Emster23

It's okay. They were fake illegal immigrants he was shaking down I hear.

More like the police aren't unenforcing the laws fairly...... Good for them resigning, not that it will make much difference. Comes a point where you will only put up with so much corruption.

Thais can get a Bus License without ever driving on the road. Perhaps this explains why they seem to be more comfortable driving the bus off the road....

Thais can get a Bus License without ever driving on the road. Perhaps this explains why they seem to be more comfortable driving the bus off the road....

It would take years, if not decades for an outsider to sift through the deceit, back door deals, hidden finance, puppet masters, hall of mirrors that is Thai politics before one was foolish enough to dare make a suggestion. Nothing is as it seems.

"He said that he would also be ordained as monk after the court case is completed to make merit for the deceased victims." Assuming little to no punishment will happen, how about he go out and campaign for highway safety? Enforcement of laws that he so easily evaded? I know becoming a monk is fairly common for those who do horrible things here, but does little to change the climate that ignored those horrible actions until too late. Becoming a monk shouldn't be similar to a half way house....

I do find it interesting that Thaksin is only one listed "and family". How about the other fat cats and their families? No.1 has almost ten times the loot Thaksin "and family" does. I wonder who he buys with it....

As a group, subject to all disclaimers etc, I would take Brits over Russians (I'm a Yank). Three behaviors I generally see from Russians that rub me the wrong way (and don't see from Brits) are: 1. Usually Russians won't hold an elevator to let you get on, even if only 6 feet away 2. Sprawl on baht buses, unaware and/or don't care if others have to stand 3. At 7-11 put one item at checkout, then go grab some more things, add to pile, then go get more and somehow think they should be ahead of you who rounded up ALL you intended to buy before going to checkout.

I hope he had no children. I dislike seeing the idiot gene being passed on to a new generation.

I seem to recall some years ago that the accident rate while driving and talking on the phone was about the same as driving under the influence. Perhaps Thais because of their superior mental facilities can drive and talk, but in this case she was also chewing gum..... the fatal factor

On the plus side that is one less confirmed idiot on the road, or at least until he gets another car. The laziness of some locals astounds me. Park the car and walk to the beach? That is so loso!

You need to learn to walk before you run, and Thai train system can't walk yet. This is about as blatant an example of the elite squandering resources so they can get to their weekend get aways quicker. It will not aid in development along the route: quite the oppposite (trains will just fly by, right?). Transport goods? Is Hua Hin some sort of Samut Phrakan style industrial area? I was hoping the political unrest might deep six this assine project, but seems to have a life of it's own.

Seems a fairly common view among Thais is to look down on all foreign countries and their people because they lack the shining gem that is Thai culture and life. Being rather inward looking, they care not to know how the rest of the world is, for them it is enough to know they are Thai and the crown of creation. Not all that uncommon among other nationalities too. My somewhat Nazi sister couldn't believe that not everyone on earth wanted to be an American....

Young Dane robbed at knifepoint by Tuk-Tuk scammers Violent robbers. a scam usually includes some sort of "too good to be true" offer and switch.

The Constitution is like the bible here: you can find passages to justify about any position you want. Big enough holes in it to drive one of those run away buses through. I was hoping court would find government illegal, dissolve it, and then extending the logic, dissolving themselves as they are part of the government. Poof!

Seems to me that the only ones who aren't armed (or at least say they aren't) at protest sites are the police. And they are the only ones who should be armed. The world turned upside down here.

A few weeks ago a couple of student's were arrested for similar crime. Did we ever find out what the punishment was? I would guess if 500 baht fine the word got around, as it does in schools. Low risk/punishment cost, high potential payoff. Example that Thai students can learn and apply economics to business situations.

Thai Any culture's musical instruments promote the development of children with intellectual disabilities of all intellectual levels.

Brilliant job. I booked ticket out of country other day. Going to Taliban controlled area of Pakistan, but still will be safer. (Kidding) Going to USA. 7 years ago had to come back from BKK to Jomtien, took 7 hours. We had weekend bags, Thais were cool about realising we were not part of the show, but the farangs were total jerks, as usual. It reminds me of old Star Trek episode where residents of some town went totally nuts one day a year. This of course is much beyond that... Beam me out, Scotty.

"royalist establishment -- supported by the judiciary and the military --"

"now lets see if the reds do the same, maybe they will want to keep going as long as the independant courts...."

Pretty clear that the courts are not independent and that the emphasis now is on a "judicial coup", which may be an improvement over a military coup, but the outcome is the same. Good Ol' Boys back in the drivers seat. Forget democracy.

If toss in luggage, you want small I assume. Lots of good suggestions, esp like extension cords. One thing very difficult to find is wax donuts for seating toilets. They just glue the suckers down and toss wax away, since takes awhile for toilet to 'drift". Ditto for anchor bolts. loctite super glue gel is handy. a small voltage converter can be used for charging and a coffee grinder is about 1/3 or less price here. Cheese slicer? I'll have to think about these... I know I will be bringing back a decent soldering iron, flux and solder. Stuff here is crap.

How about the Nation being sincere about reporting the news, rather than being a mouthpiece. They seem to have forgotten the attack on red shirt gathering at that stadium that got this whole "tit for tat" insanity going. And just where is the proof that Thaksin is pulling all the strings? I admit if he did return he could sue Nation et al for defamation, even if it were true (gotta love that Thai legal system, eh?).

Sad to say that sincerity is much like the smiles we see in LOS. Done for appearances only, nothing real behind it.

Suthep just loves to grandstand. Get Jerry Springer for moderator? If he actually wanted to end the conflict, the meetings should be private. Are the negotiations regarding Syria being broadcast live? No. Why not? They are trying to somehow resolve that mess, not earn popularity points. Suthep has been honing his skills for playing a crowd for several months, and this is just one more op to get ratings.

If she does somehow decide to join this circus, I would advise her to keep pressing him on "What are the details of your plan to reform democracy?", "Would you be in favor of all senators being elected and not appointed, since you say you are for absolute democracy", "Since your side won't trust the voters and elections, having refused to participate in the recent election, how can you say you are for democracy", and "Name your major financial backers"

Oh my head hurts! Where to start? Hmmm ancestors used to fish these waters... really? but they got too polluted. Did you organize, pressure government to clean up waste water? No."It would be difficult" might be the answer. Let me clue you in on something: we in the west faced vested interests that didn't want to clean up, pay fair wages, extend the vote etc. MANY people gave their lives to get those changes. You think those in power give it up willingly? Waste problem didn't happen overnight, but the mai pen rai and never think of tomorrow view ended that fishing.

The argument about rich people getting richer is bogus. Article said people could walk across property for free. And they can't seem to comprehend that many of us prefer to walk over riding, be it motorcycle, taxi or boat. If they charge too much, the boats are floating disasters waiting to happen, etc, then maybe they should change their business model or FIND a New Job!!!!

Extortion, although modeled from the top on down, only works for very short time. As many of us note, people will stop coming to be extorted. The amount doesn't matter for many of us: we just tell ourselves "never again, scratch that place off the list".

I don't why I continue to be amazed by the depth of stupidity shown by some of those in the "service sector" of Thailand.