Oberkommando

Another coup will have very serious consequences for Thailand. Another one is certainly due soon, but not quite just yet. It needs to happen at the right moment for them to ensure they can hang on to power this time. There will be no facade of democracy next time, it will be a straight power grab by the old fascists intent on keeping a dying patriarchal system alive while feathering their own nests. There will be no 'checks and balances' to stop them this time as there was in 1992, or even in 2006.

The previous coup ultimately failed as the government they ousted returned twice through the ballot box and with the red-shirt movement, an ironic response to their own paramilitary and militant supporters, they appear more powerful and ensconced.

Whatever happens further civil conflict is an inevitability until the old guard are either victorious (currently extremely unlikely) or they are neutered once and for all.

The 70+ years of Thailand's existence has seen this conflict in one way or another and it may well perpetually continue or we may be seeing, as I suspect, the end game.

In Thailand, threr were 11048 fatalities from road traffic accident in 2009.

11 048 / 365 = 30.3

Only 4 more than the 2009 average...

EVERYDAY IS BAD DAY ON THAI ROAD!

Those figures are only those dead at the scene. They do not include those that die on the way to hospital or later as a result of their injuries.

There are also claims that those figures are kept deliberately low by the Police.

Best he comes back quickly, otherwise his throne seat will be getting cold.

On the one hand, academics told us the numbers recorded by the Royal Thai Police were artificially low.

On another thread we have posters using these statistics to disprove how dangerous Thailand really is.

I just did my Thai driving licence. Seeing how easy it is to get one without any proper training or theoretical drill makes me understand the traffic situation in Thailand.

Indeed, I got mine about 23 years ago, and I just paid for the license; no training, test or assessment whatsoever.

In the course of our investigations, we met hard working officials from the Thai Ministry of Public Health who gave a startling batch of numbers. Using the accepted WHO definition on fatalities caused by road accidents, they told us 13,766 people were killed last year on the country's roads – more than six times the rate in the UK (which has a similar population to Thailand).

We were told this number could be far higher however, as roughly a third of accidents are thought to go unreported. Incredibly, we were also told that nearly a million people (938,958) were admitted to hospital due to injuries suffered by road accidents last year.

To reiterate; the statistics only count fatalities at the scene of an accident. Those that die later as a result of their injuries or on their way to hospital are not included.

On the other hand, the US State Department has ranked Thailand as the world's second most dangerous country (after Honduras) in terms of the number of road fatalities suffered by American tourists.

I posted the link on another thread just yesterday but here is it again: http://www.livingthai.org/thailand-now-rated-2nd-most-likely-country-for-tourists-to-die.html

Looks like someone actually pays attention to what I post...

(Chatuchak Market) known worldwide because of its vibrant atmosphere and diverse merchandise.

But mostly for the illegal sale of endangered wildlife.

Where are the backpackers?

Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Phnom Penh was fully booked out last week and over the Christmas period when I visited.

The only upside to this travesty of justice, is that it should speed up the coup. Military generals simply cannot govern any worse than the pack of fools in office.

History suggests otherwise.

I am surprised that the train derailed after hitting the pickup truck. The sheer mass of the engine should have kept it on the tracks.

Less chance of severe derailments such as this if the rail network was fully upgraded and the narrower gauge tracks replaced with standard gauge.

There are regular derailments in Thailand because of the gauge and the antiquity of the tracks themselves.

Still bitter about election results after all this time. Where's the facepalm smiley?

I should add that the story I referred to was about the Thai cop shooting his comrades......not the murders of foreigners here.

You'll find little sympathy from my Thai friends for any misfortune that befalls Thai Policemen, such is the distrust and animosity towards them.

At present FCO information regarding deaths in Thailand is limited. Andy Pearce, the deputy head of mission at the British Embassy in Bangkok, admits that the murder rate of Britons resident in Thailand is about the same as the domestic Thai rate – roughly five times higher than in the UK – but adds that this is only an estimate. (There are thought to be about 50,000 British resident in the country at present.) "To create the kind of advice needed on murder rates would require a greater statistical base and more research," he says.

Lots of nice info here: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/with-so-many-britons-murdered-in-thailand-why-does-our-government-not-warn-of-the-dangers-faced-there-769640.html

According to the British FCO, the murder rate of Britons in Thailand is five times that of Britons at home

Please back that up with a link ... I won't hold my breath. Drunk Brits getting themselves killed on motorbikes while not wearing helmets is not a murder.

Are you really trying to suggest that near 4,000 Britts (more than the total number of all murders in all Thailand in a typical year) are murdered in Thailand every year? There are about 700 to 800 murders in the UK every year.

The fact that Britts get them selves killed while while on vacation in Thailand is everything to do with Britts having a problem controlling themselves on holiday when given too much freedom and little to do with violent Thai police or people..

The murder rate in Thailand (as well as many countries) is much higher (possibly 5x) than Britain and if you are trying to extrapolate information by way of number of Britts in Thailand and number murdered here ... that would be insane and make no sense what-so-ever. It only makes sense while in a country that the similar crime rates will hold true for you.

The links have been posted here many times from articles in the Telegraph, Guardian and the Independent newspapers among others.

The specific quote is about the murder rate of Britons in Thailand and nothing to do with road accidents (fatalities of course over 10-20 times more common on Thai roads given that the two countries have similar population sizes). Also see this link for Thai road traffic accident rates contributing to making Thailand 2nd worst in the World for tourists being killed on the roads. http://www.livingtha...sts-to-die.html

"Thailand is the place where British tourists are most likely to get into the sort of trouble that requires consular assistance. For a start, more British tourists die there than anywhere else. Some 224 Britons died in Thailand between April 2005 and March last year (article published in 2007) - a toll five times higher than in the second deadliest tourist destination, India. "Most of those deaths are of long-term elderly British residents," says a Foreign Office spokesman. But not all of them. Among those 224 Britons was student Katherine Horton, 21, who was raped and murdered by two fishermen in January last year on Koh Samui."

http://www.guardian....l/2007/aug/03/1

The original article from the Independent newspaper that specifically mentions the FCO and murder rates of Britons in Thailand is on another forum but cannot link to from here.

They will be "encouraged"?!

Giving orders to wealthier and more important person in Thailand is likely to be counter-productive, worst case scenario it could actually be hazardous to your health.

Such is the arrogance and contempt of the law from the rich and powerful here. Indeed there is a general arrogance and contempt of the law from most Thai motorists.

To highlight this further, we have just passed the one-year anniversary of the young, under-aged driver that killed the 9 people in the minivan on the expressway.

No surprise to find the usual suspects rushing to the defend the honour of the Kingdom of Thailand using any means necessary including flawed Thai Police statistics to try and prove their points. A police force that a UN report in 2009 condemned for their actions and journalists inferred that they were nothing more than 'organised criminals'.

According to the British FCO, the murder rate of Britons in Thailand is five times that of Britons at home making it the most dangerous tourism destination for Britons (and now Aussies too I believe according to their consular statistics). There's a civil war raging in the South with over 5000 dead in 7 years (many more than died in the 30 odd years of the troubles in Ireland). A politically sanctioned 'War on drugs' where over 2,500 people were executed by this Police force extra-judicially (think hit squads, planting evidence, personal vendettas etc).

But apart from the hyperbole this is a country where gun culture is rife. Everywhere business disputes are settled by violence, politicians kill each other over arguments, loss of face results in someone brandishing a gun. It's a regular occurrence and the Police are part of the problem, not the solution. It's a country still living on a feudal model where local gangsters work their way up to village heads through murder, corruption, extortion and thuggery. The Thai Police embrace this model of society. It's possible this officer was harbouring a grudge and being cheated at the dice game was the straw that broke the camel's back, however given the fact that most of the witnesses turned out to be victims, and the notoriously inept and incompetent investigation techniques no doubt used, I doubt we'll ever know the truth.

Time to wake up and stop the idiotic comparisons with 'back home' though, you're not in Kansas any more Dorothy.

Given his legislative status, the MP cannot be detained in prison

What an utter joke of a country this is sometimes.

Not everyone gets enough of a cut of the pie to last their entire lives.... plenty are wasting away on drink, know how to gamble, and most importantly still know how to operate their firearms.

This seems to be the case for a lot of Thais, not only those in the Police force. These kinds of incidents seem to be on the rise; more shootings, more guns being brandished, more threats and violent behaviour.

Checking the news, there's at least 4 or 5 other high profile shootings today, adding to the dozens that happen daily but are of too little consequence.

Wonder if the shooter was one of the medically retarded 16.4%?

I tried the Thai Immigration route first. I had my Thai girlfriend along to make sure I could understand what was being said. But the Thai Immigration officials here in Bangkok told us in no uncertain terms and in two languages that with only my Tourist Visa I could not get the Certificate of Residence from them. Period.

Immigration will not issue a Certificate of Residence unless you have a Non-Immigrant visa and do 90 day reporting.

Vis a vis you must be in the country for over 90 days legally to qualify. Otherwise it is the Embassy/Notary route which is usually more hassle and expensive.

There is not a single good soul amongst all politicians in Thailand. I will not vote for anyone unless I see fresh faces; those that are not connected in anyways with present and past politicians.

They are just a product of the people they represent.

This has been going on for a while now.

Comes down to only one issue; money.

Have you never used any illegal drug in your whole life?

Would it be ok if Sek admitted to being an alcoholic?

Do you have no respect for alcoholics and drugg addicts?

Did you know that they have a disease?

BTW - I lose repect for people who glorify Nazi leaders in the username.

To answer your question, I have no respect for cowardly, wife beating junkies, nor the pondlife that try to make excuses for their behaviour.

The police here in Thailand are some of the most incompetent outside of Burkina Faso, Guyana, Surinam, and perhaps only a few other places on earth. I have read accounts of British pros, who were brought in to consult on high profile crimes, like the David Carradine incident some time ago, and they tell of a shocking lack of talent in the top departments here, and terrible resources in terms of crime labs, equipment, forensic experts, blood splatter analysis, etc. So, what do we expect? Combine that with corruption, and we never know what we are dealing with, but 98% of the time we can assume it is either incorrect, or misleading, or that the result was paid for. That is a fact. The reality is that the police do not have the talent, resources, expertise, nor motivation to do good work, when it comes to investigation, detective work, forensic work, etc. Wish it were different, but many, many outside experts have testified to these facts. Thailand has a long way to go, when it comes to police work.

What makes it even more embarrassing is that they have one of the biggest Police forces per capita in the entire World.

It has always surprised me why so many people continue to visit one of the unfriendliest and expensive places in Thailand.

Who said it was a free and fair vote? There has yet to be one of those in Thailand i think you will find. What shall we do? Scrap and dismiss all of them, or just the ones we don't like the results of?

How about just scrapping those conducted under a military junta's state of emergency?

You can bang on and on about how the 2007 constitution was 'voted in' but surely you realise how foolish you sound given the circumstances at the time?

BTW, it was widely acknowledged that the elections that gave Thaksin a landslide victory in 2001 and 2005 were the most open and free in Thai history.

Clearly the government thought the Saudis were really really stupid......

Despite having one of the lowest average IQs worldwide and an average 8% of Thais being medically retarded, Thais believe everyone to be stupid in comparison to themselves.