MikeN

17 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

I have never contacted an Escort Service.

 

What's it like?  Are the girls educated?  And, what do they talk about?

 

Also, do poor people use these Escort Services?

 

 

Well, as the minimum rate on this particular agency is 6,000 baht for 2 hours, and up to 20 thousand for a 24 hour booking, then no I don't think poor people would be using these escort services !

HEADLINE : "growing turmoil likely to end with General Prawit as PM"

The turmoil will just be starting if he becomes PM!

7 hours ago, smedly said:

 once in the door the parties with the majority of seats rule the roost not matter who supports who right now - I expect  the junta side not to like what happens next........then what ?

The junta side (BJT+PPRP+UTN) actually have more MPs than Pheu Thai do, so it might be PT who get a rude shock when it comes to implementing policies.

With the complete lack of morals and political scruples of Thai politicians and parties, I wouldn't be at all surprised if PT (or Thaksin) plans to make a coalition acceptable to the senators now, then engineer circumstances which cause one of those parties to leave. Perhaps some dirt comes out about the watch collector, or the man from Buriram, in about a year's time. Their party leaves, and MFP is invited to join the ruling coalition.

According to the story at "you know where" PT is going to support many of MFP's policies (except 112) even if they are not going to be part of the new govt. Perhaps once the current Senate is no more and the EC has been manipulated to get a more amenable senate PT may support the MFP when they try to abolish conscription. Prawit and his mob walk out in disgust, PT invite the MFP in, then BJT would leave too, and it's back to the original PT-MFP coalition.

we will just have to wait and see !

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

Perhaps but then aren't the expats sometimes locked into using that agent for future matters? Doesn't that complicate address reporting?

The agents would love you to be locked in to using them as a reliable income source, which of course filters down to corrupt IOs (allegedly) so they would like it too. There are no real checks on the online 90 day reporting, you can use any address from a computer or phone located anywhere.

4 hours ago, orchidfan said:

I also has to do the " verification of ID" for my Oz bank (which they more or less froze until my ID was confirmed)...BUT it required a notorised copy of my passport done by the Oz  Consulate in  Bkk.

Only option was to send it and their form back by EMS.

I think they got it in a week or so.

 

Don't know how you did this "online"??

With Westpac I had to log in normally then provide 2 of my passport number, Aus drivers license, medicare card or Aus birth certificate. Passport was easy, but luckily the system accepted the number of an expired drivers license ! Those numbers are checked with an electronic data verification system, which might be worrying for the tinfoil hat brigade. Then I got an email saying all ok :

My wife recently sent an important document to her sister in USA by EMS, according to the tracking data it was "with the airline' for 3 weeks and took just over a month in total. Yesterday I got a "know your customer" form to fill out from my bank in Australia (to verify my ID or else) that was posted 30th May, and had to be completed by 7 July. Luckily I've already done it online.

28 minutes ago, bradiston said:

No, it's unelected. They're selected by a panel of military top brass. The more I read, the more it takes my breath away. Smirking Prayuth seems to have had it away on his toes. Anyone seen him lately?

No, that was for the current Senate, the link before was for the current process as in the 2018 act. The amphoe level committee is the amphoe head plus 5 others including heads of 3 amphoe agencies. Provincial screening committee is governor plus 5 including heads of 3 provincial agencies.

but when it gets to national level, it seems the Election Commission is also the national committee (section 24 (1), with reference to section 4, https://www.ect.go.th/ect_en/download/article/article_20210806135906.pdf )

"(1) the national committee, with the Commission serving as the national committee; ",

"Section 4.  In this Organic Act:   “Commission” means the Election Commission under the organic law on the Election Commission; "

People can make their own conclusions about how unbiased or otherwise the EC is.

21 minutes ago, bradiston said:

I think Prayuth installed a 10 man committee to select the Senators.

 

"The proposed constitution also allows the NCPO to appoint an eight to ten person panel who will choose Senators,[4] to include six seats reserved for the heads of the Royal Thai Army, Navy, Air Force, and Police, plus the military's supreme commander, and defense permanent secretary."

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Thailand

 

Scroll down to 2017.

 

A military dictatorship posing as a democracy. Of course, with the demise of the NCPO, who knows what will happen in May next year?

https://www.ect.go.th/ect_en/download/article/article_20210806135906.pdf has the 2018 Organic Act on selection of senators, which is as clear as mud in the English translation but sections 10-35 seem to say that qualified people may nominate themselves, selection is whittled down first at amphoe level then by provincial comittees, final selection is done by secret ballot by committee at national level. So it's not a direct peoples choice election,

9 minutes ago, bamnutsak said:

That was not a requirement. A party could put up to 5 names for PM pre-election, but that was not a requirement. You could put none up but still nominate someone. As I understand it.

 

It is actually a maximum of 3 names that have to be submitted to the EC by the parties, a party can nominate anybody from the published list as long as the party that person belongs to got at least 25 seats.. Pita was actually nominated in Parliament by a Pheu Thai speaker from what I read.

8 hours ago, scorecard said:

True, I suspect that the regulations in place will mean the senators must be appointed, but by who?

 

Would be nice to get clarity on this point. 

 

Well, according to section 107 of the 2017 constitution "selection of senators shall be made in the form of a Royal Decree" (https://cdc.parliament.go.th/draftconstitution2/download/article/article_20180829093502.pdf)

Which could possibly open up a Pandora's box under easily imaginable circumstances.

While scrolling through that document I also noticed Section 113 : "A Senator shall not align with or yield to the mandate of any political party". No comment on that bit !

15 hours ago, Zack61 said:

If it wasn’t the shares it would have been something else. 

Yes, they would have found something else to hang him with....such as that video clip of him riding a motorcycle taxi after the election. No helmet, so breaking the law there would be sufficient for the Senate. To say nothing of such behaviour being unbecoming of a PM and making him unsuitable in their eyes. They never needed much of an excuse.

Now that the junta and senators have decided the issue, every PM candidate can only be nominated once. So PT's nominees can be rejected by the senators, and every other candidate from the democratic coalition....which would leave the junta nominees as last man standing. Minority government ahead ?

Well I did read one article in the BP which suggested they could keep it up until the senators have been retired next May, but that would mean the general stays as caretaker PM, and who knows what he might arrange in the meantime ! There is also a provision that if they cannot agree on any of the nominated PM candidates then an "outsider" PM can be roped in, but I don't know what the criteria is for that to happen.

9 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

Yes: 324

No: 182

 

It would appear that "the ayes have it", as they say... ????

Not here when abstaining is a "NO" vote...as is not even turning up to vote. 44 were not there for the vote, which shows what they think about democracy.

10 minutes ago, pegman said:

My gut feeling is a sufficient number of senators will abstain so Pita will be elected as Prime Minister. 

If they abstain that is effectively a no vote...the new PM needs a majority of the 750 eligible votes from MPs and senators, so 376 no matter how many actually vote.

She wasn't a beer promoter...that's illegal. We all know she was trying to sell soda water.

As at Dec last year for the DLT on the northern ring road, a medical certificate, certificate of address, copy of passport. There is a "clinic" in front of the DLT for your med cert, I got my address certificate from tourist police but I've heard that job is back to Immigration now ? Only had to do the traffic light colours and braking tests.

Last year it was 180 baht for 2 days+ in the main carpark. It's calculated on a 24 hour basis, mine was just over 48 hours. There seemed to be a free parking area just before the main car park ?

15 hours ago, Plern said:

I'm surprised the op thinks this is a thing. Most (all) of us produce one year leases. Why would op think that he should be given a one year extension based on a three month contract? 

Do they ? when I first changed from ED to retirement I had, from memory, about 2 months left on my lease. My landlord said don't worry about new lease, leave whenever you want, or stay as long as you want. So no 12 month leases since, and never a problem with Immigration come extension time.

On 5/25/2023 at 5:48 PM, snoop1130 said:

As evidence of alleged interference, the protesters brought up US Ambassador Robert Godec’s “call” for the Thai government to promptly release the election results,

The BP said pretty much the same today about the EC confirming the results sooner than the 2 months it appears to want, so is the Post also interfering ?