Jefferson

i would like to hear views about the farang women and los. but those threads always get closed down!

LOTS of stuff gets closed down, often without a reason which leaves people guessing.

But anyway I think Thaivisa has always wanted to be politically correct.. Its members however...

Thailand News Clippings???

You can't post in there; a moderator will have to move the post into there.

What a .. erm, silly, attitude.

I liked the one-way-ticket-out advice.

Pad: bulldog on a leash or another nail in democracy's coffin

Published on July 21, 2008

Since it was formed in February 2006, and especially since it was revived in May of this year, the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), has become a distinctive force on the political landscape.

Formally, the PAD is simply an alliance of five orators. But as a political phenomenon, the PAD is also what they are saying, how they are saying it, what visual messages they convey, and who is supporting them.

The movement's main stated aim is to overthrow the current government. Normally any movement that professed this aim would be labelled dangerous, even revolutionary, and be strongly handled by the authorities. Strangely that is not happening. Probably that is because we know its true aim is to obstruct Thaksin's overt return to politics.

The movement's longer-term aim is to undermine the central principles of electoral democracy, namely the sovereignty of the people, and the selection of a parliament by the system of one-man, one-vote. The PAD leaders claim that the electorate cannot be trusted with the franchise because the mass of rural people are uneducated and corrupt. They want the elected portion of the lower house reduced to a minority (perhaps 30 per cent), and the remainder filled partly by "retired officials and important people" and partly by ordinary people and workers, selected by appointment. Since the logic of the PAD's proposal is to disenfranchise the rural poor, this new system is likely to favour the rich, the urban, and the higher educated.

In addition, the PAD wants the military to have a permanent role of political oversight. The military would be removed from political control (by making the defence ministry independent of the Cabinet), and granted the right to intervene in politics to check corruption and to protect the monarchy and national sovereignty.

The PAD seems against the freedom of expression, and in favour of the use of abuse and intimidation to limit the freedom of expression. This conclusion is based on the way PAD orators treat academics, actors or other public figures who disagree with its views. This tactic seems to have been quite successful. Some critics have apologised. The press has been generally rather uncritical of PAD's views and activities.

The PAD makes use of military and martial symbolism. Some of the leaders like to wear brown shirts and black shirts that resemble military and paramilitary uniforms. The headbands worn by leaders and followers recall the outfits of traditional warriors, samurai, and jungle fighters. The oversized neckscarf comes from the scouts, village scouts, and jungle fighters. It is not Chamlong's rural-ascetic look but this barracks-chic that distinguishes the movement. Among the supporters, yellow flags, headbands, T-shirts, and caps combine to give the impression of commonality and conformity which is the role of uniforms.

PAD promotes a visceral nationalism reminiscent of the early Phibun era. The nation is a body that is being physically ripped by its enemies (internal and external), causing pain to the citizens, who must rise up in the nation's defence.

The PAD's agitational practice suggests a high degree of organisation, strong financing, access to technology, and skill with sophisticated techniques. The equipment for staging and broadcasting the PAD's message requires high capital cost and running expenses. The crowds are well organised and provisioned. The programming shows strategic planning to sustain support and interest with relatively little novelty. The PAD seems skilled in the techniques and rituals of litigation. In short, this is not a few people gathered at a street corner with a soap box.

Analysing the PAD's audience on the streets and in front of television screens is difficult. There are only stray interviews, plus pictures. Perhaps the single word that emerges from this impressionistic data is "respectable". The crowds are generally smartly dressed. The age profile is quite high, though there are also many families in attendance (and the TV audience may be significantly younger). Head-counting from press photos shows a slight preponderance of women over men. From the few on-site interviews available, the crowds include retirees, public servants, small business people, and senior executives from modern firms. There seem to be relatively few manual workers.

The PAD is clearly well connected to other institutions. One of its leaders is a Democrat MP. Other Democrats have spoken from its stages. So too have academics from some of Bangkok's major universities. A serving general has taken the PAD stage in his full uniform. Other military figures, including General Saprang Kalayanamitra, have been seen backstage and are open in their support.

The PAD seems to be protected, perhaps by friends in important places, but also by virtue of its widespread urban support. No other Bangkok protest has suffered so little harassment. When the prime minister angrily threatened to clear PAD off the streets, the security forces refused to cooperate and the prime minister had to back down. When PAD set up a permanent blockade of roads, the police stood aside and public-opinion surveys were surprisingly lenient over the disruption to traffic. When the protest moved to Government House, the police resistance looked like a token showing designed to fail. This apparent immunity gives weight to PAD's message.

The PAD is flirting with the old agent provocateur's technique of placing its own crudely armed gangs in places where they will be attacked by enemies. This creates violent incidents, apparently initiated by their opponents, though in truth a result of the inherent violence of the PAD itself.

In short, PAD is an anti-democratic movement, supported by high investment and shadowy protection, that exploits the fears of the privileged and a deliberately anti-rational nationalism, and flirts with militarism and violence.

Is PAD a bulldog, let out on a leash for a specific purpose, that will be chained up when the threat from thieves has passed? Or is it another step in the destruction of democracy begun by Thaksin, continued by the coup-makers, and now plunging ahead on the momentum?

Source: http://nationmultimedia.com/2008/07/21/opi...on_30078561.php

Bound to be very busy beings as they're Buddha-related days and two of the country's most high-profile stupas are up there.

THey're not high profile religious stupas. They're in honor of the HM the King and Queen. So high profile in that sense, but not in a sense that it's a prime place to visit on religious holidays. (Unlike Doi Suthep temple, etc.)

Yes there will be more people, but there will be more people at any other places you might visit as well.

With gas prices this high though, I'm willing to bet it's less people driving up from BKK than in past years.

I don't understand why this visible humidity is apparent much of the year and no one seems to notice it, but come February, all and sundry point it out as "air pollution" and start threatening to leave town.

Wait a minute.. Feb/March is the dryest month of the year. There's VERY low humidity of any kind. This is not morning mist, this hangs around all day all night; at the worst times you cannot see even buildings in town that you can normally see.

Compare this to the rainy season; here there could be morning fog and its NICE. It also clears away and then you can see for miles and miles, not just Doi Suthep mind, but all the way to Doi Inthanon. You can easily see Doi Inthanon from town in the rainy season when humidity is highest.

So I think it doesn't fly. Note that I'm not saying that the pollution in March is the end of life as we know it, but nice to look at it is not.

I don't think any resorts will welcome pets but

No, nearly all resorts welcome pets.

Not in the rooms of course, but on a leash on the front porch or whatever, there's no issues.

People Against Democracy.

(I wonder if even half of them are aware of what their leadership actually proposes.)

Does anyone know a good place to get PS3 games (legal games, in the box, etc.) around Bangkok? Looking for a large selection and good prices.

Second question: How do prices here typically compare to prices in Europe? For some PC games there are companies that offer very competative (lower) prices in an effort to make legal games more attractive; is the same true for PS3 games? And then which titles?

( Note: Not sure if this should go in the technology forum or not; Opted for here as it's not a tech problem I'm having, it's about PS3 games which are for entertainment. Feel free to move it though )

I wouldn't think this would be crossing the line. We're not talking about where to pick up girls, etc. This thread is no way sexual in nature. We're just talking about attitudes towards relationships in a country where this may sometimes be a factor.

Surely that's a minor and inconsequential detail; The rules are the rules!

Addressing the officer very politely and by name often has great results. (Name is on the tag).

I love Chiang Mai zoo and go a lot; never an issue getting the local price no matter who I go with. (And of course you speak Thai with Thai people, I think that goes without saying?? Life is better that way.)

The tiger restaurant in Mae Rim seems to have moved to dual pricing though I can't really blame them seeing how low their prices are and how high their costs must be. And as soon as they suspect you're a resident you get the local menu, which is astonishingly cheap for really good food.

I am still at a loss as to what the question was.

The person who interpreted it as American style 'Chinese' food with his recommendations got a 'thank you' from the OP.. In this topic I went from thinking it was American style oriental food, to authentic Chinese food from the Western part of that country, and now back to General Tso & friends.

I mean if you're going to be this cryptic, there's puzzle & riddle forums out there.

Voted No;

Though for me it could be the other way around; I developed a dislike towards temple ground ferris wheels since joining Thaivisa.

Yes.

And they might.

Jetting food products around the world is pretty mad.

Wanting such an item is pretty much like napalm-bombing a patch of rainforest in terms of damage. Think again.

I think the original poster is WAY out of line with this.

1: No harm or ill will was intended on the part of the person making the comment. Not having intimate knowledge of all medical conditions is not a crime. If anything, she/he spoke out because of care and concern about your daughter. The world needs more people showing care and concern.

2: Instead of educating the person about your daughters condition, you choose to whine about it on an internet forum. That is not very productive.

3: The topic title is very offensive.

Honestly it all says a lot more about the original poster than about the incident, or indeed the person making the comment.

still cant believe that i was on an BangkokAirways flight few days ago, and even they are the CHEAPEST on that route (CNX - BKK, was 1420 baht and now, after 1st of July, is 1620 Baht after fuel-surcharge-increase ), the plane was less than 25% full. or maybe just bad marketing ?

Umm, for a one-way CNX-BKK I get a cool 3,020 baht including all charges, no matter if it's next Tuesday or a Tuesday 3 months from now.

Also I better be able to fly at 19:05 in the evening, as there's just one flight a day.

Bad marketing huh? I think there's nothing wrong with their marketing.

I drive a relatively young car, just 7 years old or so; 150,000kms. Never had to replace anything for reasons other than the maintenance manual stating it should be replaced.. (Isuzu)

Yes, and Tesco, Carrefour, Big C... they all have them in the bedding section...

If you'd ever need one is another matter, but then I guess some people like to sleep outside.

I don't think you'll find impregnated ones, usually the impregnating happens on the inside. (*ka-ching*) Anyway I don't think that's needed anyway. There's not much you can catch from nighttime mosquitos anyway until you go way close to the Burmese border.

That's hilarious.

Thanks for posting, good start of my day.

Huay Kaew falls is especially funny, this one could be mistaken for the municipal rubbish dump. In order to let nature recover, they might consider collecting some trash, oh, once a week or so.

It's interesting though that there isn't any gate or checkpoint for Huay Kaew falls and Bang Bua Ban... The latter getting by far the most visitors of any waterfall in the park.

The problem is that you look at the English time table, which only lists main trains that go all the way on to Bangkok.

If you look at the Thai time table ( http://www.railway.co.th/timetable/N_Nb.html ) you will see that there is a train to Khuntan at 06:45, 09:20 (Ordinary, gets to Khuntan at 10:39), 14:50, 16:30, etc. (Khuntan is the third one from the top).

All nearly same numbers. This cleary shows us that this isn't democracy (or individual parlament opinions) here at work; rather what the top guy says will be followed by the party leaders and PM himself.

And this is different from anywhere else in the world, how?

You expect PPP MP's to vote away their own government? Dream on, no matter what country in the world it is you're commenting on........ Thought that'd be a no brainer.

I think all names in the poll are completely ancient. Come on, you're naming a daughter, not a granny.

I haven't even MET a 'Mali' in 10 years. The other ones are almost equally stale. You can do MUCH better!

As an aside, I know it's not common to name kids after their parents/grand parents, but it's still an option to grab at least part of the name of a parent or grandparent (on either side). Then just morph it into something Thai.

Note that there's Thai baby naming sites out there; come on!

One more: It's quite common also for legitimate and popular karaoke places to ALSO have some girls outside and/or around the premises dressed in shiny dresses you would positively never want to be cought dead in.

This in itself should not cause undue alarm; just like how 'restaurants' have waitresses to bring food to you, many karaokes have hostesses to sing with. It's Asia; get over it.

(Of course when coming with a group, you wouldn't require additional people to sing with.)

Finally: Just in case, always scope out the costs: How much for the room, for the drinks, etc, etc. etc. The modus operandi will be to buy a bottle of the usual types of Whiskey, like 100 Pipers (#($**# CURSES!!), Johnny Walker and so on. It is however common to bring a bottle of something or another, so if you prefer some nice wine, Vodka, etc. then you'll have to bring it. Fortunately liquor stores tend to be located near popular karaokes.