Galong

Did "www.thailies.com" say anything about the fact that these poor pharmaceutical companies who "need" profits in AIDS drugs from small countries like Thailand, Brazil and India to do R&D were the biggest lobbyists in America from 1998-2006 by contributing over $1.1 billion? It must be terrible when one day these poor companies will no longer have enough money to be the biggest political contributors in the world....because countries like Thailand and Brazil legally issue a couple of CL's on their durgs.

Thailand is not a poor country. Abbot offered a deal of just US$1000 for a year's supply of the aids medicine. It's Thailand's responsibility to take care of its poor people, not US companies.

Yes, they are making massive profits, but that's what they are in business for. Stealing their formula is not justified... it's simply stealing... something that Thailand does on every opportunity be it DVDs, clothes, watches or medicine.

if a poster on thai visa posted comments about the government that were less than complimentary

and deemed to be defamatory , and the cyber police came knocking on georges door asking for the identity of the poster , what is the thai visa policy regarding this ?

would thai visa divulge the ip address of the poster ? ..... what is international law on this matter ?

From the Forum Rules:

We respects the privacy of all our visitors, members and clients. Any known information is kept strictly confidential. No information is ever sold or knowingly given out to any third party.

OK, but what if you were threatened with legal action?

Maybe T'land can become the censorship hub of SE Asia next

[quote name='cclub75' date='2007-05-09 21:08:57' post='1293978'

Sure... use helicopters. Or tanks.

I mean : even the US troops, with heavy technologies and support, suffer from such attacks (road side bombings) in Iraq. It's even the deadliest kind of attacks.

So, what can do the thai troopers ?

Remember the US troops complaining about their vehicles NOT being properly armoured? It is possible to withstand a roadside bomb if you have sufficient armour from what I've read.

I venture to say that there are ways to lessen the damage done by roadside bombs, but that would cost a lot of $ most likely, so it's doubtful that it'll happen. I feel sorry for the families of soldiers stationed down there. It must be very stressful.

Bomb kills 7 soldiers in the South

Pattani (dpa)

Insurgents on Wednesday killed seven soldiers with a bomb detonated under their truck as they patrolled Rangae district of Narathiwat province in the deep South, police said.

The explosion occurred at mid-afternoon near Bongo village, Rangae district of Narathiwat (about 790km south of Bangkok) near a hilltop where a Thai patrol on March 2 had surprised a group of Runda Kampulan Kecil (RKK), and killed five.

All seven soldiers in the pickup truck on Wednesday were killed. Other booby trapped bombs and nails thrown on the road prevented authorities from immediately getting to the scene.

meanwhile ..............................

It looks like the bad guys are better trained than the military. These were special forces soldiers, yet they didn't seem prepared for this act, which was something I think they should have expected. I'm no miltary mind, but roadside bombs and booby traps are what to expect aren't they? There's got to be a plan of action in this case.

It's truly sad when any lives are lost.

I finally started constructing my home climbing wall... and this evening I went to see Spiderman 3... good flick, especially if you get the VIP Lazy Boy seats. 500 Baht well-spent.

Learn how to read dude.

Go to bed and have another dream.

The s word in 3 posts out of 4 within 15 min that would be "often" but not "all", yes i think i got you, but then again I am not sure we are comunicating on the same level, aeeh "Dude"

And yes i might just take a nap and i hope to dream, i like that.

Really really really goodbye.

I have to appologise big time to Galon and Prakanong getting mixed up in who wrote what, I have no excuse and should have been more carefull, sorry again. especially to you Prakanong since it wasent intented for you at all in the first place I somehow got your posts to be Galons. Only goes to show once you have decided to leave a thread you really should.

And it turns out you where right Galon, I should have gone to bed and had a dream.

No blood, no foul... Thanks for the appology... dude.

Thailand is NOT a poor country as many posters have pointed out. What they often are is thieves who openly steal everything that they can... see Panthip Plaza.

You should be ashamed of yourself, posting a remark like that there are 65 million Thais and I am sure they dont all work in Panthip Plaza.

Learn how to read dude. I said "OFTEN ARE", not ALL ARE! Of course there are plenty of honest hard-working Thais. But, there is blatant stealing of American goods... period.

And no, I'm not the least bit ashamed. I just mentioned Panthip, but there are hundreds of other examples. Walk around Phuket or Bangkok any night as see how many DVDs, brand label clothes, watches, etc, etc are being sold ILLEGALLY!

Go to bed and have another dream.

it's not that the poor little pharma companies are innocent and powerless victims in this disgusting game.

word

ROFLMAO, I love it when folks use the word 'word' in a most appropriate manner...

After reading the posts in this thread I have changed my mind about the whole matter. Thanks to all who have opened my eyes to the facts of the matter. This is stealing plain and simple. Yes, it sucks that poor people aren't being taken care of, but it's the Thai government that isn't doing their job, not the American businesses who are screwing them. There is enough $$ here to help the poor. That just doesn't seem to be a high priority.

Snip from the excellent article that whimsy provided:

"Earlier this month, Abbott Laboratories announced that it would sell to Thailand and dozens of other low-income nations, Kaletra for $1,000 per patient annually. That's about 55 percent less than Kaletra's current cost and cheaper than every copy of the medicine available. In March, Merck similarly offered to drastically reduce the price of Efavirenz."

Thailand is NOT a poor country as many posters have pointed out. What they often are is thieves who openly steal everything that they can... see Panthip Plaza. I agree that the pharma companies are making a killing, but as one poster pointed out, some of this profit goes back into R &D. What's the motivation for doing more R&D if their hard work ends up being ripped off by countries that can afford to buy it, but choose not to.

Keep ripping off the US and Thailand could become the next Cuba.

Hello,

i agree that it could have been just a small cracker, but then you called for the "media monkeys" to kump on the train. So far neither bangkok post or the nation covers the story.

why is that?????

regards

Timo

"Kump"?

The story is in BOTH The Nation and the Bangkok Post bro... check again. Did you honestly think that they wouldn't 'jump' on this story and start speculating as to who is behind it? C'mon man, this is gold for the media monkeys

I feel sorry for the guy at the phone booth and don't want to minimize his injuries. But I get annoyed with news organizations and sensationalists headlines. Bomb? A small explosion, yes. I'm disappointed in Thai Visa's choice of which headline to use in their notification

Spot on Pascal! This could be teenagers with nothing better to do. If they want to see their deeds in the headlines, Thai Visa is right up there with all the other media monkeys in providing them with marketing...

Beggars. Take, take, take, and never give back anything in return. I hope they lose all of their trade benefits for their refusal to innovate. Beggars.

"Curmudgeons" ...sweet, I learned a new word today, thanks

I bet if the shoe was on the other foot the Thais would be furious over someone stealing their products. I seem to remember a major uproar over some Hom Malee rice found growing in Cambodia a year or two ago... same, same, not different.

HOW ABOUT THE PANAMA CANAL THEY SPRAYED FOOM THE AIR UNLESS THE BAD GUYS FROM THE SOUTH NOW HAVE ANTI-ARI-CRAFT CAPABILITY

I would prefer to put a less poisonous repellent on myself. Having the government spray me with their choice of poison is not something I want to happen. My guess is that they would choose the cheapest poison.

Also, please turn your CAP LOCK OFF... it's annoying.

PM is looking into the latest attack by US drugs Innovation

Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont indicates that the government will find a solution after it has decided to break a patent on an AIDS drug produced by a US company. The US has then criticized Thailand for failing to protect of intellectual property rights and has included Thailand among 12 countries on an annual "Priority Watch List".

Gen. Surayud says the Thai government had a discussion on the possible scenarios related to this issue. However, he says the government will find the best way to prevent the negative impacts on the Thai economy.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 03 May 2007

..there wouldn't be any "negative impacts" on the thai economy if thailand didn't steal the drugs.

when you take away somebody's livihood via illegal means, what did you expect? smiling faces?

what will thailand do next? nationalize all the foreign factories in thailand like chavez did? talk about stealing. for sure, nobody is going to invest in his country anymore. BP learned their lesson. and my guess is that that is the real reason why their CEO resigned.

imagine how much money BP invested in venezuela only to have it stolen by chavez? billions.. I wonder how BP is going to cover up the loss in their annual reports?

america companies should be in america providing jobs to americans. and my guess is - someday soon the people of america will make sure they understand that.

I know. some of you are saying isolationism, protectionism is bad. but the way I see it, china is doing it, japan is doing it, and even thailand is doing it. so, it can't be all that bad, right? I say america is better off doing it too. stop the h1b visas. quit the donations overseas.

You make a lot of sense Nick... it's nice to think that the global economy can prosper in a fair and balanced manner, but it's obvious that it isn't and perhaps can't. The US is farming out everything it can as labor is cheaper abroad. The one thing it does have is intellectual property and if they try to save that, people cry foul?

I wouldn't trust Thailand if I was in a position of losing a lot of money. Instead of stealing medicine, perhaps the Thai government could have tried a different approach. The pharm companies are in business. It's unfortunate that their 'business' puts lives in the balance. Just my two satang's worth anyway...

I predict that foreigners will be blamed for the economy and that violence against foreigners will increase.

Xenophobia triumphs!

NLA members vote overwhelmingly for ministry's FBA draft

The National Legislative Assembly yesterday voted with an absolute majority to amend the Foreign Business Act (FBA) based on the Commerce Ministry's draft, after spending one hour debating whether to adopt the draft of the ministry or that of a subcommittee of the NLA which was more liberal.

full article at: http://nationmultimedia.com/2007/04/26/bus...ss_30032717.php

Ah ha! "Under the government's draft, the new legislation will also punish any legal consultant that advises foreign investors to breach the law." Is this a tidbit of fairness perhaps?

I predicted the fist coup last year, long before it was seriously fashionable to do so, and amazingly I was the first to break the news on Thai Visa, when an incredulous friend, who had been doubting my mental faculties, called me in a very agitated state to tell me that he had heard from his Thai fiancée, (whose family was close to Thaksin), that the coup was actually in progress.

About a month back, I predicted a second coup would happen in the next couple of months or so, and I now believe this more than ever.

I think Gen Sonthi and his henchman will seek to consolidate their grip on power with another coup, and this time there will be no pretence to hand back to civlians any time soon.

It will get worse before it gets better - mark my words.

Darn Moby, you're no fun I hope you're wrong, but I wouldn't bet against your prediction.

Perhaps if he would have done what he said he was going to do when he took over none of this would 'potentially' going to happen. He was supposed to arrange for a democratic election very shortly after taking over. Instead, he's done close to nothing... other than come up with new rules to muck with foreigners

He is now about to reap what he has sewn.. maybe I, of course, hope nothing bad happens.

One on one against a woman and the 'man' still needed a weapon!

How come we never hear about any fair fights...

Combined with the fact that fishermen are raping the sea and trawling in national park waters (seen it many times in Tarutao), this is just one more good reason to NOT eat seafood.

'Tis rather annoying to have a bunch of young Thai guys approach you to ask if you want a sexy DVD... I know that they all assume we're sex fiends, but come on. And, they often don't take 'no' for an answer.

Yup, the "I feel safer already" bit was classic! :D

Errrrrr......................... I'm a Farang, and nearly every Farang I know that has a car drinks and drives, the only ones I know who do not drink and drive are non drinkers.

You want me to lie and say most Farangs don't drink and drive just cos you don't ?

You're a foreigner? Hmmm... traitor?

"the only ones I know who do not drink and drive are non drinkers." OK, I guess that's better than getting in a tuk tuk. Many of them seem tol like to beat up drunk foreigners!

Not every foreigner I know drinks and drives. I guess I hang out with a different caliber of foreigners. The word "most" is not really fair unless you've done an extensive, unbiased survey... which I doubt you've done brother.

No blood, no foul, but come on... not every foreigner is a drunk. Let's be fair to our own please.

Way to stereotype dude, it makes you gain a lot of respect on this forum.

Contrary to Maigo6's blatant racist attitude, not all foreigners drink nor drink and drive.

If the cops actually did their job, innocent lives would be saved. But that would require actually getting off their duffs and patrolling. Why is that that I can go out any day of the week at any time and watch people run red lights. now I don't know if these people have been drinking or if they're just stupid. Many seem to not even look at the potential disaster that could happen. The vast majority of these red-light-runners are not foreigners. Hey Maigo6, how many foreigners do you see riding three or four on a motorbike and none with helmets?

I'm all for stiff penalties, be they fines, imprisonment, both or whatever. Something needs to be done. I've had close calls and I don't drink!

Like I said, I don't drink at all, but thanks for putting us all in the same basket Maigo6.

Ooo, yet another way to exploit wildlife... why am I not surprised.

There should be an award for hypocracy. The Thai government needs to worry about all of the BLATANT sex advertising on the streets of Thailand (not just in the touristy areas) before attacking the internet.

When will someone step up and accept that Thailand is a sex-selling country? I have been here for 15 years and have NEVER seen any real crackdown on prostitution or nasty gatoys dancing half naked on poles (within view of any passing tourist, including children). It's always someone else; no one in Thailand ever accepts any responsibility... narrow-minded hypocrits

In the south, they've caught probably every single one to put in cages. If you see one in the south, you can assume it has escaped.

Stealing the freedom of flight so you can listen to a bird sing is pathetic. Bay a CD if you want to listen to bird songs. Plus, many of the birds have to endure long periods of direct sun. Um, birds in the wild seek shade when it's hot. Thailand is not paradise for animals.