jdinasia

When the Thaksin years are analyzed, they will be seen to be an effort to truly internalize the country, an effort to make free trade agreements, to make the old, lazy bureaucrats accountable.

Hard to drag all those bags at the same time.

While Thaksin’s reach may have exceeded his grasp he worked damned hard to change the country, and Thailand is a damned hard country to change.

I would like to hear from all the Thailand apologists like Ajarn to reassure us that the old way is OK; that any change or criticism of any Thai people inevitably leads back to the fact that I’m just stupid, or don’t undertsand, or I’m so terribly insensitive.

Internalize the country? HUH? what does that mean? eat it whole? shove it up ...?

FTA's? ... sometimes good ... sometimes not ... depends on if they are done well and by whom?

ACCOUNTABILITY? ... for the massacre in the South? for being transparent? For cronyism and nepotism?

You are right ... hard to drag all those at once .... but hel_l ... get some nominees they'll do it!

Bought a flashlight one years ago - tried paying someone to test it out on them. Sadly no takers!!!

Bring it with you this time! I'll test it for you! <<on you!>> for free!

That looks like a guy I saw in Chewang last year ... but I think he had a dress on!

Thaksin to be granted audience with HM the King

Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will be granted an audience with HM the King this afternoon, a government source said on Tuesday.

Thaksin will travel to Klaikangwon Palace at Hua Hin, Prachuab Khiri Khan province.

"Thaksin is scheduled to be granted an audience with HM at 2pm," the source said.

The source declined to reveal the objective of the meeting.

The Nation

Is it standard protocol for the newly elected prime-minister to have an audience with His Majesty after being elected - or does His Majesty have something to say to Thaksin?

Let's hope so!

Has one been elected yet?

Bambie ........ if you get accepted go just about anywhere!

I lived all over the USA for 36 of my 41 years and Colorado is a good choice for where to LIVE .... but better check and see if the focus is on small or large animals (pets or Agricultural)

Vet school is notoriously hard to get into ... but may be easier for foriegn students!

Good luck!

easy answer ....

Q. "how much is 'enough'?"

A. "More than I make!"

or

A. "less than I make, but I am sure greatful for the cushion"

Threads like this have some people listing outrageous claims .... ...

and threads like "How much does it to take to survive comfortably?" really depend on so many variables that they are not quite doable in the general forum.

However.

"How much does it take to survive comfortably in Patong if I don't want a regular GF and have to make Visa runs 1x a month and want to fly .. and I want to spend 2 nights a week out at the bars and one day a week golfing and another scuba-diving?"

MIGHT work

keeps people from flaming out those threads ... "You want HOW MUCH? HaHaHaHa" followed with where to buy the same thing new cheaper ...

or creating a bidding war .... or whatever

hmmm that's a bit of an overexagerration of that poster's meaning ....

But hel_l ... to take a side I don't believe in ....

The Tree of liberty must be ....

and would such "sacrifices" be more or less deaths than have happened under Thaksin in the South (say in the back of trucks...) or in the form of Extra-judicial killings ......

anyways I am a true believer in non-violence and civil-disobedience .... so cheers to the people that risk all in non-violent expressions of political outrage!

Hotel Bookings in BKK down 10%?

hmmmmm 31 constituencies to vote again .....

I missed what happens with the Party List ... can anyone help there?

(I really do love the guys overseas that think this is/should be finished .... sadly it has just begun!)

Geeze ... use as much high pressure waterguns as you want ..... as long as it is not aimed at motorcycles .... and skimpy tops are a good thing!

I am curious ... what ation will be taken against "over-the-top" stuff BiB 'you threw water ... 100 baht fine! '

just spare me from 2 things ..... water with icecubes in it ... and powder sprated in my eyes!

I Soooo love Songkran in Thailand (but I won't be in BKK for it!)

Remember? They came with proposals to Thaksin who snubbed them. Then they announced the boycot, then Thaksin run back with his counter proposals, then they hesitated, then they talked to PAD, then they took a gamble and it worked.

That is how negotiations generally work, in politics and business: proposals, counter-proposals, and somehow you get together with a for all sides acceptable compromise.

And how did the "gamble" work?

I see that the country still does not function. That means it did not work. Well, unless you are intent to bring the country to a standstill in order to force your opinion through no matter what, and especially no compromise.

Thaksin is still PM, by the way.

Where are you? Thaksin is the caretaker PM ... there is no PM and as far as I can see not one anytime soon

it is worth to risk social peace for ousting a thief and murder and it might been worth to have some people killed.

Ahhhh. There we are...finally.

So, it is now worth to get some people killed. Nice.

How many then, please?

1?

10?

100?

1000?

More?

So, that is now the "peaceful" position of the PAD spporters?

Corpses? No problem.

Destruction of busines? No Problem.

Long lasting social conflicts? No problem.

You have given there the exact reason why i cannot support the PAD.

By the way, as you so graciously have decided over the life of "some people", where will you be when the killing starts?

May i guess - debating behind the safety of the computer screen.

Truly shocked...

...not exactly.

Hmmmm I personally don't condone violence ..... but wanna bet that the numbers will be less than inthe south? or less than the extra-judicial killings of drug dealers* Your personal outrage on so many of these topics would make more sense if they matched with the reality ....

NO, it was his own idea to call the elections, it wasn't Chamlong who demanded them. PAD denounced elections from the first day. Thaksin thought elections would solve his problems, they didn't.

Can i assume that you don't play chess?

By the way, do you also support the opinion of your fellow PAD supporter, that killing "some people" is worth it?

I would think that EC officials would be concerned about the unprecendented numbers of invalidated ballots...numbers that are astronomically high.... but then that presumes the EC is actually concerned about holding a valid election and obviously that's too much to presume. Who determines exactly what constitutes an invalid ballot? Local EC officials. Still troubling is the thus-far unaddressed rationale for using these rubber stamps. As it's the first time in history they were used, I presume the EC would be interested in monitoring specifically how many ballots were invalidated by their misuse...but again, that's presuming the EC gives a darn. With the historically significant numbers involved, I would have hoped that the EC would want to investigate this phenomenon extensively.... on every possible level ... and evaluate every possible variable as best they could... such as which provinces had higher/lower rates.. for example, why were the percentage of invalidated ballots so astoundingly high in Chiang Mai districts?

John..... Time to face the facts.... Your anti-Thaksin side had a good kick at the can but they did not prevail. The TRT has won the election. TRT have the majority vote. You can whine about the EC and spoiled ballots and valid elections but it will not change the outcome. The majority of the Thai voters voted the opposite to what you would have liked and elected the TRT to be their government.

Actually Luk ... in most places a ballot would be valid if the "intent of the voter" could be established.

I know this is a stretch ... but could the TRT MP's elect someone else?

he should have mentioned that W has one of the lowest approval ratings from his electorate of any Prez ever

he talked abou W doing the will of his people .... and the elction problems in Florida ....

sadly the announcer didn't say ... but W LOST the popular vote ... and you know if you called this election after Songkran ....

The worst part about it is this is food for the fire .... for the anti-PAD fanatics ... becuse the PAD WILL be busy

or in 2 weeks BritMav .... you are still gonna owe me a drink before you get here

He hasn't resigned ... looks like he isn't planning on it either

he's been explaining why ... and citing Florida 6 years ago as a reason/justification ....

He siad he WILL resign ... IF a better plan is presented for the country .... that means no resignation tonight

Thaksin said TRT got 52.xx %

PAD would not contest the results if they win (doubtful).

As much as it could be, this election was pretty fair, people had the option of voting Tuksin out, and it looks like they have not. But instead chose to boycott an election they knew they were gona lose anyway.

PAD touts democracy, yet they still plan more protests of they dont get their way in the election. Thats pretty pathetic really, and just goes to show they dont give a stuff about what the people actually want.

Shame on PAD, they had their chance to covert people to their cause, and it now looks like they failed, time to just deal with it, and quit the moaning and holding up traffic in the center of the city.

Granted, Tuksin isn't a very good guy, but your kidding yourselves if you actually believe that any of this other pond scum will make Thailand better off.

oh ... let's see .... this election was legal ... but far from fair .....

Thaksin could have given enough notice before the elections to let the candidates choose sides ... but he didn't .....

Thaksin could have waited til after songkran when many many people would take the info they gained in the cities home ... and thus influence the rural population ..... but he didn't ...

The list goes on ....

30 minutes Till Thaksin speaks ... and George has participated in one of Thailand's favorite pasttimes on this sub-forum

<hope you are right George!>

Then we can have done with the Anti-PAD and Anti-Thaksin fanatics at one time!

And get on to the ever more frightening ... how does Thailand get a sitting Parlaiment constitutionally!

All said .... KSR is the wildest party .... Ignore the whiners that have just been around too long and don't have fun with it!

BKK is always safe if you just remember that you are in a MAJOR city and think that way at all times ... for women that means don't wander around alone at night in unknown areas etc (things happen here more rarely than in the west to foriegn women ... but it is a rational precaution) Both Silom and Suk have some party areas etc ....

That being said ... as many Thais as can DO go home to be with family .... and most of my friends that can get the time off head to an island ... where the water throwing will typically end before 7pm so you can still put on clean clothes and walk for dinner!

Adults can always manage it ... <imho> I was a Demo voting Libertarian for years <I'd vote Demo only when I had to do it to vote against the Rep's and my 1st LTR was a green/red guy ... (Socialist with strong commie leanings ... and Green party) He was an absolute freak ... and we had a great time ... the ground rules for adults having a relationship is to give your partner the same freedom as you would your best friend)

Mr. Somchai confirms the construction of Suvarnabhumi Airport will be completed within schedule

Suvarnabhumi Airport Director, Mr. Somchai Sawadeephol (สมชัย สวัสดีผล) affirmed that the construction of Suvarnabhumi Airport will be completed according to schedule. He said the official opening of the new airport will be determined by the government.

Mr. Somchai was speaking in response to the news report alleging that there is a delay on the installation of the Information Management System (AIMS) as well as the final touches in the airport. The news report claimed that the official opening will be delayed to 7 months.

Mr. Somchai added that the installation of AIMS is 100 % completed and is now under the progress of testing the system. He said all the airlines have moved their offices to the new airport already.

He revealed that the Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited has approved the decoration plans when the airlines have submitted their documents for moving their offices into the airport. He said there have been much progress overall.

However, Mr. Somchai said the most worrying issue is about training the officials. He indicated that all the work should be completed within May. He stated that the government will make final decision about the official opening of Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 03 April 2006

Will be finished according to schedule? ..... on time? ... isn't that about 10 months ago now? then again in Sept? Oh wait it opened in Sept! I remember 2 planes landing!

News reprts said 7 months late? From when? If I were a betting man I'd always vote the spread in Thailand!

well OHA ... just bide your time out here ... then go on ...

Individuals CAN be politically active without being politicians ... they can be leaders of grassroots movements without being politicians ....they can even be leaders of movements that have only one specific goal ... tossing someone THEY see as a problem out of office, WITHOUT BEING POLITICIANS

If they aren't part of a political party standing for election but instead working for one specific goal then calling them, or him in this case, politicians is just wrong.

Your word choices show you to be a person to whom semantics matters ... good luck to you

TAWP ... don't sweat it ... some people are just anti-PAD fanatics .... therefore NOTHING PAD could do would be funny .... or right ... or acceptable ... particularly a song that parodies a hero