lil fluffy clouds

It's the lamb approach, the pretense of innocence can be very effective for a certain audience.

China's sentiment precisely...

JOC, any comments on this?

What do you think...........ain't they doing a good job?

Don't worry, it takes time but even you will eventually understand.

costas you gotta a challenger.now man up and follow the leaders,we all know who they are.is this infantile competition still open,i think you have degraded yourself for the sake of childish kudos

There are men and mice in this world.

Don't know about the others but I am a man and will voice my opinion as long as I live.

It can take many years to become a man, until then you are just a boy.

No doubt the shark is horrified at being in a tank in a shopping mall with a whole lot of gawky tourists, surely this is more news worthy...

Opening up the immigration floodgates is one way to massively increase the number of visitors.

If all the recent crackdowns are reversed then the numbers will look very good next year when compared to this year.

I occasionally wonder if things like this are planned out far in advance.

Personally, I think the whole thing has been orchestrated by China, as part of their plan to take over Thailand. China is not a fan of westerners, democracy or free speech, so surprise...either is the general.

And I hope it does grow.

For the good of Thailand, for the good of Thai people and the good of foreigners living in this country.

Stop being negative, people, you want as much as I do, this country to prosper.

Tourism doesnt make a country prosper in real currency,

If you think more luxury cars and latest iphones is abundance you need your head examined, seriously.....

I feel so safe knowing the mafia themselves are improving their techniques and investing public money into more surveillance infrastructure.

In other words, one world government, an elite force controlling all portions of society, self policing encouraged thru media to not trust your neighbour, a fear based people brainwashed into the belief of a phantom enemy as the primary initiative....

Makes me feel all warm and cozy...

"Industry", how I dislike that word, makes it sound like a meat packing plant, which I guess in many ways it is....

Should be a great relationship, much to teach both ways...

Bend over Thailand, China's coming....

Tourism makes a country unrealistic, loses it's amenity and destroys the soul of individuals.

Having said that, Thailand could be blessed by a large reduction in the people traveling there who appear to have little regard for anything other than their own entertainment. It really is pathetic. Gone it seems are days when people traveled and had more of a interest in the places they were going to. Now it seems that many travel to these countries just to escape their dull purposeless lives in the countries they come from. How many people that go to thailand and on departure actualy can say they know anything about the place. May as well stay home and indulge there until they are really interested in seeing some heart in another land....

It's harsh copping a fine from a severely compromised system....

"two feet long knife"

That's not a knife, that's a sword....

Happiness to the people at all costs, the people "must" be happy...

Beware Chinese bearing gifts. (Apologies)

Beware of Chinese gift ball bearings. Happy Chinese manufactured Christmas!

On a side note: I spoke with an Indonesian fellow who scored a gig trying to get commissions for bringing rosewood in to China. The Chinese company wants him to find as much rosewood as possible, and their target is central Shan State in NW Burma (perhaps it's no coincidence, in this scenario, that area is essentially controlled by a Chinese private army). Rosewood has been a highly protected tree species since 2009. The Chinese furniture company knows that, but smuggling the wood at any cost is their priority - mainly because it's highly prized by millions of now-rich Chinese.

It relates to the problems of the major rivers which flow on either side of Thailand. Both, particularly the Mekong, are getting many giant dams built on them by the Chinese. Burma, to its credit, officially protested one of the dams on its side. Thailand doesn't have the cojones (balls) to speak up on that issue. China is not a signatory of the Mekong River Commission, even though it is damming the river more than the other little countries combined. So China doesn't have to adhere to any of the little countries wishes.

What I'm saying is: China is all about money and citification wherever it can. Thailand is a great ally in China's plan. Nearly all Thai politicians and essentially all it's top business people are Chinese-Thai (Shinawatres included), so Thailand can't help but march gleefully right behind, praising China's mass citification policies.

China has shown how it wants to control as much real estate as possible: in Tibet, Taiwan, Paracels, Spratlys, Scarborough Shoal, Japanese islands, parts of India .....the beat goes on. Thailand are the pom pom girls at a Chinese Pep Rally.

Will the rail way also speed the trafficking of endangered animals? You be the judge.

Are there any animals left in Thailand to be endangered?

I've been there for years on end in my life but more in the wilderness, and I can tell you what I learnt, that the whole world is homeless, because quite simply 98% of humanity does no know how to live in harmony with them selves or the natural quintessential planet, divorced from reality, stuffed in a box, moving on a treadmill, home is a far distant memory in this mechanised society....

It's really more of a question of who feels alienated......

Sad for the parents, how are they ever going to come to terms with that?

Could just be a short attention span, the only two that Isan can remember...

Attention Deficit Disorder...

Maybe I'm the only one who actually read the article. The pathologists said he had a blood alcohol level over 230mg/l . The drunk driving limit in the UK is 80 mg/l so she says.

He was pretty wasted by any measure.

Is it beyond the realms of possibility that he was just plain wasted and fell down the cliff??

Why do we keep seeing conspiracy theories instead of looking at the hard rational facts.

Young people get drunk/stoned and through whatever mechanism of misadventure unfortunately end up dead.

I'm the first to admit, 'there goes I but for the Grace of God',...etc that I made it through to a mature life...though I am puzzled how sometimes due some of the sh!t I did in a younger life.

And I guess many TV members will concur.

Best time to do some one in when they're drunk. What are you suggesting, that the drunk are invincible, that being drunk and getting murdered can't happen on the same night? Why be so one dimensional?

I'll leave the best time to murder someone thing up to you.

I have no knowledge of either the best time or physiological condition to do the heinous deed. I don't watch a lot of television.

What I do know is human nature.

It would not at all surprise me if the young man went to bed..as said by his father..and then decided to go and party again. I would.

And then consequently fell down the cliff.

It's not hard to do in unfamiliar territory, especially drunk.

Almost did it myself on my bucks night..Only fell 5 meters thank god...could have been fatal though. The drop was a lot more than 50m overall.

Don't forget a 50m cliff doesn't imply a sheer drop.

Just fall and bounce, which I understand is consistent with the British pathologists report.

Not all of our little darlings are really little darlings we think they are away from home.

Maybe I'm the only one who actually read the article. The pathologists said he had a blood alcohol level over 230mg/l . The drunk driving limit in the UK is 80 mg/l so she says.

He was pretty wasted by any measure.

Is it beyond the realms of possibility that he was just plain wasted and fell down the cliff??

Why do we keep seeing conspiracy theories instead of looking at the hard rational facts.

Young people get drunk/stoned and through whatever mechanism of misadventure unfortunately end up dead.

I'm the first to admit, 'there goes I but for the Grace of God',...etc that I made it through to a mature life...though I am puzzled how sometimes due some of the sh!t I did in a younger life.

And I guess many TV members will concur.

Best time to do some one in when they're drunk. What are you suggesting, that the drunk are invincible, that being drunk and getting murdered can't happen on the same night? Why be so one dimensional?

Sadly the more one reads and hears concerning KohTao the more one gets the feeling that something is not right.Strange deaths that are passed off as, or regarded as accidental.Murder investigations that are totally flawed etc etc

Why does there seem to be an ongoing cover up ?

There seems to be no regard for the rule of law and order on the island or is it the fact there is no law and order on the island which seems to be in a state of anarchy.

There appears to be total silence from the islands political team, council and the police and business and medical community who all seem to be somewhat inept ,corrupt.

Lies and deceit seem to be the norm, why are there no comments from the residents both Thai and foreign.It would seem a possibility that a solo killer, a psychopath or the possibility a group of violent characters roaming around the island bent on violence and subsequent death, again not necessarily 100% Thai in its make up either.

The island seems to be a snake pit of violence corruption lies and deceit, yet we still see posters spring to the defense of the island .Indeed one is left to speculate why there is such support ans ongoing denials of the truth on this island.

Perhaps a clean out of the administration team and what passes as the police farce force on this island may well be in order if in fact not long overdue.

Or maybe this death was an accident; drunk person falls of a cliff is not exactly a far fetched scenario, is it?

It's not that far fetched to get "done" in thailand either.

I was half pie nearly ready with a then I read...

The commissioner added that the investigation was launched as far back as two months ago and that the objective of this current initiative was not to target or move any officers in particular.

He also denied accusations that the investigation was to replace offenders with his own people.

So instead it gets a

Yes agree, that read's like a schizo investigation, how pathetic, admitting something need's to be done and then saying they will do nothing, totally schizophrenic...