Sydebolle

"Dr Adinun Kittiratanapaibool explaining that staff acted with good intentions to protect patient welfare." Now this is quite an interesting wrapping around the "freedom of speech" subject in Thailand. Poor in communication to start with, Thailand added some interesting stepping stones preventing what is known elsewhere as ....... freedom of speech. Dr Adinun explanation confirms the incident; assume though that the silenced gentleman will be speaking his mind once he gets off the plane in Adelaide. Maybe Dr Adinun should have kept his mouth shut instead - just thinking out loud?

Stuck in the year 5,000 B.C. But as the saying goes, the oligarch elite is not interested to educate the underlings to a level which would allow the latter to think and ultimately get rid of the Phooyais. Simple as that. Any country charging for education is a banana republic - sorry. School should be absolutely free and paid for by taxes which allows any kid to learn and study as far as (s)he can/wants/is able without a financial sword swinging over its head. Such programmes have been running most successfully in the First World, i.e. some European countries. Here though it starts with taxes - the majority does not pay income tax due to the absence of a decent income. Fun and Games overruled the education system here ever since there is a Thai word for education. Education secures the future of a country but this needs to be understood and shared ......

Tax the stuff like booze and tobacco cigarettes and get on with it ........ next please!

Given the way the hosts are treating the visiting Burmese ....... it is no wonder. While these Burmese kids need to be taught a proper lesson it might also be noteworthy to see, what it takes to "legalize" a Burmese in Thailand. The hospitality industry in Thailand is in dire need of staff yet to get the paperwork for qualified Burmese (same of Lao or Cambodians) is an absolute nightmare. As "suggested" by the department of labour in Cholburi, we used agents later on, at THB 20K per person, to get the paperwork sorted. Guess what, after the "guarantee of six months working" the same agency took out the alien worker and placed them somewhere else. Modern slave trade indeed. We sold the restaurant luckily and would never ever touch a business in Thailand requiring manpower again. So those naughty kids might be just too tied down by the Thai bureaucracy, cannot join school, learn a profession or - heaven forbid - work!

When is Thammanat's recital of an Aussie jail sentence - in comparison to the Thai treat - ready for print?

Yes, but it still needs forms, photographs and visa procedures and that's what these rich Thais do not like as it puts them in line with the commoners. Some are even called in for interviews ......... But, as said, it would facilitate everbody's life and cut a lot of bureaucracy if Thais would be given a month visa exemption in Europe. And crooks are crooks and always find means and ways to circumvent whatever regulation there is - possibly without North Korea though ...........

Well, the toad needs to be briefed, that he was queried on his apparent statement, that the rice would be not for local consumption. This - arguably questionable quality of 10+ years old - rice would be for export only. Then there was a reference of 150,000 tons and Africa in the same sentence. Now what kind of marketing stint is this, honestly! The government paid for the rice; it remains unknown, how much of this money went to Thai rice farmers and how much evaporated on the way to the bank. Some of the poorer quality rice was wheeled in across the neighboring borders and fed some traders nicely. This rice being advertised for export only might backfire big time but yeah, Thailand makes so much more money in technology, banking and as an education hub - who needs the export rice these days ..... This seems to be shared by the CEO of the land; the PM is busy thinking about befitting names for Hua Hin airport at the moment 😎 Just wait for the puppet master once he had enough of all this ........

"Petchcharat Hua Hin" - well it will become "Petchcharat Intercontinental Aerodrome" anytime soon. We have "Udon Thani International Airport" already yet the internationalism remains a pending element ... or pure megalomania. However, I am soooo glad that the PM has no other issues on his plate so he now can focus on the tinier elements of tourism promotion. My only query is, how do the dirty farang, who cannot speak Thai, tell the cabbie to take them to Petchcharat ....... unless of course a professional phonetic English version is rendered 😉 Suvarnabhumi and Don Meuang (from formerly Muang) spring to mind 😎

Smoke screen - no pun intended. Wondering what the real script is behind Anutin's pushing FOR the weed and the RETRACTION once Anutin moved from health to interior ministry. Interesting script which I have not completely deciphered yet. Retaliation of any kind by the puppet master?

The country's CEO has spoken again "This agreement is expected to boost investment opportunities for Thailand?" No, Sir, it will facilitate the travels of the oligarch elite which does not sit on diplomatic or service passports. But, from a business point of view it is not a bad idea - on a reciprocal basis this makes sense. The hookers and pimps though do not have to worry about the stringent Thai rules on overstay or jail - these apply only in Thailand whereas in Europe they are glad, if an overstayer just gets out of their country.

.... thank you, every day is school day. And what exactly is "factual" in this case? I must have missed something it seems.

Well, studying the impact of Cannabis was apparently concluded some years ago - when Anutin was Health Minister. Now, as Interior Minister, the very same person is doing a ...... study of impact? Keep up the good work, the excellent choice of ministers and possibly some data recording. Next will be the convicted flour trader in charge of ..... naaahhh, don't let us get there!

What good weed was smoked, when they hatched this idea - honestly? I've ordered a plastic screw which came at 84 Baht incl postage from China. So now the platform will add 7% or 5.88 Baht on check-out, run statements with order details and VAT accruals - you must be joking. Imagine the mess when an article cannot be delivered/cancelled by seller or goes for refund compensation due to wrong delivery? That would apply to local platforms only. How about eBay, AliExpress et al? eBay will not collect 7% on behalf of anybody and can easily just do without the Thai customer base. The statement, that "this adjustment in Thailand will help local businesses compete more fairly" is total BS. If local business cannot compete with foreign supplies and respective logistic costs, then the locals have to go back to the drawing board and start homework all over again. This of course only under the assumption, that the local businesses have clean taxation procedures in place as well - yeah, I know - a silly joke my end! How many local sellers copy/paste a product from overseas and just double the price and only order it, once an innocent loser ordered the seriously overpriced article (equally imported). Free market economy - Thai-style - explained

Follow Anutin, arrest all those illegal dirty farang, book them into the slammer and lose the keys - the rest will be OK ........

So Zarathustra spoke - again! Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul orders the arrest of foreigners operating cannabis outlets illegally in Thailand. I did not know, that a minister has such power without an arrest warrant being issued by the competent authorities (possibly the court?). The statement leaves open, what happens to all those Thais operating cannabis outlets illegally. I - for one - am not affected in any way as I never tried the stuff as a kiddo 50 years ago and today I rather have a glass of good red wine 😉

Yesterday's arrival from Frankfurt in Bangkok was the last nail in the TG coffin. The crew was too busy with being so overly important and the food was absolute rubbish; some tiny meat chunks inmost of some overcooked rice and two tiny carrots and had to ring three times for some water refill. TG charged EUR 450; SQ would have been EUR 320 - albeit via Singapore. Trust me, next time I rather opt via Johannesburg if I can avoid Thai.

Good luck he is Thai. In Vietnam and PR China they hand down the death penalty for those who "enrich" themselves too much! Wondering though, how the treatment is at Klong Prem .........

Well, if I decipher this fantastic statement, then the accused lived near a restaurant and had to pass it in order to reach home. The restaurant owner in turn stopped him for the benefit of restaurant visitors and the "shape" of whatever? Irrespective of all this; this is a joke. If the restaurant owner is right, then just file a claim, take it to court and let them deal with it. Arresting an accused will make crystal clear, that you better shut up even if you're right. Fantastic boost of course also for tourism, the goons at the tourism promotion desk must be more than delighted over this latest "fall out". Well done, congrats are in order!

5,000 lashes with the cane, 214,709 years and 3 months in the slammer and 500 Baht fine. If the immigration would be really doing their job, they could run a complete list of overstay alien and go after them. But it always needs a whisteblower, envying the alien or being jealous over something. The Austrian clocked almost three years and, if staying at hotels all the time, I wonder to whose nuisance he was living. Irrespective of that, that's the local law, cough up the fine and move on, Mr. Rothauer (that's his name actually as per the picture). Sans griesst!

One of the reasons why I sold my business and took it elsewhere. Apart from an ever increasing number of local holidays the productivity dropped even faster. I was afraid that the moment would come where we would have to train the staff from scratch after extended holidays. If the government wants to declare more holidays, then they (i.e. taxpayer) should pay for it. But it is rather populistic to announce ever-more public holidays and let the private industry pay for it. But Thailand has lost its plot as a production base once you need human manpower. The education system got stucked somewhere in the Middle Ages, the motivation is mostly zero and the reliability and loyalty of the locals is gone for good (with most of them). The really qualified cost you more than a caucasian and the labour law is more than labour-friendly. They walk off a job - no reprimanding would make sense. The employer terminates the employ, they (correctly) have to settle severance payments. In addition some file for "unfair dismissal" and the judges usually try to "compromise". Well, if the employer is losing one of their overseas customers due to the unreliability of staff then go and define "unfair". As said, I sold my business and the Lord may be praised for that. I would never ever start a labour-intensive business in Thailand again - for above reasons!

Well, talk to the tourism goons of Thailand; they successfully managed to downgrade the quality of tourists into a bottomless pit. On the other hand, be reasonable and apply common sense (yeah, a big word in the Land, I know). This is a child, a small child, and given the fact, that toilets might not be clearly signed, in English, Chinese or whatever, might not have helped. It is certainly not a sign of disrespect towards anything. But, if the semi-divine Khon Thai are soooooooooooo sensitive, then forget about the millions of Baht entry ticket revenue, close the temple to the followers of the faith who, by birth right, must be Thai nationals - and Bob's your uncle. You cannot have your cake and eat it; the child for sure had no insulting thoughts and the same might apply to the parents being eventually too stupid to ask their child for a toilet visit before leaving home/hotel or whatever. Also wondering, if those elephant trousers are genuine. Yet another rannygazoo on copyrights - what an oxymoron in Thailand. If fake, arrest the culprit, park him in the slammer for 25 years and fine him 500 Baht to teach him and the rest of those expected 40 million tourists a lesson on how things are done in Thailand 😉

Thailand did it again. When you think that they hit the jack pot on anything - Thailand comes and surprises everybody again. This time on the reclassification of weed. Let's see how that ends as it is clearly nothing but a political push-me-pull-you; very much between Anutin and his so many friends everywhere. Another thing is Thailand's tick on uniforms; this time round Anutin shows up in yet another set of official wear; with lots of medals, coloured ropes, hats, more regalia ........ which leads me to the question, if there is a ministry of uniforms?

Tik Tok Tik Tok - the clock is going Tik Tok

Well, correct me if I am wrong but the innocent little lily of young beauty normally has plenty of relatives sharing advice. Specially the lady of the house, all the aunties and uncles, are more than helpful in opening new avenues to shortcut the path to the next splurge of cash. It is also quite rare in the land of the semi-divine, that an 18-years old girl of virgin Thai roots starts dating a seasoned middle aged man from faraway lands ....... but, as said, I could be wrong. Never saw anything the like and have lived here for four decades. Even within the same culture and zero barriers on the language front a relation between 18 and 40 is a tremendous challenge. Throw in linguistic burdens, cultural issues and the difference in social structures of (extended) families and Bob's your uncle. Wishing the happy couple the best of luck though - exceptions are always an integrated part of the rules 😉

Well, it was only a matter of time until the corrupt vultures were waiting in the wings. Wondering what is next; as Thailand's medieval property ownership laws - completely outdated - are a joke, they have been bent by hundreds of thousands of houses sold to non-Thais. One of Thailand's largest department store chains own trillions of Baht in property all over Europe, La Rinascente in Italy, Globus in Switzerland, Kaufhof in Germany and many more. Thaksin seems to sit on a shack or two in England and so does the Red Bull empire. If the property in question in Samui was built legally, then the building permit was granted to a Thai (juristic) person which applied correctly for the conformity of the property. So in other words, you cannot enrich yourself with legal fees and construction costs of 30 million Baht on one side and, once a shareholder and possible director of the Thai (juristic) person dies, call the whole thing off - be VERY, VERY, VERY careful, how you deal with this. This can backfire ENORMOUSLY wipe out trillions of property value all over the sacred land of the semi-divine. In closing, I am not aware, that a single squaremetre of land was rolled together, stuffed into a duffle bag and flown out of the land as luggage of a dirty farang ............ so what's the phobia on this now?