Oberkommando

doesn't reduce the horror, nor the disgust at the lack of any justice forthcoming from

the Santika management and the paid off zoning officials who tacitly or actively

allowed the conditions for this horror to exist.

Don't forget the current government which has done absolutely nothing as a result of this terrible tragedy.

The second large scale scandal involving refugees under this government's watch.

Besides Hmong, Thailand has attracted more than 1.5 million refugees from Cambodia, Burma and Vietnam over the past four decades.

The Thai government has been criticised for not allowing UNHCR to determine the Hmong's eligibility for refugee status.

As usual, Thailand makes up new rules or simply ignores the ones it doesn't like.

I would like to see what sort of rights, if any, these 1.5 million refugees have or have had in Thailand, providing they made it to Thailand, and weren't murdered by the authorities in the process as a result of atrocities such as the Preah Vihear Massacre, and more recently, the murders at sea hundreds of Rohingya by the Thai Army ISOC.

This survey can be criticized in any number of ways for various purposes and intents, but it is fundamentally consistent with others we have seen during recent months.

Not consistent with the last poll showing the government had failed with a 4.5 out of 10 score in their first year in office.

Here it is, as you must have missed it.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Mixed-Views-...ic-t323697.html

As with any public opinion scientific research survey, this poll will be picked at, dissected, turned upside down and inside out, torn, shredded. The usual suspects already are at it, more can be expected to come.

Easy to dissect and find flaws when we don't know who the respondents were.

Leads me to believe that was deliberately left out of the article as surely any journalist with a shred of integrity or an ounce of self-respect and who is even mildly competent at his/her job wouldn't have made that mistake.

Wheresoever does driving fit into Thai culture

You're asking the wrong question.

You should have asked, "how does their culture affect their driving, enforcing the law on the roads and taking responsibility for their actions when in control of a motor vehicle"?

It's not an excuse why things cannot change, but it is the underlying problem, not only on the roads, but in other areas of Thai society as well.

Last week's poll showed they had failed with 4.5 out of 10 in a survey of business leaders.

Handy to know who the respondents are in any poll, and results are meaningless unless we know who they actually polled.

Why would they stage a coup when they are in almost absolute control?

Poor PM Abhisit...

...He has his faults, but a war monger he is not.

The coup-makers that stand behind him are though.

Never happen.

You can't change Thai culture.

TOT? Don't think I'll bother.

Terrible company, one of the worst I have ever dealt with anywhere in the World.

I had nothing but problems when I was on TOT. Outages and disconnections common, not to mention arrogant and unhelpful staff both at their call centers and in their offices. I had a 2Mb line. Speeds were ok but too many outages. At busy times on Saturday evenings it was sometimes connectionless or speeds were so slow even browsing was impossible.

They also made a mistake with the billing and cut me off, refusing to apologize even after it was shown to be entirely their fault and causing me great inconvenience.

I am on True now and the service is notably better, both from their staff and the internet connection.

You could also have malware or a virus that is interfering with your BitTorrent software, connection and your ability to connect to trackers.

I was suffering with speeds under 100KB/s until I reformatted my HDD and reinstalled Windows. Now my torrents are coming in steadily at between 150KB/s and 500KB/s.

I am on a 8Mb True line in BKK and I was worried they were throttling traffic too. I was assured it isn't the case by one of their engineers and it was confirmed when I reformatted.

On the other hand, when you cross anyoldwhere, using caution, Thai drivers are actually quite accommodating to you

In Bangkok especially, I've never, ever found that to be the case.

Even motorbikes ride on the pavement and expect pedestrians to move for them <deleted>.

Don't I just love Thai bashing in here, Thais this Thais that.

True there are many ruthless drivers in Bangkok, but 30 years I have born and lived here there are far more plentiful good drivers in the country, Bangkok is just a weird chaotic city.

I ask you foreigners to stop generalising from the fragment of the country that you see (especially if you spend most of your time in Sukhumvit, that's not really Thailand). It's very immature to think you know this country and everyone in it through and through, and not fair for Thailand as well.

Your road death toll speaks volumes; 35 dead per day and the actual figures are probably double that.

I am not Thai bashing, but Thais deserve to be criticised for their arrogant and careless attitude when behind the wheel.

Your wilful ignorance of this massive problem is one of the main reasons your country has one of the worst road accident rates in the entire World.

The incident I described in my earlier post happened on Charoen Krung not Sukhumvit. Is that not really Thailand either?

Use keys and windmill in.

Then there are others who have not partaken in the bar scene but simply live here and only ever meet other Farangs. These people do not interact socially with Thai people at all. The only time they speak or interact is when they are buying something.

I dont believe any person is qualified to comment on the nature of Thai people unless they regularly socialize with local people. This probably excludes many people on this forum.

I choose not to socialise with Thais.

I have been here over 25 years and I simply just don't like the vast majority of them.

The best way is to get the visa online (tourist visas only, business visas must be applied for on arrival or at Embassy/Consulate). Hassle free and you can walk straight through Immigration on arrival instead of having to wait in more queues.

It also means you don't use a full page in your passport, as the e-visa is printed out and discarded after use.

Their web site states up to 3 days processing time, actually I only had to wait for half an hour and 1,100.00THB after had my visa.

PS, if anyone knows of a clean, comfortable and cheap hotel in Phnom Penh were we can just walk in and book a room, it would be much appreciated.

That's more expensive than getting the Cambodian visa when you arrive ($20 or 1,000thb) or online ($25), not to mention far too much hassle.

The Castle is excellent but pricey for Phnom Penh, also try Billabong, Pickled Parrot or even the Rose Bar has great rooms upstairs but is a fleshpot downstairs.

Yesterday in Bangkok I twice used a zebra crossing; one of the newer ones with traffic lights. When the lights changed some of the traffic did not even bother to stop, in fact one black Vios increased its speed past an already dangerous velocity to beat me attempting to cross the road, and in doing so almost hit me.

Every time I use these crossings I am extra careful as Thai drivers have little or no regard for the pedestrian.

And smiling Thaipeople are history in tourism centers anyway

Really? I met loads of them in Ayutthaya last week. Phuket has a reputation for being unfriendly, and from experience I find the Southern Thais a lot less friendly than those in the North.

Thai attitudes turn to sh*t probably because of the daily abuse of tattooed hooligan scum from the U.K., ancient sex tourists, and a wide assortment of degenerates.

The Thais attitude has always been one of suspicion, distrust and dislike towards foreigners.

The recent influx of degenerates is only worsening the situation.

There are still no regulations on fire safety systems for entertainment venues.

The message is clear. Go to entertainment venues in Thailand at your peril. Most are death-traps with absolutely no consideration for the safety of patrons whatsoever.

I would be surprised if criminal charges are brought today, Thong Lor Police are the most corrupt nick in the city and they were heavily involved with Santika.

We can't have rich people going to jail in Thailand. What an awful precedent that would set.

And nobody succeeds in Thai governments for long,

so a year is a win by most standards here.

Thaksin was re-elected by a landslide, the first Prime Minister in Thai history to serve a full term in office and the first to serve another consecutive term.

Now that's a win.

On average, it received a mark of 4.5.

4.5 out of 10.

A fail then.

Yet another example of a well off greedy Thai.

Is there any other kind?

Put these people out of business and legalise it.

If hotels and resorts refuse to use their over-priced and poor services they set up roadblocks and threaten places with intimidation until they cave.

Police are powerless or on the take as per usual.