zeusbheld

Imagine if he had been the bigger man and said that in the interests of true democracy, he felt it not appropriate to be leading a country when he and his family were under significant investigation for corruption, tax fraud etc etc. He would have returned a hero.

I have maintained from the beginning that the smart play would have been for him to step aside for the reasons you suggest back in February, before dissolving Parliament. One of his TRT stooges would have then become prime minister and Mr. Big could have quietly pulled the strings from backstage, all the while looking the part of hero/political martyr.

it plays somewhere between greek trajesty and gollum from 'lord of the rings,' dont it. if he'd accepted a little ding to his pride he'd still be running the show. quite a soap opera, but less violent than the average thai soap (so far).

You don't suppose the previous conviction had anything to do with it?

It's possible, but I doubt it. I have a friend who lives in Thailand and get searched just about every time he returns to the United States. My friend does not have any convictions for anything. You have to remember for some people sex tourism=child prostitution. Like it or not, Thailand has a reputation for sex tourism. Therefore, to some people, lots of trips to Thailand imply sex tourism which implies child prostitution.

i've never been questioned except one time when i flew over here for a weekend. i said i was visiting a girlfriend, the immo officer just smirked. i seriously doubt that american immo officers check people for homemade porn JUST because they go to thailand a lot. i suspect the previous arrest had a LOT to do with it.

When they search you, they look at all your DVDs, turn on your computer and go through all your pictures, and look through all the pictures on your digital camera. This guy had videos of himself having sex with what appear to be underaged boys.

hope they don't check for bootleg DVDs ...

most likely the new ruling will not be implemented but will be temporary shelved. the new interim government (yet to be announced) will have too many things on their hands to bother with. they wouldn't want to have more problems arising at all points of entry when confusion sets in over the ruling.

makes sense but it depends on how much has been communicated through the department. i'd imagine most immigration officers will continue with whatever plan they were on as of yesterday when they went home from work until they hear otherwise.

at any rate, i'd expect no changes we haven't already heard about for a while.

As for fleecing, it doesn't happen to me, as I do 100% short time only. Two hours of fun and then you're blissfully ALONE.

thank god there's at least one farrang left in thailand with some common sense.

hope you're not on the endangered species list... don't let 'em put you in a zoo, stay free...

and most importantly, never, ever ever succumb to the temptations of long time.

Again; comparing Thailand with countries where a long-stay permission (Visa/green card Etc.) also gives you rights in regards to social services, un-employment benefits, medical services, pension, library access , all paid by the tax payers, is just plain silly.

Cheers!

what he said.

There's no reason he can't come back and, the new gov cannot by any means, stop him from claiming any and all funds at his desposal here in Lol.

although now he may have to pay tax on the shin deal...

Well, this is interesting. My UBC channels seem to be coming back. The movie channels, etc., are back, not sure if all channels are back. But I am sure of this: CNN, BBC, CNBC are NOT back. Higher and lower channels are functioning, but not these.

Not a fan of this.

same here, in bangkok. thai tv is back. soaps will be back on then. that ought to prevent rioting.

Rumors.

If that were the case, they would have done that already.

Situation is Thailand is calm, considering the alternatives.

What would be the reason to cut phones and internet? There is no rioting in the streets.

I agree that is what it sounds like and we are still OK here on Samui. But that is why I asked the question to see if anyone else had heard the same thing.

they probably had a contingency plan but it's unlikely now. thai TV is back on as of a couple of hours ago. we got cable all night, it is only foreign news channels that are still blocked.

According to Grant Peck of the AP:

"Thaksin was in New York at the U.N. General Assembly, and he declared a state of emergency in an audio statement via a government-owned TV station in Bangkok in a vain attempt to stave off the coup.

Thaksin, who had been scheduled to address the General Assembly, canceled his speech.

Government spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee, who was with Thaksin in New York, said the coup leaders "cannot succeed" and was confident they would fail "because democracy in Thailand has developed to some ... measure of maturity."

Thaksin immediately left the U.S to return to Thailand"

latest according to 'the nation' website is that he is on his way to london.

Well, you certainly are the Gloomy Gus today. Perhaps you should go where you feel welcome.

i heard a rumor singapore's accepting guests right about now... thaksin's wife for example...

Does your home country allow indefinite visa runs for aliens that can open a small business of the equivalent in Thailand? I don't think so.

my home country offers a green card--does thailand?

"we have met the enemy, and he is us"

Walt Kelly (or is it "ey") had Pogo possum say that. If my life philosophy was dependent on American cartoons, I'd keep it to myself.

amazingly, in your seemingly infinite erudition, you comment on a cartoon quote but ignore the comment about the differences in military doctrine outlined in clausewitz vs those outlined in sun tzu?

it has very little to do with my "life philosophy" as you so quaintly put it, i merely offered the comparison since a few posters were claiming chinese are ruthless and bloodthirsty because they read sun tzu. did that go sailing over your head, or were you too busy puffing up to notice?

at no point have i mentioned my "life philosophy" yet you have appointed yourself to evaluate it based on a few posts in response to a windup on a website?? why didnt you take your own advice and keep it to yourself? or was your intent to distort my post by taking one small part of it out of context?

can you really even do a backflip? you toss really well though, enjoy it

With everything going on right now, I wonder if the prime minister will need a special visa to get back into Thailand.

Non-immigrit type "C" for coup

or convict.

The military (all soldiers with yellow flags - the tanks with yellow flags) kick Thaksin out.

A lucky day for Thailand. Why even one foreigner should leave the country ?

hard to say what impact it will have.

hopefully the absurd drinking age (25) will fall by the wayside, we'll be able to buy a case of beer in the afternoon again, and bars and clubs can some day stay open until a normal hour (even though i dont go out much the early closings cause me pain--i'm from new york, where the legal bars don't close until 4am. this of course is all idle speculation.

i live right next to the taksin bridge (taksin not thaksin/toxin). one thing is for sure--i've never seen so little traffic at 8 am in on the bridge, including holidays.

they are still working on the BTS extension though, as if nothing happened.

an announcement just came on TV that regular programming will resume. news channels, cnn, bbc, etc, are all still off.

i'm hoping government offices open in the next couple days, i need to extend my tourist visa, my 60 days ends in 3 days... worst case, a sudden flight to somehwere. airport is working normally apparently so i'd assume i could get back in. we shall see.

seeing as this thread is speculating about the impact of hte new visa rules...

i cant help thinking the coup will have more of an impact on the economy. tanks can't be good for tourism.

maybe there's an upside, maybe sondhi will kill off the stupid shit like bars closing early and drinking age of 25.

oh btw drdweeb as it stood a few hours ago there was a news conference wherein the #2 guy in immigration said rather unequivocally it would be days not entries. it did seem to be a work in progress. what impact the coup will have, if any, is anyone's guess at this point i suppose.

THE ART OF WAR by SUN TZU.

dog412, ever compare sun tzu to clausewitz?

if you're invoking sun tzu to show the chinese are ruthless and to be feared, then the ones we should really be afraid of is farrangs.

"we have met the enemy, and he is us"...

i am afraid of no one and everyone. as WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS said, humans are a "BAD ANIMAL". why would you fear one race more than the other, other than the concern of your own benefit. as humans, we must BELIEVE there to be a way unify the future. i believe humans have this capacity.

as of fairly recently, we also have the capacity to be the agent of our own extinction. will be interesting to see which capacity wins out.

drummer - said it before - I'll say it again. It is all about John Mark Karr. Any questions?

Didn't John Mark Karr had a 'proper visa?' (teaching license, work permit, visa stamp??????)

read a news story the other day that said he was working illegally.

Errm....US$75,000 is peanuts when it comes to foreign investments.

And how does you home country ease the plight of foreign investors with as much as US$75,000? Allow them to stay 12 months of the year and let them do visa runs?

the careful observer will note that if the new rules are as described in the latest offering, the thai gov't still lets non-investors do visa runs.

the careful observer will also note that $75,000 in new york is a middle class salary, you're just getting by. how many thais do you know who make that much, before taxes, in a year? more importantly, what percentage of the population are they?

there are probably good arguments against the 3MM investment visa, but comparing it to western visa requirements isn't one of them. i dont know if you noticed this yet, but thailand ain't that much like my home country (USA) and probably not much like yours.

THE ART OF WAR by SUN TZU.

dog412, ever compare sun tzu to clausewitz?

if you're invoking sun tzu to show the chinese are ruthless and to be feared, then the ones we should really be afraid of is farrangs.

"we have met the enemy, and he is us"...

Excellent analysis, the Snark! I couldn't agree more. However I would like to point out that the reason all of us come to Thailand - the girls - come mostly from Isaan or other rural areas. These are the ethnic groups that are looked down upon by the Chinese-Thai and Central Thai, who are bigoted xenophobic snobs. The poor people who appeal to most tourists for companionship are from a much more laid-back and fun-focused culture, necessarily, because they've always been oppressed and have never had any money.

This isn't to say an Isaan working girl isn't mercenary, just that she knows how to be friendly and have a good time while she is working, and doesn't necessarily look down on the farang (after all she's from the lowest class in the Thai heirarchy). The Central and Chinese Thais basically do look on the farang (or for that matter anyone) as an annoyance to get money out of, not a person.

yeeah right. the average isaan bar girl has more integrity than the 'bigoted xenophobic snobs.' it's good that she doesn't look down on you when she's ripping you off, and looks on you as a real person while she's fleecing you out of buffalo repair kit after buffalo repair kit. funny thing, though, those 'bigoted xenophobic snobs' aren't the ones voting for toxin.

just as you guys take the bargirls' bait like lemmings, you take to this windup like lemmings. oh right, it's not a windup, everyone writes a novel-length psuedo-expose on his very first post. the careful observer will also note he dubbed himself "the snark"--that's sNark not sHark for those that might have skimmed and missed it; the poster knew what he was doing. unlike the average farrang in thailand apparently.

no wonder many thais (including, but not limited to, the dreaded central thais and yes, sino thais) think farrangs have more money than sense. apparently farrangs don't need much money to make the equation work either.

keep believing your bargirl is different and really, really cares, and is genuinely having fun, and *definitely* doesn't look upon you as an annoyance to get money out of, but instead, a fully-dimensional human being who just happens to be paying for her family's big-screen tv, her brother's gambling debts and her father's SUV.

you einsteins rush out and marry bargirls then. the cliff's right over there. just wait long enough for me to make some popcorn, this ought to be fun to watch.

I speak fluent Russian and have been talking to the skanky Russian Ho's around Sukhumvit for several days ... and they are horrifeid!

and the economic impact of sending these stank hos home will be staggering....

PS .. Can we have an animated Smiley thats tossing itself too please?

?

I think that many people here are of course looking at the situation from their point of view ie tourist visa, wp, ect.

The impact these people have on the Thai economy is small. I am not sure but I think Thailand has a pop of around 50 mill of which non Thais is ? and non Thais with WP is how many?

i think comparing total number of individuals, farrang vs thai, is irrelevant and utterly misleading. my understanding (according to thai friends, not to any rigorous study) is that most thais spend a lot less money than even khee nok backpackers.

useful numbers would be:

how much money do farrangs spend in thailand?

how much of that is spent by tourists?

how much of that spent by tourists is spent by visa runners who live here indefinitely (say, 6 months or more)?

Ok the tourists bring in a lot of money but the majotity of them are famalies who just want a good vacation , these restrictions will not cause them any problems, infact a cleaner image of Thailand will increase this tourist input.

do you have any numbers to back up your claim, or are you just making it up? it would be interesting to see real numbers on this stuff.

Non Thais in Thailand are a minority group, they do not have any power and those that are there illegally or for the ride have nothing really to complain about.

if you want to have your say in a country then you should register in that country,thats how it works in most countries!

true enough, but i have yet to hear of a visa in thailand that gives you the right to vote and participate in the poltical system.

also, do keep in mind, that the only people who were here illegally were the ones who overstayed. until october 1, 2006 it has NOT been against the rules to stay as long as you wanted on tourist visas or 30 day stamps. working illegally, is another question entirely, but i dare say a great many people will make more money managing their investments than working in thailand.

also it appears that all the pissing and moaning by farrangs (possibly even including this board) is being taken into account by the thai government. if there's one thing we farrangs do well, it's complain...

About the airline topic:

The Immigration Department know that there will be a huge problem with the airlines. In short, under the new rule any airline that flies on BKK doesn't know when a passenger is up to his 'quota'. Under IATA rules, the airline is responsible for the passenger.

The Immigration knows this and is working hard to come up with a solution. They already have some things in progress. (electronic visa and/or a system that airlines have to sent their passenger list upfront to BKK. Something that is being done in other countries like the USA). We heard this also from Mr. Suppachai, during the interview in Sabah Cafe and Cinema. Mr. Suppachai stated very clearly that they have 90 days to come up with a solution. (refering to the 90 days rule, starting from oct 1st).

It doesn't make any sense to speculate about how Immigration is going to solve this problem, since we don't know what it is going to be. What i wrote above, was told by Mr Suppachai in answer to our questions.

One more thing: Mr Suppachai stated very clearly that the days will be counted. The Immigration system is capable of counting the days. For example: you fly up and down to BKK in the next 3 months. Being only a couple days or weeks in the country. It is possible you can have for example 5 stamps but still be less than 90 days in the country.

For a full report on the visa regulations topic, please read the report from the meeting that was held at Sabah Cafe and Cinema. Visit khaosarnroad.com.

thanks for keeping us up to date.... the dearth of clear information has caused quite a hairball on here.

do let mr. Suppachai know that the TV stink tank has tons o' wonderful ideas for how the airline can handle this, we're always ready.

1-what about the "official" target to "fight the foreigners who are working illegaly without work permit" ?

Was it a dream ? A collective hallucination ?

With the beautifull system presented by the Major in his interview on Kaosanroad.com, where is the fight ? You do 3x30 + visa + extension, and then do it again ! Brilliant.

well if they can stick to something like this and make it work, their strategy is to collect money on visas and extensions rather than income tax. if that is indeed the case, then it looks like they'll win--the average khee nok illegal english teacher will pay more per year for 'tourist' visas and extensions than they would ever have in income tax.

no more of this ten-years-of-border-runs-and-the-thai-gov't-doesnt-see-a-cent stuff.

I guess they are not even going to try, they will either require all passengers to have a tourist visa, or they let you sign some kind of waiver, that the airlines are not responsible for transporting the tourist if he is denied entry into the country.

yeah, the sensible solution to this 'what will the airlines do' tizzy is to just have thailand-bound passengers sign a release. then if some numbnuts counts his own days wrong, his problem.

also, while this does present a challenge for immigration officers, let's keep in mind that you can pretty much flip through a passport, skim the thailand stamps/visas, and get an impression whether someone is a borderline case. if they're smart they'll let most people sail through at the airport and have another line an officer can send you to if someone needs an actual count. that way at least the 90 stamps/90 days types wouldn't hold up the line for others not in the same boat.

Thanks to the people at Sabah for this interview, let's hope this is final.

"The Department of Immigration understands that their will be problems with the new regulations and will review as necessary."

its probably not final but that implies they'll be revise as problems arise and that they do care what impact it has on tourism.

if it will be implemented as described there, that does imply that it really is about not letting so much potential revenue escape in the form of border runs.