mfd101

And please don't arrive in a Rolls Royce with the flag flying.

Yuck.

They may have been but were always (in my understanding) organizationally separate. The Reds were particularly strong in Isaan (not surprisingly given the benefits Thaksin had given to the rural poor), but Isaan split its votes in May last between PTP & MFP.

There were Red Shirt demonstrations against Pheu Thai's moves last week in Chiang Mai. Basically saying: We (Reds) are with MFP. One up for the books.

He was in deep sleep when the explosion went off.

I'll believe it when I see 1 or 2 million on the streets.

Well, good luck with that. Can't wait for the next election, which may be closer than currently scheduled. That's when the Thai people will show what they're made of, one way or the other.

It's already developing - AUKUS to supply Aus with nuclear-powered subs & share other high-tech weapons, and the Group of 4 (can't remember their name) of US, India, Japan & Aus. India coming out of its shell at last, because of the Chinese threat - not just in the Himalayas but with Chinese naval bases abuilding in Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and (already) in Djibouti. Who do all of those surround?

Japan & Korea not much use in the Sth China Sea. China's weakness there - as indeed Japan's & Korea's - is that a very large proportion of its 2-way trade passes via the SCS. And it would be very easy for the US to choke off the straits round Malaysia/Singapore. Whence also China's moves to build up relations in Central Asia, displacing the ever-weaker Russia.

Actually the problem is that neither the Philippines nor the other countries round the Sth China Sea (notably Vietnam & Indonesia) are armed either physically or psychologically to resist the continuing Chinese encroachment. The new Philippine regime at least show signs of understanding the problem. Doing anything useful - like sinking a Chinese ship or two - might take some time.

Hope he doesn't oversleep and miss the vote!

Well, he's presumably got lots of merit to make (ie beans to spill). One announcement per day or even per week should shake the criminal foundations of the is country.

I no longer have an Oz mobile number - for over a decade now. I just use my Thai mobile number + email address. Never had a problem with OTP or dealing with Oz government agencies or banks, whether by email or phone. But I'm not all that tech-savvy so perhaps I've missed out on problems.

So what should he & MFP have done? (noting that they believe in electoral & parliamentary democracy, not armed revolution).

In Thailand (some) professors do what elsewhere (many) students do.

Some of them may well have been true (prospectively) at the time they were made ... Like everyone else, Thaksin is (now) a victim of happenstance, that is, of the political machinations of the greedy.

Golly, we mustn't allow Pita's future to confuse tomorrow's vote for PM!

In 2013 I took my Thai Khmer b/f (40 years younger than me) to Oz for the first time. My recollection it was a short-term tourist visa (around 3 weeks). Landed in Melbourne direct from BKK. I noticed the sign for 'Australians, New Zealanders & family' and thought Well let's give it a go. The lady behind the desk couldn't have been nicer. Big smile and, after checking her computer, she smiled at Mike and said: Welcome to Australia. Took all of 30 seconds.

I would interpret that to mean they're a one-horse company with no money behind them. In other words, they simply don't have the capability to work for a month without being funded in advance. Certainly here in Isaan that's pretty normal, where people are dirt poor and not much moves without greasing the wheels. But It may also show a lack of trust which, in Thailand, may be normal.

Just so you understand: The reason why any kind of Oz visa is so difficult to get for a Thai national is precisely because they have a well-deserved reputation for (1) overstaying and (2) working when they are specifically forbidden to do so on this or that visa type. If she were found to be working illegally, that would be the end of ANY future visits to Oz.

Let's face it, the drama of an actual return, the kneeling on the tarmac to kiss the sacred earth, the Immigration Police arrest, the sad wave from the back of the Black Maria, the tearful hordes outside the prison, the handwringing political hypocrites on all sides ... No end of entertainment! What's not to love? I could stay up all night watching the replays on my iMac.

Rogues on all sides (except MFP, I think) and noone trusts anyone else, but noone (not perhaps even the Army any more) has the power to form a government and actually run the place without all the others they distrust & loath. This is how a corrupt society ends up: Unable to move and unable to fix itself. (WW1, the 1930s and WW2 showed what can happen next: Widespread violence.)

It would be nice if, having reduced the number of recipients from the merely to the extremely poor, they were then to double or even treble the allowance.

It's no doubt convenient to think so.

Here on the edge of Prasat south Surin when we first moved here in 2017 the village used to play Isaan music every morning at 0600. Sweet melodies romantic laments My heart is broken I cannot breathe My tears will drown me if you leave me. My boy would laugh as he translated and crooned along. It was something I looked forward to every morning. About 10 minutes of beautiful music before the announcements of the day. Now nothing. Not even announcements. I guess some falang complained or the locals just got bored after 30 years when the electric arrived.