Conspiracy theory or fact?

[ExpatOilWorker]

There is no doubt that the current administration of Thailand is not to the liking of pro-democratic western governments. The US was fast to voice its concern and threatened to pull out of the yearly Cobra military exercise. At the end they didnt and the west can hardly slam an Iran style embargo on Thailand, but have they taken a more subtle approach to put pressure on the Thai government:

1. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) safety issue have been ongoing for years, but is it only now it was raised to alert status and have real consequences for Thai aviation. ICAO is a division of UN and could easily been used as a tool to pressure Thailand.

2. The potential seafood band by EU would hit Thai exporters very hard, but why now? It seem like business as usual by the very unregulated Thai fishing fleet, but suddenly this is on top of EUs to-do-list.

3. Some foreign embassies still have Thailand listed as a dangerous travel destination and we all know it is a heck safer here than, say Baltimore.

Just coincident or could it be true?

If true, we might see more of the same kind in the future. Like antibiotics detected in Thai prawns, pesticides in Thai rice above some 0.001 ppm EU recommended level, etc.

[Anthony5]

Maybe because the current government is so high up on their soapbox that the only reason for the coup was to bring order to Thailand, and foreign governments are taking them up on their word and wants them to proof that they put their money where their mouth is.

[TheAppletons]

I think you overestimate by about 800% the amount of time/effort the U.S. and EU spend thinking about Thailand.

[JusMe]

Time to adjust your meds, or the spiky twisted bits rising from the sides of your tin foil cap.

[Langsuan Man]

Did you ever think that maybe to opposite is true ?

Maybe foreign governments were under the mistaken impression that the new Thai government with absolute power would move to quickly fix the problems that have been pushed aside by other Thai administrations

[ExpatOilWorker]

I think you overestimate by about 800% the amount of time/effort the U.S. and EU spend thinking about Thailand.

800% might be a bit hight, I ran a reverser quantum simulation and the answer is 42.

[ExpatOilWorker]

Did you ever think that maybe to opposite is true ?

Maybe foreign governments were under the mistaken impression that the new Thai government with absolute power would move to quickly fix the problems that have been pushed aside by other Thai administrations

Could be. Good thinking.

[tifino]

(with acknowledgment to Douglas Adams):

'So Long and Thanks for all the Basa'

[Lakegeneve]

You are either taking the bait of Thai military govts 'victim strategy' spin hook, line and sinker or you may have been exposed to too many solvents and other chemicals in the oil industry over many years.

There are a wealth of issues at any given time that any govt is being scrutinised over. Without doing any research I could easily find 3 issues of international scruitiny/criticism for any ASEAN country, any African country or even every western country.

1) ICAO conducts an exhaustive audit of member countries every 10 years. For Thailand, the last was in 2005 hence the reason why ICAO conducted an of the DCA in late Jan this year. The audit exposed what had been know for years, that the DCA was not adequately staffed to perform its tasks to an appropriate standard given the huge expansion of airlines in the last 10 years. The main concern for ICAO is the Certification of new airlines relating. Specifically, how AOC's have been granted to new airlines established by the owners of previous airlines that have been essentially rebranded after losing their AOC. The transportation of hazardous materials has also been a huge problem for many years.

2) The Thai fishing industry has been subject to scrutiny for many, many years. There are numerous EU and UN (see ILO) reports on abuses and exploitation in the industry. The EU was already raising concerns for the last few years. The reason why this has become more prominent recently.....you seemed to have missed the fact that Indonesian authorities in March & April rescued hundreds of Burmese that were being kept as slaves on Thai registered fishing boats in eastern Indonesia. This very public action by another ASEAN member has intensified responses and highlighted acutely what has been going on for years.

3) There have been 2 bombings in BKK in the last 2 months and a number of people arrested for planning upwards of 100 bombings according to public statements made by the RTP. There have also been other incidents which are not widely reported especially in the english language press ,,,,hardly surprising under the current junta.

Foreign embassies need to be prudent and express that their nationals exercise caution given the realities of politically motivated violence in the country. To ignore the reality of this element in Thailand would not only be irresponsible but foolish for those countries if one of their nationals was injured or killed in an incident.

What are the specific sections of any countries travel advisories that you find to be unrealistic?? Can you quote it please.

At any one time the govt is being criticised by Thais for a whole range of matters from freedom of the press, to transport, Chinese investment, to health, education, political reform, border disputes etc. Are these all conspiracies by elements of Thai society or just the normal process of debate (in a junta context) within any society.

Likewise, at any given time Thailand has issues related to Intellectual property, trafficking, law enforcement standards, banking standards, trade and investment agreements, agricultural protection, corruption issues to name but a few, being subjected to scrutiny in various international fora and processes.

Are these all conspiracies or are they the normal process which every country engages in as part of being a member of the international community? Most of what you raise is best left to a late night drunken conversation in a seedy bar being the limitus test of the standard of political analysis expressed. Facts are usually way too boring for most.

[ExpatOilWorker]

You are either taking the bait of Thai military govts 'victim strategy' spin hook, line and sinker or you may have been exposed to too many solvents and other chemicals in the oil industry over many years.

There are a wealth of issues at any given time that any govt is being scrutinised over. Without doing any research I could easily find 3 issues of international scruitiny/criticism for any ASEAN country, any African country or even every western country.

1) ICAO conducts an exhaustive audit of member countries every 10 years. For Thailand, the last was in 2005 hence the reason why ICAO conducted an of the DCA in late Jan this year. The audit exposed what had been know for years, that the DCA was not adequately staffed to perform its tasks to an appropriate standard given the huge expansion of airlines in the last 10 years. The main concern for ICAO is the Certification of new airlines relating. Specifically, how AOC's have been granted to new airlines established by the owners of previous airlines that have been essentially rebranded after losing their AOC. The transportation of hazardous materials has also been a huge problem for many years.

2) The Thai fishing industry has been subject to scrutiny for many, many years. There are numerous EU and UN (see ILO) reports on abuses and exploitation in the industry. The EU was already raising concerns for the last few years. The reason why this has become more prominent recently.....you seemed to have missed the fact that Indonesian authorities in March & April rescued hundreds of Burmese that were being kept as slaves on Thai registered fishing boats in eastern Indonesia. This very public action by another ASEAN member has intensified responses and highlighted acutely what has been going on for years.

3) There have been 2 bombings in BKK in the last 2 months and a number of people arrested for planning upwards of 100 bombings according to public statements made by the RTP. There have also been other incidents which are not widely reported especially in the english language press ,,,,hardly surprising under the current junta.

Foreign embassies need to be prudent and express that their nationals exercise caution given the realities of politically motivated violence in the country. To ignore the reality of this element in Thailand would not only be irresponsible but foolish for those countries if one of their nationals was injured or killed in an incident.

What are the specific sections of any countries travel advisories that you find to be unrealistic?? Can you quote it please.

At any one time the govt is being criticised by Thais for a whole range of matters from freedom of the press, to transport, Chinese investment, to health, education, political reform, border disputes etc. Are these all conspiracies by elements of Thai society or just the normal process of debate (in a junta context) within any society.

Likewise, at any given time Thailand has issues related to Intellectual property, trafficking, law enforcement standards, banking standards, trade and investment agreements, agricultural protection, corruption issues to name but a few, being subjected to scrutiny in various international fora and processes.

Are these all conspiracies or are they the normal process which every country engages in as part of being a member of the international community? Most of what you raise is best left to a late night drunken conversation in a seedy bar being the limitus test of the standard of political analysis expressed. Facts are usually way too boring for most.

I feel like I was just run over by a freight train, by our resident BTS/MRT expert and my tin-foil hat have been shredded. I better go back sniffing some corrosion inhibitor and dip some biocide.

I have another theory if you want to hear it? I is about Global warming and very plausible, but so far I am the only one who have found this flaw in the science debate.

You can always thank me later when it becomes mainstream and the history books have to be re-written. Just don't condemn me to the same fate as the great mammoths!

[impulse]

You can always thank me later when it becomes mainstream and the history books have to be re-written. Just don't condemn me to the same fate as the great mammoths!

Fracking killed off the mammoths.

[canuckamuck]

I have another theory if you want to hear it? I is about Global warming and very plausible, but so far I am the only one who have found this flaw in the science debate.

You can always thank me later when it becomes mainstream and the history books have to be re-written. Just don't condemn me to the same fate as the great mammoths!

Hey now, don't float those balloons if you ain't got the goods. At least climate change is an actual conspiracy so you can't be far off.

[impulse]

At least climate change is an actual conspiracy so you can't be far off.

I hear the <REDACTED> brothers are buying land a few blocks off the beach... And have plans to build seaside resorts when the non-existent climate change raises sea levels...

How's that for a conspiracy?

[ExpatOilWorker]

I have another theory if you want to hear it? I is about Global warming and very plausible, but so far I am the only one who have found this flaw in the science debate.

You can always thank me later when it becomes mainstream and the history books have to be re-written. Just don't condemn me to the same fate as the great mammoths!

Hey now, don't float those balloons if you ain't got the goods. At least climate change is an actual conspiracy so you can't be far off.

The baloon is now airborn and you can read it here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/822258-eows-theory-on-climate-change/

[Stan42]

Quick, put on your tin foil hat before you become a mindless mass media obeying drone!

[Lakegeneve]

You are either taking the bait of Thai military govts 'victim strategy' spin hook, line and sinker or you may have been exposed to too many solvents and other chemicals in the oil industry over many years.

There are a wealth of issues at any given time that any govt is being scrutinised over. Without doing any research I could easily find 3 issues of international scruitiny/criticism for any ASEAN country, any African country or even every western country.

1) ICAO conducts an exhaustive audit of member countries every 10 years. For Thailand, the last was in 2005 hence the reason why ICAO conducted an of the DCA in late Jan this year. The audit exposed what had been know for years, that the DCA was not adequately staffed to perform its tasks to an appropriate standard given the huge expansion of airlines in the last 10 years. The main concern for ICAO is the Certification of new airlines relating. Specifically, how AOC's have been granted to new airlines established by the owners of previous airlines that have been essentially rebranded after losing their AOC. The transportation of hazardous materials has also been a huge problem for many years.

2) The Thai fishing industry has been subject to scrutiny for many, many years. There are numerous EU and UN (see ILO) reports on abuses and exploitation in the industry. The EU was already raising concerns for the last few years. The reason why this has become more prominent recently.....you seemed to have missed the fact that Indonesian authorities in March & April rescued hundreds of Burmese that were being kept as slaves on Thai registered fishing boats in eastern Indonesia. This very public action by another ASEAN member has intensified responses and highlighted acutely what has been going on for years.

3) There have been 2 bombings in BKK in the last 2 months and a number of people arrested for planning upwards of 100 bombings according to public statements made by the RTP. There have also been other incidents which are not widely reported especially in the english language press ,,,,hardly surprising under the current junta.

Foreign embassies need to be prudent and express that their nationals exercise caution given the realities of politically motivated violence in the country. To ignore the reality of this element in Thailand would not only be irresponsible but foolish for those countries if one of their nationals was injured or killed in an incident.

What are the specific sections of any countries travel advisories that you find to be unrealistic?? Can you quote it please.

At any one time the govt is being criticised by Thais for a whole range of matters from freedom of the press, to transport, Chinese investment, to health, education, political reform, border disputes etc. Are these all conspiracies by elements of Thai society or just the normal process of debate (in a junta context) within any society.

Likewise, at any given time Thailand has issues related to Intellectual property, trafficking, law enforcement standards, banking standards, trade and investment agreements, agricultural protection, corruption issues to name but a few, being subjected to scrutiny in various international fora and processes.

Are these all conspiracies or are they the normal process which every country engages in as part of being a member of the international community? Most of what you raise is best left to a late night drunken conversation in a seedy bar being the limitus test of the standard of political analysis expressed. Facts are usually way too boring for most.

I feel like I was just run over by a freight train, by our resident BTS/MRT expert and my tin-foil hat have been shredded. I better go back sniffing some corrosion inhibitor and dip some biocide.

I have another theory if you want to hear it? I is about Global warming and very plausible, but so far I am the only one who have found this flaw in the science debate.

You can always thank me later when it becomes mainstream and the history books have to be re-written. Just don't condemn me to the same fate as the great mammoths!

Could it perhaps be a small toy freight train.......?

I'd like to hear the Climate Change theory as there are so may out there that contradict the accepted science, especially since you obviously work in an industry which has a high profile in the Climate Change debate.

To offer you a quid pro quo, the FAA is sending Inspectors to Thailand in mid June to follow up on the ICAO report and prior to ICAO making their final recommendations public at the end of June.

The Inspectors apparently have a high expectation that Thailand will not pass the FAA inspection based on current information. Any failure of the inspection should result in a downgrading of Thai operators and Thai airports and COULD result in the banning not only of Thai airlines to the US but of US airlines operating to Thai airports.

That is highly unlikely given the political ramifications involved but I am advised that technically it is most possible.

[ExpatOilWorker]

You are either taking the bait of Thai military govts 'victim strategy' spin hook, line and sinker or you may have been exposed to too many solvents and other chemicals in the oil industry over many years.

There are a wealth of issues at any given time that any govt is being scrutinised over. Without doing any research I could easily find 3 issues of international scruitiny/criticism for any ASEAN country, any African country or even every western country.

1) ICAO conducts an exhaustive audit of member countries every 10 years. For Thailand, the last was in 2005 hence the reason why ICAO conducted an of the DCA in late Jan this year. The audit exposed what had been know for years, that the DCA was not adequately staffed to perform its tasks to an appropriate standard given the huge expansion of airlines in the last 10 years. The main concern for ICAO is the Certification of new airlines relating. Specifically, how AOC's have been granted to new airlines established by the owners of previous airlines that have been essentially rebranded after losing their AOC. The transportation of hazardous materials has also been a huge problem for many years.

2) The Thai fishing industry has been subject to scrutiny for many, many years. There are numerous EU and UN (see ILO) reports on abuses and exploitation in the industry. The EU was already raising concerns for the last few years. The reason why this has become more prominent recently.....you seemed to have missed the fact that Indonesian authorities in March & April rescued hundreds of Burmese that were being kept as slaves on Thai registered fishing boats in eastern Indonesia. This very public action by another ASEAN member has intensified responses and highlighted acutely what has been going on for years.

3) There have been 2 bombings in BKK in the last 2 months and a number of people arrested for planning upwards of 100 bombings according to public statements made by the RTP. There have also been other incidents which are not widely reported especially in the english language press ,,,,hardly surprising under the current junta.

Foreign embassies need to be prudent and express that their nationals exercise caution given the realities of politically motivated violence in the country. To ignore the reality of this element in Thailand would not only be irresponsible but foolish for those countries if one of their nationals was injured or killed in an incident.

What are the specific sections of any countries travel advisories that you find to be unrealistic?? Can you quote it please.

At any one time the govt is being criticised by Thais for a whole range of matters from freedom of the press, to transport, Chinese investment, to health, education, political reform, border disputes etc. Are these all conspiracies by elements of Thai society or just the normal process of debate (in a junta context) within any society.

Likewise, at any given time Thailand has issues related to Intellectual property, trafficking, law enforcement standards, banking standards, trade and investment agreements, agricultural protection, corruption issues to name but a few, being subjected to scrutiny in various international fora and processes.

Are these all conspiracies or are they the normal process which every country engages in as part of being a member of the international community? Most of what you raise is best left to a late night drunken conversation in a seedy bar being the limitus test of the standard of political analysis expressed. Facts are usually way too boring for most.

I feel like I was just run over by a freight train, by our resident BTS/MRT expert and my tin-foil hat have been shredded. I better go back sniffing some corrosion inhibitor and dip some biocide.

I have another theory if you want to hear it? I is about Global warming and very plausible, but so far I am the only one who have found this flaw in the science debate.

You can always thank me later when it becomes mainstream and the history books have to be re-written. Just don't condemn me to the same fate as the great mammoths!

Could it perhaps be a small toy freight train.......?

I'd like to hear the Climate Change theory as there are so may out there that contradict the accepted science, especially since you obviously work in an industry which has a high profile in the Climate Change debate.

To offer you a quid pro quo, the FAA is sending Inspectors to Thailand in mid June to follow up on the ICAO report and prior to ICAO making their final recommendations public at the end of June.

The Inspectors apparently have a high expectation that Thailand will not pass the FAA inspection based on current information. Any failure of the inspection should result in a downgrading of Thai operators and Thai airports and COULD result in the banning not only of Thai airlines to the US but of US airlines operating to Thai airports.

That is highly unlikely given the political ramifications involved but I am advised that technically it is most possible.

My ground breaking science is posted here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/822258-eows-theory-on-climate-change/

[ScarpoFongness4U]

Climate change is real, why?

Have you ever seen the climate not change?

[ExpatOilWorker]

Climate change is real, why?

Have you ever seen the climate not change?

Weather changes a lot, seasons come and go, but I haven't seen the climate change. How long have you been around for?

[raro]

Since this topic is not really Bangkok related I moved it to the pub where the real experts hang out. Be prepared to buy rounds....