Emster23

They drive with no lights so that ghosts won't chase them. I am not making this up.

Helmet and license fine increases are good, but that would not have mattered in this case. I have friend whose wife was killed in similar "just pull out, don't look what's coming" fashion. She on motorbike, car pulling out. They got tough with that driver: 5,000 baht fine. Enforce moving violations harshly, with jail sentences. But then again, police would have to work to do that......

"the officer who caused the crash will be subject to the legal process." Is he going to pay himself 500 baht? Never get out of the boat, never leave police station. All he wanted was a mango pie....

hmmm the narrow reading of the constitution was probably the only result CC could make. The EC did not have protection, enforcement, etc to allow elections to take place. Crimes prevented all that, so posters are correct in saying problem was criminal, not constitutional. Police are supposed to enforce the law, arrest criminals, etc. Yeah, right. However the army told them to stay away and not enforce the laws. And who controls the army? Am I right in guessing they are more connected with Suthep and his backers?

"You're letting the government off the hook way too lightly here. They were in charge of security, not the EC. They had a state of emergency in place and the army under their command and they still failed to prevent the polls being disrupted." When the army plays coy with whether or not they will have a coup against sitting government, I would say the army was not under their command. As long as army gives tacit approval to disruption and violence to prevent elections, a new government will not come into power by voting, which is what Suthep and friends want. They would lose any election, right or wrong, so democracy ala voting is not on the menu.

I like the practice of raising price of beers at bars because they have no customers....

Hmmm Who knows? Not anyone that wants to speak.... I did notice the liberal use of the word "kidnap". I think the rule here in Thailand is that if farang, you can be kidnapped. If Thai, you are "Captured", as in the spokeswoman the other day. Glad we had these two examples to straighten us out. We already know about dual usages of "suicide".

Just make sure if you buy a ticket from Phuket you don't buy "return" or "round trip". If you do, have a sign made in Thai that says "kick me" and wear it when you go out from your digs.

"Police have admitted they are powerless to prevent motorcycle and car rental operators from holding foreign tourists’ passports as collateral against potential damage to rented vehicles."

Horse poop. Money is Kryptonite to Thai police. Wave some about and they are "powerless".

Like joke regarding doctor: "Well, if you take this medicine you'll be better in a week. If you don't, it could take seven days". Get rid of mossies. No way to transmit it = no dengue fever. Duh.

"Slaying and burning of woman teacher 'inhumane''

Seems rather obvious. Recall great line from "How I Won the War": "What we need are more humane killers". RIP

Not sure that a 100% beef is used in hamburgers, note heard some "home bread worms" are cultivated and used in some of the hamburger for protein or horse meat blended into the beef.

Horse meat is superior to beef, I wish there was a little pony burger on the menu. Yummy!

That "worms" urban legend goes back decades. If I recall correctly, McDonalds pointed out that worms cost more per pound than beef, so why would they use worms? I think I would prefer horsemeat also....

"Footage Of Govt Spokeswoman's Capture Kidnapping Released"

Capture is what the police should do with those with warrants out on them, or in the act of committing crime(s). Suthep fits the term if police would do their job.

Kidnapping is what criminals and terrorists do. They have no legal authority to do what they did. Follow up speculations about rape, torture are missing the point. She didn't know what would happen to her once they kidnapped her (duh). She did not go willingly with them, they used force. Arguing about how much force was used is splitting hairs, and those apologists/rationalizers need to get a head to put those hairs on.

Capture - kidnap strong words that don't fit what went on here

Detained for a short time - possibly,

rescued - possibly,

released unharmed - fact

The picture in the OP speaks loads of what went on, it looks like a press photo, she was unharmed and released , I doubt very much this lady is even being allowed to tell her own story freely- you reds can spin this to death but in reality nothing much else to say here is there

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Oxford online dictionary: Kidnap- "Take (someone) away illegally by force" Seems to describe what happened. Convince me otherwise. Since they took her away against her will, the length of time doesn't really matter. Like I said, she had no idea what might happen next. She had bruises, small ones admittedly. Have you ever been beaten by a group of seven or more? I have. I curled up into a ball, waited for them to get bored, didn't fight back. Do you assume she could take out that crowd? Your line of reasoning sounds like defense lawyer in rape trial: "well, your honor, she didn't fight him, so she must have gone along with it" (96 lbs vs their combined weight. right).

"Guns are an inanimate object and cannot shoot anyone. If they would had been hit on the head with a steel pole would you say that there were too many steel poles in Thailand?" This argument is used so often, sounds almost reasonable until you think about it. Guns were invented and developed to kill living things: first and foremost, people. Steel poles were invented and refined usually to support something. The analogy is absurd. Yes, people kill people, and it is much easier to do so with a gun. Just move finger about half an inch while pointing at entity you wish to kill. Not so messy or difficult as strangling a person. And once bullet is on the way, no way to stop it on shooters part.

Hmmm how about seizing fake police officers. Fake as in not genuine, fraud, inferior product purported to be genuine, bogus, misrepresentation of quality, etc etc. Will we get follow photos of cops destroying these items? Don't hold your breath.

Case of pot calling the kettle black. "Corruption" if other side does it, "patronage" (and part of unique Thai cultural heritage that is admired world wide) when my side does it. 25 year sentence? Has any government stayed in power that long? Cycle of pardons even if it went that far, which has a snowballs chance in hell, imho.

Thanks for the educational and informative article. Armed with this knowledge I can now change my behavior. I will stop eating. Good to have excuse now for my creeping dementia.

The 2.36 charge was VAT. Seems a cockie fell in the VAT first. Whole thing sounds like a scam to me. Cockroaches know enough not to eat McDonalds offerings..

"...The private buyers try to buy the rice at the lowest price they can". Pssst! That is how one part of markets work. And the sellers try to sell it for as much as they can. High school econ basic stuff. Only supply and demand I see in this mess is: You supply us with votes (and give us power) in exchange for us agreeing to pay unreal world price. Later, when there is no money to pay you, then you can demand change. "If something seems too good to be true, it probably isn't."

Tune in tomorrow! Same batty time, same batty channel! Holy greased palm oil, baitman! "Shocking"? Hardly. SOS, business as usual. More shocking would be some politician showing he or she didn't get rich, or friends rich....

"He said the police investigation would determine whether the soldiers were personally hired to carry out work and if they had committed an offence, they would not be protected." So if they were told to do this by army, then it would be okay? Isn't it an offense no matter the reason? Work? Gonna drive some nails with those guns? Protected? Oy vey!

"Flight information seen by AFP shows that two tickets in Kozel and Maraldi's names were issued in Pattaya, a beach resort south of Bangkok, on March 6, 2014, and were paid for in Thai baht."

Does anyone that writes this stuff live in Thailand? Look at a map? Last time I looked, Pattaya is east of Bangkok (slightly south, but mostly east). If you can't get the simple stuff right.... Did like press conference when Malaysian said something like "Does Balotelli look Italian?". Still wonder why won't at least say skin color. Nigerian scammers branching out?

Great! Love to see the plan. Is it only "Replace your people with our people"? That is all I have seen so far. I make more detailed plans just when going out for coffee......

Police need to be held for accountability on this one. Why the "hot pursuit"? Were they wanted for murder they had just committed? (compare the OJ Simpson slow speed chase of years ago). Robbed a bank? Gang raped someone? No, just working without a permit. How many of us have seen police chasing after drunk, dangerous drivers? Speeding buses? Anything, ever? Guess you could say they were chasing after a buck. Apology might be along the line of "All those deaths, all that tea money we lost. We are so sorry".