monkeycountry

Oh and further to the OP, do not forget, many fast food places such as McD, have a small box at the counter where they collect money for poor kids, heart patients or similar. If you go there when they are not busy, and there is only 1 staff at the counter, if should be easy enough to empty that box while the staff is busy filling your coke or similar. I don't know how much is in those boxes, but since you neither have to pay for girls nor food, it should last you a while. Some people call it theft, but using your own logic, you can always argue that no one told you that you could not take the money

To the OP, if you don't want to pay for your food either, I suggest you put a small stone or similar in your food at restaurants, and then chew on it pretending you hurt your teeth or similar. Make sure you do it after you have almost finished your meal. Then tell the waitress, who will likely not charge you for the food.

In some restaurants the cook/waitress will have to pay your free meal out of their own pocket, but that should not be a concern for a real player like yourself

I think it is great that most working girls here do not have pimps, but when I hear about these so called "players", whose main play is to run from the bill blaming it on ignorance, a technicality or poverty, I kinda wish the girls did have pimps

Unfortunately a side effect of these "players" behavior is that after having had a few unfortunate encounters with "players", the girls will start talking money non stop in order to make absolutely sure their next customer is not a "player", which may be annoying for the vast majority who know the game and play by the rules.

Anyway, to the OP, glad to hear that you are only in town for a few days. I think it is safe to say on the girls behalf, that they won't miss u

The question is (for me), how do you stop corruption if the majority of the population supports it? An election is obviously not going to solve anything. I and most likely others, do not support Suthep, but do support the demonstrators call for an end to the Shinawatras. Partly because their government is corrupt beyond belief, and partly because they are willing to (legally) spend any amount of tax money to keep their voter base happy, no matter how much damage this does to the country.

And no, I cannot prove that the PTP is corrupt, it is hard to prove anything when the PTP can get away with keeping all accounts, contracts etc. secret. The fact that they do that is however proof enough for me.

This is where many people need to be careful.

It's right, the objective of freeing Thailand from Corruption, but this movement should have been positioned in the middle and targeted all politicians, all parties, every Gov agency, the Police yes... BUT ALSO, the Army who operate as a private business with arms - Think East India Tea Company, the courts and all these cowards in the background who will not voice their fasicit aspirations.

These backers who control the country use both sides to fight for them. For Sutheps movement to have any crediblilty at all, it would have to go after them as well.

As it is, it's a Putch. A clear cut conspiracy organised by the Elites. How else could all those phoney court cases against PT have lined up in the week of the shutdown? Who else could have organised the media to play poodle and release "News" at critical times, Report constantly on Sutheps speeches Etc. happy to say that now the media concentration on Suthep is showing him more and more to be the villain here and they clearly show his number tanking.

Why else to the media not push the point that hundreds of thousands of thais have already voted? Because it does not suit the big plan of getting their man into power.

Danger here is people think they it's piecemeal with Suthep. Many of you think you can support him in some of his aims but not in other. Believe me, you get Suthep and there will be no dissent at all, the man does not listen and is not interested. So beware... he may bite some of his own soon if they are not 100% loyal.

I think you misunderstood what I wanted. I am not out save Thailand from corruption in general, that is a very long battle, and I agree, politicians and government agencies etc. from all sides should be targeted in that battle.

The current problem is that the Shinawatras has taken corruption to such an extreme level that it risks ruining the country, and for that an urgent solution is needed - and pretty much any solution is better than status quo.

However, an election will not solve anything, as the farmers do not care about nor understand macro economics, public debt etc. they (understandably) just want money in their pocket today, which the current government happily (and legally) gives them in order to secure their votes.

I am not worried that Suthep will take power if given the chance. He may or may not be as bad as the Shinawatras, but in any case he will not be able to hold power for long. Neither will the army should they decide to take control.

I am also not worried about politicians (on both sides) who steal a few million or even billion here and there, that will do little long term damage to the country. I am however worried about politicians who borrow trillions, steal half and throw the other half out the window. That will do irreparable long term damage to the country. Just ask the Greeks.

The question is (for me), how do you stop corruption if the majority of the population supports it? An election is obviously not going to solve anything. I and most likely others, do not support Suthep, but do support the demonstrators call for an end to the Shinawatras. Partly because their government is corrupt beyond belief, and partly because they are willing to (legally) spend any amount of tax money to keep their voter base happy, no matter how much damage this does to the country.

And no, I cannot prove that the PTP is corrupt, it is hard to prove anything when the PTP can get away with keeping all accounts, contracts etc. secret. The fact that they do that is however proof enough for me.

Sadly it's only a threat. If there would be a corruption blacklist or something in Thailand, these 5 guys would be in the top 10.

So would Suthep.

However, such tripe is irrelevant.

You do realize that you have come out and supported a serious criminal act, don't you?

The sad aspect is you, because you have willfully supported a reprehensible and indefensible criminal act.

It is unwise to make such statements because;

1. It makes you a co-conspirator and,

2. It undercuts anything you say in this issue because you are advocating a serious criminal act that no responsible person would agree to let alone find humorous. I suggest you think about that.

"It makes you a co-conspirator"

In which country is it considered co-conspiracy to support any act, legal or illegal, as long as you do not participate or contribute in any way to said act?

It's actually called Aid and Abet.

To order, encourage, facilitate, or to actively, knowingly, intentionally, or purposefully assist, or otherwise promote or attempt to promote the commission of a crime or a tort.

I think you should look up the difference between the words "promote" and "support". But I agree with what you write, only noone here is promoting anything, they are supporting - and there is a big difference - especially legally.

Sadly it's only a threat. If there would be a corruption blacklist or something in Thailand, these 5 guys would be in the top 10.

So would Suthep.

However, such tripe is irrelevant.

You do realize that you have come out and supported a serious criminal act, don't you?

The sad aspect is you, because you have willfully supported a reprehensible and indefensible criminal act.

It is unwise to make such statements because;

1. It makes you a co-conspirator and,

2. It undercuts anything you say in this issue because you are advocating a serious criminal act that no responsible person would agree to let alone find humorous. I suggest you think about that.

"It makes you a co-conspirator"

In which country is it considered co-conspiracy to support any act, legal or illegal, as long as you do not participate or contribute in any way to said act?

A whole bunch of posters keep talking about charges of murder, kidnapping etc., as if it is something Mr. Suthep should be worried about.

When was the last time someone with Mr. Suthep's status ended in prison? ... Never? Ok then

I bet you guys also think Mr. Thaksin, Mr. Abhisit and certain army generals will one day go to prison

And even if you were right, which you are not, then a guy (Mr. Suthep) who is charged with mass murder is not going to be worried about charges of kidnapping or defamation now is he?

... are the same kind of people who feel the footpath belongs to them too,

so they have already extended their shop to include the footpath too, ...

Very often they are right on that.

In many streets in Pattaya the footpath is not public but belong to the house along it.

That's why you see so many "small businesses" installed on footpaths: it's a private area, and then can be rent!

Generally I doubt that, although I cannot prove it. In any case, the footpaths on major roads such as second road and beach road are public.

Shots fired but no one hit? It doesn't take a genius to work out who was behind this. Expect to see more of these stunts as the week goes on.

Sometimes people just want to intimidate, not actually kill those they have a conflict with, but since it is so obvious to you who was behind, perhaps you can provide your info/evidence to the police/DSI Sherlock?

I read part of Suthep's proposal in other news today.

Apparently he wants this "people assembly" which is to propose reforms, to not include any politicians.

The assembly should do their job in about a year, after which an election is to be held.

Further, anyone on the assembly, will automatically be banned from politics for 5 years, preventing those making the reforms from being elected at the subsequent election.

I am no fan of Suthep, but that all sounds good to me!

My guess is the kind of shopowners who feel the public road belongs to them are the same kind of people who feel the footpath belongs to them too, so they have already extended their shop to include the footpath too, and this way a car parked next to the footpath suddenly blocks the entrance to the shop - which of course is completely unreasonable :-D

More bullocks! Thais asking to park for a few minutes? Get real.

Have you ever run a business at a busy corner, with very less parking space?

Just because you don't understand, or don't know better, doesn't give you the right to call other people liars.

However, I personally don't care about ignorant blokes sheriffs potential troublemakers, who know everything better and are more than "advisory resistant".

Park your car where you want, but stop whining at TV, when something went wrong...

PS: Sometimes, it's just a question of decency, not to bother other people, especially when they're running a business.....

There are many places in Thailand where it is the norm for both thais and foreigners to park along public roads without asking anyone for permission, and where there are shops and shopowners all along the roads. It works surprisingly well when everyone just follow the rules/laws, and noone has to get upset or hurt this way :-)

I parked on 2nd road Pattaya. Told the gesticulating stall owner I was going to eat. Drove off 30 minutes later with a nail in my tyre...

You have been warned, but your ignorance and selfishness have been punished, so what?

Som nam na...lesson learned?

My wife is also pissed, when these idiots (mostly farangs), block the parking space in front of her office/shop for several hours with their cars....

Thais tend to ask, if they're allowed to park for a few minutes.....

This is Thailand, stop whining and adapt yourself.

Does your wife get a receipt when she pays to rent part of the presumably public road in front of her shop? Or is she paying to someone who, like her, has no right to the road either? Or is she simply not paying anyone, but just feel she should be in charge of who parks where?

Just wonder, when asked

The army In Thailand not takes sides, nor stage a coup...

That is what said.

But somehow, in the end they always do.

No, that is not what was said. There is a big difference between saying that you will not stage a coup and saying that you are not waiting for the right time to stage a coup.

To quote what was actually said:

"the army does not take side or waits for the right timing to stage a coup"

"the army is duty-bound to ensure the safety of the people"

These are the two important sentences in the letter. They translate to:

"The army is not planning a coup, but if violence breaks out, the army is duty bound to stage a coup or otherwise intervene in order to ensure the safety of the people."

It is a warning to Yingluck, that if she cannot control and/or solve the situation, the army will.

This is disgusting, ok she has done something wrong but it's simple really. She has already said she worked there without a permit so she admitted it, there is nothing to prove. if she was denying the charges then ok it would take longer but 5 months is still crazy. How do they expect her to live and feed herself for 5 months without yet again working illegally?

They should simply arrest her, deport her and be done with it.

i am sure that this is breaching her human rights, I also suspect that holding her passport for 5 months could have some legal ramifications.

I hope that she gets the right result very soon.

She is a foreigner in Thailand - a third world country!!! She has no rights in Thailand whatsoever, let alone human rights

"She begged anti-government protesters to think of the country"

She never thought of the country herself except lining her own and her brothers pockets.

Hypocrisy at it's best.

Ok, please explain how she has lined her own pockets. Not heresay, please - just some facts would be nice for a change.

Endaxi!

Suthep is the only person who can prevent any violence. Unfortunately, violence is his plan.

Sadly this is true and having a general back you up helps . . . what a lovely marriage made in heaven. A man who wants to take all democratic principles away from the population and a general who is not only taking sides in the conflict but who will enter the fray militarily

I don't think Yingluck is a good PM, but I don't know if she is corrupt and nor does anyone else on TV. Please think for yourself and don't just spout what the Nation or other media outlets or Suthep and the Democrats just repeat as mantra. It's bad enough in Thailand with people who don't think for themselves, let alone farangs on TV repeating it. For godsake, to all those TV members who just repeat the "corruption, corruption, corruption" mantra from the media and Suthep, you make me sick. Get some evidence and then come back. If not, shut the %$ up.

How can we gather evidence when every single government account is kept secret, either because they are incomplete or because of national security according to the PTP government itself?

Is the fact that the accounts are kept secret not evidence enough in itself?

Why can't both Yingluck & Suthep arrange the "peace" debate in the front of the public through live TV? It will not cost anyone's life.

Actually Suthep DID challenge her to a debate. She declined.

Of course she did, someone told her what happened to Sarah Palin

Yingluck / Tarit (DSI) has already charged Suthep with murdering around 100 people, I doubt charging him with killing a few more is gonna make any difference to Suthep or anyone else in the opposition camp, who, like me and most likely the courts, thinks the charges are BS anyway.

What diffence does 15000 police make if millions if thai show for this protest! 75 or more people per policeman are not good odds even if they are armed. Sent from my GT-S5310 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

True, if millions show up, 15,000 police won't make a difference. But lets say only 15,000 protesters show up, then the total amount of people blocking the roads will be 30,000 as the police will also be blocking the roads by their mere presence. If no protesters show up at all, there will still be 15,000 police + all their vehicles blocking the roads. I simply find it ironic, and a bit funny, that the government in their effort to prevent the protesters from blocking the roads, will actually be helping the protesters block the roads

Slight tangent, but I'm curious to know what policy the Dems would have come up with, had they been in power, to assist the powerful NE voting area (after all that would have been their priority too) - faced with depressed prices, a growing rice stockpile.

Many countries around the world would introduce subsidies in these circumstances. I wonder how much more efficient and immune to corruption the Dems' solution would have been.

It would have been the same circus, different acts.

The democrats had a rice policy when they were in power, one that most people, including the rice farmers, were happy with, and which did not cost the country a fortune.

The fact that you do not know about it suggests that neither side was complaining about the democrat policy, as you would then likely have heard about it in the news.

I do not recall the details, but I am sure you can google them. I am also quite sure the democrats are still in favour of that policy.

So your allegation that it would have been the same circus is wrong, as the democrats policy has already been tried, and evidently there was no circus.

And just to be clear. Many farmers, including their spokesmen, have been asked which rice policy they favour, the PTP or the Democrat? they generally favour the PTP policy, but at the same time they admit that the PTP policy does not bring them that much more money (do not recall the small difference). This begs the question, where are the massive losses from the PTP policy then going, if not to the farmers? (it's a rhetorical question)

I think there was some corruption involved with that scheme as well. Not that it's realistic to expect no corruption. I remember seeing an interview with some farmers who explained how they worked their scam. At least the Democrat's scheme didn't damage Thailand's position as the top rice exporter.

It is true however that they need to show that they have the interests of all the country in mind when they make policy.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

I have absolutely no doubt there was corruption in the Democrat policy, but at a much much smaller scale, which is proved by the much smaller total loss under that policy - and the fact that the Democrats did not hide the accounts from the public, or claim they were not able to calculate the profit/loss.

Well we shall never know, shall we. I was talking about a policy for the current situation, not one that was applied to a period when the financial problems of the farmers were less acute. Obviously there were schemes in place before, just as there were under earlier manifestations of PT. The point I was making was about political expediency, and how 'buying votes' of such a major voting block would have happened in some form or other, whoever was in power. It would still have been a cock-up, just with a different political stamp on it. This is Thailand, after all.

Consider wedders that the previous Govt had an assistance scheme in place that paid the rice farmers direct cutting out the middle man and avoiding most of the corruption.

That scheme cost the country around 60 billion in their time in office.

Had that been continued over the term of this Govt then :

The country would have saved over 400 billion.

There would be no rice mountain.

Thailand would still be the worlds top rice exporter.

Thailand would still have a reputation for a quality product.

The farmers would not be protesting for they would have been paid for the rice they sold to private traders.

The BAAC would not be in a close to broke situation.

Not to mention, that with the Democrat policy it was possible to calculate profit/loss and show the public, which apparently is not possible with the PTP scam!