jonclark

Sounds like the general running scared.

For all of his faults (yes, yes, he has many - don't we all) , one of Abhisits best qualities is that he is a good debater and if the mood took him, I am quite sure he could outwit the general and make him look like even more of a complete chump. Even Yinguck has a certain degree of moral fiber and I would love to see her pull up on National TV the very man who usurped her elected government - As the old saying goes "Hell has no fury like a woman scorned"

Shame he isn't gonna do it. Would have been one Thai TV program I would have watched.

Some were said to be more resourceful than Thai guides in tricking tourists to pay money for things

Absolutely brilliant (well spotted)

I really think this bloke has Asperger's Syndrome.

So now any 7-11, Family mart, Big-C, or Tescos will have the remove alcohol from their shelves if they are 300 meters from a school. I expect to see lots of officials with giant tape measures spreading out across Bangkok and the provinces in the next 30 days to see if shops are within or outside the boundary.

So the USA, the biggest hypocrites on the planet, self appointed world policeman is at it again. I have said it before and I say it again. Who gives a fyling firetruck what the yanks say. Fix your own problems in your own country before telling everyone else what to do.

So you think the yanks should shut up on the issue. Fair enough. So which countries opinion do you think is worth something on this matter?

Despite the many things about Thailand I like, Thailand really need to have a good hard look at itself and start to treat its fellow man with a bit more kindness and compassion when it comes to issues of migration. Just remember that we (the majority of TVF users) are also migrants, not expats, not retirees, not farangs, but migrants.

Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday warned taxi drivers not to strike saying if they didn't listen he has no choice but to find other vehicles to put in services instead.

Interesting idea - but if the drivers are on strike - who dear sir will drive these "other vehicles"?

The problem won't be the lack of taxis..its will be the lack of taxi drivers. Just a thought!!

Gazing into my crystal ball.....I foresee the taxi drivers going on strike and then 2, maybe 3 days later a general (whom no one has ever heard of) says he has information that someone (probably either a political or a foreign entity) is behind the strike, appeals to the taxi drivers not to be influenced by this third party and go back to work for the sake of the country and happiness and that the government is trying hard.

So by definition 'travelling domestically' includes the commute to work?

At what point does travelling domestically become tourism? Going home at the weekend to see the parents?

If anyones interested I found this on Richard Barrows blog from a couple of years ago using info derived from the BK post

Each taxi driver travelled about 300 kilometres per shift, an average of 12.9 kilometres per paying passenger. Each driver had an average 14 passenger trips per shift. The driver would be without a paying passenger for an average 40 per cent of each shift. A taxi driver took in an average of 1,330 per shift. When the cost of cab hire – an average of 600 baht per shift – and other costs were deducted, drivers were left with only an average 400 baht per day.

Just raise the prices. They are stupidly cheap, and the service is no worse than most places in the world.

From Airport to central BKK for $7 is crazy. Even Laos is more expensive. They need to live as well, and are an integral part of Thai life.

Taxi drivers make much more money than other compareable jobs and the service in Thailand is the worst I know. And the gas is very cheap. Taxi driver whining that they make just 1500 Baht (=45000 per month, no income tax) when the minimum salary is 300 Baht.

Last time my parents went from the airport to central BKK:

"luggage big big, need taxi big, 750 baht"

Which is 22 USD and what someone over 70 after a long flight can do? Ripping off the weakest.

I doubt that it is just 7 USD if they turn on the meter (190 Baht +50 Baht no highway).

I am sorry for your family's bad experience, but I don't know of many taxi drivers making 1,500 baht per day. They are doing unusually well if they gross this. However, as most are renting the cab (650 baht plus) and have to pay for fuel, they would be lucky to finish with 500 baht after a 12-hour shift. Admittedly no income tax to pay, but then no social security benefits either.

I doubt that. A 45min -1 hour ride to the airport costs me 350-400 Baht.

say it is 350 Baht and 1 hour.

Considering the are half the time empty or sometimes stuck in the traffic jam

6x350= 2100 Baht (without tips)

-650 Baht for rent 1350 Baht

Say 350 Baht for the gas (rough estimate, might be wrong on that)

1000 Baht on the end of the day, considering a lot of tips they are easily at 1500 Baht if they are active and smart.

If they have a customer to Pattaya and charge them 2000-4000 Baht it may look much better.

Do you think at 500 Baht per day there would be so many taxis on the street?

This highlights one of the problems - no one actually knows how mush either the daily or monthly average salary is for a taxi driver? My own view is they must be make at least 1'000 a day for a 10 hour shift - 100 baht an hour after expenses would seem to be a very conservative estimate.

But it all seems like guess work - I'd like to see an official salary given for a months worth of taxi driving

And the sad thing is that with a bit of inspection and maintenance the five people who went to enjoy a day out of the zoo would still be with their friends and family today. Instead of being placed inside a funeral pyre.

Once again 5 lives are cheaper than the cost of a 6 monthly inspection.

Unemployement statistic are usually based on people looking for job. If you're not looking for a job, you're not unemployed. I think a lot of people here will agree with me, a lot of people in Thailand are not looking for a job. For money maybe but definitively not for work.

Look around in Bangkok, most of the workers are Burmese. Why is so ? Because Thais don't want the jobs. Office job, air cond, not overworked ok. But when a bit of sweating is involved ? No way.

Sorry "my" Thailand maybe a bit different from others. I don't go to bar, don't talk to bar girls so was never able to hear their sad life stories. My friends are educated middle class Thais and that's what they say.

Ahh well you should have said earlier - when educated middle class Thais are making disparaging comments about those below them in the social ladder it must be true!

I'm sure it's those nice educated middle class Thais who are first in the line for those nice air con office jobs safe from the sun and over exertion eh?

I am sorry that you have had such bad luck - like your middle class friends - finding good workers. I can assure you that should you ever go to a local market, factory, shopping mall, local shop or restaurant - you will find a Thai person working - not a person from Myanmar. They may not all be excellent, but I am sure that with a smile and a bit of politeness they will do their best to make sure you go away reasonably happy.

Of course a 17 year old working in a Big C on Saturday morning probably isn't the most enthusiastic about his job - at that age neither was I. But the bankers, lawyers, clerks, mechanics, doctors, nurses, fruit sellers, stall holders, market vendors, gardeners, ice cream sellers, tailors, cooks, electrician, plumbers (you get the picture) who I have dealt with in the past 15 years have always been on the whole great workers who have done exactly what was requested.

I don't know what is your issue with the middle class, the middle class is the backbone of all advance societies. They are educated and they were born in this country so their opinion is worth considering don't you think ? I feel sorry that during the 15 years that you have spent in Thailand you haven't been able to develop more personal relation with educated Thai people. If your only relation with Thais are occasional deal with fruits sellers, mechanics and plumbers I'm afraid it explains the limited understanding you have of the Thai society despite the many years you have spent in the country.

You really don't know what you are on about 'occasional deal with fruit sellers' (sic) And i certainly don't need to resort to justifying or supporting an opinion by spouting what my educated friends have to say.

My point is on one hand you talk about how lazy they (Thais) all are and only work to achieve sustainability (post 4) and on the other you go into glowing detail how your middle class Thai friends (obviously superior) support these assertions. Smacks of hypocrisy and plain gibberish - clearly your working middle class educated friends are neither lazy nor do they work to achieve sustainability the very things you paint the Thai populace as. But let me guess your friends aren't like that are they, they're different. Of course.

As it happens I agree with you that they probably aren't like that as most of the Thai population aren't like that.

As for whether their opinion is worth anything. There opinion is worth exactly the same as every other man, woman and child in this country. No more, no less.

So i'll creep back to my little hole and continue for the next 15 years to live here with no interaction with or understanding of the world outside my door.

Unemployement statistic are usually based on people looking for job. If you're not looking for a job, you're not unemployed. I think a lot of people here will agree with me, a lot of people in Thailand are not looking for a job. For money maybe but definitively not for work.

Look around in Bangkok, most of the workers are Burmese. Why is so ? Because Thais don't want the jobs. Office job, air cond, not overworked ok. But when a bit of sweating is involved ? No way.

Sorry "my" Thailand maybe a bit different from others. I don't go to bar, don't talk to bar girls so was never able to hear their sad life stories. My friends are educated middle class Thais and that's what they say.

Ahh well you should have said earlier - when educated middle class Thais are making disparaging comments about those below them in the social ladder it must be true!

I'm sure it's those nice educated middle class Thais who are first in the line for those nice air con office jobs safe from the sun and over exertion eh?

I am sorry that you have had such bad luck - like your middle class friends - finding good workers. I can assure you that should you ever go to a local market, factory, shopping mall, local shop or restaurant - you will find a Thai person working - not a person from Myanmar. They may not all be excellent, but I am sure that with a smile and a bit of politeness they will do their best to make sure you go away reasonably happy.

Of course a 17 year old working in a Big C on Saturday morning probably isn't the most enthusiastic about his job - at that age neither was I. But the bankers, lawyers, clerks, mechanics, doctors, nurses, fruit sellers, stall holders, market vendors, gardeners, ice cream sellers, tailors, cooks, electrician, plumbers (you get the picture) who I have dealt with in the past 15 years have always been on the whole great workers who have done exactly what was requested.

All his noise around the 300 Bahts minimum wage has no meaning. The unemployment rate in Thailand is close to 0%. Businesses even paying more than the minimum 300 Bahts can't find workers. The problem is Thais do not want to work. As soon as they reach "sustainability", why means they can pay for their daily booze, they stop working. Increasing the minimum wage will just lower the number of working hours needed to reach this level. The problem in Thailand is work ethic. Success here means doing nothing. That's what need to be improved, not minimum wage.

Sorry Johnny but I have to disagree with you on that point.

I have know a lot of Thais who work bloody hard day in day out to support their families and your comments are nothing but stereotypical generalizations based on bar room hearsay.

Yes, it's a generalization, but a valid one. And yes, there are exceptions to every rule, and there are some very hard working Thai's here.

But ... if you've ever run a business here, or employed Thai's for any reason, for any job, you'd know how accurate JohnnyJazz generalization's actually are.

Well lets dissect his statement shall we? - "an unemployment rate of close to 0% ...the problem is Thais do not want to work". To me an unemployment rate of 0% suggests that most Thais are in fact working, correct? So the first part of the post seems slightly contradictory to say the least.

"Sustainability defined by being able to pay for their daily booze at which point they stop working". What a load of nonsense. A great many people do loads of overtime when it is on offer or work two jobs and actually save their money.

But all people see here is a couple of blokes having a beer at the end of the day - and jump to the conclusion that the vast majority of the working male population are lazy good for nothing alcoholics who work for their daily fix of booze.

(But of course were the same generalization to be aimed at all the foreigners having a pint in one of the many expat pubs around Thailand at the end of a working day the very hubris it would create from the expat community would defy all logic as they would rightly point out that they have worked very hard that day and deserve a couple of beers)

And the final sweeping statement - The problem in Thailand is work ethic - The problem is not a work ethic - as johnnyjazz already established with 0% unemployment that can't be the case. The problem is grinding poverty and a social system entrenched in maintaining the status quo by keeping alive the idea that the majority of the population (i.e. the poor) are on the whole lazy workshy alcoholics who if given the chance to better themselves would simply waste it, so why bother providing them with more opportunities and financial incentives to improve their lot in life.

Me, I take a slightly more optimistic view of my fellow man.

All his noise around the 300 Bahts minimum wage has no meaning. The unemployment rate in Thailand is close to 0%. Businesses even paying more than the minimum 300 Bahts can't find workers. The problem is Thais do not want to work. As soon as they reach "sustainability", why means they can pay for their daily booze, they stop working. Increasing the minimum wage will just lower the number of working hours needed to reach this level. The problem in Thailand is work ethic. Success here means doing nothing. That's what need to be improved, not minimum wage.

Sorry Johnny but I have to disagree with you on that point.

I have know a lot of Thais who work bloody hard day in day out to support their families and your comments are nothing but stereotypical generalizations based on bar room hearsay.

The problem here is not the health care scheme, which is an excellent scheme that allows all people access to basic and lifesaving health care. But the complete lack of efficiency in the health care scheme means it loses money handover foot. How many times do you see patients being given vast amounts of medicines, antibiotics, paracetamol, anti cough, anti sore throat etc. for very minor ailments, perhaps it has happened to you? I perish to think how many needless x-rays, CT-scans etc have been provided over the years.

Clearly the scheme works but how the funds are administered needs to be changed as i am sure savings of about 40% could easily be made.

I will leave kick backs and corruption aside.

My immediate thought is that there must be a big bubble appearing in the property market.

Just a really odd (and tragic) video that doesn't seem to make all that much sense given the background report of events. Not surprised the family are not happy. I failed to discern if warning shots were fired

And the fact that this police man has been charged makes me suspect the BiB know that this was a 'mistaken case of a fatal shooting'

Another example of social media users jumping to conclusions. There's nothing proving they were inhaling nitrous, It could be helium. I thought the junta was discouraging Thai netizens from making false reports on social media.

How about teaching some farang girls manners and a little decorum

So its only foreign girls that have no manners or decorum. Sounds to me like you have been rejected by a few too many western girls and are nothing but bitter. Maybe that's why you came to Thailand?

Manners (or in this instance lack of as you suggest) has nothing to do with either gender or ethnic background.

Really! This is actually news? What has happened to ThaiVisa lately?, its just full of the most frivolous, un-news worthy articles.

Thailand really should be congratulated and be jumping for joy if a couple of girls on laughing gas is the most serious issue of the day.

Utter nonsense whose only purpose is bigoted finger pointing to buff someones rather dented and battered ego and misdirect attention from the issues that really matter here.

You can't beat the crap out of someone if you think they did something wrong. That is assault - Wouldn't blame the Indian for filing counter charges against the vendors. That's what any self respecting Thai would do.

Seriously I find it amazing that people actually support the action of these vendors. All you are doing is supporting the principle of mob justice and if that is the case then don't be surprised if one day you find yourself on the wrong end of it. If you do don't complain.

I love Thailand - Where else in the world would a tourist in a bikini be news!!

On a more serious note I bet the old coggers down at the Ministry of Culture are getting themselves into a right tizz over this. Not the woman in a bikini so much, but the support she's been getting from Thai bloggers.

So you agree with the process used to assume his guilt on this matter then?

The issue I have here is not Taksin.

It's the fact that ' alleged threats to national security' (and that is a highly questionable charge in itself in all honesty - they have chosen that charge very specifically, as no good to honest patriotic Thai would ever stand side by side or support a person who is a threat to the national security of Thailand) are are not given due process even though nothing has been proven and everyone whoops it up and says its a good thing.

I (as a high ranking and important member of government) alleged that all farangs are threats to national security as they don't understand Thainess, are not Thai and all the bad things that happen in Thailand are because of foreigners meddling in Thai affairs. (sound familiar?) So lets punish them and invalidate all visas. Sound reasonable?

Actually it sounds like BS, and any government official who decided to interfere with a valuable source of income would get smacked down if not killed by some tourism businessman.

You are trying to paint Thaksin's treatment as unfair. Removal of his passports should have happened long since, and until charges are actually laid, there is nothing to bitch about except a bit of bad-mouthing and possible exaggerated claims. And as the mongrel was quite willing to hand out unfair treatment to others, my sympathy meter hasn't flickered yet.

So his unfair treatment of other, justifies this utter farce.

As Ghandi once said "An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind".

Irrespective of personal views on Taksin and his murderous history.

I find it quite disturbing that in terms of evidence indicating that he has done something wrong in this instance all we are presented with is an explanation of "reports of tarnished the countries image and threat to national security". A vaguer, more obtuse set of statements could not be harder to find. Yet many take these statements as proof that a crime has been committed and he is guilty. So much for due process?

So can we all now nod in agreement that we would accept that someones opinion is all that is required to allocate guilt. If the PM/Army/Police / Foreign Ministry think you did it. That thought is now fact and you are guilty.

If you agree with that, then apply the same principle to your life here in Thailand. The police think you have tarnished Thailand image as you posted something which they don't like on TVF, (the fact it was in the issan farming forum and was about growing chilies is irrelevant) - "Get the <deleted> out of Thailand is their response", and everyone on TVF types "yeah we never liked him anyway. He deserves it!". Who decides guilt and how was that conclusion reached. Personal dislike? And that is a sound basis for a country to be run on?

This is an absolute farce.

Thaksin just doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut.

This time they have it on film not an opinion. the law is clear and he knows it well. for the last 15 years he has been trying to take the kings power away from him. He get's a big chance to help Thailand unite and in typical Thaksin fashion lets it go by. In the mean time adding to the. controversy

Yes indeed he is an absolute farce. Lucky for him he has stolen enough money to keep people on promoting him with false information.

As I said earlier it is surprising they didn't take it earlier. the man is a disgrace to humanity. He seeks out the weak minded people and the corrupt one's that he can buy for his support.

So you agree with the process used to assume his guilt on this matter then?

The issue I have here is not Taksin.

It's the fact that ' alleged threats to national security' (and that is a highly questionable charge in itself in all honesty - they have chosen that charge very specifically, as no good to honest patriotic Thai would ever stand side by side or support a person who is a threat to the national security of Thailand) are are not given due process even though nothing has been proven and everyone whoops it up and says its a good thing.

I (as a high ranking and important member of government) alleged that all farangs are threats to national security as they don't understand Thainess, are not Thai and all the bad things that happen in Thailand are because of foreigners meddling in Thai affairs. (sound familiar?) So lets punish them and invalidate all visas. Sound reasonable?

Irrespective of personal views on Taksin and his murderous history.

I find it quite disturbing that in terms of evidence indicating that he has done something wrong in this instance all we are presented with is an explanation of "reports of tarnished the countries image and threat to national security". A vaguer, more obtuse set of statements could not be harder to find. Yet many take these statements as proof that a crime has been committed and he is guilty. So much for due process?

So can we all now nod in agreement that we would accept that someones opinion is all that is required to allocate guilt. If the PM/Army/Police / Foreign Ministry think you did it. That thought is now fact and you are guilty.

If you agree with that, then apply the same principle to your life here in Thailand. The police think you have tarnished Thailand image as you posted something which they don't like on TVF, (the fact it was in the issan farming forum and was about growing chilies is irrelevant) - "Get the &lt;deleted&gt; out of Thailand is their response", and everyone on TVF types "yeah we never liked him anyway. He deserves it!". Who decides guilt and how was that conclusion reached. Personal dislike? And that is a sound basis for a country to be run on?

This is an absolute farce.