Oberkommando

It just confuses me that most of us come from countries that look down on foreigners and then seem shocked by the fact it happens sometimes here.

My country's educational system doesn't teach people to look down on foreigners. We are taught to respect others and different cultures.

It doesn't happen "sometimes here" either. Xenophobia and nationalism are cultivated in schools, through the Scout movement especially and during military service which many children actively participate in. The Thai curriculum is geared towards a myopic, Thai-centric historical viewpoint which, contorts, outright denies and in some cases deliberately excludes important historical events that reflect poorly on Thailand.

I think every country would treat a non-national differently if there is any hint of a crime simply because they are such a flight risk.

That would be against the law where I come from. It is called discrimination.

Salad?

He could at least have got citizenship from a respectable country. Montenegro - the playground of bent UK politicians and dodgy Russian oligarchs and a provider of passports for anyone with the `where- with- all` to pay.

Still much rather have a Montenegrin passport than a Thai one. Far more useful.

Why is the prisons chief commenting when Thaksin hasn't spent even a single minute in prison?

This has nothing to do with the 'national interest' & everything to do with the CP/True interest. What they want is another monopoly so they can rip off their mobile customers the same way as they do their cable subscribers.

This company acted the same way over the desire of the likes of Tesco & Big C to open large supermarkets up-country. They cited the damage to small shops, 'forgetting' that CP/7-11 has done more damage than any other company to those small traders.

Absolutely.

I use the Mom & Pop type shops around where I live now. A far more rewarding experience than dealing with the arrogant sub-80 IQ youths that staff the 7/11s and supermarkets.

I have no idea, but does Thailand have Cambodians incarcerated for real or alleged spying?

Many. The link below is just the tip of the iceberg. There were swathes of arrests during the Democrat's tenure especially during the clashes over Preah Vihear.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/474025-two-foreigners-one-thai-arrested-near-thai-cambodian-border-for-spying-on-military-bases/

More recently, four Cambodians have been killed in the past week by the Thai Army for allegedly being illegal loggers, their bodies forcibly cremated and a further six Cambodians are still missing.

The Thai Military is not accountable for these killings and is never investigated in such cases.

He's only getting a normal passport? He'll be a bit miffed he isn't getting his full diplomatic passport returned but I'm sure that will also happen given time.

His supporters must be counting down the days until their Imperious Leader makes his triumphant return.

I wonder if he will kiss Thai soil as he did when returning before?

This clown is in the news again! I still do not understand why the preferential treatment. He should be treated like any other criminal in the Cambodian prison system.

The Cambodians are showing their compassion treating a convicted spy in this manner.

You can be sure it wouldn't be reciprocal.

Well, in the case of Thaksin its certainly, and of course merely coincidental, that the National Poliece Chief is his brother in law, appointed by her sister's government. And now his cousin is going to give him this New Years present.

By the way, isn't the FM saying that he will (again) be helping Thaksin, a convicted fugitive? I though that is against the law.

The Democrats told us the Thai justice system is the best in the World.

And this move is going to help the reconciliation movement HOWW??????.

Reconciliation was never on the Phua Thai party's agenda. They just used this word to pacify the red thug mob to get support. And these idiots fell for it. Same for democracy, never on their agenda. Remember when Thaksin said "democracy is not my goal"? Remember the PTP election slogan "Thaksin thinks Phua Thai does"? They are champions of liars and fake democracy, red democracy consisting of among other things pulling people out of cars and beating them to a pulp because they support the opposition. Setting up road blocks, stopping and searching cars, burning down city halls, you get my point.

Not limited to the red camp though, all sides are exactly the same.

Yellow democracy showed the way forward and brought the military out of their barracks. And don't start with "the reds were worse" nonsense, it's all semantics.

I am sure that Interpol would have approached Thai authorities to obtain a photo from the family but I guess the response was that the family do not have any photo's of thier loved one. TIT. he does come from a very influencial thai family so I guess authorities are hitting brick walls at every turn. He is going to have to hide for the rest of his life, no statute of limitations on murder. He won't be able to claim any family inhieritance or work. Not much of a life ahead of him..

I would suggest he is living a fairly normal life in Thailand and that getting his inheritance and working will not be an issue for him.

Why are we discussing this? It is up to the Thais what the want. This forum has been 95% dead wrong and so far out of tough what the Thais want.

That's a good sign though, IMO.

When asked whether Mr Thaksin is eligible to receive a passport as he is a fugitive, the foreign minister cited the case of another high profile fugitive, former politician Somchai Kunpluem, better known as Kamnan Poh, who was not stripped of his passport.

And this guy is Thai foreign minister? Sub-100 IQ?

As above I agree it's just pure greed.

It's the main theme in Thailand it seems.

Samak used to say there was no point in trying to defend against Thaksin, as he had enough money to buy everyone and everything in Thailand. So far his words seem prescient.

Absolutely. The Thais are so easily bought.

If you have any info relating to the whereabouts of the third man; Teparat Tepsut please report it to Interpol.

http://www.interpol.int/@en/Wanted-Persons/(wanted_id)/2009-17066

I don't understand why people think Chalerm would not be elected in his own right.

He's the model Thai politician; corrupt (allegedly), a bully and a thug. He's got all it takes to make it and to be popular.

Here's another good one:

http://books.google....olitics&f=false

Yep, that is another good one. Thanks.

No doubt in my mind Thailand's culture and society are deeply flawed.

^ that article is essential reading IMO. Thanks for posting.

"foreign ownership is a threat to national security"? How pathetic,more likelu

a threat to owner of the likes of TRUE lining his pockets because of no monopoly

Foreign ownership is a threat to the rich Chinese-Thai monopoly.

How Reuters failed Hiro Muramoto

As is standard when a member of staff is killed in action, Reuters commissioned a third party investigations firm to look into the circumstances of Hiro's death. Their investigation concluded that the overwhelming likelihood was that Hiro was killed by a bullet fired by a Thai soldier during chaotic clashes at the Kok Wua intersection. He was probably not specifically targeted as a journalist; it seems more likely that he was shot randomly as panicked soldiers sprayed bullets directly at crowds of civilians.

http://www.facebook.com/notes/andrew-macgregor-marshall/how-reuters-failed-hiro-muramoto/313780848641261

I won't start celebrating and patting Thailand on the back until the ringleader; the third alleged murderer and apparently well connected Thai is arrested and sent on a plane to Australia to face justice.

Does anyone have his name or a photo of him so that we can assist the Thai Police in locating and arresting him?

Food inflation in November soared 10.21 percent year-on-year.

10%+ is an incredible year on year increase, and proves that Thailand is getting more and more expensive, not only for visitors but more importantly for those locals at the poorer end of the spectrum.

Real trouble ahead I fear as the full extent of the flooding hasn't yet been realised.

Oh, but I do want to see, please show me the forensic evidence and eyewitness reports that point to an army sniper shooting Muramoto.

What I've seen is reports that the bullet that killed Muramoto was either an M16 round and then later amended to an AK-47; very muddy and from that I don't see how that points to an army sniper, A) because there are two mutually contradictory reports on the nature of the round and because an army sniper wouldn't be using either a M16 or an AK-47.

An Army sniper would probably not use either of those weapons, but it's not beyond the realms of possibility.

Additionally, there are rifles that chamber rounds from both those weapons (5.56 NATO and 7.62mm) that are regularly used in sniper and marksman duties.

The English from the Thais is probably the confusing issue here; telling us which weapons they think were used (probably impossible to tell unless they know velocity etc) instead of the ammunition and saying it was a 'sniper' when in all likelihood it was a lone gunman.

Thais are a law abiding lot by comparison.

Nah, they're just better at hiding it these days.