Get off your high horse, America, we do not need a ride: Thai opinion

[gemini81]

Speaking of horses.

There was this yank visiting an Aussie farm and he asks the farmer how big his farm is and the Aussie says around 1 million hectares.

The yank says well on my ranch you can ride from sun up to sunset for 3 days and not come to the end of it!

The Aussie says yeah I used to have a horse like that!

So get off you high horse!

A Brit and American arrived at the Aussie international airport. They were asked, 'Do you guys have criminal records?' They replied, 'What?! You still need a criminal record in order to get in??!!'

[OxfordWill]

I find it hysterical how many American members take this article personally.

[LuckyLew]

Then why ever morning at the American Embassy their are long lines of people who want to come to this country. Answer that. We must be doing something right.

maybe the same reason every day there are long line ups in vientian at Thai embassy with people applying for visa to enter or stay in Thailand

[djjamie]

What is the point of this article really? Just a rant from some idiot want to be journalist trying to get some attention. US and EU have the same stance on the current political situation in Thailand. Yes, the United States has problems as does nearly every country in the world. Last time I checked our military wasn't fooled into overthrowing a democratically nominated government.

Comparing the United States to Thailand is a joke as well. The United States has so much more geopolitical responsibility than little Thailand that nobody really gives a crap about on a global scale.

Don't throw rocks in a glass house. Get a functioning government before you try talking Sh*t.

Get a functioning government before you try talking Sh*t.

You obviously did not read the OP then.

The rapid surge of the militant ISIS Sunni forces is one result of the push by the US for Iraqis to hold untimely elections without circumstances on the ground that could bring lasting democratic rule.

​Unless of course the actions currently unfolding in Iraq are a figment of our imagination? Or you feel Thailand is ready to establish a democracy again when taking into account criminals acting with impunity, daily terrorist attacks ceasing only 31 days ago and a government that was brought into power by the very group instigating the terrorist attacks.

Sorry sunshine. That is not democracy. Restoring it now will result in the above, though if you revel in terrorism, a govt condoning violence, arresting criminals only when the crime is committed against govt supporters then your ethos belongs in Iraq. Because that is what ISIS represents.

Edited June 26, 2014 by djjamie

[snottgoblin]

I find it hysterical how many American members take this article personally.

If they are in Hua Hin they better be worried.

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[leggo]

We don't need the US or the EU and if Japanese businesses pull out because of politics, flooding ow whatever we don't need them either.

In fact we don't need anybody as we have ourselves and Thainess and as a line in an old song goes " who could ask for anything more ? ".

Quite a statement coming at a time when there's so much inequality in this country - I don't see any so-hi bangkok people sharing their thainess with farmers from Issan. It's this sort of naiviety that is putting Thailand at a disadvantage point - it's time the country grew up! You will need Japanese car parts, shrimp exports to US and tourists from EU -without them the whole economy will collapse and I don' think when that happens Thai people will suddenly get philosophical and saying to themselves 'mai pen rai' we've got ourselves!!!

[Kudel]

The U.S. is under no obligation to give any country aid. Being an American, I wish they'd stop it entirely. Especially when the govt.has a 16+ trillion dollar debt.

However, I can't help but see the hypocrisy and absolute stupidity in this decision. I suppose they'd rather see violent running battles in the streets between different colored shirts. The military finally steps in and does something about Thailand being run by a nut through his proxy sister, they have a problem with that.

I find it odd they give military aid in 2010 to these following countries:

Israel $2.7 Billion. Not exactly the shining beacon of humans rights in light of their treatment of the Palestinians. They have AIPAC though. Maybe Thailand should hire better lobbying firms

Pakistan $914 million. The place was run by a General that staged a coup for 8 years. The U.S. didn't have a problem with that military take over

Sudan $104 million. Self explanatory.

Russia $126 million.

Yemen $13.6 million.

Source: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/spc/multimedia/military-spending/

I'm sure the Chinese will step right in and fill in any shortfall in military aid Thailand may have.

Of course the Chinese would ,after the us lent trillions of dollars from the chinese for both wars in Irak and Afghanistan.

[transam]

We don't need the US or the EU and if Japanese businesses pull out because of politics, flooding ow whatever we don't need them either.

In fact we don't need anybody as we have ourselves and Thainess and as a line in an old song goes " who could ask for anything more ? ".

And how do you earn a living at this moment ?, if everything you wrote happened you would be cutting rice.

If a neighbouring country aggressor invaded Thailand, who would you call, not "ghost busters" for sure................

[Wat dee]

At least the US can take criticism. We can slag the place off all we want on here with no fear of vanishing during the night.

You could make it public you hate Bush/Obama and still be granted a visa... Important differences, I think.

Spot on! A significant point. America has no equal in this regard. Another one that many fail to mention is the BENEVOLENCE

inherent in Americans in general - used to be huge decades ago, reduced now quite a bit but still shines thru' on occasion.

Compare this with the Brits Haven, Thaivisa, where one is immedately blacklisted for anything negative about England or UK.

Only exception noted is football, where even the Thaivisa cops can't stand their own country, LOL

Baboon, have you ever applied for Visa yourself? You obviously have no idea how it works! Other matter is idiotic immigration officers who assume everybody want to live in the USA!

[mikebike]

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The writer had a chance to make a point here. unfortunately the article is a smattering of negativity from Google searches with no coherent connection.

Yes Thailand you have made a mess of your politics, just admit it and try to fix it. Deflection to America will not make any difference.

Just because America has it's own problems doesn't mean they and the rest of the world can't see yours.

But, IMHO, it DOES mean the USA defaults on their right to criticize others problems... It is like being kids told how to behave by Frank Gallagher (Shameless US).

[Pimay1]

Mr. Pornpimol Kanchanalak...you are right on...in you assessment of US foreign policy and domestic problems...

It is not often the US gets a dose of it's own medicine...but you sir...have dished it out correctly...

The average American is dismayed by the lack of a coherent foreign policy...a dysfunctional government...an ever increasing eroding of personal freedoms...lawlessness at the highest levels...and the police state mentality that has filtered down to the local level of law enforcement...

Thank you for speaking the truth...

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Mr. Pornpimol Kanchanalak...you are right on...in you assessment of US foreign policy and domestic problems...

Insulting those in the melting pot is to insult one's own lineage and ancestry. And begs the question why their ancestors fled if the old country land they hailed from was the land of mink & honey, and so much better........

Good one. My sister-in-law spent the biggest part of a year tracing our family tree to its roots. Come to find out four brothers landed on the shores of North Carolina in the early 1600s. They were from Bristol, England. Consequently England bashing is not on my agenda. According to her research they were all doctors which has been verified by other sources. I just wonder what in the hell happened along the way since then as my grandfather, his brother and my father were all moonshiners until my father got religion. He vowed never to drink another drop and he kept his word to the end. Of course that wasn't hard to do as he died one week later.

[arjunadawn]

Then why ever morning at the American Embassy their are long lines of people who want to come to this country. Answer that. We must be doing something right.

I differ; it is an illusion of convenience that America is "doing something right." It most definitely is not. The attraction of America is based partially on a dated fantasy of a land of opportunity and greed. America is a land of handouts, in so many various forms. This is the very pablum that keeps Americans dumbed down- "opiate for the masses." (Thailand does not have the luxury of giving all their citizens other's earned wealth, thus the failures appear sooner).

Thailand's recent debacle in polity reveals some very clear things: Thai people are by and large far more aware of they're political voice then Americans, and see (even if they respond slowly) how neo-democracy is waived like an amulet to stifle any contrary positions, all the while raping the people. Indeed, the mere word "democracy" is presumed to silence any contrary politics or even observations. "Why of course, it must be democracy and democracy only," cries the West- grand larcenists writ large.

Yet this diseased neo-democracy of the modern era is no more than mob rule and/or corporatacracy. Any denial is really just delusion. The Thai junta, by definition, has shown the absurdity of blindly following "democracy" to death. When the Junta stepped in, like a father having had enough of playground antics, and sent the politicians to the corners, and then proceeded to do their jobs, and better, the naked, aimless and inferior side of new-democracy was revealed incompetent. Yet the Junta states "we will return democracy as soon as..." to placate who? All the other democratic robber barons around the world who parasitically prey on Thailand and their own people!

Americans, by virtue of the petrodollar as world reserve, have been able to indefinitely postpone the grossly apparent failure of their "democracy" with a "chicken in every pot" handouts. Everyone in America is (nearly) on the dole and it is vital that everyone see the Emperor's Clothes. The Thai Junta proves Neo-Democracy is inferior government, and naked! Most frighteningly, the outcome should not necessarily have been a paternal martial leadership; it just as easily could have been gross despotism. Thailand was, this far, lucky. The tendency of modern democracies to evolve this way is apparent, and widespread. In the West this is less noticeable because the masses are more easily dumbed down with playthings, shopping, tv, sports, fashion, and lots of shit they don't need to buy. But the strongmen are surely present- modern democracy compels tyranny.

[lvr181]

We don't need the US or the EU and if Japanese businesses pull out because of politics, flooding ow whatever we don't need them either.

In fact we don't need anybody as we have ourselves and Thainess and as a line in an old song goes " who could ask for anything more ? ".

Are you an ostrich with its head buried in the sand? You don't (seemingly) understand micro or macro economics!

[iphad]

actually I think the US could come off their high horse & show the Thai how to run a country properly instead of bashing them...

Let's see you start with a Shiite as a democratically elected leader ...then let's say the Sunni's are the farang and .......................

[mikebike]

Thailand is the fortunate beneficiary in that the US made a grave error in 1954 by "interfering" in the French defeat in Vietnam. Had it not been for the US' over reaction to the harm of communism, Thailand most certainly would now be communist or fascist at the least.

the United States should take this writer's advice and back off, get its own garden in order and leave Thais to fend for themselves. The US should mind its own business.

Your whole post is totally myopic but I'llk comment on two points.

1. Whether or not USA had become the World Police against communism post WWll the communist experiment as defined by Soviet Russia was doomed to failure outside a small group of EXTREME totalitarian states. US's optics as the 'defenders of democracy' were as much of a military-inustrial farce then as the 'war on terrorism' is now. Fantasy threats used to manipulate the sheeple. Humankind's natural greed is the only inoculation necessary to defeat soviet-style communism. Thailand would have been just fine without USA's &lt;deleted&gt;-ups in SEA.

2. I assume the last bit is meant as sarcasm, but it is really the only sense you have made!

[Living in a cartoon]

Do we really need the “Yanks”? Consider the following;

They brutally murdered, burned, tortured and did a lot of ethnic cleansing to millions of true Native Americans, and afterwards they had the guts to call themselves true Native Americans.

They were the main culprits of the slave trade; again millions of these people were also brutally murdered and tortured.

All the technology that comes from America is not truly their own, it stems from the Nazi scientists that they kidnapped during the second world war and the blueprints that they took back with them, even today most of the improved technology comes from scientist that have defected to America

They have never won a war on their own yet without the help of allied forces, but they were quick to claim the glory.

They use our country as a dumping ground for most of the redundant industrial technology.

Not to mention the education system which they have completely destroyed with the so called “American English” keep word English out it should be called the American language, and not American English.

The list goes on and on. I strongly suggest to read the book “The invasion of the Barbarians” if you want to know what the Americans are truly up to.

Fail. The genocide in what is now called America was committed mostly by Spain, with best supporting roles by a few other European powers. Yet another deluded hater you are, as Yoda would say.

Oh, as has been pointed out, the US did not invent slavery. A number of other colonial powers took that institution to a high art, however.

American English, as you call it, is the standard in most scientific journals. Everyone else just got tired of your pretensions and misspellings.

Glad to hear you read a book. Hard to imagine how you made it through that task.

[WhizBang]

Obama spent $1,000,000,000.00 Dollars (31,000,000,000 baht) on his re-election campaign. How does a man get that much money?

<snip>

If that is true, it is obscene and shows that the USA badly needs election reforms, especially financing. Of course, that also explains a lot, if true.

[LloydD]

Why do you all defend your own countries, they don't care about you. Patriotism is for fools.

[JeezeLooeze]

The article is not well written but the point of hypocrisy of the corrupt American corporatocracy (in the guise of a democracy) telling Thailand to 'sort out' it's democratic institutions is well made.

[mikebike]

At least the US can take criticism. We can slag the place off all we want on here with no fear of vanishing during the night.

You could make it public you hate Bush/Obama and still be granted a visa... Important differences, I think.

http://jonathanturley.org/2012/01/15/10-reasons-the-u-s-is-no-longer-the-land-of-the-free/

[mikebike]

Tell me, are you happy that the Wall is down or would you rather have it back up?

German's took down the wall - it is their victory... Or are you attempting to claiming this as a US victory?

[Krataiboy]

Sour grapes from a Thai wannabe who got her well-manicured fingers scorched meddling in U.S. politics. Lots of riveting stuff on Google. Check out the link below for her hon. mention in the 1997 probe into dodgy fundraising for U.S. Presidential candidate Bill Clinton.

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1997_Special_Investigation_in_Connection_with_1996_Federal_Election_Campaigns/Section_7

[mikebike]

Omit all the aid, assistance and loans from the picture though, right? ........If what country pulled out all business and investments, manufacturing from Thailand, the place would be...what??

Pretty freaking well off I'd suspect. You do realise that ALL of the USA's supposed 'largess' is linked directly to corporate opportunity, resource raping, and debt control leading to external political influence. The parachutic mobility of USA-style corporate capitalism is driven by bullshizzle aid, assistance and loans which rarely aid anyone but local collusionists.

Edited June 26, 2014 by mikebike

[Pimay1]

Obama spent $1,000,000,000.00 Dollars (31,000,000,000 baht) on his re-election campaign. How does a man get that much money?

<snip>

If that is true, it is obscene and shows that the USA badly needs election reforms, especially financing. Of course, that also explains a lot, if true.

To be exact Obama spent 1.11 billion dollars on his relection campaign. Source Washington Post.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/campaign-finance/

[zydeco]

America by far leads the world in technology so it can't be all that lacking in "intellect."

LOL - let me give you just only one example: Without the German Wernher von Braun the NASA would never had become a success organisation.

And please don't ask me for more like this.

And without Robert Goddard, Wernher von Braun would have been flying kites. Really, this sort of ahistorical argumentation goes nowhere fast.

[zydeco]

Then why ever morning at the American Embassy their are long lines of people who want to come to this country. Answer that. We must be doing something right.

People all over the world are standing in line at American embassies wanting to come to the US. . . . because when they get there, they get a lot of free stuff. The idea that the world consists of budding Jeffersonian democrats all beating a path to the proposition nation is silliness of the first order.

[sanuk711]

Why is everyone getting so upset by the words of some idiot journalist.

The actions of my government dont represent me anymore than the actions of this idiot journalist.

Wow a voice of reason------ what are you doing writing on Thai Visa.........................

[mikebike]

Add to that their current financial performance with their economy shrinking 2.9% in the first 3 months (BKK Post today)

Even with all the problems Thailand did better than that.

Not that difficult to do when you are employing slave labor.

Like Mexicans and other latin Americans?

[Thai at Heart]

Shooting the messenger instead of the message. If america was a person she would sue for defamation.

Then SHE should mind her own business and stop trying to police the world where it doesn't want to be policed!! Then SHE wouldn't build up hatred and resentment against HERSELF!!

I have supported America in many discussions with people but on this occasion by threatening the Government and the Army America has shown that it has no understanding of the affairs and problems n Thailand over the last six years!!

If america doesn't want to deal with a military govt in Thailand that is her right.

Just the same way if the Thais don't want to deal with any particular type of administration in the USA. Do u think Thailand wouldn't use this perogative if they could.

The USA prefers democracies. Cest la vie

[knauserig]

It's clear to me, there will be a pay-back coming for us Americans. Today I read that the Chinese granulated the army for the good job done until now. I'm wondering what the immigration officer will ask me next time I extend my visa. Maybe he send me back because a dot in my renewal application is on the wrong place.