lannarebirth

You couldn't find any moral authority in this cast of thugs with an electron microscope.

Thaksin

Chalerm & sons

Chavalit

Jakrpopob

Jatuporn

Suporn

Veera

Arisman

Ungpakorn (whom I like, but is clearly not ready for prime time)

I saw many of the movies nominated, including Avatar. Didn't see Hurt Locker, but for me the best movie I saw last year was District 9.

A terrible way to end 20 years of service.

40 years.

Who turned down his transfer request? I bet they feel bad now.Very sad story RIP.

Bet they don't!

I agree. Bet they're glad his complaint dies with him.

No apology. If asking for elections is overthrowing the government, that is.

Asking for new elections and sedition are not the same thing. I think most people know that.

Saw a few busses full of red shirtted folks this afternoon in the north of Chiang Mai. They were headed south, presumably for Bangkok. Probably going to be a pretty big turnout tomorrow, but nowhere near early estimates of 1,000,000. Wouldn't surprise me if they could gather 100k-150k.

I remember some admitting they actually thought the dollar was still backed by Fort Knox !

While I am all for the audit/abolishment of the FED. I do not hold out much hope that even if audited, these same elected officials will know what they are reading?

i wonder why you are so obsessed with Fort Knox Flying. it doesn't make a flying farts difference whether the existing amount of gold tallies with the official records or (if ever audited) one finds a lonely Double Eagle. the (official) $300bb are not even enough to cover U.S. debt held by Russia and Brazil, not to talk about the big creditors Japan and China.

so, where's the (audit) beef pray tell?

The gold price will just have to adjust to cover those debts, we all know the US cant pay them off. That is why Fort Knox matters.

I sincerely hope you don't have all your assets riding on that possible outcome.

because

Looking forwards (excepting any increase in political and/or state risk) you should expect that Baht will strengthen significantly longer term against indebted currencies like USD, GBP, AUD and currencies which may become more indebted

PG

Gambles I really wish you would post more I agree with you on this post pretty well 100%. And China does hold the the cards and I feel Thailand will be their broker for trade.

Well right now I would say there is a significant increase in political and/or state risk. The markets are also short term, long term investors in LOS are short on the ground at present.

Don't forget, Thailand has a futures market now. Exiting a market can be much more orderly (and profitable) when you can hedge.

A short video showing some people with a list handing out some cash to people on the list. Wow...that is pretty clandestine stuff....and allowing someone to record the whole

thing a close range.... absolute proof that reds only protest for cash.... Now if this was the other side....they would never do anything this stupid....the money would be wire transferred to an offshore bank account... dam_n it if you are going to do corruption....do it right for gawds sake......

According to my wife it is meant to be anything but clandestine. They WANT it widely disseminated so many more people will show up tomorrow to join. It's proof there's "big money" to be made.

Can anyone here prepare a list of the grievances of the red shirts? Simple, clear, plain English without emotion or comment.

1) Thaksin isn't PM anymore but should be still.

2) Past Loans are due, Thaksin would probably forgive them and issue new ones., or so they believe,

Maybe he wants to be close so he can turn himself in and collect any rewards himself

Remeber Crispin's article from last year"

Muddied motivations

It's still unclear whether those stalled talks drove Thaksin to embrace Jakrapob's more radical vision for the country's political future. Thaksin's recent rally cries for a national uprising against aristocracy and the need for "true democracy" have echoed Jakrapob's long-held views that certain royal bodies should have a diminished future role in the country's democracy.

Nor is it clear that the UDD's provocative calls and tilt towards brinksmanship will enhance or undermine Thaksin's future negotiating position vis-a-vis his now publicly identified establishment adversaries. One UDD organizer, who requested anonymity, suggested that Thaksin's calls for a national uprising were no idle threat and that the protest group could in the weeks ahead stir more trouble at the provincial level.

He claimed that Thaksin operatives had for the past two years clandestinely funneled small arms through Cambodia to his supporters in various northeastern provinces, where Thaksin's grassroots support runs deep. The well-placed source also said the arms had been moved and distributed with the help of former Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) contacts, an ideologically driven insurgent group active in the 1960s and 1970s that frequently criticized the royal family during its years of armed resistance

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/KD15Ae03.html

Where are the Samuel Gompers, the Cesar Chavez's, the Ralph Naders to organize and lead these worthy people? Only carpetbagger Chao Por to suck their blood and anti Buddhist monks to addle their brains by feeding their superstitions. If Thaksin could fill that void, despite his arch criminal tendencies, I'd be all for him, but it seems he's not willing to take that risk.

I understand all that but the only way you achieve basic human rights and opportunities for the "poor" is through education and THE RULE OF JUST AND FAIR LAWS AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SUCH LAWS WITHOUT PREJUDICE AND FAVOUR.

Everything else is irrelevant.

Where are the grassroots political parties demanding/promising the end of corruption and the changes needed in the legal system and their so called guardians to achieve this ?

Touching story, and all the more so as it is far from unique here in the LOS. probably millions more people here could relate the same or worse upbringings. Sadly, rather than seeing that it is thier very Thai culture that has shackled thier minds and limits their view of what's possible, they have chosen to attempt the ouster of a PM who has just brought them their greatest opportunity to break free. Abhisit won't be making any Black Magic on their behalf, won't reinforce their ignorance to score points for himself, but he did just implement a 15 years of free education program. He's created a committee to reform that education system and that is what is required to create the egalitarianism these people say they seek. Without a reform of Thai culture however, even that will come to no good end as those newly educated will still find a way to lord it over those who are not yet.

wow "Early this morning government lawyers applied to the Thailand Supreme Court for an order closing all radio and television stations affiliated with the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD). "

Supressing their voice?

This rally organizers have the stated aim of overthrowing the current democratically elected government. Are you sure you know the difference between "free" speech and seditious speech?

Are you aware that the US dollar was not acceptable in Europe for a 24 hour period in the 70s ?

No but are you aware that a tennis match between Roger Taylor and Wieslaw Gasiorek in 1966 was declared a draw? What is your point?

his point is (as usual) =

His point is, he wanted to make you aware he has just viewed Jim Sinclair's latest interview.

http://www.kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews...r__Part_II.html

Hi Priceless,

Say, aren't we within a week or so of the historic top of the peak pollution period? Mid March isn't it? Much variation of that over the years? TIA

Where's a scratching my head emoticon when I need it?

I have to say that new weather forecasting page here at Thai Visa is pretty darn accuarate. About a week ago it started forcasting that in the early morning hours of today a scant bit of rain would fall (like 2mm) and that's just what happened.

Income producing assets or businesses whose valuation or pricing power can be tied to inflation would be one area that ought to work (assuming you spend in the same currency). The cost of coming up with a decent, secure income stream has gone through the roof though.

Things here in my neck of the woods while not Zimbabwe is sure looking thin. Each new jobs report celebrates how they lost less jobs than they thought they would. Never a word about any new jobs created... I believe the count is somewhere around 6+ million lost now.

Looking in the classifieds here you see less than a dozen jobs ...if you can call them jobs....there use to be pages.

Looking at the real estate section you see a dozen homes for sale & less in the raw land sections.

Not for lack of things for sale mind you...But because realtor's no longer waste their dime advertising due to lack of buyers.

Looking in a MLS you see the reality....Tons for sale

Income producing business that is tied to inflation? Gas Station or Grocery Store ....btw the price of food here

Pension Funds gone wild. All sense of fiduciary resposibility gone out the window. Yet the "fees" keep flowing. I just don't see how they can "invest" in commodities futures without distorting the market considerably" It's illegal to boot, but I'm sure GS got some exclusion legislation passed to cover it. Maybe they'll try to invest in the human body organ market next.

“In effect, they’re going to Las Vegas,” said Frederick E. Rowe, a Dallas investor and the former chairman of the Texas Pension Review Board, which oversees public plans in that state. “Double up to catch up.”

Though they generally say that their strategies are aimed at diversification and are not riskier, public pension funds are trying a wide range of investments: commodity futures, junk bonds, foreign stocks, deeply discounted mortgage-backed securities and margin investing. And some states that previously shunned hedge funds are trying them now.

The Texas teachers’ pension fund recently paid Chicago to receive a stream of payments from the money going into the city’s parking meters in the coming years. The deal gave Chicago an upfront payment that it could use to help balance its budget. Alas, Chicago did not have enough money to contribute to its own pension fund, which has been stung by real estate deals that fizzled when the city lost out in the bidding for the 2016 Olympics.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/business/09pension.html?hp

the crisis isn't over.

The best is to bet on well-managed independent currencies like the Swiss Franc and on nations with relatively few citizens and high natural resources, like Canada and Australia.

... invest in CHF, CAD and AUD, along with gold, silver, platinum.

What about Canadian and Australian housing bubbles? You think those will remain intact?

Large quantities of gold are not for sale at these prices. China would like to accumulate 6000-1000 tons of Gold but that is an impossible task at these prices. There is not a gold market for the large buyer. Any attempt made to aquire large sums of gold puts the entire monetary system at risk and may backfire on them allowing them to buy even less gold.

says WHO?

Says HU? WEN?

http://www.investmentpostcards.com/2010/03...be-the-endgame/

In this video interview, Chris Wood, CLSA's Asia strategist and author of the top "Greed & Fear" newsletter, shares his views on global markets with CNBC.

Wood said: "My view is that there is an inevitable endgame as a result of all this massive spending of taxpayer money in the West and Japan to bail out bankrupt banking systems, so in my view unfortunately the end game will be systemic government debt crisis in the western world.

"It will probably happen in Europe and will climax in the US, and I am expecting on a five year view the collapse of the US Dollar paper standard … The key reason why that is the endgame is that this credit crisis we saw in the west in 2008 and 2009 has simply been deferred, because 95% of the so-called government policy solutions to deal with this crisis have simply been to extend government guarantees.

"So the problem has been transferred from the private sector to the public sector. It is just a matter of time before investors revolt against these sovereign guarantees … The crisis is going to happen first in Europe. The US will be the endgame

That's pretty much conventiional wisdom these days, so what else have you got?

What is this fixation with Chinese and why do you think their blood is somehow better? My wife is 100% Chinese blood, born in Vietnam, reared most of her life in Thailand. Sometimes she's a pain in the ass and sometimes she's saintly. She is Thai, as is you wife. Take your eugenics thread elsewhere.

These countries are all artificial constructs anyway, so get the @* over it.

Actually she'd surely be Chinese Vietnamese taking heritage from her parents and the country she was born in.

Both her parents were killied in the Vietnam War. At the age of 2 or 3 her Chinese grandmother who emigrated to Bangkok with another son took a ship from Bangkok to Da Nang to rescue her in the midst of the Vietnam War. Because of their cold blooded nature they could not care for her, but they placed her with a highly placed Thai family who were relatives of a sort. She assumed the identity of one of their children that had died and thus became Thai. The Chinese family who are quite rich only marginally acknowledge her to this day, but I'll always be grateful that there was a culture that was willing to attempt the almost impossible to spare my wife's life. I would never expect that a Thai would do such a thing. Still, they're hard to warm up to, so materialistic and all.

What is this fixation with Chinese and why do you think their blood is somehow better? My wife is 100% Chinese blood, born in Vietnam, reared most of her life in Thailand. Sometimes she's a pain in the ass and sometimes she's saintly. She is Thai, as is you wife. Take your eugenics thread elsewhere.

These countries are all artificial constructs anyway, so get the @* over it.