Toolong

Fair play. ???????? You're right to point out how my comment was at fault, factually. And you're right, his colour IS irrelevant (though I never said it was, in any way).

Side-note but one I'll darn well make if folks don't mind.... '...first person of color elected British Prime Minister.' Misleading. By whom was he elected to be PM? Certainly not the British people. Sorry, but not one tiny morsel of undeserved credit shall I allow Sunak in regard to this matter to which I refer. (Any matter, come to it.)

Sorry, can't submit comment that is in any way helpful or insightful re the issue at hand (Pita witchhunt) but beg forgiveness for indulgently taking this opportunity to declare my limitless loathing for that toady legal-errand-boy of the junta, Wissanu. Since 2014 coup, I've subjected myself, all too frequently, to a grimly masochistic tendency to wonder who, among the junta govt, cronies & suppprters, I loathe the most. (It helped pass the time.) Have to say it's long been a close neck & neck (& one more neck) between Prayuth, Prawit and Wissanu. (Though for those who can remember - and I ***ing can! - Suthep was for a long time undisputed champ of the chumps to loathe the most....but Wissanu's shown an ability to gain ground - even on the two P's - and, like I said, is now a frontrunner. Gotta hand it to him. ????????????????????

Never liked the ban. Or the idea of any such imposed religious ban. Kind of reveals.....imho.....an inherent weakness of that religion's capacity to hold itself together......stand on its feet as something worth a hill o' beans......blah, blah......something like that. And anyway, is in practice a means by which its so-called faithful display revolting levels of hypocrisy. My (very dear!) Thai wife, for example, abstains from eating meat at a certain time of year, for just a few days. She clearly figures that the hardship of missing out on khow khar Moo only makes her virtue that much more worthy. And in her mind, sadly it does. And FGS, the Buddha big-fella only ever advised that intoxication can hinder one's ability to attain calm & insightful degrees of meditation, not that it's in any way wrong. (And tbh, reckon he was wrong about the calm & insightful bit....I can achieve Olympic-gold levels of very calm meditation after some fermented grape and the insights are off the scale.) Final add-on: while the MFP are at it, ditch the dumb licensing times booze can be sold. (That self-righteous Thai Rak Thai fella Purachai Ponsomboon mandated it way back....) Putting a six-pack of 5% by vol in my shopping trolley at 4.55pm, getting in the checkout line quicktime but actually getting to the cashier at 5.05pm....ain't cool, makes no sense at all and.......is the reason I STOCK my booze like a champion! But I resent having to. End it, please. Soon after the army/establishment coup power grab in 2014, there were army units of (military-uniformed) 'entertainers' tasked with 'bringing happiness to the Thai People'. Surreal nonsense. The wrong people got happy. Hope that 'real happiness' can now be - if not here yet - on its way down the pipes. Can I get anyone a beer? It's on MFP. ????????

Hell, yeah.....????! Right on brother. (Or sister!)

Anutin denies that there is any such plan. Ergo....there is indeed a plan. And you can take that to the bank. After all, I've used the simple, tried & tested calculus of discerning truth from fiction in the utterances of Thai politicians of the old guard: by inverting any claimed assertion in terms of whatever its grammatical polar-opposite representation might be. For example: 'We care about the people.' inverts to 'We don't give a flying **** about the people.' Similarly, 'We have no plans to form a coalition govt with Pheu Thai', becomes, once inverted, 'Coalition with Pheu Thai? Well, what else would any opportunist hustler like me do in the circumstances? ***k, yeah!'

The 'ideologies' in regard to my own views, as a 'foreign type', on how I see Thai political & cultural change happening for the best, ie, via MFP, appear to be shared by the 14 million Thais (forgive me if I've got that number wrong) who voted MFP, or by many of those Thais who voted for any other non-junta-aligned parties now in the coalition. You appear to want change, or at least regret that, in your view, it will never happen, but are rather cynical about those who do want to see it happen, especially 'foreign types'. Btw, you seem - imo - too quick to flippantly pass judgement on the understanding of Thai culture & social order, of such 'foreign types'.

You know the expression (modified somewhat here) about how 'if it looks like a duck, walks like ducks, it's a ***k*** duck'? Since those heady days post May 14.....all I've seen are ducks. More & more each day. Now too many ducks too count. Wissanu was always ever only engaged by the junta in the role that he's now finally fulfilling, to earn his reward for betraying his country and its people: Duck-whisperer-general. I pray he & those he serves will one day be held to proper account for their actions.

Thaksin.....I'm kind of on your side. Have been for a long while (since 2010, at least). Maybe because you led the only powerful political opposition to the establishment that hated you. An establishment that I hated deeply. The enemy of my enemy was somehow my friend.............that old thing. But always knew that you were a hustler, plain & simple. And then......FF & MFP came along. I had options. The Thais - more importantly! - had options. You've been getting unusually specific about the time of your return. To me, this means a deal has been arranged.....at all cost to MFP's chances of governing TH by unprecedentedly proper means....the country you profess to love & yearn to see again. Always had a feeling you'd pull something like this. But if you can make me eat my words I'll chow down with gusto.

Sorry, h90, I can't seem to make enough sense of your reply to reply adequately myself. Though...'third strongest party form the government. Nothing wrong with it'. Bhumjathai Party? Anutin? Well, there's plenty wrong with that, for starters. (Imho.)

The points you make are, in general, unarguably true. However, my 'naive' point about the 'will of the people' (wotp) was made in reference to, and from the perspective of, the people themselves, not from the perspective of the parties/govts they choose to vote for. In most cases, Thai govts have of course not ever given a fig for the wotp, true enough. (Pheu Thai under Thaksin, had a calculated crack at it....but only to get themselves in power.) But I say in 'most' cases, because - and here you might rightly call me naive! - I do actually think MFP have shown a genuine readiness to build their policies around that wopt. And intend to attempt to stay true to that, as much as is possible.....hence the stubborn refusal to blink (so far!) on the house speaker issue. And to be clear....the will of which people do I have in mind? Naturally, in this case, specifically those Thais who voted MFP......especially the young. I think history is being made here. Apparent Naivete is permitted imho. ????????

What of the 'will of the people'? What of their hopes? Of their right to see their votes count as having granted their chosen party the right to govern, in coalition or not? From the sewers of Thai politics comes - once more - that vile, all-too-familiar stench of corrupt power-trading. These hideous, 'old-guard' characters know more tricks than a cartload of monkeys. ????????

Good policies AND b**ls (⚽️????⚾️????????) Respect.

You got it. I got a whiff of BB/TC too. Right off the bat. Except I'd not be surprised if he was - beyond being 'proud' of these extreme yellow goons - up to his neck in being part of it.

5555....yep. After 30+ years here my reaction at those times is still exactly the same as your own!!

Right, I get it. ???? At times it's the same for me. (And even more than the excessive volume, it's the heavy bass settings (to the max!) that trouble me the most!????)

'For he's a jolly good fellow, For he's a jolly good fellow.......' Call me too bitter & twisted, but I've been here a long old time and always resented the beer monopoly thing.....until which point I could actually taste that resentment with each sip of the grudgingly-bought Sing. (Though the more sips I have, the quicker I seem to forget that resentment. Funny that....????)

Good luck, Pita. I really mean that. You're gonna have to cross minefields in the dark, with one hand tied behind your back, smears against you at best from all sides, a sham judicial kneecapping of all your (& Thailand's) aspirations at worst, and a possible usurpation of the position the will of the people has (for now?) granted you.....by others in your coalition......cobras. I'm way too old & cynical to be saying such stuff, but I think fate has marked you as someone who might well pull it all off the way you - and those truly progressive souls in your party - wish for, with the will of the people who voted 4 u at your back. ????????✊

Yes to all that. I'm naturally cynical as a rule and often at first doubt the virtues of those who appear to possess them. But so far, despite one or two slightly raised eye-brows at his decisions, I have been consistently impressed by this fellow. And yes, I too think he will 'stick to his promises', as very deftly displayed by his u-turn on certain decisions (ie, Korn) when he realizes it's a bad call, and then offers what appears to be very genuine & honest apologies and explanations for making those calls. (And I for one understand the pressure he would have been under to have considered bringing Korn's crew in. It's a 'numbers game' now.)

Quite a few on the street (well, loads actually) and many in malls. Advise looking for one that solely does watches, clocks & straps, rather than a place offering other services as well. The former often seem to do the job with great care and with an almost reverential interest in doing it well. After all, it's their trade. Good luck.

Versions differed from school to school, of course, but as a 60's schoolboy too, I might if I may, smugly boast that my school did the bacon & egg flan thing...but they mercifully raised its taste appeal by some considerable magnitude with the addition of a crusted cheese topping. Made all the difference. ????????

The establishment, on EVERY level, from bottom ALL the way up to its apex, appears to be becoming rather complacent about how to crack the very whip that will curl around their necks and choke them to death. But hey.....

Apologies for my indulgently cathartic comment made just to selfishly get something off my chest....but Wissanu's got serious mileage in terms of piloting the junta through the storm over these 9 years and worse, helped decisively to create the very effed-up 250 senator situation. (Think....a very creepy, vile version of Robert Duvall's mob lawyer in Godfather and you've got it.) In what direction and for what purpose doth this silk-safari-suited reptile now slither?

Good oversight. Well said. ???? (Sadly btw, it seems BJT, have taken their pieces of silver already. They now stand 4-square where I hoped they might not, but it is thus. ????)

My fingers are so crossed right now, and have been since Sunday night, that I'm having to ask other people nearby, every evening, to kindly open my beer cans, if they wouldn't mind.