jonclark

One would really hope that with the current economic hardships being faced by Thai people 1.2billion baht could be much better spent on social schemes to support those in need. If it was funded by entirely the private sector this would be a great boost to the local economy as it would bring in tens of thousands of people to the city, I can't understand why all the negativity.

Just out of interest does anyone know just how much Bangkok has sunk/ subsided in the last ten years. I remember about ten years ago massive monsoon downpours and sure enough roads would flood, but it was usually lasted an hour at most. Clearly the idea that it is raining more as a singular factor for the constant and frequent flooding doesn't wash.

There have to be other factors as work - has Bangkok started to sink? so the land is now lower in relation to the water table? has development blocked natural runoff path?

I think this has nothing to do with Islam, but for control of people. Shops are open, on Friday in Mecca & Madina in Saidi Arabia.

Indeed, it is all about control and fear

The TV headline sounds like a great title for a B Sci-fi / Horror movie

If they suspend the sentence then why bother hearing the case.

To answer your point, I think it is the judgement, rather than the sentence that is the important aspect here as it is the judgement that gives and takes away that all important Thai value of face. By losing Jatuporn has lost face (he's wrong) . Abhisit by contrast has gained face (he's right). Politically speaking that loss or gain of face is more important that a jail sentence.

As to how much 'face' each had to begin with....well, that's an all together different matter.

Thai law beggars belief, their is NO true justice system!

A serious crime or serious case of gross misconduct is committed, a verdict & punishment is handed down, then comes the wriggling:

Pardons, exoneration's, amnesties, leniency & case dismissals, my god just how many ways are there for the elite to get off the hook?

A true democratic country believes & upholds the principle that NO ONE is above the law.

Thailand has a lot to learn, it will never prosper while these criminals are protected by the state & continue to run the country.

Thailand is slipping into obscurity & being overtaken by third world countries while they squabble amongst themselves.

Soon Thailand will be a nation filled by beggars & thieves, the latter being in charge with the rest on the streets without work.

Thai society will suffer the most with it's next generations lacking in social skills & morality.

Children learn from 3 main sources:

1) Parents

2) Peers

3) By example

Unfortunately these are in most cases sadly lacking from their adolescent education.

While other countries learn from history & past mistakes they strive to take new steps & make the correct decisions to move forward as a nation

Thailand keeps making the same errors of judgement & will ultimately suffer the harshest penalty of all!!

Couldn't agree more.

But if you look at Thailands history it always has been a two tier (cast) social system. This social system is so entwined with Thai culture that it is virtually impossible for Thailand to move away from it, without giving up an essential piece of their 'Thainess' - Patronage.

Until the country is ready for that huge cultural shift away from historical traditions, Thainess will forever hold Thailand back as laws will continue to be enforced and acted on according to social status.Inherent to this 'legal social selectivness' is that equality (i.e equal opportunity to education, jobs, healthcare etc.) will remain a distant and dim dream, as the same groups of people feed from the trough of gluttony, whilst the majority remain entrenched in poverty, begging for baht.

But it is astonishing, they can basically make "breaking the law" disappear in a puff of smoke. Take the AMLO guys, how do you illegally investigate bank transactions. Presumably, you have to get some kind of court order, or didn't they? If they didn't, they committed an offence. The legalese in this country is so ridiculous, the legal procedures for doing something just seems to be made up on a whim.

No wonder Thaksin is pissed off he got caught, since it appears that the civil service code of conduct bears no relation to actually operating within the law, and if you break the law, your boss can simply exhonerate you?

What a mess of a system.

I think you summed up the mess with the current social system nicely with ' ....if you break the law your boss can simply exonerate you."

Thai law beggars belief, their is NO true justice system!

A serious crime or serious case of gross misconduct is committed, a verdict & punishment is handed down, then comes the wriggling:

Pardons, exoneration's, amnesties, leniency & case dismissals, my god just how many ways are there for the elite to get off the hook?

A true democratic country believes & upholds the principle that NO ONE is above the law.

Thailand has a lot to learn, it will never prosper while these criminals are protected by the state & continue to run the country.

Thailand is slipping into obscurity & being overtaken by third world countries while they squabble amongst themselves.

Soon Thailand will be a nation filled by beggars & thieves, the latter being in charge with the rest on the streets without work.

Thai society will suffer the most with it's next generations lacking in social skills & morality.

Children learn from 3 main sources:

1) Parents

2) Peers

3) By example

Unfortunately these are in most cases sadly lacking from their adolescent education.

While other countries learn from history & past mistakes they strive to take new steps & make the correct decisions to move forward as a nation

Thailand keeps making the same errors of judgement & will ultimately suffer the harshest penalty of all!!

Couldn't agree more.

But if you look at Thailands history it always has been a two tier (cast) social system. This social system is so entwined with Thai culture that it is virtually impossible for Thailand to move away from it, without giving up an essential piece of their 'Thainess' - Patronage.

Until the country is ready for that huge cultural shift away from historical traditions, Thainess will forever hold Thailand back as laws will continue to be enforced and acted on according to social status.Inherent to this 'legal social selectivness' is that equality (i.e equal opportunity to education, jobs, healthcare etc.) will remain a distant and dim dream, as the same groups of people feed from the trough of gluttony, whilst the majority remain entrenched in poverty, begging for baht.

So let's get this straight, in order to 'combat' fake drugs the Thai government is producing its own fake drugs,

Very astute point - If it is only available on prescription, it will not curb the fake drugs on sale around the red light areas as highlighted in the report, unless, (and please correct me if i am wrong) tourists can now rock up into Bangkok, head straight to the local hospital and get a prescription for Thaiagra and go happily sowing their seed.

But that situation hardly cultivates the correct image Thailand so desperately craves on the international stage does it?

Looks like its still business as usual for the tourist counterfeit trade.

'This policy would be a major contribution to a world facing food challenges due to climate change, Yingluck said.'

Clearly she isn't in the know about the potential effects of climate change - Mainly that agricultural output is expected to fall in tropical and dry countries

" Changes in climate could have significant impacts on food production around the world. Heat stress, droughts, and flooding events may lead to reductions in crop yields and livestock productivity......The greatest decreases in crop yields will likely occur in dry and tropical regions"

Source EPA

National Reconciliation self justification - Come on Yingluck, Abhisit et al at least be honest with your intentions and spell it out clearly.

Tightening security most probably means we'll double the amount of conscripts riding 2 up on motorcycles , double the targets for the bad guys.

Totally useless tactic , can't hear anything , can't smell anything & visibility is limited. Also the soldier riding pillion is restricted in the use of his personal weapon.

Get off the bikes and patrol !!! You might find something .

Spot on Ron - riding two up and a Honda wave is no way to transport troops or do recon work in a terrorist insurgency.

The Taliban would be dancing in the streets of Karbul if ISAF decided to use this tactic to move its combat troops around Afghanistan. And the coffins would flood back to ISAF countries

.

Seriously. This man is not the full baht.

Behild the Unwanton thievery of the Thai amart

Ahh yes Moruya, lest we forget this is thievery in the name of the poor though, same, same .......but different (thievery [and hypocrisy] nevertheless)

From that amount, the BMA has Bt753 million left but it has failed to return it to the central government," Yongyuth said.

Perhaps the governor has already followed the lead of some PTP MPs and has ear marked the unused money for a junkit overseas, rather than return it to the state.

"... Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said he believed the TRCT should meet with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and submit its final report directly to her. He added that he was worried about the government's unclear stance on what should be done with the report."

Ha ha ha - better supply Yingluck with a User Manual.

She has to learn to read first .

Oh you think Ianf was insulting a woman, hence the low class comments. Apologies I thought he was insulting buffaloes, or is that low class too

There is no post that is so stupid that a TV poster can't make an even dumber comment

Wanna bet - Try this

Taksin is an innocent, non vindictive man.

I thank you and gladly accept my prize for dumbest comment ever.

Lighten up JG

You only have to look at that woman's face to know the kind of kwais you're dealing with ......

And after that people wonder why TV is considered by a large section of Thai expats as "low class"

And what's wrong with being from a lower class. That's a fundamental part of being a red shirt - the poor downtrodden underclasses. You're not getting all elitist on us are you?

Lo class in my vocabulary has nothing to do with your education, fortune or family origin.

It's an attitude, like hitting someone on the ground, insulting a woman, making fun or taking advantage of someone with disability ... that's lo class !

Oh you think Ianf was insulting a woman, hence the low class comments. Apologies I thought he was insulting buffaloes, or is that low class too

You only have to look at that woman's face to know the kind of kwais you're dealing with ......

And after that people wonder why TV is considered by a large section of Thai expats as "low class"

And what's wrong with being from a lower class. That's a fundamental part of being a red shirt - the poor downtrodden underclasses. You're not getting all elitist on us are you?

What scumbags these Red pieces of crap are!

Chalerm is against the findings and says it's not legally binding. And yet he wants the people who headed the CRES prosecuted based on the findings!

And yet, we still have idiot apologists here defending these scum!

"On 10 April, troops unsuccessfully cracked down at Phan Fah, resulting in 24 deaths, including one Japanese journalist and five soldiers, and more than 800 injuries. The Thai media called the crackdown "Cruel April" (Source WiKi)

So why were the troops unsuccessful

Images from Phan Fah bridge April 10 & 11 2010

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Wonder if the red shirts ever gave back the weapons captured from the soldiers above. I mean they are army issue weapons (otherwise the soldiers wouldn't have them would they?), If someone was to be shot with them the finger would automatically point to the army wouldn't it. That could be very useful fact. if you wanted to apportion blame. Not even going to go into the stuff that may have been in the trashed army vehicles - probably on a packed lunch and a bottle of water - subsequently looted.

Proves two things - the army were armed and so where the red shirts. Both were armed with the same weapons. Which makes the whole question of who shot who rather difficult to prove and kinda of validates the TRC report.

I really don't know, why so many here cry foul, when Chalerm is in denial about the findings. Who really expect something else? All parties involved are in permanent denial of their share of responsiblity and accountability. I can't remeber Gen Prayuth admitting that the Army is partly to blame, neither do Abbhisit or Suthep. They all playing the Thai National passttime"Avoiding responsibility at all costs" and everybody is really eager to show their own "I am holier than thou" attitude. The whole dealing with the incident is a national digrace and a slap in the face of everybody. All people who got hurt there or died deserve justice, but all parties involved in the 2010 incidents do their best to deny that. It gives a real good impression of the moral values of the key players of the involved parties.

Agreed this isn't about the truth or reconciliation, its about positioning one self on the moral high ground and being able to claim the enemy defeated.

Wonder if any of them have actually watch the video? As opposed to being programmed by another persons opinion. The irony here is amazing. If those few who had actually seen it had kept their mouths shut, the video would have lived a short and non-existent life, before rotting and fading into obscurity. Now the stupid buggers with all their protesting have made it a global phenomena.

It's all a bit defensive now, isn't it ??

Karma.

life is cheap.

Stuff happens..

Collateral damage. ( tell that to families of British troops killed by their allies mistakes )

Wrong place, wrong time.

His fault for going outside ( perhaps with an intention to help the wounded, we don't know )

Maybe he was going for a pee.

Let's see a few army commanders fess up, as it were.

And get taken to court.

Phil you'd have army commanders fess up to what, this bloke was innocent, but he was not murdered, he was caught in the cross fire in a volatile situation, these accidents happen. Even with the most disciplined forces (as your reference to British friendly fire deaths suggest) kill the innocent. It makes those deaths no less palatable and very much a waste but there is no intention to take life of the individuals.

Unless you have evidence that the army deliberatlly targeted this man with the intention you can shout and scream blue murder until the cows home. It will not change the facts surrounding this death.

He was caught in a 'crossfire'. That is where the accountability starts and stops.