Samui Bodoh

10 minutes ago, webfact said:

Precisely what they could do, at this stage, hasn’t been explained. But expect more finger pointing and probably a few resignations. But little more.

Resignations? Take responsibility for their actions? Seriously?

An otherwise good article marred by ludicrous claims that those who govern will take responsibility.

It will all be blamed on Brexit, the US/China trade war, global slowdown outside of Thailand's purview, foreigners, bad planning by dead people, etc.

However, on a positive note, we will see stories by TAT of Indians bringing their own water...

Ouch!

I would not want to be them when they are caught.

Being arrested and jailed in Thailand is already something that I would not wish on my worst enemies, but these ones, should they live, are likely to have it even worse than most.

In their shoes, I wouldn't allow myself to be captured...

What's the difference between Johnson and Trump? Not a hell of a lot, it seems, at least when it comes to Russia and election interference.

The only reason that I can think of for not releasing the report is that it'll likely hurt him and his party.

"...O what a tangled web we weave..."

The architect of 'Brexit' is too cowardly to run for office.

Speaks volumes.

Boris Johnson has received Trump's blessing and support.

Speaks even louder.

"...Trump also said Britain could do four to five times more trade with the United States..."

So sayeth the UK's new best friend and savior.

9 minutes ago, webfact said:

Thepthai said he was grateful to hear Abhisit proposed to chair the committee, calling him a strong proponent of democracy.

Black is White

West is East

Night is Day

All is good looking up from under the Yellow, Yellow grass

"Oh my!" said Alice, standing next to the looking glass...

38 minutes ago, Somtamnication said:

Voted along party lines. Shame shame shame, reps.

May I (respectfully) disagree?

This vote was both meaningful and irrelevant. It was meaningful as it, for the first time, laid out a path to impeachment and formalized a process. it was irrelevant as it was essentially a 'process' vote, and thus in my view it was okay for people to vote along party lines.

What I will find fascinating in the near future are the actions of the Republicans/the Republican party. There are good Republicans out there, lots and lots of them, and their vote when the time comes is going to be career-defining in the way that the vote for the Iraq war was career-defining for Dem politicians. They know that a lot of what Trump does is garbage and/or idiotic, but they also know that he has a great deal of strong support from his base. Further, they know in their hearts of hearts that he has to go, but they might be signing their political death warrants if they vote that way (will there be 'Profiles in Courage'?). Finally, they feel, not unreasonably, they the Democrats aren't good for the USA and to discard one of their own is just stupid and wrong.

Normally I discard the views of the 'talking heads' on TV, but there was a retired US Colonel who summed up Trump's appeal this way; he said that the Repubs had become the party of 'high finance', the Dems had become the party of 'high society' and that there proverbial 'average Joe' had been let down by both and decided to follow Trump. And, I think he got that just about right.

Trump is a dangerous, incompetent, unethical, greed-filled monster who has to go. But, he has to go with a dignified process that unites rather than divides.

I hope, but am not terribly hopeful, that American politicians get their act together and do this both swiftly and correctly.

Yes, I know, but...

16 minutes ago, webfact said:

"It's a sad day. No one comes to Congress to impeach a president," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said before the vote.

I think the quote above sums things up nicely.

I am not a fan of Trump and want to see him tossed out on his ass as soon as possible for both the good of the US and the good of the planet (Hey US, please re-join the Paris Accord after he is gone!), but it is not a happy day. The simple fact is that he was elected the leader of the US and has failed; this is not a fairy tale with a happy ending.

That said, Trump brought all this on himself through his own actions. Period. 

A truly intelligent person would have surrounded himself with all the experts that they could find, implemented a rational decision-making process and studied the consequences of actions BEFORE choosing them. Trump did not do this. 

A truly intelligent person would have selected a team of good people to work with him to implement a positive agenda, but Trump instead chose to display disloyalty from the top and petty, malicious behaviour which sickened honourable people and precluded them from joining his administration.

A truly intelligent person would have worked to keep the US as a beacon of light in an ever-darkening world and laid the groundwork for even more long-term stability, freedom and growth; Trump did not do this.

A truly intelligent person would have understood that it was an honour and privilege to serve their country as President and not have used the office for personal gain.

I have said it before and will say it again;

Donald Trump is an ever-expanding cloud of toxic waste that defiles everything it touches.

Let this nightmare end.

Interesting story, and one of those whereby good people can objectively come to different conclusions.

On the whole, I think I would agree with Twitter in banning paid political advertising on their platform as there really isn't any way/method for Twitter to identify who is paying for the ads, unlike TV and/or Facebook which can list the people/organizations who created it. Yes, we have all heard the "My name is XXX and I approved this ad" and even if we don't always feel that it is effective, there IS a public record of money spent and a name attached to it (now, clean up the anonymous Super PACs to really add transparency!); Twitter can't do that due to size/space limitations.

"...We believe political message reach should be earned, not bought..." seems like both a reasonable principle and common sense to me.

One political debate that is coming, but likely won't occur before the US elections of 2020, is the role of 'Big Tech'. I think it is time that they had some regulations attached to their business, something akin to the utilities. However, there really isn't going to be time/space for the debate before the next cycle of elections.

It is the proverbial 'Brave New World' of a media landscape.

33 minutes ago, webfact said:

Ultimately, the electorate will have a choice between an emboldened Johnson pushing for his Brexit deal or a socialist government under Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn renegotiating the deal before another referendum.

Wow.

I truly feel sad for my British friends if your choices are either Johnson or Corbyn.

Future historians will promote this era in UK politics as a warning to politicians on the dangers of incompetent government, a lack of a genuine Democracy, and the folly of implementing huge public policy decisions without the populace behind the government.

I have said it before and will say it again;

Never before have I seen a country do utterly determined to shoot itself in the crotch

42 minutes ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

Phuket Immigration this week finally confirmed that the mandatory health insurance requirement for people staying in the country on permits to stay under “Non-Immigrant O-A” visa status do not apply to those staying under the general “Non-Immigrant O” visa.

Then why is there insurance for a Non-O-A either? Both have the same financial requirements...

Has this all been (yet another) exercise in nonsense? Like the nosy information form? Or, is this even more wrong information?

If Thailand wants to be taken seriously, then it needs to be serious; at the moment, it seems to be a third-world, banana republic spouting nonsense entity.

It is not a good look...

An excellent read as always...

13 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Obviously blaming foreigners for a nation's ills is a convenient way to find scapegoats to deflect from a country's deficiencies. For Big Oud it will help to justify his position. Rooster disagrees that there is a high level of xenophobia in Thailand, even that what there is has increased in recent years.

I have to disagree as a matter of emphasis on the issue of foreigners and scapegoats. Are Thais as xenophobic as they are sometimes/often portrayed on TVF? No, I don't believe so (no one is that bad! ????). That said, I have certainly noticed an increase in general negative feelings towards foreigners over the last five or so years. Hmm... What occurred five years or so ago?

Having a look at a society and focusing only on a key element or two to explain a change in that society is often foolish, but... er... Damn the Torpedoes!

Thailand, according to 2018 figures, has the highest income inequality in ASEAN and the fourth highest in the world, and the Thai people have noticed. Further, the decline of economic opportunities, free speech and general political rights in the Kingdom hasn't gone un-noticed and neither has the idea that those losses/declines are accelerating. These two factors (combined with many, many others) have forced the PTB to address this issue where they didn't need to in the pre-Internet/Facebook days, and frankly what has occurred in the Kingdom is beyond reasonable explanation.

So, blame the foreigners.

Sadly, this is a ploy that goes back centuries for the simple reason that it is effective; witness the rise of Trump, the far-right parties in Europe, the Rohingga (spelling) in Burma, etc; promoting a fear and/or resentment of 'others', especially those who are physically identifiable, is an effective tool for distracting a local population of their own disadvantages.

Is there evidence to support this? Pick up a Thai newspaper and/or view a Thai news show; is there anyone out there who can state that they have read Thai media for a week without seeing an article about immigration? A healthy society does not need to discuss immigration on a weekly basis, an unhealthy society looking for distractions and scapegoats does.

All that I can add is that I hope this phenomena is temporary; the greatest attraction for me to Thailand has been the Thai people; it would be a terrible loss if their minds were poisoned against visitors in the name of short-term political gain.

47 minutes ago, webfact said:

Each time there were changes in economic expectations based on party alignment, with members of the winning party showing more faith in the economy, and members of the losing party reflecting less favorable sentiment. For Reagan and Obama, however, the shifts were statistically insignificant; after Trump there was a "dramatic" 74.6 point swing between Democrats and Republicans, according to Michigan survey director Richard Curtin.

A very interesting article...

I remember well the radical change in economic views/outlooks that occurred shortly after Trump's election; Republicans were convinced that the "Obama Economy" was awful, but just after Trump's ascension to the White House, all of a sudden the US economy was good and improving. And, frankly, not much/nothing had changed...

I truly wonder how this issue of different "Truths" will ever be sorted as it really needs to be sorted; if people cannot agree on what the facts are, there is no possible way to deal with those same facts. Or, put another way, how can a government deal with/solve issues without a general agreement on what the issues actually are?

I suspect that the problem with slowly go away after the end of Trump, although I am not certain of that. It seems to me that Trump uniquely has credibility among his supporters that allows him to 'gaslight' them into believing whatever he tells them; I doubt that this particular skill (???) is transferable to another individual. And, given that objective organizations have noted that Trump lies over and over again, once he goes the lies may go as well. Hmm... if people think that I am wrong, let me ask; who else could tell as many lies as Trump and get away with it? (serious question).

One final comment; it is a testament to the quality on the NY Times and similar media that even though its credibility is attacked daily by Trump and his acolytes, it still registers a pretty good score on the believe-ability index.

Interesting times...

PS One method to begin to deal with this issue might be for news organizations, especially cable news organizations, to make clear what of their programming is 'news' and what is 'opinion'. Do Trump supporters realize that not even FOX calls Hannity, Ingram (?), Carlson, etc news? Or that MSNBC also does not refer to its evening programming as 'news'? Perhaps if they made that distinction better, then people might not be so confused...

If you are such a sick, psychopathic loser that you get your kicks from spearing a dog, then in no way, shape or form should you be permitted to carry a weapon of war.

This individual, and it sounds like they know who it is, should be immediately dis-armed and drummed out of the military for lack of moral character, lack of moral fitness and a lack of a basic respect for ethics and life.

But, he won't be, will he? 

Rather, this... sick <deleted> will be on the front lines of peace-building in the South. And, with psychos like this on the front lines of peace-building in the South, the conflict will linger and drag on, more and more individuals will suffer and die, and people's lives will suck.

Harming animals is an indicator and sometime precursor of serial killers; it is something to ponder...

9 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

People living in Bangkok and surrounding areas are advised to brace for a new round of health-threatening low air quality during the rest of October

This may sound strange, but I am pleased that the poor air quality has hit Bangkok again.

Before people start shouting at me, I am pleased because if the problem affects people in Bangkok, then it is likely that the government begins to take action. Alternatively, we have seen numerous times that when an environmental problem occurs and does NOT effect Bangkok, little is done; think Chang Mai burning season last year.

The people of Thailand deserve a government that takes this issue seriously, and the only way that it'll be taken seriously is if it hits the capital and affects the "Good" people (ie. Senior Government officials, the Hi-So, and the Military) of the city.

Soooo, my tremendous sympathies go out to the residents of the capital; on the other hand, I am glad that you will be part of the fight so that there will actually be a fight.

I hope everyone breathes easy soon...

Hi All

Yesterday I re-entered Thailand with a Multiple Re-Entry permit and nothing bad occurred.

I spent about one minute at the counter, had my fingerprints scanned, my passport stamped and got a nice smile from the lady at Immigration. This now makes approximately 50 consecutive entries/visits without the slightest issue from Immigration.

I think it is important to remind all that my situation is the norm.

Cheers

PS Thanks to all who participate in this Forum; it is a priceless resource!

2 minutes ago, webfact said:

there is fierce competition from low-cost airlines on the northern domestic routes, which used to generate one-third of the airline’s revenue, while the European routes have been affected by the strong baht and Brexit related issues.

This may or may not be true, but...

I stopped flying with Thai Airways a long time ago because of over-priced tickets and lousy service.

You are a drunk driver.

As far as I am concerned, you deserved a fine of 100,000 plus; stop whining.

You paid a bribe to the police.

Do you think that you are getting it back? A refund? You are going to lodge a complaint AFTER you bribed a cop?

Grow up. 

You got off far, far, far easier than you deserve.

Learn from it and move on.

Just now, Skallywag said:

And why were we "necessary" 20 - 40 years ago?  As teachers? Bar owners? 

I believe tourism has always been more "necessary" to Thailand as it is in most countries.

Again, tourism accounts for around 12% of GDP, expats around 0.02% GDP  

Have become acquainted with many interesting foreigners living at our condo complex during the last year. (Newbie, I know)  They all seem positive, friendly, and well adjusted. 

According to an online search, Thailand is not among the top 15 countries with the greatest gaps between rich and poor.  But i agree the number of poor are likely growing in LOS, but is also occurring globally.

"...According to an online search, Thailand is not among the top 15 countries with the greatest gaps between rich and poor.  But i agree the number of poor are likely growing in LOS, but is also occurring globally...."

Respectfully, this is flat out, completely, utterly, 100% incorrect.

https://livingasean.com/explore/thailand-income-equality-wealth-report-2018-indonesia-economy/

Or you can simply google the Bangkok Post for the same numbers (Mods frown on BP links).

Thailand has the highest income inequality in ASEAN and is number 4 in the world (2018 figures).

As I noted in my post above, that isn't a selling point to the Thai masses, so someone else besides the Thai Hi-So's need to be blamed. And, foreigners are blamed because blaming people who don't look like you is easy; see Donald Trump.

It is neither a new practice, a practice with a sense of decency, nor ethically defensible.

However, it often works.

Sadly

Respectfully, I think that while you guys are telling a fairly accurate story, you are also omitting some key info.

Yes, there have been and always will be some bad foreigners.

Yes, there have been some horror show incidents of kiddy-fiddling and other heinous crimes.

Yes, there have been some foreigners who have skipped out on their hospital/hotel/restaurant/etc bill.

Yes, some bad visitors.

You know what else has changed? The ideological, economic and cultural outlook of the Thai leadership class/caste, and they have opted for a policy of blaming foreigners; it is the same ugly <deleted> that Trump and the like use. Life for the average Thai person hasn't improved much, despite the tall buildings in Bangkok, despite the infrastructure in Bangkok, despite the newly paved roads in Bangkok, despite the office jobs in Bangkok, despite the availability of special foods in Bangkok, despite the shopping malls in Bangkok, Etc. Anyone notice a pattern?

Thailand's economic development has been limited to very small groups and locations, and that doesn't sell well to the wider population.

So, blame the foreigner.

I also started visiting in the 90's, and I find my life, at a micro-level, still as wonderful as always and the Thais as nice as can be. It is only when the macro-level blame game starts that people react negatively. It is very simple; Thailand is developing with massive, massive inequality, and someone needs to be blamed for that. And, as seen in time immemorial, it is always the "Other".

It is sad to watch. Everyday you see newspaper stories of 'evil' foreigners. Everyday you see newspaper stories of 'international criminals'. Everyday you see newspaper stories of foreigners 'taking Thai jobs'. It goes on and on, everyday. Again and again.

But, day to day it is the most wonderful place to live, I adore the Thai people, have many friends, and will be here for a long time. Period.

Just now, snoop1130 said:

Asian and Western militaries are tracking developments closely. They say this carrier would represent a vital step in China’s ambitions to create a far-ranging navy that can project power around the world to serve Beijing’s expanding global interests.

A series of recent Reuters Special Reports showed how that effort is challenging decades of U.S. strategic superiority in East Asia.

We are a decade or so away from a world where there are two world class navies capable of projecting power far from their shores, and that'll have some major consequences. Many believe that there will be naval 'contests' and 'frictions' around the world and especially around Africa in a competition for resources. But, I have never really bought that; I have always felt that the development of a Chinese navy is solely to deliver "defense-in-depth'.

I've long felt that the Chinese B&R policy will (eventually and subtly) try to create land-links among far-flung shores as too great a reliance on naval power is dangerous and expensive. And, I have also long thought that one day China will simply stand up and announce that there will be no further business or discussion of any kind with the Western world, coupled with an invitation that can't be refused to its Asian neighbours. No huff, no puff, just declare that they are done with the West, period.

The remaining question, in my view, is when? I always thought that it would not occur in the next twenty years or so, but as I look out into the world, I am not so sure anymore.

May you live in interesting times.