Ricardo

The Young Chinese Policeman of whom you speak, borrowed US$500,000,000 and launched 4 or 5 Digital satelites over Thailand, named thaisat 1.. etc, now he owns huge telecom empire, he is a very good business man, but never corrupt, Take it from one who knows.

Kiwijor.

"now he owns huge telecom empire" ?

If he's the policeman we're all thinking of, then he sold his telecom businesses to Singapore, 3-4 years ago, didn't he ?

Since when Temasek made a 60%+ loss, on their investment, take it from one who reads the FT !

Interesting article, the usual FT-blend of humour & small-talk & heavy questions, for the PM.

He demonstrates his good-judgement by steering well-clear of the dodgy stale cheese-sarnies !

Afraid i am in the camp that says panicking and screaming on a forum about how bleak the future is going to be, is not productive.

Yes there are problems in the world and indeed in the UK.

However i; being one of the people who had sod all in the first place; am actually in a position to gain from the current crisis by dint of hard work and some common sense.

Not everyone sees the current crisis as the end of the world which is how it comes across when 12D posts on here.

what does that mean? not all of us have the privilege of an english mother tongue.

'Sod all' is an expression in the current vernacular, meaning very little or nothing at all, a similar phrase might be 'bugger all' or SFA (san Fairy ann, ca ne fait rien, or sweet <deleted> all).

Colourful language, English !

official import right will be coming soon though

We've been hearing this rumour for a few years now, so far the launch keeps getting put-back, a cynic might suppose that large brown-envelopes are handed-over to ensure that Beer Lao never officially reaches the parts of Thailand, which other locally-brewed beers already reach !

Hmm! Only one child, that's unusual!!

Perhaps the shops were sold-out, of multi-packs of children, or limiting them to one-per-customer ?

That's Lampang, where the power-station outside town burns locally-mined brown coal, surely not a coincidence that it also has bad-quality air as well.

Khun Thaksin will go down in history as one of the most demonized and unjustly treated people of our time.

My heart bleeds.

LOL .. yeah a convicted felon is just misunderstood

its no big secret that in Thailand the ju.......ary works for whoever is in power or has the 'power' at any particular time

But there was a PPP-led coalition-government in power, when he was convicted, so that argument fails then.

Perhaps if he had let the several other cases proceed, and he had been found innocent in them, you might make a better case, but he got caught instead trying to bribe judges, and did a runner, which suggests that he doesn't share your conviction in his total innocence of any wrongdoing.

I'd add that the three thousand executed, during Thaksin's 'War on Drugs', are IMO ahead of him, in the queue of those unjustly-treated.

atm ?

Thaksin also ridiculed the 19 September coup makers as "guards" who had ambition and wanted to become executives. He said the coup was the worst thing because it was the robbery of the people's power.

"The CNS [Council for National Security] members were like guards who saw executives running a firm and had and urge to run the firm themselves," Thaksin said. "How could we let guards run a firm?"

- The Nation / 2009-02-14

Back to the old Thailand is-a-company image.

With himself as Chief-Executive-for-Life !

When will Thaksin realise, the Board have replaced him as CEO, and the company has moved on ?

At least there is light at the end of the tunnel as they say.

isn't the line supposed to be overhead???

The tunnels are required to speed through the central-Bangkok mountain-range.

Thaksin sues Suthep for defamation

Ousted PM Thaksin Shinawatra on Friday sued Deputy PM Suthep Thaugsuban for defamation after Suthep accused Thaksin of wishing to become "President of Thailand." Udom Prongfah, lawyer of Thaksin, went to the Criminal Court to file the defamation suit against Mr Suthep. The court accepted the case, and has scheduled May 18 for a hearing on the case. Puea Thai Party MP Chaowarin Latthasaksiri earlier defended Thaksin, saying he only said he would return as prime minister, not as president.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/13...-for-defamation

So Thaksin is now perfectly happy, with the fairness of the justice-system in Thailand, and wishes to use it to muffle his critics, sense of deja-vu anybody ?

But when it is time for himself to face the courts, suddenly they are unfair and unjust, doesn't that demonstrate double-standards ?

Possibly the PTP, still mired in their on-going leadership-problems, are simply not yet able to function as a proper Opposition in Parliament, which is a pity since Abhisit says his government "is ready to be monitored on the budget spending in every way".

The sad part is, he admits to have been teaching here for 9 years and can't see the irony of accusing Thais of being poorly educated.

Ballpoint, I also thought the same, at first.

But glancing through his other posts, on 2008-10-09 he said "having worked ... recently in Afghanistan" and "As a serviceman" and also "I am a soldier". That was only 3 months ago.

So he might not be a regular teacher "having taught here ovr 9 years", as we both assumed, but perhaps some sort of military trainer, and not seeing the sort of student who gets a first-degree here, then moves abroad for a Master's or Doctorate, before returning to work in industry or for the government ?

The problem is the security cannot detect large groups on foot in yellow camouflage.

But they cheated, by hiding behind their banners & hand-held signs, as I recall.

Agreed, this is all very embarrassing for Thailand, but comments like these are deplorable and reminiscent of "The U.N. is not my father".

One would hope for educated Thais to be more-aware of international expectations, on both the proper treatment of refugees, and on freedom-of-expression.

Educated Thai's....er have yu been here a long time? bit of a joke comment really.

Yes, I've lived here for several years, and been coming here for over 20 years, during which time I have met many educated Thais, who have travelled or studied or worked overseas. But you're entitled to your (derogatory or borderline-racist ?) view that 'educated Thais' is a "joke comment", I just don't agree with you, is all.

Educated to what standard? and where? have taught here ovr 9 years.pleases define "educated"

Preferably overseas, having taught here for "ovr 9 years", how many overseas-educated students do you encounter ? Do some of your local students move overseas later, after you know them, to reach a higher standard, perhaps ? Travel & study in other countries is a broadening-experience, wherever you come from, IMO.

Which is why I would hope that a senior technocrat, like the person quoted in the OP, would display more awareness of international attitudes, rather than what appears to be a knee-jerk parochial & overly-nationalistic response.

You pay the money , you get the credentials (evenif you never show your face)

This does happen overseas too, witness people with doctoral-theses written in English, who are still not very good at speaking the language, but can go on to become PM.

Educated Thai's.,,, please rephrase.

No.

In view of your comments, I am surprised that you can still find fulfillment, teaching here, if the standard of your students is as low as you suggest ? Or perhaps you just need a trip out-of-country, to regain your balance ... I certainly used to need regular breaks, when working in Arabia, and can understand the need for them.

My dog says ... the Baht is going through the 'woof' ! I'm not sure that I believe this tail. Paws for thought ?

Walk out of any tourist hotel and be greeted by scammers posing as taxi drivers. They sit there all day, refusing fares, only willing to get up off their asss if they can scam a 'first time' visitor.

Why do the hotel management let this continue I wonder?

Surely not because of kickbacks ?

Interesting to see that these drivers have already evolved a successful modified marketing-strategy of their own !

Should they perhaps be running the whole country ? Step forward, the Taxi-Drivers-of-Thailand Party !

Jolie ran her mouth after visiting ONE refugee camp. i'm sure there's lots of actual Thai people living in worse housing and with less food. why doesn't she donate a couple million baht to the refugee situation?? she needs it for 1st class airfare and hotels?

To be fair to AJ, she does indeed spend significant amounts of her own money, supporting development in Cambodia, as widely reported in the press.

just enjoy the privilege of being in this country and <deleted>.

Perhaps all these farangs, who like to stand up for civilised behaviour, should be encouraged to go home ? Or at least allow crimes against humanity to go unremarked, in the interests of good manners, to their hosts ?

my comments in red above.

Expect this to continue - the Bahts heydays are numbered - expect a slow but continual downturn (against Western currencies) for the rest of this year - and quite possibly a steep drop last quater '09, or during first 2 quaters '10.

Hang on to your forex - now is not the time to change it into Baht - wait to later this year, and even better first half next year.

Unfortunately, in the meantime we have to live, take care of sick buffaloes and feed the rubber plantations....

Also pay school-fees, and hold B400k for 3 months, to satisfy the Immigration Dept.

By the way, I have just invented this miracle new health-serum for sick water-buffaloes, please send $10 or 500B (Sterling not accepted) for a free sample, sent under plain-cover.

Agreed, this is all very embarrassing for Thailand, but comments like these are deplorable and reminiscent of "The U.N. is not my father".

One would hope for educated Thais to be more-aware of international expectations, on both the proper treatment of refugees, and on freedom-of-expression.

Also, if you want some idea of used book market, check the USED prices on books at amazon.com. A huge percent of them will be sold for ONE penny, that is one cent US currency plus shipping.

After shipping-costs, amazon used-books in the UK still cost me a few quid, which converts to a couple of hundred baht, these days.

I must admit there is a hel_l of lot of bookshops in Chiang Mai but I see this as a plus, the Hay on Wye of Thailand

Agreed, Chiang Mai is an excellent place for 2nd-hand 50%-on-return bookstores, which must be why there are so many of us literate types living here ?

"Chiang Mai ... Hub of 2nd-Hand Book-Stores & Readers !"

....and they give you scraps if you want them!! Even to old fogeys like me!!

Perhaps, if we get up a petition, Rimping might start to import these ?

After the coup, the military budget went up dramatically from 85 Billion Baht to Bt167 billion in 2009.

Now, who's been robbing the country blind? Thaksin?

Why don't we see these reports in The Nation newspaper I wonder?

The military too. Thaksin too.

The idea that the military should be involved in running businesses, ranks alongside the idea that government's role or expertise is to run businesses, and therefore requires a domineering accept-no-criticism 'CEO-type', to take charge.

Corruption in military spending, or other government spending, is equally wrong, and deserves to be exposed.

I once travelled to the different embassies in BKK on a work contract. I found the British Embassy to be fairly professional but the busiest and also the trashiest, the Australian embassy was more professional and the quietest (and best looking) and most hospitable was the danish

The Japanese was the most austere. You can't even go inside unless you're asian, the BIB guard it!

Presumably because they had the best pastries, at coffee-time ?

...the thugs that set up road blocks, beat and kill people, and disrupt political meetings = PAD

Not up here in Chiang Mai. That's the local reds.

But this one did go peacefully, and did get reported, good for democracy.