mfd101

Won't there be a lot of egg on a lot of faces if it turns out she really is at home nursing a sore head & feeling sorry for herself. Ha Ha Ha! she goes on Monday morning as she pops out to 7/11 for some grapefruit juice ...

Anything's possible in this country.

Given an explanatory choice between conspiracy and stuffup, the latter is usually the way to go. But this 'stuffup' went all too smoothly and, when the moment came, too quickly. It has the hallmarks - quite unusual in Thailand - of good planning all round.

Shows what the 'top' people are capable of when they put their minds to it!

We don't actually KNOW (yet) that she's left the country. Maybe she has or maybe she's sick or maybe she's just sick 'n tired of the whole schmozzle & decided to have a day or 2 off & up yours!

Never a dull moment in Thailand. Such fun!

43 minutes ago, Katipo said:

I have taken had 4 Thais go to NZ over the years. Not one of them was ever denied or had a problem.

 

They all had jobs, a bank account with money in it, and in some cases, their own property. Nothing was required from me by way of sponsorship letter etc. In my experience, people only have trouble when it appears they are not self sufficient or might be an overstay risk (which in NZ for Thais is surprisingly common).

Same issues as with Thais entering Oz. People never learn.

So far, contrary to all the Britain über Alles hopefuls, the 27 seem to be fairly united (at least in regard to Britain). Let's face it, it would be surprising if ANY of the 27 weren't just a LITTLE less than receptive to the wunnerful British symbolism of an Up Yours and F You!

Still, some might still hope for the 27 to split up when it comes - if it ever does - to the details of trade negotiations, if they see individual advantage in going down a different path. But that would merely mean that NO AGREEMENT would be possible before the UK's exit from the club.

Oh well, sad but there we go. Life is tough at the bottom, and the bottom of the UK socio-economic snob ladder will certainly be suffering over the next 10 years, whatever happens over the next 2.

21 minutes ago, dunroaming said:

It doesn't have to be like this if people would only wake up and see the damage this is doing.  Politicians are just worried about their credibility and not the end result.

Politicians are elected by The People. They represent The People. If The People don't like them, The People can remove them and elect different representatives proposing different policies ... The People are in charge. It is - ultimately - The People, not the politicians and not those horrible non-people The Bureaucrats, who make the decisions, based - of course - on sound information and rational thought.

3 minutes ago, dunroaming said:

to walk away would be economic suicide.  You may not care about that but for anyone living in the UK it is their future and their livelihood that would be devastated.  

Well, indeed. Sad really.

Will Britain ever be Great again? Maybe, though - at their present rate of progress - unlikely. We'll know in about 20 years.

25 minutes ago, Gregster said:

Haha

It's Vegemite only I want thanks....and it's NOT available in my region of Thailand!
 

You must be living a long way out in the sticks. Wasn't available here in Surin when I first arrived here to live 18 months ago (had to bring back jars from BKK) but now available at Lotus in Prasat awa Surin city.

2 hours ago, dick dasterdly said:

Really?

 

Demanding that the UK agrees to how much it will pay in advance  (when it clearly has to be tied up with trade talks....), and that UK rules only apply to Brit. born - but not EU immigrants?

 

Only one side has been arrogant - the EU.  Hence this topic. 

There is a 40+ year history to all of this. At every stage - entering the club, staying in the club, and now leaving the club - the Brits have demanded special treatment, with not much more justification than their own sense of self-importance. And now the jackboot is definitely on 27 other feet ... Tough!

58 minutes ago, simple1 said:

Nonsense. If someone from say Iran, with Australian citizenship and wishes to become a Federal politician they only have to cancel their Iranian citizenship. There are Muslim politicians in the Oz parliament who have cancelled their dual citizenship to comply with current Constitutional Law. 

Yes, exactly. And unless the High Court reinterprets s.44 of the Constitution in ways that haven't happened before, then there's a major problem for those who have not FORMALLY renounced the foreign citizenship they mostly didn't know they had. The ALP ones haven't come out of the woodwork yet but I'ld be surprised if there aren't a few of them too.

The Australian Constitution was written in 1900. Changing it is extremely difficult - majority of voters in a majority of states, noting that the 3 small/distant states [Tasmania, Sth Oz, W Oz] hate the thought of Constitutional change because it might threaten their status vis-à-vis the 3 big states.

Those who talk about the 'laws' and as though it can all be fixed with the flick of a pen or three don't know what they're talking about. The problem is not for future Parliamentarians but for those already there.

Actually it's an intergalactic guidance device for incoming spaceships. Thailand is aiming to be the Hub of the End Times.

28 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

Are these senators a) too stupid to know they have dual citizenship? and/or   ignorant of the laws of their own country, or c) just think that as a politician they are above the law?

Mostly none of the above.

They have been trapped by antiquated or ridiculous provisions of OTHER countries' laws that, for accidental reasons [eg where Dad or Mum was born 80 years ago] turn out - to everyone's astonishment, including their own - to apply to them. For example: the deputy PM was born & raised in Oz, but because his Dad was born in NZ, NZ law [NOT Oz law] deems the Deputy PM of Oz to be a Kiwi. Does that make sense? No. And certainly not in a country where some 30% of the population was born overseas.

It will be the High Court that has to decide what to make of this and other similar situations. Will be interesting to watch. But to say or imply in the meantime that the people involved are fools or liers seems unreasonable in the circumstances.

3 hours ago, sweatalot said:

As much as I agree with voting against Merkel - this baboon should better shut up. He has no right at all to give any recommendations about German matters.

Unfortunately, Erdogan & his many supporters in Turkey would no doubt say the same thing in reverse. "What right do Germans have to interfere in our internal political matters?"

'Westerners' are always blithely ignorant of the fact that what they regard as 'universal values' - liberalism, democracy, human rights and so on - are not necessarily thought of as 'values' or very important in other civilizations. Take Thailand for example ...

Such countries take 'Western' commentaries on their affairs as just the usual Western arrogance & condescension. And their reaction is not to 'learn from the superior West' but to tell them to p/off.

26 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

The will be getting a visa a 30 day exempt entry not a VOA.

If it is their first trip ever to here the chances of them being asked to show the 20k baht is almost zero.

It would be the equivalent of 20k baht each.

OK, thanks for that. I'll tell them to bring lots of lovely Oz dollars. [I recall now being asked to show money once before - I guess about 3 or 4 years ago - & they were quite happy with me flashing a wad of Oz dollars at them.]

Never quite sure exactly who this applies to. I have 2 friends from Oz to visit next Xmas/New Year for a few days (respectable middle-aged couple), will be travelling I assume on Oz p/p's (or possibly UK) and therefore VOA. They've never been near Thailand in their lives before.

So what should I advise them? My preference is to tell them to bring Oz dollars (including for me!) to get the best xrate here at Vasu or SuperRich. Alternatively 20k฿ (is that each ie 40K between them)??

I assume that any cables buried in BKK, of whatever kind, will be in 100% waterproof tunnels or surrounds?

Ignorance ⇒ Fear ⇒ Rumours ⇒ more Fear

The planned end-result looks pretty nice to me. There are plenty of interesting and even attractive high-rise buildings in BKK. Much nicer to look at than the (yawn) oblong boxes of 40 or 50 years ago. Post-modernism at least makes you take a second look.

The take-away lesson for me - after a 15-month construction at least some of which was hellish because of local incompetence & inability to realize or admit they didn't know what they were doing - was that falang planners & project managers may be more expensive at the start, but you're more than likely to make up for that in time & peace of mind gained, plus a better finish on the end product.

19 minutes ago, robblok said:

Even in a banarepublic the person in charge of a program would manage that program and turn up at meetings, listen at things the world bank has to say and would not keep things out of the central budget even when things were costing billions, plus the her own ministers were busy with fake G2G deals defrauding the state of billions. If that is what you call a faulty goverment program then you are a bit kind with your words. Criminal negligence is a closer thing. I wonder what would happen if the PM in your birth country kept an amount equal to the annual health budget off budget with huge corruption in it by its own ministers even being warned by everyone that it was going wrong and ignoring it all..

 

All of which sounds like a Ministerial not a Prime Ministerial responsibility. As in all well-run organisations, the boss delegates functions & the jobs that go with them and then lets the subordinates get on with it.

The key is to choose your subordinates wisely, but in politics you may have little choice ...

36 minutes ago, ezzra said:

No special intention or not. she is ultimately the person responsible for her and

her government actions, otherwise, what's the point of having a PM and the head of the

government? the issue of culpability come to play here, culpable probably she's

not, responsible she is.....

On that basis, every former PM or President in 'Western' countries would be in prison.

We need to think strategically here:

They're preparing for freedom-of-navigation patrols in the South China Sea. The fruits of Tillerson's visit ...

Should improve Thailand's bargaining position with the Chinese re the very fast train project.

You can have a not-wonderful but perfectly healthy small cooked meal at any PTT stop about 18 hours a day for 50฿.

No. It's earnings. But of course a very large proportion of personal taxes in Oz are paid by people on over $200,000 a year. I don't have the figures here, but OECD stats regularly show that Oz is around 2nd of OECD countries in the most-redistribution-of-wealth stakes.

That's socialism for you, actually working quite well in a reasonably well-run capitalist society.

1 hour ago, steven100 said:

correct ...  at the markets in Brisbane mall every thursday .....  one cup cake $5 ,  a bagel and a coffee is $10.

Australia has lost the plot with electricity, food, rent and general cost of living has gone through the roof and the Government does absolutely nothing about it.

Australia made their bed ... they can lay in it.

Average fulltime earnings in the 2nd quarter of 2016 were $A78,832. With overtime & bonuses added in, average earnings in Oz were $A81,947.

Some Aussies may not be coping well with life, but MOST Aussies are doin' jus' fine.