mfd101

80B under threat of being withdrawn by terrified expats?

Contrary to what some expats seem to think, I don't suppose expats are in the top 500 items on Srettha's to-do list.

Too early to tell. We don't even know yet what portfolios will go to what Ministers (& their parties). And, depending how Srettha turns out as the boss, it may or may not be he who decides most important questions in any case ...

I'm an MFP supporter and I hope they sweep in to power next time round. But meantime we have a mixed bag of people coming to power. I'm realistic enough to recognize that the world is grey, not black & white. So I shall judge the new government on its performance over time, as any reasonable person should do. As to the new PM, his background & expressed views on the need to reduce inequality suggest he at least understands some basic issues that need addressing. If he's genuine, he'll need to act quickly & ruthlessly while the going's good and the dinosaurs are feeling great pain: new constitution, economic measures to spread wealth outside BKK, decent social security, decent education system for all, renewed infrastructure ... the list is endless and constitutes 50 years' work ahead, all of it overdue to transform a 3rd World country into a 2nd World one.

Worth reading the description in the Op full article. Reads like a description of Pita & MFP goals. Here's hoping. Actions speak louder than. Fingers crossed.

Pre-Covid I had some major work (caps) done over several years at BKK Smile Clinic. Excellent work. Half the price of work I had done in Canberra. In fact Canberra friends of mine used to fly to BKK every couple of years to get dental work done there. They said the difference in costs paid for a 2-week holiday in Thailand.

Here in Isaan the cane rats are not a problem. Au contraire, they make - along with dog and snake - a favourite dinner item. I have even tried one mouthful myself. Hard to do because of 'Western' association of rats with sewers, but here they are just another clean source of protein.

In my experience both here & in Oz, all 'official' photos - p/p, d/l - are NO spectacles

S looks like the naughty schoolboy summoned to the Headmaster's office to be ticked off. The Headmaster looks quite aggrieved.

The video says from/near Khon Kaen.

Yes, to do what he & MFP want to do, he needs to win an unassailable majority of seats (55%+) in the HR at the next election.

Moribund but still squealing quietly.

Or even if the relevant court holds them to be true ...

I see it as a moral issue, not a Me Me Me one. Despite my limited resources, I have far more available money than any of my large Khmer peasant family will ever have. Within reason I'm happy to help out, tilting however toward the hard workers rather than the lazy good-for-very-littles.

The next 9 months will be fascinating. Make or break time for Thailand.

No, this is PTP policy not Anutin's.

The same way they do in every poor country - continuing to work long after Westerners have 'retired' on pension or super, and sharing within the large extended family. In my b/f's village - some 5000 people - just about everyone is 'cousin of Yong' (my MIL 5 yrs older than me). The peasants don't have a concept of 'work' and struggling up the ladder and retiring ... They just have a way of life that hasn't changed much for a hundred years since the (pseudo-)ending of slavery & serfdom here. But modern technology (TV & mobile) is opening their eyes, as demonstrated by the way the votes went in May ...

He may be 'known' to the masses for his fairly one-eyed political activism & social criticism, but he will be remembered in history for his linguistic theories, from his 1956 start thru to the constant zigging & zagging by the 1990s as his theories at last received the serious criticisms they merited. Meanwhile Linguistics has moved on to other things, along with semiotics.

Chomskyan linguistics does seem to have faded away in to the twilight over the last 20 or 30 years.

Given his state of health as reported (assuming it's not exaggerated for convenience), it's not impossible that his days are numbered & he just wanted to come home to die on the Bosom of the Sacred Mother.

Will be interesting to see how the Constitutional Court & the Electoral Commission behave - over time - under (so to speak) new management ... I wonder how many opportunities are coming along over, say, the next 2 years for new appointments to either.

Change your will to read 'XYZ, also known as ABC'? (or whatever your UK and/or Thai lawyers suggest).

No, it's a Shakespearean tragedy dressed out (typically) with comic interludes. There has to be 5 acts.

That's (probably) why there'll be either an early election or (perhaps more likely) another military coup.

We shall see. This morning he certainly looked like master of the situation: police saluting him, homage to the King, hugs and waves for his followers ... The news clips could scarcely have been bettered. The Big Man returns. Even if it takes 2 weeks before he's out of clink, he still makes the dinosaurs look like the very little men they really are.