking is evidently not something they teach in Trumpland.

A rather sad situation, both for the temple that once was able to look after them and the desperate residents. It strikes me that quite a lot of charities and temples in Thailand are in a similar situation i.e. rely too heavily on the charisma and personality of a single monk, so that when he dies or is too sick to work, the temple or charity fades away with him. I guess this reflects the personal or patronage politics that characterises Thailand and means that truely resilient civil society institutions are still quite weak and allows the dominance of the state to continue with little to keep it in check. Breaking from this client-patron dependency and creating genuine non-state institutions will be the key to any future stronger and more mature Thai society.

17 hours ago, canuckamuck said:

Wind farms don't even make money in countries that have wind. What a dumb idea from the start.

Stuff and nonsense. In Britain, wind farms are making lots of money, both on and offshore. Same across the windier parts of Europe and I suspect the rest of the world. In fact, onshore wind is now the cheapest form of power generation in UK and is a nice little earner for those wise enough to invest at the right time and place. Solar is doing very nicely too. Together and with some tidal thrown in for good measure, they are the future of power generation. One almost feels sorry for the fossil fuel heads with their soon to be stranded assets losing their greasy shirts, for failing to see the future of energy.  Almost. 

"Cambodia’s southern islands have been likened to Thailand 20 years ago, with Lonely Planet describing them as a “tropical Shangri-La”, saying “the time to go is now” before major development changes the region. "

Too late - as these resorts prove, major development has already changed these islands. While the places look nice superficially, they have displaced locals and smaller resorts that were previously there catering for backpackers on a low budget i.e. the kind of people who might read the LP Guides. Now these resorts have sprung up, the atmosphere and character of the islands has been ruined, and judging by the photo of the resort overhanging the sea at "Song Saa Private island", has encroached over the beach and into the sea. Apart from wrecking beach access, I have no doubts that a few powerful storms will wreck this resort, eventually leading to a pile of builders rubble on the beach. 

Greed seems to know no bounds across SE Asia, and one more island group has been grabbed by a small greedy elite, leaving virtually nowhere left unspoiled. Thailand 20 years ago was crap in any case in the vast majority of island resorts. Had to be there over 40 years ago to see true natural beauty on the coasts and clean beaches.

5 hours ago, oby said:

Of course the media of your nanny land never make a typo or report false news

55555

You are in Thailand where written and spoken language  is thai, 

Ergo, anything you read here must be translated for you,

Ummmmmmmm, ?do you get it?

 

 

I think you are making a lot of assumptions in your rather pathetic rant.

A/ You have no idea where I am from and I am not sure what a "nanny land" is in any case.

B/ You have no idea where I live

c/ This "news" was reported in English and that is what I was commenting on.

D/ I point out in my post that such basic errors are just as likely to occur in Thai language media as well, and I can read Thai, so not everything I read has to be translated.

E/ Your answer shows a fundamental misunderstanding of both the point I was making and why it was relevant in this instance. Please desist from being so obnoxious, whether to myself or anyone else that makes a reasonable post.

"As of January 30, Lamtakong contained 87 cubic meters of water" - that's about enough water for one family for 6 months, so no worries there RID! 

Of course, they probably mean 87 million cubic meters, which is probably an oversight by NNBT reporter, and hints at the terrible journalistic standards in understanding and accurately reporting basic units and statistics. Not that one can expect much from one unaccountable state bureaucracy reporting on another unaccountable state bureaucracy, but all the same..... one sees similar shoddy slips from The Nation, Bangkok Post and Thai language press, suggesting it is an endemic problem, especially when reporting on simple units of water measurement, such as volume, flow and even, depth.

Then again, one wonders sometimes why non-news items such as this are even reported as "news", rather than bureaucratic propaganda? 

I'm no mathematician, but I can count more than 30 people on the platform in the photo, so guess bang goes the "safety" aspect.....wonder how long before we read about this tourist attraction collapsing? I sincerely hope not, but it would not be beyond the realms of possibility, given the temptation to squeeze as many people on as possible for income reasons, and letting safety slip down the list of priorities. 

Should raise serious questions about the SFO's commitment to transparency and accountability, as well as seeking justice in this case. UK should be setting a example here of good corporate governance, but seems they might be protecting some sleazebags in high places, all for keeping face. That Prayut has to be the one who outs them, says a lot about official and corporate corruption on both sides. 

I suspect this kind of thing is commonplace in Thailand. I recall being in an Internet cafe near a technical college entrance a few years ago and sitting behind a small group of teenage gatoeys having a whale of a time watching  a boy masturbating online on a live chat App. Shrieking and laughing in a typical katoey-way, they didn't seem to possess any self-awareness or shame that they were in a public place and young kids might have been watching the same online show. I got the sense that this was rather normal for them. 

10 hours ago, 8OA8 said:

There are many different nationalities of asylum seekers in Thailand. Pakistani Christians and Pakistani Ahmadiyya, Sri Lankans, North Korean (they are usually resettled very quickly by South Korea), Somalian and Vietnamese.

Thailand's government isn't perfect, however the current government has been on the right track with regards to their attitude towards over 100,000 refugees living in the camps along the border areas.

Yes there have been cases of refoulement, most recently the case of the Uighurs to China, but bear in mind that was done under heavy political pressure from the Chinese government 

I'd heard that the Pakistani Christians, and so I presume the other groups including these Syrian refugees, come to Thailand because it is relatively easy to get in given the open tourism policy, but find it very hard to leave and end up living a miserable existence there. The Thai government makes life very hard for them and many don't get recognition from UNHCR, meaning they live in a kind of limbo for years on end, while awaiting a slim hope of resettlement in a third country. I am sure some of them end up wishing they had never left their original nation, as grim as it must have been. Thailand is not the land of milk and honey some naively imagine. 

1 hour ago, Inepto Cracy said:

What. A prediction on betting. Is that not a no no?

No, apparently not. I once taught a class of monks English. One would regularly tell me his betting predictions on upcoming matches in the English league. He proudly told me had won 20,000 baht once on his bets. Didn't seem to have any sense that this might clash with one of the basic tenets of Buddhism, let alone being a man of the cloth. In fact, whether its selling lottery number predictions or football match outcomes, gambling seems to be a core business pursuit of the modern Thai monk. 

If you're expecting this to be a "jungle temple", in any normal sense of the word "jungle", then I think you are in for a disappointment. It is just a small area of fertile forest that you can walk round in about 5 mins that is centred on a mineral-rich spring, which has been tarted up to take advantage of Thais' beliefs in the supernatural. There are various statues and signs, while visitors are encouraged to take a drink, pray to the deities and part with money. Up until a few years ago, there was no proper temple here, just a modest shrine to a naga spirit built around the mineral spring, but since then it has boomed as a tourist attraction. The only thing of potential interest might be the rich plant life in the mini-forest, which is quite different from surrounding remnant forest patches in that part of Isaan. In other words, it is a biodiversity island in a bit of a biodiversity desert, and from what I saw when I last visited in about 2006, was being poorly managed by the venal guardians. 

On 3/16/2016 at 9:06 AM, isanbirder said:

Makes it rather difficult to discuss, doesn't it?

Maybe it's just one of those myths which everybody believes but which rarely happens. (No proof of that either)

I too can confirm that this practice is not a myth, but very much a normal part of Thai karachagan recruiting practices. It is nothing new however. I recall over 20 years ago when still just engaged that an acquaintance of my wife in Mahasarakham, graduate from the town's Rajabhat College, had paid 200,000 baht to get her secondary school teacher position. And I've hear lots of similar cases in the years since. That's not to say every teacher has had  to pay ngeun dai tor, but it is common within many departments, of which the RTP and Customs are reputed to be the worse. I should think a position is pretty steep in the Land Dept too.

I know people personally who had to pay to work in the TAO or Or Bor Tor, including one who eventually resigned, because she couldn't hack the endemic corrupt practices within the office. It really is tamada and people are unphased with requests by bosses at or after interviews for the position, or it is just common knowledge that XXX,XXX baht is the going rate for a given position. And as the OP's step son graduated in law, he should be aware that there is a massive over-supply of law graduates in Thailand, far in excess of the number of positions available in the public and private sectors, so it is almost certain to lead to corruption within the various departments or firms that may need a new recruit (which includes the aforesaid TAO, incidentally). The 500,000 B may have been better invested in a Western uni education (but not UK, which now cost £9 k per year for fees alone). Perhaps Germany or Netherlands, for something more affordable, but you'd still be looking at several times more than the Thai education system, and need a youngster smart and prepared to work had in the first place, which of course, can be rare qualities amongst M6 graduates.

If actually built, this would make Khon Kaen the leading city in Thailand at applying a modern public transport system, outside of Bangkok. Chiang Mai is still beholden to pretty much the same model of a songtaew mafia controlling "public" transport that has operated since the 1960s and suffers the consequences with traffic jams. Other cities are getting increasingly congested and polluted. The fact there is a plan and early design is promising, but as others point out, there is always a wide gap between concept and application in Thailand. Will watch this development with interest.

5 hours ago, ratcatcher said:

"Nadia" the giant croc terrorizing southern Thai town"

Nadia hasn't terrorized anybody.................yet.

Until she is reported as having attacked a hapless flood victim, it's just another escaped croc. I hope the creature is captured and returned to a secure and safe place and not shot by some local hero who wants a pair of boots, belt and wallet.

Nevermind the local heroes....it's once ol' Plod gets wind of it and heads down to NST with his rifle that I worry. You'll remember his reaction when there was a flood round Nakhon Sawan many years back and all the crocs escaped from the local farms......but you are right, "Nadia" is the one who will be terrorized as soon as she is spotted and hasn't harmed a flea yet....though one kind of hopes that she makes it to freedom without the local rednecks finding her whereabouts first.....swim, Nadia, swim! 

16 hours ago, Shroud said:

 

So you're saying that your western media is free and smart, or just a propaganda media output to dumb people even further down the road?  

But this story isn't about the media, as such, but rather the government's policy announcement to create a new type of citizen, the stuff of totalitarian regimes. So I wasn't commenting about "my western media" nor any other nation's media. I was commenting on a policy, pure and simple. Thus, I suggest you learn to more carefully read and interpret posts, before jumping in with an irrelevant comment. 

Classic stuff, straight out of 1984! How about creating "Thai cyborgs" and "smart soldiers" whilst you're at it General.

At first I thought, getting "beaten" sure beats getting "eaten" by a croc......but having seen the latest Khaosod offering, I now realise Thai PBS in their haste to get this news story out there, confused getting "bitten" with "beaten".  They almost got the right French pronunciation : "Come quick monsieur, my wife was beaten by a crocodile!" 

Inspector Clouseau could have fun solving this crime, especially given the number of minkees in Khao Yai.

On 12/30/2016 at 4:43 AM, Wilsonandson said:

A school trip outing was all it was. Not the Hitler youth Mr Draper. Nice story though, should help sell a few newspapers.

 

You seem to be unintentionally backing-up and illustrating perfectly Draper's article. This is rather unsubtle indoctrination and brain-washing with military-royalism for the mass population, starting with the youngest in society, of the sort which the Thai education system has always meddled with, but now seems to be pursuing once more with an unhealthy gusto and taking it to a more extreme level. Why you felt you needed to post the picture of Draper, suggests you are well indoctrinated yourself in the dark arts of McCarthyism.  

2 hours ago, Brer Fox said:

".......small-scale local reservoirs instead".

More opportunity for the local boys to skim off the funding. 

 

 

Whatever size the project, there is bound to be skimming going on. The dispute seems to be whether it is better to let lots of lower level phu yais skim on the local projects at provincial, district and tambon level, or concentrate the skimming opportunities at the central level amongst the top elites. Nobody seems to be considering the possibility that maybe Thailand has more than enough irrigation projects already, and perhaps it is time to look at which existing ones are working, which ones aren't (and why) and maybe the money could be better spent on maintaining existing infrastructure and removing the ones that don't work, thus freeing up water and land in the process. Learn the lesson of Yai Hai in Ubon, for instance, who lost her land to an irrigation reservoir that was useless, fought for 30 years to get it back and eventually won. In reality, there are tens of thousands of Yai Hais in Thailand who would benefit from irrigation system removal. 

8 hours ago, hanssna said:

Strange ( and too bad ) that there were no 'farang' dive Instructors ( like me ) around that saw this...   around this time of year, it can get busy around the Similan Islands. I have seen many Asian divers in the water, and many times I had to pull them out of the reef, because of very poor diving skills. But this deliberate damage really takes the cake.

As a dive instructor, perhaps you can tell me if the coral in the photo looks healthy or not. To me it looks pretty dead and lifeless, including the sea around it, but maybe that is how much of the Similan coral reef looks these days? And on a connected note, has the Similans been affected much by coral bleaching or die-off from ocean acidification, as with the northern Great Barrier Reef and many other reefs, so I understand? In other words, discounting idiots scratching their names on the reef, how does it match up as a dive site these days, compared to other coral reefs in SE Asia?

13 hours ago, Mook23 said:

in thailand it was like this:

1. we were never colonised

2. we never collaborated with the japs

3. we won from france (anu sawari!!!)

4. we invented the tuktuk!

;-)

joke aside, i always said the thai are the americans of SEA!

Having just returned from the USA, I was struck by just how similar the average Thai and American is. Here, I am not talking about college degree educated people,  but the ordinary person on the street who has maybe a high school education at most, though admittedly Thai university degree educated folk can be more ignorant than your average Bor Hok -educate villager, who at least is generally gifted with a modicum of common sense.

But back to the US - I was genuinely surprised at just how insular, nationalistic, dumbed-down, uncurious and poorly educated the average joe blow in the street was. For example, I met a woman at a farmers market, who asked me what my accent was. I asked her to guess, and she ran through Australian, Irish, Scottish and then inexplicably, "London" as her guesses.  I said, "now you are getting warmer. What country is that the capital of?" The question stumped her, as she genuinely thought London was a country. This is a common occurrence in Thailand, where ordinary Thais are at pains to distinguish between many cities and countries of otherwise large and well-known nations. Oh well, I guess the American and Thai education systems still have some way to go, both at home and abroad....trying to disabuse their citizens that their country is not the centre of the universe, let alone the greatest country on earth would be a start, I suppose. 

6 hours ago, Ulysses G. said:

 

Every big businessman has successes and failures. Things change with time. The FACT is that he has always maintained an opulant lifestyle and has many millions of dollars of assets at his disposal.

You seem unusually desperate to defend this despicable specimen of humanity at all costs, even when the "facts" are consistently against your untenable position. I think this is a mark of a die-hard Trump supporter, and does not bode well for the future of the US, or indeed the rest of the planet. He is a demagogue of the worst kind, and is proving to be damaging to the interests of your country, even before his inauguration. But it is going to take a considerable dose of reality to shock his supporters from their collective stupor.

By the way, did you know that the quote you adopt below your name is mis-attributed to Orwell, who was a pacifist, and would be disgusted at the spectre of Trump as POTUS?

http://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/11/07/rough-men/