mfd101

It's called: Spreading the risk. ????

We shall see.

Only in Thailand. It's part of what makes living here worthwhile. No end of entertainment.

There is a reasonable argument in favour of conscription, namely that it offers to poor & uneducated peasant boys (my b/f was one) a window on a new bigger world of which they have no prior knowledge or experience. Whether that counts as a counterargument to those who see conscription - not unreasonably - as supporting military authoritarianism and threats to democracy depends on the circumstances at any particular time. The point is that, like most important issues in government & life, it's not black'n white.

Just calming the boys as PM & new Minister ease themselves in to their new chairs. Perfectly sensible. It's what they will do that counts, not what soothing words they offer in the meantime.

So what did he say in the Thai original?

I've got an 8-year-old Canon Pixma (with cartridges) connected (by wire) to my brand-new 24" iMac. Works fine. [The wifi hasn't worked for some years (to connect to my old MacBk Air) - not sure whether that's the machine's fault or my technical incompetence.]

Yes, my b/f spends all my money. But I have a large library and a well-furnished mind. They should last me till death do us part.

I think this and other views here are too black'n white. Yes, not ideal. Yes, MFP should be running the shop but instead they're in the retraining program, absorbing lessons for next time. They'll do much better next time. As to the new government, Yes there are some old personnel, the most egregious being Anutin. But the Two Uncles are out of the picture (in Prawit's case still with a symbolic-only role as the now-temporary head of his party but not in the government). There are many new faces, not least the entirely new PM (new to the parliament as well), and the whole system has been given a shock & a shakeup it wasn't expecting. To conclude from all of that that 'nothing has changed' is fainthearted at least and generally blind to what is now a more complex reality than before, with plenty of room for change and reform. But still some blind areas relating to the Constitution. To be handled with some delicacy over time ... However the speed with which the PM & Ministers were blessed by the Palace might suggest some high-level impatience for the government to get on with the job.

Oh rilly? Just a large part of China's, Japan's, Sth Korea's & Taiwan's trade passes thru the Straits of Malacca ...

Wissanu? Who was he exactly? Poor thing, moving next week to utter irrelevance. And not one ounce of power left even now. Or ever before, as far as I can tell.

First Night rights. ie In the European Middle Ages there was a tradition that the local lord of the manor got to deflower the virgin maiden on the first night after she married a local yokel.

China under extreme pressure (declining economy, high youth unemployment, high internal debts, external world getting tougher as The West closes down the options ... ). So it's Pull finger for the local neighbours.

GDP increase? So it'll be invested on productive activities and increased outputs? Nonsense. 90% of it will go on consumption - food, booze, a new pair pf shoes ... After that, pay off a debt if anything's left over.

This is only Stage One of the process ...

That's what VAT/GST is for: Noone can escape it because everyone is a consumer.

Seen from outside and far away Usofa looks like a once-great nation whose greatness is sinking more or less rapidly in the west ... When you look at all the other nasties in the world (China, Russia, Iran, Nth Korea ... ) it's hard to be optimistic about the future of civilization and democracy.

Depends whether you are from Usofa or from the rest of the 'Western' world. In Usofa: Republicans - far right - Red; Democrats - right - Blue In the rest of the 'Western' world: Left - Red; Right - Blue

GST/VAT same thing. The thing about GST/VAT is that it hits poor people greatly. Rich people don't even notice. The in-betweens in-between. So you need to democratize/socialize your tax system with a progressive (in the technical sense) income tax to produce just outcomes. The point is that you need both.

In other words, to provide a decent pension system you first need a decent & non-corrupt taxation system ... GST is the obvious way to go, along with an enforceable income tax system.

Progressivism is moving inexorably into the MFP camp. Orange + red = victory at the next elections (even if 'MFP' has by then a new designation forced on it).

And I think the Red Shirts have already reached that conclusion ...

(sob! sob!)

Red Shirts are probably necessary for the long-term success of MFP (ie major change & reform in Thailand). They're the ones who do the heavy breathing out on the streets for moving forward, along with - now - the orange students. (In the Oz context I'm a right-of-centre person. But TIT ...)

So far he looks to me like a reasonable guy. Certainly more brain power & energy than the dinosaur Uncles! Can't blame him entirely for the complicated & long-drawn-out appointment processes ...