barcelonatio

How did Thailand go from being the coolest country on the planet to one that totally sucks out load? I used to love Thailand so much that I was planning to live there.... hence my Thaivisa interest. But now with the mutliple scams, redshirt/yellowshirt gonads, shootouts in Phuket, riots in Pattaya, airport closure trauma, bribes everyplace....... all I can say now is...ICK. It's too bad for a country to degenerate into shittyhood so fast. Is it just me or is Thailand now a train wreck to be avoided?

and in this minute the next bangkokpost sms:

PAD accepted AOT's demand to allow incoming flights to use Suvarnabhumi after Constitution Court dissolved PPP. First incoming flight expected within 24 hrs.

we will see.

How thoughtful of the terrorists to allow planes in. Gawd. And for all those claiming "peaceful demonstations" include hijacking an airport and destoying the economy ..... what planet are you from? I thought the world refuses to negotiate with terrorists? So the airport that was taken hostage asks permission to land planes? Jesus. It doesn´t even matter if the elected government is corrupt or not, you simply don't take over airports that are not yours to take and cause so much damage to so many people. Period.

People's Alliance for Democracy leader Somsak Kosaisuk on Tuesday vowed to continue rallying at Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi airports and demanded the departure of the entire Cabinet.

Following the verdict on party disbandment, Somsak said the PAD would not allow the Cabinet to work in the caretaker capacity until the formation of the next government.

He said every minister must depart along with Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat.

Of 36 Cabinet members, 22 are not affected by the party disbandment and can carry on in the caretaker administration.

The Nation

we need adolf hitler

We certainly do NOT need an Adolf Hitler..... but we could use a Saddam Hussein right about now. Can you imagine the Kurds taking over Baghdad airport and sitting there for weeks intentionally destroying the country? Most countries wouldn´t stand for it, democratic or otherwise. And the thought of PAD being "peaceful protesters" is bullsh**. Hijacking an international airport along with the entire economy is not peaceful, and the airport is simply not theirs to take. Apart from tear gas, water cannons, etc..... every PAD supporter needs to be bitch slapped and then forced to learn about how democracy works..... of which they have no idea.

Just tell PAD supporters that Walmart is having a sale and it will start a stampede out of there. Oh wait, that only happens in America.

How is it that the Bus's owner Sirada Boonme, 26 refuses to provide the names of the 4 thieves in her employ..Shouldn't she be arrested for hindering a police investigation?

This would only work in a civilized country that had respect for the law. Thailand is now a free-for-all sort of tropical Wild West. If there is no government, army, or any leadership whatsoever to solve PAD destroying the country, I can imagine the police priority to recooperate a few Ipods.

Say whatever you like about Thaksin, but he tried to make Thailand a modern country, and he never exercised politics by trying to destroy the country.

What is happening now is complete insane, and I follow it with great sadness. Whatever the outcome of this, there will be no winners, only losers. The reputation Thailand has spent decades to build up as a safe destination for tourists and foreign investment, has been destroyed in a few days.

We can only speculate how much damage this will cause to the Thai economy, but the cost will be huge, and ordinary Thai people will start paying the price first when this is over. Businesses are surely already planning how Thailand can be avoided in the future. Tourists are canceling their Christmas holidays. Millions of jobs could be lost.

Arguing that this is only causing some inconveniences to passengers missing their flight is ridiculous. 3% of world cargo passes through Bangkok.

And this is happening in the middle of one of the worlds worst global financial crisis ever. Thailand has never needed a competent and efficient government as much as now.

When countries all over the world spend all their energy on how to avoid economic meltdown, Thailand does whatever it can to create one. If this is not madness...I don't know what is.

Thailand was 14th most dangerous places in the world before this month.Thailand has worked hard to earn the reputation of being dishonest..copyrights, freedom of speech, consistently idiotic politics where overthrowing an government (unheard of in this day and age) is a pastime...Thailand has always had a bad reputation. Only because I''m connected with Thailand do I see things completely different than just last year. Of all countries, Thailand was one of the lowest on my respect list...known for rampant prostitution, scams and lies. People are shocked when I reveal I've got a Thai wife...they ask some interesting questions...then when they ask again, they ask how my Taiwan wife is doing? Not much is known about Thailand in the mainstream except for our little niche here. This could be a forum from Cyprus for all anyone knows and we'd think the news in Cyprus was affecting everyone but in all truth, national news may mention in passing but India is the interested story of the week...India has come a long way from where it has been and actually has a dependable workforce and is trying to step up as a regional world power. Thailand has the money but it is all squandered. My first time there, I was predicting in 5 years, Thailand will be the Hollywood (only referring to wealth, not the real weirdos there) of Asia...but after I saw how deep seated the corruption was from tip top to the lowest of the low, I now realize why I still can get so many baht with the USD and this will continue for some time. Japan, on the other hand has handled things differently, so has Taiwan and South Korea...but there's Thailand making money on sex tourism as a larg percent of GDP...that's what Thailand is known for....lack of morals, ethics and rule of law and rule of international law...the copycat capital of the world (even though China does it more, Thailand has the reputation because of its size and scale of copycats and lack of originality. Anything made worthy of money, Thais will copy and sell for a buck...not a good reputation and it's quite unfortunate. You can see people ins tores picking something up, seeing a "made in Thailand" stamp on it, then the value goes down and it sits on the shelf likely being a copycat of an original idea or style. What have Thais historically brought to the world? Famous ingenuity, inventions? Nope, just professional mimics selling their family members for cash. Anything for a buck.

I don't like it now that I love the people there (minus the snooty old money and intolerably prejudice caste system believers)

What's up, still hold resentment when you realised you paid too much bar fine for the misses ?

Off topic-has nothing to do with this thread!

Before they delete the post, I may as well respond. No barfine, she's my fuc_king wife and she's got a job.

Saying demeaning things about someone's wife is completely uncalled for and unnecessary. I certainly would never do that to another member here. This is not the place for personal bashing. If you're a troll and your purpose is to incite personal attacks, you need to find another forum.

I love Isaan people, just talking about the country's reputation....similar to the reputation of the US lately as an arrogant, self serving violent, pig headed country with a male appendage as a president!

I am in Total agreement with the latter (I also have a Thai wife). You really should do your homework before making sweeping statements. As for the the Sex trade the majority of the tourists (Asians being the largest group are not here for that and the remainder is a small number). In addition the sex trade in Thailand for foriegners is tiny especially when you compare it with the likes of the trade in the USA and Europe where it is huge compared with Thailand.

Woah.... don't throw the baby out with the bath water. Although this seems to be the time to bash Thailand, everything you said about corruption could be applied to Spain too. At least Thailand is still the "Land Of Smiles" unlike Catalunya which could known as the "Land of Frowns". I still think Thailand is a very cool country, warts and all. Who really ants to live in squeeky clean, hyper-efficient, expensive-ass Japan or Switzerland anyway??? The semi-backwardness of Thailand and the grit is part of it´s charm. The tragedy of the PAD crap is that it is screwing up the cool country, not that the country is no longer cool.

/edit typo//

Yeah, I've lived in France a while and experienced the french style of protests, which often involves unrelated people. I don't really appreciate that either. I've not seen them take over an airport in Paris, though.

Oh yes ! Union strikes shutting down airports are common all over Europe. Preferably during the peak holiday season, to give their demand more power. Rings a bell?

Oh yes ! Union strikes shutting down airports are common all over Europe. Preferably during the peak holiday season, to give their demand more power. Rings a bell?

Yes, it's normally French Air Traffick Control!

FF

Come on don't hog all the benefit. There is usually the British baggage handlers causing disruption at peak times, the owners of LHR causing weeks of disruption due to T5, plus of course as soon as the lazy UK airport workers see a snowflake they cancel flights as they have'n't charged the batteries in the snow clearers!

This is interesting... although taking over of an airport sounds sooooo primitive and surreal.... similar things happen in Europe. So many times there have been strikes with the metro in Barcelona, baggage handlers, air traffic controlers, etc. and one time the taxi drivers completely blocked Barcelona airport which caused havoc.... not to mention all the strikes in Italy all the time! So although Europe thinks it is so advanced and culturally superior, the same shit happens... although on a smaller scale.

Need to remove the PAD from the airport by any means possible... this isnt rocket science, this isnt that hard.

-Cut power/water

-blockade roads into the airport

-rubber bullets, tear gas, water cannons

-jam mobile phones

Overwhelm them with a superior force. If you need to use force do so - after warning them what will come if they do not disperse.

maybe thai police can buy some of that russian experimental gas to pump into the airport like russian swat did a fear years ago with that tchechen terrorist problem in a theatre... if half of them die, so what ... that mean still half of troublemakers alive

economy is in crisis all over the world and they let those pad criminals take over a major income for the country

thai police do not have water cannon ? mace ? clubs ?

time to go put the thrash out !

Protesting political issues is one thing... hi-jacking an international airport is another. For the PAD gonads to hide behind "freedom of expression" or such BS is a load of crap. This is not about "inconvenience" for foreigners and Thais it is about fairness and the difference between right and wrong and being a civilised nation. What about all the other countries in the region (Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, etc.) whose tourists usually use BKK as a base? ... and now have cancelled their trips? How can PAD justify screwing up people's livelyhoods in neighboring countries that have absolutely nothing to do with Thai politics?

Yes... water canons, rubber bullets, tear gas etc. should be used after plenty of warning to get their anti-democratic butts out of the airports.

Can you imagine in the U.S. a bunch of Republicans taking over LAX with handclappers because they didn´t like the election results? Puh-leeze.

At least Thailand is a relatively cheap country... I think harder hit tourism wise will be places like Singapore, Australia, Tahiti, etc. which are long haul and way more expensive once you get there.

hold on hold on,a lot(most or all these women) know what there getting into so maybe some of these rescued women dont want to be rescued..........i mean they came to work in uk so they could earn good money doing this,now they gonna get sent back with nothing and a stamp in passport.they probably gutted it got shut down.

the guys/girls helped them and got paid for it,not really traffiking or enforced slavery.maybe the guys wanted a lot of money for it but if the girls know before then its not even extortion ......i think all they have done is falsified visa documents to enter uk so thats what should get done for.

obviously if they(girls) were forced to come here or lied to then thats bad but many girls here in thailand marry farangs so they can go to farangland then run off and meet there connections and work as prostitutes,depends whether they marry a rich or poor man.

sorry if thats sound a very liberal view but if no girls were complaining then no real harm and i believe prostitution is often a chosen career and is just a well paid service,dont forget it was legal in uk years ago and is still ok in many countries.

I think there is some truth in this post. If I was a prostitute in Patpong treated like a piece of meat with a number on my bikiki ... being a high class escort in the UK would sound appealing. Not just to be able to travel but the quality of men would be better there.... not the drunk sex tourists that you have to blow for a few baht. Ick.

Is it dangerous to be critical or just give an honest comment (but might not be so pleasant to the current government) about Thailand if you are not a Thai citizen, or is it anything goes in this forum?

In my country, it is ok if you are a citizen. You can praise or you can bitch. But when you are a foreigner commenting, the reaction is not always welcomed.

Just asking...

Anything goes is called freedom of speech

Is it dangerous to be critical or just give an honest comment (but might not be so pleasant to the current government) about Thailand if you are not a Thai citizen, or is it anything goes in this forum?

In my country, it is ok if you are a citizen. You can praise or you can bitch. But when you are a foreigner commenting, the reaction is not always welcomed.

Just asking...

just have to keep in mind that something like free speech is not existing in Thailand, and is not allowed. their are just too many taboos in LOS.

Being an ex-pat American I always have to listen to comments, opinions, complaints about the U.S., foriegn policy, etc. etc. etc. from non-Americans. Most of the time it's okay as long the people have some idea of what they are talking about... which is not always the case. I bet the OP blogged his opinions about the US although he has never been there........ Natch.

I hate the word "Indeed". It's a non-word that doesn't really mean anything and there is no translation in Spanish. It is kind of a verbal exclamation point. It should be erased from the English language. Indeed.

The OP is probably American... always trying to boycott this or boycott that, to get the maximum amount of power and control for their money. Gawd. My mom is the same way... paying taxi drivers in Barcelona, Tokyo or wherever.. in US DOLLARS. Why? Oh, "they love US dollars" according to her. She treats everyone like they are from the Congo or some third world country that will jump and whistle her tune for her <deleted> dollars.

The OP should evaluate her motives for boycotting things. It is probably mega control /power issues... not to mention arrogance. Of all the reasons to actually start a boycott, a tacky Christmas tree is not one of them.

People are traumatized by investing in Real Estate so sales will be slow all over the world for the next few years at least.... except for desperate sellers and bank-owned properties. I work in Real Estate in Spain and the offers are so lame to the point of being insulting. People are now renting out their properties which is the wise thing to do instead of having them sit on the market forever. I think this is not the time to buy anyplace (with a few small exceptions) regardless of how cheap properties seem. Wait until 2009 to 2010... that's when the bottom will fall out, at least in Spain. Just don´t tell my customers I said this !!!

Ever seen the movie "Leaving Las Vegas"? I think lonely alcoholics look at Thailand like the last house on the block... cheap booze and sex... and when that doesn't seem to work either.... goodbye cruel world. It is sooooo sad but that is the world of addiction. Many people choose death over recovery which baffles me. I have been sober for many years ... and I know the alcoholic hel_l that people go through ..... to the point they wish for the end......

First of all.... what the heck does LOS mean? Ladies Of Silom? (HA!) Seriously, I would like to know.

The economy in Spain is tanking beyond belief and next year looks grim. Thailand is similar in that tourism counts for a large part of the economy.... and with political tensions and bombs going off ... that will kill Thailand tourism even more. To devalue the baht sounds like an option considering the low dollar boosted European tourism to the US massively. Plus Thai exports have to have an excellent price or forget it. The dollar used to be 40+ baht and now it's much less. The countries that position themselves well for 2009 will come out okay... those that do nothing will be screwed.

Thailand will always have better tourism numbers than most countries due to the climate, interesting, culture, people are nice, and once there it is so much cheaper than Europe, the US, etc. Spain used to be cheap and now it is brutally expensive for what you get. The only major expense to Thailand is airfare which is about €800 Barcelona to BKK. So averaging it out it is still cheaper than spending 2 or 3 weeks in Spain.... not to mention way more interesting. I think a lot of people will retire in Thailand like the Brits do in Spain and Americans do in Costa Rica... their pensions can go so much further. It may even turn into the Asian equivalent of Florida or Palm Springs where everyone either has gray hair ... or is wearing a backpack ! One way or another Thai tourism is will be okay in the long run ... it is too cool of a country not to!

I was recently very subtly criticized for being in the closet. A little looked down upon by a gay dude. Well considering I am married with kids, it is the most practical thing to do, and more honorable for the sake of the family including my two teenage sons that don´t need to know what I do behind closed doors whether it is gay, straight, bi, or with latex! But "Don´t cry for me Argentina" .... I have had my cake and it it too !!!!! I wouldn't give up my family just for the sake of a better orgasm and more "freedom". Everybody has their own situation and people are ready when they are ready. It's really judgemental thinking that all guys that like guys should out themselves to the public.. when no one really cares anyway. Live and let live..... including those in the closet.

Here's a quote from the cult cartoon series "Family Guy"

"It's not guns who kill people, it's dangerous minorities who kill people" (HA!)

I would add:

"It's not guns who kill people, it's stupid idiots who have a gun in the first place who kills people".

The thought of having a gun in a non-gun culture such as Thailand is insane. If you are such a right wing Republican that MUST have a gun ... a fake one would have the same effect.. just wave one at someone in the middle of the night and they will be so fast out of there the problem will be solved. Invest in locks and security measures instead.

The post that said "America is Great, that is why I live in Thailand" is similiar to me... America is great, that is why I live in Spain! America is a very cool country in many ways... but has lost it's sparkle partly because Bush is a dumbass and has run the country into the ground. But I think America still has potential and Obama has the skill and the charm to turn the country around and get the world respect back. Financially the US blows and will get way worse before it gets better. The new America (after even more financial chaos) will be less materialistic, less pro big business, less war hungry, less greedy, and a better nation as a result.

Don´t count the US out yet!

I have been sober 14 + years and an active member in AA... which totally ROCKS. I am soon moving to BKK to be go to meetings non-stop as I enjoy it, meet tons of people, and it keeps me sober. As for some of the posts.... Yes, AA doesn't seem to work for everyone. but..."rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path". That sums it up. I didn´t get sober immediately as I was looking for an "easier, softer way" but once I was humble enough to actually try the program, it totally worked. Amazing for someone who literally drank a bottle of vodka every night for many years. AA is not for people who need it ... it's for people who want it. So until someone is so miserable that they will try ANYTHING and be humble enough to take suggestions... AA is probably not going to work. But there really are AA miracles and I have seen people recover which is amazing. I hope to see it in Thailand soon!

Wow.... I am from Spain and educated in the U.S. and also am moving to Thailand. It looks like the place to go these days as the world is falling apart economically. I am one of those economic refugees that is escaping Europe to go live someplace cheap, sunny and fun for a while. I don´t plan to work, just live relatively cheap ... it is good to have a forum and website like this to get the scoop. How is the expat life in Thailand? Is the economy sucking royally like it is in the US and Europe? Thanks for your input by people on the ground there.

Hi,

I am one of those economic refugees from Europe that want to chill in BKK to wait out the economic storm and go back once the dust has settled in like 6 months or a year. You know, get messages daily, enjoy the tropic weather, meet with friends at Starbucks and pop off to the islands on a whim.... all this while while my counterparts in Europe are stressed to a frazzle. If I am not going to make any money, I might as well enjoy myself! Sooo... is there a local website like Craigslist in Thailand? The actual Craigslist Thailand pages don´t seem very used. I am also curious to see if there are other ex-business people doing the same thing which sounds extremely tempting (and do-able) for many people. It would be interesting to meet someone similar to share notes on visa extensions, and expat life in BKK. You can email me at [email protected]. Let's meet for a Frappachino ! Cheers mates.