Prayut suggests chartered flights to fly Indian couples to get married in Thailand

[AnotherOneAmerican]

To the members of the Prayuth glee club here allow me a question.

In what ways has your personal life improved after the coup?

Not the big agendas like corruption, ricepledging,GDP,tourism, farmprices or "civil war".

What exactly has become so much better in your day to day life, so you blindly accept anything coming from the Master??

Just curious.

No more nightly politically motivated shootings or throwing grenades into crowds, no nut jobs blocking the centre of town, no more street thug UDD stormtroopers breaking up opposition rally's or concerts.

Yep Bangkok is back to its dull old self.

Works for me.

I don't like coups but the situation was spiralling out of control with two camps of the same elitist, self serving, political grouping not giving way or accepting compromise.

Tell us how great he is when he puts the retirement VISA/extension age up to 65 next month.

Betting lots of his foreigner supporters won't be jumping for joy then!

[Snig27]

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Protests in bkk have stopped and I lived in a hot spot. That is of course a very good thing. I just have my suspicions about who was behind those protests and if the army truly were neutral because their track record says otherwise.

Which of course is the key point - the army was long ago in a position to stop the street confrontations and pull both sides into line - all they had to do was support the nation's elected government of the day as they were required to - but they did not. At least the police made an effort to do so, but the army's failure here was overwhelming and glaring as they played towards the endgame you see imploding in front of us at the moment.

The judiciary and the electoral bodies too, failed Thailand over and over as they made repeated politicised decisions designed to disenfranchise the Thai people and re-empower the old elite.

I love Thailand and I really don't want to see it spiralling as it is now. It's dreadful and so sad.

[Snig27]

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Is it only me, or is this guy losing it by the minute??

Why is he loosing it?
He is only concerned that more revenue comes in Thailand for the good of his country.
Even you, should be able to understand this.

I thought he wanted quality tourists?
Not more penniless third world tourists.

I think the general's odd pronouncement just makes him look a little sillier than he already does, but many - millions - of Indians are far, far from penniless.

[lildragon]

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Protests in bkk have stopped and I lived in a hot spot. That is of course a very good thing. I just have my suspicions about who was behind those protests and if the army truly were neutral because their track record says otherwise.

Which of course is the key point - the army was long ago in a position to stop the street confrontations and pull both sides into line - all they had to do was support the nation's elected government of the day as they were required to - but they did not. At least the police made an effort to do so, but the army's failure here was overwhelming and glaring as they played towards the endgame you see imploding in front of us at the moment.

The judiciary and the electoral bodies too, failed Thailand over and over as they made repeated politicised decisions designed to disenfranchise the Thai people and re-empower the old elite.

I love Thailand and I really don't want to see it spiralling as it is now. It's dreadful and so sad.

Yup. Just history repeating itself.

[how241]

Is this the things that a leader of a country talks about??? Isn't this for the Tourism dept. ?

[AnotherOneAmerican]

I think the general's odd pronouncement just makes him look a little sillier than he already does, but many - millions - of Indians are far, far from penniless.

Not the ones who come to Thailand.

[Bluespunk]

To the members of the Prayuth glee club here allow me a question.

In what ways has your personal life improved after the coup?

Not the big agendas like corruption, ricepledging,GDP,tourism, farmprices or "civil war".

What exactly has become so much better in your day to day life, so you blindly accept anything coming from the Master??

Just curious.

No more nightly politically motivated shootings or throwing grenades into crowds, no nut jobs blocking the centre of town, no more street thug UDD stormtroopers breaking up opposition rally's or concerts.

Yep Bangkok is back to its dull old self.

Works for me.

I don't like coups but the situation was spiralling out of control with two camps of the same elitist, self serving, political grouping not giving way or accepting compromise.

Tell us how great he is when he puts the retirement VISA/extension age up to 65 next month.

Betting lots of his foreigner supporters won't be jumping for joy then!

Where did I say he's great?

I work here and like it here, but retire here?

Not sure about that.

[wow64]

Awesome idea.. Maybe give them free food and accommodation also.

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

Hopefully the Indians have forgotten what another Thai PM, also a military man said about Indians (the statement was: If you see an Indian and a King Cobra kill the Indian first).

[mgjackson69]

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Actually a lot of countries have special charted flights for weddings, Hawaii, Hollywood, Disneyland just to name a few. and if statistics show that there are a lot of couples from India coming to Thailand to get married, then why not make such a suggestion? remember if you can afford to charter an aircraft then you can afford to stay in the best hotel for your honeymoon, and what about the families and wedding guests that will be invited? I can assure you they will be financially strong.

I was not aware that Hawaii, Hollywood, and Disneyland are countries...

Beyond that, considering all of the challenges facing Thailand now, something as trivial as this should not even be on the PM's radar.

It seems he is grasping at any little thing he can say to make things seem better.

[Thakkar]

After drunken stag night in Pattaya, groom wakes up, finds himself married to a Thai Ladyboy and thinks, "hey now. THIS is the life I've been missing,"

Another satisfied customer. Thank you, good General!

T

[Bluespunk]

After drunken stag night in Pattaya, groom wakes up, finds himself married to a Thai Ladyboy and thinks, "hey now. THIS is the life I've been missing,"

Another satisfied customer. Thank you, good General!

T

Would you care to explain just what you are trying to say here?

[Snig27]

I think the general's odd pronouncement just makes him look a little sillier than he already does, but many - millions - of Indians are far, far from penniless.

Not the ones who come to Thailand.

Simply untrue. There are a great many wealthy Indians in Thailand both as tourists and residents. Perhaps you're simply going to the wrong places.

[metisdead]

Nonsense bickering posts and replies have been removed.

[saakura]

I agree with many posters who have said that the PM should be talking about many other more important national issues and leave these trivial matters to TAT or at worst, the tourism minister.

India now has a huge number of usd multi millionaires and many billionaires. Big fat indian weddings in Thailand have been a huge hit since last about 5yrs and increasing dramatically. Many thai based private charter aircraft companies such as M-Jets (Bill Heinecke owned) have done very well. Hua Hin, Phuket, Samuii are very popular. And from my knowledge, the primary reason that rich indians like to have their weddings here is because of excellent seamless service though several differrent companies are involved. And it is cheaper than holding it in india where you cannot get such excellent service even if you spend more.

But still, wondering why Prayuth has to talk about this in a national address? He should focus more on informing the people about progress in returning to democracy?

[ggt]

OMG...how desperate does this make Thailand look to the world community...maybe the TOT could charter more quality Chinese to Thailand to shop at the 7/11 stores...

[2fishin2]

Where's Suthep the magician? Maybe he can perform the ceremonies? LOL

[elgordo38]

Indian weddings are huge affairs. The couple or the parents would have to be rich enough to lease an entire plane to get the wedding party and all the guests on site here and then fly them back home. Then there is the weight/security of all that gold that is given as wedding gifts especially now that India has lifted import restrictions on the yellow metal.

[LazarusRising]

Nigerian scammers are going to make a fortune of this guy.

[pantareiyingluck]

In a radio speech he also promoted the idea everyone buys a (small) present "not too expensive" to give their loved ones this month and it ended playing his Happiness song. It is a lovely sweet man who wakes up every morning thinking: "How do I keep my big nursery quiet and full of dreams". In the mean while the bone cancer eats Thailand structure further away and the enormous topics to be solved are waiting for a genuine leader/PM.

[somo]

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Is it only me, or is this guy losing it by the minute??

Why is he loosing it?

He is only concerned that more revenue comes in Thailand for the good of his country.

Even you, should be able to understand this.

He is not losing it. He is a realist.

General and Chief of the NCPO Prayuth understands that the military overthrow of the government cost the nation about 3.5% GDP growth for 2014 and most likely the same for 2015. That translates to about a Bt150 billion loss. Add to that another Bt100-150 billion to date for unending new populist subsidies and outright handouts combined with 30% shortfall in tax collection, the New Government is concerned about being blamed for a potential economic stagnation in the economy. The problem people have with Prayuth's enthusiasm in promoting the Thai economy is that he makes contradictory and erratic economic policies that seem to negate any benefits. That damages his credibility.

The coup and subsequent childlike attempts to micro manage the economy have created much bigger problems for the Thai economy than any rice subsidy programmes. The latter just led to a claimed misdirection of funds which are still part of the economy the coup to an outright loss to the country and all it's people.

On purely economic grounds the coup is a continuing disaster for Thailand. Politically it is also hard to justify as so far nothing has improved and will probably also be retrogressive once the new constitution limiting choice is finalised.

[rickirs]

You have to wonder what new trivia instructions Uncle Prayuth will give his Children:

- Smile

- Have hope

- Do Goodness

- Think Happiness

- Drink only tap water

- Tie your shoe left foot first

- Exhale once for every two inhales

- Watch the military channel 6hrs/day

- Recite 12 Values each morning and evening

- Once a day tell a foreigner of Junta's accomplishments

[The manic]

Indian Stag parties - Ten men, one bottle of whiskey and one poor bar girl 'pulling a train with ten carriages'.

[timewilltell]

Quite why Indians would want to come here to get married I don't know. Westerners do it because it makes the affair exotic but would an Indian think that? Hmm

[AnotherOneAmerican]

Quite why Indians would want to come here to get married I don't know. Westerners do it because it makes the affair exotic but would an Indian think that? Hmm

India has many exotic wedding destinations, and much nicer beaches, why come here?

Delhi alone is packed with them,

http://www.india-tour-guide.co.uk/Delhi-daytrips.html

Edited December 21, 2014 by AnotherOneAmerican

[The manic]

Thai girls - Thai fun.

[tonbridgebrit]

OMG...how desperate does this make Thailand look to the world community...maybe the TOT could charter more quality Chinese to Thailand to shop at the 7/11 stores...

The Chinese tourists are not actually in the 7/11 stores are they ? They actually mainly stay in average or above average standard hotels, and yes, they eat all or most of their food in the hotels. The hotels are usually the bigger ones.

In Pattaya, if you look at the cheaper and smaller hotels, well, there's not that many Chinese (they're mainly in their tour groups) in those places.

[LawrenceChee]

Those in the hotel trade know that Indian weddings are big business and in this case I don't think the general has lost it and this is actually much needed as there are some 5* hotels that are not doing very well

When we talk about Indian chartered weddings we are clearly not talking about the middle class families who would enjoy a celebration at home

If you are look at the top 5% of the society best bringing their weddings to Thailand is a massive economic spinner and much needed for the funding of their rice / other failed projects

A 5* resort in Hua Hin staff who recently hosted a 6day 5 night wedding ...if you see the bills for the banquets and the hotel rooms ( yes all sold to the family and their friends ) and all the VIP chartered Lexus cars and Mercedes vans from the airport and the massages all booked for the guests and the music equipment for the event maybe you get a better understanding of the $$$ and the jobs it brought the locals for the month.

Nice year end bonus for them

Edited December 23, 2014 by LawrenceChee

[LazarusRising]

God help this country, the economy is in the hands of a <censored>.

[Thai at Heart]

Two years ago there was a TAT article on promoting Indian weddings, and a long thread of Thailand, the hub postings. This is old news, yet he says he "heard." Wonders never cease.

Why slag the PM off if you do you also will be having a laugh at the Yingluck failed admin---they promoted the same

The sad thing is that a Thai PM of any sort even concerns themselves personally with the economics of overseas weddings and their contribution to the economy.