pete_r

They stopped their activities but not their observations, even had a few complaints about the junta.

By the way... What was the nature of their complaints about the junta? Wasn't it that some former allies of Thaksin were selected to be part of the new government, and the PAD didn't approve?

That's true, thanks for the reminder. At first it seemed all sweet with Sondhi Limthongkul receiving a TV show on Channel 11 shortly after the coup (which may be seen as a reward for his role in bringing about the fall of Thaksin), but just a few weeks later in January or February 2007 he announced quite abruptly the end of his broadcast. So I guess he said or did something to displease the junta, unless it was related to his libel/defamation suits coming in March-April 2007. He continued his speeches on ASTV though.

I don't know about the post-coup activities of the other PAD members.

Still they didn't go after the junta with the same spite they showed against Thaksin, which puts in question their pro-democracy stance.

PAD are heroes!

for exposing this grotesque, pathetic government for what it is.

Sure. And where they were when we had the "grotesque and pathetic" Junta ?

The little men in their tight uniforms, you remember ? With stupid smile (General Surayud) and without a clue (General Sonthi) ?

Please, tell me ?

Sure. I think they disbanded shortly after the coup, as they had achieved their objectives at the time.

... although, yes I do wish they regrouped and put more pressure on Surayud and Sonthi to bury the Thaksin regime once and for all. They had their chances. A missed opportunity perhaps.

A People Alliance for Democracy that declares its objectives achieved and disbands just after the military seized power. Peculiar...

No. The main reason the military stepped in when it did was to prevent the possibility (probability) of serious violence occurring at Sanam Luang on the eve of the coup and the following day.

Thaksin was planning this - and then this would have given him reasonable grounds for declaring a state of national emergency. In fact - it is no surprise that he was already in New York at the time with the speech for doing so already prepared in advance. The military new of this.

Bringing Thaksin to account was one of the main - if not the main reason - for the coup - so it's not surprising that the PAD immediately ceased their protests and decided on a "wait and see" option.

The intelligent choice.

A military intervention had been required in the interests of public safety.

Ok, I've got to answer to some of the points here.

1 - "The main reason the military stepped in when it did was to prevent the possibility (probability) of serious violence occurring at Sanam Luang on the eve of the coup and the following day."

In other words the military did a pre-emptive strike. The problem with pre-emptive strikes is that we never know if they really pre-empted anything, or not. Maybe there was no violence brewing at Sanam Luang, just like there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq (Iraq, the craddle of the pre-emptive strike theory, or in less PC terms, the "any flimsy excuse will do for striking first" theory).

2 - "Thaksin was planning this - and then this would have given him reasonable grounds for declaring a state of national emergency."

Do you, or anyone else, have any evidence to support this statement? I've read it and heard it again and again since the coup, but I have never seen in any media a shred of evidence that Thaksin was planning a state of emergency. Yes there was going to be an army re-shuffle in October, like there is every year; and yes in this re-shuffle allies of Thaksin were going to get high-ranking positions. I've heard that many times, but I do not see how it is enough to prove that he was going to establish national emergency, even less followed by his own dictatorship. Any explanation more solid than this would be welcome.

3 - "A military intervention had been required in the interests of public safety."

As Prakanong said earlier, the Number 1 excuse for every military coup in every banana republic.

Again, a People Alliance for Democracy that stop their activities when the military seize power should seriously consider changing the name of their movement.

PAD are heroes!

for exposing this grotesque, pathetic government for what it is.

Sure. And where they were when we had the "grotesque and pathetic" Junta ?

The little men in their tight uniforms, you remember ? With stupid smile (General Surayud) and without a clue (General Sonthi) ?

Please, tell me ?

Sure. I think they disbanded shortly after the coup, as they had achieved their objectives at the time.

... although, yes I do wish they regrouped and put more pressure on Surayud and Sonthi to bury the Thaksin regime once and for all. They had their chances. A missed opportunity perhaps.

A People Alliance for Democracy that declares its objectives achieved and disbands just after the military seized power. Peculiar...

PAD are the same as all the rest, looking out for self interest.

So what are their interests?

Make money is one... The Manager media group controlled by Sondhi Limthongkul sold a lot of extra paper during the protests in 2006. The ASTV channel also received a lot of donations during that time, following Sondhi's calls to "save the country".

Same old nationalistic rhetorics from the PAD. They accuse anyone they don't like of disrespecting the country / the people / the religion (and one other element of Thai society that we don't discuss here), which is a sure way of raising anger and create unrest and protests.

Their strategy is based on stirring emotions, not rational thinking (although they are very rational in the way they use this strategy).

Typical example:

According to the PAD statement issued Wednesday, the government has disrespected the country (...)

"Disrespect of the country" is loaded with emotion, but is there only a legal definition for it?

I thought it was a touching symbol of respect for Thailand. I'm sure most of his supporters viewed it as such.

that symbol is very cheap indeed.

what about when he sold off national asset worth billions? did the supporters think that was a touching symbol of respect for Thailand too?

<deleted> ???

Thaicom was Thaksin's own company, not a national asset. Even the generals couldn't argue with that, although they tried to pressure Singapore to give it back to them, with no luck. As far as I know, the only charge they pushed against him in relation to that story was that he didn't pay taxes on the sale.

Maybe we need to specify the location in our answers. Prices and conditions are not the same in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Ubon Ratchatani.

My first house rented in Bangkok in 2005: 3000 Baht/month, and 3000 Baht deposit. That was a 1970s-1980s style house with concrete walls for the 1st (ground) floor, and wooden structure for the 2nd floor.

Same conditions as Toptuan:

No contract or lease required. No notice required to vacate. No prior agreement on landlord/tenant maintenance/repair responsibilities--negotiate each situation as it arises.

But no reduction after one year.

The house was half-furnished with things that the owner didn't have space to store in his own house, but that didn't influence the rent price. The main factor that got us a low price (low for Bangkok) was that there were one or two ghost in the house, and the owner was happy just to find someone brave enough to stay in it.

I'd say that the increase in price of the tapioca starch is currently following that of the roots, which have more or less doubled since late 2006, from 1000 Bahts/ton to 2000-2200 Bahts/ton today.

Cassava attracts a lot of interest at the moment, I expect prices to rise still a bit more in the next year or two, until supply catches up with demand. Unless demand continues to increase as well, which may happen given the bio-ethanol factories scheduled to start operating in the coming 2-3 years.

For the roots, prices are displayed at the factory gate and vary between different regions (currently around 2000 Bahts/ton). I don't know if there is a website tracking these.

For the starch, the Thai Tapioca Starch Association website has weekly updates:

http://www.thaitapiocastarch.org/

They also have historical data in their "market and statistic" section.

Good points. I will follow your strategy in Vietnam. If I'm lucky and arrive in LAX early I will try to sneak onto the Colombia flight on the same day, if not I'll get to spend a day in Los Angeles.

Cheers,

My travel agent suggests 2 hours layover at Los Angeles airport (LAX) are enough to connect between a flight from Bangkok (landing at 19.00) and a flight to Bogota (taking off at 21.00). I would like to believe them because it would shorten the trip by several hours, but objectively that seems very short. The two companies are different (Thai Air and Avianca), so I would have to collect the luggage, pass immigration, and check-in again.

Any opinion from members with experience of LAX airport would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Edit: Spelling

There were two parallel threads on this topic last March. Here is:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=110194

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=111487

My impression is similar to KhaoNiaw: It probably happens, but it's not as widespread as the rumors about it. In any case, watch your children and teach them to be wary of strangers.

Edit to add: Read post 33 by Ray23 in the first thread mentioned (http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=110194). I think it's a good summary.

Thai students in the UK (i.e. with an education visa or whatever it is called) also get tourist visas to European countries without problems, by applying at the relevant embassies in London.

An interesting article from the BBC about the price of rice and the position of Thailand on the world market.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7222043.stm

Having looked under my roof, it seems that I can either fit the insulation under the roof tiles, or lay it on the suspended ceiling.

I'm wondering which of these two options is the most effective to keep the rooms below cool, so any insight or experience would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Pete

Xerostar, big thanks for the link. I had heard that cellulose insulation was available in Thailand, but I had given up finding a supplier.

I've also found the website of Siam Fiber Glass (same company that supplies the Staycool brand, but here they offer different sizes):

http://www.siamfiberglass.com/final/produc...structure1.html

They even list their prices:

http://www.siamfiberglass.com/final/produc...ture-pirce.html

So much for national reconciliation...

Watch out for the geckos in your garage!

Truth be told - the jury is still out on the subject of organic versus conventional.

TMF

Tim, is it you?

Everyone was wondering/worrying about you.

Good to see you back!

Pete

A good thing to do would be to stop paying bribes at all levels, and end corruption overnight. But nobody asked me for a bribe today, so what I did was re-use plastic bags at the supermarket.

I also left the car at home and took the bus (like most days), thus reducing pollution and traffic jams in my part of Bangkok.

The roll call voting was held after MPs disputed for 2 hours and 40 minutes as to whether a debate should be held before the voting.

Good one

Does anyone know when the Kaset Agricultural Fair is this year 2008?

BB

Regrettably it was canceled due to the 100 days mourning period...

Bump. The Staycool insulation rolls available in Homemarts and Homepros come in standard size 4m x 0.6m, but I would be happier with rolls 6m x 1m, given the confiuration of the beams under my roof.

Any pointers to suppliers other than Staycool in Bangkok would be much appreciated.

I've just taken the time to scan a list of the main cassava varieties in Thailand, with short summaries of their characteristics. The document is from the Rayong Field Crops Research Center.

cassava_varieties_thailand.pdf