wandasloan

Bizzness is bizzness my friend. They wouldn't want to upset the oxcart would they. Talking such BS they are almost beginning to sound like Thai politicians !

Ha! Thank you. Lifted the words right off my fingertips. And everything he said was "if". Very helpful.

.

Corruption is a many splendored thing. The government isn't exactly a role model for lower authorities. It's grab as much as you can.

Thailand desperately needs a fresh new start. Perhaps a new anti-corruption agency can be formed. Give a few undisputed clean people a budget and a free hand in how to proceed in collecting complaints from the communities and names from the bad people. If the new lawmakers can adjust the present not working anti-corruption laws. There can be follow-up. And make the finances of such an institution transparent. It's more or less how at one time the FBI started.

But first the country needs a working government.

Why not just advertise for a man on a white steed?

I think you mean that the country needs something like an Anti-Money Laundering Organisation, a 7th Division Anti-Narcotics Division, a National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) and a woman prime minister fresh out of a well-known, publicly listed company with absolutely no background in politics.

I think you mean Thailand needs what it's already had (and still largely has, the political leader aside). Why didn't we all think of that?

Amlo among many agencies does just as you say. The NACC among several such organisations is tainted only because of its one-sided investigations, not because of dishonesty or internal corruption. There are numerous police divisions that make Eliot Ness look very touchable. Yingluck personally was as non-corrupt as it's possible to be.

Your call to do the same thing all over again is, indeed desperate. One man (or woman) isn't going to solve all problems, as the king of Thailand says over and over again. You simply cannot find a better person, a more unifying leader, a better example than the king, who is at the top of the state. Not only is he proof that the man-on-the-white-horse is hooey, he has said so for more than 50 years, that the whole nation has to be involved in whatever is the goal, or it will fail.

The PROBLEM with Thailand is the faith in the man on the white horse. Most of those people behind the ridiculous Suthep these days voted for Thaksin in 2001 because he was going to save the country. Almost all of their rage is simply buyer's remorse.

.

It is against MOD regulations to take pictures of enemy corpses. Taking a picture and keeping it to yourself is forgivable. Taking a picture and broadcasting it to the world is stupid.

Is it as stupid as a bunch of preening ninny politicians posing for a picture so their .... their STUPID words can be broadcast to the world? That stupid?

Why do you think that the MOD did NOT keep this to themselves but felt the need to shame the armed forces with a photo op of well-dressed people whose chief worry in life is whether they will be on time for lunch?

Completely unwittingly, and I use that word on purpose — completely unwittingly you do bring up one problem the twits at the MOD don't suss to, and that is that everyone, everywhere including the MOD now either broadcast their photos to the world or they don't broadcast them at all. Just as you now broadcast your opinion to the world or you do not write it at all.

.

Why wouldn't 200 people from Surit Thani be treated well? Even k. Jatuporn and k. Nattawut come from down South. All this assuming those 200 were red-shirts?

While you're out today, pick up an irony detector, yours is broken.

.

Thank you, interesting post.

If it's 9th time, 12th or 23ed....doesn't matter much as far as hardcore PDRC goes, they're in for the ride. So Suthep can spin this to the best of his ability. Other supporters are probably somewhat tired of the show by now, perhaps he misjudged their resilience and commitment.

I do wonder if he's free to go home, though. In terms of lost face he probably missed his chance to ride into the sunset, and as you point out - hard to see him fully getting his way. The demonstrations have been somewhat pathetic for some time now, with real plays going elsewhere (mostly the legal stuff). What's keeping him? Does he truly believe himself to be Neo? Do his backers press him to go on?

That everyone has no good way to gauge a victory may have a positive sides. For one, they could all spin things for internal consumption, thus keeping their "troops" in line. Second, a bargain is easier to make if everyone thinks they got something or that the other side lost something.

A military coup or an imminent threat of a coup, might push the sides to some sort of agreement - but that's a rather risky path to take. Not a big coup fan, myself.

I have never liked coups, and (full disclosure) I am not a fortune teller by trade.

That said, I truly strongly fervently believe that a military coup would be the worst possible step this country could take. There are no great options looming. I think an election is the least worst. But I really believe a coup is worst of the worst. It would do no good at all, none. It would do enormous harm to the economy and to foreign relations, probably bringing foreign sanctions. It would CAUSE an upsurge in violence. It would harden the political positions, making any kind of compromise totally impossible. The very idea that the entire military, fully deployed, could stop violence is laughable. It would cause it.

The military cannot run the country. They have proved it and proved it and proved it. The years 2006-7 were a disaster in all possible ways. Literally, I cannot imagine anything worse for Thailand than a coup. I hope several times a day that posturing army commander is too intimidated and too selfish to have a coup.

About Suthep going home. Weirdly, 200 people from Surat Thani showed up at the reds' rally today. They got treated well of course, special speakers in the southern dialect and all, heh. Kind of like the yellows who show up in Chiang Mai, I guess.

I actually like to see a bit of this. The "red village" idea and the "no reds allowed here" are very creepy to me. That whole intimidation thing where Suthep said *all* of TV had to broadcast only what Comrade Kim Il-Su.... er, only what the bagman himself decreed is equally creepy and scary.

.

Only channel 11 and NBT not complied with the demands.

Monday will install an interim government .

Which only one man has voted for.

It's not one man one vote .

It's one vote one man.

Things are declining rapidly.

Very sad day for los

Well, you might feel better to know that Monday will NOT see an interim government. The military have already told the former Democrat Party bagman to shove off, and will announce this by Monday at the latest. Of all possible actions, this is one that is off the list.

.

BTW did you notice that Yingluck is still the Defense Minister? Funny how the CC 'forgot' to tell her she is sacked from the DM portfolio ??

She still works at the Office of the Permanent Secretary of Defense; The government does not seem to be under intimidation by the military as long as CAPO is non-confrontational, letting the PDRC shoot itself in the foot by pulling stunts like televsions station takeovers, while maintaining the levers of power.

Do you have a source for this? I find it very diffic... no, I take that back, I need a source or I just don't believe it. I don't believe it at all, but one reason I don't believe it is that the ex-foreign minister, who a poster claimed was saying he was still foreign minister, has departed the scene and the deputy foreign minister in charge of foreign affairs went to the Asean summit in Burma. Surapong out, poor old clueless Phongthep to Naypyitaw.

If it's true, though, which I'm sure you will prove with a credible source, there should be an urgent suit brought to the Constitutional Court so they can make their ruling even clearer than it was.

Until then, it's just one TV poster.

.

Would be hard to be racial being a "half" myself. And please do not try to translate Thai for me. I speak read and write Thai. Once again: I hold upstanding the Amaart are the Shinawatra's. And YES it has to do with me. And probably not with you. People from all walks of life are being "leaned" upon and threatened. Especially come election time. Don't think you have ever noticed that yourself. But simple to see: Political parties that are not from the Taksin clan cannot even come to the North and North East, that is a democracy right? The fact that you believe all the red rhetoric nonsense that it is a struggle between the Amaart and the Thaat is just a misguided point of view. It's two political sides trying to gain power. Both need to let go a bit and find common ground. Abhisit has been trying to do that by announcing that he wouldn't join elections.

I have been posting on several occasions that a way out can be found and how it can be done. Both sides are too stubborn.

Exactly because of people like you believing all the rhetoric. Suthep is not right, Jatuporn is not right. Two of the largest political parties need to sit down and talk. Before it gets out of hand. Sure I won't find you on the barricades when your inflammatory remarks find their goal.

Nothing racial there, mate. It is their real name. They changed it. And it was in 1919. When Taksin's father got married. So not many generations. They are still from Chinese descent. So are you saying calling them Chinese is racial?

No, but the person who dwells on it and denies it and dwells on it again is probably a racist. That's why citizens of Thailand, who call themselves - ALL of themselves - Thai so that nonsense like the above isn't taken as drivel, which it almost always is and causes disputes over racism and racial superiority, such as the above.

This is not just wrong, it is fantastical. Some day, if you can bear it, talk to a Thai and find out who are the amaart. The amaart, often translated "elite" and usually not as wrongly as you, are not defined or identified by their bank accounts or their corporate titles or the home village of their great-grandfather. By this racist post, you seem to have no idea about the amaart at all, and probably could not define "patronage society" either.

Why not just stick to conventional terms and not invite such ridicule as you're getting. The Thai crisis has nothing to do with you, really it doesn't.

.

The UDDers rally has really flopped. Over at the BP, there is a video of a drone in flight and you can see how small the crowd was/is, as it flies over the crowd and back to the main stage. Pause the video at the 40 second mark and you'll see that there aren't even 10,000 there.

Do you get paid for this? You should. It's quite clever. Not QUITE a lie. If you're doing this for free... don't. Go get some money for it, good grey propaganda is always saleable, and this is good.

.

And the double standards of Suthep, his followers and the Democrats? Doesn't ring a bell anywhere?

Your answer is in today's London media:

.

You can buy a step down transformer at just about any electrical supply store. They are not usually on display. Just draw a picture of tramsformer windings with 120vac on on side and 220vac on the other. They will kow exactly what you want. Cost around 400 baht.

Last time I needed a small one I was on my way to the electrical supplier, and actually spotted one on one of those electrical junk tables at a mall kiosk. I find prices around half of 400 baht though.

All I'm saying with that is they are actually quite common in the <12V size, but, as you say, you may help yourself if you write down "220 --> 110" to get across what you need.

.

I downloaded Remo but couldn't understand how to use it.

I ran "evidence remover" which took 3 hours but iLvid is still there.

I can probably figure it out by reading the instructions but some

some instructions here would save me some time and effort.

Thanks for all the help so far.

Khun chiangrai, what is Remo? Several people have recommended Revo Uninstaller for you. It's an excellent, free program. Get it here:

http://www.revouninstaller.com/start_freeware_download.html

That link should start the download of the program you want, Revosetup.exe. If it does not, do NOT (may I repeat that) do NOT click on the "download 30-day free trial" button. do NOT. Instead, click on the word "here" in the line "If your download of Revo Uninstaller Freeware doesn't start automatically click here".

Where did you hear about Google Start Map? I've never heard of such a thing and, er, googling finds nothing at all. If I were you, I would forget this Star Map thing right away and go, as Khun Chicog says, with Google Sky Map.

.

i think a coup may happen but only if a lot of reds turn up in bkk i dont know how many were at there rally yesterday...anyone..

A lot. This morning's newspaper, but using Saturday evening dronecam photo (top left)

"conflict between the two major political camps"

There is the PTP, who is the other political camp? The PDRC are just a group of street thugs lead by a lunatic and a Mad Monk .

wrong again...tut tut.my wife is a lot of things but street thug..shes with hundreds of dhamma people protesting against corruption..remember there are not just one group of people several chooks my lad..why do people have worries about reform ......its time to re-write this country mate..

Yes. YES! Thank you.

I disagree PROFOUNDLY with everything you wrote after "people several".

But I want to sign on and fully support your excellent post for directly opposing and standing up to those who try to dehumanise those on the other side including the "street thugs" and the "red buffaloes", the "i ngo" and the "paid demonstrators" and all of that. I agree about your wife, her friends and most of the people yellow and red and other colours. Let us save "thugs" and such words for those who deserve them, instead of trying to dehumanise and demonise your wife and a couple of million active people just like her.

I'd just add that the Thais now use "mob" to describe all these groups, without the pejorative sense that the English word has. I always like that when someone co-opts hate-words for themselves like the "queers" have done or the "ladyboys" have done and many others. Good for them.

And good luck to your wife, may she find what she wants, and good for her for actively seeking it.

.

Suggest first thing is you extend the expired Thai passport (they can be extended as well as renewed).

In my experience, you will need to use both lines. When I travel with wife and kids, the wife and kids go to the Thai line and I go through the foreigner one. However I have found on entering Thailand with young kids they often take small family groups through the same point (had this happen to us twice when the kids were young - once they used the security office instead of the desks - which was fast as we all got done together in one go and no queuing at all).

No. You can take whatever line is shortest, immigration is fine with it, I and thousands of others have done it for many years, and you would have to get the worst immigration officer in history to have any problem. And as you say, a large family might even be pulled aside for fastest possible help, that happens too.

The shortest line will usually be the "Thai passports" one but occasionally it won't.

The problem is that most of the Thai lines are now automatic, just swipe the passport, and they only work for Thai passports. Thai passport holders can zip through without much of a queue, most of the time.

But that note aside, the advice is the same. If it is a group where some have Thai passports, and one or more Thais are NOT going to use the auto-scan line, just find the shortest line and go to it. It doesn't matter if it's a Thai queue or an "others" one.

.

Ah, but the entirety of the international media and academia has been brainwashed by Mr. T, just like the northern buffaloes.

Welcome to Scamperland!

Good one!!

Good post, thanks

One of the best ways to judge a leader is how they leave power

Head up, with dignity and without fear - so far this is the way that the general is heading,

This can not be said other leaders that we see at the moment - its as much fear of what will happen to them when they leave as keeping their noses in the trough,

The one leader that is trained for war is talking peace - all the others are talking war or actions that are likely to lead to war

And a good post by you, and I mean that. But it's opinion and I happen to have a spanner here so I'll toss it in.

What if? Please consider this possibility. What if Gen Prayuth is doing everything he's doing for the one, sole, only reason that he is desperate to exit in September "with dignity and without fear" that events will come back to bite him very hard? What if he is *afraid" to be like General Sondhi, leader of the 2006 coup, who is reviled by half the country and honoured by no one at all? What if the only motive that Prayuth has is to avoid being another General Suchinda, who masterminded the coup before that, who is remembered by exactly no one for saving the country from the "most corrupt government in history", as he claimed, but for Black September?

What if Prayuth is basing every action - and of course every NON-action - on personal, selfish motives that have nothing at all to do with the fate of the country but only to do with what he believes is the legacy of Prayuth? After all, what he has ACTUALLY done is speak while refusing to act, threatening without ever carrying through.

If he is this man of peace you say he is, why is he always holding out the threat of a coup, stating forthrightly he will NEVER obey the law, but only do what is in the army's interest. So. After all, the threat of a coup is illegal under the law, just as a coup is completely illegal.

So what if the army's interest is not the national interest, but only Prayuth's interest? What if Prayuth is the most single selfish stakeholder in the entire range of powerholders?

Have you considered this?

The thing is that if there is a coup, there will be deaths. I mean, there are already deaths that reflect on Yingluck and Suthep, but not on the army. But every death after a coup will go on Gen Prayuth's record. What if he is deathly afraid and cowardly about that, and fears it so much that he will continue to threaten, intimidate and talk big until Sept 30, so that the retired Gen Prayuth will never be remembered for killing Thais?

Do you think that's possible? Why are you absolutely certain of Prayuth's honour as opposed to his personal selfishness?

.

It's good to know that there is a jointly owned drone working the among those UDDer idiots. Now, where is the clone?

You don't know about overhead photos in the past six months, but you are qualified to speak on Thai politics.

Interesting claim. Some might disagree, even silently.

.