mfd101

To me they sound lovely.

Endless entertainment for the Plebs of Pattaya.

You're making a distinction without a difference. More generally you & others here show a touching faith in the integrity & competence of the Constitutional Court and the Thai judicial system generally. As the Supreme Court's decision a couple of days ago suggests, judicial decisions here change according to political circumstances not according to the law.

Yes, I know enough to organize my finances from home in advance of travel so I'm not moving money around on my MacBk while in a hotel.

Always organize your road travel (whether on a daily or weekly or annual holidays basis) to be heading in the opposite direction from everyone else. Easier said than done for some, but not so hard for those not in the workforce and whose visits to and from BKK are optional.

Such a wonderful tribute to the longterm health and welfare of the nation.

Also thanks. I keep seeing ads on Facebook for nice little glossy things called VPNs but could never work out what they would do for an elderly simpleton like me.

So, in your world, political responsibility (normal punishment: Lose election, no longer PM) translates in to criminal responsibility (punishment: years in prison)?

I'm no expert on this but you certainly need more than just a piece of paper with your wife's signature on it. Inquiry at the local Land Office would be a first step. Lawyer thereafter, I think.

So my weekly papaya salad & larb at PTT is going to give me an extra 10 years?

In Thailand there's a fine line between corruption & incompetence. The latter opens up pathways for the former. In any case, when Yingluck returns home she will be warmly welcomed by many many Thais (including some who never voted for her). Distance makes the heart grow fonder.

No, I shall leave as much as I can to my partner (40 years younger than me). He already owns all property here in Thailand (land, house, car) and I have arrangements in place for him to receive the 2/3 of my Oz superannuation to which he is entitled, plus my investments.

The problem is that people confuse 2 different things: The dubious appointment process and his competence in office. The process is no doubt regrettable in any country that wants to be thought of as a democracy, but it has little relevance to his personal capacity to do the job. If the military incompetent who preceded him had in fact shown skill in carrying out the PM functions, he might well still be in office.

Don't think so. In any case it doesn't count as a 'former PM'.

Um, only 2 former PMs there actually, but Dutton is going to give Albo a pretty good run for his money next time round.

Sensible comments from the PM whom lots of people here like to sneer at.

I do it all myself because (1) I'm a well-organized type and can assemble the papers without difficulty (2) I HATE the thought of paying them bribes (3) I'm not rich enough that I like throwing money away. They have tried it on a few times but I just smile blandly through my facemask and carry on as though nothing had happened. Once they made me wait 3 hours as a result but it was worth it when the female I was dealing with came out to deliver my stamped p/p (having said earlier that it would take 2 weeks unless I paid an extra fee). She obviously thought she was about to receive her extras but I just took the p/p, smiled & wai'd and turned & walked to the car ...

You pretend that what is grey and complex is black'nwhite & simple. When Western governments make mistakes - as they all do - does the PM/Pres get charged with criminal actions? Perhaps in Usofa but not in real democracies.

So the facts (whatever they were) haven't changed in the intervening 12 years, just their interpretation in changing political circumstances.

I'm unclear what exactly happens with the Senate in May24. So the old Senate composed of military-appointed dinosaurs miraculously disappears. What happens next? and how does it happen? What are the steps? and what will the dinosaurs do next?

And the problem is?

Just about all the time, I think. Even authoritarian regimes come to power and stay in power because the culture of The People as a whole enables them. Lenin, Hitler, Mao - all came to power by popular acclaim. Perhaps not Stalin (the backroom bureaucrat).

PM-in-waiting. The experience will be good for him as he prepares for the next round. Probably better than he would have been if he had become PM last May. More mature. As for Sretta, he strikes me as a decent guy trying his best against decades of accumulated misgovernment and non-government. Easy to sneer at him but perhaps unfair. Better him than the Thaksin girl.

Well, mmmm.

The record everywhere in the world is that poor people produce the most children because that's the only social security system they have, quite apart from not having access (materially or culturally) to reasonable contraceptive methods. As economies modernize, those who move up with the economy reduce the number of children they produce. My Thai Khmer family here in south Surin are an example of this process. My PIL (3 years older than me) has had around 8 children by 2 marriages. My MIL (6 years older than me) has had at least 12 by 3 marriages. The last was my b/f who popped out unexpectedly one day as she was cutting sugar cane when she was 45. The 6 children of the last marriage have produced between them 9 children. Of those, 2 females are now of 'marriageable age' (18 & 21) but have produced no babies as yet ...