Is There Trouble Brewing In Los?

[canuckamuck]

Trouble brewing in LOS. Nowhere else? Check out the international news. A few weeks ago, the police here in Germany nabbed a gang of bombers, nationality not clear, the names sounded mostly Turkish, but who knows. This happy little bunch had their bombs already primed and were all set to do the major rail terminals. Note the word Germany. So what are you going to do, stay home and never go anywhere? I'm no more at risk from such psychopaths in LOS than I am here in cosy Germany.

That is exactly right, and that is how I look at it too. But I am not going to ignore that there are some obvious errors in judgement that could be avoided with a little less face saving, and little more balls.

[britmaveric]

Bht crash? Well been bloody bullet proof when it shouldnt have been.

[chiang mai]

I don't see the baht crashing since the USD is down and most regional currencies are strengthening. I agree however that the trouble in the South could escalate and turn very nasty. Is the Thai population becoming more antagonistic towards foreigners, my sense is that it is. Is something bad waiting in the wings, my gut says yes but I can't quantify it although my gut feel is usually right, for me.

Did you know that you have more nerve endings in your stomach than in your head? Look it up. Now, somebody’s gonna say `I did look that up and its wrong‘. Well, Mister, that’s because you looked it up in a book. Next time, try looking it up in your gut. I did. And my gut tells me that’s how our nervous system works.

Too deep for me I'm afraid.

[chiang mai]

Bht crash? Well been bloody bullet proof when it shouldnt have been.

Shouldn't have been? Most Asian currencies went the same way as the Baht hence the answer lies not in the Baht but in the USD. Opps, it's Britmaveric, that was a major mistake Chiang Mai!

Edited February 27, 2007 by chiang mai

[Pepe']

I'm sure everything will be just fine...

[qwertz]

Bht crash? Well been bloody bullet proof when it shouldnt have been.

Shouldn't have been? Most Asian currencies went the same way as the Baht hence the answer lies not in the Baht but in the USD. Opps, it's Britmaveric, that was a major mistake Chiang Mai!

A surfeit of money is sure to corrupt. Old italian proverb.

And a shortage of it doesn't do you much good either. Old English me.

[ding]

Unfortunately I believe we are witnessing a repetition of the 1991 bloodless coup, that culminated in the horrible events of Black May 1992, where hundreds of pro-democracy protestors were shot and killed, thousands arrested and tortured and many people 'disappeared'.

I hope I'm wrong, but recent events have almost mirrored those of the last botched military efforts interfering with politics, and I believe things will get a lot worse before they will start to get any better.

I wasn't in LOS for the student massacre but followed it as close as possible via provincial western media.

My friend is a sharp guy and very observant. And no, not observing through the bottom of a Singha bottle.

So I just figured I'd ask the sage Thai hands here (save the smartarsers) and see if there was a consensus. There's not.

Long live the King.

[westcoastnative]

Visitors are perfectly safe here, but long term stays or investments? There are a few grey clouds over the Gulf

-There’s an increasingly unpopular Junta in power.

-

If they are so unpopular, why did the King support the over-throw of the old Government?

Edited March 2, 2007 by westcoastnative

[old wanderer]

Unfortunately I believe we are witnessing a repetition of the 1991 bloodless coup, that culminated in the horrible events of Black May 1992, where hundreds of pro-democracy protestors were shot and killed, thousands arrested and tortured and many people 'disappeared'.

I hope I'm wrong, but recent events have almost mirrored those of the last botched military efforts interfering with politics, and I believe things will get a lot worse before they will start to get any better.

I wasn't in LOS for the student massacre but followed it as close as possible via provincial western media.

My friend is a sharp guy and very observant. And no, not observing through the bottom of a Singha bottle.

So I just figured I'd ask the sage Thai hands here (save the smartarsers) and see if there was a consensus. There's not.

Long live the King.

My wife was at the protest in 92 and left just at dark. It was after dark when they started shooting.

Now she want to go protest again....I really wish there was someway I could block ASTV in our house. She is really upset about the current government support of I TV (Ch 11)./ Why should the tax payers support and pay for what has for years been a bunch of Taskin supporters, she yells at me?

Will there be problems in the next few years....pretty sure bet.

[PeaceBlondie]

Well, maybe this is the end of paradise and I should return to Houston, where I last made $9.50 an hour. I could move to Galveston, where the largest natural disaster in American history killed about 6000 people. Or down the coast to Texas City, where a ship in the harbor blew up. Or back to Oklahoma City, where I worked next door to the Murrah Federal Building. Back to the beach in Mexico where the thieves stole things. Same for Nicaragua. Wait - my cousin used to live in Manhattan - that sounds like a safe place, far from the airport where planes crash into buildings after takeoff......my buddies that worked with me in the Zapatista conflict zone are now in Colombia, Palestine and Iraq, without weapons...plenty of places to go to.

[sceadugenga]

There's going to be problems everywhere not only Thailand. The general security problems will worsen as taxpayers run out of money for governments to combat them.

Voters in most democracies will continue to vote their rights away and currencies will continue to fluctuate.

The most dangerous thing about living in Thailand will continue to be driving on their roads.

[sarpesius]

Maybe an educated guess, maybe gossip...

but a friend married to a Thai says there's probably going to be more extremist trouble, more government trouble, and more farang-violence in Thailand.

He also said the Baht will crash.

Anyone agree?

He said I shouldn't go there.

If the news is any gauge, Thailand is going through two extremely stressful conditions: the coup and the insurgency in the south.

The Thais may lash out at foreigners because they do not quite know what to do about their own domestic situation. They may not make the connection that foreigners bring in huge revenue to their society that profits almost every single one of them.

Every thai -- from the restaurant owner, big and small, to the hotel owner, to the cleaning girls that work in the hotel, to the ladies who do the laundry, to the tuk-tuk and taxi drivers -- profits from the foreigner. If they reject the foreigner, their economy loses a lot more than the 6% of GDP that is officially reported, since so much of the thai economy is underground.

If the package tour business starts declining, as it has for the last couple of years, then hotels and restaurants across the board will lower their prices to attract a share of a smaller pie. (I remember when an ice coffee was 10 B.) This will lower prices for long stay expats.

sarpesius

[Dr. Burrito]

Make the baht crash, please, please, please.... Would help exports and tourism both.

[richard10365]

Maybe an educated guess, maybe gossip...

but a friend married to a Thai says there's probably going to be more extremist trouble, more government trouble, and more farang-violence in Thailand.

He also said the Baht will crash.

Anyone agree?

He said I shouldn't go there.

I have a prediction too. Soldiers will die in Iraq, it will snow again in New York, and tourist will continue to come to Thailand.

[Robski]

I have a prediction too. Soldiers will die in Iraq, it will snow again in New York, and tourist will continue to come to Thailand.

2 out of 3 aint bad.