gabruce

Conscription is barbaric and disgusting.

Thailand is not unique in having mandatory service (or some substitute). Switzerland comes to mind as being one of those barbaric and disgusting places. In all it looks like 60 or so countries do this.

So, is it legal for the CIA to back rebel armies in sovereign states?

Of course it is.

"But he insisted that the Erawan Shrine and Sathon pier bombings were linked with the trafficking of Uighur immigrants."

LOL - and how on earth can he be so sure of that ?. Sounds a bit too much like that was the intention : set off a bomb to try and destroy the tourism industry to damage the economy but let someone else take the blame.

If he thinks no Thai could commit such an act, he should have a chat with the red-shirts who pulled the trigger which fired grenades into groups of women and children.

Me thinks Mr Worachai protesteth far too much and far too quickly. He just convinced me that they were behind it.

"Sounds a bit too much like that was the intention : set off a bomb to try and destroy the tourism industry to damage the economy but let someone else take the blame."

You mean the stupid, uneducated reds manufactured a bomb, set it off, gathered lots of bomb making material and placed this in some apartments and persuaded to have some non Thais take the fall?? You sure give them a lot of credit, John!

"Me thinks Mr Worachai protesteth far too much and far too quickly"

You mean one and a half month after the bomb went off? Why am I not surprised you think that is quick..

"He just convinced me that they were behind it."

No John, you have been convinced of that from day one (as you have posted again and again).

You put too much faith in the red's being stupid and uneducated. In reality they are neither (there are always exceptions of course).

Middle East rulers have been removed before by other interfering nations and look now at the consequences. It's high time to forget about Assad and whether he did this or did that! It's time to make a joint effort between all parties, all nations to defeat and eradicate IS.

The problems in Syria started because of Assad. We are where we are today because of this "Arab uprising" against him. And support for him by external interference. If he stepped down, like some world leaders do when they've lost the confidence of their country, we might not be in this mess. Maybe another mess, but not this one.

The cynical view is that the problems in Syria started when the US wanted a oil pipeline through the country and Syria said no.

The rest of the world is waiting for Isis to come knocking on there door first.

Actually isn't Russia moving ahead with more commitment than the US?

I would suggest buying a tablet rather than a Kindle. Something like the Samsung Tab S 1 or 2 8in or 10in. I find mine great to read books or magazines and you can see the result in beautiful colour. The super Amoled screens are fantastic. Also of course many other uses apart from just reading books.

http://www.ereaderortablet.com/

Just to give a different point of view.

Tried reading on my tablet and my phone. Just get eye strain after a while. Battery life on the Kindle is also far better than a tablet.

Kindle is much lighter than a tablet as well.

I'll chime in too. I think that an e-ink screen is much better than a tablet for reading. Get a paperwhite Kindle with the built in light. It's a joy to read day or night or in direct sunlight even. I prefer it to a paper book even. I usually charge the battery every couple of weeks if I'm reading a lot. Summary: great in sunshine. long battery life. night time reading without lights. light. lot's of books (check out calibre ebook to convert other formats to kindle format). Get a newer Kindle with the light. Personally I would buy a new one with the higher resolution. That's what I'll do when this one breaks.

Here's coconuts take on it:

http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2015/09/25/junta-implementing-great-firewall-thailand

NBTC Deputy Chairman Setthapong said CAT, the state-owned and largest telecom in Thailand, will act as the single door to all internet gateways in Thailand when its ready.

"...There is a chance that we will be able to get service at a lower price because each telecom is renting their own gateways, but together they might get a lower price, Kitt said.

Assuming that the telcos will pass on the savings to the consumer.

I would say the cost saving element is a presumptuous attempt to stimulate public support.

Spending many many billions of baht to install, then again to maintain, laughable to think how that waste could possibly be sold as "cost saving". This may well rank right up there with the rice scheme for sheer fiduciary lunacy, by the time the final bill was paid, and the whole system scrapped for used parts due to total failure in every way. No matter how they spin it, it makes absolutely no economic sense.

Excellent point that I hadn't considered. It is almost a guarantee that the the "gateway" won't work well. Already internet here is marginal, yet still usable (provided you don't use any Thailand DNS servers). When or hopefully this is implemented it may make most of the international internet unusable because of reliability issues. It's possible that it might work and be transparent, just very unlikely. I suppose if they only did a passive watch on traffic, similar to the NSA, and not touch the actual traffic, it might be okay. I for one am concerned.

Has the government clearly given their (or the courts?) reasoning for this? I know lot's of people are quite emotional about this issue, and I just wonder if there is some rational explication somewhere that goes beyond "it was a bad scheme".

"This fiscal year's road accidents total 4,611 cases so far, compared to the previous year's 4,331. The death rate stands at 383 victims (compared to the previous year's 287) and the injury rate, 4,029 persons (compared to the previous year's 3,688)."

More accidents this year, more fatalities this year and more injuries this year......so that equates to a successful campaign??

Almost 30,000 unlicenced drivers?

Almost 30,000 drivers without a license on them. Some percentage (high/low?) are probably people who forgot and/or are too lazy to take their license with them all the time. They won't forget next.

Trump is no longer a closet dictator.

It is really up to Faux to slay this monster it helped to create and that has turned on its mad creator. Or maybe they can take each other down.

.

It is really up to Faux to slay this monster it helped to create...

Nope, not at all accurate.

CNN has amazing ongoing positive coverage of Trump. Not only many of its guests, but the anchors themselves are saying good things about Trump.

Which, of course, actually carries more weight than if FOX said it.

Monster or not, Trump is solidly in the race, and people's minds.

Hillary is finished. Her lack of personality, and respect for law, has doomed her.

If the word 'accurate' is going to be used it's going to have to be documented rather than just arbitrarily or summarily being thrown out there. Unless the poster watches the news of both neworks 24/7 and has documented it already.

Ramos asked questions and Trump engaged Ramos in a contentious Q&A that involved commentary.

Republicans btw have already lost the nation's Hispanic vote by historic record proportions, maybe 80 percent of it or more in the 2016 election. And the Asian vote thanks to Bush and Trump and all the candidates.

Thank you God for Donald Trump and all the rest of 'em over on that side.

You do realize that it's still 2015 - so no way of knowing the percentage of voters lost - and even then it would be from a poll rather than voting results.

I think that you will find that it depends on the bank and the downpayment amount. You may need a 50% downpayment for the bank to "feel secure" with the loan.

"BANGKOK: -- Former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra has criticised the draft constitution which is to be voted by the Constitution Drafting Committee on September 7, saying the constitution must be tied to the people and must serve the people."

The sheer barefaced cheek,coming from the woman whose Party organised a secret vote on the constitution in Parliament at 4-0 am,voting by invitation only!

uh, that would have been the 3rd reading of the amnesty bill, not changes to the constitution, and everyone was invited, the opposition walked out of the vote... voluntarily...

At 4-0 am the only party invited was Yinglucks Party,everyone was not invited,the opposition could not have walked out because they were not there. Next you will be telling me that Parliamentary voting is quite normal at 4-0 am!

get the facts, guy... I gave them to you, but if you don't want to believe me, then get the facts ... yourself.

If you are talking about the Senate vote I thought it was very clear at the time. The PT Speaker (or whatever the supposedly neutral leader is called) told everyone that the session was closed, everyone went home, then they had a vote with only PT supporters as only they knew that the Senate wasn't really closing. That caused a big furor and I remember that it was a very underhanded trick.

Purely my recollection and perhaps flawed.

If all the illegal immigrants had been deported or turned away then America would be Canada...

Which would make the world a much better place having America be Canada's twin!

As usual just a media sound bite and no substance. Who knows if the Pheu Thai had anything substantive to say or not? I suspect they don't have any suggestions other than to let them write the new charter themselves. It's a shame.

Airport (Don Muang) Pattaya

I recommend that if you use this service (they are nice), that you confirm the day before and call when you arrive at the airport.

I used the service last December and they forgot about me (I booked two days prior). I called when they were late picking me up, worried that I was waiting at the wrong spot. They arrived about 1.5 hrs late. I was the only customer and they took me from Don Muang to Suvanaphum (sp?), and from their I caught another bus to JomTien. Very friendly, however be proactive about ensuring that they do pick you up. It was a long trip for me - waiting about 3 hours at Don Muang, and then the ride to Suvanaphum and another wait there for the next bus. Returning from JomTien to Don Muang I opted for a taxi. Much more expensive, however it was much faster.

Actually the person who caused shame to the country is the person who took the photo and posted it. If they hadn't posted on Facebook, no one would have known.

Do the shops/stalls vary their prices for basic human requirements, like food.

The answer is yes they do vary. Prices vary in ChiangMai depending on where you are. Here it ranges from 25 thb to 45 thb. When I moved here from Bangkok, prices were noticeably cheaper in ChiangMai, so it seems reasonable that wages in Bangkok would need to be higher to maintain the same standard of living. Same thing for city vs country.

Stupid move by the US, spending our tax dollars to take care of Southeast Asia problems. Everyone wants to US to help. Screw these people, take care of your own. Where is China now? You don't hear a damn word from them. Afraid they will upset their buddies in Myanmar

Don't worry. They will spend so little it will never be noticed.

You just avoided diabetes

Is there absolutely any evidence for saying this?

For about six months thirty years ago there was a scare about cholesterol in eggs. They soon discovered that blood cholesterol levels were affected by biliary cholesterol, dumped in big volumes into the gut twice a day, if my memory serves me right. Eggs aren't a problem - they're a very good food - but people like an easy solution if it means they can do everything else that they enjoy. Thailand is doubtless not short of blokes who avoid white rice but drink 2,000 kcal of lager a day!

Type two diabetes is caused by being overweight and by having cells which don't respond efficiently to insulin. The first of these is caused by eating (or drinking) lots of energy-dense food, and the second is caused by failing to take intense exercise.

Don't eat refined sugar, don't eat large amounts of fat, don't eat garbage generally, and wind yourself by going flat out for thirty seconds ten times with short recoveries every three days. If you manage to becomes diabetic after that you're doing well.

Avoid diabetes by eliminating rice? Possibly? You could also try sacrificing a goat.

An adult serving of white rice is around 200 grams - that's equivalent of around 56 grams of glucose.

A teaspoon of sugar contains two grams of glucose and two grams of fructose. The fructose does not stimulate insulin secretion. An adult size bowl of rice therefore contains as much glucose as is contained in 27 teaspoons of sugar; equivalent to two and a half cans of coke.

Brown rice has more fibre - so 30% less glucose = 1 and a half cans of coke per adult serve.

If type 2 diabetes is a result of insulin resistance due to excessive glucose in the blood, rice is indeed a likely culprit.

So, before you go sacrificing any goats, please do a little arithmetic.

How do you arrive at those numbers? According to wikipedia (http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Rice) for 100 grams of rice there are:

80 grams of carbohydrates and 0.12 grams of sugars. I'm assuming that when 80 grams of carbohydrates is digested,that 28 grams of glucose is produced? I wasn't able to find a reference.

I moved to Thailand with my parents in 2005. I have lived here or at least been based here for 3380 days. In the 3380 days I have lived here I have witnessed "true democracy" in action for 3 days. They were on the 6th of February, 2005, the 23rd of December, 2007 and the 3rd of July, 2011. I was glad to see the process followed and was happy the party that the majority wanted to win actually win it. Sadly for 3377 days I have seen the opposite of democracy.

When people understand that elections allow the winning party to practice democracy after the ballot box instead of elections giving them carte blanche to abuse the democratic process until the next election then democracy will continue to only be witnessed 1 day every 4 years or so.

Elections are but one tiny important part of a multi faceted complex set of "pillars" if you will that is called democracy. Look above at the comments where some still only harp on about elections as if it is the only principle there is. Ironically those same people will denounce and ignore election results if the party they have invested time in defending on this forum do not win. We have seen it before with the 2007 referendum results. All polls that have not gone the PTP way pre and post coup. They have the mindset of democracy when it suits their agenda and conspiracy when it doesn't.

Some are perplexed that Prayut is preaching democracy when he came into power off the back of a coup. The UDD supporters criticize Prayut's government by highlighting all the principles of democracy that they do not adhere too. Ironically the very same principles the UDD ignore when referring to the shin governments because the UDD supporters only harp on about elections as that is the only one the PTP / UDD adhere too. Well Prayut has never ever said he is democratic, who has never hidden behind a facade of democracy, has never called his government a democratically elected one, but has witnessed this democratic process poke it's head through the fabric of corruption, political killings and undemocratic rule more than the 3 times I did and recognized it was a self perpetuating process that never moved Thailand forward constructively and only crippled it.

The PTP never recognized any fault with democracy because they were the ones abusing it for personal gain. They didn't want the system to change. They wanted the keep the farmers poor and that carrot just out of reach to continue to win elections. That is not moving a country forward. It is making a few select people incredibly rich.

Prauyt recognized democracy had failed and is doing something about it and for that fact alone it makes him more democratic than the PTP who were run by an unelected criminal leader would ever dream of.

You wrote, "Elections are but one tiny important part of a multi faceted complex set of "pillars" if you will that is called democracy."

Any 12 year old in the West could tell you the accurate answer and that you are completely wrong. Democracy is a government by elected representatives. It is not a tiny part it is the whole thing. Can't have a democracy without elections.

You may not like the results of the election or the election may not be what you would like but a democratic government is government by elected representatives - that's it.

As for the rest of your post it is contradicted by reading the OP - which I suggest you do.

​The subject of this thread is not another re hash of the elected governments of Thailand which you didn't like.

The subject is the new definition of democracy.

Can't have "ice cream" without ice either. I wouldn' enjoy it as much without the cream and flavourings, in fact I wouldn't call it ice-cream at all.

An election is an election. That's all. It is part of what many Democracies are. Please note that I do NOT have a PHD in Political Science, so I am far from an expert.

Corruption kills the first 2 ideals - Justice and Equality.

From the comments above, the blind sees better than the biased.

Thailand has never had true democracy. It is all about power struggle. The reason for acquiring power is money, gathered through the state of corruption.

By measuring the depth of corruption of each government or coup, we can correlate the degree of divergence from true democracy.

Thailand has had a true democracy many times but not for long. Synonym for Democracy is elected government as opposed to appointed government.

I like this quote from Wikipedia:

According to American political scientist Larry Diamond, it consists of four key elements: "1. A political system for choosing and replacing the government through free and fair elections. 2. The active participation of the people, as citizens, in politics and civic life. 3. Protection of the human rights of all citizens. 4. A rule of law, in which the laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens".^[3]

I went to a "mom and pop" shop to buy a beer in Ao Nang. I always check the date the beer was brewed. The beer in the cooler were over 14 months old (Leo). I haven't seen stock in a 7-11 be more than 6 weeks old when it comes to buying a beer.

The local minimart here (Saraphi area) has fresh beer. Local people seem to all buy beer here, stop and drink, and so they seem to have high turnover. Not a bad bottle yet. Of course the choice is limited (Chang, Leo). Your point is a good one, checking the dates is important. A mini mart with minimal stock turnover would be a bad bet.

Fredom of speech is way over rated. The US public have proved time and time again they are not mature enough to have it.

As proved by morons having such a competition purely to antagonise others.

The organisers should be locked up.

I don't know about that. I should be able to call someone ugly and have a reasonable expectation of not being shot at. I also have to accept the possibility that someone may not like what I say and deal with the consequences. By the way, if I call someone ugly and they shoot at me, and then get shot (by me or by the police), that's another expected consequence, and much more proportional to the provocation. In this case, stupidity was rewarded, the event was closed and the gunmen killed. It's also a shame that anyone was injured or killed over this.

Thailand is getting creepier and creepier

That may be so, and other countries such as the USA are still much scarier (and dangerous).

100% my opinion. No statistics published here to verify the fact.