mfd101

Well, here in south Surin I can vouch that there are some junior officers who aren't corrupt, who do their job as best they can, who resist attempts from further up the chain to increase the income from fines, and who are polite and helpful to deal with. And no doubt there are plenty of corrupt ones too (helped along by the fact they are paid a wage that you can barely live on) but I haven't encountered any ... unlike the Immigration crew.

I'm not worried about it at all. I merely note that people rabbit on about how wunnerful it is when the baht drops against their home currency, apparently ignorant that there is - in slightly slower time - a negative effect too.

Good for Netiwit. Though I probably don't (in general) approve of draft avoiders, in the case of Thailand with its corruption and the fact that conscription is only for the poor, I agree with his action and respect his courage. Besides, Thailand doesn't NEED conscription. Just pay the young trainee soldiers a decent wage and treat them as young trainee soldiers not officers' servants & bumboys and you would have more volunteers than you could cope with.

Of course that would mean higher prices in Thailand for all imported goods ...

Well I'm homosexual so I might have a different point of view ... but I would think men in just their tighty whities would be fine, showing off their assets (such as they are) at their best. Completely naked would be - in at least 9/10 cases - distinctly unattractive.

Um, remind me of the grievous harm it would do.

I agree, but perhaps 'hypocritical' might be a more apt description.

I was merely attempting to point out that some woman running around topless isn't anything to get overexcited about. Clearly I failed.

Topless in Thailand: A History of Boobs & Buddha Feb 24, 2017 — in The Siamese Puzzle Box

As to the 'nudity', it's less than 50 years that just about every Thai peasant woman (mostly Khmer & Lao) went topless all day every day ... But modern technology is producing whole generations of memory-free people.

Ireland has been moving ahead economically at a great rate for about the last 20 years. Attracting large-scale investments in high tech. Shows what a country can do to turn around its C20th fate with good government and clear-sighted economic policies. If the Irish can do it ...

A perfectly obvious PRACTICAL measure would be to ban ALL military formations, barracks and military equipment (trucks & tanks) from coming within 400 or 500 km of the national capital. The only military in the capital would be HQ staff. A similar rule applies in even in little ol' democratic Oz. With special provision under the Constitution for the use - approved by the Head of State (ie Gov-Gen) - of the (unarmed) military to assist police in national emergencies (eg earthquakes, floods, bushfires).

A loading on rude customers is quite common in other countries. I remember my father saying in the 1960s in NZ that this happened when householders were rude to workmen in or around the house. No reason the Russians (and anyone else!) shouldn't get a 10% or 20% loading on their bill for bad behaviour. And this should be mentioned in the 'Information' brochure they should be given - in multiple languages - before treatment begins. If the patient is out to it, then brochure goes to the caring person or persons accompanying.

My MIL (approx 6 years older than me c80) has never been to school. She signs her name with a thumb print. She spent most of her life as a labourer in the cane fields and the rice paddies. She used to walk bent over in an ¬ shape (as did many other elderly women when I first came to live here in Isaan 9 years ago). She no longer does, as though release from backbreaking labour has released her from soul-destroying serfdom. My FIL (3 years older than me at 77) can sign his name and that's all. He was 'taught by the monks'. He still works on his little farm despite being 2/3 blind. It's what keeps him alive.

Hope so, but of course - just like us - the young grow older and, characteristically, more conservative ...

The rankings above for ASEAN countries make no sense, noting the US$ per capita quoted.

Which is not counting about 50 million people in the 'informal' economy ...

The headline seems misleading, given the statistics actually quoted ... Much more mixed in reality.

So you would argue: No support or funds for Ukraine or Israel?

Looking forward to it, though if it's actually 10 years away I may be marginal (85 by then) to receive it. Or indeed need it ...

The next 6 months will be fascinating as the current Senate reaches its use-by date and assorted votes & referenda are to follow. How that pans out - and where Thaksin is in the midst of it all - will give us a good insight into the next 4 or 5 years.

Thailand - the hub of crony capitalism.

The art of politics - and particularly of extremist politics - is the art of simplification, for an audience that can't cope with complexity.

Amongst the poor peasants who constitute my family here, not so much. Small brunch around 1000ish. Long breaks from work in the fields in the heat of the day, say 1200-1500 - mostly sleep & gossip, little or no food. Small dinner at 1800 more or less sharp on time. More work after to close down the chooks et al outside. Everyone slim.

Mmmm, big player, Myanmar connections, looking shaky ...