Sydebolle

As long as all that illgotten highway robbery looting goes on and the heist is being distributed all over the force up to the top bananas ......... go figure. What's the comment or opinion over a Taiwanese girl while the boys here on the ground are extorting millions of Baht on an hourly basis. Phiphat from the Tourism circus might have a second thought to promote Thailand as "experience live extortion by real cops" or so - just a suggestion. The PM has the interior minister under him; the interior minister has the police top monkey under him and this fellow is at the switchboard of everything, be it the road fee "collection" or another honey pot called immigration. Question now is - how is to blame? The small fry roadside breathing down a Taiwanese girl's neck or anybody further up or all of them? Your call!

Point taken! But if the legislative could keep the executive at bay, Thailand would be doing much, much better with a growing middle class. A single murder is not a bit better than a mass murderer; albeit the numbers differ but in terms of a sentence ................ ?

It remains unclear, why a tourist should not be able to open a bank account to facilitate travelling without a handbag full of cash. It remains unclear, why Thailand's legislative is lenient - to say at least - while the executive help themselves at random like in a 7/11 without a cashier till on the way out. Thailand's biggest enemy is its own selection of thieves, crooks, touts and ignorant, uneducated opportunity chancers. But keep the smoke screen up; the "dirty farang" traffic (which paid WAY more per capita than the Chinese, Indian or Middle Eastern avalanche) has been properly depleted with immigration hurdles (blue ink pen only, photocopies leaving the back side empty, 90 days notification where more than 50% of the locals do NOT live at their registered address and then the TM30 reporting with a whiff of the German Democratic Republic's "Stasi" system). Racism clearly contradicts Thailands statement of "everybody is the same" - some are more same than others ???? Good luck Thailand, it was nice having known you .........

Well, the 3.9 billion Baht tourism promotion is apparently not enough so Somchai and Yodsak took matters into own hands ....... well done, keep up the good work. Of course it cannot be proven as neither Somchai nor Yodsak signed a receipt and as the higher up also needed to be fed it can safely be assumed, that Charlene sweetie is nothing but a blunt lier. Create two investigation committees, keep 'em busy with some meetings and the result, if ever, will be that might have been a misunderstanding. Alternatively end it by just letting the story disappear into thin air, which it will over time ..... It is somewhat scary, that "innocent until proven guilty" doesn't seem to apply whenever Thai government officials are involved .......... your call!

You can take a Thai out of Thailand but you cannot take Thailand out of Thai! It is not about the money but about power, image and face. Dr Thaksin is, to my irrelevant belief, possibly the one-eyed among the blind and Thailand's performance over the last nine years has a roller-coaster character which it never saw before. Thailand's biggest enemy is her own people, crooks wherever you look, corrupt whatever you touch - to the utter demise of all those honest, uneducated and ignorant Thais who still believe in amulets, meteor showers and lucky lottery numbers.

Budget toggles between this article at 1.9 billion and, also in today's news, 3.9 billion - same, same but different. Wondering who authorizes how much money and how much is really spent on quality endeavours withOUT the usual line losses ........

Budget toggles between this article at 3.9 billion and, also in today's news, 1.9 billion - same, same but different. Wondering who authorizes how much money and how much is really spent on quality endeavours withOUT the usual line losses ........ Quantity, quantity, quantity ............. over quality which has gone out the window long, long time ago. Rest assured though that it is easier to cater to 8 million at THB 10'000 and 80 million at THB 1'000. But Thailand was never good in planing, sustainability and quality so it follows the same path to destruction as previously proven by Greece, Italy and Spains Costa Del Sol. You're welcome!

Maybe someone out there explains the general his job as a prime minister. He is the boss over all ministries including the interior ministry. The latter is responsible for domestic affairs like the police force. The police should, repeat S H O U L D protect people and property; in Thailand the police has many other unwritten duties. Under the police you find the immigration department. I assume that explains the mess in immigration, the corruption in the police and the over corruption in the interior ministry ......... question is only ..... W H E R E does the bucket stop?

Maybe someone out there explains the general his job as a prime minister. He is the boss over all ministries including the interior ministry. The latter is responsible for domestic affairs like the police force. The police should, repeat S H O U L D protect people and property; in Thailand the police has many other unwritten duties. Under the police you find the immigration department. I assume that explains the mess in immigration, the corruption in the police and the over corruption in the interior ministry ......... question is only ..... W H E R E does the bucket stop?

Maybe someone out there explains the general his job as a prime minister. He is the boss over all ministries including the interior ministry. The latter is responsible for domestic affairs like the police force. The police should, repeat S H O U L D protect people and property; in Thailand the police has many other unwritten duties. Under the police you find the immigration department. I assume that explains the mess in immigration, the corruption in the police and the over corruption in the interior ministry ......... question is only ..... W H E R E does the bucket stop?

....... so 80 (officially at least) face the music - lets wait and see. I - for one - feel like a complete idiot being reprimanded for a much bigger offense. I had to sign a photocopy - at the desk of an immigration officer - which I did. She made me getting a new photocopy as me fool signed with a black ballpen which I was given by the very same officer ???? Really made a difference in granting me a "re-entry permit" for THB 3'800 a pop. Thai immigration is certainly among the most complicated structures I ever came across and beats most former communist states by far. Grant visas overseas or let them in on a 30/45 days; your call. The local offices should be involved for extensions of stay, be it work, holiday or retirement related. Those seekers present a health insurance and a third party liability insurance. A yearly visa fee of nominal THB 10'000 which automatically serves as a multiple re-entry permit. Forget the 90-days joke, the TM30 procedure (which many Thai landlord flatly refuse to adhere to). This would pour billions of Baht into the state's coffers and could be managed with 10% - 15% of the present arrogant, insecure and incompetent work force gracing all those immigration offices. But then nepotism and patronizing would be no longer (or lesser) possible ..... your call!

Well, at least we know now the list of the 50 best taxpayers in the Land; all more than delighted over the wise purchase of three submarines without engines ......... Are these people for real; why does not a word refer to monopolies. In a competitive and open environment you cannot earn all that money legally - me thinks!

Pot and Kettle thingy springs to mind

Taxpayers all over Thailand are more than delighted over the good news ....... ????

It is time to get this semi-divineness out of the lesser educated Thai folks, i.e. 85%. Anything related to government, army, police, medicine or education floats 40 centimetres above ground as higher ups. Caretakers, watchmen etc. believe that they can behave like many of afore-mentioned. Society, and specially children, need to be protected from such evil p1rkcs - for good. Throw them into a slammer for years to come, communicate with fingerpointing photos and name and make them pay for their absolute misbehavior. I sometimes wonder, what all those semi-divine a"*ç%"sholes would say, if their kids or loved ones would be treated the way they treat children or (elder?) people under their "care". What a disgrace ...

Yesterday the media referred to "transferred police officers" which today seems to be not (no longer?) the case. Nobody has to "invite the tour operator and the Chinese tourist for questioning over controversial and unauthorised police escorts provided by Thai tourist and traffic police officers. The services were apparently on offer, the customer and the middleman (the tour operator) made use of the services and also paid for the services rendered. You have to fire all the police involved and, while you're at it, take the immigration officer(s) along, publish names with fingerpointing photos and then you might put the first watergate into this river offering anything between "special services" and outright corruption. Next please!

It is all in the selection of endless titles - and Thailand is faring VERY well. General Prayuth, General Prawit, Police Lieutenant Thaksin (alternatively also "fugitive") is referred to a former Prime Minister. All correct (I assume) but relevant is only the PRESENT title and all those "politicians" are no longer Generals or Police top bananas - unless it serves their purpose. The unnecessary purchase of three engine-less submarines fares slightly higher than a "misunderstanding" in the allocation of free housing but I might be wrong here too ????

Yes, the legislation clearly mentions "illegal". I've lived more than half my entire life in this country and am (not early) retired. I've seen the maidens serving Caucasians, Asians and then the majority of them serving local gentlemen in Café, Karaoke, Turkish Baths, "no hands" restaurants, Spas and not so traditional massage parlours. Due to my length of stay, can confirm that the next generation of "workers" have taken over the elder generation. So much to official; common sense prevails ???? And no, the legislation does also not suggest a nightly roll call ????

‘Fit and healthy’ = believed to have died from natural causes. If a 48 year old person dies without clear cause, there is certainly plenty to investigate - love the Thais concluding and trying to close also this file with "ripe roy"! A local diving school might have resorted to the only way to stop the successful operation of the "dirty farang" operation by ridding the market of yet another non-Thai competitor? In true Thai fashion - "nothing to investigate" ???? Interesting enough there was a website listing all suspicious death cases of non-Thais; dozens of Caucasians were listed. The site is ............ offline, surprise surprise as it could shed a less than excellent limelight onto the endeavours of the tourism geeks on governmental payrolls.

Well, the dirty farang, the stinky South Asian, the impolite rude Chinese etc. are proof enough that Thailand still believes being populated by the superior upper crust. If the endless corruptions everywhere on each and every level would be brought to a halt (wishful thinking, I know) then it would communicate a first step in the right direction. How many Thais get deported, without jail sentence of fine, from North Asian or European countries for overstay? No European country has a photocopy-phobia insisting on signing photocopies with blue ink only. Thailand's biggest problem is the attitude of their own people among themselves, among authorities and the fact, that the people must serve the government, i.e. police and army - whereas in other countries (which reached the 21st century) it works the other way round. Your call!

OK, work permit is work permit but the sheer appearance of the kitchen is clearly proof enough, that Thailand could use thousands of such Chinese cooks. I've never ever seen any kitchen in this country anywhere close to being clean as the pictoral proof above, that Chinese also have clean persons. Thai kitchens, run by Thais, usually are dungeons of dirt, sticky oil and food waste lying everywhere; the jackpot is a cat roaming the kitchen for rats or mice.

The "pot and kettle" saga again ............

Many thousands of Thais ??? It is more man HUNDREDS of thousands if not millions over the last few decades ....... but officially prostitution never existed here in Thailand, as many other things it was just "overlooked" ????

I claim nothing but you cannot identify pure tourism anymore. Immigration screens people for their ability to enter/leave Thailand which include i.e. working expats or hundreds of thousands of Thai nationals - just to name some groups showing up in the immigration database of non-tourism character!

900'000 travellers in total (in, out or in/out?) could be an AOT figure which include Thai nationals, expatriates working as well as all the transit passengers changing planes in Bangkok, i.e. coming from somewhere and continuing their journey to a third country. The domestic figure is irrelevant as some (like me) fly weekly domestically for work and I am not alone. We're talking tourism figures and some government offices blowing their own trumpet - as usual.