Steph1012

Sondhi is a fool, some of the stuff he comes out with is utter rubbish. He's a crook just as much as Thaksin is, I dare say if he was PM it would probobally be even worse and more corrupt than it is with Thaksin at the helm.

Thats right. Many expats and posters on this site arrived during the Thaksin era and have no first hand knowledge to draw of earlier times.

It's no more corrupt these days, its just different snouts in the trough. And un-trendy as it is to say so, the country is financially in better shape now than at anytime before and there is the beginnings of a health care system.

Thai politics is an animal unlike any other. I just wish people would be more objective rather than follow the trend of the day, take sides and paint every single move in a negative light.

AND!! I am not a TRT supporter by any means. Just objective.

Check this out as well. I saw the BBC down there last month and remembered they had interviewed these vermin.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5252528.stm

Being none white murderous vermin the BBC will protect them with all their might.

There is a reply box for your views at the bottom of it. I suggested the them that they help the Thai authorities as much as they can.

Should we also suggest to the Thai Authorities, that they round up these lowlife journalist propagandists by their Politically Correct <deleted> until they talk.

So the love patrol will be upon us all next.

This is exactly the sort of quote that is going to appear in papers all over the world tomorrow and he was obviously too stupid to think before he spoke. "Thai Police grill couple over washing up row" Farang faces deportation if it is proved he didn't dry up properly.

Thais cannot be fussy when it comes to teachers. Despite this massive loophole in the law and all the illegal teachers here, there is still a shortage and the standard of English is appalling. Get it, real teachers are not going to uproot, spend 6 months hanging round waiting for a work permit, work for twenty percent of what they can get in Japan, South Korea, or Singapore.

A better idea would have been to grant teaching licences provided certain standards were set and follow up training undertaken. Perhaps the Universities could gain from this by offering courses. If it guaranteed people a shot at staying here legally, they would be very popular. Not a degree though as anybody with a rudimentary western education could teach the highest flyers in the Thai system. It the pay is increased here and teachers come, they will not stay here, mainly as when they hand out their first fail mark, are called in by the Director for the "this is Thailand, there is no fail here" they will become disheartened and leave. Thus no continuity. As the rules change and they have to spend hard earned cash taking days off to chase Thai Government Departments for permit extensions etc. They will also think about leaving.

Thailand should play to its strengths. It is a fun country and many come here, fall in love and stay. Doesn't mean they would be bad teachers and there are benefits for all in this arrangement.... Un PC as it is to say. Trying to attract rich people with no need of poorly paid teaching work is not going to do much for the country and they will not put up with the shit as we do. They can afford to go anywhere in the world.

UPDATE

The 11.00 TV-News reports 4 dead and 60+ injured.

Further bombs, including one at Big-C, failed to expolde due to the phone-system being cut, by the police. Well Done - the boys in brown.

Well done the boys in brown indeed.

The police take far too much stick on this site and do a great job with the means at their disposal.

Hope all this takes the sting out of some of the other threads as the Thais seem to be coming in for too much critisism recently.

We westerners seem to think all the law changes and visa rules, reporting to immigration when you move, change address, hotel etc. are aimed at us. There are more serious reasons for all this than just making it harder for a falang to drink and shag here for more than 6 months of the year.

Bombs now in Hat Yai, Visa clampdown, Land Law changed, murder on Phi Phi

I see they are pushing the Thailand Longstay Card again in the midst of this, or is this part of a campaign to save face for the idiots who were going to flog one million of em for one million baht each!! Think they sold 200 and gave away 2,500 the last I saw of it.

Pushing it hard on Pattaya TV this week under a name which I will not reveal as I do not want to direct traffic onto their tragic web site. Co-incidence!

Anyway, anyone with any sense does not come to Thaialnd to retire peacefully. We live here as we love the country even with the quirks that this entails. The ups surmount the downs, though a lot of falangs have abused it and some change was inevitable.

That said, you need hardy folk to live and retire here and cannot be too fussy in this climate. The Muslims have just bombed Hat Yai and threatened Phuket and Bangkok a few weeks ago. The Thai press try to surpress it, but its the age of the internet and all these stories appear on Yahoo, Google, CNN, BBC un Thailand news.

A normal couple will not look for a safe retirement haven, knowing that the rules could change at any minute, giving them major worries in late life at regular intervals. The morning papers arriving with the "Clampdown of the day" headlines would drive any away that were mad enough to come.

Its nationwide pontoon, do I stick with the sex tourists and the money or do I go bust removing them and hoping big spenders will live in this climate of fear!!

Rich people have a better life anywhere in the world by virtue of being rich. We poorer people take the risks as we know life is much better for us here than anywhere else.

Needs people like fruitbatt to wake up and loose the PC book of useful intelectual retorts. This is going to be a full on war now, and the Muslim population have to stang up and fight, or fall along with the cowardly militants.

Churchill was criticised for locking up the entire Italian and Japanese popluation of England during the last war.. Bloody worked didn't it as they didn't pose any problems.

You cannot apease these people. Look at Spain. They were bombed, voted liberal, pulled out of Iraq and Afganistan and and....

The muslims bombed them again as they (the Muslims) said that southeren spain was part of their proposed Islamic state.

Get real you appologists. Hat Yai is a vibrant and fun loving town. Its the fun factor that so enraged them. The underground bar is a live music bar with no "hostesses" or anything. Just happy people singing along to music.

The press are as craven as ever and will never knock them.

Can't fight, won't fight.. lets kill anyone happier than ourselves! I remember the 3 schoolgirls last year beheaded on their way home. Anyone for Islam?

Two in Hat Yai centre if you catch the TV new live. Those peace loving muslims again!

I agree we need a clear out.

Most of us are paying taxes, fees, accountants and employing thai staff (or paying their taxes!!). This legal route exposes us (as we are registered and visible to all Thai Authorities) to periodic checks usually resulting in small fines. We also comply with regulations that many would find it hard to believe exist. Espescially health and hygene ones.

Many here avoid all these costs and as as a result compete unfairly against us and are never checked as they are invisible on the system, only coming to light if they appear on the radar by annoying somebody. These people are also the ones who gloat about how clever they are and how their contacts will look after them should the worst happen.

We meet falang developers, real estate agents, time share salesmen and incredibly!!!! taxi drivers offering lifts to airports, ferries etc. If that isn't a death wish, I really don't know what is.

I do my three monthly hops listening to this crap. listening to Real Estate Agents loudly conducting deals on the phone. Totally taking the piss out of the system. I've had the "why bother with all that shit... This is Thailand" stuff and the knowledgeble nods for the past 4 years since I put my house in order. Back then, those of us who were sober more than 1 day every month, saw the writing on the wall.

All these posters making oh so clever "what about a person who...." posts that may apply to 0.001% of cases, are hypothesising about people who stay more than 6 months of the year (if not, why bother with the calculation). Surely these are not tourists, and this line statistical bombardment will get you exactly nowhere with Thai Immigration, clever or not.

This will not affect many people now, and I am sure the Thai Authorities are worried about an explosion of Chinese doing the same thing. Most of you would not like to be mixing with the Chinese criminal element I am sure, and remember, they don't stand out in a crowd like we do so will be harder to stop.

This measure, whilst maybe not stopping them, will at least criminalise them making them subject to immediate deportation.

I agree we need a clear out.

Most of us are paying taxes, fees, accountants and employing thai staff (or paying their taxes!!). This legal route exposes us (as we are registered and visible to all Thai Authorities) to periodic checks usually resulting in small fines. We also comply with regulations that many would find it hard to believe exist. Espescially health and hygene ones.

Many here avoid all these costs and as as a result compete unfairly against us and are never checked as they are invisible on the system, only coming to light if they appear on the radar by annoying somebody. These people are also the ones who gloat about how clever they are and how their contacts will look after them should the worst happen.

We meet falang developers, real estate agents, time share salesmen and incredibly!!!! taxi drivers offering lifts to airports, ferries etc. If that isn't a death wish, I really don't know what is.

I do my three monthly hops listening to this crap. listening to Real Estate Agents loudly conducting deals on the phone. Totally taking the piss out of the system. I've had the "why bother with all that shit... This is Thailand" stuff and the knowledgeble nods for the past 4 years since I put my house in order. Back then, those of us who were sober more than 1 day every month, saw the writing on the wall.

All these posters making oh so clever "what about a person who...." posts that may apply to 0.001% of cases, are hypothesising about people who stay more than 6 months of the year (if not, why bother with the calculation). Surely these are not tourists, and this line statistical bombardment will get you exactly nowhere with Thai Immigration, clever or not.

This will not affect many people now, and I am sure the Thai Authorities are worried about an explosion of Chinese doing the same thing. Most of you would not like to be mixing with the Chinese criminal element I am sure, and remember, they don't stand out in a crowd like we do so will be harder to stop.

This measure, whilst maybe not stopping them, will at least criminalise them making them subject to immediate deportation.

Is it better the devil you know then??

teachthai.com is very useful. Its also totally free and was recommended by the Bangkok Post a few months ago. I am interested to hear of any other similar sites.

I learned to read Thai a few years ago when I realised that most of my existing Thai was only understood in context - try reading out random words in isolation to your partner, teacher or friend and see how many they actually recognise.

Its been a fantastic ride and the more I learn, the more I realise I had misuderstood and mispronounced preciously.

Good luck to all

Must be quiet in Pattaya these days if a Journalist (so called) can find the time to write such shit. Maybe he should go and live in Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Oldham, Preston, Sheffield or London for a month or so. He/she may then form the same opinion as many of us, that Thaialnd is a bloody site safer place to walk around than the UK, USA or Eastern Europe.

The other noxious cowards that raise their heads in these articles are ECPAT, and other trendy western NGO's. Who come to Thailand firstly because of the beaches and the lifestyle and justify being here by catching the odd wierdo.

All these types could be found in Phuket after the Tsunami, making up the most incredible bullshit stories, then going out on the piss in the evenings. New Year 2005 you couldn't get into the bars for pissed camera crews, and idiot journalists looking for a sordid story and asking where the young girls were.

Most expats who have ventured to Cambodia on Visa runs or trips to Anko Wat etc. will be more than aware that this is where these do gooders would be if they

A) had any balls,

or

really wanted to impact on these horrendous crimes (NOTE!! I do consider them horrendous)

Stop slagging Thailand until your own countries have been put in order. Why not for example get after the people who exploit these "trafficked People" in your own countries? Is it because it is too cold and dangerous back home these days, dealing with western criminal gangs? Might get hurt in the UK or worse still, loose the sun tan!

Did I dream it this morning?

Am sure I read in the Bankok Post, or the Nation in the comedy section, that the Thai Prison minister issued a statement (unrelated to this incident) saying Thai Prisons were the best in the world!

He didn't say what at (that's if I didn't imagine it) and he didn't end it with the now to be expected "Thailand is to become a prison hub" statement.

Shocking all round but, as posted many times on many threads on many forums,

"DON'T SCREW AROUND WITH THAI OFFICIALDOM" Their paperwork is sacred to them and they take their duties very seriously.... unless they are being paid to look the other way!

It's great to see Thais supporting each other.

Viewers from Danemark.

The vast majority of Thais make fantastic neighbours, so I think something must have gone off there somewhere. Fighting cocks really are highly prized and an extension of a mans personallity and virility out here. Its just not like killing some old hen. This was a very serious situation from the first death of a bird and the dog should have been destroyed or tied up securely at all times. Like it or hate it, we have to show interest in and respect to these customs. They are part of Thai life and we, wanting to be part of it, must leave behind some of our ideals.

It soulds like a classic clash of a western animal lover meeting the stark reality of an old and valued Thai custom. So, please, whilst you make efforts to help your countryman, do not think badly of Thais or Thailand. It is the most beautifuly country in the world, with the friendliest people.

Unfortunately, only bad news is ever written about Thailand. If it doesn't involve sex, bars or ladyboys, the media are not interested. That is why he stayed rotting for so long. Had he been a blond girl like Natalie Holloway in Aruba or the Australian girls bringing drugs into Thailand, there would have be a different response from the media and this would have put pressure on the Embassy to respond.

Blame as well, the political correctness that pervades the western media, where every Thai woman is a whore and every white man, an inadequate loser deserving to loose all his money and respect. Nothing could be further from the truth and life here is wonderful, fulfilling and rewarding in ways we couldn't even imagine in our own countries. Not though 100% of the time.

Unfortunately, there are a few spotty University oiks like Thailble, who see his wealth (power) and manhood radically decreased by an influx of wealthier foreigners. Raging against the tide, they make sad comments like the one above, which, whilst on the face of it is a nice thing (Thais supporting each other), the inclusion of it into an adult debate marks him down for the sad loner he obviously is.

Hope you get the girl one day Thaiable... Have to raise the level of debate and become a man though first. Ask any woman... when you overcome your fear of them! And as it was an exclamation Thaible, you needed one of these !!!! on the end, not one of these... !

There is no easy answer to the global problems being perpectuated by extremists (of any persuasion) because they tend to be anti-social and insatiable anyway. More is never enough for them especially when it is fuelled by religious fervour. Tolerance is needed but it is bidirectional and in limited supply.

Nice quote. The same was suggested about the IRA all those years ago. A lot of the people involved would have been involved in crime of one sort or another anyway. This was proved the case after peace started breaking out. Factions split off, banks were robbed, people were beatenn to death in pubs, guerillas trained in south america etc.

Tolerence seems to be a one way street in the direction of the Muslims.

No easy answer but would rather see them kill each other than have them kill Thai citizens. Let em sort themselves out.

Let em have the country. Let all these "moderate" Muslims we hear about cope with a raging radical Islamic Regime. Let them turn on PULO when they fail to deliver anything other than amputations, poverty, endless robotic rote learning of religion etc.

It will go the way of East Timor and Zimbabwe. It's not worth keeping and its time they (The Muslims) sorted themselves out.

ON THREAD! A quick look in the Phuket Gazette Property Section (no news these days but that's a different thread) the online version and all the "Estate Agents" windows, shows a growing mass of unsold property.

On my Estate over 75% of the land is empty and up for sale. Massive areas are have been cleared of trees but no work taking place. Its crashed!! The locals are farming bananas and chickens on it which is great by me.

How are we who have already purchased affected? Not at all, its the same house it was 8 years ago when we (in my wifes name) bought it, we still live in it and as we bought it for life it can loose 99% of its value and we are still not concerned. If she kicked me out tomorrow I could take the financial hit and she would still have got much less out of me than my Ozzy missus got.

Tough titty on all the loud talking farang "developers" and "estate agents" who are losing out. They are and were always the problem anyway.

If you are sure of your wife, and committed to living here for life, buy the thing in her name. If we (farangs) are ever allowed to own land, it will be priced out of our range and taken over by speculators.

If you want to make big quick bucks.... Your time is up and you can no longer talk the market up. So please lets have less of your bullshit loud telephone conversations in restaurants whilst we are eating. You would never seek to move in on other less lucrative Thai reserved occupations like bus driving, would you!

To VTR1000 Thais could have afforded this land at anytime, it was mostly jungle and plantation until 15 years ago. They are only interested in it now because it's seen as trendy and a good investment. Phuket would not be full of Thais living in upmarket houses if these loopholes didn't exist. It would be full of trees and most of the Thais who you see in phuket would be back in Isarn working for nothing or next to nothing. We do all (falang & thai) seem to be making better lives these days... Apart from the growing band of whinging expats who seem to have cropped up this past few years.

This is paradise and you should treat it as such. Life isn't better anywhere else in the world.. Remember?

Sop our beloved PM's sister is planning to sell expensive houses to foreigners. Very interesting.

This will stop as soon as the election campaigning begins.

One of the biggest complaints against Thaksin is selling out to foreigners. While selling a company is one thing, selling Thailand's very own land takes it to a whole new level.

You can bet that the opposition parties will pound this home this everyday. And Thaksin, while only having so much control over his sister, can still change the laws to prevent his sister from selling out and making him look bad.

What is going to stop? Is she going to put the company on hold, sell it off, give it to the poor? Will she stop accepting payments, lay off all the architects, salesmen, office staff, publicity agents, site staff, formen, drivers, designers, suppliers, accountants, lawyers etc? All of whom we must assume are Thai Nationals and who surely are benefitting directly from foreign investment. Its one thing to talk and knock foreigners to gain votes and its quite another to turn away the hard money.

The point here is just how engrained the greed amongst the ruling elite is in Thailand. The absolute brass neck of them to even discuss it, let alone brag and promote it in the National Press. In the midst of all this, you would expect total silence on this front.

I do agree that foreign companies should not be able to come in and trade real estate. However, this selling land to foreigners is a red herring and only useful for garnering a few votes here and there. The land, espescially in Phuket would remain under cultivation earning only a small amount of money for the economy as opposed to the billions that are pouring in to the country with the high healed residents arriving here. ALL this money ends up in Thai pockets!

A recent comment about un-productive retirees also missed a point. A small pension payable for life from the west would be in the order or 30,000 baht per month. 70,000 Baht per month is not at all unusual and I am sure it is most useful to the local Thai economy. There are after all thousands of Thai sole traders and small business men setting up here. Ask them if they want the falangs to go home and I am sure that as in the west, they will vote with their wallets, not their conscience!

He's not winding anyone up really. Most of us are sat here listening to the world cup as the might of UBC cannot put the world cup on despite charging 7 times the price of cable tv, who are putting it on.

I was here 20 years ago and didn't see Thais of any walk of life (other than locals and chinese speculators) wanting to live on Phuket. Can you really see any development having taken place without foreigners? and why wasn't there any development here 10-15 years ago.

The island could still be a backwater without all the foreign investment and Phuket covered in rubber trees. Thailble and his like would have received an even worse education than they did leaving them even more ignorant and would never have the chance to spread their bizarre thoughts further than a few local rubber tappers or fishermen. He certainly wouldn't have had a computer (to go with not having a girlfriend!)

You've seen it said before, most of the money in this country is in 2nd or subsequent generation Chinese hands. The Chinese who just wanderd in over the centuries, blended in and got on with it, became "Thai" and took the country over by stealth.

They (The Chinese) don't want the falangs shafting them in the same way, thats why they mobilise poor Thais to vote them into power by scaring them with stories of foreigners.

Yes, lets have an F1 forum and get the trainspotters out of here. A 2 hour procession of cars where most of the action takes place in the pits! Major excitement when somebody stops for petrol.

The statistics put out to keep the fans awake, make major American sports like Bouncy Ball and Rounders seem exciting in comparison. Speaking of which, their fans were probably surprised that there were teams from outside the USA competing in the world cup!

Sugest the F1 fans get out of here and take TRD Lover with them as he is obviously some fresh faced undersexed guy who is finally getting some and is in awe of it. Go surf porn TRD.

Back to the footy. I remember Japan 2002 when the TAT were advertising Thailand as the ideal place to come and watch the games as we are in a similar time zone. Great idea and the busiest low season I have seen in 10 years. The place was full and buzzing and whatever you think of the drinking, these people had to eat and drink, stay in hotels, fly here in plans and take taxis to the resorts. All good money and spread well beyong the bars.

Great own goal by the TAT and UBC this time around.

Once people turn away, its hard to get them back. It will be a long time before anybody on this side of Bangkok re-subscribes to UBC. Whats more, all this talk is putting off their new subscribers. Hope they get a good kick in their tiny financial <deleted>!

All the cable television companies are carrying it with English commentary.

Time to stick it to UBC I think. A que of disgruntled falangs have signed up to Phuket cable and Dolphin TV this week. The waiting time is about 24 hours at the moment.

Say what you like about badly managed Thai companies, they feel the pain of lost customers and I hope it is going to be a very painful experience for UBC.

2,100 baht for no sports coverage. No Rugby, no Cricket, no World Cup and their site and staff are not commenting on it. We have the dreadful Chelsea TV and Man U tv. They do seem to show a lot of coverage of the Asian 9 ball pool league though.

Thanks UBC can see that in a bar anywhere in Thaialnd.

Thai TV missed most of the Japan v Australia game. Way to go... Pissed off the brits the other night, pissed off the Ozzies tonight and no doubt piss off the Yanks when that gets underway.

Going to be hard to get customers to pay 2,100 baht when we can get full coverage for 300 baht.

we all need to stop investing in thailand. why should we as foreigners settle for 49% of ownership anyway when 100% of the money is ours. my wife can own land and a house in the united states 100%. i will not be investing another dime here. i will just live here and save my money now. and yes i own land and a house here in my wifes name. we have been together 11 years and believe it or not she is 4 years older then me. save your money and find a country that allows 100% ownership and when we start to retire and bring our money to a different country you will see things change and then it will be too late for thailand. if anyone knows of countrys that allow 100% ownership in asia for foreigners let us all know. time to start another boom somewhere else and watch the market here go bust. i do feel bad for everyone that is getting screwed, i hope you all can sell quickly to a thai. and no i would not buy a condo here. i do not believe the law for condos will stay the way it is. it will change also.

Farangs that buy real estate do not "invest" in Thailand, they molest it. Real estate is a NON-PRODUCTIVE asset.

The ONLY reason you need to buy vs rent is to sell it to a Thai at a higher price than they woud have paid otherwise.

So the mighty Thaible has spoken!

The usual flawed logic. A falang with 10 million Baht comes to Thailand, buys a house and tries to sell it on to a Thai at an inflated price!!

The intelegent falang is coming to a country with a minimum wage of 185 baht per day!! and this is often circumvented by companies employing thias on temporary contracts. Where the hel_l is the market Thaible? Have you ever been outside your house, or internet cafe, or wherever you lurk?

We have racists like you in Europe and the States and withour exception they are all loosers. Small town small minded people. I suggest you travel and broaden your mind, then perhaps you will be able to find a woman interested in you.

Heres a quick list of Thai benefitting from my purchace. All 100% Thai owned companies.

House 5,000,000

Kitchen 125,000

Furniture 400,000

Air con 75,000

Landscaping 50,000

Car 1,650,000

Computer 36,000

All this money came from Europe and went into THAI pockets. The most worred people in Phuket at the moment are the small to medium Thai businesses (Gardners, fitters, plumbers, electricians etc.).

They know that in the unlikey even of falangs being driven from these shores that their businesses would die with them. Remember, there if a duel pricing scheme in Thailand and we are the high paying clients!!

The biggest crime in this country is rich Thais turning over poor Thias and ensuring they stay that way. As it was, so shall it ever be if slime like Thaible were to have a say in the real world.

Really hurts that "un-educated" northerners are threatening his heritage. Fancy having to Kreng Jai to somebody darker skinned than you that may have done a real days work!

we all need to stop investing in thailand. why should we as foreigners settle for 49% of ownership anyway when 100% of the money is ours. my wife can own land and a house in the united states 100%. i will not be investing another dime here. i will just live here and save my money now. and yes i own land and a house here in my wifes name. we have been together 11 years and believe it or not she is 4 years older then me. save your money and find a country that allows 100% ownership and when we start to retire and bring our money to a different country you will see things change and then it will be too late for thailand. if anyone knows of countrys that allow 100% ownership in asia for foreigners let us all know. time to start another boom somewhere else and watch the market here go bust. i do feel bad for everyone that is getting screwed, i hope you all can sell quickly to a thai. and no i would not buy a condo here. i do not believe the law for condos will stay the way it is. it will change also.

Farangs that buy real estate do not "invest" in Thailand, they molest it. Real estate is a NON-PRODUCTIVE asset.

The ONLY reason you need to buy vs rent is to sell it to a Thai at a higher price than they woud have paid otherwise.

<clip>

Haha. So letting in unproductive retirees who marry uneducated farm girls will help us join the international community? If these are the leaders of the "international community", I'd prefer to be left out.

But nice try with the meaningless cliches.

Boy, I'm not sure where to begin. Let's start with farangs pricing poor thai's out of their own land. Gee, did you ever stop and think that it's your own people selling the land to farangs? That's right, your own people's greed. The thai's who own the land do not care about "poor thais", their fellow citizens, they care about maximizing their profits. Now as to the women. No one is stealing your women, women are thinking individual human beings, and can make their own choices upon who to be with. My wife, who is thai, told me before we got married, she would never marry a thai man again, after being beaten and treated like a dog by her ex(thai)-husband. Perhaps you are the one who needs to stop with the xenophobic, hate-filled cliches and start to really understand what's happening with your land and your women.

Very well said, stevieff!

And a couple of more comments for Thaible-

Why do you consider non-working retirees "non productive"? Their productivity is the money they bring in. By that measure, they produce as much as 10 Thai citizens. Also, not all wives of farangs, retirees or otherwise, are uneducated. This is another xenophobic myth - that is, a Thai who marries a foreigner must be somehow inferior, lacking in morals or intellect.

I suggest its not only the flalangs that are being targeted by the small minded xenophobes that infest Thai officialdom, its also that poorer "un-educated" thais often end up living in expensive houses, owning cars, motor bikes and educating themselves and their children in a manner normally reserved for the upper and middle classes.

Perhaps a problem some middle class thais have, is that they see "inferior" northern people as passing them by on the wealth ladder. Many of the middle classes would like to preserve what they see as the status quo, of Issan people working as skivvies, cleaners, garbage, collectors factory slaves and generally staying in their place!

For me, I have had nothing but warm relationships with the tens of thousands of Thais I have encountered during the past 10 years, but do note the odd bitter thai having a pop at falangs and their Thai wives. We should however keep it in perspective

Finally if the Democrats get in at the next election, I wonder whether they will reintroduce their previous plan to allow foreign retirees over 50 on retirement "O-A" visas to buy a single small plot of land for their retirement home in Thailand. That would solve a lot of these petty problems and makes a lot of logical sense to me. If restricted to say less than half a Rai of land it can hardly be construed as Thailand losing all their land to foreign investors. On the contrary it will encourage more retirees into Thailand bringing in their regular foreign currency pensions and not taking away jobs from the Thais, so perfectly fits in with general Thai values and beneficial to a good Thai/Falang community relationship.

Do you really believe that any Thais would vote for a party that helps farangs take their land and women?

I will be voting for whatever party came up with this law to finally stop farangs from pricing poor Thais out of their own land.

Not all farangs are in Thailand to exploit the women and the land and if they are there are plenty of Thais benefiting too !

Bottom line is that Thailand wants to become part of the International community then it is going to have to change many things or loose out to those countries that will.

Haha. So letting in unproductive retirees who marry uneducated farm girls will help us join the international community? If these are the leaders of the "international community", I'd prefer to be left out.

But nice try with the meaningless cliches.