Pierrot

Problem will soon be over.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates flew into Thailand on Sunday with a clear message that Washington would take a dim view of any attempt by military leaders to seize power.

"Our position is pretty consistent. We want to see democratically elected governments and we will convey that," Gates told reporters in Singapore before heading for Bangkok.

Gates is scheduled to meet with the democratically elected Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to renew acquaintances and to discuss issues here in the region.

This just in from the news wires, concerning the USA's Secretary (Minister) of Defense, Mr. Gates. "Following the conference, Gates flew to Thailand on Sunday where large anti-government demonstrations threaten to lead to the country's second military coup in two years. Gates said he was not concerned about the potentially difficult situation and that canceling his visit could cause more of a problem than continuing on. He said he would urge officials in Bangkok to move to a democratically elected government."

I find the above post misleading, but as english is not my mother language, I will just copy the offical record of Mr Gates message :

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates flew into Thailand on Sunday with a clear message that Washington would take a dim view of any attempt by military leaders to seize power.

"Our position is pretty consistent. We want to see democratically elected governments and we will convey that," Gates told reporters in Singapore before heading for Bangkok.

Gates is scheduled to meet with the democratically elected Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to renew acquaintances and to discuss issues here in the region.

If it does come to that, I suspect the military will not be on the side of the puppet government.

What you call the "puppet" government has been elected by the people of Thailand.

Where does the PAD get its legitimacy from ? They were not even present during the election !!!!

And the answer to your question, from the BP :

Supreme Commander Gen Boonsang Niampradit yesterday said he opposed using troops to break up the protest, but noted that soldiers would obey the government's orders.

"A situation ends when troops are mobilised, but in most cases the result is tragic," he said.

End quote

Please read again the last sentence and if you still support the PAD protest, it raises serious question

It does smell like Tienanmen. Thousands of peaceful protesters about the get mercilessly slaughtered by their own government. I'm sure that will do wonders for the investment climate when it shows up on CNN.

Thousands ??? A few hundreds at most.

As for the "mercilessly slaughtered", I guess I'm not only one being more than a little sensationalist.

I'm sorry to interrupt a very interesting argument as I don't have the erudition of the smart people above (the only books in my bookshelf are "The Essential Calvin and Hobbes" and a couple of travel guides) but I've the feeling we are missing the point here.

We are not talking about events that have happened in the past in Thailand (but also in Korea or in Argentina), and which were political in nature, but about a police operation dealing primarily with public disturbance.

The people form the PAD do not have political agenda (they were not even present during the last election), they are thugs for hire for second rate politicians who refuse to fight in the open and a couple of people with a very private agenda.

Actually it reminds me an old joke. Why are "The West Wing" and "The Sopranos" the most popular shows in the US? Because one describes the government as it should be and the other as it really is. Unfortunately, the leaders from the PAD are far from having the charisma of Tony Soprano.

Who said people can't keep an argument civil on TV ?

As for Tiananmen, I think you're being more than a little sensationalist.

I wish you're right.

What was the last word of the Chines goverment before sending the tanks ? "You've made your point, now it's time to go back home".

The people are tired of these demonstration. They are not stupid, they understand democracy. After every election in all democratic countries, 49% of the voters are not happy with the results. But they get along with it, they have learned long ago that a bad democratic government is better that a "good" dictature.

The army won't move. They are no stupid either, once bitten, twice shy. They said it, it's now up to the police to solve the problem.

Actually everybody agrees, this situation can't last any longer. Now the decision belongs to the PAD leader. But it has to be soon. If they don't move, the government will have no other choice but to act and it will fast and it might be brutal.

The support for the PAD is vanishing.

The last polls are out : people in Bangkok (the main PAD supporters) are fed up with the demonstration, with the mess in the streets, they want their life back.

The business community made it clear, more demonstration will further damage the economy (does it really need it ?).

The army learned its lesson with the last coup. They too made it clear, it's now up to the police (the current government) to clear the mess.The sooner, the better.

It will be soon, it will be fast. PAD is over. Time to move on.

One thing I'm not cool with ... They really say whatever the hel_l they want to me...

Thoughts??

From Sacha Guitry, roughly translated from French : "If people who say bad things about me, knew what I think about them, they will say even worse"

I've been told that the Thai press (Thai Rhat, right spelling ???) announced today that fertilizer manufacturers were asking for between 50 to 500 % price increase and that the gorvernment were considering granting "only" 50 to 200% increase. Do people with a better understanding of written Thai can confirm this information?

i cant remember a single luek krung female i took home who cooked me breakfast in the morning or washed my laundry. most probably dont even know how to do laundry.

Most probably they weren't much impress by your performances and in an hurry to leave ... That's the problem with foreigners, hard to impress with the local noodle ...

We have two “homes” in Thailand, one in Bangkok, the other one, 80km south of Korat, in WNK. What’s funny is we have the same neighbors both places. 300km from Bangkok, in the local market, more often than not, we meet our (thai) friends from the big city.

I start noticing something weird a couple of years ago. During the nice season (winter), suddenly appeared a lot of cars, mostly german, with Bangkok license plate. People stop, look around, and prices of the land are going up. From 50k / rai 3 years ago to more than 500k / rai now for the best located parcels. (people stops first in Pak Chong, can’t afford it, then move up north ….).

We have also new falang neighbors. But they are different. Younger, obviously richer. And the wife are not the same too. White skin, Bangkok middle class, definitely not Isaan.

Actually, it goes even deeper. A lot of new shop / restaurant are opened by “outsiders”. Middle-class city (Bangkok) young people, usually well educated, fed up with the rat race, are moving here to start a new, more fulfilling, life.

Now the question is : South of Korat, is it already Isan country or still Bangkok suburb ? And for people who leave there for sometime now, what does it change to your life ?

Hey guys that was a load of pretty crappy responses, what IS interesting however is that the police have now sprung into action, the reason? BECAUSE THEY WERE SHOWN THE LETTER I SENT TO THIS FORUM. Now that brings up another point, If this indeed is an effective avenue to right some wrongs perhaps just perhaps, us guys on this forum might have redress from such wrongs if someone knowlegable and eloquent enough could be our representative in addressing certain subjects and if everyone stuck together something might be acheived, yeh/no?. (Scouse and The UK embassy spring to mind as an example)

You're absolutely right, and I wish to meet more people like you.

Buit don't forget, here you have to fight on two fronts : local "sabai sabai" attitude ... and the B.V. trolls !

I don't like to post negative comments about Thailand, but on this one ...

I do business with countries all over the world. They are classified in three categories : "yes", "no go" and "uncomfortable". Unfortunately, Thailand belongs to the third one.

I think the law is slowly improving but for the mentality of the people, it will take a bit longer.

In the mean time I got an answer (not yours, don't worry) that will end this very interesting debate.

So you were lying about it being ended?

It's a bit more complicated than that. To explain what was the difference between the economic policy of the PPP and the coup backers, it was somehow necessary to go against forum rules.

Now, forget about the theory, we have the facts. The new government is, slowly I agree, but clearly, opening the economy to foreign businessmen.

PS : To understand my point, one of the first action of the new gorvernment after the coup was to visit foreign governments and to explain, among other things, the new economic policy of the government. If you search what was actually this policy, and on what it was based, you will understand my problem.

Action speak louder than words

First there was this thread, burried in some sub-sub-forum that nobody really reads (replies = 0)

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=188696

Then a couple of other announcements in favor of foreign investments in other section.

Who can now denies this government is really (foreign) business friendly ???

Sorry, I don't have very good news for people invested in farming.

I just learned this morning from Chinese fertilizer producers (in China) that the central governement announced a 100 percent tax on fertilizer exports on April 17 (effective on April 22).

For the big picture : http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/01/bus.../fertilizer.php

So be ready for more increase to come

the cement posts they sell for fences are too thin. They break fairly easy. If you use them then put in the 4 inch cement posts every so often to keep the fence in place when the others break due to being "rammed" by whatever.

My family also used the metal posts in the USA and they are much easier to plant than cement posts but i wonder about the high humidity here.

Ours didn't break so easely. A few days after putting up the fence, the young son of our caretaker had a bad surprise. At one of the passage point there was a lot of blood and cow hair on and near the fence. Someone should have push them hard, hoping the new fence will suffer the same fate as the previous one. Fortunetaly (not for the cow) the fence was strong enough and I think we had to replace only one post.

I don't know if it can help, but that's the way a friend of mine negociated his transfert to Brasil.

First he checked the list of the customers of the company who had also office there. Before going there for holidays he packed his best suit and, when there, went to visit them all, explaining what good business relation they have in Europe and how smart it would be to developp the same relation here.

When back to Germany, he went to see his boss, told him how he intends to developp the business of the Brasil branch. Less than one year later he was transfered there .

Unfortunately, the end of the story is not so nice. He was so successful there than he was later promoted country manager ... in East Europe. And the next promotion will soon take him back to the German headquarter.

So now back to square one, but Argentina may be the next target.

I want to import un mix container of gardening/farming equipment. It's mostly for my own use, I work in China and it's easy for me to stuff a container of various equipment I can get from different manufacturers. Also i would be able to get a realistic DDP price and compare with what I can buy locally.

The question is : do I need a locally registered company to clear the custom or can I do it as a private individual ? I don't intend to resell this first container, which means beside the custom clearance I won't have any use of a company for the time being.

Thanks in advance

Pierrot

Sorry, my post is misleading, actually the picket are still in China !!! It was a follow up for a conversation from an other thread (Importing Fertilizer from China).

As I explained, I was a bit p*ssed off by the frequent increase on some products (in this case fertilizer) I need to buy on a regular basis. As my main activity is in China, I was toying with the idea of importing these products by myself . Buying is not a problem, I've 15 years experience of trading, export company in HK and support staff in China.

Now I have two main question : what to import, if it's just for a couple of bags of fertilizer, it doesn't really make sense. Then how to import. As for the time being it's not for commercial purpose, just contact some neighbours and bring what we need, do I really need a commercial entity or can I do it as an individual? As I'm still working full time in China, I can't afford to spend too much time on what is for the time being just a side project, but I would be very happpy if this project could succeed.

Sorry jeanno for polluting your post. We had the same problems with cows. We chose concrete post because the cows (or the keepers ?) rammed previous wood fences we put up to stop them. Then it makes more clear and definitive borders with the neighbours. As we say, good fences make good neighbours.

White ants will eat your wooden posts.

Go for concrete posts.

They will be much stronger and they will last a lifetime (or more).

If they're are too expensive, then just use one concrete post between every 2 or 3 wooden posts.

Use extra big concrete posts on the corners, with angled reinforcements.

Stretch the wire real tight.

The wooden posts will hold the vertical wire spacing.

That way, even if the white ants eat the wood, the fence will remain more or less intact and can be easily repaired.

I wonder when some enterprising person will introduce star pickets to Los?

Calling me ?

Stars picket, New Zealand and Autralian standard, 90 cm / 2.4 m ? available too ...

I'm not sure if it's really the subject of this thread, but I have these questions in my mind for quite some time now. It's about table manners in a restaurant.

Is it really acceptable in Thailand that one person spend half of his/her time during the meal talking on the phone with someone else? Is it ok to take a magazine and read it ? (In Hk where I leave it's fairly common, but what about Thailand?)

For me it's clear, if a person doesn't enjoy my company, I leave. But what is the local attitude in this case?

I have a big garden near Korat and I'm feeling that my expenses there are getting a bit out of control, obviously some people are getting richer by the day and it's not me

I work in China, where all the stuff I buy come from, so my idea was to cut off the middle man and import directly what I need

Does anybody has experience in importing stuff? It's not for commercial purpose (at least not for the time being) but my plan is to fill a 20' container, around 28 cbm, of various stuff that I and some neighbour need and to bring it down to Korat. Obviously it's not something you can pack in your suitcase but it's not for resale, I mean I don't have a company to import the stuff, will be done under my name, or more probably under my wife's name (note to myself : inform the wife about the plan ).

At the moment, the project is still on the drawing board, so all your suggestion are welcomed ...

I have to admit I do not think I have ever herd a short term tourist say, "The money will be here tomoorow (next week)" but I have heard it many many times from expats and those staying for longer ie 3 months plus - they are the ones tend to be down on their arse - short term tourists are pissing off back home quite soon and can usually survive.

I find its nearly all expats (or the onger term stayers) who are the leeches when out drinking - if it was me and I could not keep uo with the spend of the group I was in I would go my own way and drink my own booze, food and not tuck in and try to look anonymous.

I am a tourist most times when I visit now, other times I am up on business as I cover Thailand, I have lived there while working, been a backpacker, a 2 week tourist as well as the longer term tourist ie 3+ months - I guess I nearly have the t-shirt. I thought I would even retire there some day but my current thinking is no but thhat might change.

Good and bad in all groups just like anything else.

I think we should agree on the terms used.

Expat = employment contract = salary (usually comfortable) = no trouble

"xxx" (to be defined) = no fix income = small time crook = trouble

tourist = tourist = fun