TPI

This actually may be one of then proper usages of this insanity plea.

Surely nothing like mafia boss Vincente Gigante in NY walking the streets in PJ's

pretending to be off the bell curve. Didn't work.

My condolences to his family.

It must have been awful for a mother to see her son in such a state and have to try and save her husband/long time lover/friend as well.....!!

It'seasy to spot a corrupt thai cop ,he's the one wearing the tight brown pants

Often known overseas as "little fat men in their younger brothers shirt"....not a bad effort nonetheless!

I used to be ambivilent towards drug taking but after family experiences and watching the agony of Thai families I think that drug users should take a good, hard look at what they're doing & the effect on the people around them and give it all a big miss

The banks should simply go for better and thus more expensive atm's that are really protected. In Western europe skimming was a real problem, done by skilled people from Eastern European countries. In South East Asia it is a Malay sport, I bet that you cannot count the number of people who have their creditcard cancelled after paying with it in Malaysia.

The ATMs are all the same worldwide. Only a handful of companies cover 95% of the market: NCR, IBM (OEM Diebold), Diebold, Olivetti, Fujitsu.

There are no "primitive" ATMs for 3rd world countries. In fact, since the older (first) types were first acquired by large western banks in early 70s, some were using them until they died or were impossible to upgrade. In Australia, in 1999. they still had z80 CPU (same CPU as archaic Sinclair Spectrum, if anyone remembers that 32KB memory computer) based IBM ATMs that no 3rd world country had ever seen.

Someone said magnetic strip is not in use in Japan, I can report it is, I am holding my Japanese ATM card now. The PIN is not stored there nor anywhere on the card. It's on bank's mainframe.

Someone said fingerprints can be copied: I installed 6 ATMS in Papua New Guinea in 1995. and they had no PIN: fingerprint and pulse detector.

The fingerprint + pulse invention was developed for South African market.

I don't see what the problem is....just get a Thai wife....no money left to steal!!!

Well where I am from, Invasion of civil liberties is not a once a month heads up from one district police checkpoint.

It is a steady slow erosion instigated by a strong, well equipped and ideologically driven Government.

Australia.

Random stops of cars to check registration, road worthiness, licensing, ID of occupants, random breath test, sniffer dogs and background checks. Like a "ten in one" checkpoint - only it is random, and well equipped with high tech gear.

Alcohol tests in cars have now extended to blood tests urine tests and sweat tests in bars, police stations and public locations

Fair enough? Keeping the roads safe?

Now police patrol bus stations, buses and even board trains with sniffer dogs.

Raids on bars and clubs in Sydney is not an invasion of human rights - it's a regular occurrence now moving from weekends to 24/7.

fair enough? Lots of bad people out there on the streets?

Well if you stay at home they now track internet usage, and censor the internet for all Australians to "protect the kids" - Even if you don't have any.

Yes. Those who don't have or even know / interact with any children are still restricted in what they can view or discuss online so the government can "protect" a small percentage of children and teens with irresponsible and downright bad parents.

The west leads the way in suppression of democracy and systematic erosion of civil liberties.

And all in the name of Democracy and Civil Liberties (for the people who think the same way they do)

Over here, nobody NEEDS or WANTS to look at pornography.

In Australia, you are now not allowed to - and prevented by high tech blanket censorship of the internet by a secret government controlled "blacklist" which nobody is allowed to know details of.

Which is why so many, who are able, are leaving this "nanny state" for saner climes. Believe me, Thailand is a beacon of common sense compared to Australia...where if it's not specifically allowed, it is forbidden!

I have a number of grandchildren, there is no way I could pick them up and give them a cuddle and a kiss in the street, with or without their parents present

Last time you spoke with TIME in January 2007, you said you were finished with politics and that you would retire. What changed?

[My political opponents] have been bullying me politically nonstop since then. I already declared that I wanted to retire. I wanted to spend my life with my family. But they were bullying me. The rule of law is not there [in Thailand]. The democratic process is not there. That is too much. All of my supporters urged me: 'you have to come and fight back politically.' They want [Thailand] to come back to a mature democracy.

Hope someone is clear why he has to fight.

Koo, you & Thaksin forget, when he was removed, Thailand was anything but a "mature democracy". In fact he had been steadily dismantling the limited-democracy which he had taken over. Who said "Democracy is not my aim" ? Was he lying then, or is he lying now, you tell us ?

If the democratic process is weak, or "the rule of law is not there", when will he accept any of the responsibility for the situation, which he himself helped to create ? For the division in Thai society ? He has a twisted view of history.

He didn't declare that he "wanted to retire", he said "I have quit", was he lying then, or is he lying now ? If he has quit, why does he fund nominee-parties, and place his family amongst the leadership of the latest one ?

All his supporters urge him to come and fight back except, he conveniently forgets to mention, the ones who have deserted him to help put the current government in power. No wonder he trusts only his family now.

We all want Thailand to grow into a democracy, the question is whether he has anything further to contribute, in moving towards it. Most of us, observing from the sidelines, think not. His legacy was, to have made the poor people slightly more important, in Thai politics. Witness the Democrats now continuing with populist measures.

In continuing to fight, and to try to damage the country's reputation overseas, he is also damaging his own reputation, which is sad. He should keep quiet, negotiate the return of most of his frozen-assets, and accept that the world has moved on.

Hear, hear! Well put.

Hard to tell who is the more astute of the 2 parties involved, the group sending the money or the recipients staying at the address where they could be found.

Doesn't one think that the Tax Dept would check to see if the tax was really paid??? Sounds like an inside job to me

Can you imagine the headline in the Sun:

'Rohingya roti ring revealed - the Thai government has revealed that for years an uneducated foreign roti seller has outsmarted Thai intelligence, military and the judicial process. This cunning manufacturer of delicious, but quite fattening, 5 baht snacks has managed to import boats and boats of muslim terrorists to Thailand by making them invisible.

Ah! Thailand, the rabid ranting rebel, leader of those insidious devils, the rohingya roti ringleaders finally under guard by the brave, bastions of the law!! If this place didn't exist, some madman would have to invent it!!

Love the sentiment!

" the Romanian Gypsy trash "

As opposed to the "Irish gypsy trash"?

"No travellers" on many a London pub door.

Regards

Wow!!! Remind me to stay away from europe...they all hate each other there.....it must be the winters making you all cold and distant????

She needs to get out more!

FF

She's got a point...just check out the fathers and uncles any night of the week and brothers when they can con some money out of mum and granny....below THB20,000 a month most men are P**s heads. Everyone complains about the LOS but when a positive action comes along...some "wood duck" has a bright comment???

Captured Malaysian tells how he got involved in Thai insurgency

Philip Golingai

The Star

Publication Date: 22-02-2009

Malaysian student Muham­mad Fadly Zainal Abidin who is in prison here got involved in the southern Thailand insurgency because of a religious teacher whom he knew for only six months.

Muhammad Fadly said he was convinced to wage jihad after being given evidence of atrocities of the Thai military by the teacher whom he identified as Ustaz Muhammad.

"I believed him because he showed me video footages of Tak Bai and other incidents," he said.

He was referring to the massacre in the Thai town on the border with Malaysia on Oct 25, 2004, where 78 Muslim protesters died of suffocation and other injuries after being loaded lying down into police trucks.

The interview with Muhammad Fadly was given through three visits to Narathiwat's minimum-security prison. Each visit lasted about 12 minutes.

The 23-year-old University Teknologi Malaysia student was arrested on June 28 last year when he and Omar Hanif Shamsul Kamar, a 17-year-old Malaysian high school dropout, allegedly tried to steal a motorcycle at a village near Sungai Golok.

Suspicious villagers alerted the police. They recovered full-face masks, kerosene and knives. Since the two could not produce valid travel documents, they were arrested.

They later confessed that they were there to "aid their Muslim brothers who were under the cruel rule of the Thai military."

Muhammad Fadly said before travelling north, he underwent three weeks of physical training – sit-ups, push-ups and jogging – in Puchong, Selangor.

In Sungai Golok, just across the border from Kelantan, Ustaz Muhammad ordered him and Omar to buy knives and parang, steal a motorcycle, kill Thai soldiers and take their weapons.

"His orders were peculiar. I was shocked as they were not appropriate tasks for me to perform. And they were beyond my capabilities," said Muhammad Fadly, whose father is a civil servant.

"He told me it was a sin if I were to refuse to follow his orders," he added, adding that he wanted to escape to Malaysia but the ustaz constantly monitored him.

Muhammad Fadly regretted believing Ustaz Muhammad who has since disappeared.

"If I ever see him again, I will tell him that he is only good at lying," he said.

His court hearing begins in August.

http://www.asianewsnet.net/news.php?sec=1&id=4121

And it has been said that the Thai system of education is "flawed"?? I have always admired the way in which the Malasian government has dealt with religious fanatics....they hunt them down and shoot them!!

This boy is an idiot and his poster should be put up all over the south, with his statement plastered in giant letters accross it...

Phrae is going to be over 40 degrees C for the next 10 days....I dunno but, in Ozy when it gets over 40 it's bloody hot ...here, it's just "fine"..I love the winter here!

Research and practice suggest that "Psychological Problems" resulting from sexual related trauma in adolescence is not gender specific.

Why do you think it would be?

When I was 16 I was taken in hand , and other places, by a 28 year old female married neighbour who was as pretty as a picture...our relationship, it was only for sex, lasted until I was 21...apart from the fact that I still like women there has been no long term effect...that I'm aware of!

All this "affect", "effect" seems to ingnore the fact that in many societies women are women when they have their menarche and men are men when they are ready...what's the problem????

its no big secret that in Thailand the ju.......ary works for whoever is in power or has the 'power' at any particular time

So you're saying then that whilst Thaksin was in power he was able to control the judicial process in his favour.

If he was happy to abuse the system himself, and accepted the court rulings when they were to his advantage, what right does he have to dismiss them now as unfair?

that is a different story

Khun Taksin should have been hunted down and brought back in chains, just like any other felon. If he's so innocent then why didn't he appeal his sentance???

Just another fatcat who can't get his face out of the trough!

Oh dear, here we go again, last time for me im bored, mate i assume you can read, i sincerely hope so and im not mocking you, its just you seem to totally ignore what other people say, i mentioned my favourite site on this subject is a site called 'revital' its very informative and explains all so if i can understand it a brainy fellow like you must be able to and it has a few experts in this field attesting to the 'remarkable' results of this stuff at the bottom of the page, go on spoil yourself have a look then should you feel like stepping up a class and want an argument with them knock yourself out. Mate i have nothing against you except your attitude towards certain things that come up on here and for some reason you want to ask for the in and outs of triviality and ignore the main theme. Stop fighting against advice other people give, if they are wrong i bloody sure it was given with the best intent and if you genuinely know its not right say so then and only then, stop saying things like i cant see that" or "i could be wrong but" look at the last three words you said in your last note "I dont know". Mate i would take you for a beer if i found you, no worries and i dont kiss arse if you knew me you would know that in a second but bugger mate look at the damage you caused to the poor sod selling the stuff, definitely not deserved.

Moderators, moderators...please guys, both yourself Mr Ewelve and your sparring buddy Mr Chownah are eating up valuble time and space with your nonsense....meet on the padang with a handful of your favourite manure and have at it!!

Enough already...I left Oz to get away from arguementative misanthrops and the cumpulsive defenders of their patch type folks...if you can't find happiness and harmony in the land of smiles at least get of this blog site and keep your angst to yourself!!!

Thank You

Well, G'day,

My lady (Lek) and I are not your usual organic gardiners. I'm a lazy sort with lots of information and Lek has a ton of energy and likes to cut jungle..we've 8 dogs and have a 4 rai Long An orchard near Phrae.

We put in 200 Teak trees a year ago and while some of them are only a metre tall almost a third are over 3 metres...our land has never been farmed, the 60 Long An trees have all been planted at least 5 years and the year before last brought in about THB30k. Last year only one tree (a young one) bore fruit

We have a klong that has water for most of the year so we are not dependant on town or well water, we've sown corn (must have been hybrid) no ears!! Thai mint, pumpkin (all over), long egg plant, tomatoes (small), long beans, basil, mint, spearmint, lettuce, mobs of green leaf vegies that shall remain nameless and of course Bananas and coconuts...

I've found that the soil here is practicaly wormless?? In my experience with earth worms have been the most benificial thing that I can add to the soil....where o where can I find any??? Thai's don't seem to compost and they look askance when I mention inedible worms and worm casts!

Any assistance in getting a couple of wheelbarrow full would be greatly appreciated

What just a month ago everyone was going on about how it was looking up that British born Abhisit was to be PM. Now, everyone is slagging him off - is it soemthing to do with the fact that he doesn't like College girls earning extra income by selling their bodies on the internet?

I don't think we can expect him to be puking out new policies left, right and centre as Obama is, Obama has a h3ck of a lot more money behind him - another post here was stating that he was handed a reserve less than a month's worth of civil servant wages! Not a lot to build on. Thaksin made no end of promises, predictions and policy statements - mostly to fool the rural vote into thinking he was a savior that loved the struggling underclasses. Many promises and predictions turn out as hot air, and many of the policies he did put in '30 baht medical' etc sounded good, but never worked - many of the others helped him and his family and companies, but not many others - and certainly not the working classes and below.

I think we need to give him more time before we make a judgement and give him enough rope - this country really doesn't need more change that's for sure.

Hear Hear...well put, all the other comments are like small stones rattling around in an empty tin...

I'd guess the viagra gave him a heart attack or similar, which is probably why it is a prescription only drug.

That's just a guess of course though.

I had a long heart to heart with my cardiologist before I started taking it (I've had 6 heart attacks so it pays me to be a little cautious!), he said "so long as you take it longer than 30 minutes after you've taken a nitro pill, no problems!" Sooo, I guess it was just the activity...not a bad way to go??

So presumably, this news means an end to the possibility of extending the Skytrain to Don Meuang.............Bugger!!!

Maaaate! If you wanted to catch a train at DM all you had to do was to walk across the road bridge and down onto the platform, My trips to Den Chai were a dream with better service than Thai airlines. If you're a little bit clever you could smoke all the way

Going into town only costs THB 19 and any train going in will do!

at least his wife is a better woman than him

Basically his wife has one and he is one!!

Ruth Corlett with Pancake the tiger just before the attack.

New Zealand Herald

NZ aid worker mauled in Thai tiger enclosure

A New Zealand woman is in hospital after being mauled by a tiger in Thailand. Ruth Corlett, 45, was at an enclosure on Sunday with her family when the female tiger jumped at her and bit her leg.

Mrs Corlett was rushed to hospital, where she received 54 stitches on the wound.

Thai media reported that Mrs Corlett touched the year-old tiger's head before it jumped at her in the Khumsu Chiang Mai Tiger Centre.

Mrs Corlett travelled to Thailand with her husband and three children in 2007 to work with an organisation that runs orphanages, emergency relief, and development programmes on the Thai border.

Her husband, Stuart Corlett, said last night that his wife was still in hospital and was doing "okay".

"It was just at one of those tiger places where people are allowed to play with the tigers," he said. "She was near one of them and the thing just jumped up and bit her in the leg. But she's okay now."

The owners of the tiger enclosure have offered to pay for all of Mrs Corlett's medical expenses.

A staff member at the enclosure said the tiger that attacked Mrs Corlett - named Pancake - was usually very friendly and had been trained to stay with humans.

"Pancake has never bitten anyone before, despite being played with by tourists very often," the staff member said.

"The [New Zealand] woman touched the tiger on its head and suddenly the sleeve of her arm, or the cloth of her shirt, got into the eye of the tiger and the tiger got irritated."

Local Thai media reported that Mr Corlett is looking to sue the Chiang Mai tiger enclosure, but the Herald could not confirm this last night.

Staff at the centre have said that the case has not been filed with police.

- New Zealand Herald / 2009-01-27

I notice that the Tiger didn't swallow?? I've been across the ditch and I didn't find them all that tasty either

A branch manager of Asahi Newspaper's Southeast Asian Branch live in dubai or do the journalist in dubai?

Is dubai in Southeast Asia?

No news about that here:

http://www.gulfnews.com/home/index.html, possible?

find this news in Asahi Newspaper's for me

http://sitesearch.asahi.com/.cgi/sitesearch/sitesearch.pl

this is the result:

EDITORIAL: New Thai prime minister 2008-12-17

該当ページのディレクトリ

home ENGLISH

該当記事

... The nation's political pendulum on Monday swung against forces loyal to former Prime

Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. After ... 1990s. These years have been characterized by

a bitter political struggle between the pro-Thaksin and anti-Thaksin forces ...

URL

http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/...0812170059.html

EDITORIAL: Political crisis in Thailand 2008-12-04

該当ページのディレクトリ

home ENGLISH

該当記事

... The Constitutional Court's ruling Tuesday was rendered against a backdrop of popular

disaffection with the government dating back to former Prime Minister Thaksin

Shinawatra's era. ... After fleeing overseas, Thaksin was found guilty of corruption ...

URL

http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/...0812040053.html

asahi.com：一口メモ - Asahi Weekly 2008-03-26

該当ページのディレクトリ

home ENGLISH

該当記事

... タイのタクシン首相の「代理人」を公言し、新首相に選出された国民の力党のサマック

党首について専門家の意見をAP 通信が"Analysts say his political fortunes will wax

or wane in line with those of Thaksin." と伝えていた。 ←Back. ...

URL

http://www.asahi.com/english/weekly/memo/memo080326.html

asahi.com：ひとくちメモ - Asahi Weekly 2006-10-01

該当ページのディレクトリ

home ENGLISH

該当記事

... better を用いる。「タイ愛国党 (TRT)」が首都で弱いのは、党ではなく党首に原因があることを

Bangkok Post は TRT's weakness in the capital can be better attributed to voter

dissatisfaction with the party leader Thaksin Shinawatra than the party ...

URL

http://www.asahi.com/english/weekly/memo/memo061001.html

asahi.com : Dispatches from AAN - Asia Network - ENGLISH 2008-02-15

該当ページのディレクトリ

home English Asahi Weekly

該当記事

... tension between China and Taiwan. In Thailand, the People Power Party, which is

pro-former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a coup in

September 2006, won the general election recently. Yet Thailand's political climate ...

URL

http://www.asahi.com/english/asianet/hatsu...atsu080215.html

asahi.com : English 2004-12-30

該当ページのディレクトリ

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該当記事

... with the people in Aceh. In southern Thailand, Muslims who have hitherto been enraged

by the repressive crackdown of Prime Minister Thaksin, have softened their stance

as the nation enters 5 days of national mourning. But will the surging sympathy ...

URL

http://www.asahi.com/english/asianet/column/eng_041230.html

asahi.com : English 2003-11-24

該当ページのディレクトリ

home ENGLISH

該当記事

... Though Taiwan still made necessary protest to China's nuance in demanding change

on already agreed upon seating arrangement for leaders to prevent Taiwan's Lee

Yuan-Tseh from sitting right next to the Thai host, Prime Minister Thaksin at the ...

URL

http://www.asahi.com/english/asianet/column/eng_031124.html

This story is not in their archive.

Sorry i mean the name of the real journalist and the real news agency that make this interview.

Learn to use SEARCH before you post

/ Priceless

ciao

C'mon folks! Stop sniping at each other, Taksin is the real enemy, obviously TAWP is a fellow traveller...let Taksin wallow in his own trough...it's obvious that he's the paymaster of the "red shirts"!

Many thanks for the info, I didn't realise that it was like that.

FF

I can understand, it is hard to believe. Some stories I could tell you are just insanity, you wouldn't believe that adults could behave this way.

I'd be interested to hear if other folk have had the same experience, or if my colleagues and I have been especially unlucky?

I spent 3 years teaching in a government secondary school. I was lucky as the school had a very efficient printing shop...I asked for and had printed request forms in English...this meant that I could order directly from the print shop for bulk printing and the staff were only too happy to ensure that my order was completed on time

Photocopying was a whole new story as most of the admin staff didn't know what made the copiers tick, if the machines broke down or jammed, a fairly normal occurance as the paper was always the cheapest, I was the only person who knew how to get them going again...it seems that the junior person who had always done the copying for the admin staff had left to be married and never returned!

It was beneath everybody's dignity, in admin at least, to lower themselves with common toil....they spent most of their time either on the phone or preparing and eating lunch. All the time dressed as if they were about to be invited to a Hi-So "garden party"!

You're right with your comment that they don't give a "rats" about the school, the teachers or the pupils!

Taksin is a great businessman, but his time in politics might just be over... hopefully.

I used to think that, but now that I know he started life a policeman, married into an influential family, and suddenly sky rocketed into financial success ... I have to wonder if it was due to his business acumen ... or corruption ....

Could it be that time is the greatest enemy to those "would be" dictators?? Taksin, Bush W, Cheney and their ilk seem to have had their commerupance over time, maybe, just maybe the penny will drop on poor delusional Khun Taksin that he is just pouring good money after bad and the people he is trying to control are just as bent as he is (and ripping him off)(mug)??

Free visas for all tourists

BANGKOK: -- The Cabinet on Tuesday waived travel visa for all nationals for over the next three months as one of four short-term recovery measures to restore tourism industry.

The move is expected to draw more Chinese travellers, one of the main target group, to the country.

The second strategy is to reduce entrance fee to all national parks in the Kingdom. The agreement is aimed to boost domestic tourism.

The third is to allow private sector to claim back-meeting and conference tax at double rate from original. Last measure is cutting the landing and parking fee for aircrafts at major airports in the country.

Speaking after chairing Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva expressed hope that the tourism industry could be restore through theses measures.

He earlier said number of tourist is returning closed to normal rate prior to the start of economic crisis.

However, it is speculated that only four tourism measures, from total 13 measures submitted to the Cabinet were approved.

Proposed measures that was rejected are includes cutting hotel room rate and airfare proposed to Thai Airways International, reducing value added tax on hotel room rates for one year, an exemption annual fee of Bt80 per room and urgent plan to promote the major destinations of Phuket, Krabi and Phang Nga for local tourism.

-- The Nation 2009-01-20

Visa fees disappearing?

Big deal!

Most tourists come in on a 30-day stamp anyway.

And that is what Thailand does for stimulating tourism.

In the same time the condemned Australian is shown on TV in all his "glory" everywhere in the world.

In the same time the plight of the "boat people" is spread out in the newspapers around the world, including comments from Thai officials.

And then there is that story of the two Burmese sailors rescued from riding the seas in a coolbox and the story how they came there.

Any bet what will do most for Tourism to Thailand?

The number of tourists is "back to normal"?

Not the number of tourists departing from Europe and America.

While also the number of Chinese visitors is dropping.

Any comments?

Most visitors are "one pointed" when they make their decision to visit, bad publicity notwithstanding....try not to be too bitter....it's really cold in Phrae too!

OK, my advice (yes I use Jomtien)

-- wait until you have 30 days left on your current 90 day permission to stay (O entry) to apply at immigration for a one year extension based on retirement. However, you don't have to wait, if your account is already seasoned for 2 months, you could go in now as Jomtien encourages early applications

-- the same day or the day before, get the letter from the bank showing the over 800K balance (the balance stated in this letter MUST match the balance in your bank passbook), the letter normally costs 200 baht, just ask for immigration letter and they will know what you want

-- Probably will not be asked for but good idea just in case: proof of international transfer of the funds (the Thai bank can supply). Don't give them this unless they ask.

- 1 copy of your bank passbook, front page with name and account number and all activity pages

- 1 copy of all pertinent info in your passport: front page, O visa, latest entry stamp, current landing card

- 1 copy of proof of address (a reported new requirement), a phone or electric bill in your name or if you don't have that, ask for more advice here

- visa application photos (I forget the size needed)?, bring 2, you may only need one

- no medical form or police clearance is needed

- be prepared to be interviewed about your previous employment and perhaps some other not too tough questions, they tend to interview first time extenders more than repeat offenders (ha ha)

-- 1900 baht

-- you must be at least 50 years old

-- dress neat, no shorts, no flip flops but no need for formal wear

-- expect them to hold your passport overnight to collect the next day, because of this you may prefer not to go on a Friday as then you would have to wait until Monday to get back your passport

-- if I have missed anything, others please add

Hi,

I will be in the same position as op in July 2009. Could you please tell me how I can provide proof of address as I will be living with my TG at her house. Most likely no bills will be in my name.

Thankyou.

Hi there, you can either get your TG to have the electricity or phone in your name or you can make a sworn statement at your embassy....no matter which one you pick you'll need the embassy "chop" on the document as proof of its veracity....best of luck