KhaoNiaw

In the late 1980s - early 90s, when I was doing the return run from Penang, the railway police would always appear on the train back on the Thai side and shake down the smugglers bringing stuff over the border. It was just everyday goods like snacks and stuff but it was entertaining to watch. On the Malaysian side, all these guys would suddenly appear with big bags that would get spread out wherever there was space down different carriages, Then on the Thai side, the railway police would come along trying to work out how much there was and threaten to confiscate some of it. It would end up with a haggling match and smiles all round. You could tell they all knew each other and it was just part of the game. Some of the goods would get dropped off at Hat Yai and the rest back to Bangkok. That was the only time I saw the railway police.

Apparently they used the same sentence repeatedly. I'm sure they knew there were many Thai workers in these areas. They could have got it from Google and remembered before they went in.

I've managed to dig up a little more information on the historical points. It's interesting to find out that Prince Subha Svasti Svastivat from Siam was actually elected the Vice-Chairman of the Ad-Hoc Committee on the Palestinian Question. In the committee vote on 25 November 1947, Siam voted against the partition proposals alongside Afghanistan, Cuba, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, the Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey and Yemen. The resolution was adopted by the committee with 25 votes for, 13 against, and 17 abstentions. But the majority was short of what would be needed in the full vote and so pressure was applied to various countries over the next few days. Unfortunately I can't find any more information about the credentials of the Siamese delegation being cancelled. I'm guessing this would have been done by the Siamese government? Though I'd still be interested to know why this was done and why the Thai delegation weren't just persuaded to reverse their vote.

There's more than one 2nd-in-command position and each one has different responsibilities. The new police chief had a reshuffle and BJ was moved to the national security brief.

Interesting historical footnote to the Thai position and something maybe someone could help to shed some light on. The Philippines was the only Asian country to vote in support of UN Resolution 181 (II) for the partition of Palestine, under pressure from the US after their representative had spoken against it. Thailand, or rather Siam as it was then, was officially noted as 'Absent' from the vote (the only country 'absent'). According to Wikipedia, "The credentials of the Siamese delegations were cancelled after Siam voted against partition in committee on 25 November." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Partition_Plan_for_Palestine (with the final vote being made on the 29th as it didn't receive enough votes to pass on the 25th. This gave time for pressure to be applied to ensure its subsequent success). There are a couple of Wikipedia links to articles in the New York Times archives but they require a subscription to access. If anyone has a subscription and is interested to see if they provide more detail, I'm wondering exactly how the Siamese credentials were cancelled. Was it the UN under pressure from the Americans? Or maybe the Siamese government cancelled their own delegates under US pressure (they were somewhat beholden to the Americans to even be there). Why was this method only used with the Siamese when other delegations were persuaded to change their vote? Did the Siamese delegates stick to their position? I've tried searches in both Thai and English to try and get more details on this point but so far without success. Does anyone have any knowledge on this issue?

Not a bank, but Revolut will allow a Thai phone number as long as your address is in the UK.

You can change the settings in Agoda so that you also get the fully inclusive price. Booking .com is that way by default.

It was a pain going to the office but the whole conversation could be quite amusing. As a student, I'd saved up the cash to travel from working on a farm during holidays, weekends etc. This was met with some disbelief in the Thai tax office and they suggested I must have been teaching English to support myself in Thailand. The officer on that occasion was a nice young lady who who was trying to be stern but ended up having a bit of a giggle when she gave me the stamp. Lesson learned though, it was better to have a more white collar story for them.

If you read Aed's autobiography, he was very clear that they were in it to get rich right from the beginning. They got screwed over by record companies in the early days, so I think they were very focused on the business side. You'll find Thais who dislike them will tell you they sold out way before 1997. I can remember often being told in the early 90s that you wouldn't listen to them if you knew what they were really like. Aed surrounded himself with some unpleasant people who let him down at times I believe. They've had a good music career and probably done some good along the way. I got to go to their Center Stage studio a couple of times and they looked after the people working for them very well, quite a big staff at the time, which was one of the band's justifications for their commercial decisions.

As yet, there seems to be no official confirmation of this beheading story? Even official Israeli government and army sources will not confirm it, and you think they'd be quick to do so.

Nonsense. Some proper police work has been done and that young guy was eliminated as a suspect. Plenty of details in the Thai media.

I'd genuinely be interested in any sources or material you could provide for seeing this as a genuine threat. As I understood it, the massacre served mainly to radicalize many of the student protesters and force them to join the CPT in the jungles, even though they weren't previously supporters. As the CPT turned to China, a lot of the student activists became disillusioned and with the conciliatory policy the government took up, they were then able to return. I remember hearing that after the Vietnamese entered Cambodia and pushed out the Khmer Rouge, Thai communists in the jungles tended to find the KR easier to get along with than other Cambodian factions when their paths crossed. I guess when I arrived here in the late 80s, it was only a few years since most of the students and activists had left the CPT and returned to 'normal' life. Popular culture was still influenced by the events and some of the former student leaders like Seksan Prasertkul and Thirayuth Boonmee were quite prominent media commentators. I have Thai friends who still participate in the annual remembrance events. May 1992 is also rarely mentioned any more but as you point out, this doesn't only apply to political upheaval.

Both of the October events in 1973 and 1976 were major world news stories and students in Europe showed their support for their Thai counterparts. I'm surprised anyone who's spent much time in Thailand can't be aware of them. Even though Thais don't really talk about them much and they perhaps now receive less official recognition than ever, there are annual remembrance events and stories in the media here.

Her own pocket. Already been clarified, though of course she has missed votes and time at 'work'.

Think she had a few bob before being appointed a senator. No sympathy for her, but the restaurant guy seemed to so shrieky and playing to the camera that it seemed like they didn't get what was going on at first. It would have been much better if he'd refused her service and explained exactly why in a calmer manner. But it wouldn't have made such a good video for social media I guess.

One reason the migrant worker deaths are so high is that there are often multiple deaths when they're being transported in the back of a pickup or in a van doing a visa run. The drivers in those cases are more than likely Thais.

It really is a non-issue. Except that they made into an issue through their choice of words and their social media image.. Fortunately the school director sounds quite level-headed and hasn't been pushed into an over-reaction. Let's hope the two girls are smart enough to learn from the experience.

Almost like she was actually doing her job.

In one of his media outings months ago, Chuwit warned Big Joke that if he wasn't careful he'd be brought down by the people he'd surrounded himself with.

You won't find many Thai women called พอล. That's most commonly the Thai transliteration for the English male name Paul. The Thai woman's name you're thinking of is พร.

Part of the corrupt game he was very much part of. I'm not a hater or you can't deny the benefits he brought at the beginning of his time. But it was implemented for a very specific purpose and the man had absolutely no interest in democracy, completely setting back the more open and critical media that was just beginning to emerge. Anyway not really the topic under discussion here.

Wasn't it legal because he made it legal?

Fairly well-known that people in his staff are connected to a major online gambling set-up, according to the crime editor of Manager. Whether this will be the end of it or whether the money will lead to Big Joke is what he's waiting to see. BJ maybe set this off with that raid some months ago on police officers in Chonburi who had milked an online gambling operation for 140 million baht. It could be retaliation for that. Also the politics involved in the appointment of the new police chief and an opportunity to finish off any chances he had even if he can't be directly connected.

That's what I understood but a foreign colleague who recently retired received the lump sum with about 20 years of contributions. He wasn't given a choice, or at least unaware that monthly pension might have been an option?

I believe he took it over when his father died so not just built it up himself. There was something on the news about how on some occasions he's put in bids for contracts literally at the minute, like 4.29 when bidding closes at 4.30. So he obviously knows just what to bid. If they follow the money, I'm sure you'll find plenty of unusually wealthy local and government officials. He's also known for not handling himself well on the drink. But it remains to be seen if he'll really face the music. The CCTV evidence hasn't been recovered yet, and I haven't heard news that any of those present are ready to present as witnesses, though the pressure on them now must be quite intense. Without clear evidence, surely the lawyers will argue that the now-deceased killer just took matters into his own hands. It would take big money but he could afford to drop a couple of hundred million baht if there's a way out. He probably wouldn't be able to go back to business as usual but with nominees and some muddying of the waters, he'd probably still be part of things.