jcsmith

That was one of the most biased articles I have ever read. I'm sorry. No matter what side of the fence your on, or if your straddling the middle... I'm a journalist myself, and that article was terrible journalism.

Then the mob wins, and Thaksin wins through THEIR willingness to use violence.

All it takes here in the short term is to hold an election. And when the PAD loses (again) they will resort to the same tactics they did the last two times they lost. They will be doing essentially the same thing that the reds are doing now. Long term both sides need to compromise and work together. But I see very little willingness by either side to do that.

My guess is that Abhisit will eventually step down. The reds will eventually win the election. The yellows will be protesting shortly after and its back to square one. That doesn't mean that Abhisit should not resign though. This situation has spun out of control and the best way to diffuse it in the short term is for him to dissolve parliament as quickly as possible and hold new elections. People want to point to him compromise by asking for 9 months, but let's be honest. The people never put him into power in the first place. The fact that there still have not been elections, and that he is still asking for 9 more months in power as a "compromise" seems off to me. That's not a compromise. That's me stealing your car, and when you ask to have it back I tell you I need it to drive to work for a couple years. Would you be happy with that compromise?

I'm not a fan of Thaksin in the least bit. To be honest, I generally like Abhisit. But I don't like how he came into power. I don't like the fact that since the coup the yellows have forced out the elected officials in tactics very similar to the ones being used here, but that the military did not force the issue. And most of all I don't like the fact that a lot of posters here seem to have forgotten the previously stated facts.

So, the majority of Thailand still want a Democrat led coalition government. What are the VERY minority reds going to do now?

If that is the case, then why not hold an election and find out? Because the reds would win again? I don't see how that is the VERY minority. So instead you have an unelected government who points to maybe having an election in a year from now. Perhaps by then they will change it so people from the north or northeast only count as 1/5th of a vote, or so that they don't get a vote at all. How is that "Democratic"?

I think the big reason for so many poor Thai drivers is just a lack of any real driver education system and pre-license testing. I sent my girlfriend to a driving school a few years ago and her instructor told her not to look in the rear or side view mirrors, which I had taught her to do. He told her all she had to worry about was what was in front of her. When she took her test, she hit a cone and parked sideways. They still gave her a license.

I contrast that to when I was back home. We had six months of driver's education in high school, and most people failed the driving exam the first time.

The yellows don't try to blow up gas trucks or shoot villagers.

That will be a peaceful demonstration not intended to topple the government

No, they just storm air towers and demand to know which flight the prime minister will be on. Personally, I think both sides really walk the line, but the difference is that when the reds do anything the axe comes down harder on them.

Great move HS. Are you sure you want to go there? If I were the PM I would close all borders and issue a complete embargo even to poipet and koh kong. Cancel all flights and boats from Thailand to cambodia even to stop issueing visas to any cambodian passports.

Talk about an over-reaction. Let's just turn Southeast Asia into the Middle East while your at it.

"I am not surprised about friendship between Hun Sen and Thaksin but Thailand will make the extradition request if Thaksin is provided with a permanent shelter in Cambodia," Suthep said.

That statement seems pretty hypocritical, considering that Thailand refused to extradite the arms dealer, what last month?

Discounting some problems with tourists / airports / PAD, overall the PAD protests had little if any effect on the tourists.

How about all of the people who were stuck at the airports? I'm sure they weren't too happy.

Bob is always great, so was Mike. I'm glad that Mike has become a heath food convert and am waiting for the new Mike's Vegan Restaurant, "Converting Meat Eaters Since 2010."

There goes my idea of convincing him to open another In and Out...

Maybe they were already working

in a bar beer in Soi Cowboy or Nana complex or Pattaya.

What's your point? That beause a girl works in one of those bars they are open season to do whatever you can hold them against their will and do what you like?

My favorite is the Green Mill, but it's closed currently for renovation. It's off the same highway that goes past the Carefour that the Brewery is at. Past the Mae Jo turn and Tesco there's another hospital (on the same side as Carefour), if you turn down that street for a couple blocks you can find the Green Mill. It's run by a nutritionist, reasonable prices, air conditioning and good food, both Thai and Western. I don't think it will re-open until next month though.

Thailand needs to keep those voters in the North away from the polls for a good period of time so Thaksin can't buy another election. Thaksin will flail for sure but likely finally fade. Only then could there be some regrouping of Thai society and some desperately needed peace.

You'd make a fine dictator... Of course, I'd rather not have a small percentage of people dictate what everyone else should do. It's all a moot point though, now its the reds time to buy protesters and camp them out in strategic locations that will help hurt the nations economy even further.

oh talking of Mike's burgers, I noticed he has a stall now in Central KSK food court, but i also noticed he doesnt provide for us veggies If anyone knows Mike, could you maybe put to him to add a veggie burger to his range of burgers? (of course the problem then also is cooking the burgers separate from the meat ones..so maybe he wouldnt be interested or maybe there is also just not much call for veggie burgers. )

I don't think "Mike" is involved any more. His deal is that he builds up businesses and then sales them. He sold Mike's before they started franchising and opening up all over the place. He then opened up Miguel's Mexican food place down the street, which he then sold to the current owners now. After that he opened up an In and Out Burger in Hang Dong, but that didn't do well, unfortunately. The food was great, just like the In and Out's us Californians used to get back home, but he was unable to get enough people into the place I guess. I didn't speak to him for a couple months before he sold it, not sure if he has opened up a new place in town yet or if he has moved on. In my opinion the drop in quality at Mike's happened after he sold it.

havent been there in 4 months but xanax was 6 to 10 bahts a shot in Patong and valium was standard 5 bahTz.. anyone buy ketamine before ? that stuff can put you to sleep

Those are also really good to eat in the morning if you are hungover. Just a word of warning to anyone using these to sleep or for motion sickness, one or two is all you want to eat. If you eat 5+ of these they can cause extreme hallucinations. I worked on fishing boats for years and we'd use these for motion sickness, and some of the crew would eat a lot of them to get high. It's not a fun high though, no euphoria or anything, but intense hallucinations and you can't tell if they are real or fake. So be sure to just take 1 or 2, unless your in to that sort of thing.

First they collect the money then they go out and shoot them to cover up what they have taken.

Freitag1 hit the nail on the head. That's most likely what happened, and it had nothign to do with killing "evil ones". The police have their hands in the pie everyplace. There are places in every city where everyone knows drugs are being sold. In Chiang Mai for example because I have dreadlocks tourists would often come up to me and ask me if I knew where to get some ganja in town. There were places basically where anyone could walk in, ask for it and get it having never been there before, which were open for years. And I've seen police at those same places during the daytime. Do they not know whats going on? Of course they do. They are being paid off. With the style of those executions a few years ago, I'm fairly positive they just covered their own tracks.

In my opinion it would be good for the country if they built some casinos in the touristed beach communities, etc. Tourism is down. Casinos would create jobs and would suck money from tourists. Not to mention, gambling is everywhere in this country. It's absolutely ridiculous that people playing a friendly game of poker in their own homes can get raided and arrested by police. I doubt it would get rid of people gambling in their homes, but the idea that they can be arrested for doing so is silly.

Thanks for all the help. Yeah I could have sworn a saw a bottle of 151 before at a bar or restaurant here, it's possible that one of the owners friends brought it from overseas though. I did check the Tesco on Hang Dong road the other day (I live a couple blocks away) but didn't see any up there. Maybe I'll check it again next time through, I could have just missed it, or maybe they no longer have it. I went to the liquor store near the Night Bazaar where a lot of the bar owners by from but they told me I must have been mistaken that noone sold it. By themselves both drinks are way too potent to enjoy, but if you want to do some flaming shots or party drinks they can be pretty useful. If nothing else I'll just look for them on my next visa trip outside, maybe in one of the duty free shops. Thanks for the help everyone.

Hello everyone. I had a quick question for anyone who might be in the know here. I have a need to get some preferably 95% alcohol (Everclear) or at the least 75% alcohol (any of the 151 proof vodkas or rums would work) in Chiang Mai but have been unable to find any. The strongest I've been able to come across is only 45% alcohol, which is unsuitable for my purposes. I haven't been able to find any information that would indicate that these high proof alcohols are unavailable in Thailand, but haven't been able to find them at any of the places I have found, probably due to there not being much a market for them. Does anyone have any suggestions or know where I could find 151 or higher proof liquor in the Chiang Mai area? Even Bangkok would be alright for that matter as I make occasional trips there and could pick some up while in town.

Thank you for your time.