way2muchcoffee

Did you protest in front of Thaksin's house when he butchered and murdered people during the so called drug cleansing?

There's a time and place to protest peacefully.

I am sorry, but I must have missed the reports of Taksin Butchering and murdering people during the crackdown on drug dealing. Do you have pictures of him butchering these people. Such Drivel, you should be ashamed of yourself. Sounds like a Democrat in America blaming everything on George Bush.

What is drivel is suggesting that for someone to be responsible for the lives of innocent people they must not only have killed with their own bare hands but there must also be photographic evidence.

I completely agree with you but the same criticism applies to those on TV who insist that the army never shot any reds, because of the absence of specific photographic evidence............

The same could be said of those who insist that the army 'massacred' the reds, without any specific or photographic evidence.

Welcome back kissdani.

Bullying is rampant in Thai schools IME. (I have been a teacher here for nearly a decade).

I disagree with Heng's comments that it is bullying-lite in Thailand. I do think that physical bullying is limited when compared with the west, but the psychological bullying is much more extreme. It also seems to have more damaging effects on the victim insofar as Thailand has a group/community oriented culture. When a child is ostracized from the group here the pain and consequences are far more severe than they would be in the west, where individualism is encouraged.

These are my observations. Perhaps others have observed things differently, or have come to different conclusions....

Killing yourself solves nothing.

Sure it does. It is the final solution. No more debt. No more pain.

Of course there is also no more laughter, sex, and fun. No more... life.

How does a politician get elected with only a minority? Bought or free or dumb a vote is still a vote. And how does one know the majority support the military coup with out an election?

A politician gets elected from a minority party through a coalition government. Post deposition polls would provide additional information.

Fair point about the military and majority. Again, however, one can estimate this from polls taken after a military coup, but admittedly with much less surety.

I must disagree with you on one point. A bought vote is not a valid vote. It is a perversion of democracy. The same is said of a military coup.

Note: The thoughts are clear in my head, but alcohol is impacting their expression in the written word. I shall try again at a later point. In my defense, it is 11:15 on a Saturday night. I'll probably read this and cringe tomorrow.

A couple of interesting posts here. I tend to agree with gregb, but I can understand the arguments against as well. Tough situation. A military coup is totally inconsistent with democracy. But when that military coup deposes an extremely corrupt demagogue who is destroying the pillars of democracy then which is better - a nonviolent coup with support of the majority of the people, or a democratically elected dictator with only minority support? And what if it was majority support? Would it change anything?

These questions are difficult to answer. A person's take on this will determine which political grouping he aligns himself with.

For some schools, especially the ones in rural areas, free wi-fi access will be a blessing. For schools in more affluent parts of Thailand, I smell a disaster brewing.

I work at a school in an affluent part of Thailand. Most of the students have laptops. I have noticed a substantial decrease in attention span because the kids are spending all of their time playing computer games. I don't think the social sites like hi5 and facebook (as well as porn) are as much of a problem as these networked games like Counterstrike (a first person shooter). The loss of attention span resulting from video game play is much greater than that caused by just watching TV and has been documented by several studies.

So, I think this is a mixed blessing. Good for the students in rural areas who will be able to access more information and research, but could present a big problem for more affluent kids who are not interested in learning and are only interested in using their laptops for gaming.

Look at it this way. Remember how thrilled you were in school, when your teacher brought in a film projector or TV for the students to watch, as opposed to the usual lecture? The kids at my school all put their heads down when you try to show them even a short video, in fact, even a music video. They don't want to do anything but play on the internet or play their networked games. Their access to the internet has destroyed their interest in learning.

Just my personal thoughts, based on my experience as a teacher in Thailand.

Isn't that more of a parenting issue?

Na.... It's a teaching issue. If one can not command the attention of the pupils or control a class maybe one should consider a different profession. As they use to say, If you can't do, teach. If you can't teach, teach Gym!

Do you teach? What subject? For how long? In Thailand? For how many years? To what age levels? Rural or urban? Private or government schools? Your comments sound like ill-informed platitudes.

Whilst I agree that it is up to a teacher to control classes and provide quality lessons, addiction to video games and the attention span issues it engenders in children has very little to do with the schools. It is my contention that these are issues that are best addressed in the home and by the parents or guardians starting at about 2-3 years old.

The same can be said for the development of good study habits, honesty, integrity, motivation and self-discipline.

For some schools, especially the ones in rural areas, free wi-fi access will be a blessing. For schools in more affluent parts of Thailand, I smell a disaster brewing.

I work at a school in an affluent part of Thailand. Most of the students have laptops. I have noticed a substantial decrease in attention span because the kids are spending all of their time playing computer games. I don't think the social sites like hi5 and facebook (as well as porn) are as much of a problem as these networked games like Counterstrike (a first person shooter). The loss of attention span resulting from video game play is much greater than that caused by just watching TV and has been documented by several studies.

So, I think this is a mixed blessing. Good for the students in rural areas who will be able to access more information and research, but could present a big problem for more affluent kids who are not interested in learning and are only interested in using their laptops for gaming.

Look at it this way. Remember how thrilled you were in school, when your teacher brought in a film projector or TV for the students to watch, as opposed to the usual lecture? The kids at my school all put their heads down when you try to show them even a short video, in fact, even a music video. They don't want to do anything but play on the internet or play their networked games. Their access to the internet has destroyed their interest in learning.

Just my personal thoughts, based on my experience as a teacher in Thailand.

Isn't that more of a parenting issue?

Complaining about site moderation won't get you too far if your aim is to keep threads open and posts visible.

Since the current Thai 'elite' (government included) can't be trusted with one cent, I suggest the following;

1] Hire a group of foreigners to 'setup' the country's government. Of course, most of the existing Thai laws must remain except for the laws that allow discrimination, culture & religion to determine the outcomes of people's lives.

2] Hire an army to protect the foreigners.

3] Give the foreigners 1 year to complete the task. Upon completion of said task, they must leave the country.

4] Sack all Thai police & the entire Thai military & start again. Give them jobs as 'service station attendants' & promote the existing attendants so that these buggers take orders from 'little people'. Also, the 'new' military will not have any connection to politics. The 'new' attendants will need to be watched carefully so each attendant must have a 'foreign' security guard...24 hours a day.

5] The 'new' Police Force & Military will be paid more, at least double & will be subject to frequent external revues by impartial international organisations for a minimum period of 5 years, the results of which will be publicised nationally.

6] Remodel the entire ministry of culture so that they are powerless in the major scheme of things.

7] Send the entire ministry of education to other countries so that they can 'learn'.

8] Ban all Thai soap operas for one year (at least). Purchase the rights to broadcast a wide range of television shows, which shall include at least one foreign detective show (preferably not American).

9) Ensure that there is a nice padded cell to house elkangorito until the end of his days....

I don't believe they have any legal recourse for doing anything other than putting the money into the general coffers for the country. It would be irresponsible, and probably illegal, to do otherwise.

Mr. Apologist, please realise that it is not often stupidity but an attempt to steal. In either case, it is not our responsibility to pay and take it in the ass just to make the thief/stupid person happy and me miserable. screw that!

In the case of the guy who got the gas and drove off without paying in full there was no attempt to steal. The gas was given. The person got more than he asked for, but still took what was given and didn't pay up. That is stealing. The customer should be reported to the police for theft.

Partly... but why would he have to pay for the stupidity of others.. In this case i would have paid.. but i don't like the principle of me having to pay up for other people's mistakes

Yes - but he took the gas with him, without paying up. That is stealing. It really doesn't matter if he brought a can of gas a few days later. A ridiculous gesture.

I had a different scam.

I asked for 1000bht. I got out (cos the staff can't find my petrol cap!!!) standing there I see it roll over 1000bht and tell him to stop. he stops at 1121bht. I tell him I said 1000b he starts whinging saying I said fill the tank. I know three other staff heard be say it but they won't back me up so I say I only have this 1000b in my hand. He complains it will come out of his wage but I have no time for this B/S and leave to play my golf match. a week later when passing I gave them 121bht of diesel in a 5litre water bottle, cos I am not a thief. Idiots like him do my nut it! I was just not up for it that day. all he had to gain was selling me more gas than I asked for. I can't imagine they're on commission so I think it was stupidity rather than a scam to be fair...

I won't miss it, that much if for sure. Twunts.

That's pathetic. Because of a minor mistake and a trivial inconvenience to you, a gas attendant loses most of his wages for the day. You should be ashamed.

Sounds a bit naff giving each school a single 3G connection? Imagine an IT lab with 20 computers trying to access the internet over a single 3G connection? Sounds like the government techocrat who thought this up has a high expectation of 3G. Assuming a perfect connection, a single connection will provide 7.5 mb/s download (3.5G HSPDA). Now we folks who are used to 3G in more advanced economies know that 3G is very bursty and is at the mercy of distance from base station, bottlenecks in the mobile network and competing connections on the same base station. Rural areas are not going to have 3G immediatly, and will most likely be on the outer most edge of a Mobile Switching Centre, thus having the least performance...

Most schools will already have ADSL or access to it; in this scenario it makes no sense in hooking up the school to this 3G scheme! Hopefully the schools/techocrats will have the sense to make the right technical solution rather than wasting tax payers/mobile phone companies time and money.

A single 3G connection may not be suitable to run an IT class, but it would definitely be useful for teachers working in areas with no internet access. It would allow teachers to access the wealth of educational websites and information on the web.

As the title of this post is 'tourists warned not to feed Bkks street elephants" and will be fined 10K if they do. As a matter of interest will locals be fined the same amount if caught feeding elephants or is it OK for Thais to feed the elephants?? - This couldn't be another double standard could it??

Probably along the same lines as the cigarette butt fine of 2000 bt for foreigners and 0 bt for Thais.

It is *not* a playful act when it is placed behind the head.

They playful V-sign Thai girls do here is the same as Korean and Japanese girls, around their *own* face, usually close to the corner of the cheeks / mouth.

Not the same.

I'm not so sure. My wife will do this (behind the head) regularly with her sister, brother, and friends when taking pictures. They will respond in kind for the next picture. They all seem to get a big laugh out of it, with never any hard feelings or aggression.

Booking rates are much cheaper using a hotel booking site. As much as 50% off the rack rate can normally be obtained when using a credit card. Cash is not king for hotels in Thailand.

The vast majority of sexual molestation criminals are indeed familiar to the family of the victim (or the father himself) and also note contrary to the myths held by many, the vast majority of the crimes are HETEROSEXUAL in nature.

I have really no idea where this nonsensical post came from. I think you will find these myths are not actually held by many and are just in your own head.

Heterosexual's outnumber the homosexual population thus meaning they are going to offend more.

Your post states "held by many" when it should state "held by a minority".

The world population is pushing 7 billion people. A minority taken from a group this size would constitute many many people.

What about "Asian" only bars/clubs?

Where are these 'Asian only' bars?

In BKK - Thaniya Plaza, a few around Asoke area, Thong Lor, and scattered around other areas as well.

Anyway, you point rightly out that we should look at the percentage of those children diagnosed with a substandard literacy. but you a wrong when you say NOBODY can answer that. quick google search 'Thailand Birth rate ' and i know there are around one million new born Thai each year. So it is safe to assume that there also around 1,000,000 third graders. Makes that impressive number of 30,000 to only 3 percent. Funny isn't it, the headline could be Literacy Of 3-5% Thai Third Graders Substandard That is actually a to good to be true rate. school system in other countries around the globe will not do much better.

And that is below some estimated rates for dyslexia in a population but I think that dyslexia issue depends also very on the language spoken and the writing system is used for that language so maybe that dyslexia diagnosis cannot be applied here.

Nice one. Thanks for pointing out the stats on this.

But Chuan has been caught. He was found guilty of concealing assets by the National Counter Corruption Commission.

This may well be true but I do not recall ever reading about this. Do you have a source?

He was given a few shares in a local cooperative when it opened years ago and forgot to mention them in an assets declaration.

he said he had forgotten about them.

The value was minimal.

That sounds familiar. Maybe I did read something about that. Thanks for jogging the memory.

Lao Po, we are leaving Iraq now and we are not taking their oil with us or destroying it as Sadam attempted to do with Kuwait's oil fields. It's not about oil, its about terrorism and the murders and destruction on 911 which you seem to belittle by ignoring those events. Sadam's invasion and destruction of our ally, Kuwait, the terroristic murders of thousands of our people on 911, and continued threats by Sadam caused the Iraq wars and we never would have been in Iraq were it not for those events.

The oil is still there and free Iraq can do with it what they will.

You are aware that it was Saudi citizens trained in Afghanistan that committed the acts on 911 aren't you?

Yes,,12,000 years ago they figured out how to pick up 1 grain of rice with 2 small sticks..

6,000 years ago that figured how to pick up 2 buckets of shit with 1 stick. and there it just stalled out.

They had a thriving civilization while the poms were living in barbaric squalor and yet to discover hygiene :jap:

You beat me to it.

We still used clubs to "pick up" women back then.

Most likely, as most countries/cultures they had a lot of inventions which contributed to the society back then, which was too advanced for us in the caves.

Well for a civilization as old as Thailand (and others) is, then why have they not advanced as quickly as Western ones? They have had a few thousand extra years to develop so they should be at the pinnacle of civilization. How can this be explained?

QUOTE Now if say you had gone and burned down Siriraj Hospital , (as directed to by red leader Arisman in the youtube video) UNQUOTE.

Just did a search yet still am unable to discover what has become of Arisman. Can anyone shed some light pls. Cheers :jap:

Arisman has disappeared. Rumors indicate that he is laying low in Cambodia.