Sydebolle

While +/- ten years ago they arrested retired (mostly) Brits because they were meeting regularly to play "bridge". According to the local boys that would fall under gambling; every retiree was fined eventually and let go - but only after Khunying Chodchoy Sophonpanich, (family owns Bangkok Bank) declared being an avid bridge player which is an international competition rather than gambling for money.

The attire reflects the way the whole subject of education is handled. The minister spends money for torn jeans - and parents spend money for torn education. Win Win all the way. She might be a little too old with 51 years old to compete with teenage girls. Her political background is a perfect example of governmental job hopping from one party to another, from one ministry to another - a truly questionable figure on Thailand's ministerial front - me thinks!

Does not say anything about quality or efficiency. The article refers just to the number of airlines which chose/choose Bangkok for geographical reasons - me thinks!

Blowing their own trumpets again and again and again - what a farçe. Those in charge today have not the slightest clue of what it was 40 years ago; then Thailand was a prime destination, top tourists spending four and five times as much as now. The whole industry has to eat dirt and sand before they realize that they cannot handle quantities and should go back to focus on quality.

That might be the case on the country side; urban areas like Udon Thani or Nong Khai is screaming for staff, be it waiting on tables, 7/11s etc. Yeah, and then the old rule - spend only money you have and if you need to revamp your entire body then get the cash first. I do not blame anybody but many Thais, not only the 3rd genders, are not too keen working for money 😞

Normal work seems to be off the cards and polishing a horn once or twice is also not the favourite job assignment by the third gender ....... Well, the Chinaman certainly has some stories to share once he hit the land of rice and red flags again 😉

Every day is school day ........ today I learnt that it takes a Vice Admiral to fix a land border issue, apparently. Up to now I always thought that such Admirals, like Commodores were naval related job but - as said - every day is school day. What a joke this all is ............. ridiculous!

So all those delegations, working, traveling and overnighting free of charge of course take almost a year to return those apes back to where they were smuggled from? Are you serious - honestly? What are the delegation members actually doing since 14 January and why does it take to Christmas? What a joke and a total bonfire of government money again. At least the cause is laudable but the executioners are more than questionable in all aspects 😞

Maybe get a yellow house book which brings this particular paperwork to a screeching end; no visits to nowhere and no fees

Respective power of attorney; get more information at the Land Department Office. They have pre-printed forms for you to complete who changes what to whom. Normal transfer fees apply though; I had one of my sons removed from a title deed which was solemnly owned by initially two sons - full fees 😞

A prime example, if total incompetence runs politics. Kindergarteners are getting smacked for not behaving, here grown kindergarteners are following the whistles of ill-gotten sick brains like Thaksin and Hun Sen to the disadvantage of literally everybody ....... except Thaksin and Hun Sen. They play with dangerous fire and if not someone gets into the classroom to re-establish order, this whole thing can get out of hand. The writing is on the wall in big capital letters - so, for once, they might start to read rather than shoot!

Thailand never got reprimanded for passive assistance in the Vietnam War theatre. All the infrastructure in Northeastern Thailand, called Isan, be it the "Friendship Highway Number 2", the airports of Korat, Ubol Ratchathani, Nakhon Phanom, Sakhon Nakorn, Udon Thani as well as peripheral aerodromes of Thakli, U Tapao and the extension of Don Muang ...... all American-paid and built military infrastructure. How the the Americans reach Afghanistan without an intermediate stop in U Tapao; where to thousands of US sailors empty their pockets and sack when aircraft carriers berth in the Bay of Sin - called Laemchabang near ..... yes, you guessed it, Pattaya. Trump has to cover up the absolute inefficiency and non-competitiveness of the US industry which, over decades, resulted in trade imbalances; in the case of Thailand it is a "mere" USD 45 billion yearly in favour of Thailand. Less food stamps, less US constitutional rights, less buffalo manure and back to work 45 hours like some European countries. America wants to slap 36% protective duty on Thai products imported into the US? Tell Uncle Sam to stick it up theirs with their Air Force, Navy and other war games as far as Thailand is concerned and you will see absolute miracles happening in 24 hours. But it takes skilled negotiation abilities, a poker face and a united government behind such negotiators and regretfully Thailand lacks absolutely everything necessary for such a verbal thug-of-war. The losers at the shorter end of the stick = the lowlifes, farmers in Isan, unskilled slaves of Thailand's 21st century economy miracle! Shame on all those in power ..... really!

a) a h00ker oversold her physical appearance b) bar lights are not the best to assess physical appearances nor distinguish different bank notes c) three Indians for 3,000 Baht - business must be very slow d) Indians are, it seems, the new quality tourists as per the tourism geeks at the tourism promotion boards e) hopefully the powers-to-be are aware of the fact, that the Internet can also be accessed from outside Thailand to read the latest "breaking news" and the most beautiful statement in this article was, hands down, the statement that "tourism continues to flourish in Thailand" - I am not too convinced, that this is an accurate assessment of the present situation 8-)

Efficiency, it is called EFFICIENCY! If all these power generating institutions, private or governmental, would inch towards the 21st century, the generation costs would be substantially lower. See Makro having covered car parks and roofs with solar panels; a huge display behind the cashiers show in green the solar power and in orange the power they buy from third parties. In private households the calculation always goes off as the solar energy equipment is still too expensive. We went through this subject with a study and even wanted to participate in the government's programme whereby the EGAT, PEA, MEA and God only knows who else would buy kw/h from private panel operators. While this programme exists, the boys in Nong Khai were poking noses and "cannot" was the answer. A private user also cannot install a TOU meter, a digital measuring device which allows the separation of high and low tariff usage. While this is in place for decades in other places, here it does not work. Literally nobody looks at power consumption of white goods, be it fridges or - my favorite - rice cookers. Latter cooks rice with upto 800 watts. Decades ago they introduced those colourful stickers from A to E - red to green - on how power efficient a device is. Nobody today cares about that either. Unless there is a real motivation token for the consumer/user, they will not switch habits. Likewise some professionalism in the power generation of the 21st century might help the Thai producers; it is a joke if a country with 250+ sunshine days still heavily depends on thermo- and hydro-generated power.

Thailand takes stupidity to new heights. They talk of digital Baht plans for tourists but (unlike in the distant past) do not allow non-Thais to have a bank account and an ATM card - without overdraft facilities of course. A non-Thai needs a one-year visa, a letter from the immigration and possibly a work permit to park their own money in a local bank. And all this due to money laundering; well, seeing the non-existing queues at Swampi airport of money launderers, all this makes sense! Any person above 60 cannot have a credit card, but minimum earners of Thai decent can have ten cards with a spending limit of 30,000 Baht each and - in many cases - are maxed out and the minimum earner cannot even serve the interest payments. What a hopeless joke again 😞

Somebody is blowing - again and again - their own trumpet BIG time. Up to 2019, Air Asia operated two daily flights between Udon Thani (International without international flights) airport and U Tapao. Full to the rim, each and every flight; I flew countless times this sector. So four flights now replace the fourteen flights in the past; most passengers were not tourists either. Most were working ladies from Pattaya returning to their homes in the very North of Isan, gold decorated like Christmas trees with any number between 1 and 11 boxes of Krispy Kreme which jammed the overhead lockers; rather than buying the sugary stuff at the destination.

Make up your mind, the world's most polluted city or Asia's best city - one thing is a lie

In 2016 the Laotians signed a deal with China which promised the first train rolling on 2 December 2021 - a mere 5+ years later. Guess what, they were ready ahead of time, 170'000 Chinese workers, Chinese engineers and hardware fulfilled one of the most challenging infrastructure projects of the 21st century; rugged country, deep valleys, endless number of tunnels etc. 2014 Prayut and his geeks took over Thailand, were informed accordingly and only TEN years later the bidding starts. Then you wonder, why Thailand is considered a developing country as everything here takes tremendous time, thick envelopes and kissing bottoms left, right and centre. Serves you right; stay under your stones

Was an ill-gotten idea from the start; despite no such tax hotels meanwhile are empty; wide body aircraft heading for Bangkok have occupancies of less than 10% (luckily not all of them), restaurants close every minute to the minute. How much slashing and beating does the government intend to add to a dead horse?

The Men of the Cloth and their ill-gotten wealth being splurged for Earthly benefits and likings. Not much different to the Catholics - me thinks

Legally there is absolutely nothing to be done by any authority. The whole hoohaa serves as a smoke screen only, apart from the biggest loss of face for the sweetheart of Thaksin. Hun Sen's action might be despicable and proves, once more, again the kind of character he is. What a joke; Thailand's economy is on fire, tourism is dead, investments are lagging far behind the most conservative estimations and all they care is the loss of face .......

a) architecture (a Thai-only profession by the Alien Business Law) was to blame partly b) the nature of gate crashers and cheaters trying to leave without paying resulted in locking emergency exits c) fire prevention systems and fire drills - unheard of in many hotels to this day I wonder, if all responsible people from that disaster saw the bench and got what they deserve; locking an emergency exit is, to my limited understanding, voluntary manslaughter ....

Give Anutin and similarly brainwashed experts the Grand Tour of King Romans casino complex opposite Chiang Saen (Chiang Rai province) where in Tonpheung he could visit the Sodom and Gomorrah of the 21st century. Everything goes, restaurants featuring delights which cover a lot of the WWF catalogue of dangerous species, girls from Vietnam and Myanmar to cater to the lonely hearts, gambling left, right and centre while sipping Tiger Wine (alcohol in a huge fish tank with a tiger carcass floating in it. The majority of gamblers are either Chinese, winging in to the brand-new Bokeo International Airport in nearby Simuangngam, hotels and limo services wherever you look - or Thais crossing the Mekong on boats leaving near the Chiang Saen Thai Immigration. Whatever it is, the casino idea is not to blame for the absence of Chinese tourists who have created havoc to the entire industry and ensured, that most of the rest of the tourism world meanwhile vacations elsewhere.

15 Minutes of fame again ........... tell the kid to get out from under the stone and face the music; Thai teenagers bnock last not least on the behest of the aunties and grannies upcountry who want to see grandchildren. Given the Thai men characteristics of indeed butterflying around they usually inseminate women who, despite being told about the consequences, are not using any protection against pregnancy nor insist on "Meechais" ...... the result is tens of thousands of kids yearly born out of wedlock while the HIV figure cannot be eradicated - your call!

How dangerous must it be then in North Korea or Switzerland for that matter; the only thing I can read daily is mishaps to and with non-Thais but then I could be wrong again 😞