jdinasia

3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, fully equiped condo 72K baht a month. I also end up spending another 25K a month on phone calls, laundry, room service ..........................

Makes no sense at all to rent at that price for any length of time you may as well buy a place or are you just making a point to the others that you can afford it?

Seems like it is the same price as other posters on this thread so I'm merely confirming the "going rate".

I agree though, I've been renting this place for two years now - about 25K GBP so far....

However I don't have a Thai wife and am not too keen on the other ways to buy property here. Also property seems a bit overpriced at the moment.

it's a condo ... no need for a wife ...... 2 years in that place already? ... hmmmm 100k a month .... not likely to come down in price in the decent areas

Does some scholars disagreement over some of the book points justify you calling PAD right wing xenophobic extremists?

Is this the only reason you attack PAD so ferociuosly?

Not the only one.

I do not enjoy listening to "Thai Proud" speaches. That makes me feel a tad bit insecure as a foreigner living in Thailand.

I rather think you may be insecure already .... as none of my friends nor myself feel insecure about it.

I do not agree with demonstrations whose strategy appears to be maximum disruption of public life, including causing massive traffic jams that block the entry routes to major hospitals.

You didn't agree before the demonstrations moved ... not a valid argument.

I do not agree with the PAD welcoming well known dirty politicians such as Sanoh Tienthong.

PAD is not running for office ... you yourself have harped on everyone being dirty ..... again .. kinda a lame argument

I do not like the fact that most leaders of the PAD have been keen supporters of Thaksin during his worst human rights violations, and therefore severely distrust not only their motives but also their commitment to humanistic values which i subscribe to.

Again PAD's not running for office ... Your saying these people were supporting Thaksin's bad actions are without proof. If you really wanted to feel insecure though ... think about making statements online like "I hid people from the death squads" as you did in that other thread.

But, of course, that is only a matter of opinion.

Your points from thread to thread don't follow any internal logic .... but this is just an opinion

oh .. i got 3.3 billion baht out of it .... !

and even at 6 million a helicopter with a 15 year service contract?

.... a great deal!!!

Thailand doesn't need tremendously advanced weapon systems ... but what do you want to bet that the price they are getting stuff for only really covers "maintenance" including US staff costs?

Alpha Jets from the Germans, Chinese Tanks from the Swiss and now Cannons and Helicopters from the Septics. Would you like your 'tea money' in dollars or baht?

Septics? What a petty, envious little bigot you are.

No offence (offense?) Guv'nor just a term of endearment for the residents of the former western colonies, if you are Scottish you are a 'Sweaty" (Sweaty Sock - Jock) if you are Welsh you are "Taffy" if you are American you are "Septic" ( Septic Tank - Yank)

Hope you understand.

Prem ... are you from Brixton?

... it is instead just very "Thai Proud"

A matter of interpretition...

555 yes ... and strangely I was met with smiles and hellos and sawaddees at the rally for the few minutes I mingled today ... and yes I smoked there too. Maybe the people you sat nearby had seen you with the "secret service"?

ummm those folks might LIKE the PAD ... but they aren't the PAD .... unless you saw some of the PAD bigwigs there .... (would you schedule more than 1 rally at a time and not have bosses at each?)

You are probably correct. I didn't get close enough to see who was yelling in the loudspeaker, although I could see that the demonstrators wore the same regalia in both places. What remains to be seen, should the PM step down, is whether his replacement (if it is non-TRT) enacts the same populist policies. Since these two banks caved in and forgave more of the debt than before, it might be a good time for the farmers to re-leverage up again and sit back and wait for the next group to forgive their debt. Now, if I could only pass for a farmer.....

better than passing as a farmer is to just be debt free!

Where did you get this from? Extremist right wing? Xenophobia? Are you just trying to smear PAD on purpose?

I simply look at the theories of "Royal Power" that the leadership of the PAD subscribes to, and the ideas expressed in them are extreme nationalist with a racist overtone.

HM the King has in his last birthday speach in a very unusual directness distanced himself from those ideas by taking one of the main arguments of "Royal Power" apart, "The King can do no wrong", even using English as well.

I personally have liked Abhisit very much up to point when he decided to boycott the elections. With this decision he has not only lost a major part of my respect, but far more importantly, lost respect with many Thais as well.

Many Thais have problems with the TRT rule, and wish to have an alternative party to vote for, but are now forced to use the "NO" vote option.

The book Royal Powers is worth reading ... and not xenophobic ... it is instead just very "Thai Proud"

If you note the review that Plus mentioned .... the person quoted doesn't even disagree with the suppositions in the book ... just the theory behind it. I see no racism in the book .... and would differentiate the inherent pride in Thai people as different from "extreme nationalistic" <ideas>

I'll take a pass on analyzing what HM may or may not have meant ant to whom he was speaking in his BD speech!

To be honest this coming from the Guardian a very liberal leaning newspaper is well very surprising.

Not all journalists are stupid all the time.

But given the extreme nationalist tone of the speaches at the rallies surpassing even Thaksin's more pragmatic nationalism it is only a matter of time that especially the liberal media will find a certain conflict of interest with what they try to stand for.

Additionally, i believe that many members of the media do not enjoy being forced by the PAD nowadays to wear press passes with a huge PAD logo on them in order to work at the stage and have access to information. The media is generally rather touchy about issues of impartiality, and it is part of the code of conduct not to wear any obvious sign of allegiance with any political cause, regardless of personal believes and convictions.

Strangely none of that was mentioned in the UK article. It is also VERY common to vette Media and distribute proprietary passes to give them access to back areas and the bosses.

But cool!

PM cancelled appearance on state TV program to prevent accusations of resorting to state media for up coming elex.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinnawat has returned to Bangkok, after deciding not to appear in the Krong Satanakarn (กรองสถานการณ์) program, for fear of criticisms that he used state media before the election.

After a two-day short vacation in Chiang Mai, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinnawat and his son, Panthongtae Shinnawat (พานทองแท้ ชินวัตร), traveled back to Bangkok last night. Prime Minister Thaksin said that initially, he planned to stay in Chiang Mai longer because he was scheduled to appear on the Krong Satanakarn (กรองสถานการณ์) program. However, he said that he decided to cancel the program, because he was afraid he may be attacked for using state media before the election. He added that the Thai Rak Thai party will not have a grand gathering at Lumpini (ลุมพินี) park to avoid confrontation with the protestors.

The Prime Minister added that the businessmen, who are waiting to hear about the government’s economic policies, will have to wait after the April 2nd election. Commenting on the protests in front of Siam Paragon, the premier said that he was informed of the demonstrations, which have caused trouble for the people and business.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 30 March 2006

One possible interpretation of this story! 'Those 3 woman shop-keepers ran me out of BKK and now if I can just avoid the press for 48 more hours .......'

ummm those folks might LIKE the PAD ... but they aren't the PAD .... unless you saw some of the PAD bigwigs there .... (would you schedule more than 1 rally at a time and not have bosses at each?)

didn't bother me! ... nor does the Thai TV news or Press bother me.

Death in all it's aspects is a normal part of Buddhist meditation ... though I also think that here in Thailand there's a lot of "###### sure glad it wasn't me!" which is common in the west ... watch the rubberneckers at a car-wreck if you doubt it.

Wow ... Never heard crap about those boycotts from 21 days (yes 3 whole weeks ago)!! Must be like the stuff that comes out of the TRT side!

But to give Coly credit ... a boycott of 7-11 was! threatened at least once 3 weeks ago!

and another wow to SRJ ... even TRT thinks they may lose 100 seats ... to nobody? that's genuinely impressive!

Wow ... Never heard crap about those boycotts from 21 days (yes 3 whole weeks ago)!! Must be like the stuff that comes out of the TRT side!

But to give Coly credit ... a boycott of 7-11 was! threatened at least once 3 weeks ago!

Is it just me? or is there something not quote "balanced" about a guy telling other people not to remark/comment/show interest in Thai politics? (Isn't telling people that getting involved?)

I say DO get involved (in a safe and sane way) .... express your opinions! (with your friends and online etc and with newspapers etc.) and don't be a hypocrite ...( don't praise democracy and then complain about people practicing working with the sstem and protesting peacefully!)

i skipped making that remark SRJ ... but just barely ....

REALLY guys ... was a boycott of 7-11's called? and if so by whom and when and why?

face whitener/cosmetics

Slipper ---if the Baht is at 68 vs the Pound ..... thenthe Baht is strong and the Pound is weak .....

Brit: re 7/11's.... missed that entirely ... was it just in Oxford? searched TV and missed it too

Brit ... re post 436 this thread .... "Brit huh?" is what I meant

hmmm Can't think of a major city in France that has a great transpo system other than Paris ... and well .... that is Paris ... ewwww

But really... at 4 am I can mae it from Saphan Kwai all the way to Onnut 83 by taxi for cheap ... less than turning on the meter in almost any city in the West.

i'll be going down there in the morning early to see how xenophobic the event really is!

I was down near Nana this morning and was greeted warmly!

So today (thus) i'll go all the way into Siam with the canera and the vid-camera

I'd offer to meet Brit there but ......

Now please don't take this the wrong way ........ but "who cares? " ;-)

I think the better questions would be ... "where are you posting from?"

Brit??

The fact that you seem to get along so well with people behind the stage and not in front is funny :-) Your using quotes to claim an affinity to the beliefs of someone that are not evident in those posts is funny :-)

Your skipping over the obvious mistakes in the post is funny as well!

Though, I think this last bit ...

coly-

"If the PAD keeps on with their present strategy aimed at maximum of disruption of public life, i dare predict that rather soon they will isolate themselves from the general public."

... is the funniest. You either get to claim that the PAD is isolated from the majority already .... or not:-)

re: 7-11's .... Has anyone spoken out against them or CP at the protests yet?

Democracy could be the loser

Bangkok's traffic jams were made worse over the weekend by two more big marches, as critics of the Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra called on voters to abstain in next Sunday's election. Though smaller than earlier protests, which brought 100,000 people on to the streets, it is still tempting to view the turmoil as a welcome manifestation of "people power". The opposition People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) accuses Mr Thaksin of undermining the state by concentrating power in his own hands. His high-handed manner has alienated supporters and he has done little to dispel suspicions of cronyism.

Given that Thailand was ruled until the 1990s by military-dominated governments, fears for democracy are understandable. Mr Thaksin has mishandled the Muslim insurgency in Thailand's southern provinces. He may also have taken insufficient account of the strains imposed upon a conservative, majority Buddhist society by globalised, free-market capitalism. That would seem to be confirmed by the uproar over the sale of a telecoms conglomerate he founded. The deal was read by many as a sign of prime ministerial arrogance, of assumed impunity, and even of criminality. The protests have been going on ever since.

Damaging and insupportable though many of Mr Thaksin's actions have been, the PAD's street-level bid to drive him from office could, if successful, be far more damaging still. Mr Thaksin won a landslide victory only last year. The protests, almost entirely confined to Bangkok, have been a largely middle-class affair, drawing support from civil servants, students, some trades unionists and a Buddhist vegetarian sect. The street opposition is united only by its desire to bring him down. Beyond that its aims and intentions are as obscure as the Bangkok skyline on a smoggy day.

More to the point, Mr Thaksin, trying to make up for past mistakes, has reacted flexibly with concessions, including his decision to call a snap general election. The intention of the opposition parties to boycott the poll is irresponsible in the extreme. Far from protecting Thailand's democracy, they could by their action irredeemably shatter it, inviting, in the worst case, violence and military intervention. If Thais want to be rid of Mr Thaksin - and there are good reasons to wish him gone - they can achieve their aim through the ballot box. If not, and unless there are persuasive reasons to question the conduct of the election, his opponents should accept the people's verdict and cease their bourgeois agitation.

-The Guardian

Leader

Monday March 27, 2006

That's FUNNY Brit!

That last paragraph shows an incredible lack of insight into Thai politics!

5555

Got it .... the use of a quote that doesn't support the argument you make is a valid argument! I am shocked you were screamed at though! You spend time with PAD leaders! Why wouldn anyone scream at someone that spends times with their leaders?

Tawp ... just careful not to lump all yanks in with BooMean and UslesslyG please ....