jonclark

A wealthy 25 year old Swede living in a luxury villa on Phuket Island. Where did his new found wealth come from? When it comes to rubbing out the opposition its the foreigners who go first.

Possibly he came from a comfortable / rich family - inheritance ? - we'll never know.

His wealth at a young age shouldn't suggest any illicit work on the deceased's part. That's how the BiB think as it provides justification for them to push the ignore button in their primitive brains and mitigates any work or investigation being done.

I fairly sure that a luxury villa in Phuket isn't actually that expensive if you were to compare similar properties owned by 25 year old swedes in Sweden - It's all relative.

Well, what can I say. I always know that Thai are the beasts. This case just proved again it's good idea to left this country.

I have to say a number of friends who have been here for many years and love the place, are now making serious plans to leave and move to pastures new. All of them have different reasons for leaving but one common theme is the rise in crime and criminality, the lack of policing or law enforcement and the view that foreigners are fair game for exploitation and the like.

The criminal cancer is eating away at Thailand's historically peaceful social fabric and no ones seems to worry, providing they get their share of the spoils. It makes you wonder what Thailand for all its charms will be like in ten, twenty years time? Paradise lost perhaps?

Feel very sorry for this young man, condolences to his family for a life stolen in its prime

Sorry but can someone explain this statement

"If the poll agency does not endorse Mr Jatuporn, we would assign a legal team to file a lawsuit against the EC, as it has no authority to suspend the detained leader, according to the new MP."

If the agency has no authority why do all MPs need to be endorsed by the EC (presumably to make sure they fit all the appropriate criteria to actually be a qualified MP) prior to sitting in parliament? Is something lost in translation??

...and I am sure that this seminar is going to be attendend by thousands of Burmese.

You have a point nonetheless. A good one too.

Maybe the Burmese should attend. I'm sure the panel would get quite a shock and it would make for an interesting afternoon. lol

Thai law does not recognize dual citizenship, but in usual applications, it does not seem to be a problem ie. always enter and leave Thai territory under the same passport. Please be careful if your male child is of age to be conscripted into the army. As for the person who wonders about putting the house in a child's name, you should contact a law office such as Sunbelt Asia. This is not a plug for them, but they may be able to point you in the right direction. You can(100%) put the building(house) in your name because this is what I have done with my place in Krung Thep. The document you need is an ufrustuct(horrible spelling) from the Khet or Amphur office BEFORE the land title is transferred! This gives you right of abode until you die. The land/house cannot be sold without your permission. I own my house and my wife owns the land. Since we have 4 children, I have no worries after I am dead.

nonsense you dont need expensive sunbelt just do paperwork at land office as we did years ago but if i remember both parents had to sign several forms It is really easy. The point about a male is very valid if a male does not do his national service and hes meant to then he cant get a Thai passport.

two incorrect posts in a row.

Thai law explicitly recognises that people can have more than one citizenship. There are clauses within the Nationality act which specifically talk about circumstances with dual citizenship can handle renouncing Thai citizenship, if they so wish.

But, having more than one citizenship is not problematic under Thai law.

As for not doing national service being a barrier to get a Thai passport, utter Tosh. All you need to get a Thai passport is a Thai birth certificate (if living overseas) or an ID card if living in Thailand. No certifcation that you've done military service is needed.

I've never needed to show my military exemption certificate for anything, except during appling for my wife's Thai citizenship.

Anyway, back to the moan-fest. Quite ironic, as farang's in most cases are treated much better under Thai law, and with more deference, than the average poor Thai citizen. But what would I know?

Not gonna moan, but not sure that the last part of your post is as black and white as you make out. I'm sure we all remember the case of the young girl (from a very well connected Thai family) who had the car accident and killed 8 - 9 people. I think the consequence for the girl might have been different had she been Burmese. The OP is about the rights of Foreigners - Not farangs - just to be clear. Certain groups of foreigners are treated far worse than the poor average Thai. Lets not pigeon hole (i know its hard not to on this forum).

I honestly applaud the effort as foreigners do have rights - But whilst this may be sound in theory. In practice it fails as most Thais believe that Foreigners have no rights under the law and until the Thai population at large is (re) educated to understand that , shock, horror, we have rights too, nothing in practice will change.

That is a two way street. If you will read the posts so far you will notice that what you say the Thais believe is also what the majority of the posters so far believe.

It would be interesting to here some honest opinions on the subject. I have a skeptical outlook on the opinion of people who constantly belittle Thai's. I find it easy to not do that by realizing I am in another country by choice.

Part of the reason I chose to live here is because they are different here. If I tried to judge them on them not being like back where I came from I would be with the Thai basher's in a heartbeat. And shortly after that on my way back to where I came from.

No my post was not about belittling and bemoaning Thais. It was about stating fact. We have rights which are guaranteed by law, however most Thais are unaware of the law, which was written by Thais for all people living in Thailand. All I'm saying is that perhaps Thais should educate themselves about the laws they themselves wrote (especially those involved in the enforcement of the law). Being in Thailand by choice is irrelevant as these laws should be applied to all people in Thailand whether or not they are here by choice or otherwise.

My post was aimed at promoting awareness amongst Thais of their own laws.

Edit. As part of the broader picture; this awareness should help Thais understand their legal rights as well and prevent them from being exploited and feeling powerless.

I honestly applaud the effort as foreigners do have rights - But whilst this may be sound in theory. In practice it fails as most Thais believe that Foreigners have no rights under the law and until the Thai population at large is (re) educated to understand that , shock, horror, we have rights too, nothing in practice will change.

Jatuporn a Pheu Thai Party member, lawyer tells EC

By The Nation

Lawyer Winyat Chartmontree gave the subcommittee a copy of Pheu Thai party's regulations, indicating they included no provision that being in jail would cause a person to lose party membership.

-- The Nation 2011-07-26

Quite on the contrary: judging by their 'top 10' (party list), they appear to give terrorists preferential treatment.

Morally and Ethically unacceptable though whether or not it says so in the PT membership waffle. Hardly keeping with the spirit of being a role model for the younger generation. And you know what they say about a few rotten apples!

" He added that Thaksin has prepared a big surprise for his supporters on his birthday"

His suicide would be good.

He'll turn up via video link in just his birthday suit

Notice how she said "wait and see" A common PTP tactic deflect, deffer and avoid the issue until all the pieces are in place.

isnt that just normal plain commonsense?? Imagine any business or for that matter military stratergy firing off before all preparation is completed. Yingluck so far is proving she is on track...albeit with a long rough road ahead.

Totally agree - except 3 weeks down the road we all know what will have happened. The cabinet will have been put in place, with Taksins mark all over it and PTP will deny any knowledge of ever having said Taksin would not be "advising" his younger sister. And all those phone calls between him and PTP MPs were personal calls.

I guess maybe "wait and see" = Taksin hasn't decided yet.

Why should you and others worry if Thaksin picks the whole cabinet. It was him that people were voting for. Ask those who voted for PT I dont think they mind whatever he does, he cannot do wrong, Just get used to it for the next 8 yrs minimum. Stock market is on the up, foreign investors like him back in control. If, as others have mentioned, that some of the worlds leadng players have been to meet or sent envoys to meet him you should get the message that Thailand now as a steady hand at the tiller.

Taksin - steady hand - lol best post of the day

personally can't stand all this Yingluk-bashing - she won the election get over it

I agree with that and it isnt as though the last cabinet was put together in a smooth manner. It is was full of unqualified people pushed in by overly powerful small parties who couldnt work together and the Dems managed to dagger each other in the back with leaks of corruption in early days to get factional advantage. It was all done in a truly horrible manner. Will the PTP cabinet formation be any worse or will it go smoother and involve less laughable unqualified choices?

I don't think people have a problem with Yingluck, its her brother that they have the problem with. A criminal dictating who should get the seats of power in government. Or do you agree with the principle that Taksin should have a hand in the direction of the country, It's no good saying 'get over it' because it's hard to get over something that is morally and ethically wrong and many people simply won't jump on the band wagon or buy into this just because PTP won the election.

(But, you are correct, the Dems were just as shoddy in their cabinet formation, but copying their pathetic performance is hardly praiseworthy is it? )

All the Yingluck bashing will stop when she puts dear brother in prison and shows he does not influence her decisions and she upholds the law as one of the cornerstones of her administration.

When you talk of the people having a problem with Thaksin, I would be interested in knowing what people you are reffering to considering basically everyone knows PTP is his party and a huge proportion of their voters would happily have him involved in anything. I am not saying it is right but just political reality. Thailand needs a good cabinet and actually whoever gives advice on its formation becomes irrelevant if it is good as far as I can see after all wasnt a banned poltico plus people involved in carrying out a coup heavily involved in the last cabinet formation, so it that doesnt seem to be a relevant standard.

Coups are also morally and ethically wrong, so surely anyone involved in those should face at least what Thaksin does? Certainly the main party that ignored and benefited from the coup has been roundly rejected by the people at the ballot box as have the small parties that also benefited from it.

I think you misunderstand what I am saying. I have no love for either PTP or the Dems. (that's just comparing sh*t with cr*p)

As a matter of principle it is wrong to allow a criminal to become involved in the formation of the government. For me the government needs to uphold the ideals and principles which it seeks it citizens to have [and respect for the rule of law must be one of those principles]. If (as you suggest) they take advice from criminals on the basis of it being 'good advice' and therefore acceptable you are leading your own people down a very rocky road by setting a very bad example.

Do you think it is a principled, ethical and moral thing to do to take advice from a criminal? If you do think it is acceptable, then at what stage does it become unacceptable? How far down that road must you travel?

For me it seems a no brainer - It's a Yes / No answer.

Any government which throws aside the basic cultural and social values is morally corrupt from the start. Is that the role model we seek for our children?

Edit - Thailand needs a fresh start, but this fingering by taskin is picking at the scab of the past.

personally can't stand all this Yingluk-bashing - she won the election get over it

I agree with that and it isnt as though the last cabinet was put together in a smooth manner. It is was full of unqualified people pushed in by overly powerful small parties who couldnt work together and the Dems managed to dagger each other in the back with leaks of corruption in early days to get factional advantage. It was all done in a truly horrible manner. Will the PTP cabinet formation be any worse or will it go smoother and involve less laughable unqualified choices?

I don't think people have a problem with Yingluck, its her brother that they have the problem with. A criminal dictating who should get the seats of power in government. Or do you agree with the principle that Taksin should have a hand in the direction of the country, It's no good saying 'get over it' because it's hard to get over something that is morally and ethically wrong and many people simply won't jump on the band wagon or buy into this just because PTP won the election.

(But, you are correct, the Dems were just as shoddy in their cabinet formation, but copying their pathetic performance is hardly praiseworthy is it? )

All the Yingluck bashing will stop when she puts dear brother in prison and shows he does not influence her decisions and she upholds the law as one of the cornerstones of her administration.

Notice how she said "wait and see" A common PTP tactic deflect, deffer and avoid the issue until all the pieces are in place.

isnt that just normal plain commonsense?? Imagine any business or for that matter military stratergy firing off before all preparation is completed. Yingluck so far is proving she is on track...albeit with a long rough road ahead.

Totally agree - except 3 weeks down the road we all know what will have happened. The cabinet will have been put in place, with Taksins mark all over it and PTP will deny any knowledge of ever having said Taksin would not be "advising" his younger sister. And all those phone calls between him and PTP MPs were personal calls.

I guess maybe "wait and see" = Taksin hasn't decided yet.

Of course, we believe you Yingluck Shinawatra... You and you alone will pick your own cabinet !!!

The only think Yingluck will be picking on her own is her nose!

Love it - "We''ll plant trees"

Real Ignorance at play here. It's not the trees its the complex food webs and biotic inter-relationships of these organisms that have been destroyed. Simply planting a few tree samplings amongst the houses in the resort will not return these food web to their previous state as most of the organisms have been killed or moved away. To get them back you need to remove the resort and give the land plenty of time to recolonize the area.

Doesn't mention how the noise and light pollution will be fixed (which scare away nocturnal organisms)- but I'd imagine this idiot would suggest installing black light blubs - that will fix it.

Edit - They also asked to depatment to let them pay rent - Go ahead then it 500'000 baht per rai, per month. wonder if they'll accept that!!

Notice how she said "wait and see" A common PTP tactic deflect, deffer and avoid the issue until all the pieces are in place.

I kind of see both sides here. The only profits turned by the motion picture industry is from DVD/On Demand etc. However, I have always thought it was a bit harsh to enforce copyright laws such as these in developing and 3rd world countries which amount to an insignificant portion of profits anyway. Hollywood and the record industry should write it off as charity and double their efforts at shutting torrent sites if they want to put a dent in piracy.

What about the clothing and textile industry, perfumes, and watches? The simple truth is that pirated goods are produced by and support usually large scale criminal organizations, which have their fingers in many pies (human trafficking, extortion, racketeering and drugs) If you buy pirated goods you support those gangs. Not the shop owner.

I agree with your point. It's the number one reason why I am against drug use in America. It's fueling the massive drug wars going on along the US/Mexican boarder and we act like it's a Mexican problem. It's getting to Darfur levels. Entire police departments have been assassinated. Mass graves are uncovered on a weekly bases.

However, there are a couple things that need to be understood here.

Firstly, the pirated goods you speak of, certainly in the case of the textiles, are usually made in the same Thai/Vietnamese/Chinese/Taiwanese/Filipino factories that are licensed to make them. This is well documented. It occurs in more or less one of two ways. There are factory seconds that don't pass QC and are sold "out the back door". Or, the factory managers will intentionally order excess raw material, the cost of which is passed on to the parent company who placed the order. Once the order is filled, the excess is used to make "fakes" that may be as good and "real" as the authentic item.

To clear up another misconception, the DVD's are actually made locally in the homes of the "pirates" with consumer available technology as previous arrests and seizures of computers and blank DVD's show.

The point being, the "simple truth" as you put it, is that many of these ventures can be individual small time/family operations.

Second, as you correctly stated, large scale criminal organizations (add the police to that) have their fingers in many pies, but many of those are from legitimate businesses. In almost any major money making venture in Thailand, especially Phuket and other tourist areas, some of your money goes in some form to corrupt officials and/or mafia. It's not just DVD's and fake Prada. You patronize them just about any time you open your wallet in Thailand, especially Phuket. So remember that next time you take a tuk tuk ride or an airport taxi (They are the worst).

Sadly, the "simple truth" is the MPAA, RAC, and RIAA are now paying more than the pirates. (backed by increasing international pressure from intellectual property treaties/agreements)

Most of the DVD are not from small family businesses. They are produced en mass on a very large scale. Do you honestly think that given what you have said in your post criminal organisations would allow families to operate these sort of operations on their turf. No! The families or store owners buy the DVDs direct from the gangs. They own the area so they sell the criminals wares.

But I agree with most of what you said.

More <deleted> from ABAC

blame the farang!

Totally agree - They buy the stuff after all and keep the illegal sales going. Without them there would be nothing illegal going on. lol

I kind of see both sides here. The only profits turned by the motion picture industry is from DVD/On Demand etc. However, I have always thought it was a bit harsh to enforce copyright laws such as these in developing and 3rd world countries which amount to an insignificant portion of profits anyway. Hollywood and the record industry should write it off as charity and double their efforts at shutting torrent sites if they want to put a dent in piracy.

What about the clothing and textile industry, perfumes, and watches? The simple truth is that pirated goods are produced by and support usually large scale criminal organizations, which have their fingers in many pies (human trafficking, extortion, racketeering and drugs) If you buy pirated goods you support those gangs. Not the shop owner.

It's okay to sell illegal foreign goods as it foreign companies who suffer. (but they are rich and powerful and Thai people are poor, meek and humble so that makes it acceptable, right? ) But. OMG see the seething anger and resentment when foreigners try to copy and make a profit from Thai stuff. I remember the fury when US companies tried to create their own version of Hom Mali Rice.

Word of advice to these criminals - Sell something legal.

What's In Store For Thailand?

Well, let me take a stab in the dark on what is in store for Thailand with the new PM?

Inflation, inflation, inflation and more inflation! And let's wait and watch the buying power of baht fizzles into nothing so the 300 baht/day wage would actually be a decrease in living standard!

tsk. tsk such a cynic - they'll just print more money - problem solved!!

Yellow shirts + Multi-colored shirts = PAD....these people are the biggest problems facing Thailand today. If they are not eliminated Thailand can never move forward.

Interesting, So reconciliation means the elimination of one side of the equation?

Have we ever gotten a definition from the UDD or the PTP of the word "reconciliation?"

Good god man! I doubt they can even spell it, let alone define it!

The reds (I'd imagine) define reconciliation as " We won, so do as we say." (but not as we do [did])

Yellow shirts + Multi-colored shirts = PAD....these people are the biggest problems facing Thailand today. If they are not eliminated Thailand can never move forward.

Interesting, So reconciliation means the elimination of one side of the equation?

OK!! so two of the 11 aren't facing legal proceedings. That means that 9 are and the 2 that are not must have done something dubious in their electioneering to prevent them from being endorsed by now.

The planned visit by a bunch of Pheu Thai's will vist Thaksin in Bali for his birthday - this is unconnected and has no linkage to the party, mmmhhh!!!! As another source states "he is still a fugitive" (on the run from Thailand). The whole thing becomes more and more unbelievable by the day, just who are they trying to kid??

Ah yes but you forgot. Taksin doesn't consider himself a fugitive, - so it doesn't matter. Wonder if the birthday cake will have a file hidden inside.