allan michaud

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For God's sake, just rain! We need the air cleaned big time in CM.

It rained here in Phnom Penh today, big thunderstorm, just wonderful. It was getting really oppressive.

What a guy!

Very plausible... for today.

I have been saying this for over a decade and it just amazes me how this crap can be allowed to be broadcast again and again. The story of rape and the girl falling for the rapist is repeated so often in other stupid soaps over the years and it only glorifies it. I was shocked when I saw one of these my wife was watching a decade back. I was equally shocked to find that she felt the story was ok... "because the girl really loved him in the end"

I think the lack of action speaks volumes for the attitude of most of Thailand's male population. As in most of the region many Thai women are still brought up to be subservient to men and it is an attitude often passed down by mothers to daughters. Very sad.

It would be nice to see some actual useful and intelligent TV programing, how about some high quality educational programs. How about extolling the few good upstanding members of society rather than pandering to the corrupt and glorifying the thugs and thieves of society. How about some real documentaries. Agricultural education maybe.

Off on a tangent here, but say you wanted to increase rice productivity in a country with one of the lowest weight to hectare rice production rates in all of SE Asia 2.4 tons (Cambodia produces 2.7). Vietnam is producing over 6 tons per hectare, more than double what Thailand can manage. Surely a high quality educational program with heavy promotion on radio and in other media would be a great investment. With a few changes to rice farming Thailand's farmers could easily double their output in just a few years and at the same time reduce the slow poisoning of the countries soil and water sources with chemical fertilisers and pesticides. The power of TV is amazing if it's used properly.

Just a thought.

Then again, I am pretty sure most of the population, as with most of the world, is actually very happy watching this mindless crap.

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The sad part is, he'll probably get away with nothing more than a "warning" not to do it again. In a truly "civilized" country - which we all know Thailand isn't - his "rich, well connected" butt would be sitting in a jail cell with an appointment with the judge pending.

But TiT

Not sure you are correct, there have been more than a few instances in the UK of well connected people getting off very lightly with all sorts of crimes... but yes it is far more common here and it is the outrageous bragging that makes it so sickening. I must admit that as a lifelong biker I would probably have lost my rag if some a'hole knocked me off and then said that. I am not a violent person but I don't think I would have been able to stop myself from hospitalising the scumbag.

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Wasn't Thailand's rice bought by the government at about $450/ton?

$100 loss per ton x 800,000 tons = $80,000,000 USD loss or near to 2.5 billion THB

Or is this new rice? Or is my math wrong?

We pressed SEND at the same time...but we have the same outcome.

However. I am unsure if the 15,000 per ton was for paddy (unmilled) or milled rice? And are they selling milled or unmilled rice, I assume it's milled.

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Now you can see why Detroit is a Ghost Town. Greedy, Western Manufacturers are all coming to Thailand and other developing Countries, in order to take advantage of slave wages and poor worker safety standards, in order to make more profits.

While your point is valid in a general global sense, the fact is the major car producers here so far are for the most part Japanese, not American. I actually think the main problem is as it was in the UK a couple of decades back. Then the UK was producing crap cars that were unreliable, while the Japanese were producing cheaper and better cars. As a consequence the British car industry tanked, leaving just a few small scale companies like Rolls Royce and Lotus, which is still known by many as meaning Loads Of Trouble, Usually Serious.

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Unfortunately hate has been instilled in both sides and that is going to take a long time to heal.

Even the polerisation into two sides is something that will likely take a generation or more to bring back together, particularly when children are taught the hate.

Fortunately this does not appear to be general throughout the country but is only in places where there are fanatics of whatever color.

Where I live people can live together as friends and neighbors and still have different political views, although they may not be discussed particularly openly they are still respected and accepted by all but a few and I see those few getting less and less.

No need for violence from any side but also no need to do things to provoke those who you know have strong views.

Spot on sir. Sadly where my family is in Khon Kaen you cannot speak freely, the Red's are feared by anyone who has a differing opinion or as I do feels neither side is right or good for the country until sweeping reforms take place.

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The Police have already stated on public record they are redshit activists, so I doubt the "fake" side of things will wash if they try it later on.

Very interesting to see the actual contents listed, except for an RPG this happens to include every single weapon that people have been shot with, blown up or injured by over the past 4 years, so can we lay to rest that "it couldn't be the reds cos they wouldn't do that" and that they "are peace-loving hippies who would never harm a fly". It's total bullshit and insulting to think otherwise.

The question is why the Police took so long to check out the camp? I think we can all be fairly certain that if the Police did their job and raided all these various 'camps' (Red and Yellow for that matter) there would be a big reduction in violence.

I think foreign investors are more concerned by general incompetence, how many huge companies that invested in factories here have been considering moving because of the flood debacle and the fact that there has been no real changes made to cope with the next flood. If I was looking to set up a business in SE Asia it would certainly not be in Thailand, too much instability, too much incompetence at the highest levels and way, way, way too much corruption. Corruption is only tolerated when there are clear benefits, here the corrupt are so incompetent they care only abut their pockets and give nothing in the way of incentives to those foreign investors they want to rip off.

The country is run by a bunch of Muppets. In fact I am pretty sure Kermit and Miss Piggy could do a better job than the likes of Mr Propeller Head, Kitikat and the Drunk Police Captain.

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For your edification, since the term "farang" is not used to refer to an ethnic group that historically has been oppressed and victimized, your suggestion is totally ludicrous.

Yeah, because how we all know, only blacks and Asians have been 'historically oppressed and victimized',
That must come as a bit of a shock to all the Irish Catholics, South Americans who lived under military dictatorships, Europeans in the middle/dark ages, Russisns under Stalin, white farmers in Mugabe's Zimbabwe, Brits under Roman rule, etc, etcetera.. How far do you want to go back?
Looks like Brad failed history!

Hahaha...

Anyone who thinks it was racial oppression when Stalin's white Russians oppressed other white Russians, they failed

a lot more than history, like a general IQ test.

Brits under Roman rule? Be serious, dude, both sides were mainly caucasian. I want to say, "Get an education" but it's

obviously much too late for you.

Brad are you a brain donor? I ask because you seem to have little understanding of either history or the English language. Colour is not the only thing that can be an indication of racism, the Romans oppressed many nations, and many religious groups, Stalin likewise the Jews and other minorities. Here there are many cases of racism (against pretty much all nationalities other than Thai's... and don't forget the racism shown by Thai's towards their countrymen from Issan or the South). You really are an idiot.

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It will be used for "scammer and thieves." This will mean that 95% of Thais will be wearing them when dealing with foreigners.

I just spilled my coffee after reading your post alt=biggrin.png width=20 height=20> Seriously though, the scams that happen to farangs at the thai airports are very concerning and a huge black mark for thailand. The airport is the last place anyone travelling from abroad wants to be concerned about especially after a long flight.

How about doing this at Aranyapathet too... oh sorry the scammers are officials or officials family members.

My edit... I should say this is regarding the que scam, where people are being allowed to make money off tourists being held up in huge ques waiting to get through the Thai border. The officials are clearly involved as this is happening under their noses and in a restricted area so there is no excuse.

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is he on bail while he appeals the conviction alt=facepalm.gif width=24 height=18>

Thailand hub of the truly bizarre

No,he's not a cop.

or well connected Ferrari driver... or a self confessed murder/TV star.

Snow balls chance in hell of the police doing jack. And if we are going to provide statistics, the simple fact is the so called 7 dangerous days are far less dangerous that an average day on the Thai roads as the national average is closer to 55 deaths per day, so 45 per day during the holiday seems pretty good to me.

UNTIL YOU SACK ALL THE POLICE AND START FROM SCRATCH NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE.

Considering Thaksin apparently dropped out of Thai politics many years ago (according to him... on more than 1 occasion) I cannot see why anyone would believe a Shinawatra that says they are taking a break from politics.

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These Thai young schoolboys are really exactly same with monkeys.

No they are not, I have never seen monkeys using guns or hand grenades.

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Sorry thailand, your just too expensive ! With other Asian countries offering very much the same at discounted prices right across the board, there is really no incentive for tourists to flock here.

The only place in Asia i've found better hotel value than LOS is in Vietnam.

So you haven't traveled that much then? Cambodia is dramatically cheaper. What I can get for 1,000 baht here I can get for 300 baht in Cambodia.

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Ask the Dutch how to do regarding salt water encroachment. 50% of their country lays lower than the sea level and they are experts in water management and flood protection. That's why they are called The Netherlands.

Yes, but do you seriously expect Thai's to take advice from Farangs?

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How bloody sad is that story? Six months ago this country was the envy of most of the region and now? Yes I know the "man from Dubai" chanters will try and say the rice deal was the turning point but the simple fact is Thailand would have moved past that. What's destroying this country is the rogue Suthep, his puppetmasters (who all have their millions offshore anyway - this is about power not money) and those who are dim enough to support him. PDRC flagwavers can - each and every one - say proudly "I did my little bit to destroy Thailand".

Seriously? So nothing to do with the sudden doubling of the minimum wage, which drove many Thai businesses to lay off staff and foreign businesses to look elsewhere. Nothing to do with the total incompetence of the govt in dealing with floods 2 years running. I am pretty damn sure a lot of foreign investors have had quite enough of the PTP bull$hit and simply don't want to take the risk of being flooded yet again. The rice issue is a very small part of the problem for most businesses, although Cambodia has now been swamped with Thai rice traders. This has very little to do with Suthep and Co, although they are not helping matters.

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These comments support further the argument to avoid buses all together and to take the train when circumstances permit,

Thai trains are hardly much better, they seem to fall off the tracks on a daily basis.

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what happened to the good old thai sticks, and sitting down listening to reggae? This is awful. Idiot kids get into chroming everywhere, but the threat of violence is a great concern. I understand inhalants are not addictive, but indicative of an attitude which either devil may care. I don't know much about this one though.

I am not sure about them not being addictive but glue sniffing certainly destroys what little brain cells these kids have.

The going rate was $10,000 per cubic meter a couple of months back, so it is impossible for us to judge the value without seeing the size of the logs, but the valuation sounds reasonable. Of course the question has to be how the owner managed to flee in advance and surely they must know who owns the property? With this amount of money involved you know for sure the RTP were deeply involved along with local politicians and other scum that has managed to float to the top of local society.

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Have you visited Chaiyaphum?

What a let down of a city!

The only acceptable site is Tat ton waterfalls.

And they charge foreigners 100Baht instead of the 20Baht for Thais.

Are they worth a visit? despite the 500% mark up for farangs? I must admit I don't generally go to any place that charges so much more, I expect a double price maybe but more than that is just taking the pi$$