It's a very good idea, in fact they should do it more than 2 times a day.

When my Thai lover and I are making love, we don't stop and stand at attention (or give a short arm salute) if we hear the national anthem on the television. I guess there are limits to our patriotism, thank God.

Pricha Rochanasena, 70

i guess the numbers after the name denote his iq

This is almost as good as driving on the right hand lane in Patong.

Naka.

Even on the trains, "common sense" prevails- the anthem and its observance only take place on the lowest level, and the trains keep their schedules.

Now let's see how they're planning to force everyone to keep the radio on to make sure that they know when to stop.

The bill's supporters say road traffic should stop nationwide when the anthem is played during the raising and lowering of the flag "to preserve tradition and instill patriotism in Thais".

Instill patriotism in Thais! Yeah that's something they really have to work on.

Better yet, rather than taking a moment of pause to express how much they love their country.... why not take a moment a pick up some trash off the street? Why not show respect and love for their own country by keeping it clean?

Oh wait... there I go with logic again...

why the hel_l are most of you living her when you show such total disrspect for the Thai?

The weather is nice most of the time.

Who is the 'her' you refer to?

Where I lived in Mexico, traffic stops at 8 am and Mexicans get out of their car, stand at attention, and face the music. I don't know if they do that in the capital city with over 20 million people, though.

The Thai people do not need to be more patriotic. They need to be less patriotic.

I love how they say it would be optional; I can just imagine the tollway with some cars stopping dead while other cars try and weave through doing 120. Total disaster waiting to happen.

You couldn't make this stuff up. Elections please!

Yes Samak will rule this country in a more ordained manner!

Can't wait to see the man insult foreign convoys and instill more nationalism!

Dark times ahead indeed; but with all the vote buying, nationalism and ignorance it's probably what this country deserves.

You couldn't make this stuff up. Elections please!

Yes Samak will rule this country in a more ordained manner!

Can't wait to see the man insult foreign convoys and instill more nationalism!

Dark times ahead indeed; but with all the vote buying, nationalism and ignorance it's probably what this country deserves.

Samak will never be PM of Thailand. He is the bogeyman installed to make people vote the right way.

You couldn't make this stuff up. Elections please!

Yes Samak will rule this country in a more ordained manner!

Can't wait to see the man insult foreign convoys and instill more nationalism!

Dark times ahead indeed; but with all the vote buying, nationalism and ignorance it's probably what this country deserves.

Samak will never be PM of Thailand. He is the bogeyman installed to make people vote the right way.

If he will , very likely it shall be for a short time .

I just got a feeling with that .

Likely history will repeat itself in the near future ,

not that I hope so though .

REUTERS - Friday November 23, 2:05 PM

Thai patriotism law seeks to halt cars for anthem

BANGKOK (Reuters) - A proposed new law to boost patriotism in Thailand would be "chaotic" because it would require motorists to stop when the national anthem is played twice a day, lawmakers said on Friday.

A vote on the Flag Bill proposed by a group of retired and active duty generals in the army-appointed parliament was deferred on Thursday to allow a committee to study it.

"It would be chaotic if the bill had passed as it is now. So the National Legislative Assembly decided to set up a panel to review it," NLA member Wallop Tangkananurak told Reuters.

The bill's supporters say road traffic should stop nationwide when the anthem is played during the raising and lowering of the flag "to preserve tradition and instill patriotism in Thais".

"The national anthem lasts only one minute and eight seconds, so why can't motorists stop their cars for the sake of the country?," retired General and NLA member Pricha Rochanasena, 70, told Reuters. "They already spend more time in traffic jams anyway," he said, referring to Bangkok's notoriously congested streets.

Most Thais already stop what they are doing and stand still when the national anthem is played on loudspeakers in train stations, parks and office buildings at 8 a.m and 6 p.m. Pricha said the bill, which did not propose penalties for violators, would allow motorists to be patriotic too.

www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSBKK16212120071123

Your 'avin a giraffe General ..... .

I've said it before, they let these idiots out of the hospital at least once a year to vent on issues like these.

Except this year, they let them run the country!!

And instead of 'taking care of the shop' as advertised, they go from one ridiculous failure to the next non-sense announcement.

As someone said, "Thailand probably deserves it."... Well, some for sure do, like the people sticking flowers on tanks a year ago, oh hel_l to they deserve it! The majority though, doesn't. They didn't vote for these clowns.

Buying votes is bad. Stealing votes using tanks and guns is FAR worse.

why the hel_l are most of you living her when you show such total disrspect for the Thai?

You know very well the disprespect is aimed at those who are deserving of it, not 'The Thai', who indeed deserve far better, in many, many ways.

why the hel_l are most of you living her when you show such total disrspect for the Thai?

Women

why the hel_l are most of you living her when you show such total disrspect for the Thai?

Women

Not necessarily women Also, we don't have total disrespect for the Thai people. On the issue of Thai patriotism, we have reasonable opinions about how silly it is to suddenly require the people to observe their national anthem in a manner they have never done before.

Easy to organise, at least in the city.

All traffic lights on red when the Anthem starts untill finished.

Airplaines, boats, BTS, MRT, pedestrians, department stores, Lotus, Carrefour uuuuurrrrr.

Not sure about those, anyone?

How about another color shirt and an extra special raising the arm salute? Military dictatorships, name me a good one?

I've said it before, they let these idiots out of the hospital at least once a year to vent on issues like these.

As someone said, "Thailand probably deserves it."... Well, some for sure do, like the people sticking flowers on tanks a year ago, oh hel_l to they deserve it! The majority though, doesn't. They didn't vote for these clowns.

So true.

When my Thai lover and I are making love, we don't stop and stand at attention (or give a short arm salute) if we hear the national anthem on the television. I guess there are limits to our patriotism, thank God.

Well we know when your bedroom olympics occur At which time I hope something is standing to (Ahem) ......

How about another color shirt and an extra special raising the arm salute? Military dictatorships, name me a good one?

In fact this whole stop and stand twice a day thing was a brain wave of Phibun Songkhram back in the late thirties- and his affection for the Nazis was no secret.

Where I lived in Mexico, traffic stops at 8 am and Mexicans get out of their car, stand at attention, and face the music. I don't know if they do that in the capital city with over 20 million people, though.

No wonder they are fleeing to America (maybe uncle sam can keep this proposal under wraps and promote Thailand as Utopia with free one way flights).

Somewhere a while ago, I got lost. They said it would 'optional', since when is there such a thing as an 'optional' law? Enlighten me please?

Well, in Bangkok it pretty much only takes ONE Toyota Corolla driver to opt IN and stop, because the other 4 million guys would have no option byt to come to a halt, too.

But anyway, let's do it properly and fit all Bangkok Registered vehicles out with a circuit breaker that can be remotely triggered at 8am and 6pm. The Generals may still have time to land the job of supplying the electronics.

Probably just posturing, who knows.

Nonetheless, if this does indeed come into effect, and is enforced with authority, it could get quite chaotic.

Think of it this way, tollways and expressways are not free in the first place.

You pay to get on the tollway to avoid the normal jam packed route.

On top of that, you get stopped twice a day during peak traffic hours.

How much more counter-productive can you get?

Please, please, please bring this law in, the sooner the better. The world hasn't had a laugh at Thailand's expense for a while.

This can go with the laws banning the sale of alcohol in the afternoons and after midnight and the closing of bars during elections and the red license plates just to name a few.

I am sure some of you will recall that, some years ago, when we in Ireland were thinking of changing over to driving on the right instead of the left, it was suggested that, as it would be such a major undertaking, it would be advisable to tackle it in two stages - with cars and motorbikes changing over at the beginning of year 1 and heavy vehicles, like buses and lorries, a year later.