Oberkommando

And to think this woman is one of the leaders of this government. The lights are on but no one's at home.

To be fair, they are all pretty dim.

I would like to say something about a politician that was the best teacher of corruption for 5 years. But it would only get deleted.

Corruption was entrenched in Thai culture and society way before he came along.

Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam should simply tell Laos (and they should all tell China) that they will view any damming of the river to be an attack on their national security, and a declaration of war. There's no way Laos would continue with it. I do wonder how China would do against a unified ASEAN.

Why would Thailand say anything? They are behind the push for the dam construction.

Again, and I'm getting bored of saying this, but the dam will be Thai financed, Thai built and 95% of the electricity generated will be for Thai consumption.

This has happened all over Thailand within the adult entertainment scenes, including the North.

These places are no longer user friendly. Greedy business owners, greedy staff and the use of aggressive methods in order to obtain money.

The whole thing has become mechanical and the good humour and fun atmosphere has disappeared. And before anyone says; it`s always been that way, I will disagree. I can remember when these establishments where more sociable and not the aggressive purely for business institutions they have become today.

In the end the grab as much money, for doing as little as possible, in the shortest possible time attitudes, doesn't work.

I just see this as more nails in the coffin for the Thai tourist industry and whether some dislike the sex scene in Thailand, it did bring in the dollars.

I would love to see some statistics in real terms of how much money Thailand is losing year by year with it`s every dwindling tourist industry.

Good post and exactly why I enjoy drinking in Phnom Penh much more than Bangkok these days; friendlier locals and less pushy.

Hun Sen also banned go-go bars a while back so it doesn't seem as sleazy as Patpong, Cowboy or Nana.

While we are on the topic of red light areas losing their appeal, anyone remember the red-light area at Saphan Kwai? Used to be several bars there.

The military would have been ultimately behind the crackdown IMO, and it is they that need to be brought to account, not their lackeys in government at the time.

To suggest Abhisit and co were sitting in a room giving the important decisions would show a very naive view and a complete lack of understanding of how the Thai military operates.

A failed culture and society is the one that rewards immorality and deceit.

A few years ago myself and a few friends made the mistake of going into one of the upstairs bars in Patpong and were told only 90thb for one beer, then the bill came and they tried charging us 400thb each! I'd heard of this scam before so one of us paid (the total for 6 beers at 90thb each) and the rest refused. We were all big lads and we walked downstairs and left without paying a Baht more. The 'bouncers' whoever and wherever they were didn't come to confront us as I think they knew it would get messy. A couple of the lads wanted to have a go anyway but they were calmed down and we continued drinking in another bar.

Just a couple of months ago I returned to Patpong after many years hiatus and one of the downstairs go-go bars hit me with a bill for 4000thb after I had only 2 drinks. I refused to pay, was threatened and I stood outside, called my contact in the Police and let him speak to the old mamasan. After about 20 seconds of discussion she nastily told me to go and I left without paying a single Baht.

It's the only place I have been threatened with physical violence after refusing to buy something from the market too, way back in about 2001 I had a problem with a vendor there as I had to go to the ATM for some cash and he lost the rag with me, started shouting and cursing and poking his finger in my face.

A thoroughly nasty and horrible place it is these days but it is indicative of the way the whole of Thailand is becoming IMO.

Getting ready for the day we all know is coming.

How many months or years have you been repeating this sentance?

Ever since I knew the day was coming.

Abide by the rule of law? Equality? Fairness? The whole article is pure comedy gold.

Red-shirt leader Arisman said to be stressed during 1st night in jail,unable to eat or sleep;his lawyer will appeal for bail again next week /TANN

Big tough guy huh.

I disagree. I look at the coup as an emergency reset button used when democracy had gone wrong. The military were NOT seizing power for their own use, they were taking it away from those abusing it.

History suggests otherwise.

Indeed, coups throughout Thai history have been beneficial to several fascist dictators, the military's own self-interests and anti-Democratic movements as well as other interests we cannot discuss.

Those that do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

I think it is getting harder and harder to substitute the euphemism "restive" for what is actually going on in the South, which is a regional civil war.

Correct and well said that man for acknowledging it.

5000+ deaths in 7 years is a bit more than just 'restive'.

Getting ready for the day we all know is coming.

New Politics Party (political arm of the PAD) logo.

Its still a 14.8% increase in London from 2010 to 2011.

And it happens every 15 minutes.

In Phuket, maybe once every 15 days if that.

So what this is really about, is where do you feel safer.

Doesn't matter if you're standing in mouse poop or cow manure does it now ( counting flies ) ?

At least in Phuket, you could safely be standing in either for 14 days ( without being mugged )

In London, you could only be safe, standing in either for 14 minutes....

You can't make a proper comparison, because any stats the Thais have will not have been compiled properly thus render them nonsense.

There's a whole lot of crime going on in Thailand that is never reported on, acknowledged or detailed. I suggest you read the Thai local papers, there's a lot more crime on Phuket than one robbery every 2 weeks! I would suggest a similar area in the UK to be a lot safer!

I just found some nice statistics..

Metropolitan Police Service all of London.

Robberies ( against a person )

No. of robberies previous 12 month leading up to October 2011 : 35.923

No. of robberies previous 12 month leading up to October 2010 : 31.301

That's by the way a 14.8% increase from 2010 to 2011.

Source : http://www.met.police.uk/crimefigures/

So because someone gets robbed in Phuket ever so often - its now the worst place you could imagine ?

I just don't buy into that.

The number above equals 1 robbery every 15 minutes in London.

And that is only counting robberies against another person.

They are reported and recorded properly in the UK though.

London is a big city, and will have figures equivalent to Bangkok.

Well done the police bomb-squad, for defusing the devices, and members of the public, for spotting & reporting them. I'm sure we all hope that this isn't a return, to the days of bombs & grenade-attacks, and is just a one-off.

Daily murders, bomb and grenade attacks continue in the South however.

It's the tourist's fault, if he hadn't have been there it never would have happened.

Cambodia launched 4G back in November.

Cambodia has 4G does it? How extensive the network coverage? I will bet that my DTAC wireless 3G could blow the doors off it for speed and stability. In my travel experience networks that have great maximum specs cannot come close to providing them because they cannot handle the high user traffic.

Cambodia has WiMax, not real 4G even if marketed as 4G. Problem with WiMax is that speeds are there in good HSPA/HSPA+ range and no phones available. So limited for use with laptop via USB Dongle.

They also have licences out for LTE frequencies, not sure if anyone has network installed yet. LTE also not 4G but will most likely be the base for the 4G technology. No phones yet, maybe late 2012 so at the moment only USB Dongles.

Other issue for countries like Cambodia is the capasity and speed of their backhaul network. To have any benefit of 4G network you need the infra to haul that traffic to outside world from the base stations.

And for the record, real 4G has speeds over one gig, there is somekind of agreement that these 3G Evolutions and WiMax are marketed as 4G but it's all smoke and mirrors...

Cambodia has 4G LTE network with EMAXX almost ready to go I believe.

EMAXX operate a WiMAX network already and there was some controversy over the deals apparently.

I read on here somewhere the PAD want all foreigners and their investments and businesses out. Is this true

No

They are extreme nationalists though, and their political party logo is a yellow swastika.

When non-Thais are scammed by Thais it seems that everyone is up in arms - but when a Thai gets duped it's a different story??

That in itself tells you a lot of how Thais are perceived, rightly or wrongly.

He's just showing how important he thinks he is by telling the Police when he will give his testimony (which he hasn't even bothered to do).

Oh poor Thailand, I love you but you are broken in so many ways.

They execute people for corruption.

In Thailand, your ability to be corrupt and get away with it puts you in line for endless future promotions. They admiringly, behind closed doors, call it "clever."

What's needed is a deep-core change in values. Until that happens, no amount of legislation or attempted enforcement will matter one whit. Unfortunately, their religious and cultural systems haven't seemed to provide the catalyst for that needed change.

Good post, and the crux of the problem.

With 1 million new cars sold on the domestic market every year, and no matching infrastructure, law enforcement or proper driver education, it gets worse every year. They have absolutely no hope of turning this problem around. Cars on my road do not even stop for children at the traffic lit zebra crossings. I've always maintained you see the real Thai behind the wheel when they feel they are protected in their vehicle; the arrogance, ignorance and child-like immaturity comes to the fore.

The figures are nowhere even close to the actual numbers of people killed on the roads here, which are well in excess of 30,000 per annum and rising year on year.

The next election is far away (assuming no snap election for big bro's return - which I doubt there will be anyway - maybe just a head change as part of a goverment reshuffle) - votes are not yet important, what is important (to them as opposition) is destroying the credability of the government by continually showing that their election promisies were fraudulent and that their statement of not being just about returning big bro to power, is actually a lie and the only real goal they have set themselves. To rub in their failuires with regards to the floods (ignoring warnings from the palace etc), lost foreign business (Japanese and Korean companies leaving because of false promises to protect their factories from the floods and then not meeting promises on how long it would take to return the flooded factories to production), lost tourism, broken promises on laptops, pay, and so on.

The Reds were very successful in tieing up Abasit's government and drowning out any good they did/proposed to do with rhetoric and (to really tie their hands) with demonstrations and rallies.

The problem with that is the people still haven't forgotten the Democrats 'Bitter Medicine' policies of the 1990's, and they are still un-electable in the North and the North East as a result.

It doesn't really matter how bad this government does, they will still have a lot of support simply because Thaksin and TRT were the first political party to recognise the importance of populist politics.

The Democrats have come late to the table in this regard, and it explains why they tried to copy so many of Thaksin's initiatives and policies over the last two years.

How can Laos be so selfish to Dam a river that runs through so many countries and supports life?...War is fought over natural resources. They can route part of the river making it a tributary and make electricity, no need to feed off the main flow.

It will be Thai built, Thai financed and 95% of the energy provided will be consumed by Thailand.

http://www.internationalrivers.org/en/blog/kirk-herbertson/2011-12-5/guilty-getaway-driver-thailand%E2%80%99s-role-xayaburi-dam