Sydebolle

RTP and trust; thank you for this most valuable joke - must be the tag line of the millennium!

Driver = slammer for voluntary manslaughter (as he must have known the risk of driving drunk and he got drunk on his own free will) Truck owner = pay for the entire damage on all vehicles, all hospital bills and compensate the family of the dead people by calculating their technical income from yesterday to their normal retirement on their actual salary; if not on hand, apply governmental minimum salary plus allowances for children This has to stop and it needs draconian measures otherwise Thailand will remain the laughing stock ...

Read the "Chinese tirade" chapter in Bangkok lately?

The karaoke shooting at the Montien hotel springs to mind; nobody ever faced the music on that one; then there was the disco shooting on Ratchada/Sutthisarn ......... arguably a long time back but never cleared either .......... Irrespective of that - one case alone is one case too many - from where I come from; we don't need top ten statistics 8-)

The road, from which the bridge branches off at kilometre marker 122 is road 212 and not 222 - just in case someone wants to look up the details. The GPS data would read: 18.402107° 103.565878° ????

Yes, pretty simple. Moving a visa from an old to a new passport took completion of a form, an set of photocopies (only one page, back page must stay empty) duly signed with blue inked bullpen, of the entire old passport as well as the new passport. Latter being completely empty yet copies were requested to no end. The entire ordeal took the entire morning for something other countries take 60 seconds. Other countries stamp the visa stamp of the old passport into the new passport and refer to "changed passport from old no. 12345 67890" ............. go figure! I dont mind, I have the time but I rarely saw something more inefficient than this ????

Every day is school day, did not know that. So police (and the sub-ordinating immigration) is in the responsibility of the top banana? Nothing else to do it seems and the interior minister has more free time for other activities then ????

OK, once you brought him to the gallows for the public to spit and throw manure at random, you might want to continue the good work by nailing down all those rich kids murdering police officers on duty - the Red Bull darling springs to mind! What a farçe, five officers in full gear .......... throw him out of the country and, if it pleases their semi-divine ego, ban him for life but - for heaven's sake - stop pretending that anyone is doing a job in the interest of people and country!

Normal practice in a functioning democracy .......... some of the work already like that for hundreds of years - your call!

The question is not, if "Pita (or any other self-declared expert on Thai democracy is) prepared to become PM". The question should read - first and foremost: what the electorate is prepared to vote for? where are the respective party programmes outlining their agenda? what would elected politicians do for electorate and country if they would get into the government? In almost 40 years of living here, the name of the game seems to be "forget the irrelevant uneducated voters and feed them pocket-money-cash for their votes" as well as "where are the throughs where we can feed us, our families, friends and cronies on the expense of afore-mentioned voters". In addition "amend the laws to suit our needs and lifestyle" and "forget the buffalo voters until next election, when the perpetual merry-go-round will be in full swing again. Thailand - quo vadis?

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 ...