slipperx

calm down.

usually mafia have good reason to execute mafia style. mafia style usually done to those in the game!!!!!!

no offense but pooket does draw a lot of foreign scum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are plenty of scum of every nationality there but the Thais top the bunch.

Another disagreement that got lost in translation on the island of crime and death.

For sure he got involved with the wrong people.

Yes - make sure you don't but not so easy because others can involve you without your knowledge - money lenders involved in stolen and defrauded property is the classic way. In Thailand fault is never a consideration for these scum who will hunt you down even if you are the victim.

Of course the Thai government does not have a problem with the new Chinese passport because both countries are equally corrupt, And besides have a thought about who rules the people in Thailand in the first place??? ....The whole major part of the political branch in Thailand… Who are they..... THAI CHINESE… the same ethnic group that brought corruption to the (former) land of smiles in the first place.... Do you get the idea????

Why would The Thai-(Chinese) government risk to lose their closest (CORRUPTION)-PARTNER and cause them to lose face…???

Ah yes a little side note, I'm not a historian and I don't want to sound like one, but I think Thailand and its people, I mean the original Thai people have been colonized, by the THAI-CHINESE ELITE, as the majority of them who got into power, is treating the ethnic Thai population as their b********es…

Thai Chinese relate to China the same way European Americans relate to their ancestors being from various countries in Europe with the exception that most American families immigrated within a few hundred years ago while most Chinese families came to Thailand 400 to a 1,000 years ago. In other words, Thai Chinese are Thai and they don't relate at all to being Chinese, nor do they have any loyalty to China or can they speak the languages of China..

So the Chinese did colonies the place in a manner of speaking and the culture of these Chinese / Thai is more Chinese than Thai methinks. Maybe that is a good thing but not sure. Whatever no excuse for printing maps on your passports to antagonism everyone. The simple answer would be for offended countries just refuse the Chinese using these passports entry. The Chinese would soon change them.

When a person lives in a group, group mentality comes in to play and most people will find it hard to stand up and point out any failure of that group because it leads to being ostracized.

I love many things about Thailand and dislike the bad things. Just because I dislike people who will lie to make themself look good, dislike the fact that children are so poorly educated while the rich steal through corruption especially the politicians at the expense of the majority of children, just because I abhor corruption and people who have no regard for the betterment of their society, just because I try to instil a sense of fairness and moral, social behaviourvand self responsibility to my kids, just because my wife and several Thai accomplices forged my signature to defraud me of all my assets and my kids of the chance of a better education, life an inheritance and other people knew but chose not to say, just because I see many hings in society that are wrong; does it mean I should not comment because somehow someone in the group (Thais or misguided foreigners) will be upset I am not blindly following the groups homogenous decision.

If you study group behaviourvand even superficially you will see that the amazing capacity for individual critical thought gets lost. Our natural fear of social outcast stops what may be the most beneficial of our thought related abilities - to analyze and question ourselves in making a decision. This is lost in group think and why leaders can manipulate a group for their own, often evil ends.

Anyway the fact that I point out that Thais have a culture of face saving and that that issue causes problems does not reate to Thai bashing in my mind. I absolutely disagree with Richard who thinks this trait in it's Thai form (which is different to the Japanese form arising from a culturally moe honor based society), is restricted to the lower socio economic classes. I think if anything it is even worse with some of the hi-so more affluent and therefore perceived higher class Thais. That is not o say there are not many Thais who do not place so much emphasis on face, of course there re but they are in a minority I believe not the majority. Neither does it mean people with he issue of face are terrible or bad people, I just think it is something that holds them back. Lack of personal responsibility does not mean you are evil or bad but it is not a good trait is it? I think most people would say we should learn to take personal responsibility for the things we do wrong and as as responsible parents should teach that to our children and expect it from people who purport to serve society just as much as respect for just law and natural justice.

Thais have wonderful traits too. Just as our Western society is full of faults, in fact every society is full of faults, does that mean we should not examine the faults in the society we live and raise our children? Just because we were not born in Thailand, oh wait no neither the King nor Abhisit was born here, let me amend and say just because we re not seen as Thai as we have no Thai blood, does that mean we cannot look at aspects of this society and say they are damaging? Is Thai society so frail and immature that it cannot accept exposure of its weaknesses. Or is hat just a face thing.

No society will progress if group think pervades all and no original thinking occurs or at least thinking that questions for that is where all progress starts. Nations have begun from the spark of thought, every invention has come from the spark of individual thought and I challenge you to find one invention arising purely by a consensus group agreement. Society is progressing at a greater rate, orders of magnitude greater than a any time in human history and society has to change and adapt to manage the new challenges chan create.

I am not saying a lack of personal responsibility or face saving is purely a Thai thing but at least the latter is more prevalent, to the fore or emphasized trait here and one that I do not see as very helpful either to self improvement or group benefit. I am not bashing anyone, at least that is not the intention, but pointing out a behavioral pattern that, I'm m opinion, has a negative impact on the better progress of Thai society. I think I am entitled to comment as I raise my children as Thais, live here ( for as long as my situation will allow given I am a foreigner without a natural right of residence) and hope for a better future for Thailand for myself (as it is now my home in my mind) and for my children.

I do not want Thailand to become England but neither do I think that any society should blinker itself and as a result prevent itself from adopting things that have worked in other societies to their betterment. Looking only inwards is not the best formula and refusing to listen to opinions is not the way to make progress.

So police turned up within 10 minutes. Bet if there was some violent altercation rather than 30 million involved they would probably been somewhat slower to ensuring all the shooting had finished. Amazing how money focuses the mind.

Well there is low risk that the Thais will buy houses in the European mountains till the Europeans can't finance to buy land themself.

But there is the risk that rich foreigner buy all nice places in Thailand till the Thais can't buy any land anymore.

So it is necessary.

What utter codswallop. The wealthy Thais have more disposable income to buy all the best places first and also the contacts to do it. The law is there to protect the rich and wealthy here not to protect the poor and ensure they can buy property.

"The ex-leader also urged the red shirts not to take aggressive action against the Opposition Party but to express their willingness for negotiation to foster national reconciliation"

Quite difficult to have a willingness for negotiation with ones' opposite, when that opposite is disdainful.

Thaksin don´t care about reconciliation, he don´t care about democracy.

http://www.thaivisa....is-not-my-goal/

Ha ha - excerpt - "Democracy is a vehicle," Thaksin said. "We can't drive a Rolls-Royce to a rural village and solve people's problems. A pickup truck or good off-road car will do. We just need to think carefully and make the right choices."

Maybe driving a Pink Bentley there might be possible?

In all sincerity, how would one actually glorify a turd?

You make it the Amazing, Miracle Year of the Turd!

Neither of the political parties have the benefit of the country at heart. They both operate to serve themselves in whatever way they can best muster. The current lot are sadly grossly negligent and openly serving not the people they represent but themselves. It is an unfair feeding frenzy with the meal served courtesy of the average Thai mainly because they are mostly so poorly educated they don't know what to think about it. You can bleat on about Thaksin having been unfairly disabused of power, you can bleat on about Thaksin being corrupt and abusing his position and you can ponder on the legality or otherwise of the Thai constitution. It is all a disguise for the absolute abuse and total lack of social conscience of all the with even a smidgen of power. Until someone tackles the corruption at least on he face of it, for it can likely never be obliterated, there will neve be any chance of even a mildly fair society here. Thais don care because they don't know and that is precisely the intention of those in power. I think the OP has a point and at least that point deserves fair examination rather tan the put down of he wholly biased first poster.

You can probably count on one hand the number of politicians in Thailand who are in power for altruistic purposes. Whereas in the US you'd need two hands.

Can you let me know who they are because I want to petition their support?

Thanks

Neither of the political parties have the benefit of the country at heart. They both operate to serve themselves in whatever way they can best muster. The current lot are sadly grossly negligent and openly serving not the people they represent but themselves. It is an unfair feeding frenzy with the meal served courtesy of the average Thai mainly because they are mostly so poorly educated they don't know what to think about it. You can bleat on about Thaksin having been unfairly disabused of power, you can bleat on about Thaksin being corrupt and abusing his position and you can ponder on the legality or otherwise of the Thai constitution. It is all a disguise for the absolute abuse and total lack of social conscience of all the with even a smidgen of power. Until someone tackles the corruption at least on he face of it, for it can likely never be obliterated, there will neve be any chance of even a mildly fair society here. Thais don care because they don't know and that is precisely the intention of those in power. I think the OP has a point and at least that point deserves fair examination rather tan the put down of he wholly biased first poster.

The blind buying Computer moniters for the blind

If you think police manipulating evidence to suit heir own ends is a bit much you are truly out of the loop.

Maybe they will exterminate themselves, wait here's 20 baht to vote first. Truly sad

So let's ask some questions and I hope Nisa answers:

If a Thai wife of a foreigner owns land bought with his money is that within the law?

If it is a Thai husband buying land with a foreign wife's money is that within the law?

If the foreign spouse in the previous two cases takes a 30 year lease on the land is that within the law?

If a foreigner invests in a company here legally formed and it owns land with minority foreign ownership is that within the law?

If a Foreigner Loans money to a company or his wife/husband in order to buy land and registers the loan against the property then is that within the law?

If a foreigner takes a usufruct on land for his lifetime is that within the law?

If a foreigner has children can he use those children to own a share of the land whilst retaining control for the lifetime of the foreigner through a 30 year lease, registered loan or usufruct is that within the law?

I await your answer but suspect you have never really thought about it because these methods are all within the written law. If you begin to use the law to mean what you would like it to say (the spirit of the law meaning what YOU want it to say but it doesn't) then you might as well forget the rule of law because it becomes just what whoever is enforcing the aw wants it to be. In that case why bother going to the trouble of writing the law in the first place as it becomes all up to you.

Confiscate the land and sell it at auction, have them spend 30-days in a Thai detention center before deciding to drop charges and then deport them. This is certainly what I would want done to foreigners who illegally obtain land or run illegals business in my country.

That might be quite sensible if you actually had any properly written understandable laws here. Since you don't it would be better to clarify exactly what a foreigner can and cannot do. If you are saying a Thai girl cannot own land if she is married to a foreigner you are truly a typical sexist Asian male

How in the world could you possibly think I even remotely implied a Thai cannot own land let alone a female Thai cannot own land? Instead of reading something and believing it might mean something completely different, try just taking the words at face value and then you won't have so much trouble such as laws related to foreigners owning land which are not that difficult to understand. The only thing confusing about foreigner's owning land in Thailand is that some folks (example: lawyers) try to make it confusing in order to try and get around the law. This is a practice in most countries and why people need lawyers when the go to court ... because folks are always trying to manipulate the spirit or wording of a law to their advantage.

Well the answer to why I thought maybe you were referring to that is that many Thais refer to Thai wives of foreigners as somehow circumventing the law by owning land bought with the foreigners money. Likewise many Thais think owning land through a Thai company is somehow circumventing the law if there is a foreigner involved. Many people also say a foreigner owning a 30 year lease is circumventing the law. If your legislature cannot write an effective law that cannot be circumvented then the legislature is at fault not the people who read the law and invest here based on what it actually says. Your point is moot if you are not referring to any of these circumstances because foreigners cannot register land outside the law at h land office unless it was a very longtime ago, is within the exemptions or they have become citizens, itself almost impossible as your government is very reticent to process applications even after taking the substantial fee. So what circumstance are you actually referring to please.

Confiscate the land and sell it at auction, have them spend 30-days in a Thai detention center before deciding to drop charges and then deport them. This is certainly what I would want done to foreigners who illegally obtain land or run illegals business in my country.

That might be quite sensible if you actually had any properly written understandable laws here. Since you don't it would be better to clarify exactly what a foreigner can and cannot do. If you are saying a Thai girl cannot own land if she is married to a foreigner you are truly a typical sexist Asian male

This could have all been avoided if he had taken out a 30 year lease on each of his properties. Seems he wasn't half as clever as he thought he was.

If you think registering a lease would solve anything I would like to let you know that my registered lease was 'cancelled' fraudulently and three separate lawyers said I had no chance of getting it restored because it is only a contract to hire - and that is true according to the law because I checked - and someone else bought the property for consideration I.e. money. It made no difference the buyer bought for 30% of value, charged 3% interest a month and was clearly well aware of the fraud because In the lawyers opinion proving the fraud against the buyer would be very difficult (everyone involved would lie against me basically so who will the court believe you or them?). So it turns out the lease is worth nothing if someone wants to steal it from you. I was advised to sue the person who sold the property and defrauded me ( my ex wife) but of course she had no assets in her name so 1 million to run a case against her was not going to get my house or really any money back. So there is the value of the leases everyone thinks are so great here! You can read my story here

This story is rather sad. A guy has invested in the country and has made a family here. His business undermined by the all powerful CP group and his assets stolen by his Thai wife. No support from the court as expected because the whole system in Thailand supports the Thai criminal elements who steal from foreigners. Cash can and is used To buy the favor of the police, lawyers and judges. Thailand does not seem at all bothered that the criminal and civil justice system is so openly corrupt nor the damage that repetitive theft from foreigners of their assets must cause damage to Thailand. It is foolish to invest here to support a family, to retire or to live because there is a fair chance you will be cheated or defrauded of your assets somewhere along the way and if and when that happens there is nowhere to turn to. All the usual recourses are against you: you cannot trust your lawyer ( frequently they will throw the case after payment by the people you are suing, charge exorbitant fees and not do the job or give yo lousy advice ): you can't go to the police because if there are any free assets they will prevent you from getting them back for a share of the pot: and if the sum is large then the judges are also open to bribery. I also know of a case where a judge was bribed only to be bribed by the other side for a bigger sum.

I don't think it is stupid to expect the Thai law to be upheld nor for a man to expect to be free to provide security for his family by protecting his assets. I do think it's stupid for people to accept an evil and corrupt thievery of foreigners assets as being OK.

The reality is that Thailand is not a place where a family is safe and it is not a place where the justice system is any help should you get into difficulty however watertight your case. The fact that a lease can be cancelled just like that or be declared void by tampering with it or in my case cancelled by using a copy passport and forged signature makes leases a mask to the insecurity they actually purport to provide. Company ownership is the other method but that is also easy to derail with a little fraud. The courts do not seem to care if fraud is committed against a foreigner and eVen the most basic rights are denied - all greased by the slimy pole of corruption.

Farmer Joe was silly tout the land unprotected in the name of the wife. He did wise up and get a lease it seems but even that was just ripped out from underneath him. It really is not on!

As for him dropping his kids into care in the UK - maybe he has little choice. His kids may be targeted by the mafia - it happened to me and to a friend of mine as well - so you havE to run and hide as best as you can. Also it is very hard to run a court case, hide for safety and bring up three children responsibly when you have no support, no family to help you care when you need to travel to court, or meet with the lawyer since you are forced away from the province you were living in through fear and the certainty that the police will not protect you even if you pay them.

I would ask that people try and have a understanding of a man's predicament before rushing to post against him when he is actually the victim. I know it is almost impossible to comprehend how a life may be affected by the betrayals that have befallen this man and his children - at least one of which seems to be Thai. Thailand is very unforgiving.

There is more than just stupidity in this story, there is also the betrayal by his lawyer, betrayal by the wife who has stolen his money, betrayal by the court justice system.

wow a 140000 baht fine....................so when tis all over lets see how many people get fined????? I think we know the answer already. Thai love Thai

Seven years in prison for overcharging - 5 years in prison for defrauding someone of their property - Thai Law

Humph

FLOOD INSURANCE

The Nation

The Finance Ministry is planning discussions with foreign insurers, whose growing reluctance to participate in flood-damage reinsurance could rock foreign investors' confidence in Thailand. Meanwhile, the Bank of Thailand has been asked to bear the cost of exchange-rate risk for yen-denominated loans to support investors.

"Foreign insurers have stopped taking in flood reinsurance, as they lack confidence in Thailand's water-management system," Finance Minister Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala said yesterday. "This is crucial. No matter how much the government is doing in rehabilitating industrial estates, investors need all-risks insurance or they could relocate their investment."

Yeah well like that was unexpected. Why insure where your risk is determined by a succession of governments with the intellectual capacity of a budgerigar. Insurers will need to assess their risk very carefully to account also for the interference by the rich and selfish people of low intelligence who wield power here. Even when a guy with some nonce (Abhisit) gets into office all he can do is nothing because he has to kow tow to the rich and powerful rather than help the country get to its feet and actually help the people who live here. Mismanagement, no maintenance and man made enhancement to every natural disaster is the result.

.....According to the Finance Ministry, factories in seven inundated industrial estates are insured for a combined Bt600 billion. Some of them have filed flood-damage claims worth Bt200 billion, 60 per cent of which is reinsured by Japanese insurance companies.

No wonder the Yen is in trouble!

Thirachai said the government planned to invest an initial Bt15 billion to rehabilitate flood-hit industrial estates.

And all this money the government is going to spend is going to come from where exactly. Most businesses avoid VAT and most people pay no tax and those that do do everything to avoid it.

He also said farmers in the Central region might have to grow only two rice crops a year, so that their land could be turned over to reservoirs during the rainy season. They would be compensated by the government if this change were to be implemented.

Great idea - and the price and supply of rice? Where is the money for compensation going to come from and more importantly where will it go - to the farmer or to some chinese-thai intermediary to filch?

Meanwhile, more dams should be built, preferably within a year, the minister said.

Yeah right! Let's build a dam it will only take a year! He would be optimistic if he said five years using a whole heap of foreign help or maybe 10 if using only Thai craftsmen and engineers - 10 years to build, five years to fail maybe? Or is he talking about a few million sandbags maybe?

"It's a must that the government unveils the water-management plan as soon as possible," he added.

Does that mean they have a water management plan that they should 'unveil' or does it mean they need to make a new one?

Meanwhile, Areepong said he believed the government could manage things, as everyone knows where the water comes from and where it will go. It is predictable, unlike tsunamis or earthquakes, he said.

Yes water comes from the sky and goes to the sea - everyone knows that because they teach it at school (least I think they might!). As to being predictable - nonsense - just like tsunamis and earthquakes who knows the amount of rainfall next year or where it will fall? All you can do is plan for the worst you might expect over a long time period like maybe 150 years, knowing even that is a guess from past records over the last 150 years if Thailand has records for that long which I doubt - and then having the intelligence to understand that even those predictions may be exceeded with climate change so ensuring you have a plan in place for when things don't go according to plan. Of course 'everyone knows' Thais excel in planning ahead!!!!

Thirachai did not agree with Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong, who said the government might act as insurer if private insurance firms did not provide flood coverage. "The key is how [quickly] private insurers can resume their services," he said.

Hmm The foreign reinsurers who have been in business for decades with extremely advanced prediction models and who are still sometimes wrong and who will no longer insure Thailand because it is incapable of managing the country responsibly, can just be replaced by the government who will for sure pay out when the next disaster comes along caused by its own incompetence and the money comes from where? Get the money from the people, cream off as much as is possible, deny everything and distribute aid as if the members of the government are paying for it themselves and then give back a little when the $%^& hits the fan. Great idea - not!

The finance minister also asked the Bank of Thailand to bear the cost of exchange risk, about 3 per cent annually, for yen-denominated loans from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

And if the Bank of Thailand cannot because the estimated exchange risk is exceeded - then what? Where does the money come from again?

The JBIC has promised to offer soft loans worth Bt50 billion to Japanese firms and joint-venture projects between Japanese and Thai investors that have been hit hard by the flooding.

The loans will be allocated via local banks that have business with the affected manufacturersThirachai said BOT Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul was unsure whether the law allowed the central bank to do so. Prasarn has promised to look into the matter, he said after the two met yesterday.

The cost to the central bank of shouldering the exchange-rate risk would be about Bt1.5 billion annually over at least three years."The central bank may bear some of the cost and the rest should be shouldered by firms, or firms may pay back such cost when they can stand on their own feet," Thirachai said

So now it is clear what will happen when the government takes on the insurance risk - effectively the companies pay it back when the government doesn't pay out after collecting the premium and get a load of money from abroad, make the BOT take on the exchange risk and make the companies pay the money back if and when they actually start making a profit again.

Come and Invest in Thailand!!! I think foreign businesses might have pause for thought.

The government has negotiated with commercial and state-run banks for their cooperation to lend about Bt300 billion to support flood victims. It is expected to come up with details of rehabilitation projects soon, he added.

Mr Bailey said that that if people search for "Thailand flooding" online, they will see mostly negative news in international media.

So what is positive about the flooding I wonder. What does he expect?

Still dry at Viphawadhi Hospital

Can anyone tell me if the water on Viphavadi has reached Ngam Wong Wan intersection or Kasetsart University yet?

Ngam Wong Wan closed after the bridge over the main river going to Bang Bua Tong. Section from River to Viphavadi is clear and has never been flooded yet. Area next to river flooded obviously.