Orac

I have seen a couple of rumours that the Navy Commander is related to Suthep though I would be surprised if true as would have thought the media would mention it.

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An article in the other newspaper quotes Abhisit as saying "This shows that people can express opinion at one of our activities" after the guy was removed by security.

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Doing my first extension this week at Jomtien and would appreciate if anyone could clarify if the bank statement/letter required needs to be issued same day or can be done day before provided officer is not in a bad mood.

A nation does not make a better democracy by abandoning democracy.

Some tell that idiot Suthep this. But of course you know he would not understand it because he is an X democrat.

f democracy here means a one party taksin state where his government can legalise all his crimes by amnesty and openly say they wont accept decision of courts then ill welcome anything that gets rid of him.

Remember Hitler Mugabwie Saddam and rest were all elected so if someone had stopped them in time a lot of lives would have been saved and a lot of misery avoided

You would just let Taksin continue and then in a few years wring your hands in despair at seeing Thailand become a one party police Taksin state

It is becoming a one party state because the main opposition are yet again not participating in the election process.

The amnesty bill was a huge error on the part of PT and was stopped by the Senate. Given the anger it generated it would be political suicide to try to push it through after 180 days expire. As for the 'not accepting decisions of the court', though they might not accept the blocking of a fully elected senate, I would be interested to see how they could actually go against the decision since surely they would not be able to get the EC to run such an election without the nod from the CC or a royal decree.

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Abhisit is like a turkey voting for christmas. One of the aims of the protesters is to get rid of the politicians according to Suthep yet Abhisit is the leader of Thailands oldest political party.

Isn't Suthep already grooming Akanat Promphan for the job???

Will take a lot more than a few hundred baht a day and free drinks and rice to get them to raise up and fight the army!

Given that a large proportion of the army are conscripts from the North/North East I would be unsure how stable the army would be if things deteriorated significantly.

It appears that in Thailand, if someone has provided an introduction to a buyer they will expect their cut from the seller, be that a broker or an individual. Just had an interesting experience buying a house where we went through a broker who was adverrising on a board at the house we wanted to buy. My wife made the appointment to view and everything went through smoothly with the broker providing an excellent service - I assume the seller paid any commissions to the broker as we had nothing to do with it. Yesterday my wife gave me some cash which was 1% of the house value which turned out to be commission because, rather than ringing the broker direct, she had got a friend to ring and make an introduction who passed their commission for the intro back to us.

I wish the police would crack down on the prolific practise of (effectively) removing exhausts from small motorbikes, it really is getting very very noisy here in Pattaya, I would say possibly 10% of small motorbikes here have the silencers completely removed then the small brained pricks riding them think it's cool to have a moped sounding like a cement mixer.

One police chief lost the plot last year and ordered them taken off the road - but it lasted a week

It may not seem like much but if the trend continues it really will be very difficult to sleep here with the widows/balcony doors open

Thin end of the wedge there - if they cracked down on modified motorbikes as well as cars then they would have their hands full as all the food carts and side cars are illegal modifications.

Everyone keeps referring to the 'employee' and her 'son' when, according to the OP they are both in fact employees. Though the woman was employed to work in the hotel and the OP asked her to look after his house while he was away the son was specifically employed to look after the house. I am not sure what the labour laws are in Thailand but the OP needs to deal with the situation accordingly so it is more a case disciplining/sacking the lad rather than just treating him as the son of another employee.

He said the BAAC has paid Bt600-800 billion for the rice subsidy but was paid at only Bt140 billion, making it impossible for the bank to secure new financial injection for the scheme. (MCOT online news)

800 Billion paid minus 140 Billion repaid = 660 Billion loss 260 Billion loss.

Ok, got it now.

The missing link is can the rice in storage after selling costs really be valued at 400 billion.

Her prepared speech is offensive drivel for any educated observer.

It's worth noting that her choice of clothing is very uncharismatic. Her peers have put more thought into a catchy wardrobe, like Big Bob M's flashy colorful suits or the Korean Kims natty boilersuits. Even her big brother tipped his hat to Idi Amin with the chestful of amart medals he used to like wearing. Come on Yingluk please put more thought into developing a defining uniform for the masses to associate you with for the rest of your clans reign. Image over substance, it can work in the right circumstances.

You think she should be wearing more colourful clothing whilst the nation is in a state of official mourning???

Surprised if 304 down to Rayong would be subject to flooding. The top two thirds of that route was one of the few routes open to get from Isaan to Bangkok in the flooding of two years ago and none of it is low lying ground. Maybe the odd area prone to a quick flash flood but I doubt anything standing long term.

I heard the 304 was impassable yesterday on that route. Driving from Pattaya to Nong Khai myself tomorrow and would usually take the 304 but will be going via Bangkok just in case this time on the Motorway/highway 2.

25 years ago wen Banhaan was PM they were planning to make Suphanburi the new capital. So dream on people of Korat. 25% of the infrastructure investements in Isaan 55555555, everybody knows why.

Because that is where about a third of the population come from?

Thai notarization may be questioned by the Aruba officials. Best best is your embassy. USA embassy will do such for $50, others should be similar. Get official government stamp will be sure OK over there.

Why would a Thai notary not be accepted but an American one be accepted? If it's an official notarization or signature guarantee on what basis would they be able to accept or reject it. Not everyone believes the fairy tale about American exceptionalism.

Thailand is not a signatory to relevant Hague Convention so will not have an officially recognised body that would be internationally recognised to notarise documents. Having said that, I have had documents accepted with a notarisation stamp from a Thai Lawyer with a couple of international banks.

http://www.hcch.net/upload/outline12e.pdf

They are an intimidatory mob which the red shirts seem to be able to organise at the drop of a hat.

I don't know the details of the judge's son's study trip & I wonder if the mob knows them too. There are semi-government bodies (that haven't been intimidated into subservience) that a case can be filed with - such as the NACC - if there is evidence of favouritism by the judge.

As for the notion that the red shirts are winning PR by their actions - quite the opposite.

The NACC have already looked into this back in August and it seems they are being ignored:

The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) had earlier proposed that the Constitutional Court take legal action against Boonsong for allegedly allowing his son to continue collecting his monthly salary - eventually amounting to more than Bt800,000 - while overseas and advised that a disciplinary investigation be held within 30 days. It also suggested that Boonsong be suspended for the investigation period.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Activists-push-for-sacking-of-judge-30214672.html

Thanks some useful tips here guys.

I've also heard about TD Direct Investing International, Luxembourg. Offshore banking for expats. I believe you can open account online. (Also TD Waterhouse group, right?)

Would this be more do-able for a European, than above mentioned US accounts?

It looks easier to open if you have a EU/UK bank account to make the initial fund transfer from - just the application and copy of passport with no proof of residence address in Thailand by the looks of it. The transaction fees look very high though.

The Charles Schwab International account is specifically designed for non-US residents. The process for opening is fairly straight forward with everything on their website and responses have been quick so far. Because I can't provide a utility bill showing my address here I have had to get a bank gaurantee letter from SCB which took a bit of effort - they were very reluctant to put my address on it and it took a couple of attempts. The letter is in Thai script which Charles Scwab translate in house rather than requiring a translation and, once done, they will call SCB to verify details. Minimum opening balance is $10,000 and trading cost is $8.95 for most transactions though higher on foreign exchanges. Also no charge for certain ETFs (mainly their own funds).

Must say I have never tried one from McDonners when I was sober - probably a whole new experience.

McDonner Kebabs - van outside Sugar Sugar on Soi LK Metro