spidermike007

What this announcement means, is that multinational companies WILL start exiting Thailand soon. This news is very alarming. Why not have a competent person lead this important committee?

Absolutely anything to bring awareness to the plastic problem in Thailand, is a good thing. Imagine something like this happening in Koh Samui, the least progressive spot in ThIland. The mayor Ramnate Jaikwang is sleeping at the wheel, and so busy pillaging the island, there is no time left to do anything to benefit Samui. What a waste. What a crime. Plastic is piling up on the beaches and estuaries and nobody is taking charge.

Any citizen of any country is subject to Thailands laws, if they do something deemed offensive while in their home country, are put on a watch list, then visit Thailand. You can be arrested, tried, and jailed here. Be very careful of what you say. For those of us that go back and forth it is best to give the monarchy the affection and respect they deserve. After all, the King is the world's greatest Monarch of the past century, by far.

Notice how in Thailand, they almost never address the bigger problems, or underlying issues. The issue here is hardly good drainage in Bangkok. I believe the issue is how much water will run off from the dams up north? What has "Yingbat" done to address this? What kind of coherent water management policy have they put into place? How many billions of baht have been spent on it? What has changed from last year? One more year of flooding like last year, and I would imagine the multinationals will lose interest in staying in Thailand. Incompetence can only be tolerated for so long.

It's sad to say but I think Asia has pretty much run its course if you are looking for an adventure. You really have to dig deep, create your own. take time and get really far off the tourist trail. The hopping off the plane and being awestruck was finished 15 years ago - its only got worse.

It's great for people to modernize, but it really sucks for the adventurer. Who are we to hold them back?

I would spend a few days and at least see Hanoi, Hue. Bangkok is really nothing but sprawl. You could see what BKK has to offer in two days easy, as for the rest of the country, I consider it trampled by tourism. I don't know what you are after but I'd just get out to a nice beach if you have the time.

Temples - Cambodia

Tribes - Myanmar, Lao, (Vietnam)

Mountains - Myanmar, Lao, Vietnam

Food - THAILAND!

Food (weird) - Cambodia

You of course have your sights on going to CM and Phuket in a very hurried manner.

Thailand is a great place to live but it's WOW factor died decades ago.

Who cares about the wow factor. If you want a wow, go to Anghor Wat, or Bagan. Otherwise, it is a delightful place to visit. I can think of one hundred fantastic places to see in Asia. You sound extremely jaded. Would recommend leaving Asia for a year, then let's see how you feel.

Been to Hanoi twice, and Saigon once. Hanoi itself is OK. Has a bit of charm. Saigon was far more interesting. If you go to Hanoi, the highlight for many is Halong Bay. Takes a couple of days to see. I much, much prefer Thailand. Mostly it is about the people. The Vietnamese people for the most part are very similar to the Chinese people. Not very warm. Not very pleasant to deal with. They are OK, but not friendly, like the Thais. Both my girlfriend, and myself felt that way. I have also been there on my own, and felt the same way. A couple of people in the tourist trade, I felt like slapping around, as they were that dismissive. Good chance I will never return to Vietnam, and will not miss it. Thailand on the other hand is wonderful. Delightful people, where ever you go. Helpful and kind. You can contact me directly at [email protected] if you have any questions.

Mark

I think he is spot on with his comments.... apparently terrorists scoping out places in Pattaya were fined 3000B for a cigarette butt throw down, then got scammed by jetski operators.. picked up by local police for a tea money shakedown, almost run over by the golden man cyclist ( twice) and then mistakenly invited LB's back to their room and the inevitable ensuing cat fight.

Most places they went they couldn't be understood as everything was in Russian, the gogo's they went into had women even fatter and uglier than the ones they have back home and then to top it off went to the look out above Pattaya and got bitten by the pack of dogs that have taken up residence there.

In a coded message back to HQ the terrorist claimed Pattaya should be taken off the list as its already hell there .

Thank you for that lovely humor. Appreciate it. Clever little bit.

I always thought Nana Plaza would be a prime target for jihadists on a mission from God. Full of sinful girls, booze, infidels (oh yeah, and Arabs). Several pounds of C4 exploded in the middle would create a compression wave that would be devastating, and then there is only one way out. Scary thought.

Three-sided Nana's always been the place that gives me the willies too (and I'm not talking about the ladyboy bars...:-)

Except the one area you fail to mention is that the Jihadists would have one less place to get blown, and to fool around. Most of them are hypocrites, and when someone is not looking, are looking to "get busy", and get loose. Only when their brethren are looking, are they holier than thou.

How far away does one have to get to truly get away from the American non-sense that constantly flows out of the government? Sorry, but meaningless scare tactics don't impress me. Furthermore, if two people can stimulate a panic without even doing anything, then the so-called bad guys win, period.

In addition, this 'cry wolf' crap is really getting old. Here's an idea America: try minding your own business and stop pissing on the rest of the world. See how that works instead of the normal gospel-spreading course, please.

ABSOLUTELY agree with every word here - only one thing PLEASE... do not call the USA America. My friends in Brasil and Colombia hate it...so do the other Americans - South America is America too...so is Canada, even if it is a Part of the USA

Hope the USAmerican authorities are not to pi...d too much about the ThaiGovernment officials and proving them wrong with all the power they have, would not be the first time.

Here in Thailand the Thais call the USA -- America. To communicate with Thais, say America. In Ecuador, say Estados Unidos or the United States. My preference is just U.S.

Tell your friends in Latin America to leave the mushrooms alone, and grow a thicker skin.

The police chief is concerned about "one sided material from foreign embassies". Amusing Thailand. No, we do not want to hear about any credible threats. No, we do not want to address the jet ski scams, the King Power scams, the corrupt policemen fleecing the tourists for throwing cigarette butts, or driving incorrectly, or who knows what else. No, we do not want to try to figure out a way to encourage our restaurant, and hotel operators to maintain reasonable pricing, so as to not price themselves out of the market, eventually. No, we do not want to figure out how to develop a responsible water management policy. No, we do not want to look within, at all. We only want positive press, worldwide, no matter how we run our country. This sort of foolishness demonstrates a continued level of naivety that may land Thailand in the spot of a country that once had a thriving tourist industry, but is nothing but a historical footnote, at some point in the not too distant future.

Who is going to pay for all of these lost lives, lost homes, injuries, burn victims, etc? The rich fools who sponsored the event, in the middle of a town with predominately wooden houses? The city of Saphan Buri? The governor, who seems to have done little to alleviate the suffering of the people, other than to make some vague pronouncements about a police investigation. How was this allowed to happen? Why was it not pushed to the outskirts of town, where it would have been far safer? Why was the company who was hired so incompetent? Will they be held responsible? How much will the owner of that company have to pay the governor, or the mayor, of the police chief, to walk away scot free, while these poor folks are scarred for life with 3rd degree burns? Who is going to lose their jobs over this? I believe the Tambon chief, the mayor, the governor, the police chief, and other should be immediately fired, and replaced with people who have at least a tiny concern for human safety.

Might I suggest to the rocket scientist, posing as Deputy Prime Minister Police Captain Chalerm Yubumrung that he increase police salaries, rather than just hiring more. Hiring more police will simply lead to more cops on the street, looking for a way to earn enough money to survive. If he is sincere about fighting crime, which I personally doubt very, very strongly, than he should consider effective ways of doing this. And is he only going after drug related crimes, or is he actually serious about fighting crime in general? And if that is the case, how is he going to eliminate one's ability to buy their way out of ANY CRIME with enough cash or influence? Is anything really going to change, or is this an example of just another politician goombah making another pronouncement, with zero intention to back it up?

Many Thai people find it extremely hard to engage in introspection. Your wife seems to have that fault also. Also, it is hard for many Thais to criticize their own. It becomes us vs. them. The fact that she would not even consider your point of view would be cause for me to consider divorce, and to simply admit I made a bad decision in choosing her in the first place, if I were in your shoes. Also, there may be a distinct lack of intelligence to consider. Those are not exactly intellectual responses to the problem. The neighbor was a Bozo, and deserves a hosed dog. You may want to threaten to tazer the dog next time if he comes onto your property. That might get a reaction. LOL. And always remember this is "Amusing Thailand".

What would be an appropriate punishment for this heinous crime? How about life in prison? Execution? Public square humiliation? I only wish the daughter had had the creativity to take her dog of a father out of his misery.

Children doing adult jobs. Chalerm is way, way out of his depth. I am afraid to say so is Yingluck. Though I was willing to give this administration a chance, they have proven themselves to be fabulously incompetent, in dealing with nearly anything they have commented on, or dealt with, since taking office. Feels like a bunch of school children trying to do adult jobs. Nothing they do or say can be trusted anymore. What will happen if the flooding arrives this year, and everyone, including the multi national companies that suffered billions of dollars in damage, see that nothing has been done in the way of a long term plan, to address this enormous problem, that is potentially devastating to Thailand's economy, in the long term?

Living in Thailand they were never any good anyway...by the time you got to KL then dumped at Stanstead and all the add ons for baggage, entertainment, food etc it was a longer journey that cost more...so not really a loss for Thai residents.

I could not disagree more. They are a lovely airline. One must be aware of the add ons. You bring your own food, travel very light, carry on as much as possible, etc. I have saved a tremendous amount of money using them over the years. Especially with their super sales, if you are able to plan well in advance. Lately they have been much more timely than in the past, and the planes are nearly new most of the time. Plus, the flight attendants are gorgeous. What more can a man ask?

Thai Military, Bangkok Bank, and Krung Thai have a monopoly on the airport. They paid a considerable fee for this. They have many ATM's. The money exchange branches offer a very poor rate, so use the ATM, if possible.

'Nothing to worry about'

Chalerm told AFP by telephone that the detained suspect was being questioned by Thai authorities.

"We already have one suspect in custody for interrogation at a government building in Bangkok. He is a Hezbollah from Lebanon," he said.

"I want to assure people that there is nothing to worry about. The police will take care of the situation and everything will be under control."

I am very relaxed now, since the extremely credible Mr. Chalerm told us we should not worry. When someone utters the statement "The police will take care of the situation and everything will be under control", here in Thailand, there is good reason not to be less worried. The police are some of the least competent on planet Earth. Why should we be less worried. Chalerm is an absolute goombah. He knows nothing about anything. He is super incompetent. He never should have been appointed to the any post, much less the post of vice PM. In any other country except perhaps Surinam, he would never have gotten any further than managing a 7/11.

How does one keep a low profile in public places, especially those frequented by foreign tourists - keep low, hide behind pillars? Wouldn't it be better just to avoid them all together?

The American State Department finds it useful, to keep us on edge, and issue these warnings. The last thing in the world they would want would be for us to forget about the terrorist threat. How would they justify the $660,000,000,000US Defense budget. Nor the 820,000 Americans employed in security and intelligence, most of whom are spying on Americans. Why avoid places like Central World, Siam Paragon, Soi Cowboy, and the other delightful spots in Bangkok, where many tourists go. Just how do we maintain a low profile? By staying home? That does not sound like much fun.

It is quite possible that not only the image of Thailand as a country of great purity and innocence will be soiled by this incident, but the Thai people could be corrupted by the presence of porn in their country. Perish the thought that people are actually filming sex here. Since there is no sex industry to speak of, the elders, officials, and ministers have to work hard to make sure this does not spread, and give the women of this country any ideas. It could lead to a corruption of the clean spirit and morality of the people, and God forbid, tourists could start coming to Thailand to have sex with the local girls.

We can only hope this ridiculous goon will serve jail time, for this assault. Rank means nothing. When one is talking about security, nobody should be above the law. Would love to see someone rough this punk up. He deserves that.

The sedan was hit from behind by an extended cab pickup driven by 44-year-old Amphrai Khaow-im.

One can only hope that Amphrai Khaow-im is imprisoned for at least 20 years, and that he is fined enough money to bankrupt his entire family. He was obviously not paying attention, or he would not have plowed into the car, sending it into the crowd. This is manslaughter. If there was a crowd, with police, etc, then why did he not see it, and slow down? What a goon. What a misfit. Does he deserve a license to drive? No, it should be taken away, and he should be forced into another profession, when he is released from prison, after the ago of 64.

If they can organize a protest, why don't they just make a co-op and bypass the middle man ?

Exactly. A little creativity is in order. Too much to ask? Well, someone has to take charge. Why let some fat middle man get rich? It is always a good thing for nearly everyone concerned, if the middle man is excluded.

Add another 10 years of prison time tonhis sentence, for fleeing the scene. That is what would happen in the US. It is a very serious crime. Especially when there are fatalities. It will send a message. Doubt it will happen. But it should. He is a creton, and should be treated as such.

Wonder how many Thais have been arrested lately for loan sharking? Interesting how they are going after farengs, and holding them up to scrutiny. Meanwhile, the Thai private (no license) loan business is thriving, and nobody gets arrested, or even scrutinized. Fascinating police work.