10 hours ago, Smarter Than You said:

Ever heard of this guy?

Probably a touch more knowledgable the you.

You really have no bloody idea, do you. The battery shown is discontinued as proved to be an expensive WASTE OF MONEY. In industrial terms, it is tiny.

https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Tesla-Discontinues-10kWh-Powerwall-Home-Battery

Just now, sjaak327 said:

Samak to name just one. He was acting PM and was impeached over appearance in a cooking show. too ridiculous to even consider.,,

You keep dragging out the old red lies, don't you? He was impeached for lying about being paid. he was never prosecuted, and could have been re-instated the next day. 

And supposedly I lack credibility.

1 minute ago, Smarter Than You said:

Seems to me the only side that operates with freedom from prosecution is the military.

 

 

Good. Long may they keep the criminals away from power.

Just now, sjaak327 said:

Another lie. People operating within Thaksin's party have been impeached and some have been prosecuted. and some even have been whilst they were still in office. 

 

Now the current lot cannot be impeached, they cannot be prosecuted and they cannot be voted out. 

 

No credibiltiy left, I am done with you

Don't claim, back it with a link or example. If you can.

Oh wait! Thaksin was prosecuted while his party was in office.

1 hour ago, Smarter Than You said:

Recently, a list of Thailand's richest people was released - Thaksin did not even make the top 10.

 

If, as you believe, Thaksin is able to exercise complete control over Thailand's electoral system because of his wealth the question has to be asked - Why doesn't any one of the many people in Thailand richer than Thaksin simply outbid him?

No need for coups.

No need for street protests.

No need for people to die.

 

What is it that these other billionaires lack that Thaksin has?

Could it be popular support?

Why yes it is.

 

PTP winning election after election after election after election has very little to do with Thaksin's bank balance.

 

Why are you so worked up about "abuses of the democratic system" but have absolutely zero concern about the overthrow of the entire democratic system.

 

Your position is akin to saying jaywalkers deserve the death penalty and murders should be left alone to keep on murdering.

Irrational and idiotic.

Not every wealthy person suffers the same level of greed for wealth and power. Being in power has everything to do with his bank balance, it enables him to steal more.

I would try to explain to you the dysfunction of Thai democracy, but I would have more chance of getting understanding from the village idiot.

37 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Ignore the law? That's hilarious. The number of charges and quick convictions by the courts of TRT and PTP compare to the Dem and colors that are support the military makes Thailand judiciary system a laughing stock. Now talk about the coup and all those human rights abuses; those were outright ignoring the law. Maybe that's because the military don't have the mandate and accountability and can ignore the law and the people. 

There is an obvious answer to that disparity - criminals flock to thaksin's parties for the freedom to operate without prosecution. When they no longer have that protection, you whine about political motivation, as if motivation matters a whit when the evidence is presented.

1 hour ago, sjaak327 said:

And as far as I know they didn't ignore the law of the land. the ones that quite clearly did are the ones you support. you are a hypocrite and you seem to think people on here might be too stupid to see right through you. I for one am not. 

 

In my personal view you don't have a single leg left to stand on, your position simply is indefensible. 

As far as you know isn't very far is it? Start with Thaksin's passport - Surapong will try explaining that very soon. You have trouble seeing through your red lens.

7 minutes ago, Smarter Than You said:

Ever heard of batteries?

Apparently they can store power.

Amazing huh?

Ever heard of a Gigawatthour. Try sticking one in a battery.

What is amazing is the number of people with no training or experience in electricity generation or transmission who are prepared to give an uninformed opinion.

1 minute ago, sjaak327 said:

Hmm, Thaksin isn't a third party of course. He leads the party for many years, and everyone knows it. These MP's don't really get there on their own merites, they get their because people vote for PT . Thaksin might be a criminal, so are the current lot (and they have not been convicted under dubious circumstances for some land deal, he wasn't even a benificiary off). 

 

All of your text, doesn't explain away that PT did receive a solid landslide mandate from the electorate. And it doesn't explain away that the current bunch of criminals (only not convicted because they granted themselves amnesy for their past and future crimes, hmm now amnesty IS ok right ? ) have no right to be where they are, they should be in jail, along with Thaksin. Thaksin for two years, and they for a few decades. 

 

But alas, the term convicted criminal in Thailand isn't worth the paper it is written on, again ignorance quite clearly shows in your case. I wonder, why do you know so little about the country you supposedly live in ? 

Being popular doesn't over-ride criminality. Convicted in Thailand is the same as convicted anywhere else, whether you think there is guilt or not.

Just because a party receives a mandate does NOT give it the right to ignore the law of the land.

42 minutes ago, Smarter Than You said:

Any Thai who felt strongly enough that Charlem shouldn't be elected could simply vote for another party.

 

Whether Charlem was elected is not open to opinion.

He was elected.

Facts are facts, whether you like them or not.

 

Do you think your humble opinion may be slightly biased or not?

You have zero facts as to who did or didn't vote for Charlem and their reasons why.

You do however have ample facts regarding how many people voted in Prayuth - zero.

What does this fact not bother you at all?

 

There is no "if" about military coups being treason, they are - the world over.

Your vote buying rantings are a nonsense.

 

Vote buying 'not decisive factor in an election' - The Nation - Thailand's

 

This may be news for you, Thaksin pays MPs to be members of PTP, they receive regular payments from the party which he owns and funds. Your repudiation is of a completely different issue, otherwise known as a straw man argument, but in your case probably based on pure ignorance. MPs accepting payments from any 3rd party is a criminal offence in most democracies. As a party they vote for laws which clearly favour him in a clear conflict of interest. Not declaring a conflict of interest and recusing yourself is also a criminal offence in most democracies, as is allowing a wealthy criminal knowledge of secret cabinet deliberations. Thaksin is given access to those deliberations and actively participates.

Thaksin is a wealthy fugitive criminal; you may have heard of him. He owns PTP, and through the party list nominates his cronies and criminal associates to be MPs based on the vote for the party. None of those thus elected is subject to the individual scrutiny of an electorate, not one gets a single dedicated vote. Some people think this is acceptable, to me it is an abuse of the democratic system. Nominating persons of unsuitable character is an offence under the electoral act, as it should be, and the EC has stated that they considered disbanding PTP for this, as well as Thaksin's involvement in the last election, but they were deterred by the perceived high risk of political violence. That's how you win an election, break electoral law as you wish and threaten violence if you are called out for it. 

When a military coup throws out such a criminal conspiracy robbing the country, I am quite happy to acknowledge their government.

1 minute ago, sjaak327 said:

Well were I come from, there is only party list. People vote for a party,  they CAN vote for individual politicians, as long as their party put them on that list. I see absolutely nothing wrong with that setup, in fact, I perfer it over what Thailand has, Thailand should get rid of the constituency and have party list only. 

Are they allowed to accept 3rd party payments? Or would they be fired and jailed for that?

1 minute ago, sjaak327 said:

No that is called being a member of parliament. backed up by the electorate. how many percent of the NLA faced the electorate I wonder ? And none of them can be voted out of office or even impeached. oh well, what an improvement...

MPs where I come from do face an electorate, none get a free pass, and those that accept payment, such as PTP's stipend, are jailed. And that is the case on nearly all REAL democracies. Of course, it's not illegal in Thailand, why would paid MP's suggest such a thing, let alone vote for it? Thaksin wouldn't like it.

10 minutes ago, sjaak327 said:

Don't be silly, the party list is voted on by the electorate. a party can appoint as many as they like, if no-one votes on the party list, no one goes into parliament. 

 

You again show that you don't understand how democracy works, that's probably why you support the junta. ignorance and fear.

I understand EXACTLY how Thai democracy works, or more accurately, doesn't work. If you care to believe that Chalerm was democratically elected, that's your problem. IMHO very few Thais voted for PTP because they wanted Chalerm as their DPM, and those that did would be relatives.

If seizing power is high treason, what is selling your vote to a fugitive criminal so that he can enrich himself; low treason?

The conflict of interest apparently revolves around parking fees (B30) at the temple. Usually ~100 cars weekdays, ~300 on weekends.

Always remember Rule #1 - don't get between a Thai and his income, whether it's actually his or not.

4 hours ago, ilostmypassword said:

Read some real news for a change

India, Once a Coal Goliath, Is Fast Turning Green

Just a few years ago, the world watched nervously as India went on a building spree of coal-fired power plants, more than doubling its capacity and claiming that more were needed. Coal output, officials said, would almost triple, to 1.5 billion tons, by 2020.

 

Experts now say that India not only has no need of any new coal-fired plants for at least a decade, given that existing plants are running below 60 percent of capacity, but that after that it could rely on renewable sources for all its additional power needs.

Rather than building coal-fired plants, it is now canceling many in the early planning stages. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/02/world/asia/india-coal-green-energy-climate.html

Uh-huh. OTOH  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/adanis-coal-mine-project-in-australia-granted-water-licence/articleshow/58026783.cms

Perhaps they want electricity the other 15 hours per day when the sun is shining elsewhere.

I don't think I've ever dropped a B1000 note while putting it in my wallet, let alone 41. if I had, I think I may have noticed. OTOH, I can only get B20,000 from an ATM.

"A Government House source said earlier that the US is likely to keep an eye on Thailand in regard to intellectual property, currency management and purchases of military hardware. "

Do you think the US will be concerned with the level of expenditure, or who they are buying from? The US doesn't seem to have a problem with military governments, as long as they are buying their guns from Uncle Sam.

49 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Politician dare to face the electorate to earn their respect and decision to represent. While Prayut hide behind guns and intimidation.....and gain no respect.

16.667% never face an electorate, appointed by party list. That would include Chalerm and the UDD scum rewarded for their crimes with parliamentary seats.

Respect has to earned. That pretty much rules out most Thai politicians, and every politician willing to sell his vote.

4 minutes ago, Grouse said:

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/rock-am-ring-german-music-festival-evacuated-over-terror-threat-20170602-gwjltb.html

 

I see one of the rock bands is "Die Toten Hosen" which translates as The Dead Pants. Who says the Germans don't have a sense of humour ( obviously a piss taken of Die Totenkopf - Deaths head SS division)

Hilarious. But I prefer the one about concentration camp survivor that won the lottery.

1 minute ago, colinneil said:

Did the package have a return address?

If the answer is no, staff were correct in opening it, to see if there were clues as to the owner.

If the answer is yes then the staff are a bunch of thieves.

No "if" about it. 

" The box was sent by a Bangkok man named Isarapong (last name withheld), who provided no postal address on the box"

He'd hardly send it without a delivery address.

3 hours ago, darksidedog said:

Fair play to him. It shows how progressive Ireland has become. Can you imagine the drama in America if a young, gay son of an immigrant were poised to become president? The racists, bigots and bible bashing nutters would be crawling out of the woodwork, screaming blue murder, showing how far behind and out of touch with the world they have become.

You think that would cause uproar? Imagine if he was an atheist, the invisible friend mob would go ape-shit.

5 minutes ago, baboon said:

My first thought on reading the headline was 'So the terrorists have won, then'. Suspending the show is an admission of failure.

Is dying in a terrorist attack a success?

13 hours ago, fishbrando said:

Your debate style is interesting.  You put words into my mouth and then talk about how ridiculous those words are.

 

And yes, when you want to do the same thing at the same time as many of other people, it becomes expensive, like going to the world cup.

That is the current situation. Do you prefer deregulation of the taxi industry to the level UBER operates under at the moment, because that is going to cause some serious problems. Taxis are required by law to accept all fares (with some exceptions). Try getting a UBER for a half kilometre trip, or to take granny with her walker and trolley of shopping, or the guy with the fold-up wheelchair.

1 hour ago, Keesters said:

Anybody know what he paid for the car and what would be a 100% legal version of the car's street value. If the figures don't come close then I'd say he knew it was stolen.

 

Not necessarily. He may have thought it was one brought in as parts, which would make him guilty but of a different crime.