TheGhostWithin

If we have a civil war will the expats be asked to leave the country? Or will they still be safe for them to live here?

The way that both parties and any aspect of the Thai civil system treats most foreigners (although I can say I never have had a bad experience minus one issue with a corrupt Police Officer in Asoke) I do read on here and would speculate that as the most undervalued and unwanted contributors to Thai society (minus the Burmese) that we may very well be used as human shields in civil war.

Not joking at all, I would seriously doubt the resolve or interest in any government attempting to protect foreigners within Thailand in the event of unrest. the only ones I might suggest would try would be the army to protect the tourist areas of Bangkok as they have done in the past.

Constitution Courts reading seemed well reasoned - so Im sure the red shirts will think its bs lol

The only question that matters - what will Thaksin do now?

Yes I'm sure he will not give up so easy....He must find a new puppet again

He has a big overgrown bulldog that has been training relentlessly in Chiang Mai. He appears to like her.. perhaps he is sick of puppets. The problem with bulldogs is that when they get too big, they are hard to control when they get angry, they have minds of their own. This is an additional risk to bare but appears the only realistic option for PTP in leadership.

Ok...so can we now arrest and jail SUTHEP

Sent from Kukaz iPad Air

I am not a fan of the guy personally either, but this topic has nothing to do with Suthep. This has everything to do with the "caretaker prime minister" being found guilty of corruption and being impeached from office. You probably did not intend to do so, but linking something unrelated to further your own agenda and provoke an agressive respponse is known as "trolling".

On a side note:

- I wonder if the actions of the constitutional court also prevent these people from re-entering their positions post the upcoming election assuming it is held - do they face a 5 year ban such as those involved previously with TRT?

- Have their passports been revoked as they now no longer hold acting positions and assumedly most are under investigation for other serious pending charges? I know there are other cases involving corruption and misuse of position pending against Yingluck, and assuime there would be corruption charges pending against Pladprasop for misuse of compensation funding following the 2010 floods. I would speculate that there are also charges against Chalerm, considering how he parades himself around and deals with situations most-unprofessionally.

- What happens now that she has been stood down: she was the caretaker PM so assumedly the caretaker government does not have the legal authority under the constitution to appoint a new prime minister.

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It's normal. We do not get Thai TV here so my lady watches her soaps through our "smart TV" - I feel like "stupid guy" for agreeing we buy it.

She spends at least 2 hours per day watching TV, that is on the days she works. On our days off, she can spend 9-10 hours a day watching. I had to upgrade our internet package from 100GB per month because she (mostly) was exceeding it.

I try to be the good BF, I offer to take her places, take her to lunch, go for walks. We eventually go most days, but usually too late (after the sun has gone down) as watching as much as humanly possible is very important to her. It is my little joke.. it does not bother me but it is not very constructive for her.

Here she is, getting upset with me and the 2-3hrs per day I spend analysing stock, currency and commodity movements.. I get the yell from upstairs if I am too slow to come to bed by 11pm/2am after my 9pm/12am finishes.. go figure

With the decisions of the "caretaker" government (still trying to figure out exactly what power this does and doesn't give them, if someone could clearly define it?) still in place, it was their decisions which led to the current financial and social situation of the country. Idiotic ideas such as the rice pledging scheme, as well as complete ignorance of external factors and an ongoing ignorance of the need to become more competitive as ASEAN approaches have ensured that things are a mess.

In my opinion, having no government is certainly better than having the previous government in power "spendin' up large" like they were still on some shopping spree in a Burberry store in London.

Duplicate post deleted.

Is she Muslim? You have to convert if you wish to marry her.

Well it is Thailand, not Malaysia a Muslim can marry a Christ, Buddhist, etc etc no problem for the law only for the Iman.

You haven't been to Yala before, have you...?

From your post "they have been the cause of close to 6,000 murders" I assume by 'they' you are referring to the Muslim community in the deep South.

Around 2k+ killed have been Buddhist & approx Approx 1k were members of the security forces and government employed civilians such as teachers, so that leaves approx 1k civilians murdered. Muslim deaths are around 3k+, out of which it is claimed roughly 500 killed were members of the insurgency, that leaves nearly 3k civilians killed. There does not appear to be a breakdown for the motivation behind civilian murders from either side of the conflict whether it be bombings, shootings, gang related, informers, personal disputes, extrajudicial killings and so on.

To repeat, within this topic constant reference to M.E. style of Islamic extremism, that I do not believe is truly relevant to the current situation in the deep South. Although the esculation of violence was from 2004 onwards, from my knowledge there has been no attacks on Westeners/central government attributed to the conflict in the deep South nor upon Shia communities (albeit a very small representation in Thailand).

Thank you for the statistics, they made for interesting reading. Can you cite your sources?

- I wonder, how many of these Muslim deaths have been committed by other Muslims, for not complying with Sharia? How many have been Muslim teachers, killed for being teachers in public schools (yes, they consider that a sin in the south). How many have been Muslim doctors and nurses punished for treating Buddhists? How many have been Muslim police officers, and soldiers?

- Yes, there are soldiers who hold Islam close to them, these are the few that are "protesting" in their own way in places like Amphoe Mueang Yala, Bannang Sata and Raman. They understand that the only way to stop an aggressor is with active and intelligent resistance. It is too bad that Bangkok does not have a memory long enough to enforce such policies.

In Europe there are Nightclubs where nobody goes for party before 2am.

Spicy Club.

Which is now closed So my friend told me last time I visited BKK - I did not go out on that trip other than to pick my friends up from their bar to go to eat a midnight snack with them. But yes, that ladyboy filled overpriced place below the Ambassador hotel called Spicy bar is now closed.

There are new places opening that the gals and guys go to but I did not visit them. Bangkok beat across from one of my favorite Australian bar/restaurants seems to be more popular than before. I'm guessing this price increase will NOT be affected by the "price increases" mentioned in the OP for speculative reasons being that you take from the left and give to the right meaning nothing changes for establishments such as this. Same same, but different; guys!

I don't understand why they close doors so early?

Do they have "lock in" sessions?

Some places do. I know of a few places that if I am there at 1:55 (5 minutes before cowboy closes) and I am about I can drink for as long as I want. There are the same places in Nana, Sukhumvit, Khao San, Silom, or Khon Kaen. It is about how well you know a place and how well it knows you

This is the second time that Iranian sponsored foreign nationals have been located in Thailand. The first time Iranians actively taking part in acts of terror against the people and against Thai security forces. A small scale bomb factory was located.

This time, we have Hezboullah members located with a Thai national, one could speculate that mingling in such small groups that the Hezbollah members were providing support in the form of training. Hezbollah is directly funded by the Al Quds forces of Iran, and trained by them.

This leads to the suggestion that Iranian forces and proxy forces are actively supporting and promoting a religious war against Bhuddist Thailand. Would this not be an opportunity for smart Thai political figures to approach both "moderate" Islamic states, and particularly other Buddhist nations within the region and particularly within Asean, to provide training, assistance and smarts to resist. Countries like Indonesia have gone a long way in removing radicals from Java, the national army of the Philippines has had great success in backing some groups into submission - there are many more examples.

It is time for Thailand to communicate that their war is the regions war, and if the war is lost, the region will experience rapid change of which few will appreciate.

@Home at Udon is what you are looking for, by the sounds. I stay there regularly. I don't go there for "hookers", I have a few friends of 5+ years, some who own or work in the bars. So I do frequent them and do drink there, walking home early some mornings. They may be fully booked as they are the best value for money that I am aware of at the moment.. I had trouble booking in December even though the owner virtually did everything except "building a new room" to fit me in during my stay.

The hotel is close with security outside so very safe. I often walk home after Khaen lessons late at night at have never had an issue.

5min from the night market, there is also a new shop opened before the market beside all the massage shops which has excellent food, even managed to whip me up some yum ple guay which is southern food hard to even find in Bangkok.

The massage shops are excellent value in Udon, not many places you can get legitimate good quality massages for 150b. The best massage shops are along Th. Prajak Silpakorn towards the night market.

There are "Farang" in Udon, and there are local Farang.. they are quite different beasts. Be careful if you are the Pattaya type as the local Farang might take offence to that type of approach.. people there are more chilled out and not so "business minded" like you might spend further south. If you are the type that goes to Pattaya regularly, I have heard that they tend to hang out at Day and Night, but I would not know as I do not go there. Both groups have good guys and bad guys, so take the time (if you have it) to observe before engaging.

A psycho ex gf who racked up $2000 ph bill while I was away and took my credit card to every bar she could while I was away, then after I dumped her and told her to move out attacked me and tried to have me arrested (playing the innocent GF card).

Too bad her ass ended up being hauled away when the cops saw the inside of my apartment which she smashed up, and saw me getting a ticket back to LOS a few months later.

Slightly twisted, but as many here, I returned because of the alternative comparisons back home.

Thanks for the response. I am interested specifically in Thailand or the Philippines, and not interested to look outside of either of these two countries at this stage. Hence the direct specific question on these two markets.

They need to vote this guy in for PM.. at least he can promote growth to "boom" through the sound of his music.. and he has some style to us younger generation.

Hi there,

I am coming to Thailand and also heading to the Philippines in September to source a producer for a product I am developing in CAD which will require industrial production.

The process will involve aluminium bending, cutting and precise measurement laser cutting and the final product being packaged. A fairly simple task that is very inexpensive in comparison to my home country. Looking to build a prototype initially but have it mass-produced after this.

Can anyone provide me with any contrasts in considerations of skill of work, cost of work and production times in Phils vs. Thailand?

Many thanks

Reason for edit: Changing-out my awful grammar.

The IMF does not IMO come up top of the list for getting their growth projections right. But times are more uncertain globally than many mom and dad investors realize. Most Thais do not have a financial mindset and are only focused on living for today - in my experience this seems to be tied in with the Buddhist mindset, something I love about Thailand. Thai business in general I find are reactionary rather than predictor and tend not to anticipate but respond to market conditions.

Serious storms are brewing in China with NPL (Non performing loans) being ignored by the global community in general (except for a few savvy investors) with China relying solely on ongoing growth to continue to cover these NPLs. Just like a gambler at the roulette table who plays "double or nothing" until there is nothing left to bet.

I too think that growth in Thailand is overstated, and think it is going to get worse. I have been holding back for some time on bringing funds in because of what I feel is coming, even though the exchange rate is the highest it has been in a very long time (since the AEC actually). I tend to agree with the IMF in this instance - but largely because of non-political motives rather than political.. foreigners know the system is corrupt, defunct and irrelevant and consider this when investing already.

A combination of high inflation and low interest rates with a dim outlook on predicted overall Thai business performance and net foreign investment outflows being at very high levels is quite simply the perfect storm to seriously eroding almost all forms of assets for anyone not already invested in consumables or companies importing foreign products and services.

I am constantly amazed by Thai apartments. Thais have an amazing ability to create beautiful urban living spaces - though perhaps more through learning from those in the countries around them considering other countries in touch with Thailand (such as Japan) has been living the "urban crunch" for much longer.

It scares me, when I see buildings burning down in a major metropolis because emergency services (the fire department) do not have ladders or other suitable utilities to stop fires in these high rise buildings - it is these buildings which pay a large amount of their funding I would assume. I live on the 5th of 13 floors in my building, and know all floors could be reached in the event of a fire in my building. Every room has smoke detectors. There is a concrete stairwell fireproofed to protect residents in the event of a fire (at least from the flames, if not the smoke).

It scares me, when we see Police, Soldiers and gangsters battling for control of the streets and the country, shooting, bombing and stabbing each other in the same streets which these new condos are being sold on. Where I live, I can call a free number and usually have a Police officer here within 20 minutes, and within 2-3 minutes of my life was at threat.

It scares me, when Bangkok has been proven to be a sinking city, that this government is ignoring the issue, and instead trying to build the Berlin wall around the city to protect it - so that eventually it will become to the sea what a crater is to the surface of the moon.. or Tahiti is to the pacific.

All this, for very similar, if not more expensive prices than I pay here in my country. If I invest, I get 90+% occupancy rates, with 8-10% annual returns. Oh, and my building survived the 6.9 Richter scale quake last year and another earlier on with only a few tiles falling off the walls in the foyer.. I doubt similarly priced Thai apartments would survive flooding, quakes, or the test of time anywhere near as well as my 11 mil. baht apartment will.

A truly barbaric act design to instill maximum fear among the population. Terrorism in its purist and most simplistic form.

One would think that government officials travelling in so called " notorious security 'Red Zone' " would have some sort of security escort available to them.

It may be time for the government to start thinking seriously about offering them a level of autonomy that would satisfy them.

I travel to the south often (Pattani, Yala and Songkhla mostly) and can tell you that there are many such "red zones" - infact the Amphoe Mueang (main city center) of Yala is a giant sand-bagged area guarded by heavily armed soldiers. I travel into that red zone and many others regularly, understanding that each day could very well be my last, just for going to get my favorite foods, or sharing a smile with the wrong person who notices my non-Muslim face, or western name.

Our family work alongside Muslims and have never had issue with them. But there are outside elements which the government refuse to acknowledge are pulling the strings, inciting and training those taking action against Buddhists and soldiers in the south. Until these people funding and organizing the martyrdom operations are identified and silenced, we cannot even consider the possibility of the violence ever ending.

Also understand that there are those against the government, and there are separately those against the government stopping them from doing what they are doing. There is the forced spread of Islam, and there is the forced importation of illegal substances - both fueling in different ways this "war against the people and the people sworn to protect us".

I have been to Penang many times, but not recently.

My last trip in 2008 they were phasing out most street markets which was a sad site - most street food sellers in Penang, especially around Lebuh Chulia are multi - generational gifts of love to the community as much as they are a source of income for the family. I highly recommend the Hao Jiian (Chinese style oyster omelette) across from love lane on Lebuh Chulia if it still exists.

Shopping in Penang is surprisingly good with a wide range of both western and Malaysian food and goods.

Get yourself a house asap, hotels are not the best there but there were new apartments going up at a very cheap price last I was there.

This bitcoin really has banks globally running scared. There appears to be a lot hidden about bitcoin, but also a lot of scaremongering by banks because they cannot tax it for profit, and from governments because they cannot do the same, and because it globalises the world into a single and (apparently) uncontrolled currency.

BOT is just stating the obvious - please do not use this currency because we do not know where it comes from, how it works and cannot control it.

Just like buying baht, US dollars or the Yuan, buy at your own risk and at your own discretion. Don't let the wise cats in the bank fool you into thinking that bitcoin is not a currency. It is. It is a global currency being quickly adopted by those who want change. I am not one of those, but I understand the reality of what Bitcoin is.

Because the girlfriend presumably knew who her boyfriend's friends were and what nationality they were?

The details seemed not to be lacking at all and the only one speculating so far is you.

I have read the article here as well as several other articles. None of the articles I read mention the girlfriend identifying the colleagues as fellow Burmese.

Have I missed something here? Or am I being shot at because I challenged your opinion of the article?

Sent from my SM-N900 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

This is a sad story and RIP to the man murdered.

Unfortunately there is a minority of Burmese people in Phuket who are bad to the bone and unfortunately they will always ruin things for the majority. It wasnt that long ago Burmese people in Phuket were not allowed out of their camps after a certain hour - no mobiles and no motor bikes. These kind of incidents will only strengthen the argument for that to be re-established.

Yes, a very sad story especially considering the victims partner attempted to stop the altercation but was unable to. Even worse that it was she who also found his head, something no doubt which will rest with her forever.

I find it appalling that the names of the accused are witheld, but the name of the victims are openly used miltiple times in the article. A disgrace for any press organisation.

I wonder though, how do we know that the colleagues were Burmese, and not one of these slave driving groups of Thais who employ the Burmese and Nepalese because they will work longer, harder and for less than most (if not all) Thais? This kind of altercation could have come from bullying and pressure at work by this group. Simply saying the offenders were Burmese and that it may stoke anti-Burmese feelings within Patong is unfair.

Just remember, not so far away people are being shot, beheaded and bombed every single day, Thai on Thai, in a no holds barred fight for control - who says this is different in any way?

The details lack and so we speculate.

I custom build PC's and tried Banana IT last time I was there for my 27 inch LCD's (x6), i7 4820K cpu, 3gb ram and 2x 250gb ssd drives.

The major issue I had with Banana was that they were not VAT refund registered so I would lose out at the airport. ..

The other issue I had was that their pricing was near the low end but not negotiable by any standard. They offered me a poultry 250 baht discount on each 12,000 baht lcd, no discount on the cpu, ram or ssd.

I ended up buying from Jib for cheaper before discount. 2000 baht cheaper per lcd,100 baht cheaper on the cpu and 150 baht cheaper on each ssd. And Jib did discount based on my total purchase value (about 50, 000 baht). They are also vat registered so got a nice little thank you at the airport.

I custom build PC's and tried Banana IT last time I was there for my 27 inch LCD's (x6), i7 4820K cpu, 3gb ram and 2x 250gb ssd drives.

The major issue I had with Banana was that they were not VAT refund registered so I would lose out at the airport. ..

The other issue I had was that their pricing was near the low end but not negotiable by any standard. They offered me a poultry 250 baht discount on each 12,000 baht lcd, no discount on the cpu, ram or ssd.

I ended up buying from Jib for cheaper before discount. And Jib did discount based on my total purchase value (about 50, 000 baht). They are also vat registered so got a nice little thank you at the airport.