Tatsujin

Why do they/should they have to wait so long to choose a successor, surely (with respect) the position is vacant now, and can and should be filled now. There will already be lists of potential candidates ready to take over, pre-screened.

Anything to do with the 3,000 odd people who walked through "immigration" a few days ago without being checked?

So, if someone wants to take down a plane, they just need to cut the power at Krabi "International" Airport for a while and make sure the backup generators have no diesel.

...

Is that what happend, the generators ran out of fuel? The link to the full story in the OP does not work for me, which means I can't check if the information is there.

Krabi airport.png

No, I was being sarcastic, they didn't give a cause for the failures, only this:

"Airport Director Attaporn Nuang-udom said he was given two days notice by the provincial electricity authority about maintenance work and upgrades to be carried out 9am to 4pm, but he didn’t expect the backup generators to fail.

Attaporn told a reporter by telephone today the back-up generator system is working again. He said the airport will rent generators in the near future to prevent such an incident from happening again."

Given 2 days notice but didn't think to <deleted> check that the backup generators actually worked. Morons.

Wonder how much he got in kickbacks to allow this?

So, if someone wants to take down a plane, they just need to cut the power at Krabi "International" Airport for a while and make sure the backup generators have no diesel.

"frisking" isn't gonna find anything well hidden. Crazy.

37 million baht withdrawn from atm's at 20k a time and nothing got red flagged at any point?

Come on BiB, you can bullshit better than that.

Thais withdrawal millions through the casinos in Poipet everyday. Just use their atmosphere card to transfer 30 million to the casino's Thai account. So why would it be suspicious? Thais transfer from account to account has no limit.

Fine, but he's Spanish, not Thai, and moving funds from a Singaporean bank account to Thai bank account and then withdrawal from ATM's.

37 million baht withdrawn from atm's at 20k a time and nothing got red flagged at any point?

Come on BiB, you can bullshit better than that.

If they truly believe that there are problems with the foreign shareholding structure or other issues, there's a simple answer, crack down on the Thai law firms that set it all up. Crack down on the district officials that give out fake land documents. Crack down on the tax collectors who are bribed to show lower tax rates due by pretty much every single Thai business out there. Simple.

Except they won't, because no Thai would ever do anything wrong because they are perfect.

It's far far easier to keep their heads up their own collective arse's and blame everything on the foreigners.

And the sad part is, the average Thai believes all the negativity they hear about foreigners. Brainwashing and xenophobia en masse.

.....but where to go.....

...the price one pays for heroics sometimes is.......

Dubai is a popular tourist "political refugee" destination nowadays ... but only if you have squillions to pay for it ...

I've no idea what the BIB's informant told them but I'll bet they were wetting themselves with excitement at the thought of knocking over a foreigners only ' gambling den ' so went in mob handed ready for anything.

Interesting dilemma now over what to do as it may be just too much loss of face to admit it was an unfortunate mistake so they might decide some offence, any offence, is applicable but possibly not prosecute in an effort to regain dignity. ' See how reasonable we are ? '

I can see the informant getting a thick ear, at least.

Incidentally this is now subject of a BBC tongue in cheek report. It's reported all those involved were released on bail after being held for 12 hours.

"Pattaya police chief Sukthat Pumpunmuang told AFP Thursday the raid was sparked by a member of the public complaining to the government's anti-corruption centre. It was initiated by district officials, local media said, not by Pattaya police."

What they heard was "we can get a whole bunch of rich foreigners arrested now, for gambling illegally, think of the bribes they'll have to pay to get out of this one! we'll all be rich beyond our wildest dreams!"

Thailand, where telling the truth gets you a libel/defamation case against you.

This Phuket Governor is (along with all the others) in the pockets of "business" (money) and should be replaced post haste. I nominate the head of the Chao Ley.

How about using the money from the trains, submarines, patrol boats etc etc and instead use that money to put together a fully integrated water management system across the country. This country can't keep bouncing from floods to droughts, there has to be a better way to manage the water situation here.

Be careful or the Bridge club brigade will come for you.

Yeah, but when I play Bridge, there's no money involved so it's not gambling.

Same as when I write something to a friend (only), one-to-one, in private, on Facebook, that's not in the "public domain" as they claim.

Good to see someone is getting tough because the courts certainly aren't.

Yes, but they aren't getting tough. This is blowback from the guy who had his meter set "incorrectly" and he'll get a slap on the wrist, a small fine, but has made 1,000 times more than that doing things illegally. Hardly a deterrent.

It'll be the usual "we're going to do this, we're going to do that" for a couple of weeks then it'll be back to normal with the Taxi Mafia telling the BiB how things are gonna work and paying them off as usual.

It's all just hot air no matter how much those at the top claim otherwise.

How about using the money from the trains, submarines, patrol boats etc etc and instead use that money to put together a fully integrated water management system across the country. This country can't keep bouncing from floods to droughts, there has to be a better way to manage the water situation here.

I'd like to propose that this be extended top to bottom, no immunities or protections for anyone, regardless of their (perceived) level in society.

You break the law, you go to Court, you get punished, finished.

No more of this "oh, he's an MP and can't be touched", no more "moving to an inactive post", no more "he's too rich and powerful to be touched and if I help him now he'll owe me big time forever" ... if they are found guilty, jail them, retrieve any assets stolen, stop their pensions and priveleges ... you know, basically punish them, instead of rewarding them.

Just pull out altogether, you can't be half in or half out, with every country having cut their own deals.

"Europe" is too diverse for there ever to be true union or integration, and I'd call this a failed experiment.

So, proof positive she lied.

Fine her, jail her, then forget the "clinton's", these are not the kinds of people I would want running anything or setting an example.

the

During the time the information was not classified... You should read the whole story.

It might not have been "marked" explicitly as classified, but you're not going to try to tell me that (with her years of experience in politics at the highest levels) she didn't know what was and was not sensitive material, regardless of how it was actually classified at the time? She even admitted that she made a mistake.

In the very nicest way possible, with no hint of criticism or condemnation, I'd like to suggest that the proposed ConstitutionV35 won't be very well liked generally. Which was the whole point.

And for those who opposed the Assad regime will go where if Assad is still in power?

I think Ms. Merkel is getting mixed up between what constitutes a refugee/Asylum seeker and what a displaced person is. People who cannot return to their home country because of a well-founded fear of persecution are refugees. Those who have left because it is a war zone, but who can return once the area is safe are displaced people.

I think she also knows very well that a large proportion of those arriving are actually "economic migrants", comprising lots of young, arrogant anti-everything males and have gone to the countries they have for many reasons, including all the free handouts they were promised by those that encouraged them to leave their home countries and cause the problems they are now creating.

So, proof positive she lied.

Fine her, jail her, then forget the "clinton's", these are not the kinds of people I would want running anything or setting an example.

Well ........... I gotta say i'm impressed that justice has prevailed and caught up with the offender ..... !!

never thought anything would come of it ...... it cost alot of jobs and destroyed those juke boxes & pool tables ....

How has justice in ANY way prevailed in this case?

He admitted lying in Appeals Court, built a park cos of the bad press he got about all of this, and now the sentences have gone down from 5 years to 2 years cos he finally admitted his guilt 10+ years later.

I can see the Thai's now: "wow, what an admirable person, someone to look up to, admitting his guilt, taking the punishment like a man and building a pretty park, what a nice guy".

"people must recognize and be able to differentiate the difference of legitimate religious practice and ungrounded superstitious belief"

classic! lol

Where's the dislike button? What a waste of time and effort.

And here we see the contempt, control, arrogance, ignorance and xenophobia now in full flow from the Thai side, and it doesn't bode well for anyone.

I could well believe "all" that she claimed was said to her in the original post before it was edited, it's the very epitome of Thai (male) thinking.

"face" ... gotta love it (not).

And this rice scam actually benefited the country?

There are many that still do believe that. But their definitions of benefiting the country or its people are VERY different from my own. Making the rich (and middlemen) richer and the poorest poorer doesn't sound like success to me.