p1p

The following is a somewhat pertinent piece currently doing the rounds of the internet:

DEAR British asylum authorities,

Before you say it, this is not dismayed sarcasm or a lame attempt at reverse psychology. This letter means every word that is written, and the one and only message that it tries to convey must not be misunderstood. We want you to keep Thaksin Shinawatra in England forever, or as long as you possibly can. Pure and simple.

He calls your country democratically mature and denounces his motherland as a dictatorial backwater where a large sector of the population cannot stand a rich and popularly elected leader.

Let him be there. He may be right. We are seemingly not sophisticated enough to deal with a democratic champion of the poor who has more money than everyone living below the poverty line put together but still needs to evade taxes and swallow up state properties against the will of the laws. Too complicated.

If he has already asked for asylum, give it to him right away before he changes his mind. If he has not, make him an offer he can't refuse. We don't care if that means you give Thailand a slap in the face. Just check our country's sorry state. A patient in a coma doesn't care how he looks.

Of course, a lot of people are making noises about the need to get him back for punishment. But ironically these are the same people who want Thaksin to disappear from the face of the earth. The other group that wants him back has the opposite goal of re-installing him as a democratic hero. So, as you can see, both camps harbour different agendas on his return, which will have the same consequence: disaster.

We may be a minority, but trust us when we say you will do Thailand a big, big favour by keeping the man. Let him launch a clandestine government in exile or simply continue to pull the strings of countless nominees. We won't blame you. If Thailand is as bad as he's saying it is to the world, we deserve to be weakened and undermined by this misunderstood angel of liberty.

We are through debating Ample Rich, Win Mark, SC Assets, the EXIM bank loan or the Ratchadapisek land deal. Thaksin has become a myth - he's either a hoax or something noble smeared by those envious of its virtues. Either way, he's too hot to handle over here.

We have ended up a wreck trying to work out if he was good or bad for Thailand. It's your turn, and the question is equally simple: Will you be helping a good, honest politician fleeing unjust prosecution in his homeland, or are you being used by a skilled con artist? Either way, a democratically mature nation like yours should be able to cope with the consequences of keeping him, without Parliament being seized and blood spilled on the streets.

Again, don't worry. You have little to lose. One half of the world will praise the asylum as your stern message against dictatorship, while the other half will be too exhausted to press on with his controversial cases anyway. And by all means The United Kingdom will be seen as a land of opportunities. Where else can political victims hunted down by ruthless dictators manage to buy a premium soccer club, sit in the director's box and then sell it at double the profit a year later?

We can never win with this man. None of the corruption cases was ever going to make its way to court when he was in power, but now that they have, he deems the courts politically motivated. This, however, doesn't mean we will mind if you take that excuse seriously and grant him asylum. There's a little problem, but we think you can cope. Giving him asylum could spark a "yellow" protest at your Bangkok embassy, but rejecting him will send a "red" army to the same compound. In either event it might cause some panic, but sooner or later embassy staff will get used to it like most of the Thai people.

So please, the least you can do is buy us some time. If you are reluctant to grant him asylum or want to kick him out straight away, a lot of legal time-wasting tactics can be explored. If it normally takes two years, make it five. If it normally takes five, make it ten. In fact, tell us who we have to kill if you can make him a British citizen.

Yours sincerely and God save your Queen,

A group of Thai people.

This is just a pretty blatant way to promote nationalism and break the will of the PAD.

Closing this thread as discussion of sharing copyrighted material is not permitted on TV.

P1P, could you provide some more background please? Did this really happen to a land owner and what are the specifics.... or, is this just general information? At the most recent immigration talk in Chiang Mai there was no mention of this, and I would have thought they would have taken the opportunity then to pass along this requirement.

This came to my attention because I have three Thai friends with Farang spouses who have recently been fined for non compliance with this law.

Please note the edit to my initial post. I have put up the forms the house holder needs to fill in for immigration.

goat, mutton and goose from the butcher on Charoen Prathet rd

Could you be a bit more detailed, please? Where exactly and how about prices: meat, bones, different organs?

Thanks,

Nienke

Sorry it has taken me a while to reply here Nienke! I'm afraid I have not been in the best of health for a few weeks.

The shop is the Halal butcher. The easiest way to find it is to start at the bottom of Chiang Mai land. Take the soi facing you a few meters to the right. This leads down to Charoen Phratet Rd. The shop is facing you at the end of the soi.

From the authorities at Chiang Mai Immigration today.

There is an old regulation which has been in place for many years, but has seldom previously been enforced. It is the same regulation used for hotels and guest houses which at the discretion of Immigration can be applied to private households as well.

Chiang Mai Immigration has now decided to enforce this regulation for private homes also:

o The house owner, the person (or company) which has the “Registration Document”, (Tabien Bahn) is required to register a Farang living in their home or visiting, within 24 hours of arrival.

o This applies to any Farang, regardless of family, husband, children, partners or just friends. It also applies to tenants in a rental, even short stay guests MUST be registered at Immigration.

o It is only required once per person, no periodical re-registration!

o There is no fine for late registration, as long as Immigration did not find out..

o There is a fine for no registration, unless the Farang is registered before the Immigration find out.

o This is the duty of the registered house owner, not the Farang in question.

o The original passport, not a copy, of the Farang is needed, as they need to see arrival date. A photocopy of the passport will only be accepted, if all pages are included.

o There is no fee for this registration “service”

They say of course people can take their chances, but all it takes is a phone call saying that there are Farangs living at a certain address, or an accident, or a traffic check and the Farang will be checked against the registration file. If the registration is not done, the house owner will be fined.

(They are also cross checking house owners registering Farang against the 90 day registration records. They expect to use this process to find Farang who have not been registering as required every 90 days.)

The registered owner of the house needs to register the Farang in question in the building on the left hand side as you enter the Immigration compound. This is where the 90 day registration used to take place.

EDIT: Here are the forms that the landlord needs to fill in and present at immigration:

RegistrationP1.pdf

RegistrationP2.pdf

Cook most days for my family and for others, who order for their deep freezes or for special meals. Used to cook for Rimping too, but that was far too much hassle for far too little return.

Get ingredients mainly from Muang Mai market, some from Macro and other specialist suppliers around town, ie. beef from Northern Farms, goat, mutton and goose from the butcher on Charoen Prathet rd, spices from Bombay Phanich, fresh herbs from the King's Projects etc....

Food cooked is of all types from Asian, African to European and the American continent.

This is not CM specific, so it is going to General.

Sorry - Much as I enjoy threads like this, it is not CM specific, so I must move it

Question - is this intended to be an adults only affair, or are children permitted entry?

CLOSED - Too much idiocy.

Nothing much to do with Chiang Mai - Off to General.

There is too much heat and lack of comprehension of the true situation here.

Firstly, Thailand is NOT a democracy. The votes have never been free or fair here, if they were there would be no vote buying or heavy "persuasion" to vote for a particular party. As an example, at the last election, my maids and their entire community were told that if they did not vote for PPP, their loans from the 1MBaht village fund would be called in. This is neither free nor fair and does not fulfill the requirements to be a democracy. No government "elected in such circumstances can be regarded as legal or legitimate.

I have several family members deeply involved at all levels in PAD. They are not paid, and those demonstrating have never received more than a bottle of water or a khanom from well-wishers. The PAD have always preached Ghandiism and non violence. Any who arrived at a demonstration with any type of weapon had it removed, or they were turned away. The PAD have legitimate grievances, not least the illegitimate government, and have the absolute right to make them known.

On Saturday/Sunday that just passed, a group of men were touring the villages in the North and, I'm told the North East, offering 500-1,000 Baht per day to men willing to go to Bangkok to form a counter demonstration and attack the PAD demonstrators. All transport etc. was provided. Is it mere coincidence that this happened just when Mr Taxin sold Man' City and became highly solvent again. The rumour is that more than coincidence is involved here.

Are there any TV links to watch on the internet?

Yes - See my earlier post. It is HERE

with respect, likening the PAD to the third reich is so spectacularly misinformed as to be downright offensive.

Well said that man!

Anybody who chooses to refer to the deeply corrupt Taxin government, or his current puppet regime as democratically elected is also severely misinformed.

Taxin bought his way into power by wholesale vote purchase from the rural Thais. 1M Baht per village buys a lot of votes. He retained power the second time by7 simply threatening to demand repayment of the loans etc. every villager took out from his 1M Baht scheme. Democracy? My @ss!

These people are a pain in the arse. Protests never solve anything.

Learn history......From France, Russia to Cuba and and and all was done by protests....

Then followed by terror . ...

You need to look much close to home. Several despotic Thai and other Asian governments have been brought down by protest from students and others.

Sukarno in Indonesia, Marcos in the Philippines, consider Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma. In Thailand student protests brought down (the US puppet) Thanom Kittikachorn in October 1973 and Suchinda Kraprayoon in 1992 to name but two recent despots.

The current PAD is led by Chamlong Srimuang, one of the most highly respected Thais of modern generations and the leader of the 1992 pro democracy movement. They have legitimate grievances which need to be addressed.

For those who understand Thai. There is a very good live TV feed from the PAD rally, showing the speeches on stage etc HERE

Moving to support forum. Nothing to do with Chiang Mai.

I am bringing this to the attention of the powers that be. Looks like a glitch in the system somewhere.

I was feeling pretty good as I read the thread until I got to p1p's cautionary tale...Bloody hel_l I think it is fair to say that you have stopped me dead in my tracks, even If I took the view that for safety's sake you were exaggerating the potential risks, Even just killing the odd person would be a bit hard to live with

Still thanks p1p, better to know the risk now than later.

I guess it's back to the drawing board, maybe working on my business here for another three years, by which time we could probably make the move to Chiang Mai without much need for income....Bugger I don't want to wait that long

Sorry - it was not my intent to dissuade you from your dream, simply to appraise you of the risks. Research sous vide, you may feel you can overcome the problems. It is always best to be fully prepared before launching such a venture.

This thread is going down hill and has little or anything to do with CM.

Closed.

Sorry - Thaivisa has a joke section. Please only post Chiang Mai funnies in the Chiang Mai forum.

Firstly I must confess I have had some experience of this in the UK where I had a "sous-vide" kitchen doing "boil in the bag" dishes for wholesale to UK supermarkets. You need to be aware that the entire process is fraught with danger. The bacteria that thrive in the "bag" are not your normal runny-tummy nasties. The anaerobic bacteria you find in such environments are responsible for such things as yersinia, listeriosis, and botulism poisoning. They will and frequently do kill people unlucky enough to consume them.

A sous vide dish may look, smell and even taste okay, but it could be saturated with anaerobic bacteria that would cause your death. Normal aerobic bacteria that cause rot and nasty smells etc. are killed by the cooking and packing process, anaerobic ones are not, so your customer cannot tell if something is deadly without experimentation on themselves or in a lab.

My kitchen in the UK was a sterile "clean room" much like an operating theatre. Staff wore special clothes, shoes, gloves and masks and all equipment was sterilised before it entered the kitchen. Food had to be blast chilled as soon as it was finished. It was the only way to pass our weekly health authority inspections. I fear the infrastructure does not exist in Chiang Mai to give you the sterility you need in your production process or to ensure the products are always kept at the required temperature after they leave your kitchen and before they appear on a plate.

As an example of the problems you are likely to face. I used to supply a well known local supermarket chain with food products; stews, soups, curries, and things like pasta dishes and ready made sauces. I had my own deep freezes in each of their branches.

One day a cleaner unplugged one of my deep freezes to plug in her floor scrubber. She did not plug it in again resulting in 50,000+ worth of food defrosting. I was called by a customer two days after this event and told all my food was warm! (I was in Bangkok at the time.)

I called the shop manager and told him to remove all my goods from sale, as they were unsafe. Instead of doing so, he plugged in the deep freeze again and allowed everything to re-freeze. He was unwilling to accept any responsibility for the goods ruined by his staff, so attempted to sell them.

When I discovered this had happened. I removed all my products from the supermarkets in question and have not dealt with them since. I never got compensation for my destroyed goods.

The problem is that this is not an isolated incident but is wholly symptomatic of much of the Thai attitude. I'm afraid I would never offer sous vide in this country because I am not willing to risk the lives of my customers.

Please can I suggest you PM member Loom directly. The open forum is not really the place for these messages.

I have bought UK 12's from Central on occasion. Same as Aus I think.

I truly hope it was a good one and the regrets and half remembered incidents not too much.

Good one friend.