Utley

Yes

Money

May I ventilate the thought a US based medicine company might be at the heart of the problem?

Pure speculation adds nothing to this discussion.

Between a dengue fever epidemic at the moment and annual air purity alerts from crop and forest burning, one has to question the validity of "awards" of this nature. With Motor Trend's car of the year award, the annual recipient spends huge amounts on advertising to "thank" the publication for the honor. Is the "Live and Invest Overseas" website of a similar nature?

"Apart from giving its greying population financial freedom, the government also needs to start making public facilities friendly for the elderly. Infrastructure that is age friendly, whether it be toilets or transportation, will help the elderly be more independent."

Escalators for the aged and elevators (lifts) for the handicapped on the BTS would be a real plus. Bangkok has got to be one of the most aged/handicapped unfriendly cities on the planet!

U.S. based no-load mutual funds. I like keeping my money.

Actually "your money" goes to pay the high salaries of the mutual fund managers, even when they lose "your money".

No-load, index funds like the ones that VanGuard offers; virtually no management fees. Read their prospectus: https://investor.vanguard.com/corporate-portal

U.S. based no-load mutual funds. I like keeping my money.

"The country’s $346 billion economy can handle the $4.4 billion the government blew on rice purchases last year."

I don't understand the relevance of that comment from Bloomberg.

The relevant issue is the impact of the wasted $4.4 billion on the government's $77 billion budget.

And according to information in another Bloomberg report, the Thai government is not going to be able to offload its ever-increasing rice stockpile anytime soon.

"Global rice stocks reach 12-year high as food costs drop

Bloomberg Jul 9, 2013

SINGAPORE/ BANGKOK: Rice stockpiles are expanding to the highest level in 12 years as production rises to a record, adding to a worldwide surge in agricultural output that is poised to diminish the $1.1 trillion global food-import bill.

Reserves will gain for a seventh year, rising 2.7% to 108.6 million metric tonne in 2013-2014, the US Department of Agriculture estimates. Output will climb 1.9% to 479.2 million tonne, exceeding demand by 2.8 million tonne."

The relevance is that in Bloomberg's opinion the $4.4 billion the Thai Government is spending on it's rice support scheme, while relatively insignificant when compared to the Thai economy as a whole, is a misallocation of resources. The Thai Government should be taking a long term view and focus on education, not a short term view in an attempt to put a few more baht in the voter's pockets which will be spent by this afternoon.

"[The rice subsidy] program isn’t bankrupting Thailand. The country’s $346 billion economy can handle the $4.4 billion the government blew on rice purchases last year."

"Look closer, though, at the thrust of Yingluck’s economic policies. Her government has subsidized rice prices, provided handouts to car buyers and favored megaprojects that will enrich the politically connected more than the masses. All this comes at the expense of long-term competitiveness and prosperity: Thailand should instead be investing in its future, especially education, if it wants to break out of the “middle-income trap” that befalls many developing nations."

Thailand Needs to Invest in People, Not Rice: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-11/thailand-need-to-invest-in-people-not-rice.html

Thailand is not a capitalistic democracy; it is a feudalist monarchy. Feudalism by its very nature leads to corruption. It is not something that you can change; it is cause and effect. You will have better luck trying to make water run up hill than you will trying to eliminate corruption from a society based on feudalism.

Have a close look at home. Our capitalistic democracies are being turned into feudal societies as the middle class is dismantled by our own corrupt politicians and corporations that put profits ahead of people and social responsibilities. Societies have a much harder time being free of crime and corruption when large sections of that society are not paid a living wage.

Just where do you expect the cash to pay for a "living wage" to come from? If productivity goes up, yes wages can go up so that everyone shares in the prosperity (it's called capitalism). But when wages go up through government intervention, prices go up in tandem in order to fund the higher wages - so the consumer of the product ends up funding the higher wage.

Thailand is not a capitalistic democracy; it is a feudalist monarchy. Feudalism by its very nature leads to corruption. It is not something that you can change; it is cause and effect. You will have better luck trying to make water run up hill than you will trying to eliminate corruption from a society based on feudalism.

Shoot the messenger! That will teach anyone who wants to tell the public the truth. Look at the USA, anyone that tells the truth about the corruption and dishonesty is labeled a traitor and will be hunted down and persecuted. The lady is a hero and should be labeled a true patriot.

Get real! USA bashing is not going to further your argument.

IMO, respect for the "rule of law" is one of the major dividing lines between healthy, productive governments and third world banana republics. Respect for the law is meant not only for individual citizens but also for government officials. With government officials going after the whistle blower who reported that the "emperor has no clothes", they continue to demonstrate that they are firmly embedded as one of the world's leading banana republics. Bravo to the officials who are trying to protect Supa but I suspect their protection is more for political reasons than lofty ideological standards.

What is the Thai term for "negligent homicide"? Oh, I know - mai pen rai!

As explained to me, the grace period is at the discretion of the immigration official. It does help to show up well dressed, have all your documents prepared and present the appearance of the type of person that the immigration official would welcome into his country.

"Supa based her testimony to the Senate committee on reports from subcommittees reviewing the accounts relating to the rice-pledging scheme. Those reports were submitted to the prime minister in October last year, Supa said."

"Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra asked Supa to provide proof to back up her claim that irregularities happen at every stage of the scheme."

Ahh...correct me if I am wrong in my observation - but if the reports had already been submitted to the prime minister last year, why is the prime minister only now asking Supa to explain them? Why weren't the reports of corruption investigated last year when they were initially submitted?

Oh - I know; it's a Thai thing and as a farang I just don't understand Thai culture. My bad!

No offense intended but I would like to ask a simple 21st century question: Why list great places to go without providing their GPS coordinates so people can readily locate them?

Really.. why should we ? you never heard of MAPS,google,google earth.. Bit of groundwork.. Lazy git.. no offense intended..

One good reason is that English translations of Thai locations can be written differently and still be phonetically correct, but only one of those translations will get you there on Google Maps. If you like a location enough to recommend it to others then please help them find it.

An excellent answer; much better than mine!

No offense intended but I would like to ask a simple 21st century question: Why list great places to go without providing their GPS coordinates so people can readily locate them?

I would like to ask a personal question why not post a map so people with out a GPS can find these places?

That way all could see where they are.

Good point but GPS coordinates are not just for people with GPS units; both Google Earth and Google Maps can use GPS coordinates in their search function to exactly pinpoint a location. FYI - GPS coordinates are just longitude and latitude expressed in degrees and minutes to three decimal places (instead of seconds).

No offense intended but I would like to ask a simple 21st century question: Why list great places to go without providing their GPS coordinates so people can readily locate them?

Search the names on Google Maps. It ain't that difficult.

That's my point; it ain't that difficult so why not just provide them?

Pongsapat said the best way to tackle the crisis was to reduce the demand. "To solve the problem, we must emphasise reducing the demand. This will only succeed with proper campaigns; the dissemination of information and through coordination with local police and communities.".

IMHO, the "demand" for drugs is determined by "quality of life". If you want to reduce the demand, you need to figure out why people are unhappy with their lives; education about the dangers of drug abuse is going to have little impact. Why are many Thais unhappy with their lives? Gee....could it be that many work 6 days a week at menial, mind numbing jobs and have to live apart from their spouses in order to procure work? Could it be that the Thai society is one that is based on "class" structure and if you are in the lower class there is little to no possibility of escape? Could it be that there is no equality in the eyes of the law and only those with money can "afford" justice?

Just some of my thoughts.

Quality of life is certainly a factor, one of many, but the demand for drugs is not determined by it, IMHO. It is not only the poor that use drugs.

Ironically, the rich privileged who are sent abroad for their education have brought the Western drug culture back to, in some cases, the origin of supply. (Of course this is by no means the crux of the problem, but a big part of it never-the-less)

Circle closed.............

I think that you may have missed the point or that I did not explain myself fully. A wealthy person can have a poor quality of life just as well as a poor person can. Money doesn't ensure happiness (although most of us would rather be rich and unhappy rather than poor and unhappy). IMO, a society's quality of life is tied directly to the importance placed on human and family values, which is deteriorating not only in Thailand but in many societies around the world.

Army fumes over 'inhuman attack'

How does one conduct a "humane" attack? Just asking.