erobando

The Vietnamese have a long history of brutal treatment at the hand of the Thais in the Gulf of Thailand, both at the hands of state officials and state-condoned rape and murder.

http://www.vietka.com/Vietnamese_Boat_People/HorribleStatistics.htm

We could be seeing the start of a bizarre switch of the previous Indochinese military conflict in which Thailand and Vietnam face off as proxy foes for the U.S. and China but now on different sides. (Cambodia and Laos get battered whatever side they are on)

Except not that much of a switch.

After the 1960's Sino-Soviet split, Vietnam was alligned primarily with the Soviet Union and Thailand (backed by the West) had always been alligned with China in the regional power struggle (e.g., the Civil War in Cambodia).

I doubt that this will result in violence between Thailand and Vietnam... they both are more interested in mutual economic interests.

But stronger US allignment/cooperation with Vietnam will continue given Vietnam's centuries-old mistrust of China and the US's view of strong SE Asian nations as a counterbalance to China.

NATIONALITY OF FOREIGN PRISONERS in Thai jails in 2009

Asia: 8,528 (93.81%)

Africa: 274 (3.01%)

Europe: 149 (1.64%)

USA: 47 (12.52%)

Australia: 15 (12.16%)

Minority: 55 (0.6%)

Other: 23 (12.25%)

I think some of those "12's" need to be replaced by zeros.

I've seen this "no Muslim immigrant policy in Japan" repeated a few times in this forum. Where does this come from?

Japan has a very strict immigration policy in general but Muslims aren't specifically excluded.

People have some very strange views of the world here.

Wow! The Brits have been engaged in this war for over a year and finally killed a total of 3 people! And that tea sniffer David Cameron wants to throw a parade?

Alas, methinks 'tis time that the Queen's Finest partake in combat course from real fighters like the Hez'bollah and YPG.

I hope they round up all of these terror-sharks. I wouldn't surprised if these spiteful fish were the true masterminds behind the events of 20 August.

Thailand does have some responsibility for this incident, but it's only tangentally related to the Uighurs-China situation.

The responsibilty is that illegal activity is allowed by people who are supposed to be preventing it.

When law enforcement officials are taking a cut from a small-time illegal casino, blowback is not a problem. But when the allowed illegal activity is the movement of violent groups, the consequences can be problematic.

Solving thet problem is more difficult when there there is political in-fighting by among so many different factions... there will be people who will happy if the current government needs to deal with some chaos.

To be honest they (the suspects) don't strike me as the brightest shining stars in the sky. Like the guy they got today, walking through the jungle:

"Soldiers spotted the man while patrolling near the border in Aranyaprathet. He was walking alone through the brush in Ban Dong Ngu village of Pa Rai sub-district headed toward Cambodia. "

All our resident TVF experts had predicted he'd be out of Thailand right after the bombing. Why did the guy in the apartments still have bomb-making equipment?

My take is that they aren't very smart!

Definitely a shoddy operation. Theory is that the blue shirt guy at the pier was on his way to plant the bomb at Asiatique, but got stuck in the traffic and got there late (as you do). Obviously there was no conginency plan for that, and with the bomb at Erawan already gone off, he had to abort and desperately ditch the second bomb in the river. Presumably that bomb wasn't detonated but went off accidentally.

Both bombers managed to get caught in the act on camera - you would think they would have surveyed where the cameras are to avoid that.

Now there's this guy scrambing about conspicuously near the border (in broad daylight?).

Bunch of amateurs.

Yeah, plus - if this is really related to the Uighurs - the whole operation seems to have had no real political purpose.

How much of a future role will Thailand play in the Uighur conflct with the Chinese government? Zero?

A lot of effort and planning for nothing, so I'm fine with the Thai government's phrasing of "personal revenge."

For those who don't like your group to be profiled you should try to change the behavior within it. There are reasons police and others profile and it is to stop crime from happening. Groups bring it upon themselves so it is up to them to change and people's opinions too.

So all black people are in the same group now?

Is it also the responsibilty of a white person to correct the behavior of every white person that behaves incorrectly?

So if some, for example, some white guy from Denmark is littering, it's responsibilty of some white Icelandic tourist passer-by to admonish him because they are both in the Pale Skin Group?

If you are willing to take a very indirect route, you can ride down Thanon Bangkhuntian Chatale and continue to Mahachai via Thanon Kimjanee. The road through wetland area is safer, a little more scenic and even has bike lanes.

You would still need to find a route between Tha Chin and Mae Klong but if it's probably a good option since you are already riding to the Ekechai-Bangkhuntian intersection.

Edit: It's possible that I'm misreading your posts and you already doing this?

Hmm, I only just found out today that GMM Z no longer caries Eurosport.

That's too bad because the channel was the primary reason I got GMM Z.

If people later find out additional options, please post. I would appreciate it!

Targeting the people of the south will not get attention with the criminals leaders in charge of thailand. Not that I am making suggestions, but eventually they will get smart enough to target Patong, Pattaya, or MBK if they really want to make an impact. Amazes me it hasn't happened. Also amazed the Army is still so unconcerned after 20 years. More have dies there than in all the Burma / Cambodia border conflicts.

They don't target areas you suggest because they know that would bring a harsher response.

People in power (whether politicians, military or other wealthy people) don't care what happens as long as it doesn't affect their business or political interests.

The statis quo is good for everyone involved.

For the insurgents it allows them to continue activities and gain local support for their cause.

For the military, it costs them little and has been a fall-back argument for when demanding portions of the budget.

For most politicians and business leaders, it doesn't affect them so it's just the same as if there was no violence at all. In fact, they prefer a localized problem because if it escalated they would have to deal with issues like less government centralization and they don't want that.

There's a big difference between activities by Red Shirts and the insurgents in the South.

The Red Shirts are a threat and can cause instability in areas that are important to the junta (and others with financial and political interests). So the junta will stop those activities.

The violence in the South is localized to 3 or 4 provinces. It has been that way for over a decade. Nobody currently or recently in power (PT, Democrats, Junta, etc.) cares about it.

A few people die per month but it has it is no effect on what is important to them. The military could launch a campaign against the insurgents but junta has more important things to worry about so they don't.

I thought h1n1 was bird flu.

Are they trying hard not to say it?

No that is H5N1

Other strains of H1N1 are endemic in pigs (swine influenza) and in birds (avian influenza)

That is from wikipedia. So, I think they maybe trying really hard not to say it

What's typically called "birid flu" is H5N1, it's more difficult to transmit to humans and has a very high mortality rate.

H1N1 is the same strain that hit Thailand (and elsewhere around the world) a few years ago. Transmission rates are high but mortality rates of this strain aren't any higher than the seasonal form of influenza.

There's no reason to be scared in Thailand.

There is corruption here but police are not going to go out of their way to harrass a foreinger. They want easy targets and tend to view foreigners as understanding the law and as having the financial abiltiy to hire legal help.

If you do risky things (e.g., illegal or provocative activities) anywhere you can get into trouble.

Remember, things all started years ago, when Thaksin tried to get rid of Khun Prem's office. That was the beginning of the end for Thaksin.

I think Thaksin's attempted power moves against Prem are too often forgetten... the role in T's ouster is certain overlooked in foreing media's coverage of the Thai politics despite the battle lines in the power struggles still being the same today.

Take out the central people involved in the fight and what is everyone fighting for? Certainly not policy or anything of importance to people outside a few elites on all sides.

Also, the press conference has a great name... I'm sure that will help gain support for their "neutral" proposal.

The PhuaThai is NOT hoping for a coup, the shambles they are in is this 'judicial coup' garbage in which 308 MPs are sacked by the 'anti-graft' body NACC for 'voting' to add an amendment to the constitution that would make the upper house fully elected instead of appointed. The US has 27 amendments to the constitution, but in Thailand an amendment to the charter is called 'corruption'.

judicial coup is going to bring the same redshirt backlash as a normal coup, we can only hope that these 'courts' decide to ave some integrity and dismiss these bogus cases piling up against the phuathai.

PDRC don't want a coup either as that would lead to reds coming out shooting in the name of Taksin.

Judicial coup my ass ! We have the courts finally starting to do their job. There are many crimes for which all of PT should be removed from office, the one you mention is the least of it. Rice scam, tablet scam, 50,000 baht clocks, threatening judges they don't agree with etc etc...

Nothing bogus about the cases against them. The criminals need to be brought to justiice and examples must be made to discourage such callous and brazen acts of graft and stupidity to not happen again.

Yeah, PT would indeed want a coup. All sides benefit from the constant power struggles.

If there was a coup, the situation would be temporary, the red shirts would be all riled up and they'll just win the next election anyhow (whenever it is scheduled).

Without the power struggle, PT would only have governing to do (which isn't a strength nor a primary interest) and nothing to rally their base about.

Just the same, the yellow shirts would lose a major rallying point and a large number of their base without the power struggle and fear/hatred of Thaksin.

What % of the protests really care about Suthep's specific proposals? Very few.

The various factions of the police and military?

As long as politics is about people (rather than actual policy), then they wlll have a stake in the argument and can continue their various power struggles without having to listen to a real civilian government.

Plus, as long as their is a threat of turmoil, they have an excuse/leverage to demand a larger stake of the budget.

Everyone wins except for most Thais.

Which army chief in the world behaves like he is an independent body and dose not come under the ruling government? Which army chief in the world condones c apital shutdown by protesters and says that no violenece should directed atthe protesters by security authorities.

This army chief is basically a Suthep sympathiser or has an agenda of his own. The masses should come out and remove him, all lower reanking soldiers who belong to the masses should revolt and eradicate all their yellow generals in the army.

Militaries in most developing countries are separate political entities from from civilian or official governments.

And as FWIW points out, there are typically factions with their own political interests rather than a monolithic entity.

To say this is a Bangkok elitist fight against rural farmers is a smack to every hard working class southern thai that supports the Dems and has traveled up to Bangkok. I think a lot people don't realize that Thailand is more than Isaan and Bangkok. There is an entire southern region. They aren't Bangkok elitistests. They don't vote for PTP. Of course its a power struggle, its a struggle to control trillions of baht loans and mega-projects. Sure there is waste and corruption on both sides. PTP bribed the rural farmers with subsidies at the expense of everyone else in Thailand. The rubber farmers have been feeling the squeeze for the last few years and when they ask the gov. for help, Nothing from the current gov. Just my few thoughts.

You really don't have a handle on Thailand. Suthep is an old-time career politician from Surat Thani, the heart of the southern provinces to which you refer.

The "rubber farmers have been feeling the squeeze"? Are you serious? Do you even know how rubber plantations work? Huge swaths of land are owned by wealthy landowners. They and they alone have been squeezing farm laborers, and have done so for decades. Rubber farm laborers do not own their land. Wealthy landowners do, and pay them squat.

The only reason rubber farming has become an issue is that landowners converted their plantations to rubber in a roll of the dice when the commodity's prices were high, and the over-supply bit them in the ass.

Rice farmers, by contrast, are largely small-plot, individual farmers. They don't roll the dice hoping for a big payout on the back of farm laborers. They do the work themselves. And they receive almost nothing for the effort, after costs, except whining from privileged Bangkok Thai's that the cost of their food has increased.

The reason you see lots of southern farm laborers in BKK is that they are transported there, fed, sheltered, and entertained, and paid a daily wage to be there.

Suthep is a well known career politician from the 1990s. As Minister of Transport and Communications in the administration Thaksin displaced, he was prosecuted for land corruption and bank embezzlement in Surat Thani. This is nothing but an elitist temper tantrum over the spoils of office. Get real.

I'm not sure of the point of this tirade.

MikeThaison's point still stands that this is a power struggle that doesn't fit the "Bangkok elite vs. Rural poor" characterization. Not everyone in Southern Thailand is a rich rubber plantation owner but that's not that important, either. Check the election results... PTP does much beter in Central Thailand (including Bangkok) than in the South. That doesn't mean that the South is better or worse but it's a fact and ignoring this fact will always lead to a misunderstanding of the political battles here in Thailand. Yes, the Yellow Shirts are essentially pawns of an Old Guard political establishment (which for recent historical reasons get support from the South) and the Red Shirts are essentially pawns of a New Guard political elite orchestrated by Thaksin. Yeah, segments of both Yellow Shirts and Red Shirts might have some some other ideas or goals but non of the eilites any any side of the fight particularly care about those details. Do you think the last coup was because the military didn't want farmers in Isaan getting affordable healthcare? No, the coup came about because Thaksin attempted to restructure the miltary to solidify his own power.

Thailand's political struggles are still about people, not about policy. The TRT/PPP/PTP would have been able to stay in power indefinately if their primary interests (and actions) were to improve the lives of poorer citizens.

The protesters want an appointed "people's council" to run the country and oversee vaguely defined electoral reforms before new elections are held in around a year to 18 months.

There's one piece of this puzzle that I just don't understand. Assuming the protesters are successful, and Yingluck resigns, then what happens?

Not that it's particularly relevant in this country, but what provision is there in the Constitution to deal with such a situation? Who will be in charge and decide the next step?

Edit: grammar & spelling

Is your question about Suthep getting the appointed government thing that he's calling for? If so, then for sure the current Constitution would not be valid.

But if your question is specifically about Yingluck, then that situation is covered in any parliamentary system... PTP already called for new elections. If Yingluck didn't run again, someone else would be noninated to serve as PM if PTP won an outright majority or formed coalition government.

In the UK these type of demonstrations would get shut down after one day, you get your day in the streets and then you go home. If you don't go home, the police move in. And they don't much care if you get knocked over when they push you homeward. A newspaper salesman died in the UK while walking home from his stall, past a protest site that was being dispersed by the police. He was knocked to the floor and he died from the injuries.

I pointed this out in 2010 during the three month red seige too. Most democratic countries would not stand for more than a day of street protest. The reason being that political solutions come from parliamentary negotiation, not from street action. Obviously Thailand has problems with accepting that, but it is still a far better route than teetering on civil war. From this perspective, neither the protesters nor the police are at fault here, it is the politicians at fault for not settling their differences at state level. I am particularly accusing Suthep of this, as Yingluck offered a dialogue recently, to hear Suthep's demands and find a solution. Round about the same time as she called the early elections, she asked Suthep to enter a discussion. They could have talked through the problems. He said no, and more besides, about her whole family being banished from the nation. Suthep is in the wrong here, for refusing to talk constructively. The blood is entirely on his hands, it is simple logic.

I would also add that protesters stop being protesters and become insurgents, when they no longer make demands for dialogue or elections, but seek to topple a political system entirely. This would be around the time the initial peaceful massprotests ended around the start of December, at which point I stopped supporting them.

This is Thailand. Like most developing countries, elected politicians make up only a portion of the people with actual political power. The 2 major parties, different factions of the military, different factions of the military all have roles to play and, in Thailand's case, all of them have a vested interest in protests continuing (whether yellow or red). Some people on both sides of the protesters (not the leaders, though) have legitimate goals/plans/ideas that could make the country better. But most of the people on both sides are just cheering their side. It's people politics instead of policy politics and the protesters (yellow and red) are just pawns for different elite groups. Not ideal, not really democratic, but at least it's relatively contained and better than full civil war. I think this will eventually change but the change will be long, gradual process.

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All in all, a rather big let down. I suggest he come up with some people who can actually come up with some ideas. Unless of course, he has it in the bag already, but with ideas like this, the opposition might well be licking their lips at the prospect of going up against him in these elections.

Cue the PTP candidate to come up with utterly unachieveable goals, which get enough of the gullible to vote for them.

Listening to this uberplan for menus, is Sukhumband under some illusion that Yaowarat or the rest of Bangkok is some kind of utopia that can be fixed with little caveats such as English language menus? What city is he living in?

Traffic has to be the issue surely? Vehicle charging? Interlock the traffic light systems? Although that would probably need a Kray supercomuter for Bangkok. Surely someone has to come up with something?

On a similar note, Yaowaraj is always going to be fairly low on my list of places to go just because other areas of the city are more easily accessable by BTS. I'm not going to risk a 5 km per hour traffic situation when I can find good food elsewhere. if I want good Chinese food I'll just fly to Hong Kong.

The mortality rate of HFMD is pretty low. A child is much more likely to die after contracting the flu.

In June, China reported 17 deaths out of about 35,000 infections.

Death rates in almost every recorded outbreak of the disease have been about 1 death in every 5,000 cases.

No Thais would get AIDS if they played football more often.

This is ridiculous. How long is this going to go on? We all know who's doing it... But the governments of the world have to be PC about it so nothing can ever be done. And who pays the price? Little kids wounded (or killed) by terrorist attacks. Tragic. Luckily THIS TIME nobody was killed. But what about next time, and the time after that?

I'm not suggesting "ethnic cleansing" like they did in other parts of the world. Just push them back to Malaysia. Maybe they will like it better there and stop killing everyone.

We all konw knows who's responsible? I thought part of the problem is that it's not clear.

Exactly who would Thailand send back to Malaysia? Everyone who supposedly has a connection with PULO? Every ethnic Malay? Is that who should be pushed back to Malaysia? I'm pretty sure the Malays were there before the area became part of Thailand.

And what exactly has Thialand been doing that is too "PC"?