ThaiFelix

I have worked for a large school here for over 5 years and their policy is 10 paid sick days per year with medical certs for even 1 day. Ok, I accept that, but they refuse to recognise a doctors certificate from a clinic or surgery and will only pay if you go to a hospital. Even though I have only had about 10 sick days in five years and only 1 in past two years they grant no leeway. I am curious to know if they can legally do that. I have had my own doctor here for over 5 years and he knows my history. I feel it is against my civil or human rights to deny access to my own doctor unless I pay him as well. In addition it is far cheaper seeing my local doctor than going to a hospital. I also believe the healing process is quickened due to your confidence in your own doctor. Any thoughts on the matter...particularly the legal side?

My first question after recent times was, 'Is this really an Australia or another another breed claiming to be an Aussie?'

Oh please, please.

Of course he`s an Aussie. No one in they`re right mind who is not an Aussie would ever claim to be Aussie.

Pommies do it all the time.

Yeah just as a lot Americans call themselves Canadian when they travel because it saves all the hatred.

Typical Farang behavior. The farang's fault 100% I bet he got her into drugs and ruined her life.. It's ALWAYS the farang!

It would be the same where you come from...a black man steals a car...all black men are car theives.

I apologise, I shouldn't insult your wife, its you. Your the one who seems to need to sell yourself...cheaply. Dont you get what this topic is about...the idiot farang in this country. And you have to add your name to the list by making such an outrageous statement:

"Hardly surprising as all the Thai women in Pattaya who marry/use forigners are low class."

(I have highlighted the offensive to make it easier for you)

Why do you have the need to insult anyone? I don't like your tone

Disagree if you want - do you know any hi-so women in Pattaya that hang out or marry farang?

Anyone who knows anything knows that they are all low-class which kinda explains why they attract guys like this thread is about.

Hahaha what's the point. they're right, your a troll (oh elite, sorry). Go hungry!

There seem to be a lot of foreign men in Pattaya on the red shirt side.

Hardly surprising as all the Thai women in Pattaya who marry/use forigners are low class.

If my wife or girlfriend was a prostitute from a poor family, I'd be upset about the state of affairs and maybe join the reds.

My wife is from the elite so understandably I am against the reds.

Sorry, I'm confused. Are you saying your wife is a high class hooker coming from an elite family outside of Pattaya???

No she is not a hooker nor comes from Pattaya - why do you think that? She comes from a well to do family - her great grandfather was the King of Laos.

I apologise, I shouldn't insult your wife, its you. Your the one who seems to need to sell yourself...cheaply. Dont you get what this topic is about...the idiot farang in this country. And you have to add your name to the list by making such an outrageous statement:

"Hardly surprising as all the Thai women in Pattaya who marry/use forigners are low class."

(I have highlighted the offensive to make it easier for you)

There seem to be a lot of foreign men in Pattaya on the red shirt side.

Hardly surprising as all the Thai women in Pattaya who marry/use forigners are low class.

If my wife or girlfriend was a prostitute from a poor family, I'd be upset about the state of affairs and maybe join the reds.

My wife is from the elite so understandably I am against the reds.

Sorry, I'm confused. Are you saying your wife is a high class hooker coming from an elite family outside of Pattaya???

Err Mr Savage, there is a Mr Osama on the phone who has a job for you.

Wants you to deliver a backpack for him, but you cant look inside, its a big surprise for you!!

Yes, you can wear your new black stuff but might want to leave your stick at home,

Dont want to give people the RIGHT idea!!

One word for the Brit - <deleted> and one for the Australian - TWOT.

Hey, thats a bit harsh.....even a twot can be useful at times!!

"I hold my hands up — it was me, and I'm ashamed that I lost my temper," he told The Times by telephone from his home in the Thai resort town of Pattaya. "I was tired and emotional and full of steroids. I said we're going to burn down Central — I was being sarcastic."

A Brit, tattoos, steroids, empty threats, throws tantrums, home in Sisaket and lives in Pattaya. I get the picture.

"I was being sarcastic" Doesnt sound like sarcasm to me.

Steroids, Pattaya, tantrums....yeah that all fits. Does Pattaya advertise specificaly for this kind? He probably has a big car too....maybe a yellow hummer... to make up for his tiny....... (you complete the sentence).

As a farang its really hard to live a normal life here without being embarrassed by the actions of a few idiots.

Go back to London and throw sticks around there please, see how long you last. Or maybe you cant go back because you have already prooved your worth there, spearchucker!

and you take this serious!

nice comedy value, but if you going to take it serious we have to laugh that you believe a falang can steal this much stuff.

news day slowing down is it? or Nation insist this be shown.

careful though, as thai gov might decide get all falangs out of town, barflys and all.

This is typical behaviour of a cockney (Person born within the sound of the bow bells in London UK.) Where there is trouble and a Brit is involved you can bet your bottom dollar that a stupid arrogant cockney is behind it.

He should have his passport stamped as No entry into the Kingdom of Thailand, then sent home on a wire mesh boat in shark infested waters. The idiot!

your post is as childish idiotic and racist as they get with a hope of death tagged on.

sure he is the mad one?

You know who he is now, why not confront him? going to be hundreds of threats tonight from grounded barflys who dare not say boo to the tiniest thai woman, never mind a falang guy.

He has the balls, you guys threatening and screaming on here have the flowery dresses on.

"your post is as childish idiotic and racist as they get with a hope of death tagged on."

Oh I agree...trouble is he is correct.

Screw deporting him, put him in jail here!!!

Now that this video is going viral (my girl showed it to me a few hours ago on some thai persons facebook) it should be easy to track this guy down and find him. Someone SOMEWHERE has to know him and where he is!!

The guy appears to have lots of tats on forearms...would be easy to identify him if he has a record....and I would say he would have one as long as his tattooed arms judging by his behaviour.

He's not that volunteer copper in 'Banged up Abroad' is he????

Here's one for the Pussy.

Shoppers attacked by a Red mob as they try to leave Central World Plaza yesterday.

Ahh, such brave & peaceful Red Shirts.

Yesterday???

Funny how youtube dates the posting as April 3rd and some of the comments go back a month????

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/LE13Ae01.html

Thai power grows from the barrel of a gun

By William Barnes

BANGKOK - The relative success of Thailand's red-garbed anti-government protest group in outmaneuvering the government and military owes much to Maoist revolutionary thought and guerilla tactics.

Therdpoum Chaidee, a former communist and colleague of key protest leaders, says that the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship's (UDD) strategy has necessarily required violence, or at least the threat of violence, to divide and immobilize Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government.

"The revolution walks on two legs. One political leg and one army leg. Violence is the essential ingredient in the mix. That is what we were taught," said Therdpoum.

The UDD has publicly portrayed itself as a non-violent, pro-democracy movement, a line many international media outlets have perpetuated. It has occupied a large swathe of Bangkok's luxury shopping and hotel district for more than six weeks, paralyzing the symbolic heart of the country's capitalist economy.

Abhisit's government has threatened but failed to remove the thousands of protesters, apparently over fears that the use of force would result in multiple deaths and possible international censure. UDD leaders have threatened "civil war" if security forces crack down on their supporters, known locally as the "red shirts".

The protest group has rallied around its symbolic hero and presumed patron, former populist prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The businessman-cum-politician was ousted in a 2006 military coup and later fled into exile to avoid a two-year jail sentence related to a corruption conviction. Thaksin has since cajoled UDD supporters to rise up and topple the government through various video-linked phone-in addresses.

UDD leaders have demanded the dissolution of parliament, currently controlled by a coalition of political parties and backed by the Bangkok establishment, and new elections that they anticipate would be won by the Thaksin-aligned opposition Puea Thai party. They have recently accepted in concept a compromise reconciliation roadmap presented by Abhisit, which calls for new elections to be held on November 14, but not yet abandoned their protest sites.

Tensions spiked violently on April 10, when a routine crowd clearance operation - of the sort successfully deployed by the army against a similar UDD protest in April 2009 - turned into a nightmare of bloodshed. Mysterious commandos, clad in black and circulating freely through the red shirt protesters, used M79 grenades to attack tactical army commanders, killing a highly respected colonel and maiming others.

In the mayhem that followed, 25 protesters and solders were killed and over 800 injured after an operation that started with soldiers wielding batons and ended in deadly firefights. Coincident with the UDD's protest has been a string of anonymous M79 grenade attacks, with over 50 incidents in Bangkok and at least 30 more across the country since mid-March.

On April 22, five grenades were fired into Bangkok's main business district directly opposite a UDD erected bamboo and car-tire street barricade. One person was killed and 90 others injured or maimed, including members of a small pro-government protest group that has expressed opposition to the UDD's protests.

Fog of war

The government has said it aims to separate ''terrorists'' from the ordinary protesters, while some red shirts have thanked the anonymous black-clad assailants for coming to their defense against state security forces. Therdpoum, a former member of parliament under Thaksin's original Thai Rak Thai party, says there has been obfuscation and propaganda on both sides of the conflict.

"The people who are the real planners, not the people up on stage making protest speeches, these people probably keep a very low profile, but they must calculate that aggression is vital," he said. "Aggression paralyzes and divides opponents. This is what we were taught, this is how a smaller force can defeat overwhelming power. The message was: divide and conquer."

Whether the UDD's shadowy armed wing consists of mafia thugs, unemployed irregulars or disaffected regular soldiers, they must be capable of ruthless and focused violence, he said.

Therdpoum, born in humble circumstances in northeastern Thailand, was a hotel union organizer who fled to the communist underground in 1975 to oppose a brutal right wing government. Many hundreds of the country's most energetic students and intellectuals did the same. Most, like Therdpoum, later renounced the ideology.

His five-year odyssey with the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) included a three-month period in Hanoi in the heady period following the unification of Vietnam under communist rule. There, Therdpoum and a handful of hand-picked Thai activists, like prominent student leader Seksan Prasertkun, as well as current UDD leaders Weng Tochirakan and Jaran Dittapichai, were drilled in Maoist revolutionary theory.

The five tactics they learned for unseating a government included: divide your enemies; form a united front; use provocative violence; secure the loyalty of people inside the ruling regime; and, finally, win over the army.

"That is what we have seen. The government people have been quarrelling about what to do. Some senior figures have a divided loyalty. The army and the police cannot move. Provocative violence has been very successful," said Therdpoum, referring to the UDD's campaign to topple Abhisit's government.

"The tactic is to keep saying that you are a peace-loving people. The many factions folded into the united front [uDD] organization are not told what the real strategy is because they might not agree and they might not act their part convincingly," he added.

A generation ago, the eager young communists in Thailand's underground movement, many of whom now play major roles on Thailand's political stage, were told that propaganda should be blunt, simple and repeated incessantly to be effective. The UDD has similarly shunned hard policy debates in favor of simple credos of justice denied and the hypocrisy of elites.

"The red shirt people have been told over and over that greedy people in authority have denied them justice and their fair share. They have been pumped full of toy-town leftism and told to hate every institution that has held this country together. I worry that the bitterness and hatred produced by this propaganda now runs so deep it will cause tension and problems for a long time," Therdpoum said.

"Many of them are now absolutely convinced that Thaksin was the best leader in Thai history, that he was a kind and generous man who holds the solution to all their problems. They don't need a program - they just need a new Thai state with Thaksin in charge. It has become very emotional - as it was designed to be," he added.

Ignorance over knowledge

Other observers believe that the anti-Thaksin, yellow-garbed People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protest group that occupied Government House for several weeks and closed down Bangkok's airports for 10 days in 2008 helped to show the UDD how effective determined and prolonged protests could be. To be sure, there were violent moments during the PAD's many protests, launched first to remove Thaksin and later his proxy governments, but not to the extent of the current shadowy campaign of bombings and shootings.

The red shirts consist of many passive supporters, many active ones and, now, a hand-picked core of "professional revolutionaries" chosen for their loyalty and street smarts, according to Therdpoum. Behind them are many "deep secrets and hidden messages" that are revealed to only a privileged few in the movement, while an even smaller number know the entire strategy, he claimed.

"Old communists know that when it comes to revolution, ignorance is much more powerful than knowledge," Therdpoum said.

It is thus ironic that more former communists are currently on side with the royalist PAD than the supposedly pro-poor UDD, which is simultaneously striving to restore the billionaire Thaksin's wealth and power. So, too, is the fact that while the UDD has called with revolutionary zeal for a new political order, the Thaksin-aligned Puea Thai party that will contest the next elections is packed with old-style and corruption-tainted patronage politicians.

Therdpoum believes that the UDD's sincere left-wing members are using Thaksin and anticipate the opportunity to eventually dump his personal agenda in favor of the establishment of a more socialist society. Some of the former communists who took up arms and fled into the jungle in the 1970s and 1980s and were once in Thaksin's inner circle include Prommin Lertsuridej, Phumtham Wechayachai, Sutham Saengprathum, Phinit Jarusombat, Adisorn Piangket and Kriangkamon Laohapairot.

Its unclear how many of those former communists are now active from behind-the-scenes in the UDD's planning and strategy. Some media have recently published photographs of the UDD's three main stage leaders, Veera Musigapong, Natthawut Saikua and Jatuporn Prompan, with the exiled Thaksin in what appear to be planning sessions leading up to the current protests. It is debatable, however, how much real power they wield over broad strategy and tactics; Therdpoum, for one, discounts them as "showmen".

UDD organizer Jaran Dittapichai told this correspondent that the protest group had adopted "Mao Zedong's method of thinking" and some of his techniques, including the establishment of a united front. "I was a communist and several leaders were former communists ... but the red shirt people don't like communism or socialism. We use his principles to build up our front and to work with people who are not red shirts, but who are fighting for democracy like us."

He, like other UDD leaders, has consistently denied that the group is behind the mysterious bombing campaign that has coincided with its protest activities. "There is no third hand. There is only the first hand and the second hand ... the government side and our people," Jaran said.

"Before we started we discussed the [potential] problem of the third hand and who they might be. We were worried that someone might throw a bomb at us or shoot at us. We still have good luck - no one comes to throw a bomb [at us]."

William Barnes is a Bangkok-based journalist.

Well done! Very impressive piece of work. It has really helped join all the dots for me.

oooops, I spoke to soon and am not current on the news ...

Court delays decision on Thaksin's warrant

http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews...520-217396.html

looks like we will have to wait until the 27th

Didn't they already issue it, then pull it back, now they want to issue it on the 27th? Would be interesting to know what was written in the warrant that they pulled back.

I think the govt is taking the gently bentley approach. One step at a time. They dont want to stir things up again just yet. Give the Redshirts time to wipe their bums and get over this week first.

The week after next they have a big announcement about how many pairs of shoes Pojamin owns!

I have been observing the posts here and there is a disturbing trend.

First, there is disproportion of yellow and red supporters. Is that truly representative or are the red supporters getting banned from the forum?

Second, the reds are generally stating their position with limited emotion in their posts. The yellows are quite vicious and emotionally calling for a massacre. The yellows are saying that the reds are killing and are being destructive. Destructive yes, but killing? One solider killed and if I have my facts correct it was by friendly fire.

Third, I can see why the thais are off the scale emotional about their posts but what excuse do you have as a farang? The thai government doesn't care about you. If you leave, they could care less. Another farang will replace you. The thai people may want you here but only until your money is gone. You may say "I made this my home so I care about thailand". That doesn't change the fact that they don't care about you.

There is a tremendous amount of unreasonable behavior here and I beginning to think that the farangs displaying unreasonable behavior had to come to thailand because they couldn't control themselves in their own country.

I would say that most expats, including myself, have nothing against the majority of red shirts. If you have ever been to the north east and talked to the average person there, they will tell you that they never watch the normal Thai TV channels as they are full of lies. They only watch PTV, Thaksin's TV channel which has, over the last few years totally distorted the truth and they have in fact been brainwashed. I know because I have family in Khon Kaen and they and their friends have told me this.

Most of the expats on this forum only have a hatred for Thaksin and his close cronies for the way he has caused so much damage to the country, not for the sake of the people he claims to be representing, but purely for his own ends. Nuttawut has admitted to receiving 100 million baht from Thaksin to create and maintain the protest and if he got this much money, you can bet that all the others got the same amount too. Additionally, even sources in the Puea Thai Party have admitted that the negotiations with the government could go nowhere because of the conditions laid down by Thaksin for ending the protest were unacceptable to the government. He demanded that he get all his money back, is given a total amnesty for all his past crimes and the return of his passports and property as well as being allowed to stand in the next general election as the leader of the Puea Thai Party. He could not care less that his supporters were dying on his behalf in the streets of Bangkok.

You can bet that Thaksin will pay for the legal costs of the defence of the red shirt leaders and will use every trick in the book to get them off and don't be surprised if he manages to do it, despite all the evidence, videos of speeches etc, that they are guilty of inciting rebellion. Just take a look at U-Tube for the evidence. One particular clip can be seen at:

This is where Arisman is inciting people to bring glass bottles to Bangkok to be filled with petrol so that they can be used as petrol bombs and for setting places alight.

I could go on and give you more examples but the above will give you some idea. Hopefully you will understand that most of us, who have been here for quite some time do not hate the average redshirt but in fact sympathise with their situation. Rather the hatred that many of us feel is directed towards Thaksin personally and his close coterie.

Couldnt agree more....good post rogera.

WHAT DID I MISS???

Klong Toey MRT Station

Kasikorn Soi Ngamduplee, Siam City Bank, Siam Centre

Central World

Siam Square/Siam Theatre

Diamond Condominium (Behind CW)

Platinum Fashion Mall

Bangkok Bank, Tesco Rama IV

Ch.3/Maleenont Building Rama IV

Thai SET

Tesco OnNut

Century Park Hotel

7-Eleven shop, Din Daeng

Manhattan Plaza (Plenchit BTS)

Bkk Bank, Asoke

Krueng Thai Bank, Asoke

Bkk Bank, Phrakanog

Bkk Bank, Victory Monument

Metropolitan Electricity office Klong Toei

Govt Savings Bank in Dindaeng

20 Telephone booths in Din Daeng

Office of Narcotics Control Board at Dindaeng

Office Building Din Daeng ( 12 year old )

Chang Mai Construction Company

BKK Bank, Chiang Mai

Khon Kaen City Hall

Udorn Thani City Hall

Ubon Ratchananee City Hall

Nonthaburi City Hall

Mukdaharn City Hall

Nakhon Ratchasima City Hall

IT Seer Rangsit

Seacon Square

Lad Prao Big C

Center One Mall Victory Monument

7/11, Victory Monument

Kasikorn Bank, Victory Monument

Government Saving Bank (Mitr-maitree Road)

Bkk Bank, Hua Lumpong

7/11 Lang Suan... not gone up in smoke, but looted beyond recognition, as many, many other shops all over.

yeah, but come on be reasonable...they did it peacefully!!

I remember seeing Nattawut/Jutaporn? on video calling for more reds to join the 'peaceful protest' and adding that they need not bring petrol as they had more than enough to burn Bangkok to the ground 'peacefully'.

But maybe it was a 'fake' red leader on a 'fake' video??

I wouldnt worry too much about the curfew, my wife imposes one on me every week, So far I have managed to get thru relatively unscathed

One more prediction ... There will be a strong move by the army at dawn to move the illegal mob out. Not sure what but they need to go into phase II pretty quick here since there is only 1 more "holiday" left.

This of course assumes there was communications about the Holiday and the military doesn't think these 2-days were for them to get rest.

My guess is that the government and military wants to use as much time as possible to evacuate innocents and to create enough safe houses as possible. They need to be fully prepared in terms of hospitalization as well. They must have had good reasons to not move in today. I'm hoping that the final push will be massive. They're going to really have to put the foot down to get these people off the road. Quite obviously they are no longer under anyone's control. Random drugged up mobs running amok throughout the city with no leadership, ruining the lives of the people who live in those areas, absolutely detestable.

Does the Thai military have attack helicopters like the Apache? Would be incredibly useful in this case. After two groups of insurgents get wiped off the street with beer bottle sized bullets I'm sure their friends will decide to go home.

The Army can deploy their bomb detectors and airships, that will help immensely. And the medical rebates hopefully will be repaid to the people.

Would you call that boy looking over the tyres a human shield.I suggest you print something factual.My thioughts would have been,he is showing the boy to the soldiers to show that he is there.

NOW

If someone had said the boy should not be there i would have agreed but dont spout crap on here

No parent should have a child there in the first place...how many warnings???

"Stop shooting, retreat and we can then negotiate," Natthawut said. Asked by a journalist why he was not ordering the red shirts to stop attacking first, he angrily retorted: "The killers must stop. You cannot possibly expect those being hunted to stop killing. It's as if the red shirts have been abandoned alone in the world."

Derrr, do you think that might be because the redshirts are in the minority and because of the actions they have taken???

The BBC is the most unbiased news agency in the world.

Actually, I'd say al-Jazeera (sp) is currently the leading main-stream news outlet for unbiased reporting. And I'm actually serious about that. They seem to be an excellent news organization.

Yes I will second that.

The BBC is the most unbiased news agency in the world.

Actually, I'd say al-Jazeera (sp) is currently the leading main-stream news outlet for unbiased reporting. And I'm actually serious about that. They seem to be an excellent news organization.

Yes I will second that.

I personally have an understanding/sympathy for the red shirts' cause (alas not neccessararily their decisions) but as soon as I hear anything about their connections with a certain Mr, T I automatically engage the ear plugs and blinkers to their their plight.

Found this v. recent photo of 3 Reds leaders in a huddle. Add your caption. Here's mine:

Oh brother, too much MSG in that coagulated pig's blood soup this morning - need a few Red Bulls to get my caffeine quotient up to normal. Hey, who's turn is it to buy rice whiskey for tonight's pow wow?

Attached thumbnail(s) Reduced 64% 548 x 411 (21.1K)//

Reduced 64% 548 x 411 (21.1K)//

"Hey I know it looks bigger than yours, but everyone knows size isnt important"

I still reckon the govt should just sit back, have a smoke, and wait for the rains to flush em out!

I like the idea someone had about rounding up every soi mutt in the city and drop them all off at the protest sites.

As there appears the be a shortage of ghosts in which to spook them out, and the aliens appear busy with 2012, a few thousand soi dogs could provide the motivation needed to accept the roadmap.

Failing that I hear that a few hundred thousand centipedes dropped from helicopters would speed up negotiations.

Nah, they'll eat them. Truly.

love it!