stoffel45

Just a clarifying point.

Panthep agreed to submit a list of more than 100 officials to Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha for transfer consideration. Thus far, the NACC has submitted a list of 10 officials. Will he then witch-hunt the remainding 90?

Hopefully.

A bit like the "old days" in Africa north of the Limpopo.

NO - you can't land or fly over here - ask an airline to certificate your maintenance - and maybe we can talk.

......."How much did you say?"

This Deputy Prime Minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula, needs his head examined.

If he tells us that the tourists started flooding the country because of the lift of martial law, 4 days ago, and the future of the economy is all roses because of the government steps, he is either lying or hasn't got the brain to understand the real truth.

Hope we are not going back listening to government rhetorics without any substance.

Come on guys - this is talking (empty) heads' stuff. Means nothing.

Almost nobody in the EU who wants to visit Thailand could give a rat's .......about martial law in Thailand. 99% don't care / know / who is in charge. If you were to ask most - if they knew the red and yellow shirts are off the street and confine themselves to meeting and grumbling and affecting nothing - they wouldn't know what you are talking about.

To Thai people the vast majority of them - they are happy the redshirts have been thumped down - the Rice Scammers on their way to Trial.

Farang expats, with too little to do - are the "trouble" hungry ones. The few clowns who support the redshirt or the Taksin billions - who cares about them? Not even the dwindling number of redshirts.

So foreigners wanting to visit Thailand - with perhaps one in a million thinking "Oh Article 44 - oh no." will just cruise the internet visiting Trip Advisor and do their bookings and they will come.

Some - a couple of million won't in 2015.

Who are they?

They are the victims of the EU incompetence package called the euro. Last year - it had fallen to 43 baht to 1 euro. Now it's around 33-34 baht for one euro. Come for 21 days - last year's cost - (hotel and food) about 44,000 baht. Which WAS about 1,000 euro.

Now the same costs 1,330 euro - that extra 330 euro - is just GONE.

Look at the Airfares - the Airlines were ripping people off with both hands last year.......in the last month - fares dropped by over 20%.

So NO it's not the Thai Government or anything to do with them - it's the trouble in the EU and other outlying islands.

And in Thailand? Hotel prices falling? - No - the Russkies have gone - the Euroids are broke - but Thai hotels didn't budge. Well I suppose one doesn't have to make an empty bed.

Soon be over now......Red shirts - Taksin's drones - mindless - greedy - self -serving like their master.

Taksin's dirty Rice Scam destroyed the foundations of the so called red-shirt movement - after that - exposed by the farmers themselves - the rot and corruption became too evident.

Time now for the ordinary country folk to rise up against these would be masters of the poor and put them DOWN finally - permanently.

gonna need more than a few brooms to clean up walking street

Soapy Soapy for Thorassic Park.

"The foreign criminals come in many forms, and the target for us tonight is colored people,"

Yes, because we all know coloured people is a criminal type.

It was YOU who added, "Yes, because we all know coloured people is a criminal type." Not the BIB.

But your comment is - generally - accurate in Bangkok.

They should do for everyone, why to profile based on the color.

If race is motive, look like Thai police needs a color blind test first!

Because the chance of getting a successful prosecution with "coloured" people - mostly Africans - is VERY VERY HIGH. Promise.

My wife and daughter booked Thai to BKK in July - Aug.

No refund possible - cannot transfer ticket.

Seriously thinking of just dumping the ticket - Love Thailand - but know their propensity for Face saving and this is just such a case.

Most energy right now will be spent blaming everyone else - except - the ones responsible.

If they want immediate action - ask their Insurers to appoint a foreign airline to supervise - today.

Bloody hell.

Ex-Belgium - have noted a fall in most airfares to Thailand for the July - August period.

Just finished booking an orchestra of 72 people - for New Year - thought seats would be a problem - plenty of seats.

Seems only Etihad are OK for passengers - but then with their early bird bookings they tend to fill up sooner. Actually now one of the most expensive to Thailand.

Drop in Russians - I think very welcome from point of view of tourists having to share with them. But now many not so well off and poorly behaved Indians flooding what were the Russian hotels.

The euro is dropping and accelerating. The now clearly forced exit of Greece is likely to take the euro to below par with the dollar - so down +40% too.

But these drops and all the financial uncertainty associated with the euro may force the Thai baht down - certainly looking at all the massive property speculative building it's looking a lot like 1997 - any ideas?

Floating around the Hotel Bookings sites - I don't see any savings to be made - much the same as last year - in Thai baht.

I must say, reading these posts, that Thai Visa members, when so positive, as in helping this member out - are a really positive force.

Consider a home made gun.

Usually a simple tube, with a rubber band or clothes peg "firing pin" - a homemade wooden stock. No safety catch.

Favoured by young Thai wannabe 'gangsters'.

Would you put one under your pillow?

With someone like Kerry in charge of State, it is no surprise that from Israel to Thailand former allies are heading away from the U.S.A.

Today we see that the Chinese, (the main focus of Cobra Gold) have been invited to join in.

Chinese armanent bosses arriving by the plane load.

Not surprising that a corrupted American Government would not face up to the reality of the Before and After effects of this coup.

Of course, when one has a Government like the last one it is so much easier to sell them stuff.

So thanks to Obama the World loses another ally against Chinese expansion plans?

Oh Dear....in a fit of Christmas Spirit, I gave two tickets with THAI - non-stop - Brussels to BKK return for travel in July - return August.

The beneficiaries used to use Etihad - which used to be very good value - until they upped their prices and downed their frequent flyer rewards.

So, THAI was cheaper and non-stop.

Reading editorial and comments here on TVF - now I wonder if the flight will be cancelled or find THAI in the bankrupt section.

Mr Mayor - there would be no need for "Negative Reporting" on Koh Tao - if it had not been for the horrific events which Koh Tao produced.

Not just the very high level of murders for such a tiny island - but also for the way the "Investigations" were mishandled.

The British media should know that reporting the truth in or about Thailand is unfair on Thai's.

When will the Western media learn?

My family with a now 15 year old daughter have been to Koh Tao for roughly a ten day stay for the past 5 years.

We like Koh Tao - great diving, beautiful on land and under the sea.

Looks like the Thai people are vastly outnumbered by the farang tourists - and the Burmese.

The first murder was sad but still we went, then there was the murder of the two English tourists last year - AND - the disgraceful attempts by the Police to find a couple of victims to put on trial.

Then the murder of the Frenchman - mafia style.

Then the very sad death of the latest tourist.

Last night my wife told me she was not very happy about returning to Koh Tao.

We don't booze or do drugs - but have happily watched literally thousands of drunk or drugged young people "enjoying" themselves.

We don't go to the "Beach Parties".

Just diving, swimming, exploring, relaxing, eating and all for great prices.

BUT - we have a very pretty just teenage daughter......

No final decision yet....but the girls are talking about just a day trip to Nang Yuan from Samui - each day.

To suggest that there is no organised crime on Koh Tao is to ridiculously suggest that Phuket is not "family" led - or Pattaya. Of course they are, but they know very well that excesses are not tolerated, killing tourists must be off the menu.

Confidence must be restored to the Police.

Probably the Army will turn out to be the most positive agency for changing the abnormal behaviour of the Police to a more traditional and thus honest Force which seeks and strives to Protect the public and the tourists - than exploit and harm them.

Europe needs to scrap the Schengen Treaty and restore internal border controls.

Scrapping the Schengen Treaty, as you suggest, would be a major step forward against, not just 'islamic terrorism' but all forms of criminal activity.

A criminal, terrorist or not, can hop over the border from say Turkey or by boat from Albania. They can enter through Bulgaria or Romania. They can then take a train to ANYWHERE in the EU - except the UK and do their dirty work.

Schengen is a disaster.

If Schengen is scrapped - which will happen one day in the not too distant future - each country will - once again - have its own Borders with proper controls. Not full proof I agree - but it makes life difficult for the criminals.

Actually the EU is a disaster - but highly, superbly profitable for those who run it.

Chinese or all over Asia?

Looking at the huge number and growing stock of new and unsold houses in Thailand is there a crash due here as well? OK it wont be a global one but is there a time the Thai banks have to account for all the cash they have ties up in property that is decaying unsold and uncared for?

I couldn't agree more.

Just visit Pattaya and see the tens of thousands of properties for sale.

With an estate agent we toured East and South Pattaya, Pratamnak area and JomThien. Our agent told us that it was the same in 1967 when building sites and high rise cranes dominated the landscape.

The prices, now, like 1968 were astronomic - literally poor value.

Too many people hoping for sad events and the growth of gambling casinos.

Too many Russians their judgement swept away by the comparison of the prices to those in the big Russian cities.

These are not homes built for sale so much as being built for taking the profit out at the construction stage.

Loans from cousins to cousins - secured - or rather insecured on the nominal rental value of the property.

Property 2 secured on the ridiculously high value of the first property.

The cousins in the "Banks" know exactly where this property boom is going because its demise is inevitable.

So I asked the estate agent if that meant that it was best to wait until the crash which she said would be in the next 3 years.

She said, "If you are looking for somewhere to buy to live in - then buy now. If however, it is for an investment - wait until the crash plus one to two years."

My goodness, an honest estate agent - whatever next?

I remember one evening in a Karaoke Club in Kuala Lumpur, when our room was invaded by members of the Religious Police.

Just 6 guys enjoying an evening out. I heard them all order "Pineapple Juice", so keeping in trim with the others I ordered a Coca Cola.

Two of the officers were taken aside and my host for the evening told me the Religious Police had told them there was vodka in their pineapple juice.

The two officers paid about $20 each and that was the end of the matter.

It was also the end of the evening because all the waitresses were taken elsewhere - there was no bill, presumably because the management had been lifted and were paying up large sums of money to some Religious Policeman's brown paper bag.

For those of you who have lived in any of the Gulf states - raids and inspections by squads of Religious Police are standard.

We REALLY REALLY don't want that kind of destruction of civil rights in Thailand.

I don't see how being ratified by HM that it can be a dictatorship? What am I missing?

HE allowed his opposition party to paralyze the country

HE allowed that leader to go into the monk hood without prosecution

HE overthrew a democratically elected prime minister

HE threw away a country's constitution

HE purged the country's government of all the old political party's members

HE arrested members of opposition political party and had them sent to military camps for HIS reeducation purposes

HE has forbidden any opposition to HIS views

HE is attempting to censor and control the media

If you dont understand how this equates to being a dictator that has stolen the country of Thailand from its people, then there's not much I or anybody else can say to you

HE is a dictator. Period.

He restored Law and Order.

Without Law and Order there is no Democracy.

It seems that people forget WHY the coup was very necessary.

The people gave their trust to the former democratically elected Government.

Their Government, the Government of all Thai people abused their power most horribly.

I too remember the MOBS as do all or most of you.

Democracy had been hijacked by a Government who was robbing the people blind with their mulit-Billion rice scam. Stealing by the truckload money which was owed to the poorest in Thailand.

Do those of you who sneer and criticise the current administration really want to return to the rule of the MOB?

Most of the posters on this site are foreigners. I am too.

The majority of Thai people support THIS Government because it is BETTER than the ones before.

Truly those foreigners who are actively working against Law and Order - one of the most important qualities of society anywhere - should leave and return to their own Utopian paradise.

If one follows the foreign Press and a lot of Thai press it says out loud.

There is a cloud of heavy suspicion over the choice of these two Burmese suspects and their sudden confession.

Not saying it is - but it looks as if.

The Police on Koh Tao were under massive pressure from "High Up" to find a suspect - any suspect.

It is beginning to look like the Police then grabbed these two Burmese - really because they were handy rather than anything else.

It looks like the suspects were tortured into a confession, perhaps with promises of early release and money.

Now the Police who made the collar and "produced the confessions" are cornered.

It is possible that the Police were very lucky and did catch the guilty and obtain confessions.

But the World's opinion asks, "Is it likely?"

There is no doubt, that added to many other incidents of attacks on tourists and criticism of the Police, that Thailand is under "suspicion" as an ideal Tourist place.

I love Thailand and I do wish the Military would take over this investigation - together with the British police.

This might result in a real suspect being caught or identified or the guilt of the two suspects confirmed.

For certain the cloud over this case is not going to disappear which makes any Court case a ludicrous affair.

Improve standards with heavy penalties for those who break them.

All Police in every way.

All transport - land, sea and air.

Hospitals - safety and accountability.

If Thailand is the jaded, sinking destination which this article says it is - then why have airlines flying to Thailand got full or nearly full flights in December, April and July?

Yes these are peak months, but they would be the first to experience a "19%" downturn.

Clearly, the airlines are not concerned too much - their prices are sky-high!

Also Hotels don't seem to have softened their prices to entice travellers.

We noticed a drop in Russian tourists in Koh Samui and Pattaya this year.

But this is probably due to the fact that Russky Dad is coming alone or that the Russians know they are just so unpopular they don't feel at all welcome.