jonclark

What gets me is not the the Bangkok Best City bit, but the fact that the TAT, government and various other government agencies needs this almost constant comforting, petting and reassurance from top ten listing and ranking agencies, who no one cares about, in order to feel good about themselves.

Makes me think Thais have an image problem

"On April 10, during a failed military attempt to clear part of Bangkok's historic district of protests, troops "fired thousands of rounds of live ammunition directly into the unarmed Red Shirt crowd," it says.

It cites the examples of one man whose brains were blown out by a rifle shot while carrying a Red Shirt banner, and a renegade general allied to the Reds who was killed by a sniper while giving an interview to a foreign reporter."

The only thing shot here is his own credibility. "Thousands of rounds" achieved one head shot at the time and another 33 days later - that one must have gone into orbit for a month.

Both shots require a degree of marksmanship, something severely lacking with the others fired that day.

Do those making the accusations actually have any evidence of that ' thousands of rounds of live ammunition' were fired'. Or is this Jatuporn demonstrating his mathematical prowess once again 5 = 50 and 1'000 = 1 million (red shirts demonstrating) Interestingly I wonder if they added the grenade / RPG / bomb attack on the army killing the commander as something to be investigated by the world court. Or perhaps feeling justifiably proud their handiwork, they omitted it from their petition.

The World Court will politely throw this out simply because if they accept it, it sets a precedent for any future demonstrations, in any country, which end up in a violent (and fatal) confrontation being forwarded for investigation by the WC.

This is simply the Reds trying to steal some of the limelight away from Mr Bans visit with the PM.

Reds movement is internal issues : Ban Ki moon

UN has regarded as Thailand's internal affairs the problems of red shirts protests which turned into violence in April and May, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday.

"This is the Thai issues that should be solved by Thais," Ban said in a press conference.

The UN chief is making a brief official visit to Thailand on Tuesday before going to Cambodia and then to Hanoi to co-chair UN-Asean UN Summit.

-- The Nation 2010-10-26

So is Afgan.

Well, it was until the Taliban allowed Afgan to be used as a base for third parties to attack other countries ala 9/11.

Maybe Mr Ban will ask Thailand to provide asylum for the red shits shirts.

I wonder if Mr. Moon will pick up on the generals comments and the context

A general telling the public not to demonstrate....hmm surely it's the governments job to do that, as the army (in any democratic country, or a country that aspires to be democratic) is subserviant to the civillian adminstration and as such should keep its snout out of civillian matters, which is what a public demonstration is.

As far as i'm aware (and i may be wrong) in european or N. american countries the army would never dream of telling people if and when it can demostrate.

The words of the general show just how democratic Thailand is and it is something that both red and yellow should be deeply worried about. And I hope the generals comments are something Mr. Moon questions the PM on

When I see somebody walking (wearing or not wearing a shirt) drinking a beer or other kind of alcohol, I feel disgusted.

When I see someone walking down the street drinking a beer I too feel disgusted and i am compelled to pull my trusty bible and book of conservative morality and values from my backpack and begin to lecture the offender on the error of his (or her) ways. Perhaps not too unsurprisingly many Thai folk who I've tried this with have given me a black eye or two.

How about using the 30 billion to improve Bangkok infrastructure before spending money like this on a stupid idea like this....

Totally agree - complete lack of infrastructure - bloody floods eveytime it rains, so build a ferris wheel, at least you'll be dry if you're on top of it. But at least this ferris wheel builds on the great Thai tradition of - to lazy to think of our own idea, so we'll copy someone elses.

I suggest most people read the OP again, of the 8.77 million visitors 4.33 million, were from Far East Asia and another 1 million or so from India and SE Asia, so the visitors are here, it's just that they all look the same as the Thais, so we think the tourists aren't here. They are. Thailand isn't dominated by the US European market anymore - They've all buggered off elsewhere.

Not intending to be racist, but many Thai folk can't tell a Russian, from French or English person, can you tell a Malay from a Thai??

The problem Thailand has to address here is cost, most Indian and Chinese can buy the same goods here cheaper in their own country, which effects the small vendor, hence poor business.

What i want to know is will this be applied to other immigrants other than those whose skin is white, like Burmese and Cambodians.

And what happens if you are jailed and you miss your flight and have no wedge to buy a new ticket?? Do you stay in jail or do the authortities simply don't give a rats arse what happens to you. Thailand is increasingly becoming a less caring society with the autorities sticking two fingers up to anyone and everyone (thai and expats).

What is the point of jailing someone who wants to leave the country - A deterrent?? A better deterrent would be to have a standardized system of fines which don't stop at 20'000 baht, such as a 1'000 baht per day for every day overstayed, becuase ultimatly a long term overstayed only has to accept the invitation to stay in jail for a couple of days and pay 20'000 baht max. compared to a potentially unlimited fine.

And lets not forget that it's taxpayers money which is used to accomodate overstayers in jail.

But as with all political things here as the OP states, some new big job has taken over the reins and is putting his (shi**y) mark over it to show his power. How many times have we seen this and willcontinue to see this in the future.

If you miss your flight, you can be held till your next flight out of the country and you are the one who has to pay for the ticket.Under current policy they already can hold you till you have paid the fine and have a ticket out of the country.

I don't see that Thailand is sticking two fingers, you follow the law or brake it and face the consequences. That is the case in most countries and most countries have similar immigration laws.

The point of the new policy is that you can't get away anymore with paying 20,000 baht. The law allows for a 2 year jail sentence and/or 20,000 baht. Suspect that very long overstayed will be brought before a judge for sentencing and deportation afterward. In most cases that will mean blacklisted and not allowed to re-enter Thailand.

What is the point of putting overstayers in jail??? Illegal immigrants or people who are in country when they shouldn't be in many countries if caught are simply rounded up and sent back to their point of orgin. Putting overstayers in jail will just clog up the courts and already overcrowded jail system and divert much needed tax revenue into court cases and the costs incurred with jail time.

If someone is found to be here and have overstayed, return them to their country of origin asap and don't let them return. End of story - quick, simple and cheap.

What i want to know is will this be applied to other immigrants other than those whose skin is white, like Burmese and Cambodians.

And what happens if you are jailed and you miss your flight and have no wedge to buy a new ticket?? Do you stay in jail or do the authortities simply don't give a rats arse what happens to you. Thailand is increasingly becoming a less caring society with the autorities sticking two fingers up to anyone and everyone (thai and expats).

What is the point of jailing someone who wants to leave the country - A deterrent?? A better deterrent would be to have a standardized system of fines which don't stop at 20'000 baht, such as a 1'000 baht per day for every day overstayed, becuase ultimatly a long term overstayed only has to accept the invitation to stay in jail for a couple of days and pay 20'000 baht max. compared to a potentially unlimited fine.

And lets not forget that it's taxpayers money which is used to accomodate overstayers in jail.

But as with all political things here as the OP states, some new big job has taken over the reins and is putting his (shi**y) mark over it to show his power. How many times have we seen this and willcontinue to see this in the future.

Somkid's promotion not affect ties : PM - Reported by The Nation. So this case should be close now.

Clearly the PM or the Nation were wrong then??

THIS IS THAILAND. Don't like, then go home.

Thailand is my home

While in other news...every other country in the world are staring migrate over to 4G. We might as well face it, Thailand will probably never get anything faster than EDGE...what a joke!!

Agreed, even with a map the Thai telecoms industry still couldn't find its' own arse.

I don't understand how somkid got chosen for the promotion, surely the leader of our royal police force needs to be a champion of law and order, a person who personifies justice and rightousness. Someone beyond reproach who can take the moral high ground.

What do we get stuck with an alleged murderer, and kidnapper. Only in Thailand. This whole episode is an embarrassment and disgrace to the royal in the Royal Thai Police Force and all the Thai people

Oh Boy, I was sorry to read this. I moved here to get away from the chicos and mexicans that flood the US.

I hope authorities get tough with them send them back and don't issue visas to those from south of the US. Nothing but trash and thieves. If they keep letting them in it'll end up like the US.

Speechless

Toyota Fortuner pickup

You'd have thought that the Nation's journos would have been able to get that one right.

What about "burglar tools", <deleted> are they? and more importantly do i / we the TV members unwittingly have these tools in our homes as well??

The Interprovincial fees are blantent theft. How it can be justified is beyond me. Worst iy affects those who are poorest, whilst I am lucky enough to not feel a 25B transaction fee, some of the less well off may not be so lucky and that 25 baht represents an hours work, or thereabouts. Stick a couple of them together and it costs a days work just to get hold of your money.

The Red shirt Leaders should pay for him since he support the red shirt demonstration in Ratchapasong. It good that he is being deported because he has no right to demonstrate because he is a foreigner and can't interfere our internal affair. Good for our Nation without such foreigners playing Politics.

That's a bit harsh. After all he was invited to play.

Love that quote ' ..he has no right to demonstrate because he is a foreigner..' If you dislike foreigners and think they have no rights why are you communicating in a foreigners language?? Surely Thai must be better?? Well, at least he had the balls to stand up for what he thought was right, even if with hindsight it was a bit misguided. Bet the aussie tabloids will havea field day with him if he sells his story...could a book be in the way...'the lone aussie freedom fighter silenced by an evil undemocratic government .......

"...Secrecy is the top requirement as the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), which is responsible for the auction, wants to ensure maximum transparency and competition in the bidding process.. "

Doesn't that seem a bit contradictory???

These are mainly vocational students and unfortuntly my nephew goes to one of the schools involved. It is not the first time this has happened this term. On the first day of term May 2010 1 student was shot and killed walking home, then about two weeks ago a further student was stabbed after school (the school was ordered shut by the police for two days to give tempers a chance to cool off) and now this. This is about face. Nothing more or less. The students don't want to back down to their opposing school and will always seek revenge no matter what the police or teachers do. Teachers currently patrol the buses at kick out time and ban gatherings of students outside the school or surrounding aread. These fights and shootings are a thing of pride in schools and many of the studenst come from broken families and see the school as there surrogate family and happily defend it as they see it. Very sad for the young lad who died and his parents. RIP

There is a small skate park, with a couple of banks and rails behind benjisiri park.(next to emporium on sukhumvit) All cement and does get hot, with not much direct shade, but shady areas in the park, which usually has a few skaters.

there is also a larger park, or what appears to be a larger park (Red Bull or something) about half way down sathorn road. Not sure if it is still open or not. It did have a metal half pipe but not surprisingly it was always empty, cause the pipe would melt your wheels in the middle of summer and you wouldn't even want to think of bailing onto such hot metal.

There is a bit of a scene over here and if neither of these two turn out to be any good. I'd suggest a quick visit to MBK floor 5 / 6 (the floor below the cinema) there is a small shop / Kiosk selling decks and wheels etc, might take you a while to find it, it's in the middle aisle of kiosks, atthe end of the aisle where t-shirts etc, are sold and i'm sure they'd be happy to point a fellow skater in the right direction.

Jon

I now understand Thai when they say that foreigners are just complaining persons and never happy...

People used to complain (stupid me also) about Suvarnhabumi airport which should had collapsed long time ago... but i still don't see the cracks...

Someone must be stupid to complain about all Thai things... or maybe i stayed here too long :-)

C'mon frenchfarang lets be fair, posters on TV complain about how crap other countries are as well. espicially UK and USA. I think you're right though with many people on here, putting the cart before the horse and complaining about a rail link which some people have never seen, let alone tried. That being said if you have been here a while experience does teach you that a pattern emerges with most projects and undertakings. I think that most Thais dislike the way we complain as we are more open with our complaints, as it's the cultural norm for us to complain and to make sure everyone hears out complaints, moans or gripes. Thais complain about Thai land as well, just in a quieter and different way. And lets remember the OP comes from a Thai language newspaper, so it's most likely a Thai who wrote it, providing the ammunition and encouragement for all the TV member to start complaining!!!!

The rail link will be a success and like all things changes will need to be made to adapt and accomodate users as usage patterns become more apparent. Kinda like the new Terminal 5? at Heathrow.

I'm sure the airport link in time will be a great success, and that is my worry, not becuase i want to see it fail, but because it is linked to the BTS at Paya Thai. Imagine the utter chaos during rush hour as 500 families,children and suitcaes in tow pile on to the BTS as everyone leaves work and then tries to do the cross platform dash, at Siam to get onto the Silom line!! The BTS as we know is already massively overcrowded, and i pity the poor sod fresh off a 16 hour flight trying to find a spac for him, his wife, kids and bags on the 6pm BTS on a friday evening. The railway link will work, i think to BTS bit won't.

Ramps for aircraft huh? They expecting aircraft to do jumps and stunts now??

Not sure if you are being sarcastic....

A ramp is to an airplane what a parking spot is to a car.

I was being sarcastic to hid my ignorance, as i didn't know what a ramp was. Learn something new everyday - Thanks