Johpa

My son and I did the MHS loop on motorcycle last summer and stopped for lunch at Baan Farang. The Farang owner was not in but we had a good time chatting with his mother-in-law. The food was good. I would recommend departing Khun Yuam in the afternoon for Mae Chaem, on the newer road just north of Khun Yuam, when the sun is behind you and getting lower, arriving in Mae Chaem at dusk. The drive is spectacular.

Pardon my wavering memory, but wasn't it about 15 or 20 years ago that Thaksin was intimately involved in Cambodian politics and was a major player in the establishment of the current Khmer government, I believe in exchange for some sort of exclusive telecommunications contract?

Airlines (except for a very few) are mostly run by charlatans. It makes sense to have an airline for status or money laundering.

And where be a more fitting place for such an airline than Thailand, a country long run by charlatans for the sole purpose of laundering money?

Chaiyo!

As compared to what country, Chaiyo? The land that allowed the massive fraud & robbery of Enron, & the 'dodgy' accounting company that abetted it?

Or what about the system of institutionalized theft the West calls 'banking'. Banks print money, then lend it out against assets the do not have. For this, they charge we mugs a percentage. When we can't pay back, they lend us (including our governments) more paper at compounding interest charges. When the debts as a whole reach towards un-pay-back-ability, the pack of cards collapses - look around you.

Then (this is a killer), 'our' governments bail out the banks & put the charge on our tax bill! Old git Tom

Ah, but there is a subtle difference between laundering money and simply printing money with nothing behind it but "consumer confidence". But you got me dead to rights as most countries these days seem to be run by charlatans.

We are now seeing the nationalistic card played by some key players.

This is just the start.

If it starts to get much worse here you will see this nationalistic sentiment start to creep in against many areas.

Thai will never blame themselves its will always come down to someone else fault anything foreign is the easy target.

I can't see this one going away at the moment and only getting worse for anything non Thai.

Crikey, they should just blame their self-imagined woes on the Jews like everyone else on the planet and just move forward with their lives.

Airlines (except for a very few) are mostly run by charlatans. It makes sense to have an airline for status or money laundering.

And where be a more fitting place for such an airline than Thailand, a country long run by charlatans for the sole purpose of laundering money?

Chaiyo!

The guys in black, the tahaan praan, have been around for decades and are very familiar to some of us who have lived in more remote border areas. Back in the 1980s I was living near the Thai-Burma border north of Thaton. We had a tahaan praan unit stationed in the village for several weeks, they took over a BPP Camp, and they were doing patrols into Burma in the weeks prior to some RTAF Bronco bombings.

The officer of the unit was regular Thai army and spoke excellent English. The sergeant was also regular army and spoke a bit of English. You can make inferences from the linguistic abilities alone as Thais speaking English back then were few and far between. The soldiers themselves may have been volunteers or methinks were volunteered in lieu of an alternative lifestyle. (Hey, I had a good pal in high school in the US who was given such a choice by a judge and ended up a major in the US Marine Corps.) The soldiers were certainly ragged around the edges, with oodles of protective amulets hanging from their necks and tattoos all over the place. But they were well disciplined and well trained and they treated the villagers fairly, far better than did the regular Thai army troops a few years later during the Doi Lang dog and pony show. But I always had the impression that if any of these guys disappeared that nobody would miss them. I should also note that back in the 1980s, these folks were also associated with some of the more nefarious activities that occurred along the northern borders, allegedly providing security for some private parties that had some military connections, all rumors of course. But my personal interactions with these guys was quite positive, although I am certain it helped that I had become friendly with their commanding officer.

I would hope that they would invite Dr. Cynthia Maung over from her Mae Sot clinic, as she is perhaps one of the most noble women in the region. : )

Perhaps this entire brouhaha will at least allow the Thai education system and the Thai press to finally allow the discussion of the tremendous influence that classical Khmer culture had upon the once newly emerging Thai culture. I am always dumbstruck by the ignorance of Thai people who refuse to acknowledge that Thai culture is, for all intents and purposes, a derivative of Khmer culture. This influence continues today with the re-emergence of the concept of the devaraja.

Is this reminding anyone of the "manhunt" for Duangchalerm?

After thirty years of following Thai politics, these events no longer remind one of anything other than one is listening to an old school vinyl record that is skipping and playing the same snippet over and over ad nauseum. Thai politics are controlled by the criminal element as only the criminal element has the cash flow to pay for the votes. Sorry, there are no good guys out there. Meanwhile the business sector finds methods to move its profits offshore where they then can purchase influence over individual criminal politicians. And the financial sector is run by people with little to no connection to the nation-state. But this coalition of despicable people do provide a welcome mat for the ex-pat sex-pats and tourists to visit and exchange their hard currencies for the pretty useless Thai Baat. As long as they don't rock the boat, then the foreigners are welcome.

Hilarious, the Thai policemen is speaking better English than the Farang who has infantilized himself into speaking classic bar-girl English.

This "new" politics is not so new. It's called corporatism:

Under fascism in Italy, business owners, employees, trades-people, professionals, and other economic classes were organized into 22 guilds, or associations, known as "corporations" according to their industries, and these groups were given representation in a legislative body.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporativism

Hey, I think I saw that film.

But call it what you will, Thai politics has always been about which segment of the Bangkok based ol' Boys network will get the biggest piece of the pie. That is why the standard euphemism in Thai for politics is kin muang. Nobody is really fighting over changing the basic political structure.

Garro , I'm impressed with your insight . I too have been involved in hospice and as a crime scene technician, death has never bothered me only the callousness of the living. Hospice is very much an orchestrated death in the US , ever notice how many pass away just after the family leaves for the night and the last son to arrive gets a chance to say good bye. ...

Orchestrated by whom? I have seen this particular scenario, indeed have been the "last son", in my case the last grandson, to arrive. But I have seen the same scenario happen in village Thailand where hospice involves lying down on a hard mattress on the floor wasting away in a small village hut.

Bottom line; unless you really really really want to speak Thai, save yourself the headache; very few Thais will ever appreciate your efforts.

What eponymous fiction are you living in? I began learning Thai back in 1981. I lived full time in Thailand for over a decade, both in a major city and considerable, actually the majority of that time, in rural areas. After that I was able to spend a few months each year over the next few years at our home in-country. My efforts, both successes and failures, were always, and are to this day, appreciated, despite my waning linguistic abilities. Perhaps the variation in our mileage is that I never spent much time in Bangkok, the least Thai part of the Kingdom and the only city in the Kingdom where I feel like a tourist.

There are a number of permethrin dips available. One of the better known brands in the US is Sawyers. If not found in Thailand it should be easy enough to have a friend mail a bottle from abroad.

According to the ol' trusty Haas dictionary ฉาก refers to a curtain or partition and หลังฉาก refers to backstage or behind the scenes, the inside story. It notes that usage when referring to people "implies a shameful, hidden way of life which belies public image".

...thank god they haven't heard or like "Stairway to heaven"

I hate that one too.

Surely not....you can't have heard the Rolf Harris version then

Well I had never heard the Rolf Harris version, crikey, I didn't even know he was still alive. But now thanks to ThaiPauly and YouTube, I can die a happy man having heard the inimitable Mr Harris singing his version of that classic song. I am usually not at a loss for words, but I just can't seem to find the words that would be permitted to thank ThaiPauly sufficiently.

Please, with science today, computers, the genome and it's discoveries coming soon, we live in a time of enlightenment.

Not having been brought up within the confines of classical Christian persuasion, I have never paid much attention to eschatological concerns, I tend to focus on getting through each day. But I did recently read an interesting book, The Long Emergency by James Kunstler, that notes the similarities between folks like Huggybear, who assume that technology will bring deliverance to the peoples of the South Pacific Islands who established the Cargo Cults of the mid-20th Century. It is interesting that humankind often seeks some sort of miraculous deliverance from their woes. There are those, many of whom are highly educated and otherwise intelligent people, who take it on belief (you know like belief in the Tooth Fairy or Baby Jesus) that the combination of the now anthropomorphized 'free market' along with the new abstract God Technos, will bring humanity salvation from the impending end of cheap oil. So it is a new Pantheon leading the way to salvation, Technos and Agoros replacing the likes of Zeus and Poseidon, along with lesser creatures such as the as the Oracle Buffetos, who by the way, is becoming a bit pessimistic.

And they are assisted by believers like Bendix and Huggy who see that all is well in their own little corner of the planet and thus all must be well elsewhere. It reminds me a bit of those who go outside and see that the weather is cold and thus declare that that global warming is a myth and no amount of explanation regarding that weather and climate are two very different things can persuade them otherwise.

Chaiyo!

There is this small US company called Ebay which allows people to buy and sell goods without obtaining licenses and without much regulation and without paying any taxes. It has become the largest gray market on the planet. An associated small company called Paypal has become a de facto gray market bank.

OK, I hate to resurrect the transcription/transliteration debate.....

The spelling of your Thia Visa moniker invites such debate.

The comment about the loudness of the new breed of wealthy Russians is spot on. Oh lordy. The Russians and the Brits combined are an excellent reason not to ever go anywhere near Pattaya again.

There will come a time when the Thais have to decide whether or not an influx of Russian tourists is really worth the hassle. Not to stereotype but they often bring the criminal element with them and competing prostitution rings. If this starts eating into Somchai's bottom line they may create restrictions on Russian investment.

No foreign organized crime syndicate is able to compete with the domestic Thai crime syndicate, not the Yakuza, not the Triads, not the Mafia, nobody. At best they can hope to align themselves by paying sufficient tea money to open a small local franchise, such as the Russian hookers on lower Sukhumwit or the Israeli drug dealers around Samui.

Tourism is certainly not coming to a halt tomorrow, but basic economics tells you that as the price of travel increases their will be less demand. I think more people will begin to rediscover the pleasures of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. I expect that by next year the cost of peak season air fare from North America to Thailand will be around $2,000 return, and still rising. I expect some of the domestic US carriers to falter thus decreasing the total number of trans-pacific seats available. Although not coming to a halt, middle class tourism will see a precipitous drop and budget and high end tourism will probably experience significant drops over the next 24 months.

There is a huge corruption problem in thailand but why do the thai people allow it.We see daily marches in bk with the pad but have the thais got the balls to do this to complain about corruption.The thai people vote for these horrible corrupt politicians and should be held reponsible for this.

I daresay that you can substitute the name of a number of nations, including most of the English speaking countries, into the above quote. The only major difference is that the corruption elsewhere is better hidden by the smoke and mirrors of the corporations and the take-no-responsibility corporate legal framework. But horrible corrupt and hypocritical politicians keep getting re-elected around the globe.

One of my favorite gay Thai 19 year olds, 180 cm tall, said he uses the men's toilets and could beat up any straight student who objected!

Crikey, now we have to worry about your insecure, chip on the shoulder young gay man pissing along side an equally insecure, chip on the shoulder straight guy who thinks he can beat the crap out of any gay guy. At least the two will be beating the crap out of each other in the crapper, where they both deservedly belong.

I think it comes down to the fact most Thai people do not consider risk at all.

It is far more a function of economics: most Thais are not like the wealthy Farangs that predominate on Thai Visa living the good life with high wages in the tech world or retirees, but relatively poor folks who can't afford a car and for whom a motorcycle is the best option for family transportation. Of course they consider the risks, and they tend to drive far more conservatively when the family is on board.

My gf lives out in the sticks a bit. I figure that getting her a post office box, private bag or using post restante could be safer....

but do they have such things in Thailand?

Please advise - also the Thai script and transliteration so I can communicate (perhaps) what I want.

Any advice appreciated.

I once had a PO Box at the local Post Office so I think they are pretty common. I can't remember the name in Thai as it was nearly 20 years ago, I imagine that it is tuu praisanee, sorry no Thai script on my machine. I have found the Thai postal system tends to reach most villages. Either a mailman makes it to the village every few days or the mail is collected every few days by the village headman or another trusted villager at the Post Office or at the Kamnaan's house.

Anyway, I totally agree with you that speculators are using the Enron loophole: http://www.closetheenronloophole.com/ and that is the main reason that is driving (pun intended) the price of gas! Anyone who believes that it is peak oil should know that that supply has increased VS demand (demand has decreased). Sorry to burst your speculative bubble!

Nobody is denying that there is some speculation going on in the financials 'market'. But peak oil, as it relates to inexpensive 'sweet crude' is very real. Although the Saudis have increased production, there has been no increase in supply, a dwindling resource, and worldwide demand has not decreased, only that the rate of increase has slowed down.

As for the 'Enron loophole', it is indeed one of the abominations of the cowboy capitalism that is bringing down the US. But regulating the cowboy financiers is a very dangerous endeavor. Look what happened to Elliott Spitzer for his attempts to clean up the financial markets, brought down by a sophisticated honey trap that utilized government resources. These people do not play nice.