mfd101

Noone is 'conservative' (in the proper sense) in any modern society. How could you be as everything changes around you on a regular basis? 'Right-wing' or 'right-of-centre' makes more sense as a description of what she (presumably) stands for.

Britain's obnoxious equivalent to Donald Trump. But fortunately noone needs to vote for him.

The fog of war ... woops. The murky life of Thailand.

Yes, and what a lot of 'Westerners' don't understand is that - despite their prejudices on the subject - it is in the broad the very BEST of Third World people who migrate to The West - the educated or who want to be, the hard-working and willing, those who dream of freedom & equality. Why else would they risk their lives in little boats to get to the UK or Oz? why else would they put up with racism and general nastiness so their children may become full citizens of their new society?

Presumably the answer is: He was not a qualified electrician. Or alternatively: He was qualified but had learned nothing about the REALITY as opposed to the APPEARANCE.

Yes, or to put it a slightly different way: In Thailand TRUTH is not a cultural value, APPEARANCES are.

Not to mention appropriate TRAINING & ENFORCEMENT of certification for all relevant workers ...

Thai fascism grunting under the covers. Donald Trump would be proud of them.

And not the slightest hint in the article of the international & strategic implications of doing deals with Russia. Which probably reflects the serene ignorance of the Thai government.

For once the Thai government gets it right, though it might have been nice if the initial "I've been um thinking that um ... " announcement had not raised the silly expectations of clueless Falang expats.

In this country, immediate action (usually for show only) is one thing. Strategic action is an unknown concept.

Yes, my Thai family consists of MIL (c80) - 6 children from 3rd marriage and some 4 or 5 by 2 previous marriages; FIL 6 + c3; from the current 6 (ages 35-47) there are 9 children & teenagers so far ...

Yes, demographics applies to Thailand just as it does to every 'Western' country and Japan.

You might be interested to learn that, in Australia, a federal judge has just found the leader of the (miniscule) anti-immigration party guilty of racial vilification for telling a Greens Senator to "piss off back to Pakistan". (Can't work out why your comment made me think of that.)

And won't that be lovely for us all! The defeat of demographics.

As usual the anti-migration people make their little racist jokes and allusions ... But the fact is that the future of ALL the 'Western' nations (plus Japan - though they haven't yet woken up to it) is immigration from the high-reproduction countries of Africa & the Middle East. And all the racist jokes and government 'tightening' won't alter that fact. Nothing else is going to maintain economic standards and even growth for the 'white' people over the rest of this century. Pale skins are out of fashion and likely to remain so for ever.

Or Israelis.

Some people are beyond helping.

But an endless source of entertainment. You have to give him that.

Yes, and off with his head.

As usual in Thailand, complexity reigns. And as usual their systems won't be able to cope.

Well, where would the sciences and the intellectual world of Usofa be if it weren't for the flood of eastern European Jews who entered the country over the last 150 years? A couple of anecdotes: Once (in Canberra) I met Ehud Barak when he was Chief of the Israeli General Staff. A small but smart & very tough cookie. I think of him as both Jewish and Israeli (not the same thing). Earlier in my career - mid-twenties - for my sins I taught French to Aussie first-year university students. Apart from the middle-aged attendees who were splendid, the just-from-school kids were generally hopeless. But there were 2 Jewish girls a couple of years younger than me who were in the middle of their studies to become medical doctors and who enrolled in my classes just for some entertainment and change of scenery. Where they excelled. One day I was chatting to them and asked how they managed to do thus when their medical studies were far more than a full-time job. They said: "Well, Mr D ..., if you were Jewish you would understand". At which we fell about as they explained how, from the earliest years, life was all about reading & study & hard work.

If they had the remotest clue about anything relevant, the Thai government & the admirals wouldn't buy anything in this line that wasn't already working soundly in CHINESE submarines ...

From the photo they look to be poor Burmese & Lao and Cambodians. Easy victims of the incompetent police. No Russian mafia in the net ...

Thailand continues to imitate all the mistakes of 'Western' countries over the last 50 years ... More highways for more cars, when they should be driving the railways forward at high speed.