A_Traveller

Not to be a bore here, but to answer HuaHin62 questions, just about anywhere that is a functioning democracy..

The basic tedious principal is that most electorates expect their elected officials to be held to a higher standard of ethics because, and here's the rub, these people expect to have the right to spend the electorates tax revenues.

Now many here will say that all politicians are in it for what they can get personally, but how many really can say that when discussing the performance of the democratic system in a country in Europe, or North America. Yes there are issues such as earmarks and questionable practices but the majority [maybe more by accident than design] provide real services to their electorates and in some cases the system has functioned in that way for a couple of centuries.

So ethics matter, which is why a British former MP is [along with his ex-wife] in jail for dodging speeding penalty points on his driving licence [and losing his ministerial job as well as his seat in the house].

And even less resorts "founded" by influential people who now find there square footage somewhat decreased.

Of course it couldn't happen to better people could it?

Hint: anyone ever keep up with the machinations that followed the tsunami [for public safety you understand]

Heavens an arithmetical corner. I did round up "57,125.9925" to 6 hence 57,126 but I'll live with 57,125 but whichever it is, it's a [inset Samual L. Jackson's favourite move phrase] lot more than zero but no doubt 'an honest mistake" perchance.

The girlfriend scenario is one thing, I guess, but the almost throw-a-way line about the possibility of a parking bay dispute doth boggle the mind.

By the by the zero holding statement yesterday did strike me as really dumb, since a} it didn't clarify [at least in translation] the reach of family and b} anyone who has a Thai focused or based unit [mutual] fund based investment running [let alone a family wide distributed investment pool] would almost be by definition hold some PTT common stock.

However on the bright side at least in a world of change one thing remains true, the inability of Noppadol Pattama to do his job correctly.

According to the SET the listed common stock is 2,856,299,625 which would suggest the figure is indeed 57,126 shares being 0,002%.

I think

The top 14 holders, again on the SET bottom out at 0.52% evaluated at 14,880,417 common stock.

I'm puzzled about any issues with Samak's case. This was a position where he told at least three different versions of the events, which where I come from is called perjury. The court seemed to take the view that the offence and the actions of the defendant compounded the matter thereby creating a position where it no longer possible for him to serve as PM Those seemed to be the core issues [he was also appealing a defamation conviction, which was one hearing away from completion, if he'd lost that appeal he would have been ineligible to be PM IIRC] and that is what cost him the premiership, not so much "a cooking show:.

Given that CMK made the following point in another thread

You can call into the question the credibility of the rating agencies but only crackpots do

and given that Professor Stigliz does indeed raise and has raised in his view serious concerns about the said rating agencies activities, I'm a tad surprised to see such unbridled enthusiasm for him.

By the by the prize is Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel and secondly Scholes & Merton's prize was no guarantee of success of the application of their knowledge. [Long Term Capital Management]

Caveat emptor.

Perhaps they feel that those who created the void that Thaksin conveniently stepped into, carry an equal part of the blame for ' the mess the country is in today'

What a breathtakingly foolish statement. Thakisn did not step into any void, he used the legendary "blessed" 1997 Constitution to maximise the ability of his "new" [in point of fact a crafted amalgam of existing politicos, money networks [predominantly the money lenders and loans sharks] party to portray itself as some great beacon of development [no corruption, after all he was too rich for that so he said] and used [by virtue of a raft of foreign campaign advisers {US, Brits, Germans}] the promises to sell TRT as a third way party [remember that nonsense] to them [international] and a xenophobic "Thailand First" to the local audience.

By using his wife's money [thereby being legal] to bankroll the deals, the grandstanding and the behemoth of a campaign, which the others here had no experience or even, it has to be said understanding of, the TRT creation arrived in power. From there Thaksin showed, in the words of a contemporaneous Economist article to be a Thai Con not a Tycoon.

Thus from that, all flows. Just starting with iTv, then AMLO actions against unfriendly journalists, [and publications] and so the elected authoritarianism began ...

Big News: Successfully discovered arse in lighted room with a map, perhaps.

Ah the famous Thailand didn't declare war on the US story. Problem is it's just that a story.

The tale of the dramatic meeting with Cordell Hull and M.R. Seni Pramoj first appears in Newsweek 3 September 1945 from Seni. It ignores, for example that Hull wasn't even in Washington at the time, and also with documents now fully available that no such meeting is entered into Hull's desk diaries or related papers [which are in the Library of Congress].

It is true that the US took a more relaxed view of a number of declarations made by countries which were viewed as having little choice [sometimes called the Danish Option by Asst SecState Adolf A. Berle Jr. {yes really}]

There was a documented meeting on January 29 between Berle and Seri where the notes suggest that Seri stated that he had received no official notification of the declaration of war through any channels which is somewhat different.

Ultimately the declaration was received by a number of channels and was duly recorded.

/edit typo//

Samran, appreciate the anecdotal nature of the comment, but my impression, over the years, which may be flawed, is that there is a desultory secondary market in property [especially condos].

I wonder if you have a view on this?

Regards

Perhaps she was just the cashier?

Sorry Chooka couldn't resist

Interesting enough it appears the addiction to aeroplane food runs in the family, her brother was a continual traveller as well.

^ Not the only answer but Board of Investment (BoI) is an answer.

Chadchart confirms another triumph for Thai porcine aviation.

I hate the whole dump

Freudian slip there I think

BeWaRe the CaPs LoCk

But the World Bank goes for 3.4%

I was wondering about the Flushed with Success theme concept.

Though off topic glad to hear that the oceanic whitetips, porbeagle and hammerhead shark protection has remained in force despite efforts by a group headed by Japan and China today.