Seh Fah #229 If you combine 1, 2, and 3 into one person (I don’t get number 4 at all) you have an approximation of a nak leng. A kind of Robin Hood crossed with Al Capone. This type of character is imbued into everyday Thai life and literature.and is still very much present in modern society. The nak leng has a good side but overall the negative far out weighs the positive.If you really must accept number 4 then think of the authority as authority figure as in Mafia figure. Abhisit is a lightweight, Kasit, just a loud mouth bully, But if you think of all the generals down through history who have pulled a coup, then they were all nak lengs,brave enough to dare to risk it all to get the big prize.
217 said Thailand gold reserves are around 100 Tones. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_reserve
As most countries they deposit gran part of heir gold at the United States Bullion Depository, commonly called Fort Knox.
Could the Liquidator confiscate those deposits once the USA court is completed and won by Walter Bau.
Thailand also has USD52 billion of treasury bonds, but looked into this already and the answer is “no”. The reason is because central bank assets have sovereign immunity as confirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (the same court where the appeal was filed in the current case. See <a href="https://www.sullcrom.com/Foreign-Sovereign-Immunity-07-11-2011/"here" as excerpted below:
“In an important sovereign immunity decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled last week that the immunity provided to central bank assets in the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (the “FSIA”) does not depend on whether the central bank is “independent” from the parent state. Rather, ruling on an issue of first impression, the Court held that the immunity depends only on whether the assets are used for “central banking functions.” The Court therefore vacated attachments that bondholders of the Republic of Argentina had obtained on approximately $100 million of reserves of the Central Bank of Argentina (known by its initials in Spanish as “BCRA”) held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (the “FRBNY”). NML Capital, Ltd. v. Banco Central de la Rep├║blica Argentina, No. 10-1487-cv(L), — F.3d —, 2011 WL 2611269, at *19-20 (2d Cir. July 5, 2011). Sullivan & Cromwell LLP represented BCRA in the case.”
As a dumb Farang struggling with the subtleties of the Thai language, I would very much appreciate a little enlightenment on the precise meaning of Thailand’s “lovable nak leng culture”.
According to the Haas Thai-English Student’s Dictionary, a nak leng could be any of the following:
1. A rogue, rascal or gambler.
2. A bold or sporting person.
3. A big-hearted person.
4. A person who is an authority on something.
No doubt Thaksin possesses some of these nak leng qualities, but what about Abhisit, Kasit, the Crown Prince and Thailand as a whole?
Sam, what makes you think the CP had any thoughts of posting the bond with his own money? It is far more likely that his unexpected decision to pay up was underwritten by an offer from Thaksin and now Abhisit and Kasit are forced to reverse their positions and scrabble around to pre-empt Thaksin’s offer. Either way the CP pays nothing, nor should he, and the bill is footed either directly or indirectly by the RTG which should have paid up in the first place and avoided this nasty business and avoided unnecessary legal fees plus now a costly trip to Berlin by a useless team from Julasingh’s office.
In any event it seems that Schneider’s bold move to impound the plane will pay off handsomely. Even if he is only going to earn 10% of the award as his fee, he is not going to care that Kasit threw his teddy out of the pram and declared him persona non grata in Thailand for simply doing his job in Germany accordance with German law. There is always the Philippines or Cambodia if he feels the urge to do a little bumsen fliegen and they are cheaper too and without jet ski or Kingpower scams.
This is a very interesting topic. Recently the government allowed people to establish an internet connection with their GSM phone for K10,000. They closed the window after about two weeks because of the large number of requests. Apparently the connection was very fast initially and then as more people connected it slowed down, because of the lack of bandwidth.
To a limited extent you can already see “teenagers merrily facebooking each other from their internet enabled smart phones whilst hanging around the shopping malls”, but only in a few parts of Yangon. Nevertheless, these things can change quickly, and that change seems to be underway now. The increase in number of handphones over the past 12-24 months has been astonishing. The government is issuing 4 million new GSM lines this year and the price is naturally expected to drop from the current figure of $600 (which has been made higher by the recent appreciation of the kyat). Obviously that’s unaffordable for most people but the call charges are quite cheap once you get a handset. The low landline penetration will also encourage uptake, even where $600 represents a significant financial outlay for an individual or household.
Infrastructure definitely remains the wildcard here.
Yes, that is my insight as a lowly “ajarn” in Thailand. I recently received my bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley (perhaps you’ve heard of it?) and took a year off of my life to teach English while preparing for a master’s in international relations. I’m sorry you feel that I’m not high enough on the economic ladder to harbor a legitimate opinion on this matter.
I assure you, it is not “interesting” at all that your comment(s) got voted thumbs down. It is simply a statistical reflection of the sound of your logic and New Mandala viewership’s opinion of aforementioned logic…or lack thereof.
Sorry to clog the discussion, I just wanted a chance to respond to this ad hominem attack. Admins/mods, please give me that opportunity.
I get regular updates on SE Asian-related topics from the Thailand, Laos and Cambodia (TLC) Studies Group listerserve, administered by Justin McDaniels over at the University of Pennsylvania.
If that really was a serious question, here’s a serious answer. What you referred to as “boobs in a box” was a training aid used to teach women how to examine their breasts to detect lumps that could indicate breast cancer. Why it appeared in an article about Yinglak and Thailand’s women is a bit of a mystery.
It is almost surreal that an outgoing caretaker government due to be replaced in a few days are still issuing statement after statement and swinging all over the place instead of just allowing the incoming government to deal with the issue which is sensitive to Thailand. One can only hope that the outgoing government are coordinating with the incoming one over the matter before making their statements and taking actions so as not to compound the matter or to make Thailand look any more silly than they already have
There are many, of course, but recently has appeared one that has turn into a must-read. I’m talking about The Isaan Record, arguably the best news source about Northeast Thailand available in English.
If we’re talking books, you absolutely can’t go past Pascal Khoo Thwe’s “The Land of the Green Ghosts” and Amitav Gosh’s spectacular “The Glass Palace”. Both are magnificent reads.
Thank you for the valuable law explanations. They are most helpful ‘legal groundings’ to build on, for all our understandings and future commentaries.
Please allow me to clear up a few misunderstandings.
1. As I repeatedly wrote, I was offering ‘evidence’ of ownership, not ‘proof’.
Therefore your criticism that I failed to ‘prove’ ownership by pointing out that the Thai Aviation Authority’s registry clearly states the CP is the owner, is false to my intent.
That you say ‘The registration certificate raises a PRESUMPTION OF OWNERSHIP, but is not conclusive’ is exactly my evidential point.
But in this case, I would add, a pre-existing official Thai Department of Aviation Authority registry listing of the CP as the owner is very strong presumptive evidence, indeed.
2. What is also relevant, as further ‘evidence’ of the CP’s ownership, is that this Registry’s Public and Published ‘Notice of Ownership’ was never challenged by any other party claiming to be the ‘true’ owner. Again, another ‘presumption’ of ownership due to a lack of claimants to the contrary.
3. You ask, “How does [Bkk lawyer’s law exposition] fit [my] theory that posting the bond proves ownership? Good question, but I wrote I don’t know the law and asked hopefully that you might reply with authoritative legal knowledge. Which you have, so thank you.
What I do suggest, however, is that the claimed owner by paying out of his own pocket the Court’s 28 million dollar ransom to free his claimed plane is common sense ‘presumptuous’ evidence that his claim might be real. And, furthermore, establishes a legal basis for any future Court claim by showing this as an ‘airplane bills paid’ by the claimed owner. In this case, a whopping bill, indeed.
Meanwhile, reality moves on and there seems to be ‘a left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing’ conflict between the PM and his Foreign Minister re their stance to be taken in Germany.
Regardless, finally, it looks like more than Tarrin is embarrassed by this uncalled for dragging of the CP’s name into this seamy suit dispute, despite none of it being of his making.
Very interesting points and much food for thought here.
There was a time when I would have agreed — it seemed that at least a generation was going to pass before Burma saw widespread (i.e. >50%) usage of mobile phones. But my expectation, on that point at least, has shifted pretty quickly.
The spread of relatively cheap (and surprisingly usable) Internet access to pretty much every small urban centre looks like it is being matched by vigorous efforts to roll out the commercial and technological infrastructure for mass mobile phone usage.
At the technical end, the infrastructure will be patchy, the coverage incomplete. And the potential for “roll-back” will remain, at least until mobile phones are so ubiquitous and economically important that simply “switching off” the system is intolerably risky. I stand to be corrected but roll-out now looks like the aim of the game.
As an aside, I saw somebody playing on an “IPad” clone in a small town in northern Burma earlier in the year. I did a serious double take. It was an import from China in a town without WiFi. But widespread WiFi, perhaps, isn’t all that far off either.
Burma, because of its abysmal 20th century communication infrastructure, has the chance to jump ahead to some 21st century alternatives if there is the stomach for the risk.
I’d suggest this is especially likely when there are, ├а la Thaksin, simply mountains of kyat to be made.
“The reality is that the current Burmese elite view telecom development as just another way to enrich themselves whilst giving the side benefit of presenting a facade of modern technological progress.”
Pretty damning encompassing accusation. To be fair, do agree. However this is just 1/2 of the truth.
The other half not mentioned for obvious reason being:
During the same time that Thailand embark on establishing present Telecom system, Myanmar was being wreck by the power struggle b/t the elected and this present entity.
Subsequently, suffer the worst form of useless careless punishment, sanctions, that make any chance of development moot.
Unless you are connected like Tay Za et al.
Self enrichment and control now go hand in hand. Honed to perfection, thanks to the isolation similar to N Korea.
So please, Peter S do not mention this despicable result and discouraging future without alluding to the ultimate evil that promoted this condition: The unwarranted on going SANCTION.
I must self-correct myself. “The “distribution” of handsets described amounts to perhaps 10% growth p.a.” Wrong. When I reread the article I realise that these numbers would push penetration rates up to about 10% this year and to perhaps 50% by 2015. That would be significant growth.
I remain very skeptical that MPT could deliver the infrastructure necessary to support this and that we are about to have a situation where “cheap mobile phone calls are available to the bulk of the country’s people”
The on going induced suffering by nature as well as manufactured is neither beautiful nor useful unless one use them to promote or rather diminish the suffers’ plight.
So far most available photo published by western media as well as expat promote NOTHING to suggest such.
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Plane audacity in Thai dispute
Seh Fah #229 If you combine 1, 2, and 3 into one person (I don’t get number 4 at all) you have an approximation of a nak leng. A kind of Robin Hood crossed with Al Capone. This type of character is imbued into everyday Thai life and literature.and is still very much present in modern society. The nak leng has a good side but overall the negative far out weighs the positive.If you really must accept number 4 then think of the authority as authority figure as in Mafia figure. Abhisit is a lightweight, Kasit, just a loud mouth bully, But if you think of all the generals down through history who have pulled a coup, then they were all nak lengs,brave enough to dare to risk it all to get the big prize.
Plane audacity in Thai dispute
217 said Thailand gold reserves are around 100 Tones.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_reserve
As most countries they deposit gran part of heir gold at the United States Bullion Depository, commonly called Fort Knox.
Could the Liquidator confiscate those deposits once the USA court is completed and won by Walter Bau.
Thailand also has USD52 billion of treasury bonds, but looked into this already and the answer is “no”. The reason is because central bank assets have sovereign immunity as confirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (the same court where the appeal was filed in the current case. See <a href="https://www.sullcrom.com/Foreign-Sovereign-Immunity-07-11-2011/"here" as excerpted below:
“In an important sovereign immunity decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled last week that the immunity provided to central bank assets in the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (the “FSIA”) does not depend on whether the central bank is “independent” from the parent state. Rather, ruling on an issue of first impression, the Court held that the immunity depends only on whether the assets are used for “central banking functions.” The Court therefore vacated attachments that bondholders of the Republic of Argentina had obtained on approximately $100 million of reserves of the Central Bank of Argentina (known by its initials in Spanish as “BCRA”) held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (the “FRBNY”). NML Capital, Ltd. v. Banco Central de la Rep├║blica Argentina, No. 10-1487-cv(L), — F.3d —, 2011 WL 2611269, at *19-20 (2d Cir. July 5, 2011). Sullivan & Cromwell LLP represented BCRA in the case.”
Mobile telephony in Burma
I can remember a time when mobiles where almost unheard of anywhere in Southeast Asia.
That was a time when Australians were still riding kangaroo, on doles and still live in a outback !
Crown Prince’s family update?
Portman – It is from the TV show Modern Family. If you have seen the show, it would make more sense.
Crown Prince’s family update?
What does the photograph represent?
Plane audacity in Thai dispute
Lao Guy #213
As a dumb Farang struggling with the subtleties of the Thai language, I would very much appreciate a little enlightenment on the precise meaning of Thailand’s “lovable nak leng culture”.
According to the Haas Thai-English Student’s Dictionary, a nak leng could be any of the following:
1. A rogue, rascal or gambler.
2. A bold or sporting person.
3. A big-hearted person.
4. A person who is an authority on something.
No doubt Thaksin possesses some of these nak leng qualities, but what about Abhisit, Kasit, the Crown Prince and Thailand as a whole?
Plane audacity in Thai dispute
Sam, what makes you think the CP had any thoughts of posting the bond with his own money? It is far more likely that his unexpected decision to pay up was underwritten by an offer from Thaksin and now Abhisit and Kasit are forced to reverse their positions and scrabble around to pre-empt Thaksin’s offer. Either way the CP pays nothing, nor should he, and the bill is footed either directly or indirectly by the RTG which should have paid up in the first place and avoided this nasty business and avoided unnecessary legal fees plus now a costly trip to Berlin by a useless team from Julasingh’s office.
In any event it seems that Schneider’s bold move to impound the plane will pay off handsomely. Even if he is only going to earn 10% of the award as his fee, he is not going to care that Kasit threw his teddy out of the pram and declared him persona non grata in Thailand for simply doing his job in Germany accordance with German law. There is always the Philippines or Cambodia if he feels the urge to do a little bumsen fliegen and they are cheaper too and without jet ski or Kingpower scams.
Mobile telephony in Burma
This is a very interesting topic. Recently the government allowed people to establish an internet connection with their GSM phone for K10,000. They closed the window after about two weeks because of the large number of requests. Apparently the connection was very fast initially and then as more people connected it slowed down, because of the lack of bandwidth.
To a limited extent you can already see “teenagers merrily facebooking each other from their internet enabled smart phones whilst hanging around the shopping malls”, but only in a few parts of Yangon. Nevertheless, these things can change quickly, and that change seems to be underway now. The increase in number of handphones over the past 12-24 months has been astonishing. The government is issuing 4 million new GSM lines this year and the price is naturally expected to drop from the current figure of $600 (which has been made higher by the recent appreciation of the kyat). Obviously that’s unaffordable for most people but the call charges are quite cheap once you get a handset. The low landline penetration will also encourage uptake, even where $600 represents a significant financial outlay for an individual or household.
Infrastructure definitely remains the wildcard here.
Plane audacity in Thai dispute
Dear John Smith #203,
Yes, that is my insight as a lowly “ajarn” in Thailand. I recently received my bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley (perhaps you’ve heard of it?) and took a year off of my life to teach English while preparing for a master’s in international relations. I’m sorry you feel that I’m not high enough on the economic ladder to harbor a legitimate opinion on this matter.
I assure you, it is not “interesting” at all that your comment(s) got voted thumbs down. It is simply a statistical reflection of the sound of your logic and New Mandala viewership’s opinion of aforementioned logic…or lack thereof.
Sorry to clog the discussion, I just wanted a chance to respond to this ad hominem attack. Admins/mods, please give me that opportunity.
What do you read on mainland Southeast Asia?
I get regular updates on SE Asian-related topics from the Thailand, Laos and Cambodia (TLC) Studies Group listerserve, administered by Justin McDaniels over at the University of Pennsylvania.
Yingluck and Thailand’s women
CJ Hinke #16
If that really was a serious question, here’s a serious answer. What you referred to as “boobs in a box” was a training aid used to teach women how to examine their breasts to detect lumps that could indicate breast cancer. Why it appeared in an article about Yinglak and Thailand’s women is a bit of a mystery.
Plane audacity in Thai dispute
It is almost surreal that an outgoing caretaker government due to be replaced in a few days are still issuing statement after statement and swinging all over the place instead of just allowing the incoming government to deal with the issue which is sensitive to Thailand. One can only hope that the outgoing government are coordinating with the incoming one over the matter before making their statements and taking actions so as not to compound the matter or to make Thailand look any more silly than they already have
What do you read on mainland Southeast Asia?
There are many, of course, but recently has appeared one that has turn into a must-read. I’m talking about The Isaan Record, arguably the best news source about Northeast Thailand available in English.
What do you read on mainland Southeast Asia?
If we’re talking books, you absolutely can’t go past Pascal Khoo Thwe’s “The Land of the Green Ghosts” and Amitav Gosh’s spectacular “The Glass Palace”. Both are magnificent reads.
Plane audacity in Thai dispute
Re: BKK lawyer@223
Thank you for the valuable law explanations. They are most helpful ‘legal groundings’ to build on, for all our understandings and future commentaries.
Please allow me to clear up a few misunderstandings.
1. As I repeatedly wrote, I was offering ‘evidence’ of ownership, not ‘proof’.
Therefore your criticism that I failed to ‘prove’ ownership by pointing out that the Thai Aviation Authority’s registry clearly states the CP is the owner, is false to my intent.
That you say ‘The registration certificate raises a PRESUMPTION OF OWNERSHIP, but is not conclusive’ is exactly my evidential point.
But in this case, I would add, a pre-existing official Thai Department of Aviation Authority registry listing of the CP as the owner is very strong presumptive evidence, indeed.
2. What is also relevant, as further ‘evidence’ of the CP’s ownership, is that this Registry’s Public and Published ‘Notice of Ownership’ was never challenged by any other party claiming to be the ‘true’ owner. Again, another ‘presumption’ of ownership due to a lack of claimants to the contrary.
3. You ask, “How does [Bkk lawyer’s law exposition] fit [my] theory that posting the bond proves ownership? Good question, but I wrote I don’t know the law and asked hopefully that you might reply with authoritative legal knowledge. Which you have, so thank you.
What I do suggest, however, is that the claimed owner by paying out of his own pocket the Court’s 28 million dollar ransom to free his claimed plane is common sense ‘presumptuous’ evidence that his claim might be real. And, furthermore, establishes a legal basis for any future Court claim by showing this as an ‘airplane bills paid’ by the claimed owner. In this case, a whopping bill, indeed.
Meanwhile, reality moves on and there seems to be ‘a left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing’ conflict between the PM and his Foreign Minister re their stance to be taken in Germany.
Mcot’s interview with the PM http://www.mcot.net/cfcustom/cache_page/246865.html
Is 180 out of sync with the FM, found in the Nation.
Regardless, finally, it looks like more than Tarrin is embarrassed by this uncalled for dragging of the CP’s name into this seamy suit dispute, despite none of it being of his making.
Mobile telephony in Burma
Thanks Pete S.,
Very interesting points and much food for thought here.
There was a time when I would have agreed — it seemed that at least a generation was going to pass before Burma saw widespread (i.e. >50%) usage of mobile phones. But my expectation, on that point at least, has shifted pretty quickly.
The spread of relatively cheap (and surprisingly usable) Internet access to pretty much every small urban centre looks like it is being matched by vigorous efforts to roll out the commercial and technological infrastructure for mass mobile phone usage.
At the technical end, the infrastructure will be patchy, the coverage incomplete. And the potential for “roll-back” will remain, at least until mobile phones are so ubiquitous and economically important that simply “switching off” the system is intolerably risky. I stand to be corrected but roll-out now looks like the aim of the game.
As an aside, I saw somebody playing on an “IPad” clone in a small town in northern Burma earlier in the year. I did a serious double take. It was an import from China in a town without WiFi. But widespread WiFi, perhaps, isn’t all that far off either.
Burma, because of its abysmal 20th century communication infrastructure, has the chance to jump ahead to some 21st century alternatives if there is the stomach for the risk.
I’d suggest this is especially likely when there are, ├а la Thaksin, simply mountains of kyat to be made.
Best wishes to all,
Nich
Mobile telephony in Burma
“The reality is that the current Burmese elite view telecom development as just another way to enrich themselves whilst giving the side benefit of presenting a facade of modern technological progress.”
Pretty damning encompassing accusation. To be fair, do agree. However this is just 1/2 of the truth.
The other half not mentioned for obvious reason being:
During the same time that Thailand embark on establishing present Telecom system, Myanmar was being wreck by the power struggle b/t the elected and this present entity.
Subsequently, suffer the worst form of useless careless punishment, sanctions, that make any chance of development moot.
Unless you are connected like Tay Za et al.
Self enrichment and control now go hand in hand. Honed to perfection, thanks to the isolation similar to N Korea.
So please, Peter S do not mention this despicable result and discouraging future without alluding to the ultimate evil that promoted this condition: The unwarranted on going SANCTION.
Plane audacity in Thai dispute
c221
“….does a minister in a care taker government have the authority to order payment?”
Given the timing and who’s involved, I think a more relevant question is whether the incoming government would see fit to cancel it. I doubt it.
Mobile telephony in Burma
I must self-correct myself. “The “distribution” of handsets described amounts to perhaps 10% growth p.a.” Wrong. When I reread the article I realise that these numbers would push penetration rates up to about 10% this year and to perhaps 50% by 2015. That would be significant growth.
I remain very skeptical that MPT could deliver the infrastructure necessary to support this and that we are about to have a situation where “cheap mobile phone calls are available to the bulk of the country’s people”
Taking photos in Burma
A picture does paint a thousand words.
The on going induced suffering by nature as well as manufactured is neither beautiful nor useful unless one use them to promote or rather diminish the suffers’ plight.
So far most available photo published by western media as well as expat promote NOTHING to suggest such.