mfd101

And where did I mention Oz building nuclear power stations? Get your reading up to scratch. Lies don't help.

My heart bleeds.

No, not really. Not any more. And historically never was. Founded on convicts & exiles NOT dreaming of Mother England.

Not obvious that that's still the case. eg If the gay marriage change gets thru the Senate, that would suggest the Army is no longer breathing heavily in the backgound. Or maybe at least holding its breath ...

Between Thailand preparing for nuclear power plants (engineers anyone?) and Oz preparing for building, manning & running its own nuclear-powered submarines in the 2040s, I'm not sure where the worst risks lie.

OK, keep your hair on.

Shaking my head in disbelief unless your talking about the military. I wasn't making a judgment one way or the other, merely noting that people & events of Thailand's past have a way of not going away. Up they pop again for another round in the ring, and often with the same ref (eg CC & EC) as last time! How many court decisions have there been in just the last few days relating to matters of 15 or 20 or more years ago?

Fascinating to watch the last 20 or 25 years of political horrors/mistakes/crimes in this country coming home to roost/face (in)justice/pose problems/build a new & better Thailand/get a further 10-year jail sentence ... No end of them.

Forward to the past with Donald!

So did you get thru extra fast or not?

I/we don't expect it's the sole answer to - as it were - a maiden's prayer, but it certainly ought to strengthen one's standing when the marriage ends through death of the Thai partner. But the devil will be as always in the detail. The current mixed status of Thai/Falang & Falang/Thai partnerships doesn't augur well, but the current government is certainly making the right noises about equality generally ...

Nice to see that (1) unions exist in this country (not noticeable in Isaan I think) (2) they are trying to contribute to government policy. Good for them. Unfortunately, a large part of Thailand's workforce (30%? 50%? 60%? ...) is in the 'informal' part of the economy ie workers who have no officially-recognized employment in a company, no officially-recognized employer, no officially-recognized income, and no due income tax ... They are - as it were, by definition - unable to be helped, at least by the unions.

Typical hypocrisy in this country, as with prostitution: Let's have lots of it but let's pretend it's not there, and certainly not officially recognized (Buddha forbid!).

We shall see. There are always further hoops to be negotiated ... Legislation passed & royally approved is one thing, visiting your local friendly amphur is another.

Some people are beyond help.

So let's not get too excited too soon. I wouldn't put it past the Senate dinosaurs to nullify the legislation as their last act before they disappear. Assuming the best happens by the end of the year, my b/f and I are certainly looking forward to it: Our Oz partnership in Canberra in 2013 (pre-gay marriage) gave protection to my b/f when (as I expect) I predecease him (he's 40 years younger than me). It means he has entitlement to 2/3 of my Federal Government superannuation for the rest of his life, plus any other Oz assets. In the same year we had a Buddhist wedding ceremony in our village here in south Surin, which gave us social/family recognition even in the absence of officialdom. When I queried the situation as we began planning the ceremony, the response from the village elders was a very firm: "Marriage is for two people who love each other." Can't get clearer than that. What the formally-recognized marriage now in prospect will do is give ME protection here in Thailand in the event that my b/f predeceases me. He owns all the assets here - house, land, car. (I just own the money-flow.)

Clearly the Ukrainians are responsible for many of the bomb attacks and assassinations in Thailand's deep south.

The Senate will find reasons to say No!

If it were me who had the job of cleaning up the place, I think I would want to start with the military and the wunnerful medals-bedecked generals before I got around to Thaksin. Thaksin is small fry compared to them.

Well, except that the point of my story wasn't really about the towels. It was about the fact that they couldn't cope with sharing the pool itself with a male couple, and one of whom was a local native. (Poofters! and one of them's a darky!)

I don't imagine that'll be an issue for the Thais, once the sub reaches its home wharf ...

As long as someone somewhere in the Thai government and RTAF understands that, whichever of the 2 on offer they decide on, it's a multi-decade commitment ... and not just militarywise. The decision will have - or should have - major & ongoing economic and industrial implications for Thailand.

Sounds like just about all of us really.

Endless complexity. Thailand's answer to everything, resulting in endless confusion, injustice, inequality and backtracking. No concept that you could have a decent minimum wage across the whole country and all areas of employment, and what employers pay ABOVE that is up to them and whatever the market can tolerate. And no concept of collective bargaining ... One day Thailand will enter the late C20th, but I don't expect to see it.

Gosh, thinking outside the box. Mmmmm, don't know about that.