mfd101

Same thing every year. The monsoon is well under way, flooding has started ... and The Guvamint calls a meeting to consider the possibility of anti-flooding measures at an unknown date in the future. Pathetic. Never changes.

I'm 76 but I'm aiming for 100+.

The key thing is to supply maximum evidence that noone in the group has an interest in overstaying or working illegally. So: evidence of current employment, property and incomes in Thailand would be helpful; evidence of a previous crime-free visit; the wedding invitation details are good; Thai police criminal record clearance ...

That's part of the local culture in Thailand, at every level of society. No concept of preventing a disaster with forethought, just pretty good at picking up the pieces afterwards (cf collapsed building a couple of months ago).

I'll believe it when I see a whole central government department up and move to Korat.

And surely that's an opportunity - not to reduce classrooms and teacher training - but to reduce the size of classes so the over-worked teachers can do what (in theory) they are employed to do!

The knives are out and getting sharper by the day.

So the fall in enrolments is caused by what? A population statistic (ie fewer babies being born in the modern world)? Or parents not thinking the effort is worthwhile? Or students not interested? ???

And they'll still be talking but doing nothing in 50 years' time as the sea waters lap the royal palace ...

Agree. Here in Surin I've done it a couple of times over the years, always coinciding with 90-day report. No papers required, no request from me, just hand over the old & the new p/p. All done in 5 minutes.

But probably not in our lifetimes.

So the wheel turns. Where it will stop noone knows, least of all the main players.

Sadly, you're probably right. The question is - when & if - will The People stand by The People's Party and take to the streets of ALL Thai cities in sufficient strength & endurance & cleverly led so a coup or other elites' tricks (law courts) come to nothing?

A rather unorthodox Crown Princess ...

In the Coup-Staging Handbook the last action before staging a coup is to deny that there'll be one.

Yes, worthy of a Shakespearean play. Sold-out for weeks on end.

So this is a UK magazine that depends on US advertising?

Many love affairs end in tears. So sad.

Yes, some good news for once.

Pray for the People's Party and the younger generation of intelligent and educated leaders.

Only for 5 minutes, thanks to cooperating with the Japs during WW2. The part that the Cambodians remember is that the southern half of Isaan was once part of the Khmer empire, long before the world had heard of the Thais.

Good. Can't wait.

Given the 2023 OK, Cambodia's position on this aspect seems particularly weak.

Government in Thailand makes Western democracies look like models of good administration. Basic rule here: Never address anything important. Always deflect with trivia. The People love trivia. And, sadly, it works.

The trouble with this whole smart-arsy discussion is the usual Western 'cultural superiority' syndrome. Doesn't seem to occur to most of the commentators above that 'IQ' as measured by 'IQ tests' is a measure of what is important in 'Western' cultures, namely abstract thought & logic & reading ability. So where does that leave people like the older members of my Khmer peasant family who have never been to school, have never learned to read & write, don't know what a world map is that I pinned on the wall of the new house I built for them a decade ago etc etc. Does that mean they're 'stupid'? 'dumb'? unable to get thru life successfully? ... Well, it would be interesting to see who would cope better in the rice paddies and in other food-production processes following a major war that cut all international & many intra-country supply lines. I wonder who would be laughing then?