bluegum

Fine them for polluting our air.

This story doesn't add up.  A wild elephant from a national park won't allow itself to be 'walked home' like this.  It must be a domesticated elephant.

So the police make a video encouraging people walking on footpaths to hold on tight their belongings and remain vigilant and attentive at all times. Its a dangerous place, they warn - one of the motorcycles going past you could easily be a snatch thief!  

...But wait, isn't it against the law to ride a motorcycle on the footpath?  And which agency is responsible for enforcing those laws?  Oh yes, RTP.  Go figure.   

There's nothing quite like a few sheep to get the camera's clicking  :)

9 minutes ago, onthesoi said:

 

The vast majority of democratic elections in the west don't include a 'non of the above' option so I don't think this is specific to Thailand or TIT!  In fact the only time I recall ever seeing such an option is on a forum poll.

 

Can you think of a recent and world famous poll about something infinitely more important where there was only a choice of 2 individuals ?

Oh no! Don't bring anything so dysfunctional as the US electoral system into this conversation!  555  Dusit Poll's 2-decimal point descriptions of Thai public opinion is excruciating enough.

Actually, we need to be clear that this is just an opinion poll and can't really be compared to an election.  For the record, open-ended questions are quite often used in quantitative surveys.  Dusit Poll preferred not to use them in this case it seems.   

3 minutes ago, onthesoi said:

 

You mean the same as every poll ever conducted in the entire history of polls ever?

 

ps

The share of the vote percentages are completely unrelated to sample size.....

I see your point.  But in my view, any poll worth its salt should at least give a 'none of the above' option or an open-ended 'other' line to fill in (I know, TIT).  It seems that wasn't the case here and its really a farce if respondents were only given the choice of 3 individuals - head of the junta, coach of the national football team and the current hip rockstar.  C'mon, Dusit Poll...    

3 hours ago, wiko said:

 

If you count up the 3 finalist in the poll you get 100% of the votes, which mean there were only 3 carefully chosen candidates.

 

Another example of freedom of choice and expression in Thailand

I noticed exactly the same thing.  80.69 + 10.12 + 9.19 = 100.00

The same can be observed from the top 3 male politicians - the percentages add up to exactly 100.00 %

What are the odds of this happening from a sample set of 5,964?  I'm guessing it was a closed answer affair - i.e., respondents could only choose from the options printed on the survey.  Alternatively, the results were massaged to make them ready for publication.  Either way, it seems remarkable that a national leader of a diverse and conflicted society would garner 80% plus of a popularity vote.  I would like to know the selection method that Dusit Poll used to choose their respondents.      

I initially laughed heartily at the headline for this 'survey', but now reflecting on the narrow response and double digit accuracy, I feel a little chilled.   

It doesn't exactly blend in with the surrounding landscape.  But it will come to define that landscape. This is called progress.

Hard to believe that police would continue with a chase when they know the van is full of passengers.  It only increases the chances of a fatal accident.  And what use are roadblocks when a vehicle can get through them?

Thirteen very fortunate people to emerge from that van...

What a beautiful creature .

It should be out in it's natural habitat and not tied to a chain for a show .

It died because people are stupid , once again ...

Oh , I forgot , it's natural habitat , the amazonian jungle is disappearing very fast now .

This makes me mad as hell. Some marketing a$$#^&s thought that this creature would make a nice decoration at the torch ceremony!

What a waste of the life of such a majestic animal.

Juma should now be the mascot of the Olympics, to highlight all that's wrong about this wretched and corrupted event.

Roomuck: "They do have safety ads on TV re speeding, texting, drink driving.

Here is one."

OK, thanks for sharing, and others too. To be honest I keep clear of Thai television at home as much as I keep clear of minivans on the road

Once again, a tragedy like this shines the light on 2 glaring inadequacies in Thailand - education and regulation.

I grew up with a simple mantra for driving - Speed Kills. It really is as simple as that.

TV adverts like this one have had an effect on me. Could they be used to good effect in Thailand?

[media]

Large numbers of day-trippers will ravage the fragile ecosystems up there.

This is not the job of the Army. They have no training in law enforcement. this is the job of the police department. Since when does the Army have the legal authority to impound anything or the power of arrest.

I believe that since the coup and the red-tape that accompanied it, that the military have extended powers which certainly would extend to manning checkpoints to nab drunk drivers.

But it doesn't matter if its police or soldiers on the ground doing the job, the sanction of losing your car for a couple of days is still not enough. It needs to be something like a B10,000 fine for first offence plus 6 months loss of license, with greater punishment to come if caught driving whilst disqualified. That will make the idiots think again.

yes - its working again for me after being down for a couple of days. With IE, not Edge or Chrome. Make sure you enter your DOB in full format, "1978" rather than "78". Good luck all.

Stubuzz, I get the same error this evening. Maybe try again tomorrow?

JAG, on 20 Dec 2015 - 07:38, said:

The Ivory trade needs to be stopped, and forensic and scientific tools to help that are valuable, but should not the priority be on stopping slavery and the trade in people? Once that is sorted, full steam ahead against the Ivory traders.

Why should these two separate & important issues be regarded as mutually exclusive?

They're not. I think slavery is the greater evil, and therefore should have a greater priority. I suspect that well publicised efforts against the Ivory trade may well be used to screen a rather less enthusiastic approach to stopping slavery.

This method sound like a great tool that can help authorities combat the 'laundering' of African ivory (ie, passing illegal African wild-sourced ivory off as domestic-source Thai ivory). Kudos to those who came up with it. However, it does need to be backed up with more rigorous application of the existing laws.

As for the possibility of a grand conspiracy to use publicized ivory-enforcement measures as a distraction from the appalling rights abuses of migrant workers, there is no chance of that. Such a conspiracy would require coordination between government agencies, which is not possible in Thailand.

Following the arrests an army spokesman "said that the two men’s planned visit to the park would not help in the ongoing attempt to clear up any doubt about the park project."

Sound like Pre-Crime arrests. Its a slippery slope to 'Thought Crime' and beyond...

for those interested in more details of this sorry tale, check out this FCTT presentation given by an NACC investigator

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2oRlZOyKTE

Anyone else surprised that they allowed the football match to continue after multiple bomb blasts outside the stadium?

It is symptomatic of the problems with prominent sectors of Thai society that the Police themselves will not be reformed - only their IMAGE.

Thai police want an image of dependability? Maybe they can hire some Volkswagen executives for brand building, I hear some of them are now looking for jobs...

Sounds like Thailand needs some infrastructure inspectors...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTopVi1hVVM

A real clean-up takes a good deal longer than 3 months. It took 10 yrs to get it done in Ho Chi Minh City. They should consider doing the job properly and having the canal cleaned up in time for the Princess's 70th birthday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWDnyxtkq0I

So how does the angry mob fit into the story?

NIDA have a remarkably high opinion about the correctness of the average Thai citizens perceptions on matters like this. They endlessly present results of these surveys as if they were reaped from the fountains of truth and wisdom, given to 2 decimal points as evidence of their precision.

How should an average citizen know how a member of the NLA will vote? Do they expect the participants to have close relations with members? How many participants actually read the whole question before ticking one of the boxes provided?

It seems to me to be a completely worthless endeavor.