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You have just shown with your comments how little you know. Your massive generalisations hold no water. I presume you have been here for less than a year.

Hear, hear .. we should know how to keep our heads down, it's not our country, we should show more respect, we should not argue with a Thai cos they could just kick us like a dog or shoot us dead anytime they feel like .. cos they know we are faranag and have no xxxxxxx rights here, every cop will try to cover up for fellow Thai .. so let's be quiet, learn the ropes and digest more shit or go back to "our country"

Just because you disagree with someone doesn't mean that you have to flame them. Why is it that my "massive generalisations hold no water"? If you think differently perhaps try to substantiate instead of offering empty talk. And your presumption is also completely wrong. I've been visiting here since 1981, living and doing business in Thailand for 7 years. I've been thorough a lot here including assaults, many counts of theft, court cases, extortion, betrayals, life threats .. all things that didn't happened to me in my "previous life" of 24 years in another "adopted country". I'm claiming here that Thai xenophobia and a system under which foreigners have little rights contribute towards many instances of violence against them. It makes it just too easy to pull a knife or gun on a foreigner. It results in tragic cases like the one above and it often goes unpunished. And we, foreigners, are partly to blame by mostly sticking head in the sand and accepting this situation in the name of politically correct "respect for other culture". If the African Americans thought and behaved like that they would still be doing cotton fields today including Mr. Obama. "As long as I'm still alive I don't care for some young Brit. It was probably his own fault he got shot dead". But Sir, it may be YOU next time.

"Please take care of foreigners. If anything happens to them, please step in to help," Surapong said.

HAHAHAHAAHA

Nice one Foreing Minister! Now, could you please share your idea with the Police/Interior Minister? Cos in places like Samui even the Police doesn't do that.

Oh, that's a good step. But it would be even better if they extended this to 30 days and instead of only promoting Beijing’s regional economy and tourism start to do that for all of China.

Why is Thai government cutting taxes and its revenue?

Because it has nothing to spent it on. Everything is perfect, the country is booming and it's time to celebrate now!

Thailand has gone from being #21 in the world just 6 years ago, to #26, in terms of overall GDP. It will continue to decline unless some positive steps are taken. Who has the wisdom, and courage to implement them?

That's only according to PPP (purchasing power parity) concept of GDP that can be easily twisted. On real, nominal GDP figures Thailand is on the position between 91 and 97 as assessed by various organisations:

http://en.wikipedia....nal)_per_capita

Not that Thai people know that, or give a dam_n. Their country is still the best and biggest in the world and all foreigners are stupid.

The clear choice in this erection, sorry election:

Candidate 1 .. bad

Candidate 2 .. bad and about to become much worse if re-elected

Candidate 3 .. black horse .. who is it? Gangnam style?

I wish I could work at 7-11. Air-conditioned, can comb my hair, talk to friends, hide in the back room...

Not a good idea. By my account the 7-11 is actually one of the very few efficiently run businesses here. These shops tend to be busy non-stop and so are the staff there. It must be because there are family owned, small franchises. As we know, small business must be efficient as they don't have money to burn on lazy staff. Compare this to a place like HomePro. Once, I counted about 100 employees on the floor there. All "bunched up" in "talking parties" and hiding behind the shelves. All work in air-con and run away when customer comes around. They make their most to avoid foreigners as none of them speak English. They also have absolutely no idea about the products in the store so no point asking them even in Thai. The store exceeds in selling cheapest-crappiest quality goods probably because by marking them up by huge margins is the only way they can fund the whole show. HomePro is the place for your dream job!

Did they get that blimp as a package deal with those English-made bomb scanners? Maybe the bomb scanners work best from the blimp?

Oh, it's okie, it's just another "baan". Didn't they ban smoking in air-con, public places before? Or was it in all rooms open to public? Didn't they ban using mobile phones while driving? And what happened? NOTHING

Have a look at this Southern reflection on "Phongyang style":

thats a bit of a change from 'corruption is ok so long as I benefit from it' to

'Asked for their feedback on Thailand’s 88th ranking worldwide, one-third -- 33 per cent -- say they feel ashamed and it tarnishes the country’s image, while nearly as many, 28 per cent, describe corruption as an urgent issue that must be addressed by the government now, 23 per cent say they feel sorry for the country having an increasing number of corrupt people, particularly politicians, and 16 per cent call for harsher punishment and serious enforcement of the law.'

Lets hope the people of Thailand will start to demand change with an ever increasing number of voices, but then there is always 'Mai pben rai' to deal with.

TomTao, lets look at it another way:

1: Nearly 7/10 people say corruption is not an issue in Thailand (67% for the books)

2: Of this 33%, 28% believe corruption is an urgent issue to be addressed: 78% of the country believe corruption is not an urgent issue to be addressed.

3: 77% of the country have no shame in the fall in the rating, and increased corruption in the country.

4: 84% of the country feel that there is no need to increase penalties and enforcement on corruption, as current laws and enforcement are sufficiently suppressing corruption to levels they feel comfortable at.

This is because most Thais have no clue what corruption actually is and what does it do to them and their country. They equal corruption with money, or money for next to nothing, and since they all want it it must be good. "I want to be a policeman .. corruption mak mak" :-)

If they ranked places like Samui as a separate country she would easily be at 175 place. In addition, when will the government start to be serious about preventing corruption and start paying the public servants salaries that they can actually survive on without the need for kick-backs? I'm talking about 15-20 000 THB per month instead of 5-6 000 THB.

Xmas is definitely not on the radar of people who run Samui. Last year they were putting bitumen on the Chumchon Chaweng Yai Soi 4 .. perhaps the main road towards the Chaweng beach on the very eve of Xmas. All the traffic going towards the beach was badly affected. It's like almost saying " you farang with your funny holidays are the least of our concern - this is Thailand and we will run it the way we want". This kind of altitude on the island that has tourism as principal economic activity is not helpful and it only shows how "limited" these people are.

"The Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) has repaired its underground power cable and the electricity supply has resumed normal service"

power is now off again in Ban Rak, but to be honest that is normal.

Yes, "the power is back to normal" meaning constant 2-3 second outages called "shorties", few 1-2 hour outages every month and occasional "1-day-er". Yesterday I had two "shorties" around 7pm, today I already had a "shortie" early morning and a rear "20-minut-er" around 8:30 am. I'm in Chaweng.

Avocado gay? Really? Apparently there is never a shortage of new drawers and categories.

I doubt it's really caught on so not to worry. Did y'all catch the picture of the Pura Vida avocado in the link?

Wow .. what a whopper avocado! I'd luv to eat it! :-)

Thank you for posting this. It's my nightmare to think about replacing the electrode on our Zodiac chlorinator that costs almost as much as new complete chlorinator. It's 3 years old and I'm sure it won't work forever. AstralPool drip feed chlorinator may be the best, cost effective solution. Let's see how it goes for you in a longer run.

You've got to be kidding me. What a great way to bring the rich people into Thailand! The 200,000 is absolutely absurd. And who in their right mind would ever want a Thai citizenship (not PR, they do mention this at those pages)?

Who in their right mind? Me.

I've got it, and it is bloody useful if you want to base your life/work in Thailand and the region.

Yeah? Oh, maybe I'm missing something. Could you please explain that "usefulness"? What exactly does this PR entitles you to?

Citizenship was what I was responding to. Able to own my company, property and conduct business pretty freely. Given I travel around Asia often, usually on short notice, it is highly useful in getting into ASEAN countries with a minmum of hassle. Even the Myanmar embassy gives Thai passport holders the express queue. China, India, quick visa turn around times.

Flash that ID card in Thailand, and Thailand is your oyster.

Friends with PR? Stability I'd guess. Able to stay, get mortgages. Work permits, though needed, seem to be formality. A stepping stone to citizenship too for those not married.

Lucky you to have the citizenship! I'm sorry I misread your previous post thinking you were referring to PR. Citizenship .. nice, different cup of tea.

You've got to be kidding me. What a great way to bring the rich people into Thailand! The 200,000 is absolutely absurd. And who in their right mind would ever want a Thai citizenship (not PR, they do mention this at those pages)?

Who in their right mind? Me.

I've got it, and it is bloody useful if you want to base your life/work in Thailand and the region.

Yeah? Oh, maybe I'm missing something. Could you please explain that "usefulness"? What exactly does this PR entitles you to?

Funny, I didn't remember Australia having such a steep "price" for permanent residency. But I can understand why Thailand would want you to make $$$ more than the average Thai. Afterall, who else would they fleece?

Hey, Australian PR actually levels you up in most rights with Australian citizens. You can even vote in some elections minus few unimportant rights like being able to serve in military and on the jury. But in Thailand? I really don't understand the guys who apply because they validate the system. They spend 200,000 THB, go through lots of applications, "exams" and scrutiny just for the name "resident" that changes very little. If PR meant that at least I could own land here and didn't have any hustles leaving and entering the country I would consider it. But otherwise, they can keep their fake PR's.

There is a problem to forecast tides after December 21, 2012

or is it December 12 th??? ......

December 12 is my birthday. The end of the world would make my day! ;-)

It's good to see that Thai media has taken this sad story on board. This may help to bring about "some" justice and maybe to change things on Samui a little.

From what I see on the video I can tell that the total fault for the accident in on the Thai driver from behind. I have been driving motorbike on Samui for the last 7 years and I have Thai motorbike and car driving licenses. It is true that the laws, especially for motor bikes are different here. It is even more true that the traffic culture is different. But, I cannot see anything that the Aussie driver did as different to what the local people do here all the time. Most of them don't have motor bike licenses, most don't wear helmets, most don't know or understand the traffic rules, they use indicators as an option. But one rule that everybody knows, call it "law of the jungle" is to be careful and not drive into other vehicles in front of you. The Thai driver was not only clearly speeding, as the speed limit is 40km in Samui but drove into the motor bike in front of him so, by local Thai standards is at 100 % fault.

Knowing Samui police I totally understand what happened to the Aussie later. The police here like almost everybody else is deeply prejudiced against foreigners and will always believe a Thai. Thai driver most likely told them that the foreigner "suddenly cut in front of him" and caused the accident. This would be enough for the police to squarely put the guild onto the foreign driver. They believe that of course local drivers know better and foreigners know nothing. This would also be easier for them to believe so as it presented an opportunity to extort some money that they need.

The basic pay for a government employee is about 5,000 THB (US$ 170) per month. There is absolutely no way one can survive on that, especially on Samui that is one of the more expensive places in Thailand. Hence all the government employees are "helping themselves" as they can. This is a totally corrupt island. Police officers are known to actually "buy" their positions that come at certain, fixed price tags. The higher the position the bigger the price as greater chances of getting kick-backs. But, of course, "the gentlemen" relived from his police duties would claim no wrong-doings and no corruption. As a result he will only be send to a different police station. As bizarre as this may sound the police in Samui don't even pick up the phone when someone rings. They refuse to make reports. To have them act on anything one must pay them. They are know to go around in plain cloth and actually perpetuate crimes. I've seen them in action supporting out of jail thugs on the extortion mission. I've witnessed them protecting and facilitating "jet-ski scams" and "motor bike scams". I've hear about them even killing people. This is a totally different culture and society that Westerners are more or less familiar with and with what they expect from government institutions. This is an island not only infested with but actually run by corrupt mafia, as a criminal organisation.

The reason why there is no or little news reporting on Samui is that everybody knows about it and is afraid. So, the only thing that can be reported is about how wonderful the local government is by modernising a road or helping some poor people with a free meal. No investigative journalism, no news of abandoned projects, illegal construction, big bribes, people hurt or even murdered. Nobody wants to risk his livelihood by reporting "things like that" and it perfectly fits with the Thai logic of "see no evil, speak no evil". But it is quite all right to "do evil". I believe that some help can only come from elsewhere in Thailand, say Bangkok, where there are some people at the level of sophistication enabling them to understand that corruption is not the most effective way of distributing country's wealth and making economic and social progress. I hope this tragic story will be another step in making some people understand what is going on here.

Where are all the other religious and community leaders, to reinforce Chula Aziz? This guy is a sitting duck, if there are no others making this stand. I am sure these markets would be crowded if all the leaders where there to show support.

Exactly. But they are gutless and themselves scared of the militant Islamists. This is not unlike most Germans who were maybe not activity supporting Hitler but complacent enough to allow him to do what he did. Human nature. It's easier to follow the "strong men" than to oppose and risk being targeted. Disasters are built from that.