halloween

Executives are responsible for the tree outside their building??? And the local council isn't?

Why doesn't the longer leash come with a tracking collar?

Have you heard about the incident where the face of Jesus began to appear on a Mexican church wall? Every day it became clearer and soon pilgrims were coming from miles around to observe the miracle, and pray at the site hoping their illnesses would be cured.

Lasted for some time until it turned out the 'miracle' was a Willie Nelson concert posted that had been whitewashed over. Not sure how many were cured.

1 hour ago, jonclark said:

Whilst I completely concur with the sentiments of other posters and the criminality of the loan sharks. This outrage still doesn't tackle the underlying issue that for the poor, access to money in the form of legitimate bank loans etc is actually quite difficult. 

 

Loans require evidence of a job (tax returns, payment slips etc), which for farmers etc may not be possible or even exist. Possible collateral - land deeds etc. and a willing guarantor which can demonstrate either one or both of the previous points. 

 

So whilst it is all well and good saying they shouldn't borrow etc etc. All people need at some point in their life access to a loan of some sort or another. 

 

 

 

 

Absolutely correct! My BIL wanted a small loan to expand his business but even owning his home and a few rai, couldn't get a loan from the bank. I offered him the B200,000 @ 1%/month reducible which I thought would be easy to calculate - end of each month add on 1% and then pay whatever he could afford. He thought that was too complicated and offered 10%pa flat, and was quite happy to pay what I thought was exorbitant. Paid in full in 2 years.

17 hours ago, tomwct said:

If you have money and power you can appeal anything for 20-25 years and stay out of jail. It happens everyday just read and listen to the news. Amazing Thailand. In the US your found guilty and you go to jail. In jail you can start the appeal process. The laws here need to change before they can do anything about corruption or change the Judicial System. Jail and then Appeal is the way to go!

OTOH you could spend 7 or 8 years on remand and then be found innocent. lucky you!

May I suggest that before denigrating Thailand's military purchases, posters consider their own country's expenditure in military matters, their own country's level of foreign debt, and the income they receive from sales of military hardware. You can then judge your own level of hypocrisy.

49 minutes ago, elgordo38 said:

Reminds me of the old TV series "Father Knows Best"

sounds more like "Who wants a Whinge"

8 minutes ago, Becker said:

"The junta is not a political party hence it would not be impossible to have an election where the junta (party) in effect was up against other political parties".

 

I shall assume you mean "possible", and not impossible. You're wrong. The Democrats are fully capable of continuing to be the mouthpiece of the old elite.

 

So you're saying that the Thai population is not ready or capable of voting at the moment. Tell me, who decide when they are ready?

Your argument collapses under the fallacy that the military and the Democrats are somehow equivalent. While certainly more conservative, many of the Democrats policies were far from "elite" - their rice scheme paid directly to farmers, and the universal subsidy on school books and clothing for example. that is why they had supporters in all areas of the country, not just Bangkok.

But it suits the red rabble to label them such. Reminds me of the Khmer Rouge claiming anybody with reading glasses must be an intellectual, and exterminated.

1 hour ago, cmsally said:

How can the army be better at running the country when they are essentially a slice of the populace dressed up in uniforms. If the argument put forward = the populace is not educated enough to vote, then logically a slice of that populace dressed in a certain way is not educated enough to govern.

It is logically challenging to prove is it not?

Oh dear, so many illogical claims in one post. The military is far from representative of the population (no children), or even the electorate (no elderly). The electorate are quite capable of voting, but seem largely incapable of selecting representatives to govern altruistically, competently and with respect to the laws of the land.  

That portion of the military that do govern are far from representative of those enlisted. They are usually far better educated than elected representatives, have spent many years in command and management positions, and with much more emphasis on respect for nation and King. While in office, they do not have to consider (to the same extent) popularity of their actions deemed necessary - cancelling the rice scam, reclaiming national parks and waterways, prosecuting popular criminals.

Far from perfect, they demonstrably are doing a better job than the criminal conspiracy that bribed its way into office without regard to the cost or effectiveness of its policies.

3 hours ago, Gandtee said:

More reports like this seems to indicate that the powers that be are making war on the Thai people. The poor and working class anyway. No riding on the back of pickups. Banning street food vendors. Now this. Are those responsible for these orders hell bent on alienating the people they profess to bring happiness to? But then maybe this latest bombshell will go the same way as the others. A retraction "You misunderstood" then disappear.

Really a shock to the system when laws are enforced, even the unpopular ones. Let's get back to a democratic government that wouldn't dare do something so unpopular, even if it is/was necessary.

The Thai way of life - taking something that you have no right to, bugger everybody else I got there first.

6 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

I fear for the accuser who may not be around long enough to prove his allegation in this insane time where the military hold sway. 

Yes, you would.

Why was his wife also shot in the leg?

2 hours ago, ianf said:

Are you being rude howard? Why?

My response is to the troopers' explanation: Likely story!!!

 

Highly unlikely that armed drug smugglers would shoot to avoid apprehension and spending many years in jail? What do you consider more likely?

58 minutes ago, johnnysunshine said:

I agree that ice and meth are problems and they are drugs...just like pharmaceutical drugs which are man made of chemicals and are over prescribed and misprescribed so many times.

These should not be confused with plants like weed or mushrooms which grow in the ground or under lights for the plants and cow poop for the mushrooms (elephant poop works well too I have heard).

So, everyone, remember, there is a difference between plants and drugs...let us choose to be more specific for clarity!

By all means avoid aspirin and penicillin. But hemlock and datura should be OK, right?

4 hours ago, gk10002000 said:

.  The longer a totalitarian regime stays in power the more freedoms are lost, and the more a country will stagnate.  When there is no oversight, or accountability, corruption and injustice increases, and worse the intensity of such things do.  People learn there is no sense in trying to get ahead because at any moment some autocrat can take things away.  Laws are not enforced, or even voted on.  Courts become puppet courts.  Foreign investments, quality investments drop, and the only ones left doing business all buy into kickbacks, bag money, etc. 

"When there is no oversight, or accountability, corruption and injustice increases, and worse the intensity of such things do. " 

Agreed, we saw that quite clearly with the Yingluk government. Laws were not enforced, etc, etc. Before predicting these things might happen with a military government, face up to the fact they WERE happening in the last democratic government.  Remember the attempt to borrow THB2.2 trillion, to be used off-budget to prop up their excesses?

Moron travels to bring a knife to a gunfight. Self-serving idiots claim it is all the stabbing victims fault.

After you are brainwashed at an early age to accept myth with no basis in fact or logic, it becomes easy to accept the BS served up in the name of religion.

Lucia Dos Santos is unlikely to become a saint anytime soon. 50 years after death seems to be the mandatory minimum, so that anyone who remembers the candidates all too human foibles is also not around to mention their lack of saintliness.

BTW you would hae to feel a bit let down if you believed for 50 years the 3rd secret was the end of the world, and it gets relegated to some geriatric copping a bullet, and living. But it was the same day of the year, so it must be true.

3 hours ago, Smarter Than You said:

Baaa what?

 

"The new organic law on the role and responsibilities of the auditor general would see the office acquiring new authority in preventing excessive government spending"

 

The Australian PBO is a toothless tiger, it does nothing other than crunch numbers, from there it is up to the Opposition parties and the media to try and dissuade the public from voting for the party proposing a policy. No matter what the outcome of the PBO's number crunching a political party can still implement their policy's unchanged should they win the election. Add to this the fact that the overwhelming majority of the citizens only really care about "what's in it for me" and couldn't give a rats about anything else (which explains our ongoing wasteful $13 billion a year negative gearing "scheme"). No member of the Australian general public is ever going to be skipping the footy and sitting down to read anything put out by the PBO (have you ever? I bet not!). Also, both major political parties always wait until the very last minute before an election to release the costings of their policies giving whatever fraction of the apathetic electorate actually cares insufficient time to do any real research. The day of any Australian election, you ask the a member of the general public a detailed question about policy costings and they will have absolutely no idea whatsoever - guaranteed!

 

To reiterate - Australia has NO authority that can PREVENT EXCESSIVE GOVERNMENT SPENDING. The only thing that can, is elections and due to the publics general inattention and greed, this always occurs after the fact. What Thailand needs is more elections not more power taken from the people and given to unelected cronies of an outdated and dying elite. Elections are what you should be championing so put your bigotry back in its box and stop pretending right is on your side - it isn't.

Your lack of knowledge is abysmal - starting with negative gearing and then extending itself. I can recall several policies that were modified when the costing was shown to be inaccurate. In the earlier version, all campaign policies were costed and the results released to the public, apparently to little avail in your case. the point of the exercise is that the apathetic public doesn't have to do research, it is done for them and the results presented.

But at least we have advanced - you now know their is a procedure. i suppose you have to denigrate it defend your ignorance.

2 hours ago, Smarter Than You said:

What process?

I am Australian and you're talking crap.

We've had nothing but peanuts in charge for a long time now, all of them subjecting us to their own version of vote buying money wasting idiocy.

We've just gone through a once in a century, tens of billions of dollars boom fuelled by China's appetite for our resources and have absolutely nothing to show for it except BUDGET DEFICITS. 

We pissed the whole lot of it up against the wall - at least the Thais got some rice stockpiled.

 

Process my ass!

 

 

 

http://theconversation.com/business-briefing-how-does-australias-policy-costing-body-the-pbo-compare-60622

Baaaa!

8 minutes ago, stephen tracy said:

He ripped the country apart with his simple-minded re-location (displacement) policy. I was there and watched it happen.  Where were you?

Really. Feel free to elaborate then, as I can find nothing in regard to this.

Just now, stephen tracy said:

Tito?  Look what happened to Yugoslavia?  The fan boys just can't let it rest

Look what happened to Yugoslavia? While he was in office or after his death?

Remember when there was a subsidy available to all parents of school age children to help pay for these annual costs? A really worthwhile government policy scrapped to help fund the tablet scam.

2 hours ago, yellowboat said:

Or just a funeral.  Constant fear of debate and opposing opinions makes an institution look weak. 

Has he been on ice for 7 years?

6 minutes ago, Jeremy50 said:

It's a Junta, what do you expect? Was there ever a military dictatorship in the history of the world who did a great job in governing a country?

Tito, Attaturk, lee Kuan Yew (bit of a stretch, the last, but still a dictator by any measure). And that's only the 20th century.