mrrizzla

I really only disagree with you on one point, which is why I don't support the Shin factions. I do not believe they would ever reform the justice system and ensure laws are enforced and justice administered fairly and impartially to all, any more than the Amart will. They will simply use it for their interests and for their benefit.

Just being elected isn't enough. There has to be robust, impartial and legal checks and balances. That doesn't happen here as corruption goes to the core.

Thaksin's conviction, fugitive status, outstanding arrest warrants for other serious court cases, should disqualify him from owning a political party let alone managing it and running it in the way he did. But then again, the government, as previous governments hasn't the balls to extradite him. So the game goes round and round among the old rich and the new rich.

Politics works different in Asia. We try to understand that by applying our constructs and political continuums. They don't fit. Nor does our understanding of elections and the reasons people vote.

My Chinese friends in HK laughed at me when I talked about the situation here from 2010 onward. They see it through a Chinese world view rather than out Western world view. They believe nothing will change because that's how it is. Forget all out Western nonsense. Families based on regional feudal power bases, patronages, connections and favor for favor whilst keeping face is what they think works.

Are they mainland Chinese living in HK for actual HK citizens? It seems that HK and Taiwanese citizens are doing their absolute best to stay out of Bejing's grip and bureaucracy.

The students opposed the 12-year free education stated in the draft saying it should be 15 years.

Sometimes students feel that the world revolves around them.

Surely 12 years free education is a good thing. Not satisfied, they want 15 years.

Why not 20 years so as to cater for stupid students?

Constructive criticism would be meaningful.

Maybe they feel (like most people with a brain) that university education should be free, especially if it is to support useful degrees such as engineering, medical, sciences, brewing etc.

Thailand might actually have more money to spend on things such as education if certain people weren't stuffing it into their greedy pockets through corruption or financing multi Billion baht losing vote buying schemes such as rice pledging and tablets for schools

I would support these students if they were actually protesting a worthy cause like combating corruption

Ah yes. Because the current lot in charge are all right honorable, incorruptible men with no fingers in any dodgy pies

The students opposed the 12-year free education stated in the draft saying it should be 15 years.

Sometimes students feel that the world revolves around them.

Surely 12 years free education is a good thing. Not satisfied, they want 15 years.

Why not 20 years so as to cater for stupid students?

Constructive criticism would be meaningful.

Do you think this regime are receptive to any criticism? Nondestructive or no?

Open your eyes.

Those kids are finished. Not that most of the TVF supporters of military rule forever care.

"Thaksin stooge" will probably be their half-arsed reply.

I fear those young uns have been carted for an "AA" session for daring to question the all knowing/powerful/bestest in the word/we know what is good for you so shut up and swallow it junta.

No doubt the kool aid drinkers will be here soon to call them red shirts/Thaksin shills

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeBt8_MMpU8

reminds me of this scene from Sly Stallone's Demolition Man.

Brother of my mate's wife performed compulsory service in the Thai Army. Said it was 2 years of mostly walking around picking up rubbish off lawns and other janitorial engineering duties. My nephew lucked out last year and drew black, so wasn't forced to waste two years of his life.

My wifes nephew is currently doing his 2nd year of service as a houseboy for some General. Frigging stupid.

It beats the alternative of being a target sitting in the back of an non-armoured pickup truck or on a motorbike in the south in the south.

The food will be better, accommodation OK, no real hard work air conditioning and nobody shooting at you.

How about actually being trained for those situations instead of being some combat frightened general's bus boy?

More concerned about trade and $$$$$$ than other more pressing plights involving our own citizens here in Thailand as tourists or ex pats I see

Learn to be a man while working on some generals unusually large house and cleaning his fleet of luxury cars thats he can somehow afford on his salary.

Not a bad idea! The people that are complaining are the corrupt politicians that have stolen billions from the Thai people!

After 13 years here, I support everything the current government is doing! They really need another 5 years to clean up the

mess from the last 15 years of corrupt (bought) elected governments!

A pint of the Kool aid this fella is drinking please.

I mean look come on, to be fair, the guy (the father that has passed away a few years ago) invented Red Bull. It's not only Thai income, it's worldwide.

Ohhh the red bull guy. I thought we were talking about someone else

I apologize, my bad. 9.6 billion USD.

That's some very astute saving. With these financial geniuses at the helm Thailand will become the richest nation on earth!

Thai police: Flaws and irregularities found in Red Bull heir hit-and-run case

but no flaws found in the Koh Tao murder investigation... amazing, that...

And, of course, that's another high-profile yellow mafia family (the Tuvichiens) being shielded from justice.

The mini van butcher...her daddy too is a big wig in the army (worth half a billion baht...he must be a right little saver!) also getting off with an insult of a sentence that she has the cheek to contest.

But it's ok because Prayuth is here to save up from corruption

Pff half a billion baht is small change. These ones are worth 5 billion USD according to Forbes if I'm not mistaken.

Perhaps I was reading it wrong and it was 5 billion USD. I would link the site I saw it on but I would get banned pretty quickly!

Anyway, her daddy probably has key people in this "government" on speed dial....

Thai police: Flaws and irregularities found in Red Bull heir hit-and-run case

but no flaws found in the Koh Tao murder investigation... amazing, that...

And, of course, that's another high-profile yellow mafia family (the Tuvichiens) being shielded from justice.

The mini van butcher...her daddy too is a big wig in the army (worth half a billion baht...he must be a right little saver!) also getting off with an insult of a sentence that she has the cheek to contest.

But it's ok because Prayuth is here to save up from corruption

There is literally no defending this.

YOU DON'T SAY!

The police confiscating the bowls and the sedition charges that have been laid was on the BBC News web site this morning. So the international media have picked it up and it is making Thailand look very bad.

Once again, Prayut has a bad case of foot in mouth and is taking Thailand back into the dark ages. I wonder how long before he pulls the plug on the internet completely?

There little facebook banning stunt not long after the coup faced severe backlash. Thais are too used to their (relative) internet freedom. If they pulled the plug on the net then even their most ardent of food picture taking bkk high sos would turn on them.

I'd love for him to even suggest it.

Use article 44 to DO something about it then. Everyone knows the hotspots in BKK where the rip off taxi touts hang out. Go and clear them out and make sure they stay cleared out. Then the vast majority of the honest taxi drivers will get more work.

Won't happen of course.

Smarter Than You - did you catch that guys name? Was it John or Jamie by any chance?

Here we have two gems of wisdom from the opposite sides of Thailand's political power struggle.

We have Prayuth paranoid and confiscating red bowl because he is scared they may cause a revolution. Or why not yellow bowls eh? Interesting alternative to immediately quote there dear general. Also quoting the buddha against sinful thing...what? Handing out plastic bowls?

Then we have ol square head "He added they better not waste time on this but should take care of the southern violence, the rampant drug trafficking problem, and drought." - Drought eh Mr T? So could you have given a gift other than bowls used to waste water with?

Thailand I hope a bright, open minded and intelligent new leader is being made and will come through in the next decade. You need it!

naive and surprising from you I must say

I'm surprised that it is surprising. I've been flame-grilled on this site for being a Junta Fangirl for several years, just for basically recognising that action must be taken to prevent macro corruption on all levels of society, and for not wanting to see more crime-related misery in the lives of normal honest working people.

The other point about army being used to break-up organised crime and corrupted positions in society, is two main points.

One, local police have to live in the same community, and they may be working under positions that have been compromised. So it may be hard to even engage in operations against influential local villains, if those villains have compromised certain positions in the force. On this same point, police in the area should rightly fear repercussions against themselves or their families, if they are identified as being involved in busting corrupt underworld figures, who have tentacles everywhere.

Secondly, and connected to the first point, is that army can be drafted in from other regions, they remain anonymous to the local crooks who may have compromised positions in the local force. Police can not really be moved from other regions, as that would leave their home regions vulnerable to higher crime rates. But a national army is by its nature national and can be relocated for purposes of anonymity, in situations where corruption and intimidation has spread deeply into a local community.

There is no actual way to convey the damage that corruption and crime does to a nation, how it saps the wealth from the nation, or the fear that normal working people have to live in, when there are compromised and corrupted authority positions in their community. So you have to weigh those terrible problems, alongside a military component in response to the problems.

That is a good post and would be a very valid point in maybe another country...

They take police power to clear the mafioso with "dark connections"?

In the country were I live, all the rich and influential have connections, that is how they are influential...

As said in a movie: "who is going to control the ones in control"

So who is to decide, of all the people with connections, who is "dark" and who is not??

Sounds to me like the witch hunt has stepped up one pace..

I would be very glad if they could show 100% that they are "angels from heaven" but what we saw in the last two years has definitely not convinced me yet...

And in today's article of the BP, it is stated that the "mafioso" are actually environmentalist activist that opposed government-military projects that have been pushed through without consulting the communities and without any environmental impact assessment....

I should have bet some money on my post from few days ago..

Wow

And yet some blind sheep here still think they are some sort of saviors.

They are bullies in khakis and accountable to no one.

Detain an elephant Mahoot for the elephant killing a person but don't detain an Hi So driver for killing two innocent people, another killing a policeman and yet another kills 9 people whilst actually too young to hold a license. This pretty much sums up whats wrong with this corrupt nation.

He's Burmese. He is expendable. Just like the two scapegoats in jail for the murders connected Thai island mafia committed on Koh Tao.

It is sick, it really is.

Good. It is not him as an individual but the whole industry of exploiting these animals. Tourists should be able to see elephants in their natural environment in a safe and regulated way.

After seeing the majority turn their back on the last govt through protesting there will be no need for a nominee PM.

When the previous govt promises 8 times to pay the farmers before Suthep was even in the picture one can be assured that that side of the political persuasion have limited support now and into the future.

Mind you if that side offer 90% above market value for rice then Prayut better think again.

How do you bridge the chasm between the number of people who protested in Bangkok in 2013/2014, as compared to the majority of voters in Thailand?

Not even a million people is the population of Thailand don't you know?

Voters being beat up during the last election and ballot boxes being held hostage. That was Suthep and his mob. The same Suthep that admitted he had been in cahoots with certain people before he was carted off to be a monk to get him out of the picture for a while.

I seriously despair at how blind some of the "go junta!" posters are. I really do.