WinnieTheKhwai

EU standard is 50, however they do allow 35 exceedences (yes, that's a word in Europe) per year. The yearly average should be under 40.

Chiang Mai is well over the first standard; 2010 is still in progress of course, but over 2009 there were 84 days over 50. It is just slightly over the second standard though, in 2009 the average was 42.07.

Neither, however she likes Abhisit and the Democrat Party.

Amazing, a fight between two people get a title like 'Victim of Red Shirt Violence"!

There is no doubt on which side the guy who gave this title is!

Or the newspaper that reported it.

Still, this is not what anyone wants to be seeing. These sort of confrontations are more likely with smaller, more spread out protests. It would be much better for everyone if there was just one organized protest.

I'm not arguing against your opinion of Thaksin, that'd be silly. I'm saying he remains an important figure in the opposition, and that as such they highlight any perceived failing of the government. It'd be fair to say that the government isn't making much progress in the South, right, even though that's (closer to) their base support?

How long has the insurgency in the south been going on?

Abhisit has been PM for one year. Do you really think problems like this can be solved in a year?

No, I think it's an ethnic issue that goes back for at least a century, to 1909 to be exact, when the greater Pattani area was annexed by then Siam in a deal with the British, who ruled Malaysia at the time. What I was saying is that Thaksin is an important figure in the opposition, and that it's the oppositions job to highlight the governments failings. See above you quoted it yourself.

While I am not expecting it to be solved in a year or even the next few years, I see no change at all from previous governments.

Thaksin was PM for 5 years. How much progress did Thaksin make?

Zilch. May have made it worse to be honest. While a heavy handed effort worked in relation to drugs, it really didn't in the deep South. The Democrat party currently has an opportunity to try it in different ways, but they've been as inert as in everything else they don't do. Possibly because that would mean getting on the military's turf, and he don't own that horse.

I completely agree with Millwall_fan; book a hotel or guesthouse for a couple days, then perhaps negotiate a weekly or monthly rate at that place or another, and in that week you can start looking for longer term accommodation.

I wouldn't get a driver; get some directions, get a bike or car and explore. It's fun exploring.

"However their request that the red shirts allow other passengers to get on the boats was rejected."

Who the hel_l do they think they are?

Well, they claim to be a newspaper that's insightful and independent. I don't think I agree.

Good points. However I'd tweak this line:

I find Thailand refreshingly cheap as long as you live a cheap life. By cheap I mean eat street food and wear non brand clothes

to something like: "I find Thailand refreshingly cheap as long as you live a lifestyle that's appropriate for your means.". My cheap may not be the same as your cheap; I wouldn't want to create the impression that in order for Thailand to be considered 'cheap', you're stuck to eating street food. Because Thailand is ALSO cheap when it comes to higher end stuff. So the good thing about Thailand when it comes to price and value is that you can basically spend what you want (or what you can) and get excellent value at almost every price level for most things. (Some exceptions apply, indeed wine and some types of car and a couple others).

How dare an ex police man comment on the sad death of a policeman that had served his country well and was being held up for a well deserved move

I seem to recall seeing Abhisit at the guys funeral, for what? how ,many other funerals for murdered policemen has he attended? Are you also going to suggest that Abhist used this unfortunate death for political purposes or try and suggest her was genuinely concerned.

so lets be clear: you think its ok for Thaksin to bring his death into the political arena and to condemn Abhisit as being directly responsible for his death?

Thaksin remains an important member of the opposition. It's their job to bring mishandling of a situation or inertia to deal with things to people's attention. It's also completely out of context, so I won't make further comments without hearing all that he said. When you just read the local English language dailies you would get all sorts of impressions about people in the opposition. It's your job to see through that and find a balance of information. (Assuming you'd want to stay informed).

Thaksin is a convicted criminal who ran away from justice and if any other politician red, yellow, green or otherwise, would have said the same thing, i would have felt no less revulsion

I'm not arguing against your opinion of Thaksin, that'd be silly. I'm saying he remains an important figure in the opposition, and that as such they highlight any perceived failing of the government. It'd be fair to say that the government isn't making much progress in the South, right, even though that's (closer to) their base support?

jintarla poonlarbs my favourite, been listening to her music for over ten year, from the first day i set foot in the country. doesnt go down to well with the wife though, think theirs a bit of jelousy on her part. she absolutely hates it every time i put any of her vcds on.

Ha, completely the same for me. The Mrs. can't stand it as soon as it approaches more traditional morlam, but is okay with the more pop type stuff especially if it's somewhat more in the Northern region as opposed to North Eastern. (Kratae et al) Jintara's more pop type songs are also okay, which is most of her recent stuff. (To be honest I have to be in a particular mood myself to appreciate hard core morlam.)

At stores like Big C, Tesco at al it's not a problem. Small mom & pop shops, you'r mileage will vary. On exchanging it at small shops it's about 50-50, odds are better if they think you're a repeat customer. But Big C and Tesco will actually give you your money back if you so request. That's what truly sets them apart.

How dare an ex police man comment on the sad death of a policeman that had served his country well and was being held up for a well deserved move

I seem to recall seeing Abhisit at the guys funeral, for what? how ,many other funerals for murdered policemen has he attended? Are you also going to suggest that Abhist used this unfortunate death for political purposes or try and suggest her was genuinely concerned.

so lets be clear: you think its ok for Thaksin to bring his death into the political arena and to condemn Abhisit as being directly responsible for his death?

Thaksin remains an important member of the opposition. It's their job to bring mishandling of a situation or inertia to deal with things to people's attention. It's also completely out of context, so I won't make further comments without hearing all that he said. When you just read the local English language dailies you would get all sorts of impressions about people in the opposition. It's your job to see through that and find a balance of information. (Assuming you'd want to stay informed).

Thanks for that effort, very good post. The only point I would add though is that if in the UK one party was in government, and if MP's in that party or coalition defected to the opposition, then most likely new elections would be called so that the new coalition could get its own mandate.

It's a minor point however, and overall I don't have a huge problem with what happened in a legal and constitutional sense. PTP/UDD supporters disagree, of course.

Personally, I am not a supporter of any party/ politician in TH. All too blatantly self serving. Not even an attempt to hide true intentions. Nevertheless, I believe it should always be up to the people to decide which party/ies (not so much the PM) govern(s) the country. If coalition parties defect and as a result, a government is no longer in the position to govern, general elections should be held. Especially when the last elections took place a year prior to whatever event caused the government's desolution. That's a huge problem for me. I really don't quite understand why that wouldn't be a problem for anyone. Whatever, let's just rally against Facebook's new layout - shall we?

I like Facebook's new layout. I don't like the selection I'm served with on my News page, but then I'm used to the concept of putting in some effort to get a good balance of information. Thai life and the local media have prepared me well.

Chiang Mai has GOT to be the only place in the world where you get these awesome combinations..

This most definitely beats a laundry & fish spa combination!

And, it's almost as good as 'Abhisit is handsome' as a reason for liking him.

<snip>

Where is the best & safest place to go to take pictures? Not looking for rioting but would like to get pictures of army, riot police and red shirts. Anything going on near any of the BTS or MRT Stations?

Do remember that your embassy has very likely warned you against getting too close to political rallies in Thailand (and for good reason!)

Are you saying it's dangerous to go to the protest site? Journalists from all major news organizations do so quite happily. I'm not advocating that anyone disregards an embassy advice, however they're not mandatory to follow.

I know people who were paid to vote for the Dems.

We ALL do!

Another useful post

Yup, almost as useful as yours would you say? (And this one, of course. I made a contribution that included actual content directly above, though.)

The Thai system of government is modeled after the Westminster system, so a brief explanation of that may help.

In the UK, after an election the party with the majority of seats forms a government. If no one party commands a majority then a coalition is formed so that one group can do so.

This means that the party with the largest single number of seats may find itself in opposition if they hold less than 50% of the seats and two or more other parties combine.

The Prime Minister is not directly elected by the electorate; s/he is the leader of the party who commands a majority in the House of Commons. This means that the Prime Minister can resign/retire/die/whatever and be replaced without there having to be an election. As happened when Blair resigned to be replaced by Brown.

The system of voting is 'first past the post.' Which means that the candidate who obtains the largest number of votes in a constituency is elected; even if that candidate actually received less than 50% of the votes. This often means that whichever party forms the government actually received less than 50% of all votes cast; even though they won more than 50% of the seats.

Supporters of this system say that this leads to a more stable government as it means that usually one party is able to command an overall majority in the Commons; whereas under a proportional representation system no one party would be able to do so and coalitions would have to be formed. Those in favour of proportional representation argue that such is a system is more democratic as it better follows the wishes of the electorate. (A very simplified explanation of the differences, I know.)

Although patently not the case, the system assumes that voters vote for the candidate, not the party that candidate represents. Therefore if an MP decides to resign from one party and join another s/he does not have to stand for reelection until the next general election.

Of course, in the UK we do not have problems with parties or candidates buying votes ( ). Although it does seem that governments often have a tendency to pour government money into projects, such as improving local hospitals, in marginal constituencies when an election is looming, I'm sure that this is just a coincidence!

So, following this example one can see that as Abhisit is the leader of the party that commands a majority in Parliament then his premiership is legitimate. Whether the elections that placed him in that position were is not for me to comment on.

(My spell check wants to change 'Abhisit' to 'Oboist.' Any one know if he can play?)

(Guy Fawkes; the only person to enter Parliament with honest intentions!)

Thanks for that effort, very good post. The only point I would add though is that if in the UK one party was in government, and if MP's in that party or coalition defected to the opposition, then most likely new elections would be called so that the new coalition could get its own mandate.

It's a minor point however, and overall I don't have a huge problem with what happened in a legal and constitutional sense. PTP/UDD supporters disagree, of course.

This is a long read. So there were not one million demonstrators? Now small groups here and there will be blocking the city, that is the strategy? The point has been made? What point? We all knew before that he has a lot of support in the countryside, so what other point has been made? That they have to be more ceraful with the numbers?

Well, they got really good press internationally so far. Can't take that to the bank, I'll readily admit.

And they've established that nobody in the current regime listens to them. And perhaps they've galvanized their base, which would be a good thing when eventually there are elections.

In terms of stated goals however, they're not off the mark. (and I doubt they will, but an orderly protest would be a win IMHO.)

They will get frustrated. They don't have the majority support or the moral authority to pull off what they are demanding. They do have fermented fish. You figure it out ...

You're wrong again dude - they have majority support in the country as far as people i know - tuk tuks up here are flying red flags - I have yet to find any yellow fellows outside of BKK and this forum

you havent spent much time in the south then have you......for some bizzae reason,,, they dont tend to looks so kindly upon the taksinista movment, but again thats just one mans perspective

Don't even have to go that far. Even in Chiang Mai the urban middle class by and large lean to the Democrat party. My working assumption is that everyone in the office is some shade of yellow/white/pink. Heck, the person next to me in bed is that.

Thailand is definitely no longer the retirement paradise for us over 50s.

Many Middle aged and elderly Farangs came here because it was believed their pension incomes would go a lot further and could do much more here than in the West.

They wanted to re kindle they're younger days by finding much younger partners and social, where as in the home countries they would be put out to graze, feeding the ducks over by the pond.

This has really changed, falling victims of scams, especially by the younger partners, ever increasing costs of social and living expenses. Bank rip-offs with decreasing exchange and interest rates.

In the end they find themselves with as little freedom in Thailand than there would be back in the home country, not being able to afford the lifestyles they dreamed about during retirement.

Even if all that is true, then so what? Places get more expensive. Either suck it up or move, I think those are the options. And it's a bit harsh to blame bank's 'scams' for your currency going down the drain. Was your choice not to move it all into Thai baht while you had the chance. Seems just sour grapes to be honest. Still, I'm confident the exchange rate will go the other way again.

What a load of crap Ninnie.

If what I say is true, then why are you disagreeing for the sake of disagreeing?

I wasn't saying it's true. I just didn't want to go nitpick on things like if (and to what extent) scams by younger partners are significant. That's a partner-choice issue, which is not what this is about so I chose not to debate it.

What do you mean, blame the banks for my currency going down? Are you excempt from the falling bank rates? Do you have a secret source from where you obtain your income?

Banks don't set exchange rates. Economic factors set exchange rates. You're barking up the wrong tree. (And yes I'm exempt from falling (or rising) exchange rates. Not always a good thing, mind. With exchange rates sometimes you lose some, sometimes you win some.

> I believe the financial gap between the cost of living in the West and Thailand is closing.

I think so too, and I think that's great. It means Thailand is developing as a nation. Not only is it closing in cost, it's also closing in value, convenience, safety and so on. (But long way to go still) Look at us, we're arguing over the Internet in Thailand.. 20-30 years ago you had to make an appointment to make as much as a phone call.

> And why do you defend the banks? What sort of banker are you? We get ripped-off by these

> institutions everyday of our lives. The odds are always with the house and that's the banks.

Oh dear.. I must be something wrong because this happens to me in political discussions as well.. As soon as I point out some sort of fact or viewpoint, I get accused of being in bed with one party or another. Being accused of being a banker makes for a nice change of being accused of being a Red Shirt Thaksin-lover though.

It's probably safer near the main protest site, especially during the day. Plus you'll get better pictures. If smaller groups start moving through town, that's where I'd rather stay clear. I really hope that doesn't happen to be honest.

LOL, this is just priceless!!! People get their eyes on unbiased news from respected internatioinal sources like Reuters, BBC and CNN, so without the daily spin that the local English language dailies add into the mix, and then it's actually perceived as biased!!

Hint: unbiased sources were out there all along, if you stick with the likes of The Nation long enough, eventually you'll start believing the stuff they dream up..

the good news is people can protest. They are protesting for something and as long as they are peacefull the law or military has done nothing to cause harm. I think this is a great step in the right direction for the country. Free speech to some degree any way.

It is good to have people interested in politics. Make the slimy bast'ds accountable for their actions.

I completely agree with that. And Despite our resident doom sayers and drama queens' best efforts. Let's hope it stays this way.

It's getting excellent coverage internationally as well, and in really good, objective reports. So nice to read something about Thai politics in a newspaper but without the spin. BBCNews.com is a great example.

Take a river taxi boat up to the Ratchadamnoen Klang area. It's the main site, so best for pictures. Go during the day. Bigger protests are better (safer) than small groups.

BBCNews.com has some excellent pictures and video as well. As well as some really solid background stories, without the spin that we get fed from the Thai press. It's like a breath of fresh air almost.

I admire everyone's imagination and clairvoyance of future events.

Meanwhile, political protests can and do happen in any part of the world without the need for martial law and rumors of coups. For example, today in Italy.

And hey, guess what, even color coding a protest isn't exclusively Thai.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8565265.stm

Back to drama-queening guys.