Mr Meeseeks

A great list mate and these are mostly over ten years old but honourable mentions must go to the Saudi crown jewels and blue diamond, corruption and murder at Kaset sugar mill, theft of tsunami relief funds, foetus graveyards at Bangkok temples, NGV buses for Bangkok, Salween logging, Raluek Leekpai embezzlement case, the blimp, Kamnan Poh the Godfather of Chonburi, Bangkok International Film Festival bribery, Thai Airways overtime scam, etc. Good to pinch ourselves and remember where we are now and again.

What was the point of the protests (all paid and organised by Thailand most corrupt politician Suthep) to oust an elected government? It was to cause instability and the pretext for another coup. What was the point of the coup? We can't really discuss it properly here, but I can tell you it wasn't against corruption, rice schemes or any other allegations against the Yingluck Govt. If you believed that it was, you are sadly out of your depth when discussing Thai politics.

I think this is now very much a big worry. There's no safeguard any more as there was in 1991/2 when Suchinda took over. Set in motion in 2005 and gradually getting incrementally worse with each step backwards as they see the only way is absolute authoritarian control. Predictable, but the Thaksin obsessives couldn't see the wood for the trees.

Understood.

Isn't working as a tour guide a prohibited occupation for a non-Thai?

One of the most important news articles in Thailand at the moment and it is relegated to a regional forum? Should be in the news forum, no? It was on all local TV channels last night, with extensive coverage.

Or brake failure, or narcolepsy or any of the other myriad of excuses for their own incompetence at controlling their agricultural vehicle. Anyway, no point arguing, you have your opinion and I have mine, and mine is that the majority of Thais are incompetent drivers which is backed by statistical and anecdotal evidence. Chok dee!

They are all sitting waiting on handouts or the foreigners to return with their money to kickstart that part of the economy again. Gonna be waiting a long time.

Bingo. We have a winner.

Evidently you are wrong as the incident clearly demonstrates. Thailand does not have an adequate driver training and assessment process that proves competence so thus it is highly unlikely he had the skill to control the vehicle properly, again, further evidenced by the pictures in the original article. As to your allegation that a pick-up is not an agricultural vehicle, that is exactly why they were invented as a work truck for farming duties. They have barely changed the technology in them over the last 70 years. Now off you pop, there's a good chap.

Yet another agricultural vehicle being driven like a sports car in an unsafe manner and at excessive speeds by an incompetent and unskilled person.

Yet another agricultural vehicle being driven like a sports car in an unsafe manner and at excessive speeds by an incompetent and unskilled person.

Welcome to the future. No dissent tolerated. Just as in China. That is why coups are bad and almost inevitably end up in authoritarian, unaccountable, incompetent and corrupt regimes.

You claim to support justice and 'don't trust any of them' but you vociferously backed a military coup against an elected government because, as your post history shows, you have an unhealthy obsession against Thaksin. The fact that you still do not understand military coups erode democratic freedoms and the rule of law resulting in authoritarianism and widespread corruption is ironic.

The UK is so far ahead of Thailand in numbers of vaccinations that it is out of sight.

Power projection (or force projection or strength projection) is a term used in military and political science to refer to the capacity of a state to deploy and sustain forces outside its territory. This ability is a crucial element of a state's power in international relations.

Mass tourism is over for the foreseeable. Even more so if there's a global recession/depression.

Still more than enough for a contract hit in Thailand or Burma though.

Real Champagne only comes from the Champagne region in France. Many Australian wineries produce good sparkling whites which are as good as the real thing and much cheaper. Australian wine is generally fantastic and when I worked there I almost exclusively drunk wine over beer due to the quality.

The lesson is, don't trust any of them and it has served me well in my 31 years here.

Do they though? I am of the opinion a country tends to deserve the leaders they get. Certainly when they have the ability to choose. Remember a lot of Thais voted for the military backed party at the last General election. Time to deal with the results of those bad choices. Hopefully this amnesty bill will push the people over the edge but I won't hold my breath.

Completely normal. Nobody ever takes responsibility here.

A rice pledging scheme you say? Well knock me over with a feather.

Have you ever been to Thailand?

Sometimes folk need to remember where they are. Stories like this help us to do just that. The next PM could well be a convicted heroin smuggler.