mfd101

It's what happens when you 'revert to democracy' after a military dictatorship but you're still bound by the rules of the dictatorship. The thing about ruling classes is that THEY are good at thinking ahead ... Pathetic.

You can't win as a politician, least of all as a PM. If you stay at home, people will say you should be travelling to spread the word about the country's revolutionary new approach to life in the post-everything world. And if you travel to do just that, you get the comments above. ...

Fascinating how criminal investigations and judgments lumber on year after year, decade after decade, without any real conclusion as the political climate moves.

So it's clear where the ultimate power lies, and it's not with the government. Symbolism is VERY important in national life and administration.

So an experienced private citizen is not allowed to engage pro bono in assisting neighbours in negotiating their difficulties amongst themselves?

The obvious solution is - as I think suggested above - that she go to the BKK Bank office in UK & set up electronic transfers with their help, then does the transfer herself.

They both describe the same situation but the perspective is diffeent. The first considers sleep as an activity, the second as a state.

I am in the middle of updating my Oz will as my executors in Oz are similar age to me and I need a younger executor to look after my much younger Thai Khmer b/f who is illiterate in English and functionally illiterate in Thai. I entirely agree that, in principle, you need a will made in each country where you hold assets, but the NATURE of the assets held can change whether or not you need to make a will in this or that country. In my case I hold no assets in Thailand. The mansion + land + car are all in my b/f's name. No sweat. My only possessions here are 'personal' items - books, clothes, computer etc. Not worth worrying about. B/f will dispose of them as he sees fit at the time. My sole assets in Oz are 'liquid' ie income flows, which is what we live on. For that I need an Oz will & Oz executor with enduring power of attorney. The Oz will allows my executor to act swiftly after my death to ensure continuity of income flows to my b/f. The EPA is so the executor can also act in the event of my legal incapacity (eg I'm gaga or in hospital longterm or in prison but still alive).

He was talking about teaching students ... I'm rather old so probably out of touch but I had thought that speaking in English in class and reading English-language texts might have been part of the process ...

Play the piano, Play rugby, Play with my friend, Play with a toy ... These and many others are various uses of the verb 'play'. Look up the Oxford Dictionary of English (online) for many many examples. English verbs are complex and there's no easy way to explain them to foreigners. Only practice practice practice in reading and speaking will do the trick over time ... And playing around with simplistic and largely out-of-date concepts like 'transitive' and 'intransitive' will get you nowhere, whether for your own understanding or that of Thai kids.

Your very presence here changes things here willy-nilly.

If that figure is correct (source?), then even the 'almost modern' bits of the economy are rat/sht. Why on earth would Thailand need 67 of them? Or perhaps backyard furnaces for all are the answer, and Mao can ride again.

So, sensible provincial management - not to mention sensible farmers - would be planning their future on the basis of a permanent move out of rice crops. And pigs might fly.

I'ld arrest him for his bad taste in clothes.

In danger of offending against s.112. The comedian is being warned: Take care whose toes you trample on.

And nothing will have changed in 20 or 50 years' time.

Suitable only for LtGen and below.

From 1 extreme to the other, as experienced late yesterday and overnight here in south Surin. Apart from a nice shower a couple of weeks ago we had had no rain since November. The ground and the trees and shrubs very thirsty. Just before 1800 yesterday thunder & lightening and steady heavyish rain started. Continued pretty-well non-stop till around 0500 this morning. Fortunately, not too much wind so no damage as far as I'm aware, though the electricity did die for a couple of hours last night. Couldn't help noticing that the main concern of local villagers - as the rain pelted down and lightening was all around - was to find frogs in the khlongs ... Interesting priorities.

No, just some of the basic Thai cultural traits on display - laziness & incompetence.

Yes, totally agree. Same here in south Surin. Works well.

She wouldn't do well in the countryside where people rise at between 0500 and 0600 depending on the time of year but don't eat anything before about 1000.

Stupidity is hard to fix.

Hard to find the right mix of arabica (90%) and robusta (10%) here. Usually I make do with 100% arabica as it's mostly all that's on offer. Minimex machine. We have 3 double shots each daily - on getting out of bed, after brunch, after dinner.

I notice - in comments on AN about the political processes and the impossibility of moving forward etc - that people are obsessed with the military as the be-all and the end-all of power in this country. I think that's a misperception. My perception (maybe I'm wrong) is that the military - including the junta chiefs recently retired - are mostly the instruments of the rich elites or oligarchs and their family connections, who actually pull the strings behind the curtain in league with the highest elements of the feudal state. It is they who 'man' the posts that matter eg EC and Constitutional Court, it is they who 'man' the key posts of government decision-making and administration.

Right before. To do it AFTER an election where MFP could well end with over 50% of the vote is too risky. Heavens! The plebs might rise up and overthrow their feudal masters! Goodness me! That would never do.