dbrenn

Please click my name for the previous post. I joined the web last week, not too many posts to look at.

"You accuse me of 'attacking the poster rather than the post' and in doing so you are doing exactly that."

- ํำYes, You put salt into the soup, I put more water, on course into the same pot.

- No I am not in this gov nor any party member, I went to observe both yellow and red gathering, got no ID from both. I like the PAD more, don't say I agree with all their deed though.

- Yes, you can be the 1st person who ignor me. I love the dog-drop theory "If you can't wash it out, leave it to dry under the sun, poke at it and it stinks".

Eh?

The Greek "Pericle" said something like:

"We don't call people who don't care of politics that he cares of his own business only. In fact he has no business here at all."

IMHO, the non-voter expat should have their opinion explained in expat internet forum. And it is up to them to decide what Information from the so rightful local voter is cow-drop.

The natives shalt have no fear, they have just ideas, merely turn off your computer, no policy of gunship helicopters.

Ah, just spotted this, and what you are saying in the second line is that if we don't care about politics we may end up with nothing. Quite correct. I agree. Politics is part of life, and affects all of us.

THe IMHO part of your post, I don't understand.

Wow arguement reasoning of the user name "dbrenn" is highly needed in Thai political party, discredit of poster instead of the post, evasive and denial of information when there is no suitaqble information. The person or even better "the user name" can have big fortune in rich political party or academic institution if he is not already in one. Great English user like this can also be useful for English papers who want regular interview. Uhm, this actually remind me of a University lecturer who contributes a lot to you know who..

Apart from the fact that you don't agree with me, what is your point, o enlightened one? Or, are you just another one of those people who sneer and snipe at posters without actually presenting any arguments of your own?

I can't believe you didn't see my argument in my previous posts. This one is just argument on other user name in the just like what you have on the other.

This may sound stange, but I don't have time to read every post on Thaivisa, and given the amount of material that people deposit here I would be surprised if anyone could.

I can't recall any of your previous posts, so please indulge me. You accuse me of 'attacking the poster rather than the post' and in doing so you are doing exactly that. Are you a member of Abhisit's government or the PAD?

Simply sniping at a poster without actually engaging the matters at hand is not going to get anybody's attention.

A courier best bet I would think, someone need to be responsible during the mailing process, DHL or UPS would be two starting point. Good luck!!

I've used DHL & UPS - expensive but reliable. Sending a card that is unsigned, has pased it's 'valid from' date and does not require activation is the same as sending cash. The card issuer will hold you responsible in cases of fraud.

Wow arguement reasoning of the user name "dbrenn" is highly needed in Thai political party, discredit of poster instead of the post, evasive and denial of information when there is no suitaqble information.

The person or even better "the user name" can have big fortune in rich political party or academic institution if he is not already in one. Great English user like this can also be useful for English papers who want regular interview. Uhm, this actually remind me of a University lecturer who contributes a lot to you know who..

Apart from the fact that you don't agree with me, what is your point, o enlightened one?

Or, are you just another one of those people who sneer and snipe at posters without actually presenting any arguments of your own?

hi there, most of the hospitals are great in bangkok so dont worry, bangkok christian hospital is good and the price is ok, bumrungrad is also good

Bangkok Christian is good - I went there for Lasik and they told me after an extensive check that I wasn't suitable for it instead of taking my money and doing it anyway.

The doctor there took time to explain to me all the reasons why, then gave me a prescription for some new glasses that greatly improved my vision, as I had an astigmatism that no other optician had picked up.

Recommended.

Sure, chaos may be exciting for the street mobs and give non-working expats who prop up bars something to talk about, but any kind of political stability is bad for business. Period.

As usual, your post is totally right on, however there is a minor error. I think that you meant "instability", rather than "stability". Please keep up the good work. I LOVE your posts!

You got me - yes, INSTABILITY is bad for business. Businesspeople and tourists don't mix well with tanks and rioting mobs.

You always start to use superlative words like 'absolutely', 'ludicrous', 'ridiculous' and the like when your arguments are at their weakest, amounting only to your personal opinions, and you need to make your point by overusing emphasis.

Another technique i've noticed used by people with weak arguments is to insinuate that those with differing viewpoints are non-working, beer-swilling, bar hoppers aka sexpat. This might also be followed by comments such as "you probably can't vote so your opinion counts for nothing".

There is no alternative to the ballot box.... Anything else is not a democracy,

If the ballot box is being manipulated and controlled, that's not democracy either.

Oh no - you are going back to the old 'Thaksin controls the ballot box', vote buying and all that. You had nothing to say in response to all the people who pointed out to you that all pols buy votes in one way or another - look how much Obama spent on getting elected, etc, etc. And here you are dragging that phoney old argument back up again?

And the beer swilling bit? Let me explain. Anyone who denies that the recent chaos and instability has had any effect on tourism and business in Thailand really can't be doing much more than sitting around swilling beer. Even the Nation concedes that chaos is bad for business, and that's saying something.

Try asking working people across various industries that deal with the public and private sector what effect they think that rioting and instability has on their job security.

And yes, I can vote and you probably can't, which seems to bug you. I worked hard for that right. I resent it when democracy is taken away from Thailand by the army and the mob. Now, I know you are going to say that you don't believe me and ask me to prove that I am Thai, but I'm afraid I'm not going to post a scan of my ID card on a public forum like this. If ever I meet you in person, I will prove it to you if you can prove to me who you really are. But here? No way. You could be an identity thief for all I know, and with a name like 'rixalix' who on earth are you to ask me to prove anything here anyway? This is just an anonymous Internet forum, where nothing is proven. Even Thaivisa.com has no registered business address, so nobody is in a position to prove or be held to account for anything that appears here. We all post here on good faith, accepting in the spirit of what is essentially a completely anonymous forum that the people we are talking to are not misrepresenting themselves. If you can't accept that you have no idea who you are really talking to here, you should stick to real life, although there are lots of people who misrepresent themselves there too, in case you haven't noticed.

Never supported it. All that the meddling generals have achieved until now is set Thailand back years, scare away tourism and business investment, and reduce Thailand's standing abroad to the level of a South American banana republic. The population is divided, and there are endless demonstrations and riots.

Thaksin had his problems but the way to get rid of him was the ballot box.

Hyperbole at it worst. There is not a single fact in your statements. Business investment and tourism would be down anyway, there is no way to say how much, if any is due to the political instability. As far as a divided population, that is only in the imagination of the people like you that think Thaksin is actually a true populist and not actually the patron of a bunch of pissed feudal lords that have mobilized their clients into civil disobedience. The "endless demonstrations and riots" is an absolutely ludicrous statement that ignores the reality of the situation.

They couldn't get out by the ballot box, because he controlled the people that control the elections. When will you realize that.

TH

You don't seem to have much grasp of how business works. Business likes boring stability. Tanks, riots, airport closures, frequent changes of government tend to frighten all those conservative businesspeople and tourists off. Sure, chaos may be exciting for the street mobs and give non-working expats who prop up bars something to talk about, but any kind of political stability is bad for business. Period.

Sure, business sentiment is down anyway. But it's obvious that any additional chaos will only compound an already difficult problem. And if you think that the nation is not divided, and that all the rioting is a sign of unity, then let's agree to disagree. We are poles apart.

You always start to use superlative words like 'absolutely', 'ludicrous', 'ridiculous' and the like when your arguments are at their weakest, amounting only to your personal opinions, and you need to make your point by overusing emphasis. There is no alternative to the ballot box, whether you like it or not. Anything else is not a democracy, so let the people decide, and let's agree to disagree.

All that other anti-Thaksin blathering as to why the Nation is so terrible

That's a very strange criteria.

Thaksin has been gone for a while now

Not even a full month yet.

I don't understand what you are getting at.

You said that the Nation's deterioration is all Thaksin's fault

I said that Thaksin has been gone for a lot more than a month, and the Nation keeps deteriorating

You now say "not even a full month yet"

Please explain further.

PS. My English isn't really good...but wasn't it supposed to be "its website" instead of "it's website"? I'm confused.

Well spotted! Just like the Nation, I also can't afford a proof reader. Brush up your English and you can apply for the job

All that other anti-Thaksin blathering as to why the Nation is so terrible

That's a very strange criteria.

These people are just like their messiah. The more they keep their mouths running, the more they expose themselves of what deceitful lying bastards they are. You know, they just love democracy and got nothing to do with Thaksin. Blah blah blah.

Reference:http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Double-Stand...html&st=125 post #142

ThNiner, the difference between us seems to be that you obviously support the Democrat Party and dislike Thaksin's lot, whereas I dislike both sides. Look back and you will see that I do not have a high opinion of Thaksin.

All that I support are the principles whereby power is attained and retained through a majority mandate of the voting population, and that no government should retain power via a double standard, this being a recipe for resentment and consequent disaster.

Your posts are getting ruder and ruder. Calling people who have an opposing political opinion 'deceitful lying bastards' is just the kind of authoritarian mindset, prevalent on both sides, that is causing all the division and violence in Thailand right now. We are all entitled to express our views, even if you don't personally share those views.

Try to assert your arguments, if indeed you have any left, in a polite and civil manner, without resorting to rude language and personal insults, if you want people to listen to what you have to say.

Never supported it. All that the meddling generals have achieved until now is set Thailand back years, scare away tourism and business investment, and reduce Thailand's standing abroad to the level of a South American banana republic. The population is divided, and there are endless demonstrations and riots.

Thaksin had his problems but the way to get rid of him was the ballot box.

Now here is a real strong beer...

Skullsplitter, Orkney Ale....8.5% ABV !!!!!!!!

Beers that strong aren't anything unsual, what's usual is beiung able to blend the alcohol together with the beer well enough that anyone would want to drink it. For instance. most Imperial Stouts are that strong (some >10% ABV), some Belgian beers (including Chimay Blue and almost anything classified as a Tripel). Anyone can pour grain alcohol into a brewing vat, that Red Horse, Colt 45, or Carlsberg Special have a lot of alcohol means nothing.

Right - I was in Basel a while back and was given a bottle of 'beer' that was 13% alcohol. It was a cottage brand French beer. Can't remember what it was called, but it tasted like beer flavoured wine. Awful.

I haven't tried the Cheers Xtra, probably neither have most in the thread either, so maybe you're right about the Cheers Xtra. But are you sure that it's a ale and not a strong lager or a malt liquor?

But certainly you exaggerate about beer outside of England. Pale and weak tasting pale lagers dominate the market, but there must be 100 different styles of beer around the world and the sin of most of them is not they are weak tasting. Becks, Heineken, Carlsberg, and Stella are not what Eurpoean beer is about, it's merely what it's possible to sell to the masses cheaply and still with a good profit margin. And, believe it or not, in this day & age neither are Bud and VB are what American and Australian beer are are about. Remember, when in Britain you have access it a wide varietry of beers that are brewed only in England and available only in England, as someone in Germany has acess to regional beers that aren't exported, as does an American with American beers. Those are better beers to judge a country's brewers on than upon the ones that show up at a Villa supermarket in Thailand.

Agreed you have to be in a country to sample its best beers. The stuff that goes out to export is pisswater by comparison - bud, VB, John Smiths et al.

In my personal experience, the Nation has seriously eaten in Bangkok Post marketshare in the past decade, btw.

Who says I am supporting the Bangkok Post? Also a mere shadow of its former self, and on a bad day can be read cover to cover in minutes.

The Bangkok Post is also left leaning, but does occasionally present a balancing argument. The few reduced-size pages that remain are of a marginally better quality than the Nation's, and at least it's website passes a basic level of English grammar, with material that appears to have been written by reasonably educated adults.

All that other anti-Thaksin blathering as to why the Nation is so terrible, I won't bother to comment on. Thaksin has been gone for a while now, but the Nation's quality has continued to deteriorate beyond the level of a bellicose political campaign mag.

The Nation has opposed Thaksin's regime from the word go, from the days he was caught falsifying his asset statements and buying TV stations in the run up to the elections, from the days when he ordered secret and illegal investigation trying to prove that Nation editors are mafia engaged in all kinds of illegal activities and the hidden enemy of Thailand.

No wonder it has supported anti-Thaksin movement, though it was always sceptical of Sondhi.

As for poor quality - after attempted hostile takeover by one of Thaksin's ministers they were forced to restructure their Nationgroup that includes lots of other publications and what not. As a result The Nation, the English paper, was left financially on their own, without the support of the rest of the group, so they had to make severe staff cuts, so no proofreading of online breaking news, for example.

It obviously can't afford a proof reader for its website, as it publishes the most glaringly poor English. I don't suppose that bodes well for the quality of its reporting either, the good journalists would have moved on. Many newspapers are in demise to a greater or lesser extent, their advertising revenues have been eroded by the Internet, and also the state of the economy. The Nation seems one of the hardest hit, and reads more like a tabloid these days.

It's predictable that you blame the Nation's demise on Thaksin, but I think that if there were an earthquake you would probably blame that on Thaksin too .

Another comment about those who think "Siam" is doing just fine themselves.

Leave the citizenship to the citizens.

Can you image a Thai citizen posting a comment in the Washington post about how he would/can make the US so much better? Oh & yes he posts it in Thai as he cannot read. write or speak English.

No need to reply OP if you agree or cannot read

Well there's a novel idea. Suggesting that guests in a country should leave its future to citizens.

Old fashioned, perhaps, but you may have a point. Wouldn't this forum be a quiet place without all these well-intended guests telling Thailand how it should run itself?

I won't express my views here...but please vote, lets see an overall opinion.

Thanks

I think that all newspapers are biased to a greater or lesser extent - they are run and written by human beings whose politacal opinions leave a mark on their work.

Two things I have noticed about the Nation though: The first is its drift to the yellow side, to the extent where it reads like a campaign brochure; the second is its deteriorating quality. Many of its articles, particularly those that appear on its website, are written in poor English and have a strident quality reminiscent of a low grade British tabloid. It's a shame, because the Nation used to be one of the best newpapers in the region, with insighful analyses on cultural, political and business issues. Now however, the Nation reads as if it is running out of time and money, and feels the need to scream to compensate for poor quality and make itself heard.

Tell him to go home where he will get them for free, if he is British or Australian.

Once started the medications my counters became as they are now (above) 3 weeks after taking the medications! They work!

Tha's the best advice - try to get him to go home.

A friend of mine also caught HIV in Thailand and became so depressed that he crawled into a bottle and didn't come out for a couple of years, by which time he was starting to show symptoms. During this time, he watched his girlfriend die from the disease. Eventually, I persuaded him to let me tell his family, whom he had been out of contact with for a few years. They were fantastic, arranged for him to see a doctor on his return, sent him money for his airfare (he was penniless) and looked after him.

The treatment he received in the UK was free, and five years later he is living life to the full, is off the booze, and has an (also HIV+) girlfriend. I still see him whenever I go back to the UK, and he would certainly be dead by now had he stayed in Thailand.

Thailand is no place to be sick. Your friend will be much better off with the support of his family and medical care in his home country. AIDS is an awful disease if it is not very carefully managed, and you do need a very good doctor to manage it properly.

I think it is quite likely the Dems wont win the next election although who knows what parties and alliances will be around by then.

By the way, the yellows and Dems are not really the same thing although there s some overlap.

There are not only differences. It's also quite obvious that PAD see themselves as being above the Democrats.

Correct. The Dems belong to the army, the PAD and the mafia. And there are no corrupt elements there, as we all know

The Dems dont belong to the military who are closer to more traditonal politcans. The Dems and military have never had very good relations historically. The mafia can be found in all sides in parliament. They are not a huge omnipotent force but a set of unaligned local groups which side with whoever suits them locally. Even some red leaders can be described as such. The PAD are quite critcal of the Dems right now especially Suthep who is certainly no yellow.

Right now the military and PAD could be seen as acquiescing to a Dem led government as the best option for them. It is simplistic to use pure red propoganda when analysing the players in this game. There are alliances which change all the time.That is how this government was formed and how the preceding ones were formed and how future ones were formed. It is even how TRT was initially formed. This is about power and there are many players but no totally dominant one.

Whether or not the Dems and the military get on is beside the point. The fact remains that they are very much aligned in the toppling of a democratically elected civilian government. I agree that the mafia is to be found everywhere. What I can't accept is the cynical way in which the Dems accept the help of the mafia, and then get on an anti-corruption soapbox and drive an agenda based on utter hypocrisy.

I think it is quite likely the Dems wont win the next election although who knows what parties and alliances will be around by then.

By the way, the yellows and Dems are not really the same thing although there s some overlap.

There are not only differences. It's also quite obvious that PAD see themselves as being above the Democrats.

Correct. The Dems belong to the army, the PAD and the mafia. And there are no corrupt elements there, as we all know

I'm really lost for words that would be fit to describe you guys. With the lack of a single shred of evidence, you have to extrapolate all the conspiracy theries avaialble to make a case that yeah may Abhisit might be possibly corrupt. Yet at the same time, you can flatly deny all the crimes and corruption Thaksin has committed even with all the evidence, pending cases stacked against him. You guys are really something else.

You are lost for words because your argument has no validity.

Depending on the support of a notoriously corrupt, banned, mafia Godfather to get his job makes Abhisit nothing more than a puppet of corruption. To try to whitewash him as clean, when he has corrupt paymasters, doesn't make sense at all.

If you depend on a criminal for your position, that makes you one too.

Abhisit should do the right thing, and get humself elected if he wants to be taken seriously as a politician in his own right. Why does he have such a problem with that?

Army to monitor red shirt rally Sunday evening

First Army Area Commander Lt Gen Kanit Sapithak said Sunday that the Army will closely monitor the rally of the red-shirted movement in Bangkok Sunday evening.

Kanit said although police did not request the military's help to deal with the rally, the Army would closely monitor the demonstration at the Phai Khiew Temple.

The Nation 2009/05/10

Anybody still in doubt as to who is running the country these days and since 2006? Haven't they got any Burmese or Cambodians to shoot at these days? No women and children to herd into squalid holding camps in the northern jungles?

Army move in without any request from, police, Governor or Abhisit.

Speaks volumes to those with ears to hear it!!! Sorry some of you guys are still not getting it, but the rest of us and the rest of the world certainly are.

Good luck with your anti-thaksin rants and paranoia. You will wake up one day and some of these goons will have enacted the most racist (against the majority of Thais who are not skin whitener junkies) anti-falang set of policies asia has seen in a long time.

Seems obvious to me too that Thailand is starting to resemble Burma. Funny thing is that the yellows have succeeded in deluding a few people here that their iron fist, and aims to curtail the popular vote, have something to do with 'democracy'

It's a funny old world.

Army to monitor red shirt rally Sunday evening

First Army Area Commander Lt Gen Kanit Sapithak said Sunday that the Army will closely monitor the rally of the red-shirted movement in Bangkok Sunday evening.

Kanit said although police did not request the military's help to deal with the rally, the Army would closely monitor the demonstration at the Phai Khiew Temple.

The Nation 2009/05/10

Given that the army controls Thailand via a puppet government, that's hardy surprising. Why don't they show us really how well liked they are by having an election. Best way to get rid of the red shirts is to prove beyond doubt that the people don't support them.

If democracy was really only about 1-person-1 vote, then they would have to say that Iraq under Suddam had always been democratic as well.

Correct.

As was GDR - one person one vote they had, "yes" or "no" to the ruling (and only existing) party SED. "No" votes were considered invalid, and "invalid" votes were counted as "yes". No wonder SED got 99.x percent "yes" in every election but hey, "democratic" it was (they didn't pay for votes, no really, they didn't).

Oh, and whoever voted "no" was subject to incarceration or other nice things. But that's not part of the democratic process.

Regarding the mentioned "democratic means to eject an elected bad leader", the problem with Thaksin is that he was on the way to disable those means. As he once said "i don't care for vote of non-confidence" (or some such) it should be clear that he was, although indeed voted quite democratically at first, not willing to EVER let go of his power again - unless removed by force (what the coup did).

If he would have gained total control over the military by placing his family members and high school buddies in key positions (as done in other places) there would have been no way of deposing him, even if every person in the country would be against him. Democracy? Not something he'd care for. He was on the way to create a "Third Reich" style country right here, with himself being president/dictator with full control over army, police and courts.

Best regards....

Thanh

Eh? But Thailand has always had lots of different parties to vote for. It's silly trying to compare it to the GDR. And on the subject of disabling means to democratic process, the PAD went public in its ambitions to curtail the voting rights of people they described as 'uneducated'. What kind of democracy do you call that?