halloween

19 minutes ago, notmyself said:

 

As 'star member' ubonjoe states, a commercial website though to be fair, official websites for embassies are often inaccurate or not up to date. I checked with an agent I have used for years just a week or so back regarding present requirements and she said they had not changed from what they were 3 months back which is why I mentioned that proof of funds is not required 'as yet'. In a follow up question you asked if a rail ticket would suffice. I have no direct information on this though I would seriously doubt it. Member ubonjoe may have more information on this.

 

The official website states a return ticket or travel to a 3rd country. As I have a flight out of KL, surely a land crossing would be acceptable.

6 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

All major parties try to influence voters with tax payers money whether giving directly to voters or through populist policies. The Dem Party did the same. Ahbisit used 117B of tax payer money to send SMS to tens of million of Thais mobile phone. His populist package even give 2,000 B to all Thais that earned less than 15,000B per month. Isn't that buying voters of low income earners too and yet they still can't win an election. Lift off your blinkers. It is more than just populist policies and you know it. 

How about a link on that Abhisit claim, and a figure more understandable than 117B? Is that supposed to be "billion"?  if 68,000,000 Thais received a B3 text, how much would that be, assuming there wasn't a bulk discount?

All governments  try to offer policies that voters will like. Not all offer unsustainable and unworkable con jobs like the rice scam, the tablet scam, big increases in the minimum wage, a cheap car, a cheap house, huge pay rises for graduates. any reasonable costing process would have shown them for what they were, pure BS to buy the mugs.

16 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

So you agree that the hype on vote buying has no grounds. All parties pay money and kinds to voters but will not guarantee that they get their votes. 

 

All governments including this junta government have subsidized rice schemes that pay above low market prices so poor farmers will have a decent life. Why you only single out the previous government. You may not know that the Dem Party strong Thailand campaign spent more than the rice scheme but still the party can't win the 2010 election. 

 

PT won because they was able to introduce projects that benefited the marginalized sector of the population mainly in the north and north east; neglected by the establishment for too long.

 

 

You continually refer to vote buying on the micro-scale, refusing to admit that PTP's string of unworkable populist policies was vote-buying on the macro. They didn't need deep pockets, they bought the election with other people's money - the people of Thailand.

Can you provide a link to any subsidy anywhere that paid 50% more than current world prices? And they continued that rate even as prices plummeted, encouraging more farmers to grow rice as the losses, and the stockpiles, accumulated; a stockpile that has assured the price stays low.

PTP's policies BOUGHT the voters of low income earners who contribute very little to the economy despite their numbers with taxpayers money that was intended to benefit ALL Thais.

2 hours ago, SOUTHERNSTAR said:

In 2013 YS was still in government so it is unclear what you mean. You are assuming that the police changed something but like the saying goes assumption is the mother of all <deleted>ups.

I assumed nothing, I offered a possible (and rational) explanation for an observed phenomenon. Is your mind so befuddled that you can't understand the topic is ABOUT observed change SINCE 2013.

Either the UK visitors are behaving much worse, or there had been a much higher level of drug law enforcement, which itself may be an indication the BIB are less likely to accept a bribe rather than enforce the law. 

What could have caused a change in BIB behaviour since 2013?

22 minutes ago, Smarter Than You said:

A great many Thais see PTP as a medicine for decades of neglect (and abuse) by the elites and the military.

So why is it acceptable for the military to unseat themselves and not PTP - you have no valid reason for your double standards!

 

You clearly don't understand the situation here at all, there was going to be a coup no matter what.

PTP's attempt to give amnesty for ALL players in the Red v Yellow conflicts was just a pretence for the forces against democracy.

Thais are not new to amnesty, the military give it to themselves every time they conduct a cop, why are you not bleating about this fact?

 

BTW - Was it amnesty, was it the rice scheme, was it Yinglucks transfer of one public servant, just why did there have to be a coup?

 

If PTP are solely for Thaksin why was their amnesty proposal so all encompassing?

Their own supporters hated it because it meant that those who killed 100 reds in 2010 would not face justice.

It would have been far easier just to take care of Thaksin and forget the rest.

 

Why can the Junta unseat themselves but PTP can't???

An amnesty solely for Thaksin would have been a blatantly corrupt conflict of interest act. But why should that deter them, it never did before. And those "who killed 100 reds in 2010" (too much red Kool-Aid, old son) didn't want or need an amnesty, they were caring out the legitimate tasks.

The purpose of the coup was to stop the political violence from PTP's private militia (the red thugs led by UDD) from killing those protesting while the BIB did nothing. do you remember the Honda car stopped near the protest site, passengers with guns and a grenade, no charges laid? do you remember the murdered children, innocent bystanders?

5 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

That is a commercial website created by a law firm. This from the bottom of the page "This is NOT the official website of the Thai Embassy"

Things have recently changed at Penang.

Okaaay. I have a flight home booked (and paid) in early October, but I assume that won't meet the requirement, looking at the official site. OTOH a B50 train ticket Had Yai - Padang Besar booked for after my 60 days would, as I also hold an air ticket KL-Oz. 

12 hours ago, notmyself said:

Need to show a ticket out of the Kingdom within 60 days and proof of where you will be staying. No proof of funds needed as yet.

Not according to their website. 

"Visa Run to Penang, Malaysia

If you are getting your Thai Visa in Penang, here are the requirements.

For a Single Entry Tourist Visa, you will need just two passport-sized photos." http://www.thaiembassy.com/thailand/visa-run-penang.php

20 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Got to mention that the year that we got a bumper GDP growth was not long ago and in pre coup 2013 at 7.2%. Now we will struggle for next few years courtesy of the disastrous coup. 

How to get a BIG increase in GDP - pretend rice is worth 50% more than its true value.

Know a girl whose brother had his brains bashed out with a brick. BIB negotiated a settlement of B2000/m for 100 months, based on the amount he was likely to send home. They acted as intermediary, collected the cash and forwarded to family, less 10% commission. If offender defaulted, original charge would be re-applied. AFAIK all resolved satisfactorily (for some, anyway).

I can't get my head around  a system where you can buy your way out of a murder charge.

Is "B7600 to B8200" the current price range? Because it sure isn't a 15% increase. 15% of 7600 is 1140.

The problem is that the BIB are allowed to bypass the justice system by imposing penalties without involving the courts, penalties which invariably involved payment to them. Sure it saves a lot of expensive court time, at the expense of a huge source of corruption. Inevitably the result is a Buy your Way Out of Jail system.

Are multiple or double entry tourist visas available in Penang? IIRC last time I was there they would only issue a Single.

They were available in Suvannakhet last time I was there , a couple of years ago. Still available?

1 hour ago, Eric Loh said:

Looks like you blow a fuse. Too much bottled up frustration defending the indefensible is bad for your old heart my friend. Let it go, the junta according to the survey and ground sentiment is ruining the country economy and international image. The protest ended when the amnesty was withdraw and only the hired thugs and goons continued with their mission to creat the situation for the coup. 

Are we talking about the same survey? Read it again and find any mention of international image. Yes people aren't happy about agricultural prices and the general slow economy. Is that actually the junta's fault? Should they start paying farmers more than their produce is worth? After all, it worked SO well before.

Hard to defend blatant hypocrisy, isn't it?

57 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

"Asked what makes the Prayut government worse than the Yingluck government, 78 per cent said it was unelected and untouchable in terms of checks and balances, as well as depriving people of rights and freedom, while 76 per cent said the government lacked political experience, and 70 per cent said the government was not |well accepted by foreign countries.

Asked in what aspects the Prayut government did not perform as well as the Yingluck government, 78 per cent said its failure to address economic issues, 75 per cent said its failure to end the insurgency in the Deep South".

 

Last year Suan Dusit survey. Shocking high 70s mark level comparing Prayut and Yingluck government. What strike me is that high portion of the people value election and elected leaders. There is still hope for Thailand democracy contary to a small minority of naysayers. 

Do you blush as you type your hypocrisy? How was the Yingluk government not  " untouchable in terms of checks and balances"? Don't you remember the ombudsman asking about Thaksin's passport, the opposition asking about the rice scam figures, the DSI's Tarit changing the definition of perjury, the red militia getting a whitewash? And who has LESS political experience than Yingluk? Her only bloody job was at a family company.

But at least she had a chance to end the southern insurgency at a meeting of parties in Malaysia. So she sent Chalerm who impressed everyone with his impersonation of a drunken idiot. Not only didn't she not end the southern insurgency, she came close to inciting another in the north.

Yep her government was so popular that it engendered a huge protest, bigger than anything her supporters have managed, even with pay for attendance.

1 hour ago, elgordo38 said:

My biggest complaint is the sun light glaring off of all those medals and blinding me. Yes I am having a blockage at the moment and its killing me. Old age brings on some instability but I will overcome it. Yes to many want power but at the end of a gun barrel power? What did Churchill say about democracy oh yes democracy is the worst form of government except for all others but then Churchill did no say it. Just cannot believe anyone any more. 

He also said "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."  Of course he was talking about UK voters, who might be considered to have some advantages over their Thai counterparts.

6 hours ago, wakeupplease said:

something very strange about this photo

 

drop shadow on her face

 

Guy walking in front drop shadow of rolled up paper is too long and against the wall oppersite to

 

second guy walking, shadow towards you of feet and legs

 

Flash in local day light no way

 

Photoshop then and that is my favorite program, where even i can change your sex

 

See if you can find more as I see two more?

You don't think an open portico might have reflected light coming in from both sides?

Both deals seem legitimate, though one was from a dodgy vendor. But he paid above the appraised value, so where's the problem?

But I've been assured that polls have no credibility, or is that only the bits that don't fit the agenda?

Just now, rkidlad said:

And there you go. You won't answer. It's really not a hard question. Even for an articulate English speaker like yourself. 

Some questions don't have yes or no answers. Have you stopped beating your wife? Are you still masturbating over little girls?

Just now, rkidlad said:

Just give me a yes or no answer, then. I don't want an indirect answer. 

 

"Yes, I'd be worried"

 

"No, I wouldn't be worried"

 

Very very simple. I just need one answer, that's all.

 

take a hike.

1 minute ago, rkidlad said:

I'm not asking about your worries in general. I'm asking would you be worried about this man in this very particular scenario. If you think that because this man had sex with a 15 year-old that they wouldn't be interested in a 10 year-old, I can assume he wouldn't worry you. I just need a simple yes or no. 

 

Once you've answered you can get back to pettitogging. 

Is English your second language? I answered your question quite clearly, even emphasised the negative, he is NOT a major cause of concern.

If you had daughters you would know that with a son you have one cock to worry about, with daughters you worry about every cock in town.

23 minutes ago, Emster23 said:

Maybe his adviser/daughter can talk him into concept that ratings are like golf scores, lower the better

I always wondered why saying his performance was below par meant bad. President DT hasn't dropped in my estimation, he started at rock bottom.

Just now, rkidlad said:

Okay, so in this scenario, you wouldn't be worried about your daughter, right? 

I'm always worried about my daughters, twins, so I had to buy a double-barrel shotgun. The person you nominated is NOT a major reason for concern for a girl in the 10-11yo age group. You are like a guy with cows spending all your time watching a fox when there are wolves in the woods.

2 hours ago, rkidlad said:

 

 

 

I think the best analogy here to help you understand would be;

 

You live with your recently turned 10 year-old daughter. She's a normal happy and healthy girl who's receiving a great upbringing. But....you have a new neighbour who'll only be living next door to you for one year and then he's gone. A single man in his late 20s who's just been released from prison for having sex with a minor. The minor was 15. Now, you despise the actions of your new neighbour, but of course you are not worried about his conduct towards your 10 year old daughter because 'clearly' this man isn't a paedophile. Just a perv who will be gone by the time your daughter's 11. 

 

You can tell your wife "Don't worry, dear. As dispicable as this man is, he's no threat to our daughter. He's not a peaodopile, he's a ephebophile. Wikipedia said so"

 

You'd be cool with this, right? 

 

 

The only thing your analogy proves is that you have very little understanding of paedophilia. The guy convicted of having sex with a 15yo is highly unlikely to be interested in a 10-11yo. as would a convicted paedophile who had molested a 5 yo. The mental abnormality is usually quite age range specific, one of the things that convinced me the claims against Michael Jackson were very likely to be  true - all his alleged victims were "home alone'" type.