Orac

Will the people just accept this or is the "C" on the horizon? Might have a new influx of Asylum seekers heading to Australian shores.

I am sure "the people" will be appalled at the idea of getting to choose their own leaders and much rather be led like sheep by a leadership appointed for them.

We send just under 5000 baht a month - 3000 for my wifes dad who is getting on a bit plus 200 baht for each of my nieces/nephews which go into savings accounts which they are proud to show bamk books when we visit a couple of times a year.

Also we pick up the funeral insurance for the FIL which is 8k - a long standing agreement where the rest of the family paid the insurance for MIL who died last year.

hmmm... this forum can sure be difficult to get straight answers to a simple request of suggestions. I always enjoy the breakfast buffet at Café Mozu in lebua at State Tower. Opens at 6am. I don`t know the price for non-guests. A large mix of local and international delicacies, pastries, fresh baked breads, cheeses, homemade preserves, eggs to order, hot cakes, REAL sausages, juices, Thai, Japanese, American and British. Also included is pork products which is sometimes left out of Bkk breakfast buffets. Newspapers are available to read. And the café opens up to the open-air swimming pool so you can sit outside or inside. Reasonably decent coffee and tea.

The only other that I am familiar with (I am just a sometimes visitor) is the Lohas Suites, formerly Amari Sukhumvit Residences on soi 2. I do not recommend it. Good egg station but poor selection, weak coffee and no pork .

+1 for Lebua. Been a while since I stayed there but the breakfast experience there was memorable - not just the food but the atmosphere as well.

It has now been decided that the only way to clean up Pattays image is to close down all the newspapers and once a week the police and officials will write a report to be published to the worlds press ,omiting any thing bad that may have happened and pointing out only the good things ,this weeks first edition ,which ran to three whole paragraphs was a great sucess a spokesman said .

Don't forget the three pages showing the major shaking hands with various people (a whole page for Niels Colov of course).

Quote: "The last chapter in any successful genocide is the one in which the oppressor can remove their hands and say, 'My God, what are these people doing to themselves? They're killing each other. They're killing themselves while we watch.'" Unquote: Aaron Huey. hmmmm sounds applicable.

I can't see how - there were only a handful of people killed so comparing this to a genocide is ridiculous.

That there is some masterplan afoot to exterminate those no good northerners is the stuff of conspiracy fantasists.

I am happy to come from a civillized country and I am happy that in my country people are put jail once the are convicted a crime. This article does not really implement a 'crime' apart from maybe having been a false police man and he having some porn on his computer or similar and even that unclear. So why again someone here probably claiming that he may come from a civillized country want to put someone in jail first, why want the guy in question to be treated in uncivillized way? Maybe some people here lived to long in some strange environment....Do not get me wrong...I am not supporting people that do molest children...but again be appropriate...peadophile people I consider sick and they need treatment...unfortunately it not take a lot of effort form them in some parts of Thailand to be successful.

Though I would agree that he needs to be found guilty before being hung, drawn and quartered, I would assume for him to be charged with child molestation that the 'porn' they found must incriminate him in some way and provide some sort of evidence that he molested a child ie. he filmed himself in the act.

We have our legal team to closely observe the issue. And please stop looking at the army as the accused.

Erm, you're no longer the accused. You've been found guilty, no ones accusing you any more.

The court tells that the army did it because the bullets were the same size as the army uses. Complete ignoring that anyone can use the same ammunition.

The General know every single soldier and know that there isn't any rouge one against his order. And people should look somewhere else.

That is complete ridiculous from both sides.

Did the court not also specifically identify the army units responsible which would not tie in to the bullet size issue.

"By 2040, it is estimated that the average age of Thai males will be 75.3 years, while the female average is predicted at 81.9 years."

No wonder the bar girls are starting to look so much older!

Clearly some people have absolutely no qualms about involving themselves in very questionable activity.

These will be the same individuals to will be squealing when the "crackdowns" occur.

I wonder if this same mob are the ones who complain about "illegals" in their own countries ?

Just asking/wondering!

Of course there are people who get involved in this sort of stuff here, same as they possibly would get involved in underhand things in their own countries if they had the opportunity.

Equally there are dubious officials at many levels in Thailand who can help facility such goings on if the price is right.

I must say you questions and wondering strike me as a touch naive given that most people get a fair ideea of how things work here within a very short time of getting off the plane.

Who is this "Authority" which enables illegal activity ?

This is becoming interesting !

Becoming interesting???

The OP tells you exactly where to go to get this though it does seem a touch expensive.

I used Savannakhet last time for my multi-entry O (marriage) as the paperwork for the extension would have been difficult due to a specific situation. With transport/accommodation it came to around THB.19000 total but I was offered one for 22k with genuine immigration stamp without leaving the country.

It's called democracy in action. Despite being in Power for a while (and in the position to influence things) the Democrats had it proved to them at the last election that they simply don't have the support they need to control the Parliament and run this country. Some else does have majority popular support and (despite what many TV contributors can't seem to get their head around) are therefore the elected Government of the Kingdom of Thailand. And as such they can introduce laws to Parliament, get them passed and put them into action. The days of protestors changing the Government because they shout the loudest and cause the most amount of trouble are hopefully over for a while (because things shouldn't be allowed to work like that). The people of Thailand (not resident expats) voted and voted-in the current Government with a significant majority and until the next election they are the Government. The people have spoken and clearly the majority of people in this country believe that certain people deserve to be forgiven past offenses / misdeeds and the Government because it draws its power and relevance from the electorate has introduced an Amnesty Bill. Democracy.

Half of your post is correct and and the other half is flawed.

Yes, this government was voted in, fair and square. As such they can introduce Laws. That's the correct part of your post. (Of course, they do not have a right to pass a Law, as they are only the government. To do so by some form of autocratic decree would not be democratic.)

However, the current government won 48.4% (if I recall correctly) votes - so, yes they have a very strong mandate to do what they said they would do during their election campaign until their term expires. Their election pledges were very unspecific about whether they would work towards forgiving "past offenses / misdeeds", and the question was dodged ambiguously at every opportunity.

Therefore it is the case that clearly the majority of people in this country believed in 2011 that they as a whole would benefit more from a Peua Thai government than a Democrat one; whereas it is not the case that "clearly the majority of people in this country believe that certain people deserve to be forgiven past offenses / misdeeds" - that's the flawed part of your post, even if you are right on this; we just don't know because the public has never been directly asked this question. (And in fact we have large parts of both sides voicing strong opposition to a general amnesty as is being proposed, as it would absolve wrongdoers on both sides.)

And this is why the "symbolic" fight against the amnesty bill is of consequence - so that those who make the rules are aware of the political division and barrier to reconciliation this move will create. This is democracy in action, as in a true democracy all voices must be taken into consideration.

I thought it was 48% of the people who voted, Not at all the same as 48% of the population entitled to vote. Neither is a majority.

Ignoring several requests for an answer to questions from the Ombudsman regarding illegal actions is hardly the response anyone would expect from a government that has any respect for democracy or the rule of law.

It is neither.

Though PT only gain 48% of the vote the current government is a coalition including several smaller parties so they actually received somewhere closer to 60% which is a clear majority of the votes cast.

"He said the PATR objective was to overthrow the Thaksin regime, and not the government"

If it is not the government they are trying to overthrow then exactly which Thaksin regime are they referring to?

Have been very happy with Sophon internet for several years now and they have usually been very quick to resolve problems. I did have an issue with them a couple of months back where it was down for 3 days but they said they were waiting for BTV to fix something so not sure if they share some equipment somewhere.

Oh dam_n...it is lacking the PAD-spirit?

And I was looking forward to some nice sit-in's at the airport(s)!

...and-of course- the TAT- announcement, that 7 days of chaos at Swampy and DMK had no ifluence on the number of expected tourists!

Oh dear God, enough with the airport already. I'm guessing it was because you were personally inconvenienced, or were you truly troubled by the impact on this country's tourism. C'mon.

And for the last time, they.were.chased.into.the.airport. by the aggressive Redshirts who wanted their Dear Leader home soonest. Which could still very well happen if this corrupt puppet maladministration get their own way, despite a warning from the UN, but hell, that was what Yingluck et al were installed for.

And no, I am not an 'elitist' and observed both rallies, red and yellow, personally. I know which one I'd've preferred to be part of.

Are you sure you observed both rallies - i can't remember seeing those poor yellow shirts being herded into the airports by redshirts?

The logic that having a US warship there makes it less likely to be a target escapes me, unless he is implying that, since they would be a bigger target then residents and tourists would be safe.

There are so may simlarities between Thailand and North Korea , but at least North Korea doesn't pretend to be a democracy .

Would that be the Democratic People's Republic of Korea?

Actually, when they are proven correct (at some point in the near future) I would assume apologies and large compensations will be forthcoming?

No because even if they are correct, their statements will still have panicked people!

But surely if a coup happens then we will get a new constitution saying anything to do with the coup was perfectly legal and above board and therefore those who talked about it will be able to use this as a defence.

nb.For legal reasons, I do not believe there will be a coup and would never suggest otherwise

well they called it off because they were worried for the safety. There were men in black on the roofs. They told that these are snipers to shoot demonstrators.

There are photos from the men in black, but non of any rifle. So that might be just policemen to watch....but why wear black clothes?

Virtually all the police were wearing black, it is there standard riot gear, and of course they would have had observers on buildings to get a better view of what was going on - as per The Nation quote they were well organised.

the observers on the buildings wear riot gear?

I don't know what they were wearing, indeed, I don't even know if they were there at all. Given that it is you have stated that there are photos of them maybe you could provide them but, if they did exisit and as I stated I would expect some observers to be posted, I hardly think they would be dressed in pink shirts though, being Thailand, I wouldn't be that surprised. The most obvious choice would be that they were wearing the same gear as the majority of the rest of the police though without stab jackets, helmets and the likes.

What the Democrats said at the last election was that it was effectively a referendum on whether Thaksin should get an amnesty for his crimes - as yet that hasn't happenned and the current proposals do not include it.

I am not sure to what extend he is running the country and wish he would just go away but it seems that he is just as big a prop to the opposition and they have far more interest in keeping him in the limelight.

If it was "effectively a referendum", Thaksin effectively lost 48 to 52.

I am sure Thaksin would love to continue his skype calls in to the cabinet without it being highlighted by the Democrats.

It was the Dems that were trying to make it a referendum about Thaksin,not PT, so it could be argued that with only 35% voting for them that they lost. The problem is that they are still using the same failed strategy with the same failed leader promoting it rather than coming up with something new that they can get people to vote for.

These people will do about almost anything to keep this arrogant nepotist in clear view. Who cares. He is a convicted felon on the run and should be of no consequence to Thailand and it's politics.

This only continues to highlight the continual hypocracy of this country in an attempt to restore some credibility to this scumbag.

I would agree with you on this. The Democrats have tried their hardest to make everything about Thaksin - it was the central plank of their last general election campaign and still is. The Democrat leaning english language newspapers also play this up as well with daily stories that Thaksin has farted and such like.

What the Democrats said about Thaksin in the last election is pretty much right, isn't it? He's effectively running the country, and the government are attempting to whitewash his crimes.

What the Democrats said at the last election was that it was effectively a referendum on whether Thaksin should get an amnesty for his crimes - as yet that hasn't happenned and the current proposals do not include it.

I am not sure to what extend he is running the country and wish he would just go away but it seems that he is just as big a prop to the opposition and they have far more interest in keeping him in the limelight.

Have Pitak Siam changed there name in the hope that nobody will remember that they were going to disband after their dismal performance last time?

What you call a dismal performance was succumbing to wave after wave of tear gas and thousands of overly-aggressive police.

Global Post news photo link:

http://www.globalpost.com/photo/5726980/thailand-protests-20121124

Thai riot policemen clash with demonstrators during a protest in Bangkok on November 24, 2012. Thai police fired tear gas and detained dozens of people as tensions flared at an anti-government protest on November 24 in Bangkok.

What do you call a terrific performance? The red shirts' grenade launchers? The men in black firing assault weapons?

From The Nation today

"Pitak Siam's one-day protest failed miserably because of strong and well-organised police resistance."

well they called it off because they were worried for the safety. There were men in black on the roofs. They told that these are snipers to shoot demonstrators.

There are photos from the men in black, but non of any rifle. So that might be just policemen to watch....but why wear black clothes?

Virtually all the police were wearing black, it is there standard riot gear, and of course they would have had observers on buildings to get a better view of what was going on - as per The Nation quote they were well organised.

Have Pitak Siam changed there name in the hope that nobody will remember that they were going to disband after their dismal performance last time?

What you call a dismal performance was succumbing to wave after wave of tear gas and thousands of overly-aggressive police.

Global Post news photo link:

http://www.globalpost.com/photo/5726980/thailand-protests-20121124

Thai riot policemen clash with demonstrators during a protest in Bangkok on November 24, 2012. Thai police fired tear gas and detained dozens of people as tensions flared at an anti-government protest on November 24 in Bangkok.

What do you call a terrific performance? The red shirts' grenade launchers? The men in black firing assault weapons?

From The Nation today

"Pitak Siam's one-day protest failed miserably because of strong and well-organised police resistance."

These people will do about almost anything to keep this arrogant nepotist in clear view. Who cares. He is a convicted felon on the run and should be of no consequence to Thailand and it's politics.

This only continues to highlight the continual hypocracy of this country in an attempt to restore some credibility to this scumbag.

I would agree with you on this. The Democrats have tried their hardest to make everything about Thaksin - it was the central plank of their last general election campaign and still is. The Democrat leaning english language newspapers also play this up as well with daily stories that Thaksin has farted and such like.

Exactly which industries are dominated by russian nationals? Sounds more like the press trying to whip up a storm of xenophobia and sensationalism.

You are not Russian, are you;-)

Erm - no. But living in Pattaya I cannot see any industry that even comes close to being dominated by Russians - maybe you would care to enlighten me.

No Russian hookers on walking street ? are you blind ?

I guess we have different understandings of the word dominate.