WinnieTheKhwai

Talk about class war, did any of you see that fabulous Antoinette moment last week - Wednesday or Thursday - when Thaksin was giving his speech and told his followers that all TV channels, 3,7, 5, etc., were biased. And that if they didn't have the people's red TV they should, "stream it onto their blackberrys"! Classic. I don't remember exactly which day it was but had to wonder at his total doolaley comment.

Why is that a strange comment? He needs to point out alternatives in getting the news, when the commonly available sources are either biased or banned. Facebook and Twitter would also be excellent sources.

Or so you perhaps also buy into the mindset that only barefoot rice farmers support him who barely have electricity in their bamboo shacks, much less blackberries?

Also it would be very interesting if they put sensors right on roadways like they do in western countries and let's measure what people are really being exposed to.

That's exactly what the Upparaj College station is. The Chiang Mai station is at the provincial hall, so that'd be similar to any gated residential development out of town. And then Chiangmai station tends to be on the mountain. I'd say we're blessed with pretty good coverage of different parts of the local landscape.

That's interesting. Last time I was there a few months ago they had discontinued the option of charging USD or THB and demanded that everyone pay 500 THB.

They always want 500bht, but what you do is empty your wallet of baht before you go to any border office and only have dollars in it.

Then you play dumb and offer a $10 note, only speak English, wave the $10 around. Eventually they take it (while muttering insults in Thai)

Classy experience. But hey, if it saves 150 baht and you get Burmese immigration guys muttering Thai language then it may well be worth it.

A question!

How many times can you leave Mae Sai and walk into Tachilek in say one week. Can you walk across on consecutive days for example.

I have a multiple entry visa and don't need to do 90 day visa runs.

No limit. You could go multiple times per day until you run out of pages in your passport for all the stamps. This is assuming you have a multiple re-entry permit or true multiple entry visa (not limited to x entries).

How did he get away from motorcycle cops in a car in Bangkok?

I don't care how fast your car is and how slow the motorcycles, there is traffic, then traffic lights, then they could radio in to the cops at each junction to look for his car.

I'm not asking in case I have to do it myself in the future. I'm genuinely puzzled

Doesn't seem possible

He was driving a new Civic. Those pissy little Thai bikes had no chance once he got out of their sight, turned a few corners.

Unlikely to the extreme. Possibly however the Thai cops knew they had his license so they can find him again easily enough.

But erm.. let me get this straight: after being drunk enough to run over someone, he then speeds off, still drunk, at the highest possible speed? Was he trying to kill even more people? And, amidst all this you find time to complain about pissy little Thai bikes? Something is wrong here.

Oh give it a rest already, Aphisit is not going to dissolve parliament just because you put 2000 bikes on the roads and threaten to chase him 'cat and mouse' style - you guys need a new tactic (and new leaders).

If i were the police, i'd be stopping every red shirt they can find and asking to see their ID cards (licenses, insurance and helmets too). From what i have been told the red 'machine' has been holding onto their supporters ID cards to ensure the paid protesters do not take the money and run... this could be an interesting move and possibly generate a lot of $$ for the Police force

Or maybe when stopping and checking 2000 motorbike drivers, it will just create a bigger traffic jam. .

I didn't ever think it was likely for Chart Thai to quit.. Newin on the other hand will quit. Let's see if he makes a similar statement of support for the current coalition.

To answer to some of the Questions. (source Bank of Thailand)

Wealth distribution in Thailand

Top 20% 69

2nd quintile 18

3rd quintile 9

4th quintile 3

Bottom 20% 1

------------------------------------------------

Income Gaps per Country (GINI Index -source United Nations)

Denmark 24.7

Japan 24.9

Netherlands 30.9

Korea 31.6

France 32.7

Vietnam 37.8

Thailand 42.5

Bostwana 61.0

Also USA 45.0

Singapore 48.1

Philippines 45.8

Cambodia 43.0

Vietnam being communist would have a better spread.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/th...ields/2172.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_count...income_equality

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient

So it becomes apparent that USA is WORSE than Thailand by 2.5%...

Yes.. I find this topic highly interesting.. And remarkable to be debating an issue instead continueing a fruitless sniping match pro/contra particular politicians!

Possibly in countries with the very highest difference that are also poorest there would be less friction, simply because the bottom groups really have no power to make a stand. As the bottom groups are somewhat empowered and become more politically aware, there is an opportunity for friction to occur. This may again be more likely in countries where basic freedoms are guaranteed and a form of democracy exists.

I wonder if you have read any background on this problem, the factors in play, and where the problem originates.

<deleted>, does that mean, that it's someone else's problem?

Oh, not at all, it's very much everyone's problem. I really dislike the month of March for this reason. What I meant was that the bulk of the problem originates across the wider region, caused by burning and possibly dust issues in Burma and possibly even China.

You seemed to imply that 'the Thais' (there's a phrase that always rubs me the wrong way, which was a contributing factor to the amount of sarcasm in my reply ) don't address the problem and/or that 'The Thais', this 'Borg-like entity of collective cluelessness', are at the root of the problem and have the means to do something about it in a significant way.

^ So.. are you guys enjoying your talk as much as I do?

<broken record for the n-teenth time> It's called a protest. Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly. Your issue is with the constitution. </>

I wonder if you have read any background on this problem, the factors in play, and where the problem originates.

red shirts threaten to carry arms as well then ... 1000 red women to check if the soldiers are armed and if so the red shirts will arm themselves too.

Oh dear

Why no dialog?

Thougt the red women (or some of them anyway) were more used to short arm checking.

Nice.

Add it to the pile please.

Once again, congrats to the Red Shirts for keeping things peaceful. And while the blood thing was nasty and wrong, it was at least a non-violent act that succeeded in getting them some international press (although perhaps not the type they wanted).

However they don't seem to have sort of end game. Its clear they aren't going to get what they originally wanted, or what they pretended to want. What do they hope to achieve?

democracy instead of military dictatorship

Simple as that

I often wonder what percentage of the pro Thaksin element here at TV were even here for all of Thaksin's premeirship. It sure didn't feel much like a democracy then.

.. Mr. Experience.. (I've been here long enough to recognize the state we're back in now since the coup. It's VERY similar to the Banharn and Chavalit years following the coup before that.)

That's pretty much BM's position on this, yes... If you are not a red then you are the enemy

Not really, but as much as one hates to be inconvenienced I think its a better option to let them do their thing since at the end of the day it does no harm

But should people be 'inconvenienced' enough to make a stand and say "No" - they are obviously planning to do violence, in your opinion?

(and we are talking Thai on Thai here... no farangs involved)

Wolfie, you're putting words in his mouth instead of trying to get clarity in each others points of view. He responded to the following text, and the (in his opinion) veiled hint of violence in it:

It seems if they plan to venture into our little slice of Bangkapi again next Saturday they will NOT be met with waves and they will not be able to pass without a lot of extra effort. Some in the meeting are suggesting we look into hiring Private Security to bar them from entering the area at all. I doubt they (the Reds) could possibly be stupid enough to tempt fate again by taking the same route, but if they do there will be a very different greeting from areas like ours

The first time you said 'if you're not red than you're the enemy' which CLEARLY was not what BM said at all, and then a second time doubting there was a hint of violence.

There is no where after "soi Cowboy " is done Thailand has changed,the nightlife has changed, and mostly the players have changed.When I first came here Thais ran everything owned everything. It was simpler ,safer, more fun,and people were pleasant to deal with. That is gone. Foreigners run everything for expat venues. Foreigners are the dangerous people in most places. The good days are gone welcome to the ghetto. It willnot be cleaned up it will just get worse. Foreigners have made their own problem and the thais could care less.

I'm not sure if that's correct but I do feel that by and large I enjoy Thai owned places more. With a couple notable exceptions both ways.

There is no where to go after soi cowboy is done. The foreigners have basically built themselves a cage. Guys will have to get brave again and seek Thai places that they can join in on and forget hanging with other foreigners.

Yup! And you know what, that's just fine with me. I already do that on occasion, it's a lot of fun to boldly go where noone has gone before. For some reason when in completely un-touristed areas I have a blast of a time at some tiny little nightlife shack. Though a big part of that is also the amount of effort and good vibes you put in yourself. Sometimes when I'm in not a very good mood then the night doesn't take off no matter how great the surroundings.

A military cannot simply overthrow a government, particularly one that had a legitimate legal right to be in power.

Sorry. The Thaksin government was a caretaker government at the time of the coup. This caretaker government had been in place longer than the constitution allowed for. It was itself illegal. The coup ended that.

And why did that happen?

Hint: Because the "Democrat" boycotted elections that PM Thaksin called. The resulting stalemate led directly to the coup. So Abhisit most definitely wasn't just a passenger in the rape of what passes for democracy in Thailand and shredding of the only constituation to come about under democratic process; he was a active participant and instigator. Not sure if he realized it at the time of course; he may not have been briefed on all the plans.

It's amazing we can't seem to agree on those basic things so many years after the fact. Next we're going to hear the line the coup was because "demonstrators were planning to protest in Bangkok", the original line by The Nation at the time. We've recently seen that such a protest in Bangkok is of course completely no reason for a coup. In fact NOTHING is a legitimate reason for a coup. It's sad that some people still don't see that basic fact. "Educated Westerners" they call themselves too!!

It remains interesting they never referred to PAD in the same verbiage. In the larger scheme of things however it's not very worthwhile nitpicking at the things written in The Nation.

Something active/outdoorsy or sports related. Board games are good too, but hard to find good ones in Thailand.

Which brings me to the question: are you shopping locally in Thailand or abroad?

Over 10 years - Never.

Impossible to have a meaningful discussion on the next 3 years w/o addressing the elephant lurking in the room.

Agreed. So whatever we say here in absence of a full discussion will be pretty fruitless.

As for the Red's demands, I think in a couple months time some factions who were bought into the government will bail. That means elections near the end of the year. (Not making guarantees on timing obviously, it may very well be next year.)

The Disney channels are worth getting. Also you don't get that you suddenly get age-inappropriate cartoons following young kids stuff.

With Spark and the Disney channels there's really far too much appropriate TV already. There's only so much time kids can (should) spend watching TV, appropriate or not.

W O W !!!!!!!!!

Thank you!! I love old shots of Thailand! This is incredible.

I'm not feeling that guilty. I usually eat overcharges if they are minor so if once in a blue moon I get an extra 10 baht, big whoppee. Just the other day I was given 500 baht too much change on a 300 baht-ish bill. I gave the money back and let me tell you the business owner clearly thought I was an idiot!

Well, he wouldn't be the only one, and it may not have been in relation to doing the honorable thing in this case.

Still, in relation to this particular case I bet you he did not think you were an idiot for doing the honorable thing! So good on you.

Not really no. During Songkran people on city water may experience low pressure or even outages during the day, but that's just par for the course I suppose.

In the Don Chai area I'm not even sure if you'd be on city water to be honest. (Depending on which side you are; if you're in one of the gated communities then most likely no; if you're in the sois in the area between the railway station and Don Chan then maybe you are on city water.

I think that ppor enforcement of order by the police has had an adverse effect on Nana particularly, with those whose specifics we must not discuss lining Sukhumvit road, and

I was reading a great article in the Newspaper-that-cannot-be-Quoted about the increasing influence of those nationalities whose specifics we must not discuss, spreading the topic covered under point 18 of the forum rules. It was remarkable.

(It's a JOKE, please let it stand! Good enough to take a holiday over though.