The week that was in Thailand news: Blimey! Bangkok braces for the Bulgarians.

[rooster59]

The week that was in Thailand news: Blimey! Bangkok braces for the Bulgarians.

 

 

It is in every politician’s job description: Must be able to put favorable spin on even the worst disasters. Here in Thailand like elsewhere in the world we have become painfully accustomed to the economic data barely reflecting our personal experiences while when tourist businesses are suffering the latest airport arrivals are said to be up fifty percent!

But you have to admit it; some of the Thai officials – whether politicians or police – have got some balls. Some of the things they come out with are more than spin – they would make Chubby Checker’s twist look like straight talking.

Despite some forum posters who claim there is ample evidence to the contrary, the Thai people are no mugs. Perhaps they don’t kick up enough fuss ever wary of laws that could see them deprived of their liberty for upwards of fifty years for speaking their mind. That’s my only mild criticism.

Leading the way in the spin stakes this week were the folks over at tourism and sports. Despite anecdotal reports that tourism is in a shaky spot – and despite obvious reasons Koh Samed showed that this week – we were treated to fabulous new initiatives to inspire tourists from no less than nineteen new countries who would have visa fees waived.

However, those countries, undoubtedly with a close spin watch on quality tourism, included the likes of, wait for it….Bulgaria. Now Rooster means no disrespect to the Bulgars, some of my best friends are from Sofia. It’s just that when the UK opened its borders to all and sundry the first thing that happened was the London Underground was full of beggars from eastern Europe touting for 50p pieces.

I was wondering if the same thing was going to happen in the tunnels of the MRT in Bangkok. Perhaps Khun Kobkarn would go down there to welcome the new arrivals in a photo opportunity.

Free panhandles anyone?

Her own particular spin along with the TAT somehow managed to conjure up a 350,000 increase in tourist arrivals due to the visa waiver. And this was going to generate 28 billion baht. At the risk of upsetting the elegant minister especially after her anti sex tirade, the tourist figures seem to be as up and down as the proverbial whore’s draws.

Anyway, it all made perfect sense – we are saved. No need for an independent review – why would we lie to you!

Meanwhile a survey caught my attention especially as it referred to that old chestnut of police reform. Apparently 30 per cent of the respondents thought it unnecessary at the moment. What! The Thai public are not 99% behind this?

Intrigued I read on to discover that the survey was of police officers themselves. I was doubly incredulous – firstly with the spin of the story – then with the thought that one would have expected the figure to be 1% after all!

As my favorite forum commenter of the week, Grumbleweed, put it: “In another survey 100% of foxes said they should not be forced to turn vegetarian”.

Also “Spinning for Thailand” was deputy PM Prawit who said that national elections would be held next year…great….unless there is a “risk of damage” to the country. Oh, I get it, if we stand a chance of getting people you don’t like we won’t get an election. Genius!

They should have tried that in America, could have saved a helluva lot of trouble.

But it has to be said that this week it was not just the authorities being economical with the truth. Over in Samed itself the tourism operators attended an angry meeting at the Park HQ to claim that there was absolutely no mafia on the island.

Coming from jetski operators and the like one had a smidgeon of belief that economic interest might have been behind that statement. The national park chief was asked to name names. Fortunately he didn’t try…..they might have been there all day.

I was left to surmise that somehow the word mafia in Thailand has got corrupted into another meaning along the lines of truth and honesty. There can be no other explanation. Next we will be told that Pattaya is run according to the law of the land or that the taxis drivers in Phuket are to all get awards for being fair to their customers.

No spin at all was put on the saddest event of the week – the bus crash in Uttaradit that needlessly claimed 18 lives. Rather like a rat leaving a sinking ship the driver managed to bail out leaving his passengers to plunge down the ravine.

The carnage on the roads continues unabated – and I challenge any politician to put a good spin on that.

The further tragedy is, they probably will.

Continuing the spin factor was some government rep who announced that they were to introduce a new 10 year visa for the over 50s. Closer inspection revealed the odd caveat like having to put a hefty wedge into a time deposit and still having to report to immigration every 90 days.

But on closer inspection it looked like the story, that was easily the most viewed of the week on the Thaivisa forum, was the usual brainwave (read aberration) of some clerk somewhere who hadn’t thought it through.

“Hey Somchai! How could we get more money out of the expats, look good and have no work or plan whatsoever?”

“Er, I know….”

Not surprisingly the news was met with a cacophony of lukewarm-ness and the usual pooh-poohing that is the stock in trade of the Thaivisa members. And who could blame them – when is this government going to think things through before making an announcement. Maybe when the Thais stop eating chilies…

Meanwhile, following Lady Kai’s reemergence from clink last week I was expecting to see her up on lese majeste charges this week. No matter, it was interesting to see her half-sister Kamonthat handed a 50 year sentence In Chiang Mai for selling fake royal favors.

What with another woman in Bangkok pretending to be a princess facing a few decades in stir it really doesn’t bode well for Mrs Chicken when the irons next come off.

Another survey caught my philandering fancy this week when it was announced that three quarters of young Thai men have up to three “gigs” each. Only three – come on lads, maybe you need a bit of training to get with the program!  I am sure some of the older guys on the Thaivisa could give you a few tips.

Anyway, it wasn’t mentioned how many toy-boys or “friends with benefits” Thai women have. That’s what Rooster really wants to know….oh, and where they hang out.

And so to this week’s Rooster awards. The “Solly So Solly” award for most misplaced apology goes to the stepfather who stepped, or rather stamped on his child’s chest because he was having a bad hair day. The man, for the want of a better word, turned up at the Phitsanulok nick with some incense and a pile of candles  to apologize to his mum, dad, grannies, aunties, society, the soi dogs…you name it he wai-ed it.

Except his victims of course. They can just wait for their next beating.

The “What took you so long?” prize goes to the hapless folks in charge of (oxymoron alert) …regulations in Pattaya. Their decisive action has now claimed back part of the ocean from those who would dare to build swimming pools in it. It only took 21 years for them to spot the illegal structure on the beachfront.

Which makes me think of a great business opportunity…open an opticians in the resort. I’d make a killing.

Lastly, the “Darwin award” for services to evolution goes to the armed ATM robber in Suphan who dropped his phone at the scene of the crime. Mind you, despite knowing absolutely everything about the miscreant Plod still took the best part of a week to find him. I imagined the phone battery was dead and no one at the station could find the right charger.

Then lo and behold it got crazier – the denouement of the story surprised even Rooster; the gunman was none other than a cop and an award-winning one at that. You really can’t make this stuff up!

Thailand’s weird and wacky wedding season provided some light relief in quite a serious week. First there was the really quite normal hitching of two twins barely out of Pampers. Apparently the little nippers had been an unrequited item in a previous life and needed to get hitched to save their souls in this one. All quite understandable and above board.

As usual it was just a fine excuse for a good old Thai knees up though with predictable misery in mind some forum posters suggested it was child abuse.

Then we had the tying of the knot in the north-east where we had the Rolls Royce of Roll Reversals, for the groom was a girl and the bride was a man. Who would wear the trousers in the relationship caused much tittering on the national news as the presenters could barely contain themselves with the possible permutations especially as the happy couple declared they wanted children.

Anyway it brought a smile to Rooster’s craggy visage, one that quickly vanished when he thought back to his own wedding…

Finally Pattaya residents were mostly pleased about two developments on the eastern seaboard. Firstly they will soon be able to pay “just” 1,200 baht to risk their life crossing the gulf on a catamaran so they can replace Walking Street with Soi Bintabaht. I’ll pass on that one.

And secondly most were thrilled to discover that the traffic nightmare that is the Pattaya Klang underpass construction, will be finished early next year. And when they are driving their scooters through the technological marvel they will be able to admire a centerpiece sculpture that the authorities said was the most representative image they could think of for Pattaya – dolphins cavorting.

Funny, but I could have come up with a different spin.

 

Rooster

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2016-11-27

[namoi]

hope there is plenty of clean air for the dolphins and they will spin at the sights for sure

[elgordo38]

I hate the crowing roosters here in Thailand but your the one exception. Well done. You should have had a little more praise the article was a good one. Sadly we have become a world where we no longer praise the good but pontificate towards evil which is gift wrapped to hide the true contents. You are indeed a bright light but then your light does carry far enough for all to see and use as a beacon. 

[Shawn0000]

Quote

Now Rooster means no disrespect to the Bulgars, some of my best friends are from Sofia. It’s just that when the UK opened its borders to all and sundry the first thing that happened was the London Underground was full of beggars from eastern Europe touting for 50p pieces.

 

You didn't try very hard there, did you?  I am not sure if you are expressing genuine concern or if it was a cheap joke, but either way it is utterly disrespectful, I don't suppose you would say the same for a nationality like American despite their obviously very high levels of poverty resulting in beggars on every US street corner.  And by the way, the Bulgars were a tribe in the 7th Century, modern day Bulgarians are not necessarily descended from Bulgars, so please use Bulgarian when referring to the nationality, that is if you genuinely "mean no disrespect", thanks. 

[roo860]

Now Rooster means no disrespect to the Bulgars, some of my best friends are from Sofia. It’s just that when the UK opened its borders to all and sundry the first thing that happened was the London Underground was full of beggars from eastern Europe touting for 50p pieces.

 
You didn't try very hard there, did you?  I am not sure if you are expressing genuine concern or if it was a cheap joke, but either way it is utterly disrespectful, I don't suppose you would say the same for a nationality like American despite their obviously very high levels of poverty resulting in beggars on every US street corner.  And by the way, the Bulgars were a tribe in the 7th Century, modern day Bulgarians are not necessarily descended from Bulgars, so please use Bulgarian when referring to the nationality, that is if you genuinely "mean no disrespect", thanks. 




He was exactly right, the bloody underground was full them, and camping out on a memorial site! He was being very truthful, nothing to do with disrespect.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thaivisa Connect mobile app

[roo860]

 
You didn't try very hard there, did you?  I am not sure if you are expressing genuine concern or if it was a cheap joke, but either way it is utterly disrespectful, I don't suppose you would say the same for a nationality like American despite their obviously very high levels of poverty resulting in beggars on every US street corner.  And by the way, the Bulgars were a tribe in the 7th Century, modern day Bulgarians are not necessarily descended from Bulgars, so please use Bulgarian when referring to the nationality, that is if you genuinely "mean no disrespect", thanks.














 




He was exactly right, the bloody underground was full them, and camping out on a memorial site! He was being very truthful, nothing to do with disrespect.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thaivisa Connect mobile app

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thaivisa Connect mobile app

[Jip99]

57 minutes ago, Shawn0000 said:

 

You didn't try very hard there, did you?  I am not sure if you are expressing genuine concern or if it was a cheap joke, but either way it is utterly disrespectful, I don't suppose you would say the same for a nationality like American despite their obviously very high levels of poverty resulting in beggars on every US street corner.  And by the way, the Bulgars were a tribe in the 7th Century, modern day Bulgarians are not necessarily descended from Bulgars, so please use Bulgarian when referring to the nationality, that is if you genuinely "mean no disrespect", thanks. 

 

 

 

Just a quick point of order  -  are you saying that what he wrote about the 'Bulgarians' wasn't true ?

[Shawn0000]

1 minute ago, Jip99 said:

 

 

 

Just a quick point of order  -  are you saying that what he wrote about the 'Bulgarians' wasn't true ?

 

I am saying it is utterly disrespectful to generalize on an entire nationality based on the actions of a very small minority.

[Jip99]

1 minute ago, Shawn0000 said:

 

I am saying it is utterly disrespectful to generalize on an entire nationality based on the actions of a very small minority.

 

 

 

Good political response, but please answer the question.

[Shawn0000]

12 minutes ago, roo860 said:

 
You didn't try very hard there, did you?  I am not sure if you are expressing genuine concern or if it was a cheap joke, but either way it is utterly disrespectful, I don't suppose you would say the same for a nationality like American despite their obviously very high levels of poverty resulting in beggars on every US street corner.  And by the way, the Bulgars were a tribe in the 7th Century, modern day Bulgarians are not necessarily descended from Bulgars, so please use Bulgarian when referring to the nationality, that is if you genuinely "mean no disrespect", thanks. 




He was exactly right, the bloody underground was full them, and camping out on a memorial site! He was being very truthful, nothing to do with disrespect.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thaivisa Connect mobile app
 

 

Meanwhile the vegetables in the supermarkets was also being picked by them, the meat was also being packed by them, our old people were also having their <deleted> wiped by them and our streets were also being swept by them, to generalize on the population of Bulgaria based on a few beggars is completely bigoted and shameful considering all they actually contribute towards our country.

[Shawn0000]

2 minutes ago, Jip99 said:

 

 

 

Good political response, but please answer the question.

 

There were beggars, that is true, but he said he did not want to be disrespectful, then went on to express an irrational fear which to anyone rational is showing disrespect.

[Jip99]

2 minutes ago, Shawn0000 said:

 

Meanwhile the vegetables in the supermarkets was also being picked by them, the meat was also being packed by them, our old people were also having their <deleted> wiped by them and our streets were also being swept by them, to generalize on the population of Bulgaria based on a few beggars is completely bigoted and shameful considering all they actually contribute towards our country.

 

 

Wow! you really are on your soap box now!

 

 

Makes you wonder how we got by for 10,000 years without them.

 

Another point of order - which is "our country" exactly.

[Jip99]

1 minute ago, Shawn0000 said:

 

There were beggars, that is true, but he said he did not want to be disrespectful, then went on to express an irrational fear which to anyone rational is showing disrespect.

 

 

Yes, I thought it was true. Point one.

 

 

Point 2, he said he was not being disrespectful. I believe he was also telling the truth there as well.

 

[Shawn0000]

Just now, Jip99 said:

 

 

Wow! you really are on your soap box now!

 

 

Makes you wonder how we got by for 10,000 years without them.

 

Another point of order - which is "our country" exactly.

 

We didn't, the UK has always been dependent on an immigrant workforce.

 

I am not sure what you are on about with your "our country" remark.  The majority of Bulgarians that come are expats, in that they do not intend to stay.

[eeyang wah]

9 hours ago, rooster59 said:

 for services to evolution

Beautiful choice of words.

Love these weekly posts, please ignore the haters and keep them coming!

[Shawn0000]

Just now, Jip99 said:

 

 

Yes, I thought it was true. Point one.

 

 

Point 2, he said he was not being disrespectful. I believe he was also telling the truth there as well.

 

 

Your "belief" disregards the respect of hard working Bulgarians as did he in his posting of his completely irrational fear.

[mcfish]

Wow this thread went south fast, could be a record!

Sent from my SC-01D using Tapatalk

[Jip99]

17 minutes ago, Shawn0000 said:

 

We didn't, the UK has always been dependent on an immigrant workforce.

 

I am not sure what you are on about with your "our country" remark.  The majority of Bulgarians that come are expats, in that they do not intend to stay.

 

 

The UK is not my country.

 

This post, and this forum, is about Thailand.The article you are criticising is a Thailand news review, with a reference to the writer's experience of Bulgarians in London.

Edited November 27, 2016 by Jip99

[Shawn0000]

1 minute ago, Jip99 said:

 

 

The UK is not my country.

 

This post, and this forum, is about Thailand.

 

So what was the point about "our country"? 

[ianf]

The Bulgarians were in the fields picking vegetables whilst the Romanian romanies were in every London Underground station conning peeps out of money ..... just like Paris which is now out of control.

[Jip99]

58 minutes ago, Shawn0000 said:

 

So what was the point about "our country"? 

 

 

No point.

 

 

YOU made reference to "our country" and I wondered if you were referring to Thailand.

 

I have no issue with Bulgarians - I think IanF's comments about Romanians is probably accurate.

[Shawn0000]

1 hour ago, ianf said:

The Bulgarians were in the fields picking vegetables whilst the Romanian romanies were in every London Underground station conning peeps out of money ..... just like Paris which is now out of control.

 

The fields were also full of hard working Romanians and many of the Gypsies were from Bulgaria.  But all is not as it seems with the Romany, the people you see on the ground begging, robbing, prostituting themselves and all the other associated problems are more often than not Sinti gypsies who are enslaved by rich Romany families, they really need to be helped but no one wants to as they think they are the problem whereas the real problem lie in mansions throughout Europe.

[Shawn0000]

47 minutes ago, Jip99 said:

 

 

No point.

 

 

YOU made reference to "our country" and I wondered if you were referring to Thailand.

 

I have no issue with Bulgarians - I think IanF's comments about Romanians is probably accurate.

 

Oh, I see now, you failed to put a question mark on the end of your question leading me to read it as a statement, which I took as meaning something like "the UK is OUR country".

[connda]

US unemployment is 5.9% with 204M working age adults (18-64) of which 94.5M of those people are out of the workforce.  "Calculator please!  That 46% of the population unemployed."

 

Arrivals to Thailand up 50%.

Bottom line - Lies, damn lies, and statistics.  Someone will always sensationalize to those in the public who are willing to be swayed. 

[connda]

"Which makes me think of a great business opportunity…open an opticians in the resort. I’d make a killing."

Lol 

[LoVeFuN]

Since the Brexit vote in a few years time the underground will probably be full of UK born beggars again like it was in the 1970,s. Not that I have anything against beggars mind,  just bigots and racists that blame other people for their own failings.

[soalbundy]

6 hours ago, Jip99 said:

 

 

 

Good political response, but please answer the question.

That would mean giving up his PC card and he was trying so hard for his brownie points. One thing you could say for the Bulgarians though,they tend to bring their own sleeping gear with them,those under passes can get drafty, i don't think the hoteliers will be holding their breath.

[Shawn0000]

5 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

That would mean giving up his PC card and he was trying so hard for his brownie points. One thing you could say for the Bulgarians though,they tend to bring their own sleeping gear with them,those under passes can get drafty, i don't think the hoteliers will be holding their breath.

 

I wasn't aware it was politically correct not to make bigoted generalizations about a nationality, I thought it was morally correct.

[Enoon]

 

GDP Per capita:

 

Bulgaria    $6,927

Thailand   $5,938

 

Rather difficult to understand why a Bulgarian would bother to travel to Thailand to beg.

 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2016 by Enoon

[NancyL]

Oh dear, I thought this was the Thai Visa forum.   And I like these weekly posts.   I guess I should find it refreshing to find Brits arguing about politics not related to Americans, though.