MangoKorat

A combination of things that could probably be levelled against any Thai government before and since Thaksin was PM. The military let the people believe the country is democratic (or that's the plan) and allow things to go along, let parties fight, hold elections, take up government bla bla bla - and provided their and the elite's trough is not under threat, they let them get on with it. To greatly assist them in that matter they relied on the people's love of a certain person - someone who despite the many differences across all groups, helped maintain a 'gel' that held the country together. However, they were fully aware of the frailty of that person and the fact that his probable successor was not held in the same esteem. As Thaksin's popularity grew, he became a major threat to the trough. At the time he was said to be gaining such popularity, a popularity that was spreading well outside his stronghold of Isaan, that he may end up being more popular than the 'successor' I mentioned earlier. And that is precisley why he, his party and his family had to be dealt with. In this latest chapter of the army's fight to maintain control, they have actually used that popularity to maintain the status quo. Quite a smart move as it turns out. Crimes, prosecutions, wrong doings........since when have they meant anything amongst Thai 'high society? How many have been prosecuted and sentenced for this or that heinous crime and how many of them have actually gone to prison and stayed there? That goes on right down the line - i.e. police chiefs that get 'moved into a non active position' rather than prosecuted for their crimes. The defendents in many of these cases have every right to cry 'political motivation' because that's exactly what goes on. That is not to say they are not guilty but in many cases, others carry out exactly the same 'crimes' and never see the inside of a coutroom. If you doubt what I claim - take a look at what's happened to Move Forward and their previous incarnation over the last few years. They were never going to be allowed to gain power - they represented the biggest threat to the trough that there has ever been. If they had been allowed into power, Thailand might have actually started to become 'democratic' - and the elite just can't let that happen. As I said before, I am not a Thaksin fan, he bought votes and he encouraged poor people to get into debt - to name but a few faults, I actuallu despised the man. However, his major crime, no matter what the military may disguise it as, was to become way too popular and threaten the trough.

Can I just ask you - and I'm not trying to be clever here, do you really not know why the military turned on Thaksin?

Sideshows. They care about nothing other than honey. Learn about how many redshirts have 'disappeared' in the last few years. A few were found a couple of years back, at the bottom of a river covered in some strange stuff that looked like concrete - and who's been on point since 2014? They are all the same but one group has much bigger guns - you don't really think all the political nonsense that's gone on matters do you?

Name one Thai PM/government for that matter that hasn't either been 'proven' to be criminals or been accused of the same in the last 20 years or so.

Corrupt people? In Thailand? Seriously, have you not followed what's been going on since Thaksin won the election? Before than even? Have you not watched the 'joker' series that's gone on with different actors for years? You of all people have been around long enough to know how things work in Thailand. Its a bit like a beehive - with lots of worker bees and one Queen in the middle of the hive. The people have always been allowed to 'play' at democracy but as soon the hive was threatend, the potential attackers were overwhelmed. Do what you want children but play nicely or you'll have to be punished. The elite and the generals have absolutely no respect for the Thai people. Its not difficult and its nowhere near as complicated as they make out - the reason the country has been in a state of constant political turmoil for decades is the elite's compulsion with controling the hive.

You don't think that's standard practice with any Thai government then?

Of course they were. Thaksin had far too much support, the generals were shaking in their boots that someone might actually remove them from the trough.

Don't, he's unlikely to spend anymore time in prison. I suspect that he was promised he wouldn't spend any time at all but got a bit of a shock when he was sent down - kicked off, spat his dummy out and threatened to call off the PM deal. So the hospital plan was hatched. I don't think Prayuth actually intended him to go to prison - they were just trying to work out which scenario would be least likely to lead to riots. At least this way, Prayuth can claim it was nothing do do with him and we all know that people cannot criticise the person credited with making this decision can they? Otherwise they will go to prison and not get any clemency whatsoever.

A little surprised I didn't hear this on AN first: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-66679570 Sad to say, the country is not just totally corrupt, its rotten to the core. Would this happen to your average Somchai?

Maybe not but I'd do a lot of thinking before you put it on the record by seeing a doctor - you could have problems with insurance in the future. Regarding depression in general - I used to be a bit like your brother/workmates. I didn't believe in depression and regarded people who said they were depressed as malingerers (I still do to a certain extent with those that use it as an excuse to claim benefits in the UK). However, a few years ago, following multiple serious personal upheavals and then a potentially terminal cancer diagnosis - it hit me and I now accept that it is very real. I stopped going out, quit my job, didn't want to do anything, didn't open my mail - in fact I struggled to do anything and only shopped when I was completely out of food. With huge reluctance, I was persuaded to see my doctor by friends and family. My doc wanted me to see a shrink and recommended anti-depressant drugs which I said I would consider. OK, you state that yours is depression without a reason but maybe my way of tackling it will work for you, it did for me. I woke up one morning, about a week after I saw the doctor and just thought - "I'm not going to let this beat me, I'm stronger than that. I thought about my illness - my oncologist said she was going for a cure but warned me that the teatment only had a small chance of success and I was pretty far gone. I asked her for an off record honest bet to which she replied - 2 - 4 years, meaning I probably had 2 to 4 years left to live. F..... it, if I've only got 2-4 years left, am I going to waste that time sitting with my head in my hands thinking about all my woes? I certainly was not! Its not easy, you have to make yourself do everything - I decided that doing everything by the clock was best for me. I got up at the same time every day, excercised, went back to work, ate, slept and even relaxed - all by the clock. every day. I still didn't want to do anything, I just made myself do it. I put all negative thoughts out of my head and refused to associate with negative people. I can't be 100% sure but I think the excercise did the most good. I started seeing the results almost immediately which gave me the impetous to carry on and just a few months later I was back to my old self. Depression will never enter my life again - because I won't let it. As it happens my cancer treatment worked far better than expected and stunned my onclogist (now 8 years and counting). I'll probably never be completely out of the woods but at the moment I have no problems. I've talked to several people about this - mostly healthcare professionals and they all say that although there is no clinical evidence, they believe that in many cases, a positive mindset contributes to curing cancer. I think it also works for depression As for anti-depressants - not for me, they may work for some but I regard them as a crutch and I prefer walking without one. They can also be highy addictive. Give it some thought, kick yourself up the a r se and do as people have told you - snap out of it! To quote an old cliche: 'This is real life, you only get one chance at it, there are no rehearsals'. It worked for me, it may work for you but you've really got to make yourself do it - even when you really don't want to. Can you afford to waste one more day with your head in your hands?

I've noticed some easing in flight prices but nowhere near enough to persuade me to return to my previous travel patterns. Comparative flight prices I've paid: Manchester - Bangkok economy return September 2019 (pre covid) £459) on Etihad. Manchester - Bangkok economy return September 2023 £657 on Qatar (The above with sensible total durations) That's almost exactly a 45% increase (Etihad and Qatar's prices are usually very similar). I was planning my usual July/August flight but decided against that as prices were around £1500. Yes, that's school holiday time when the airlines always try to extract as much as possible from parents trapped by their kids holiday times but I've never seen it that expensive. As I've pointed out in other threads a family of 4 looking to travel to Thailand would have been faced with a £6000 bill for the flights alone - pretty sure most parents took their kids elsewhere. Fuel prices are up what? Around 20%? No justification for these rip offs at all - most of us lost money during covid in one way or another and we've just had to swallow that. I can't put up my fees by 45% to cover my losses. It was worse last year though when I had to pay £1677 in August - had my reasons to travel at that time otherwise no way I would have accepted that price.

Love most Thai food but sloppy rice soup just doesn't do it for me at breakfast time. Whether I'm in the UK or Thailand, same thing every day for as long as I can remember - Bacon, Egg, Beans, Tomato and Toast. Of course, rinsed down with tea - Yorkshire tea!

Really? You don't think that Pheu Thai reneging on their election promises (reforms) had anything to do with it? Interestingly, when they did that, they gained the support of Prayuth's party (United Thai Nation) in the forthcoming coalition. Prayuth joining forces with the Shinawatra family - well I never.................... However, I don't think he will be freed in the immediate future - that would really be taking the P. In my opinion the hospital thing has simply been so that he doesn't have to spend any time in an actual jail. I think they'll have to leave him there, or somewhere similar for a while. However, I suppose its possible that he will ask for clemency on the grounds of ill health - the hospitalisation would fit with that too.

I'm pretty sure that if Thaksin is to get a pardon, that decision will have already been made. Even if it hasn't, he will know which channels to use to make sure his own petition gets to the king - and in the light of this news, he certainly won't be going through the corrections department.

This topic brings up a question I've been meaning to ask. Sometime in the near future I will be setting up a Thai Ltd Company that will hopefully make a profit and therefore have to pay tax. I'm told that any directors or employees over 65 will either not have to pay SS on their salaries or will have any that is paid, returned. I'm unsure what benefits an employee under 65 gets in terms of healthcare but I presume its the usual hospital cover etc. So if they don't have to pay SS when they reach 65 or pay it and get a refund, does that mean healthcare ends? Can they not elect to continue paying SS past 65 and therefore be eligible for healthcare cover? What about someone joining the company who is already over 65, is there no way they can get health cover other than private? In al cases I'm refering to expats - not Thai citizens.

I don't do that and my phone works fine. Dual SIM phone - Roaming enabled on Thai SIM WIFI calling enabled on Thai SIM and UK SIM No Aircraft Mode - Why? I can make and receive calls on both SIMS + send and receive SMS on both SIMS. I really don't understand the Aircraft Mode bit - if I had to do that I would need 2 phones because I would not be able to use my UK SIM. I would say this much though - and this applies to both SIMS. I sometimes get a voicemail when someone's been trying to call me yet my phone hasn't rung. I have no mobile signal at my UK home so rely on WIFI but I've learned that to be sure its working, I need to turn my phone off and on again when I return to my home. The odd thing is that if I don't do that, I can make calls but I'm unlikely to receive them. I've spoken to other people who've had various problems with WIFI calling yet never have problems with applications like Whatsapp. Seems to me that the mobile networks need to get their act together - if Whatsapp works fine anywhere, why doesn't WIFI calling?

True there are but I think you should maybe check out the origin of the majority of online scams over the last few years. Many of these scams require bank accounts to receive the scammers proceeds. Those accounts must only last a few days to avoid detection. Whilst I accept the monies will often be moved several times, Nigerian banks must notice patterns of opening and closing accounts. I am also sure that Nigerian banks will have been questioned by police and fraud departments from other countries and banks. Yet the scams continue. Are the banks then complicit? Do the authorities of countries like Nigeria not lean on the banks to assist? Yes, I'm short on details but it seems pretty clear that many of these scams could not operate if the authorities and banks acted responsibly. The rule of thumb with UK police investigations into financial crime is 'follow the money'. I fail to see why a transparent system cannot be set up that would prevent these scams. I don't doubt that with some of the bigger scams that involve large amounts - such as the romance scams encountered by often elderly victims in the UK, it would be difficult to trace as an account is probably opend for the sole purpose of the particular scam and closed within minutes of funds being received. But many of the current scams involve smaller amounts such as with this scam or the hundreds of 'parcel' scams that are doing the rounds. Surely accounts aren't closed after they receive just a few hundred baht or less? How are the documents used to open a bank account checked? I know its not easy to open an account in the UK. I don't believe it would be impossible for Nigerian banks to stop the opening of these accounts by requiring official documents be provided. If there are staff at these banks that are 'facilitating' the opening of accounts, it would be fairly easy for the bank's fraud department to identify patterns. Nigeria receives aid from many Western countries and international aid agencies, in fact the country could not survive without it. I wonder if the Nigerian authorities and banks would be more co-operative if this aid was stopped? Given that Nigeria is also known for corruption - millions of dollars of aid money has simply disappeared, I'm bloody sure they would put a stop to much of the scamming within days if their gravy train was threatened. None of the above means that Nigeria is the only country that contains scammers but it is well known that many originate from there, with it seems, the knowledge of the authorities. In addition, as with this scam - many Nigerians are known to operate scams in other countries. There is plenty of evidence out there that would nullify any claims of 'Nigerian bashing'. I would simply say, scamming is not exclusive to Nigeria or Nigerians but it is very widespread, both within the country and amongst its citizens.

Yes, probably by a police motorbike - the rider of which wasn't wearing a helmet?

I thought Asean Now was anti disinformation/fake news/conspiracy theories? This 'polarisation' between Americans must be causing so many problems for both the USA as a whole and at more local levels. What would have previously been perceived as normal political differences appears to have been turned into hatred. Polarisation may not be new and is not exclusive to the USA but looking from the outside in, I would lay the blame for what's going on there solely at the feet of one person - Donald Trump. Those who support him, don't seem to realise that they are being played - those against him react with their own attacks. Just stop it and get on with sorting out your country's problems - in other words, return to normal politics and stop making every issue personal Here in the UK, we were going down the slippery slope of polarisation again fueled by one lunatic who much of the population loved (inexplicably). Thankfully his party finally got rid of him a few months back and we are now slowly returning to normal politics. Quite how people believe in and support these massively populist figures in the first place is difficult to understand - as neither of them use any particularly truthful or scientific elements in their policies. What they seemed to rely on to promote their cause was to portray plain and simple hatred of their political opponents. What their supporters didn't seem to realise was that their 'leaders' 'causes' were more centralised on promoting their persona and achieving 'greatness' than bringing about change for the better in terms of the country as a whole - something normally expected of a political leader. One word could be used to describe both Trump and Johnson - Narccissistic. There's always going to be political differences - that's healthy and in a democracy often leads to policies that are acceptable to all political flavours. Can't you in the USA just get back to normal politics and end this stupidity that is tearing your country apart? What's worrying to me - and yes, worrying because of policies that have world wide consequences, is that the existence of Trump and the support base he generated has now lead to the emergence of others who may continue his methods long after he's gone. Anyone who saw Vivek Ramaswamy's speech at the recent debate would understand what I mean - clearly anti climate change and pro business at any cost - worrying. Quite how anyone today can hold such views is totally baffling - large parts of Canada are on fire and look at Hawaii. If you have any love for your grandchildren and want to make sure thay have a safe planet on which to live - stop this hatred and get back to dealing with the things that matter. Currently nothing matters more than climate change and reducing human being's massive consumption of the planet's resources. I await vitriolic replies from a certain sector who I fear will never learn - let's see.

I doubt it, reading through the full story on Thaiger, I formed the impression that the problem was caused by something I've encountered several times when travelling on flights containing Thai passengers. Whilst the rest of us usually follow the airlines rules on hand luggage (normally a weight of 5 to 7kg), Thai's often don't have any checked luggage and carry everything in their hand luggage. The dimensions are often much bigger than allowed and are clearly well overweight. Many's the time I've seen a Thai female struggling to get a large, heavy suitcase into an overhead locker. However, the airlines could avoid many of these problems if they applied the rules more strictly at check in.

We can't have people protesting about COUPS can we?

We most certainly are not - I jumped ship a couple of years back and don't even need a life jacket now. To be honest, I did meet one girl, about a year after my divorce who actually seemed genuine - I thought she was a really nice lass and maybe I shouldn't give up on relationships. Then one day I borrowed her pick-up to get some parts for my car in Bangkok. When I arrived at the parts shop my parts hadn't arrived - they were going to be about an hour. I parked up and decided to connect my phone to her truck's bluetooth to play some music. When I got to the truck's list of paired devices, amongst all the Thai names was a phone listed under the name Gerry. When I got back I asked my 'gf' who Gerry was - not too bothered, he could have been an ex, a friend or whatever. She'd had her car from new, only ever lent it to Thai family members and claimed she had no idea who Gerry was. I told her, "Gerry has been in your truck and paired his phone to your music system, its not accidental". More denials. I switched on her music, went to the paired list and showed her 'Gerry' on the list - swore blnd she didn't know who Gerry was. That was enough for me, not the fact of Gerry per se - the lying. She was history and although I'm not naive enough to believe they are all the same - all the ones I'd had relationships with have been. Never say never but I'm having the best of times at the moment and I have no plans to jump back on to that merry-go-round again.

Eh?

Desperate? How many times have you used a dating application? Believe it or not, that's how people meet these days. Besides, I think I make it quite clear that I recommend he stops looking for Mrs. Right - he's unlikely to find her. The girls that are really into foreigners are not actually looking for old farts like us. Much better to enjoy life and play the field.

She won't change - don't even try fixing it. Get out and start dating again - but this time keep it to dating. After more than one failed marriage I decided to stay single - I'm not prepared to waste any more of my life on these money driven creatures. Once I got used to it I'm having a ball. Do what I want and date as many as possible - currently 3. One @ 22 (I kid you not), one @ 34 and one @35 - I'm 60+. I ride my bike when I want, go to the bar when I want, play my music as loud as I want and boy is it cheaper being single. At least one, if not all of the girls I'm currently seeing will turn out to be a money grabber - its happened several times but as soon as it does, they're history. I try and weed them out before meeting but the gold diggers rarely say that's what they are ????. You sort of get a 'knack' for knowing which are but that's not 100% reliable and some slip through - probably because there are so many. Enjoy the good times and get out before the bad times arrive. Play them at their own game. Dowload Tinder and join Thai Friendly - you'll soon be sorted. Be aware though that on both of those platforms there's more than a few hookers working - especially the latter.