jesimps

As we all know Songkran starts on the 12th and especially in the Eastern Seaboard Area (let's say from Chonburi up to Sattahip) it lasts until the 19th or 20th.

Pattaya's Songkran is officially 1 day on 18, 19 or 20, but as we all know as well..........well whatever.

It's Songkran and the hardest complainers about the drought throw the most water.

Pattaya main day is 19th, never ever seen it on 20th in Pattaya - I'm going back to 1994 only. Always starts wrapping up around 6pm ish.

I've never witnessed this extra day on the 20th down towards Sattahip area.

Let's hope it is cut short but I noticed last year on the 19th was very subdued around 3rd road area until midday & it still finished around 6pm - poss due to the roadworks.

Songkran's a ....... nightmare in Pattaya and surrounding area. Rest of the year wouldn't live anywhere else.

Quite apart from this person's guilt, it's crazy that those who don't trust their government with gay marriage will trust it with the power to execute them.

Complete blx post.

The death penalty should be abolished. It is not a deterrent as it was marketed to America years ago and it makes "us" just like "them" (killers). This guy has already been put to death. The procedure was a horrible, painful failure. Enough already.

It's also acting in accordance with the law, if you murder someone you get put down.

What annoys me is the time it takes them to sort out the appeals. Seven years in this case.

Bet his young victim would have loved another seven years of life but she wasn't given the choice.

Also, how dare you put us, on a par with him for supporting his execution. He's a rapist and cold blooded murderer of a child for goodness sake. What's up with people like you?

Wonderful! He won't be released at a later date to kill again.

Cue the bleeding hearts.

What can I say that hasn't been said already. In my view what is being proposed is a further backward step but to be honest will the ordinary Thai try to stop it? Having said that, the army probably had the reason for a coup offered to them on a gold plate in 2014 but I am not going to start an argument about the how's and why's of that issue. I respect other opinions here.

One thing I think we would agree on is that it is a mess.

The American expats must have got concerned about actions against their embassy and now I wonder if that might escalate to include other embassies. If that happened we would have a decision to make which in some cases that will be damned difficult because of building up a family. Even myself, I am contemplating a second Thai marriage and I am trying to avoid a decision until things become clear, one way or the other. I read a post yesterday on a completely different forum where it was thought that we might see 'refugees' heading for a country where things are also changing (I trust all will understand to which country I refer). I never thought that I would see such a comment in Thailand.

If 'that man' abroad really had his heart in the right place he would stay silent to protect Thai people. He must know that any message from him will just inflame the situation but probably we'll see another comment from him in the next few days.

I haven't deliberately written anything to upset anyone but really just my own concerns for the future. I have lost much here one way and another but through my own choices, yet I am sure there are many here who stand to lose much more than me and not by their own choice. I sincerely hope the situation improves and my concerns become unfounded.

Don't blame "That man abroad" for what's happening here now. Sounds like you're saying that all will be fine and dandy as long as he stays silent. The present govt here have absolute power therefore it isn't possible for anyone else to influence what's happening. It's incredibly niaive of you to think otherwise.

They say that we are in a third world country here !

1.Two weeks ago I went to hospital to make appointment to see throat specialist. They said,'He is here now if you want". 15 minutes later, I was watching my throat etc., in color, on a screen, attached to the latest state of the art camera ! Cost, just over 20GBP !

2. Last week, we bought an new curved,smart TV. I asked ,"when can you deliver ? " They replied, What time do you get home sir ? "!!...

3. On Monday, we bought new Air Con for our home office. I asked about instalation. They said, "its free sir, when do you want it ? Tomorrow ?"

4. Yesterday, I went to buy an unusual spare part for swimming pool light. They said, "sorry, we don't have, but can get for tommorow ! I just collected it !

Third World eh ? Try those things in UK !!!

Another example of keeping the masses dumb so they dont have the intelligence to understand what the military continue to take from them.

I wouldn't put it like that though I have sympathy with your point of view.It's not really a question of intelligence because the Thai people have that in abundance, and it can never be extinguished.Furthermore in the last twenty years the con trick that the elites played on the people has been rumbled.To use that rather overused expression the genie cannot be put back on the bottle.The "know your place" mentality - where ordinary people are urged to be self sufficient while the elites wallow in conspicuous expenditure - is dying on its feet because the Thai people refuse to take it seriously now.Thus any strategy depending on the masses being kept dumb just won't work.Education is a different matter altogether.In any case I believe that most reasonable Thais (and I include the conservative urban middle class) understand why educational standrds must be improved across the board.

"Thai people have intelligence in abundance". And I'm the mayor of London.

Plenty of intelligent people, unfortunately the common sense part stops developing after 5yoa.

UK and NATO were doing ok before we joined the Common Market. I'm sure we'll both be ok after we leave the socialist edifice that is the EC.

Chuffed!

Me too ,I hope Pattaya has a reduced number of days

Thailand is slowly becoming North Korea

you really have no idea do you, just because they grab people that they claim are causing dissent and "chat with them" doesnt mean we are anything like north korea. Here you still have all your freedoms to do pretty much what you please, doesnt matter if you disagree with what they are doing we are a long way from anything like nk, the only people that are upset are the ones that cant handle their team not running the show. Maybe when you cant buy food, watch tv, listen to the radio, get put into concentration camps, are executed for not saying/doing the wrong thing etc you can have a go at them, pretty pathetic on your part but then what more can we expect.

Waiting until one's dead is a little late to complain about loss of humans rights and liberties.

People should treat the loss of a single human right as if the world were at an end.

An avalanche starts with a pebble.

I agree, you protest first and we will see how it works out. This isn't our country,let the Thai's sort it out, we don't have any rights that could be curtailed anyway.

Sounds a bit like WW2 Germany "We aren't Jews, let them sort it out themselves".

Well! If he says so, then I guess we must believe him. I mean, the way he sees things must be correct right? Even if nobody agrees with him about it.

Seems to me that alongkorn is trying to force you to believe him. Ignore my right hand while you watch my left.

suppose for a moment that this guy didn't make this statemnt

It doesn't take much to look back these last 20-30 years and very obviously see that Thailand has been a political disaster, the reasons are mute and no point in discussing them but one thing is for sure, in order to progress to any sort of political stability some very special measures do need to be put in place - there is absolutely no doubt about that.

A well written constitution and strong measures enforced by powerful agencies to wipe out corruption and enforce the law would be a good start.

There are too many self appointed private power mongers in this country who appointed themselves that really need to be dealt with - and I'm not talking about the current government who seem to be the only possible way to achieve stability, everything else in the past has failed

Obviously you can't see that the present and past military governments are the common denominator that has held any semblance of democracy out of reach for over 70 years. The sooner this country reduces the size of it's military personnel by 50% ie. a figure commensurate with it's global needs and then bans it from interfering in politics, the sooner long term political stability can be achieved. Sadly, the 'influential' power players in LOS have been able to use the military to serve their own political/personal agendas. IMHO the Thai military does not act in defence of the country or all of it's citizens. It exists to serve the persons of 'influence', and I don't see this changing at all in my lifetime.

actually the events that I am aware of have been caused by a sitting elected government going rogue or a face saving ex convicted criminal using his money to fuel an uprising and causing a huge section of the people to take to the streets, the military have always been a last resort when it reaches the brink

some very simple constitutional changes would have prevented the last elected government from even attempting Thaksins amnesty, if certain self centered power abusing people would leave the political landscape for good then we might just see a change

Such niaivity is pretty scary. Wherever you come from the people hire and fire govts, good or bad via the ballot box. How dare you think that the Thais should be deprived of the same rights and privileges which you have had. Democracy is democracy is democracy.

But unfortunately they are the poor's only means of transporting their working equipment, grocery deliveries, families about you see. They haven't the means to buy pickups, even on credit, in this third world country. Now, if the massive disparity were narrowed, you'd never see a salaeng. Like 'back home'.

"They haven't the means...in this third world country."

Haven't heard that ridiculously ignorant comment for some time

When looking at the make up of the voted senators previously being law breakers and people that moved law breakers across the borders illegally this may be a wise move.

Only thing that concerns me with this is that the Junta may not have that much confidence in their reforms removing the criminal element from the upper echelons of parliament which at the end of the day is their and the majorities goal.

"The majorities". Who are you referring to?

Another genius behind the wheel of a lethal weapon

Yeah,...and the A... hole survived unhurt....! while two of he's passengers died ! There is no justice in this world ...!

My interpretation of the initial report is that the van driver was driving on his own side of the road. Given it was his passengers that died I can't see why you see fit to refer to him as an "A... hole"

Even if he was on his own side of the road he should have been driving at a speed where he could stop in an emergency. He was probably in top gear which is the usual method used by locals for driving downhill.

Just my opinion, I could be wrong.

I don't like Hillary, but

The Reagans were one of the worst things to ever happen to America.

I see no reason Nancy or her husband should be praised.

If not for the Reagans you could be speaking Russian now and queueing for hours for a loaf of black bread. Never mind, at least you lefties would have been amongst friends.

Bet there'd have been no shortage of applicants for jobs guarding the gulags.

German broadcaster: IS files refer to some Paris attackers

PAISLEY DODDS, Associated Press

GEIR MOULSON, Associated Press

LONDON (AP) A cache of leaked documents containing the names of recruits into the Islamic State group includes references to several of the men who carried out the November attacks in Paris, a German broadcaster reported Friday. Security officials and counterterrorism analysts said the cache could provide valuable clues into how the group lures followers and how vast its global recruiting networks are.

German broadcaster WDR says that it, along with the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and fellow broadcaster NDR, have obtained some 22,000 IS documents. On Friday, WDR reported that the files document the entry into IS territory in 2013 and 2014 of Paris attackers Samy Amimour, Foued Mohamed-Aggad and Ismael Omar Mostefai. In addition, the broadcaster said the files contain an apparent reference to Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who has been identified as the architect of the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris, in which 130 people were killed.

The IS files that surfaced in various outlets this week contain names of potential fighters, personal references, telephone numbers and other detailed information. The leak, which contains names of people from more than 50 countries, also stands to heighten suspicion among followers. Similar leaks within other terror affiliates have created fissures in Pakistan and elsewhere in the past.

Some of the documents included names of women, but neither their nationalities nor their roles were immediately known, according to Shiraz Maher, a senior research fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization at Kings College in London.

Maher has seen a bulk of the files. He said while it would be unusual for women to be recruited as fighters, women may have been listed as personal references.

"One of the key things about these documents is that they contain names of people who have vouched for the recruits," Maher said. "By cross-checking these names against the information we have already, we'll be likely to piece together a detailed picture of IS networks and how they relate to one another. And a lot of the information we've seen on the documents correspondents to what we have on our databases which leads us to believe the documents are authentic."

In the documents, Amimour, Mohamed-Aggad and Mostefai said only that they wanted to fight for IS when they arrived, though it was possible to tick an option on the form to be a suicide attacker, WDR reported.

It said that Abaaoud apparently acted under a pseudonym, Abu Omar Al-Beliki, to vouch for the entry of another French Islamist. An initial analysis of the documents found no entry form for Abaaoud, WDR added.

The documents also showed that at least 14 men from France crossed the Turkish-Syrian border on Dec. 18, 2013 with the same smuggler and were vouched for by a single extremist of Moroccan origin, it said. Mohamed-Aggad was one member of that group.

Germany's federal criminal police said Thursday they are in possession of the IS files.

Britain's Sky News also reported it had obtained 22,000 files and Zaman al-Wasl English, a Syrian news site critical of extremist fighters and the government, also obtained the documents from a source in the border area, said its editor, Mohamed Hamdan. However, the site had only 1,736 names and Hamdan couldn't explain the discrepancy.

Hamdan said the database of names was handed over in December by a Syrian who is now in Turkey but the site held off publishing immediately at the time, they simply ran a short story noting the existence of the documents. "We did not want to rush. There are those who want a scoop. But for us, we have a moral objective, because if we publish the names, there are consequences for their loved ones. Zaman al-Wasl refuses to deal with intelligence services."

Europol, meanwhile, was sharing material on it database with member countries though it wasn't clear how many had access to the leaked documents.

"Europol is in contact with the British and German authorities regarding the veracity and wider availability of the information," said Robert Wainwright, director of the European police organization. "If the provenance and accuracy of the information is confirmed it undoubtedly represents a significant intelligence gain for Western authorities and should be exploited fully."

Europol runs the European Counter Terrorism Centre and routinely assigns officers to help investigate terror attacks.

Sky said the files, obtained at the border between Turkey and Syria, were passed to them on a memory stick stolen from the head of the Islamic State group's internal security police by a former fighter who had grown disillusioned with the group.

Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported it also had obtained the files on the Turkey-Syria border, where it said IS files and videos were widely available from anti-IS Kurdish fighters and members of IS itself. The documents appear to have been collected near the end of 2013, Sky News reported. At that time, IS was "at a pretty early stage of its state-building capacity," said Dalia Ghanem-Yazbeck, a research analyst at the Carnegie Middle East Center.

The documents highlight the bureaucratic work of the highly secretive extremist group that has spread fear through its brutal killings and deadly attacks in its self-declared caliphate of Syria and Iraq, as well as in places like France, Turkey, Lebanon, Yemen and Libya.

As of last month, the U.S. estimates IS had 19,000 to 25,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria, down from an estimated 20,000 to 31,500 fighters.

-- (c) Associated Press 2016-03-12

Deduced that a long time back. No shock horror at that report.

From experience in Pattaya, when you're on a pub crawl you're always walking on eggshells. Just like at immigration I smile and try to be nice to people even if they're annoying me. When you've had a few it isn't an easy thing to appear reasonable, especially in the early hours.

No excuse for people beating you up but that's the way it is here.

World's number one hypocrites.

Bet there'll be no comment from the high and mighty in the embassy.

The British Embassy says it is in the hands of the insurers and rightly so. Like myself, they don't susbcribe to this pathetic song sahn, krien jai rubbish either.

The British Embassy don't subscribe to anything much these days do they? I reckon they'd forward this problem to Liverpool too if they could.

I also don't subscribe to song sahn, krien jai but I'm an individual unlike them, they are an entity, backed and ruled by HRM. They should deal with matters like this in the proper diplomatic way.

It's not like they can't afford 2,500 quid, is it? 555

What utter blx. The embassy car was insured. It's the insurance co's problem. That's why you pay this vast sum to them each year. Knock the embassy for many valid reasons, but this time you have no case.

I can believe it. There is a culture at the British Embassy in Thailand that denies responsibility for anything. It's procedures are illegal, it asked the British journalist being sued for defamation (for exposing human trafficking) to sign a form of indemnity before it would even consider offering help. The Consul, Ms Joanna Roper, is a liar (there, I've made myself open to a defamation suit) and the entire embassy is a waste of time and money.

Makes you proud to be British.

When you pay upwards of 20000 baht to insure your car, would you then pay damages out of your own pocket even though it's the insurance co's responsibility?

It isn't even certain who's at fault here. The insurance liaise with each other and sort it out.

I normally knock the Brit Emb but in this case they're 100% in the right.

Bet there'll be no comment from the high and mighty in the embassy.

I don't normmally have a good word to say about the Brit Embassy but in this case if the car was fully comp insured then it's up to the insurance company to cough up. Unless of course the driver was drunk or something.

you have not handled it well.

​

​What would have been a better first step? That might give me an idea of what I can do next to solve the problem.

Now I just get the booming bass-heavy music from the surrounding villages and temple.

If anything makes me leave Thailand it'll be the noise.

Dear old Spams with their crew cuts, loud shirts, half-mast trousers, white socks and big black shiny shoes.

I'll be eternally grateful for their backing in the war, without them us Brits would probably now be sprecking the deutch and scoffing sausages and sourkraut.

I was wondering what cunning plan was in store to enable the junta to retain power after an election. Now I know.

The NCPO is going to become the senate. I would have suggested it earlier but didn't think they had the cheek until I read this report.