Emster23

We tend to get lumped into two groups by those who live off our droppings: Cheap Charlie or Stupid Farang. I prefer being seen as cheap to stupid. Not that I give a toss what they think of me. Shame needs a certain amount of concern about opinions of others to be effective, and since the opinion "cheap Charlie" is just a manipulation to pay more than what something is worth, I usually say "Why thank you!" if they try that trick on me.

And of course the peace loving Suthep and friends never ever ever ever made any threats that stirred things up, right?

IF he knows this as he says he does, then the obvious questions would be: 1. why didn't they stop them before attack? and 2. Why haven't they caught the perps?

""terrorist acts for political gain" says the PM. Who does she think gains?"

My guess would be the army. And whoever has close association with army. Just an armchair guess. Get enough of this sort of stuff and the public will be crying out for a coup to end this mess. Who wins then?

"If the RTPO could become independent like the court and the Office of the Attorney General and then if it did not act in the best interests of the people, then it could be directly reprimand by the public." Yeah, that always works so well. Like when you reprimand them for not enforcing traffic laws, jet ski operators, and on and on..... I am sure so many of us have had responses from BIB: "Oh, thank you sir for reprimanding me over this "fine" for "driving while farang". My apologies and I will be sure to tell my captain that we are here to independently enforce the laws for the good of the people. Silly of us to forget that"

I can understand this horrible action, but I do not condone it by any means. Every action will have an equal and opposite reaction. Suthep and company keep ratcheting up the rhetoric and threats, and little or nothing is done about it by authorities and those whose duty is to maintain civil order. Thailand is descending into chaos, and there are few if any voices or groups that seem to be trying to resolve this. One more incident steering the outcome towards a coup I am afraid, and then the old elites will be back at the trough once more. The losers, as we all know, are the people of Thailand.

To paraphrase Country Joe song: "And it's 1,2,3 what are we fighting 4? Don't ask me. I don't give a damn. Split the country like VIetnam. And it's 5,6,7 open up the anarchy gates. Ain't no time to wonder why, whoopee we're all gonna die..." Perhaps they should go to insane asylum to find the "neutral parties" that could run the place after the matter and anti-matter are done with their mutual annihilation....

"Will the farmers who put Yingluck in power bring her down?"

I don't know, how about the radical idea of having an election? Then we could find out.... Oh, there was one already? And the democrats decided they didn't want to risk democracy, so sat it out. Hmmm what's wrong with this picture?

Seems farmers are a political football in the current mess. Good move by Suthep et al to get Yingluck to resign and become caretaker without power to pay off farmers, and then blame her for not paying off farmers. Do any of the farmers understand that? She needs better advisers, but that is probably true of all parties to this situation.

If she resigns again (?), how would that lead to farmers being paid? Without sitting parliament, who would be next in line to step into that enviable position? Hope some of more knowledgeable ones here can answer that one. Probably go to courts for that judicial coup so many have been hoping for?

It's nice some posters have had personal experience and are sure that god exists. But it is not proof. I thought I saw god too in younger years, and divine light and all that stuff. Hallucinations I reckon.

"decide our actions based on our own feelings of what is right or wrong." good reason religions like to get ahold of the young and indoctrinate them in what is "right or wrong" before they have developed cognitive abilities to discern that for themselves.

I am an atheist and a Buddhist. Difference between Buddhism and all the other ones is Buddhism doesn't depend on savior or "higher power" to save your miserable self. Buddha said it is up to you and your efforts to raise yourself up out of the mud, he couldn't save you or anyone. But gave a good guide book. It doesn't matter if Buddha existed or not, what he is said to have said still is valid. You can't say that about other religions and their various methods of rescuing you from yourself.

Hate to point this out, but this seems another view that Bangkok=Thailand. Should be a warning to those "coming from or passing through" Bangkok. All 12 of you (joking). And unless those in BKK are in some sort of sleep therapy, one would hope they have enough sense to figure this out on their own....

Someone once pointed out that religion is one thing that can make good people do bad things. And feel good about it. Not to say this guy is good, however. Because all religion is made up from minds of humans, there is danger. Not all minds are tolerant and loving.

This article is confusing: part says "no force against protestors" and other says same but "peaceful protestors". So which is it? Seems ban was against "peaceful protestors" would still leave government able to enforce laws, if they could talk police and military into believing that might be a good idea.... taking over buildings, trashing them, blocking elections, shooting, killing, throwing grenades, etc don't fall into category of "peaceful protest", at least in my book. Maybe I need a Thai definition of what that means.

Should have done this from the start; saving lives, money, time, etc etc. Afterall Thai politics seems to be "law of the jungle" and "might makes right". Guess he's taking the gloves off now! (or putting them on?)

Is this part of his "absolute democracy" definition? He is so far off the deep end that he is in the Marianas trench of whackiness.

If I recall correctly, Yingluck and company got 49% of the vote in Bangkok in election before January election. Well documented that both parties try to buy votes. And Yingluck's group is the ones who won the last full election, so closest thing to elected government going around. Certainly not slippery Suthep and his invisible bankrolling big shots.

The BBC report I saw said two police were shot, one killed, and then showed the grenade landing among the police. Previous to that they had used rubber bullets, but then some used live rounds."You don't bring rubber bullets to a gun fight".

Who is responsible? Suthep and company. A democratically elected government has the responsibility to defend itself, being the choice of the people, however poor some may think that choice is. And the police are the one's in the front line, and showed great restraint in not just opening up (which is what I would guess Suthep wanted).

Would you just sit and take it while a mob engaging in illegal activities shoots your fellow policemen, lobs grenades?

this is not thai people.

why we care?

can stay in myanmar or cambodia if dont like!!

we dont ask you to come here.

this is THAI land.

And this typifies the Thai response: not give a damn if not Thai. Some of us from more enlightened cultures believe that all people regardless of culture, country or race, should have rights and some dignity. Take a look at UN declaration of human rights sometimes. I don't think there is a clause it there reading "except in Thailand".

"If you are wondering what the government of Thailand is doing about all this, they have proposed a series of measures including an official registration system for potential workers and employers, although little concrete action has been taken."

The concrete action they have taken is to accept bribes from slavers in exchange for doing nothing. And they know Thai people generally give tacit approval.

Good for those neighbors! Third time? Have cops been called before? 500 baht fine, but since this is third, get tough policy and fine 1000? may I suggest next time break a leg or two of his? Hard to lunge with a broken leg.

And just a reminder that rape is not really so much a sexual crime, but one of violence and intimidation, using sex as a means to humiliate the victim. You could do research on google to get more understanding of this.

I am going to try to get the contract for transporting the protesters.

I have 3 motocycles and a Tuk Tuk lined up.

Should be enough.

You must be a great man

even 2,000 police can not move what you can do with 3 motorbikes and a single tuk tuk

do they let you out often, or did you escape

The reasons behind why 2000 police cannot move a few die-hard protesters are far more complex than having enough transport.

...I can think of three reasons why the police cannot shift the protesters:

(i) they have no balls;

(ii) they are led by a moron; and

(ii) they can see the writing on the wall; that is, that they are aware that their allegiance to the current crooked 'government' will all be for nought in the very near future, so they don't want to leave themselves open to all sorts of charges once power changes hands.

I think you left out 4: no tea money, or not enough to make it worthwhile

Seems only way Suthep can have a "mass" rally is if he goes off for some Catholic service on Sunday...

And I doubt if the driver (now deceased) of pickup truck is included in national stats, as he didn't die at the scene. I don't think Thailand adheres to international standards of what makes a traffic fatality. It would be bad for Thailand image if the truth were known.

"they have no mandate, no parliamentary quorum, no legislative power - or any feasible path towards attaining it - they have literally been stripped of the tools of democracy" For libertarians and believers in theory "that which governs best, governs least", this is the cat's pajamas! Since all sides are corrupt and self serving (can we agree on that?) then if none of them have power to extend their hooks into the populace, this could work out to be a good unintended consequence.

""Police inspections at the sites found many illegal objects such as weapons, drugs and bomb elements. Operations will continue at the proper time to crack down on the suspects," he said."

Pick any crowd in Thailand, and I bet you would get a similar haul......

Why do they refer to these perps as "khun" as in "sir or mister", if I understand right. Maybe if added a "t" to "khun" might be more appropriate title.

Sorry to say this, but aren't you being a bit on the controlling side regarding what she eats? If she wanted to put chocolate ice cream on her steak, so be it. As long as she doesn't mess with your steak, I don't see it as a problem. I don't eat beef often anymore, and to be quite frank, I can understand why they might want to alter or mask the flavor. The flavor is unusual, and that includes some fine steaks my sis in law makes me when I go back to the states. It is an acquired taste, like all tastes (that's what my consumer behavior prof said, tho admitted he was having a hard time with liver). And there is no disputing taste... well, you can, but it's pointless. Many Thais love bugs (not bad really, mostly a mental thing) but are aghast at our eating beef. She should just tell you she is working on a "fusion cuisine".