OldgitTom

There is no substitute for books, but the costs are a large problem all over the globe.

Sad if schools' IT equipment is in bad repair. Maybe farangs with time & skills might drop into local school & offer free help? OGT

Citibank UK is the pits. Avoid it like the plague. About two years ago I struggled with them for weeks when they failed to renew my expired ATM card. Their Free Helpline numbers are - 001 44 207 500 5500

001 44 207 500 5000

which don't work from Thailand. I informed them of that years back. I got a number that did work from the UK. The Helpline people in India were polite but useless. They have no power to do much of anything. I eventually got the Financial Services Ombudsman, UK, on the issue, & then Citiplankers sent me a new card.

The Online Banking service cut me out years back. 2 long phone calls, zilch difference, so I gave up trying to use that "service".

Now they want a repeat performance. ATM card doesn't work. Cut to the chase, Bangalore telestaff said I "failed to renew my UK address". Naughty me, but I received no notification of this "necessity". Helpline people still useless. Gave me the above numbers AGAIN for remedial action, ignoring my pleas that they don't work.

Another letter written, w/out much hope. Visa renewal coming up in November, as my needed local bank deposit dwindles w/out top-ups. I may have to visit London.

I'd change banks if I were in UK, but from here, I suspect Citiplankers would screw that up royally. OGT

Quelle surprise: blimps, mini-fuehrers, neo-cons, jackboot-likkers, Conservatives, Republicans, farang supremacists, Nazis, police informers, spics, etc., etc., eat yer livvers!!!

Vox populi, vox dei. OGT

Nice video, presumably made by the Teletubbies team. Not so nice is the 150 knickers punch up the froat for pensioners renewing old 40-quid passport - for the enormous privilege of not having to live in the UK.

Ah, but our shiny new passports will be more 'secure'? Presumably that means we pay the (very wonderful) UK secret police to put all our personal data on an embedded passport microchip, & if the Vogons are still not happy, they can grope in our underpants, or force us to strip in the airport. Believe, work, obey. B******s. OGT

Tragically, human trafficking is not confined to Thailand & Third World. Watch Hollywood movie 'Taken'. It is the usual crash-bang-wallop fantasy, but based on filthy realities. Trafficking goes on in the West, under the noses of the police. It is heartbreaking that the victims are young women & children.

OK, we know arrested bar girls working w/out papers in any country will claim they were abducted & forced to work. Nevertheless, this basest form of slavery exists. Abroad, watch out for your loved ones very carefully. OGT

In nature, elephants roam long distances. Putting them in 'reserves' is no substitute. The poor creatures we see in Thai towns are the last remnants of these magnificent, intelligent creatures. Give them food, & don't grudge the poor people who also eke out a living by them. They are both doomed species. Compassion is the Lord Buddha's message. F---k the 'authorities', & 'the law'. OGT

Savage by name & nature! Farewell. Try Southend - bags of aggro there.

Now let's also round up all the hatchet-faced farang mini-Fuehrers who were calling for napalm attacks on the redshirts. Let's send them home too. There they can dine on rat poison, washed down with vinegar, join the local Brownshirts, & hang & flog the likes of young Savage. That should make both them & Thailand happier.

Cheers. OGT

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<br>How sad... but how many have been closed due the sight of soldiers killing people in the street? How many businesses have been closed because of the airport occupation and how many have been closed due to the incompetence of Abhisit's boss Suthep? Lots more, the difference is that it is pretty convenient to complain when business is bad with this bunch of yellow shirt lovers, they will pay out and they can easily do so by cutting the absurd military budget.<br>

<br><br><br>What a stupid biased statement!  <br><br>No-one was going to get hurt until the red mob got out of control.  Abhisit and the Govt at least warned and continued to warn until the violence was started by the Reds - if they had gone home as requested there would have been no violence as the Govt had already agreed to dissolve parliament and the reds had won but the idiot stage screamers refused and the ball of wax melted.  <br><br>Take off your sunglasses and put your beer down.  The yellow shirt protests at the airport never turned violent, trashed buildings, bombed businesses or burnt Thailand.  Businesses now - mine included - have all but stopped due entirely to reds not yellow, purple, white or blues.  Comments regarding budgets for military can lead into the grey areas of the royals and cannot be discussed here.<br><br><br><br>

A true warning tale; farang was traveling in SE Asia (not Thailand). He got chatting to a friendly young Thai lad with very good English. The same boy turned up at his hotel. He said his 'uncle' had failed to meet him, & so he had nowhere to stay. Could he share the farang's hotel room. The farang smelled a rat, a shakedown, so refused.

Next morning, farang asked at hotel reception & learned that 'uncle' had collected boy later.

Non-rock spiders, be very, very careful out there. OGT

marquess,

“What a waste of police resources but then again why not, people burn down the city, and the police turn a blind eye. “

But the Bangkok rich wheeled on the army to gun them down, which they always do when faced with the protests of the poor.

If gambling were legalized, the gov could tax it & fund better services & support for the poor. The problem? That would deprive a handful of top sharks of their rich pickings from their ilegal gambling rackets – ignored discretely by you-know-who.

Much the same as the drugs racket, which flourishes equally in the West under illegality, rivers of geld flowing to the banks & the lovely, respectable nobs who own them.

C’mon, wake up at the back there. OGT

You farangs condemn out of ignorance.

As far back as the 1950s, Thailand had sound education plans. The best were sent abroad to study. Once highly qualified, these returnees were meant to be the teachers of a new generation of teachers. Alas, in the 1960s, the Asian economic boom began to take off. This highly-educated elite was attracted from low-paid education into big-money business & government - collapse of plans.

And it got worse. America & Europe recruited the brightest & best Thai graduates with salaries Thailand could not pay.

This country struggles under the weight of more powerful & wealthy regimes. Understand: don't join the ignorant & malevolent in jeering. OGT

Dhrobertson,

“Early elections have already been offered and rejected by the reds. Nobody knows what the reds really want.”

Seems the Reds want resignation of the army coup/pork-barrel government & immediate election. If the Reds moved out, it would be a cheap victory for Abhisit & his BKK Bandit chums. Price, a promise.

“I would say that in Nakon Phanom provinces support is about 50/50.”

I don’t disbelieve you. But the final proof of your pudding is in the electoral eating, otherwise it is just more farang speculation. I suggest, au contraire, if smooth-talking Abhisit & his gang had majority backing, they would not need the army to remove their politcal opponents. As the ‘silly’ Reds seem to have understood, the last thing the Brute Force & Ignorance Party wants is a free election.

“General response to Seh Daeng assasination seems to be Sam nah nah. (Seves you right).”

Exactly the opinion of most farangs here. Democracy, law & order, all come from the barrel of a gun. They have it completely round the wrong way. The mobs appear on the streets when the majority will is blocked. Mobs established democracy in America, Britain, France, etc.

Let’s give peace a chance. Ballots & political blather kill no-one. OGT

whybother,

“The reds don't want reconciliation. They want to be in power. They only want one thing. That's why they don't want to negotiate.”

That may be your take, but things look very different to the Thais in the upcountry villages – which is surely what is more germane than farang opinion. If you doubt me, read the international press, rather than The Nation & BKK Post, which are propaganda outlets for the BKK ‘elite’.

We have no sure idea of what Abhisit wants, or how genuine are his conciliatory offers. Relevantly, the Reds apparently do not trust him. I’m sure he would be very happy if they all went quietly home. But from their viewpoint, what would they have gained, apart from a politician’s promises?

As from the start, the peaceful solution is seemingly for dissolution of a government founded on an army coup & political horse-trading, then a new election. The alternative is more bloodshed & chaos, but that’s just my take.

The farangs who take a violently partisan approach in this crisis are crapping in their own nest, IMHO. This is a very unstable part of the world. Thailand is surrounded by some very dodgy regimes. Not the least problem is the Moslem violence in the south. Inernal strife weakens Thailand. If you want to continue enjoying its benefits, you might do well to tone down your calls for ‘crackdowns’ & ‘firm action’ – the old jackboots & bullets treatment for the ungrateful poor.

It is not impossible that a regime change will arrive. The new bosses might be the ‘Reds’ you so vigorously attack. You might find your position as a farang insecure. Thais are not idiots, & they have memories. You could find it very difficult to renew your visa &/or work permit in the future. Think on’t. OGT

there is no need for "negotiations" with these war mongers at this point, round them up and punish them. they are keen on burning buses and inciting violence.

when I passed through the area about 1:00 pm I could feel the tension in the air. happy I got outta there in time before it really started up. Man oh man are the supporters just a bunch of filthy scrubs. you have to seem 'em and then you can't deny.

Javowl, herr Uebermensch! These poor people must be crushed without pity. They dare to challenge the rich rulers armed with guns & tanks?! Intolerable! Heil Hitler. OGT

Bobby906, "The reds represent the majority - are you sure about that? Did you ask Dr.Weng?"

Mr T's administration was voted in by a majority & removed by armed force.

dhrobertson,

"The Nazis were primarily defeated by the Russians. Were they democrats?"

Despite massive funding from powerful vested interests, the National Socialists (nazis) could not win an election. They could not seize full power until they put the opposition (mainly left) parties into concentration camps. They were then kept in power by the army. The ensuing catastrophic world war should remind anti-democrat posters of the dangers of their fascistic views.

"If the Thais are foolish enough, not educated enough and not informed enough to sell their vote, don't start bleating about lack of democracy."

If you are foolish enuf to be ignorant of the lessons of your own history, stop bleating about Thai democracy. My remarks are aimed exclusively at the anti-democrat farang posters here. I do not claim superior judgement over the majority of Thais who voted for Mr T. I accept that as their business. Nor do I call for military suppression of the Thai Redshirt protesters.

Whybother,

"Abhisit has the support of the majority of MPs elected by the people. That, in my book, gives him a 'popular mandate'. "

Exactly, Whybother, you are a happy farang! The crucial thing is, the Thai majority who voted for the overthrown government is not happy. Do you see the difference? Many Thai voters feel they have been screwed. I think so too, but I would not dream of even telling them. I'm just a guest here.

Democracy is always unstable, since it rests on human faillibility. But as Winston Churchill said, it only looks bad until you consider the alternatives. Or, "Jaw-jaw is better then war-war". OGT

The farang anti-democracy posters seem to believe that democracy is extruded from the barrel of a gun, or pressed out from tank treads. It aint. That is the ideology of the Brute Force & Ignorance Tendency – once represented by the Nazis.

The legitimacy of a democratic government & its laws are established at the ballot box, by the majority of voters. It is irrelevant what farangs (you or I) think of the resulting regime (Mr T, et al). Sad that you & I didn’t approve of Mr T. Real sad, but farangs should mind their own business, & let the Thais tend their own business.

The Thais made their choice, so that is clear. Comment is allowable, but what kind of arrogance is it that assumes certain farangs can make superior choices?

The tide is turning, I hope towards a stable democratic system. Whatever, farangs have no role except as commentators. This commentator has lived long enuf to remember Nazi bombs & guns. He can assure you anti-democrats & jackboot-likkers that those who fought against them were the democrats, those behind them were its enemies.

The Reds represent the majority that has been robbed of its democratic rights. Like it or lump it, they are fighting for restoration of those rights. It is a struggle between the ballot & the bullet, the majority & the minority; between democratic legitimacy & law-&-order legalism. May the majority win.

Vox populi, vox dei. OGT

iforget,

you made some sound points, but you make the common mistake of the moderate, middle-of-the-road liberal. Eg.,

There is something badly wrong with those income inequality figures, and urging the government to "send the peasants back to the fields" is not the answer. But neither, I believe, is mob rule.

Democracy is always established by the mob, usually with blood on the streets. Don't blame me, blame human history. It does not come down from on high from wise statesmen. And if it is not fought for from time to time, it withers, suborned by minorities with vested interests in corruption.

To repeat, farangs can beat their gums bloody about the deficiencies of Thaksin's regime, but they kid themselves if they think there must be some higher authority than the majority who voted for him. There aint. In a democracy, you must submit to the will of the voters, even if you don't like it, even if you have the Bangkok Bandits & the army behind you.

Coalminer,

you got it. The monothematic authoritarian posters here are inured to evidence & argument, becos they do not have a grasp of the basic principles of democracy. How many times have they trotted out the crimes of Mr T?

Listen boys, I agree with you, but the crimes are irrelevant. As long as his supporters view him as their hero, that is all that matters in a democracy. He got a majority. THAT gave him legitimacy. It doesn’t matter a dam_n what you, I, or any other farang/Yellow/outsider thinks. That’s where ultimate government authority comes from in a democracy – the majority of the people.

Vote buying? I thought all the parties did that, but I really only go on what I’ve been told. Maybe the BKK Bandit parties should be a little less tight-fisted? I’m sure the poor of Isaan could do with the extra conkers. May the most generous party win. At present, like it or lump it, oh superior farangs, Mr T is extremely popular in the villages.

If the opposition didn’t like what he did, it should have made a fuss, created a better set of policies, then presented them to the Thai electorate at the next election. How else does a democratic system work?

But wrong move: for the bloody crimes he commited in office, Mr T should have been impeached &/or arraigned. Rolling out the army’s tanks to destroy his government was a catastrophic gaffe. It is utter hypocrisy to accuse the Red protestors of ‘violence’ & ‘illegality’ after that, & the Isaan poor know it, even if their farang ‘superiors’ don’t.

Abhisit has the power to resolve the standoff peacefully. Let’s hope & pray he does. He must be a clever feller, been to Eton & Oxbridge, so should be smart enuf to come up with a more cunning plan than more bullets & RPGs, altho that might disappoint some of the failed fuehrers who post here. Methinks they really love the taste of jackboot polish. OGT

The authoritarian farangs who post here are likely to get what they are drooling for - a massacre.

So the Reds threaten this, that & the other? So what else power have the poor got? They have been blocked from the ballot, they got no machine guns, tanks or artillery, & little money.

Their crooked 'leader' is removed by the equally crooked mafiosi of BKK.

What they got left but protest & verbals?

Whenever democracy raises its head in Thailand, the answer from BKK is a massacre. If the rednecks read a little history, they would know this. But authoritarians don't want to know. They don't want democracy, they want 'peace, law & order' - like you get in a prison or a graveyard. The residents there have limited ability to disturb the fun of expat wrinklies. The latter will be able to smile on in the Land of Smiles.

Others, pray for a miracle. OGT

"This jerk is just trying to pressure Anupong into killing. Put him and the CRES in jail and this could be resolved."

You got it Grandpa. I think some of the posters here would pay to watch the massacre live. OGT

Brahmburgers,

‘Wrong and naive. Village pu yai (headman) are paid by major parties, most often TRT and its incarnations, to bring in the vote that's dictated. There are payments, there are promises of payments, there's coersion, bullying, all sorts of ways to get little people to vote the way they're told to vote. It's also been reported that some Thai voting booths are not private, and individuals' votes are known by local authorities. Those who don't vote how they're told to vote are disciplined and/or cut out of the money that's handed out by big shots.’

Probably true for all I know; if you are faced with paying the elctricity bill or feeding the kids, electoral kickbacks might seem like Xmas. So you've given us another reason for having one, dude. IMHO, even a bent election is better than institutionalized poverty, plus blood on the streets, plus the gun barrel of a tank over your shoulder.

Yoshiwara,

‘Unfortunately when push comes to shove you don't even bother to hide your support for open corruption.

Another soggy liberal patronising 'the poor' for their tortured consciences. Old patronising gits for Thaksin. I think that's about right.’

Corruption? It usually comes from the top down, from rich authoritarians. The poor don’t have the wherewithal, so only a singularly dim conservative would blame them for it.

You don’t seem to have noticed a word I posted against Ole Squarehead.

‘Liberal’ I take as a compliment, likewise my alleged tortured conscience.

You didn’t say what you feel about hatchet-faced, brute-force-&-ignorance authoritarians. Do tell. OGT

rixalex,

‘It's not pessimism, it is realism. Nothing bent about the logic and how true blue conservatism comes into it, only you must know.’

I am happy to tell you something you were unaware of before, but of course, I expect no thanks in explicating further.

“We have had X for many years, therefore we will always have X”. That was your argument, reduced to its bare (bent) logical bones. The conservative is always happy with what is, always suspicious of a possible improved state in the future. If human beings were all conservatives, we would still be up trees eating bananas. Clearer? Good show!

‘Complete nonsense. Abhisit arrived in power via tanks and guns no more than Samak or Somchai did before him. So where were you and the reds then? Not a peep did we hear. ‘

You didn’t hear, therefore no protest was uttered? More bent logic, but not surprising, if your perceptions were focussed exclusively on the hacks of Thailand’s English language media. As I wearily reiterate, the issue is not what farangs perceive, it is how things look to the rural poor. For this viewpoint, a measure of human sympathy is needed from farangs. But if conservatives had this, they would not be conservatives.

The farang conservative wrinklies sit on their fat quoits, bemoaning the street dramas, understanding nothing of why they happen, & caring less than the long-nosed idol at Erawhan corner. OGT

Rixalex,

‘Since when have there ever been free elections, and in the current climate of divisiveness and disruptions, what chance is there for having one now? Pretty much zero i would say.’

We’ve never had X before, therefore we never will have X. Not only pessimism & defeatism, but bent logic. Spoken like a true, blue conservative.

‘There will of course have to be elections at some stage, free or otherwise, but what advantage is there to allowing the country to be held at ransom by a tiny minority of the population on the streets, and giving in to their demands?’

Yeah, & long-term, we are all dead, the poorer the sooner. By pre-loading your own premiss, you supply your own desired answer - pretty much what Mr Abhisit is doing. He who arrived in power via tanks & guns now can pose as the representative of sweet reason, peace & legality. Nice one!

Like you, Abhisit will hold out against an election precisely becos he knows he & his Bangkok Bandit crew of skimmers-off-the-top are unlikely to win. They hated Mr T, becos he was a bigger & better crook than them, the dirty arriviste cad. But, to give in to popular demand is to make a move towards actual democracy – something Mr A & his crew will resist fiercely, & likely with more gunplay. Precisely as long as no election is held, the BBs & you can claim the Redshirts are an unrepresentative minority.

How representative of ordinary Thais is Mr Abhisit, flower of Eton & Oxbridge? How many khao pats does that kind of elite education cost?

I know probably as well as you that the rural poor will sell their votes. As far as my limited knowledge goes, all parties buy votes. I assume Mr T’s ‘boys’ pay better? Our difference is that I see the connection between lack of democracy & abundance of poverty, & you do not want to see it.

An election might be a significant step in the right direction – why you & Mr Abhisit will resist it, while hypocritically deploring the loss of life & street battles. The latter brought what little democracy that exists in Thailand & the world. They are signs of democracy’s emergence & vitality. They are frail signs of hope. God bless the Redshirts & poor Thais. Vox populi, vox dei. OGT

Brahmburgers,

‘1) brahmburgers says, "If you look back at who the Isaan people have voted to represent them since the first elections following the end of the Prem administration, you'll find that it has continually been the same political groupings, families and proxies."

you don't even counter that statement. may i ask you - you ever heard anything about something called "kreng jai"?

do you want to _deny_ that "village folk", since decades, actually "vote" for their regional oppressors?’

You don’t get it. It’s not what I/you think, it’s what the ‘village folk’ think that counts. They perceive overwhelming that Mr T led a good government for them. You, I, & other farangs might deplore their naivety, but our views are irrelevant. In a real democracy the voters are allowed their illusions & mistakes. The hope is, they will learn by experience. They will never learn if their choices are removed by armed force. How many interventions in 70 years?

‘2) i cut your rant, ok. you say, " Peace & legality can be restored by the announcement of a free election."

first of all, again, i ask the same question i ask again & again & again: _how comes_ you people are so _obsessed_ with "calling a new election?" how comes that's the only statement?

i tried to explain before, elections are an ingredient of democracy. but to reduce democracy to elections is... let me call it, handicapped in visions & understanding, ok?

also, Abhisit gov entered public negotiations with a mob. something that never had happened before in thailand. there were 2 rounds of talks. Abhisit gov offered a house dissolution in 9 months - it's negotiations, so that's the _first_ offer before bargaining, right? further negotiations were ruled out - by whom? instead we had an increase in intimidation, hate spin, etc etc etc’

Democrats are ‘obsessed’ by free elections becos staging one would peacefully resolve this crisis & stop the bloodshed. I don’t reduce democracy to elections, just stick to what is immediately relevant. Abhisit can cheerfully ‘negotiate’, since talk costs him & his rich buddies nothing. Also, the violent approach applauded by so many farangs here has brought him embarassing international attention. The Redshirts are right to stick to their demands, since if they all went quietly home w/out satisfaction, it would be their defeat.

‘3) you say, "YOU think the Yellowshirts of the Bangkok Bandit elite are a better option than the Redshirts’ candidates? " which red-shirt candidates? what is the policy platform?’

Exactly! Mr T’s party has been effectively liquidated, leaving the ‘village folk’ feeling more screwed than before.

‘calm down’

Certainly; but please understand that riots in the streets are the result of blocking the will of the majority when it was expressed peacefully & lawfully. I hope that is not too hard to appreciate? Patronizing the voters by calling them backward, & ‘terrorists’ is, as I said, & repeat, arrogant & ignorant. They are not stupid. They know they suffer low incomes & poor social services. They know the Bangkok Bandits & their Yellowshirt apparatus don’t want to pay up. Mr T was a brutal & crooked opportunist, but they voted for someone who at least gave the appearance of doing something for them.

I don’t engage with Thai politics at all, just with the smug, well-heeled, conservative farang posters here who know nothing of Thai people or their hard history, & care even less.

Bar scene, midnight; the waitress looked about 14. She had fallen asleep over the table, while trying to do her homework. What hope have Thai kids like her? Bring out the guns to keep ‘em calmed down? OGT

Brahmburgers,

‘I'm going to take the unusual step of saying the best way to get change is to stick with the status quo. If you look back at who the Isaan people have voted to represent them since the first elections following the end of the Prem administration, you'll find that it has continually been the same political groupings, families and proxies. (posting clipped for brevity......)’

Jesus wept! What ignorant, redneck rant! Is there no end to farang arrogance & abject stupidity? &lt;deleted&gt; are you to judge the voting choices of the people of Isaan? Are you really claiming to know better than them? YOU think the Yellowshirts of the Bangkok Bandit elite are a better option than the Redshirts’ candidates?

In the context of Thai democracy, who gives a flying duck what you or any other farang thinks? This is a choice for the Thai people. Ignorant farang arrogance, prejudice & stupidity aside, the ISSUE is who gets the mostest Thai votes: finish! Peace & legality can be restored by the announcement of a free election.

Tough if the your favored Yellows get trounced. Chew on it. Sad if you & your fellow elephants have to pay more for your beer & sex. Democracy is long-term the most nourishing diet. It brings legality, peace, justice & order. There is no farang substitute, despite the payments from Uncle Sam to the big, fat guys in uniforms covered with medals. OGT