bkkandrew

Hmmm..

This sounds quite a serious policy shift. It could be that the HO bean counters have finally worked out their massive exposure (AKA '97) to the property market, funding countless projects where the return is either fanciful or dependant on the now-threatened foreigner market.

Curtailing loans (and therefore exposure) to nationalised Thais sends out a politically risky signal, so foreigners are the easiest target, even though they provide the best security to limit exposure risk.

Really encapsulates the Thai way - save face with your countrymen, but hurt yourself in the process!

I am mystified at this trhread.. I drink Black Soda and am always charged B95/100/105/110/115/120, 125 TOPS!!! in Soi cowboy. My drink is usually charged 20% over a HK... What did you do wrong to get charged that??

Nothing less than the dirty arse-en-al deserve...

Looking forward to the proper game tomorrow at White Hart Lane myself...

Whilst fundamentally disagreeing with the legitimacy of the junta, I do find it surprising the constant support that "The Colonal" gives to Thaksin at every turn. Is he on the payroll? His spokesman?

Bayer Leverkusen 0-1 Tottenham

By Chris Bevan

Tottenham celebrate Dimitar Berbatov's goal

Dimitar Berbatov hit Tottenham's winner as Martin Jol's side held off Bayer Leverkusen to march into the knockout stages of the Uefa Cup.

Berbatov, facing his old club, was in the right place to slot home after Aaron Lennon's shot was saved by Leverkusen goalkeeper Jorg Butt.

Paul Robinson made two great saves from Andrej Voronin to keep Tottenham ahead - the second a brilliant reaction stop.

Bernd Schneider also saw his shot hit the post but Spurs held on to win.

Berbatov was easily the visitors' biggest threat on his return to the BayArena following his £10.9m summer move.

The Bulgarian striker was wearing a polo-neck jumper under his shirt to fight the freezing temperatures in Germany, but if the 25-year-old was feeling the cold he did not show it.

He forced Butt into the first save of the match just after the half-hour mark when he was fed by Didier Zokora on the edge of the box and fired in a ferocious shot that the keeper was grateful to parry.

Butt was in action again moments later to save from Lennon after Robbie Keane's clever pass - but could do nothing to stop Berbatov tapping in the rebound.

And Berbatov, who was a big crowd favourite during five successful years at Leverkusen, should have scored again before the break.

The ball fell kindly for him when Butt came out to clear and collided with a defender - but with the goal at his mercy he tried to set up Lennon who was in an offside position.

Leverkusen did not manage a clear sight on goal until early in the second half when substitute Paul Freier fed Voronin but Paul Robinson kept out his shot with his legs.

Robinson was Tottenham's hero again soon after, somehow keeping out Voronin's shot after more good work from Freier on the right flank.

But Spurs remained dangerous and at the other end Berbatov should have wrapped things up when Steed Malbranque's cross found him with the goal at his mercy - but instead contrived to miss the ball completely.

Keane also fluffed his lines when clean through, not finding enough power in his shot to beat Butt - and the visitors were almost punished.

Schneider had been singled out by Jol as Leverkusen's danger man and he lived up to that billing by drilling a 25-yard shot against the post with Robinson beaten.

By now Leverkusen were seeing plenty of the ball but for long periods they failed to find a way through the Tottenham defence.

And they appeared to run out of steam in the final minutes with Pascal Chimbonda, Keane and subsitute Mido going close to extending Spurs' lead.

In the end Tottenham were able to comfortably claim their third win in three outings in Group B, leaving Jol to relax ahead of their next game against Dinamo Bucuresti on 14 December knowing his side are already through.

SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sweet as.. Now please lets do this in the league......

Always find that gaer ban haar (solve the problem) is the usual turn of phrase... Works for me anyway...

Australia 3/346 on the first day against the composite

South Anglican side!

Langer made 82, Ponting 137 n.o., Hussey 63 n.o.

The old farts are doing ok!

I recall that we were well and truely beaten in the first test at Lords of the last series.. And we know how that one ended up - don't we?

I think that Andrew Flintoff has been learning tactics of the series from Mr Vaughan...

Have been a lurker here for many years and feel compelled to throw in my 2 cents on this subject. This upcoming ban on alcohol advertising was brought about by the Ministry of Heath's desire to reduce the number of alcohol related road fatalities. Particularly those people driving motorbikes. Maybe I'm thinking too logically, but wouldn't enforcing a nationwide helmet law that already exists instantly reduce the number of motorbike deaths? On the rare occasions when I'm in BKK, I do notice more bikers wearing helmets, but here in Chiang Mai I would conservatively guess that less than 40% of people on motorbikes are wearing helmets, and I include policemen as well. When we make our annual trek to Roi Et, that number drops to 15 - 20%.

I think banning alcohol sales at gas stations, especially those on highways, is a good idea. Yet it seems that nothing is being done to restrict the number of roadside stands that sell lao khao ...... day or night. I can't buy a bottle of wine or a case of warm beer at Lotus between 3 and 5 PM, but I can drive around the corner on my motorbike (with no helmet) and drink rice whiskey 'til I'm blind.

I do expect to see a price war on beer once the ban takes effect. If anything will encourage more alcohol consumption it's cheaper alcohol. Why not allow the companies to advertise ..... responsibly (ie: no happy social drinking, or showing only helmet wearing motorcyclists), and at the same time force them to match their ad money - baht for baht - and set up a special fund to help out the education system in Thailand? Yeah, I know, I'm dreaming. Oh well, just a thought.

Indeed. The law of unintended consequences will indeed be at work here..

Drinks companies that cannot compete by persuading their customers by advertising will use the same budget to compete on price. More drinking inevitable, yet it is also the type of drinking that will worsen, as it has with the example given above. A purchaser of a well marketed bottle of wine is rather unlikely to uncork it on the way home and drink it from the bottle on the street, whilst sitting next to their motorcycle there are proposing to drive. On the other hand, this is an everyday and typical occurrence with newly proud owners of bottles of lao khao...

pinned wrong one

But can't you pin it just find this bloody Aussie from the last Ashes??

mai kow jai or as a famous ex-fish and chip shop owner/politician once said "please explain"

See post 241 on this thread.. I was just joking that it should be pinned.

Would be nice though, just to increase the chances of finding the bet-welsher!!

pinned wrong one

But can't you pin it just find this bloody Aussie from the last Ashes??

You don't know his name?

He's obviously a staff member of The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy.

I have forgotten it. Mostly because we just used to refer to him as towel-over-shoulder Aussie!

That sight always stuck in my mind more than his name...

Ah yes... The Ashes...

Will anyone who comes across an Aussie who is identifyable by the fact that he goes out always with a towel over his shoulder/arm (I am not making this up) please remind him that he still has not paid up on the B5000 bet over the LAST Ashes result!!!

Last seen in Soi Cowboy about 6-months ago, he cheerily volunteered "I haven't forgotten about the 5000, I will give it to you next time I see you"...

Description:

About 6 foot, 16-stone and about 55y.o.. Again, always identified by his curious decision to go drinking with a small hand towel over his right shoulder..

I hate people that welsh on bets!!

Anyway - can't wait for Thursday!!

I had the chance on leaving Los at the new airport on Thursday to talk at some length to the immigration official regarding the new 90-day rule. The airport was quiet and my Thai is good, so the conversation was as accurate as anyone has had thus far.

Since Oct 1, I was in Thailand for three weeks exactly, arriving a few days after the 1st. Nothing unusual was done. On re-arrival on the 6th Nov., I was "awarded" a yellow highlighter mark against the entry stamp.

The subject of my conversation was therefore centred on the meaning of this highlighting. She provided the following answers:

Why have I got the yellow mark?

"Because of the rule that says foreigners cannot stay for more than 90 days in 180".

But how does marking my passport help in this?

"Well, it doesn't, but we have been told to mark all passport entry stamps since 1st October like this".

But you haven't marked the first one after October 1st?

"I think we were told to do it after the new rules started"

But surely it will make it far too slow at immigration to count all of these marked stamps and in any case, you have got mine wrong?

"No the computer tells us if you cannot come in because you have been here too long".

But I won't have a problem if I am here less than 90 days in any 180?

"No problem, Khun Andrew"

With that, I have some pleasant small talk and on I went. It does seem that some interesting points are raised:

The marks in the passports are not really relevant, unless the office is non-computerised, or if there is some computer malfunction, or some dispute.

They are real serious about applying this new rule and it does not matter where you have entered and from where.

Jan 1st should be interesting for some/many...

Personally, I feel that all farang should be required to have atleast 100,000 USD in their bank account to enter Thailand.

Then farang will not have a bad name here. There will be less cheating and more girls to go around to those who are "good farang".

I have many many thai friends who treat me like I am their brother. They always say "khun mark jai dee". Then they say with a sad face "Many farang mi-dee".

I feel embarrased when my very close thai friends speak this way to me. I wish all kee-nok farang leave thailand.

Whilst not being personally khii nok, I wish that you would leave Thailand and take your condescending attitude with you!

Hmm... The writing's on the wall.

I posted this on another thread but is perhaps more relevent here:

FRSB 97 Newsletter

And on the 7th of November the BOT restricted foreign access to the Thai baht...exactly as they did in 97 for thr same reasons.

Revision of Measures to Prevent Thai Baht Speculation

Dejavu or what?

The comment that exports will not be affected is pure bovine effluent. Thailand exports rely on their competitiveness with China (which actually has a better reputation for quality) and most other Asian currencies (including Yaun) has actually depreciated. In general the USD has been getting stronger.

Bloomberg 13 Nov 2006

As another poster pointed out. It also affects foreign invesment in real estate since now it is more expensive to buy property with forign currency and (lets face it) Thai property isn't exactly the most attractive way to invest money for profit anyway. This was the straw that broke the camels back last time.

It looks like the lessons learned from before are not being heeded.

There is still time to make the right decisions otherwise I think 2007 will be another year with a 7 that Thailand is remembered for.

You are not wrong. I have been saying this for a while. If you also look at the number of real estate projects scheduled for completion (i.e. contributing to supply) in 2007, the drop-off in demand from new visa rules, they really could have the making of a perfect storm.

Oct 2007. GBP 1 = B100..

As for USD, there will only be a making up for lost ground. Depends where the USD bottoms against the Yen/EURO/GBP

I thought that airports were supposed to be among the most secure establishments in a country, for obvious reasons..

I have consistently said (as a very frequent user) that one of the main effects of the rushed opening was that construction had to continue whilst passengers used the facility. These construction workers coming and going hardly contribute to the security of the place, as now we see writ large!!

mike your a wise man. those words have helped me so much. i believe in what goes around . . . ..

i have half a mind to take the wage slip into her work and tell the manager that she is working illegally (in the sense of too many hours) see how she can survive on 80 a week. as you said he will probably not be as fluid financially as myself, not that im rich but she was my future. after 2 weeks i doubt he sees it that way. good luck to him i suppose. she has imelda marcos syndrome and shops incescantly.

keep em' coming guys im sitting here drowning my sorrows and feeling better by the minute.

Well. This story will make you feel a lot better..

About 5 years ago I met a Thai girl here in a Soi Cowboy gogo. Did the normal things, got an apartment together, took her back to the UK for a number of months etc. etc. In the end, I decided that it was not for me as I caught her out too many times, notably once when she flew to Manilla to be with her previous on/off b/f, when I was away on business.. She actually tried to hide the passport stamps!

Have seen her on and off since breaking up, since when she has had a Hungarian and Northern Irish b/f amongst others. She married the latter recently and has perminent leave to stay in UK now. If I was expecting this to make her change her ways (I wasn't), I would have been surprised when she contacted me as she was back in BKK after finishing her honeymoon and her new husband had flown back to Belfast. She suggested maybe to "get together" (which we had on occasions when they were still b/f and g/f), but on the day arranged (last week as it goes) she cried off. Turns out she was staying in Pattaya with the aforementioned previous on/off boyfriend!!!

She goes back this week to the blissfully unaware "husband", who no doubt has many years of discovery to make. You, on the other hand, have avoided such nightmares by discovering the true nature of your ex-gogo now...

JR Texas (51, USA, in China): Reply to Jai Dee post:

Catch the langoustines in Scotland, freeze them, then ship them (via container cargo?) 6000 miles to Thailand. Then thaw them out and hand peel them. Then refreeze them? Then 6000 miles back again via container cargo to Scotland. All because the company has determined that it can save money on labor and increase its profit margin. Right?

The comment was made "This for us sums up the madness of contemporary globalisation. It makes economic sense but makes absolutely no environmental sense."

I would add that it only makes economic sense if the environmental costs are not included in the cost-benefit analysis.

It is unfortunate that at this late date (2006) we are still ignoring the cost to the environment when estimating "profitability." My guess is that the actual cost (shipping, labor, cost to environment, etc) of shipping them to Thailand and back will be much greater and not really profitable at all. But the actual cost is never calculated.

The same problem exists with all calculations of GNP worldwide.....the cost to the environment is ignored and our environmentally unsound economic activities (production and consumption) appear to be profitable. Tell that to future generations............tell that to the 120 people that just lost their jobs.

More likely that an exec of the company has a thai g/f he met on holiday...

Have to laugh at your comment re. the Bank of Thailand "discouraging" forex speculation. The Bank of England tried that to keep the pound within ERM parity in September 1992 (known as Black Wednesday). In the process it spent $56BILLION, $28BILLION on 1 day alone!!!

It failed, Soros and his pals won, Bank of England still has not recovered reserves lost and the UK has not tried to peg the GBP ever since..

The idea that Thailand, with its minimal reserves, could affect that market in any serious way is pipe-dreaming..

Of course, this is Thailand and politicians here think they are very, very, very important, so they might give it a go!!

Why laugh it's true? This type of policy was implemented in response to Soros and the crisis of '97 From Bloomberg

Global News Update

Reminder on Measures to Prevent THB Speculation

THAILAND

10/31/2006

Impact: Clients are encouraged to familiarize themselves accordingly.

Clients are reminded of one of the principal measures introduced by The Bank of Thailand (BOT) in October 2003 to curb short-term capital inflows:

Outstanding cash balances may not exceed 300 million THB per non-resident account without approval from the BOT obtained on a case-by-case basis.

If non-residents exceed the specified limit after 3:30 p.m., local banks are required to contact account holders to request instructions to reduce the outstanding amount. If the limit is still breached at 4:00 p.m., local banks will advise non-residents to sell THB with same-day value. If non-resident clients do not comply, the BOT may consider requiring the local bank to enter into foreign exchange transactions with the BOT at penalty rates, which are not currently disclosed.

It is essential that non-residents supply in a timely manner all relevant payment instructions and pre-advices to facilitate proper cash management.

If derived without underlying transactions, balances in excess of the limit will be repatriated with same-day value at a penalty exchange rate set by the BOT.

If you have questions, please call your daily contact or your Investment Manager Relations Officer.

Which is why I added the rider that, as this is Thailand, they might probably give the foolish idea a go again...

Is it not a sign of madness to do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result?

Well, there's several possibilities;

Some people may not be that stupid, but are simply trying to impress others by claiming to have this kind of loose cash.

They may have lived sheltered lives and haven't heard of bank transfers or other more secure means of moving money around.

They may be up to no good, and are smuggling the cash in, not wanting it traced.

If you are referring to me, it is quite simple. My schedule does not give the luxury of time with bank transfers. Once was enough to miss a factory payment in Thailand because of a 48-hour bank transfer delay to ward me away from doing it again.

I am cautious, do not attract attention to myself or cash I am carrying and do not go to foolish lengths of having money in one's shoes..

On the latter point, I can hardly think of doing something that would look less suspicious (apart from trilby hat and trenchcoat with the collar turned up in the arrivals hall!!

But aren't forex markets more than 90% speculation, and very little exchange is based upon fundamentals? Is the baht/dollar ratio going downward mostly because of money rushing into the temporary market? Isn't that one of the very things the Bank of Thailand is discouraging?

Meanwhile, ouch! This hurts.....I need to add some numbers to my Excel spreadsheet to plan my budget. I've lost 15%.

No. Forex is based on actual transactions, actual economics. For instance, when HSBC pays its dividend, mostly having to do a GBP/USD trade, as its two main listings are LSE and NYSE. On the day in question it can tip the market by 1%, but it is a real money movement..

Have to laugh at your comment re. the Bank of Thailand "discouraging" forex speculation. The Bank of England tried that to keep the pound within ERM parity in September 1992 (known as Black Wednesday). In the process it spent $56BILLION, $28BILLION on 1 day alone!!!

It failed, Soros and his pals won, Bank of England still has not recovered reserves lost and the UK has not tried to peg the GBP ever since..

The idea that Thailand, with its minimal reserves, could affect that market in any serious way is pipe-dreaming..

Of course, this is Thailand and politicians here think they are very, very, very important, so they might give it a go!!

If the Government is off at the Hanoi summit, I just can't help wondering.. Will Thaksin pull a Sonthi on the Junta and arrive in Thailand while the new PM is off visiting the other leaders trying to explain the reasoning behind the coup. Would make for a very interesting episode in this Thai Soap Opera and cause all sorts of repercussions with APEC.

Or he may be headed for the APEC in Vietnam directly. The Hong-Kong reporter mentions he is going to an "unspecified Southeast Asian country" in the next few days.

Funny, just after his trip to China.

Goodness, that would stir things up... Maybe he was buying a new suit in HK for the occasion??

So JR, you're doing business in China and having no problems with corruption or the many various permits you need?

JR Texas (51, USA, in China): Reply to Gary A: Thanks for the question..........I am an academic working at one of China's top universities. So, my visa was easily taken care of...very inexpensive, nice immigration officials.........no corruption.......easy. And I do not have to report to immigration every 90 days (no reporting at all, as a matter of fact) or return to the USA for a "stamp" etc., etc.

I am thinking, seriously, about starting a small business here. The Chinese are smart. They make you feel welcome. Things seem "upscale" here. Thailand seems like a primitive country in comparison. My quality of life is much higher here than in Thailand (but I do miss the Thai holidays).

I live in a great place that most expats do not know about (mountains on one side and an ocean on the other side). Really beautiful! The weather is cool now. The girls are stunning! This is not your "grandfather's China." Things have changed.

No, I do not yet know enough about the visa/business rules and regulations in China to make an informed comment. I am finding out now. My initial impression is that it is much easier and far less expensive to establish a small scale business in China than it is in Thailand. And this is the fastest growing economy on the planet. It is a place for investment.

As an aside: I was stunned when I flew into Hong Kong and then took a taxi ride down by the waterfront on Kowloon side. It was getting dark and we drove by the docks. There you could see thousands of container cargo units stacked up like cords of wood, for as far as the eye can see, all headed for Europe, South America, Middle East, USA............it was impressive.

In China you can hear the cling of cash registers all over the place. And, like I said, they want you here (you do feel welcome) and they want you to spend your money...and they do not care if you are not rich......unlike another country whose name I will not mention.

Hey. I might can Malaysia and check out China first!

I think the main question on this thread has to do with Thailand's current investment climate. Are foreigners reluctant to invest in Thailand? Why are foreigners reluctant to invest in Thailand? What changes could the new govt. take to create a positive investment climate?

Under the present circumstances, I would not invest one baht in Thailand.

The simple fact is that many generations of Thai people have lived like this for longer than most of our home countries have existed. They will continue to get along whether we are here or not. Everywhere in the world the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. What makes Thailand unique is that there is plenty to eat. Rice is plentiful and the poor Thai Buddhists are a generous people. I live in a poor area of Issan and I have never seen anyone go hungry. They DON'T care what the wealthy politicians and greedy crooks in Bangkok are doing.

Thanks, good posts and back on track.

I'm not an economist or an expert of any kind, but like many people I have an interest in my future in Thailand and so many factors are combining at the moment to make that extremely uncertain.

The regulatory viewpoint in Thailand seems to be that one size fits all, but it is confusing and unworkable in a way that is liable and transparent.

Wether it is in business investment large or small, visa regulations, banking or property ownership and regardless of what the official line is, the net result, when you add it all up, is that foreigners and foreign companies (US, Europen and Austrailian/NZ) are being given a very negative message.

Is there a method to their madness or is it just madness?

JR Texas (51, USA, in China): Reply to Gary A: I have a house in the country in the middle of nowhere...nothing but rice farmers. I see how they live. It is a hard life. Some do care about what the govt. is doing, but they are easily manipulated by the ruling elite (most are poorly educated). Virtually all of them want more money. They want a better life. That is, of course, my impression.

JR Texas (51, USA, in China): Reply to Robski: You said "Whether it is in business investment large or small, visa regulations, banking or property ownership and regardless of what the official line is, the net result, when you add it all up, is that foreigners and foreign companies (US, European and Austraiian/NZ) are being given a very negative message."

I totally agree. This is a big and growing problem. There are many people who visit the Thailand Forum who want to paint a very positive picture of the current investment climate. Why? Because they are heavily involved in real estate, among other things. If you want to sell something, it helps to put the customers in a good mood. Bad news does not sell (advertising 101). It makes sense. But I think it is blind optimism.

When you send negative messages, a negative response normally follows. That is precisely what Thailand is doing. Most of the problems are directly related to Thaksin. He is gone. But his ideas and policies (especially those related to visa/business rules and regulations) remain. This is, in my view, the essential problem that needs a solution.

About your question (Robski's question): "Is there a method to their madness or is it just madness?"

To me it seems like madness. It simply does not make sense to me. If I wanted to destroy the economy, including tourism, I would do what they are doing:

1) turning a non-problem (the perpetual tourists who do the monthly visa runs) into a problem....note that perpetual tourists spend money in Thailand and they do pay taxes each time they purchase something.......they are valuable assets;

2) removing the 4 million investment visa;

3) eliminating the 400K in the bank visa rule for a foreigner married to a Thai woman;

4) keeping the 51% business ownership rule;

5) making small-scale investors wade through a sea of red tape to open a business and making it too costly to even test a business idea;

6) keeping the 4 Thais to 1 foreigner employment rule;

7) telling foreigners that the new visa changes are about stopping crime when they have virtually nothing to do with crime (and what percentage of serious crimes are actually committed by foreigners? less than 0.1%? will they ever tell us?);

8) telling local Thai embassies and consulates to do different things in different places (e.g., no tourist visa in Cambodia, single tourist visa in Penang, maybe a double tourist visa in KL, or return to your country of origin for the visa when the immigration official who can give you the visa is standing right across from you in Bangkok.......just crazy stuff);

9) making the costs associated with various visas and extensions too expensive;

10) treating foreigners like they are all potential criminals.

Again, I will not put one baht in Thailand until these rules and regulations are changed. I left Thailand because the rules and regulations prevented me from starting a small business in Thailand. And now I am spending good money each month in China.

The Chinese are happy that I am giving them my money. Thais, in the city that I was living in, are not happy that I left because I was spending good money there. The Thai government could care less that I am not spending money in Thailand because I am not rich. But they should care because the vast majority of foreigners that are being negatively impacted by the new rules and regulations are far from being rich.

Bottom line: Thailand is losing. I predict it will lose much more if positive changes do not occur to the visa/business rules and regulations.

Excellent and thoughtful post..

I am on the cusp of a similar situation. I cannot do anything before Christmas, as the goods I export are seasonal and air-freighted and this time of year on a JIT basis. But...

In January I am re-evaluating where I source all my goods from. Top of my pick is Malaysia, where a number of lines come from now anyway.

I have told all my Thai suppliers about the review and the reasons for it. They are trying to make things easier for me, but really my problems are with all of the items discussed here on TV and certainly beyond their control. My business represents over 90% of the income of one particular company (among the dozen or so that I deal with), who employ 20 Thais and no foreigners. Do the powers-that-be have the face to come and discuss how they propose to help these people, their fellow Thais?

I suspect not..

Airports agency boss narrowly survives job evaluation

Airports of Thailand (AOT) president Chotisak Asapaviriya has narrowly survived his job evaluation.

The AOT board yesterday acknowledged the evaluation of Mr Chotisak's performance by its sub-committee. For the past six months of Mr Chotisak's performance, the sub-panel gave him 62 points, just above the minimum requirement of 60 points to keep the job. A source said the sub-committee sounded out the opinions of AOT executives and staff, customers and airlines. Most senior AOT staff responded negatively to the opinion survey. They reasoned that Mr Chotisak had appointed outsiders and his favourites to be AOT executives. He also allegedly hired many personal advisers at high salaries.The three sub-committee members initially gave Mr Chotisak 60, 70 and 40 points. But the one who gave the lowest score was asked to change it to make the final average point reach 62. *shades of the Thai grading system used in schools?* The narrow passing score was meant to warn Mr Chotisak to improve his performance in the remaining six months of his term, the source said. Mr Chotisak noted that some AOT staff might be dissatisfied with him because he had pushed hard for the airport opening. That resulted in a rumour that he might not survive the job evaluation, as well as the allegation that he was rude, he said.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/14Nov2006_news18.php

===============================================================

Chotisak Asapaviriya

Thainews

It makes you want to weep..

Lets hope Thailand never get the Olympic Games