ourmanflint

So if only PT supporters vote, isn't there a minimum turnout the government would need to be able to form a viable government?

I'm guessing it's easy money for some if you know how to play the game. The baht really should be in freefall but it is actually gaining, all the money will be made as it slides though.

The protesters are drawn from Bangkok’s middle class and wealthy elite, and from opposition strongholds in the south of the country. Their constant refrain is that poor rural Thais — those who voted for the government — are ignorant, ill-informed and sell their votes to the highest bidder. - complete rubbish! Seriously how many "elite" wealthy Thais would ever get up off their asses to march along roads or huddle together for days on end listening to Suthep? Just another cliche meant to divide and polarize opinion

Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban — a former Democrat deputy prime minister facing murder charges for his role in a 2010 crackdown on anti-government demonstrations — now finds himself on the other side of the barricades. - charges brought by the same corrupt government he is trying to overthrow, coincidence it is not

He has called for the overthrow of the current government, the suspension of electoral democracy, and rule by an appointed council of “good people” — prompting some commentators to describe his goals as essentially fascist. - essentially TV posters who have had too many singhas and remember being taught something one time, though they weren't sure where, sounds good so must be true. Sure!

Meanwhile, in the north and northeast of Thailand — the government’s support base — millions of loyal “red shirt” voters are seething with anger over what they see as yet another attempt by the Bangkok elite to bring down a government they have voted into power. - if this was true, where are they? I doubt if YL's government are anywhere near as popular now after all the u-turns than they were a few years ago when they pillaged and burned Bangkok

I thought the article was nonsense, full of all the usual cliches, lazy journalism at it's worst.

Perhaps your reading comprehension needs work. The normal excepted space an individual standing up takes is 1 square yard or 1 square meter. I stipulated the area that crowd would take up if "standing shoulder to shoulder", in other words maximum density. I would assume one would be intelligent enough to extrapolate from that the total space as in a crowd will be significantly larger. It was simply putting perspective on the numbers.

Thanks for your input, but 1 person per sq meter is not standing at max density, that would be 5 per sq meter and yes they would be shoulder to shoulder then.

Wow, calculations by "architect scientists with experience in urban and aerial designs". Of course it must be accurate and all that...

Do they realize just how much 6 million people really is...??

A person standing takes up roughly 1 square meter. So for one location, 2 million people, that would be 2 square kilometers if packed shoulder to shoulder.

What absolute twaddle! You have no idea what youre talking about much like most of the nay sayers here!

Look here for a more informed opinion on crowd density http://www.gkstill.com/Support/crowd-density/625sm/Density6.html

Does anyone have any better ideas to rid the country of its deeply ingrained corruption? If elections carry on as before, if government carries on as before, there will never be an end to it. Seems to me his ideas have merit in that the only way to reset the political landscape, is to have some sort of recess of the status quo. In other countries we could be more confident that elections would reflect the will of the populus, but this is not going to happen in Thailand is it? Seems Suthep wants root and branch reform of the whole system from government down to civil servants & the police, and his plan for this is have a "peoples council" an interim non political form of government that he thinks would be able to achieve this.

I can admire his optimism, but I doubt it would be a feasible solution as the time needed for reforms would be far longer than anyone would really be happy with, and would to some seem to some like a dictatorship of sorts, though personally that seems too strong a term IMO. The alternative and what most of the western world has done is too change things incrementally through successive governments, again this, when looking back over the past 20 years seems unlikely to happen here.

Interesting times are ahead for sure.

I think his goals are very clear. He wants ultimate power, he wants the country and if he did get it (which I doubt) he will simply flush his 20,000 pawns down the toilet. Possibly elections in February and I think the current government will be returned and then what more demonstrations for months on end in the streets.

Has Thailand forgotten that ASEAN kicks off in 12 months and everyone else is seated and Thailand is not even dressed yet.

Where is the proof that he wants ultimate power? Is he going to stand in the elections?

I for one would like to see what Suthep plans are for the future beyond his soundbites. He is the only politician of any kind who has been brave enough to point out that any political reforms must be alongside reform of the police force, who to be honest behave like mobsters most of the time. Suthep at least seems to understand that any way forward to a new system of democratic government must also tackle corruption head on, and that means restructuring or removing the Police force as it stands, which is no small task to undertake.

It will be an interesting time in Thai politics and society over the next few months.

Surely more logical to build a fast link to the Yangon deep sea container port which is being developed.

But maybe Singapore is paying a bit more tea money to prevent that? Apparently they managed to stop the canal running across Thailand by regular bungs.

The Yangon line is well under way AFAIK.

I heard a year or 2 ago that within 5/6 years there would be a rail link from Phrae to Chiang Rai. How's that coming on? Did they even start it?

Never going to happen now, the rail route from Kunming across Laos has been changed so now passes through Vientiane and Nong Khai.

Rational discourse does exist outside of Thailand. This was never going to go the way the ultra-nationalist Thais wanted.

It's only a pile of rubble when all said and done

Anyone who would say this has clearly not visited the temple. It, and the surrounding scenery, are one of the most beautiful spots in all Thailand.

And more. There can be no question looking at the topography of the high plateau on which Preah Vihar sits that it is as much part of Thailand as Bangkok. The plateau is a stunning topographical feature, even more so than, say, the Mekong River. There is no question that the temple sits on the Thai plateau, which falls away dramatically via a cliff to the low Cambodian plain just meters past the temple. And as widely reported, there is no realistic access to the temple except thru Thai territory.

Lets hope that the ICJ makes a wise decision.

It's geography is not the point and anyone who has visited the temple would immediately have realised, it is a Khmer temple, built by the same people who built Angkor, so culturally it is purely Cambodian. There is even a roadway from Angkor directly to Preah Vihear. This has never been anything but a land grab by the Thais I'm afraid.

The Thai government dropped the ball on this one, and now it will never ever happen. The Chinese freight train will be run across Yunnan and into Burma, then down to the convenient deep water port the Chinese have been building at Kyauk Phu for the past 5 years, or to Dawei.

Just in case anyone has same problem, the 7 day extension runs on from the last day of your visa, not from the day you apply for it. At least mine did.

Moe, there have been many incarnations of the visa rules since 98, I have had plenty of experience with visa runs, extensions etc, but have been caught short this time because of the 15 day land border rule, not sure when 30 became 15 though.

As I am a legitimate holidaymaker, 30 day holiday, return flight booked etc, it is a ridiculous inconvenience. I should have applied for a re-entry permit at immigration before I left the country, but only found this information out after much searching.

Ok so need to do this in the next few days as my 15 day visa expires on 28th. Can I get a 7 day extension say tomorrow and have it run from 29th or will it apply from tomorrow and not be tagged on to current visa?

Thanks

Thanks, what a mess the whole thing has become when you can't even come for 30 days without worrying about running out of your visa if you decide to visit other countries within days of arriving.

I must admit I haven't kept up with all of the visa changes in the past few years so consequently I have been caught out somewhat by them. I thought that they still counted days on your visa, but obviously not. I left the country after 2 days of my 30 day voa to go to Laos, then could only get a 15 day visa on re- entry. So now I need an extension I guess, I'm hoping it's straightforward, but have no idea. Do I have to pay this time? I need another 7 days at least to cover my 30 day trip. Cheers.

Animation showing the movement of water on Thai Flood 2011, made by Toshiki Iwasaki, a Japanese Doctorial sudent. An excellent animation from October-November

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2383339114783

Sorry to say but animation is incorrect and therefore useless for future predictions. Once an area is filled with water it becomes static. The is no reduction at all and we know that there is far up north.

Yes I guess random nobody's have far more experience with flow dynamics than the creator of this very accurate (so far) animation

There's a road in Chinatown where every day dozens of very ancient looking haulage trucks pick up goods to be delivered on their route. My GF has an export business based in Kanchanburi somewhere and they often have to send goods that have come in from elsewhere and need shipping from Bangkok. The prices are incredibly cheap or so I'm told. 55kg would only be a few hundred baht, and the best part is they do cash on delivery so you can check for any damage etc. You'll need to ask around for the shophouse servicing your area. They are all based around Charoen Krung 28 IIRC.

Serious news for the hundreds of Thai restaurants in the UK and elsewhere. I shall have to grow my own this year, in large amounts an all.

I was wondering what had happened as there has been no Thai Basil etc anywhere in Londons Chinatown since November. We haven't had a decent Phat Krapao since then, so life is hardly worth living. A few shops are starting to import from Vietnam now, but the quality is not as good, and basil is almost dead and blackens within 48 hours.

Thailands exporters will lose ground permanently when someone wises up to the problem in Holland or Africa and supplants them.

So is the reason for this pests or is it price? There seems to be some confusion. Where's the hungry smiley?

"acoral - the stupidity is your domain - a reef is a single organism consisting of many types of corals - I've never heard so much tripe!

Sorry fella, I can't help that you know very little of coral morphology and biology, but are happy to repeat all the claptrap you've been spoon fed.

A reef is an "ecosystem" not an organism, if you don't know even that difference then you'd better go back to bed and have a deep think.