Like in the case of the NIDA conference some months ago, sufficiency economy can obviously only be realized in a 5-star hotel. A special feature of Thammasat-organized conferences (such as this one and the Thai studies conference) is their racist admission fee policy.
My name is Colum and I don’t know much hence ‘Grasshopper’. But I do think, and if this is ‘standard journalist practice’ then there is a big problem with journalism!
I also think that if you call for liberty for Burma you cannot deny your belief to China by denouncing them as treacherous. Of course you may not have intended it this way, but this is how you wrote it. Much the same as ‘fires are raging in Southern California’ got my hopes up.
Has anyone of you (those residing in Thailand) ever asked your house boys or maids why they sell their votes when they return to their villages every election?
Come election time the village kamnans call in every eligible village voter and dutifully because of village or family pressure, these lambs from Bangkok and other cities return to vote the kamnan’s candidate of choice.
“Take the money and run, or vote the other way” I stupidly suggest. “And get killed for the Baht 400 to vote kamnan’s choice . . . never!” the intelligent reply.
If not intimidated, then the village peer pressure is enough to discourage the lambs from straying, or, as Nicolas Farrely is hoping, from ratting.
The only way to catch the vote buyers, and, vote sellers, is to entrap them and NOT for the Baht 20K or Baht 200K reward either, but to politically discredit opposing parties.
Now Srithanonchai, do you still think Thai democracy should be emulated by Germany or U.K.?
Purely from the consumer’s sense, the surge of Chinese fruits imports clearly kept prices of Thai fruits from going up. According to my wife, nearly every fruit, Chinese or Thai, are priced at Baht 25/kilo and Chinese apples (crunchy sweet too!) are even cheaper than Thai bananas or papayas.
What I would like to know is whether the trade pact with China had any favorable impact on certain fruits (like durians, mangosteens or rambutans) going from Thailand to China. Only by looking at how the trade traffic went both ways Thailand to China and vice-versa, can we begin to appreciate whether the Thailand-China Agricultural Trade Agreement had been favorably one-way China’s way.
Thai fruit farmers will have to learn how to compete and adapt . . . or they could unite the French way and block any agricultural import that would threaten their farm income and China is their Big Enemy, anyone can see that.
In Thailand, they do not switch parties, actually. They switch party labels and personal allegiances. If Siripan’s statement is true, then the degree of democraticness of Thailand is very high, while that of Germany or the UK is very low.
“…party switching is integral to the democratic system and should not be seen as pathological” (Siripan Nogsuan Sawasdee, Thai Poltical Parties in an Age of Reform, Dec 2006, p. 107)
“…do they really need 10 month of ‘investigation’ to figure out ?”
One of ThaiCrisis’s postings above implies that cabinet ministers themselves (Aree) didn’t know of these regulations as far back as when they were serving in the Thaksin administration.
How much effort does it take to dig up the data and the regulations and then connect the two?
Computers can do this sort of thing rapidly, perhaps not government committees.
They should have just ***put all the info online and then bloggers like ThaiCrisis above could connect the dots***, speeding up the process.
[Note: Bloggers were a major source uncovering the politically motivated US Attorney firings that led eventually to the recent US Attorney generals resignation.]
… and to answer your question: no, there will be no reason to steal. I don’t know why you need to mention royalty AND academics — aren’t they the same? Other than this you have described utopia!
Ahhh Srithanonchai who envies the rank . . given me not for valor nor selfless heroics but for pissing off some forgotten pro-Thaksin blogger.
What dishonorary title I have earned via coup will also forthwith be not so easily given up. If I commit more dishonors is only because a General’s cap better suits me.
“Interestingly, after the coup, The Nation could have actually reported how Thaksin suppressed the media when he was in power…” >> During the Thaksin government, I once attended a panel of Suranand Vejjajiva and The Nation’s Panya at the FCCT. When it came to the issue of media suppression, Suranand turned to Panya and asked him, “Do you feel threatened by me?” Panya’s answer: “No.” Was he so utterly horrified by Suranand as a representative of the tyrannical Thaksin system that he just did not dare saying anything more? But then Panya must have felt liberated by the coup and put everything on paper for the public to read in detail. As Tosakan says: nothing.
I am Thai and have read the book for free in a book store in the US.
Based on the claims and info in the book, the book talks about rumours rather than well-researched info.
Personally, I love HM the king Bhumibol as much as most thais do or more. Respects of the Thai towards the King does not hold back democracy development in Thailand, if that is the concern here.
Thaksin (the worst prime minister of thailand 🙂 ) had been protested by hundreds of thousands of Thais on street for more than 6 months. How could a prime minister changed the laws or used internal information in his favour ???? It did not happen once. It happened many times. I am a citizen of Thailand. I did not allow that but we couldn’t touch Thaksin … why …?? Because of the election, Thaksin could win any election because he could buy politicians. This is the real issue of destroying democratic system in Thailand. !!!
Jeru, “casting the first stone” is not merely a physical exercise in which only the arm and some nerves are involved. Also, casting the first stone is not really a value in itself. What, is Col. the lowest rank already?
BTW Grasshopper and Srithanonchai some food (other than grass) for thought: If we remove every Thai businessman from the Thai economy and leave only royalties, military soldiers, politicians, the rurally constipated, academics and the scholarly (like Grasshopper and Srithanonchai), will there be anything to steal from the Thai people?
Grasshopper I didn’t say I am fully-versed with Thai business. You and Srithanonchai both did . . . or how else could you both arrive at that sweeping statement ” that every business person operating in Thailand stole his or her money from the Thai people…”. Or maybe just too much grass consumed the Grasshopper’s brains?
There. Now Thepchai does need to write another thing all year.
But as the two comments above touch on, it is the elite who condemn bad politicians and the elite that does nothing whatsoever to fix the problem.
A perfect analogy is the Bangkok bus system. In the early 1990s, the government pushed the BMTA to privatize. The BMTA cleverly dodged this by agreeing to privatize half the fleet as a test. They then proceeded to put everything bad in the private part and everything odd in the public part. Voila! Privatization failed.
Flash forward to now. The elite condemns politicians, then passed a constitution that rolls back all of the steps of the ten years to improve politics. The elite intentionally created an environment in which politicians will fail.
Thepchai is playing his role nicely. His masters will be pleased.
(Gasp)…There was corruption, vote-buying, buying of politician, barter of minister seat, illegal, etc etc before TRT came to power?… (Shock! Horror!!!)
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Sufficiency economy conference in Bangkok
Like in the case of the NIDA conference some months ago, sufficiency economy can obviously only be realized in a 5-star hotel. A special feature of Thammasat-organized conferences (such as this one and the Thai studies conference) is their racist admission fee policy.
Finding out about Burma
Kyi May Kaung,
My name is Colum and I don’t know much hence ‘Grasshopper’. But I do think, and if this is ‘standard journalist practice’ then there is a big problem with journalism!
I also think that if you call for liberty for Burma you cannot deny your belief to China by denouncing them as treacherous. Of course you may not have intended it this way, but this is how you wrote it. Much the same as ‘fires are raging in Southern California’ got my hopes up.
Maybe I should learn to read between the lines?…
Getting rich from vote-buying
Has anyone of you (those residing in Thailand) ever asked your house boys or maids why they sell their votes when they return to their villages every election?
Come election time the village kamnans call in every eligible village voter and dutifully because of village or family pressure, these lambs from Bangkok and other cities return to vote the kamnan’s candidate of choice.
“Take the money and run, or vote the other way” I stupidly suggest. “And get killed for the Baht 400 to vote kamnan’s choice . . . never!” the intelligent reply.
If not intimidated, then the village peer pressure is enough to discourage the lambs from straying, or, as Nicolas Farrely is hoping, from ratting.
The only way to catch the vote buyers, and, vote sellers, is to entrap them and NOT for the Baht 20K or Baht 200K reward either, but to politically discredit opposing parties.
Now Srithanonchai, do you still think Thai democracy should be emulated by Germany or U.K.?
A flood of Chinese garlic?
Purely from the consumer’s sense, the surge of Chinese fruits imports clearly kept prices of Thai fruits from going up. According to my wife, nearly every fruit, Chinese or Thai, are priced at Baht 25/kilo and Chinese apples (crunchy sweet too!) are even cheaper than Thai bananas or papayas.
What I would like to know is whether the trade pact with China had any favorable impact on certain fruits (like durians, mangosteens or rambutans) going from Thailand to China. Only by looking at how the trade traffic went both ways Thailand to China and vice-versa, can we begin to appreciate whether the Thailand-China Agricultural Trade Agreement had been favorably one-way China’s way.
Thai fruit farmers will have to learn how to compete and adapt . . . or they could unite the French way and block any agricultural import that would threaten their farm income and China is their Big Enemy, anyone can see that.
Some thoughts on the political crisis in Thailand
[…] readers may recall that Andrew Walker “was a beneficiary of Thaksin’s munificence before the 2005 election, […]
Thepchai Yong on normality in Thai politics
In Thailand, they do not switch parties, actually. They switch party labels and personal allegiances. If Siripan’s statement is true, then the degree of democraticness of Thailand is very high, while that of Germany or the UK is very low.
Thepchai Yong on normality in Thai politics
“…party switching is integral to the democratic system and should not be seen as pathological” (Siripan Nogsuan Sawasdee, Thai Poltical Parties in an Age of Reform, Dec 2006, p. 107)
This statement is followed by almost an exact description and explanation of what was news last week, citing a paper from
The Party Switching Research Group:
http://faculty.virginia.edu/partyswitching/papers.html
Nine good men and true
“…do they really need 10 month of ‘investigation’ to figure out ?”
One of ThaiCrisis’s postings above implies that cabinet ministers themselves (Aree) didn’t know of these regulations as far back as when they were serving in the Thaksin administration.
How much effort does it take to dig up the data and the regulations and then connect the two?
Computers can do this sort of thing rapidly, perhaps not government committees.
They should have just ***put all the info online and then bloggers like ThaiCrisis above could connect the dots***, speeding up the process.
[Note: Bloggers were a major source uncovering the politically motivated US Attorney firings that led eventually to the recent US Attorney generals resignation.]
Corruption in Thailand
… and to answer your question: no, there will be no reason to steal. I don’t know why you need to mention royalty AND academics — aren’t they the same? Other than this you have described utopia!
Corruption in Thailand
jeru, for your benefit I provide you with some links:
http://m-w.com/dictionary/sarcasm
http://m-w.com/dictionary/cynical
http://m-w.com/dictionary/irony
http://www.thai2english.com/dictionary/facetious+
Corruption in Thailand
Ahhh Srithanonchai who envies the rank . . given me not for valor nor selfless heroics but for pissing off some forgotten pro-Thaksin blogger.
What dishonorary title I have earned via coup will also forthwith be not so easily given up. If I commit more dishonors is only because a General’s cap better suits me.
Corruption in Thailand
Co. Jeru: You must be on grass — otherwise how can you come up with this sort of grassed statements?
Thepchai Yong on normality in Thai politics
“Interestingly, after the coup, The Nation could have actually reported how Thaksin suppressed the media when he was in power…” >> During the Thaksin government, I once attended a panel of Suranand Vejjajiva and The Nation’s Panya at the FCCT. When it came to the issue of media suppression, Suranand turned to Panya and asked him, “Do you feel threatened by me?” Panya’s answer: “No.” Was he so utterly horrified by Suranand as a representative of the tyrannical Thaksin system that he just did not dare saying anything more? But then Panya must have felt liberated by the coup and put everything on paper for the public to read in detail. As Tosakan says: nothing.
The King Never Smiles?
I am Thai and have read the book for free in a book store in the US.
Based on the claims and info in the book, the book talks about rumours rather than well-researched info.
Personally, I love HM the king Bhumibol as much as most thais do or more. Respects of the Thai towards the King does not hold back democracy development in Thailand, if that is the concern here.
Thaksin (the worst prime minister of thailand 🙂 ) had been protested by hundreds of thousands of Thais on street for more than 6 months. How could a prime minister changed the laws or used internal information in his favour ???? It did not happen once. It happened many times. I am a citizen of Thailand. I did not allow that but we couldn’t touch Thaksin … why …?? Because of the election, Thaksin could win any election because he could buy politicians. This is the real issue of destroying democratic system in Thailand. !!!
Corruption in Thailand
Jeru, “casting the first stone” is not merely a physical exercise in which only the arm and some nerves are involved. Also, casting the first stone is not really a value in itself. What, is Col. the lowest rank already?
Corruption in Thailand
BTW Grasshopper and Srithanonchai some food (other than grass) for thought: If we remove every Thai businessman from the Thai economy and leave only royalties, military soldiers, politicians, the rurally constipated, academics and the scholarly (like Grasshopper and Srithanonchai), will there be anything to steal from the Thai people?
Corruption in Thailand
Grasshopper I didn’t say I am fully-versed with Thai business. You and Srithanonchai both did . . . or how else could you both arrive at that sweeping statement ” that every business person operating in Thailand stole his or her money from the Thai people…”. Or maybe just too much grass consumed the Grasshopper’s brains?
Thepchai Yong on normality in Thai politics
Politicians good
Bureaucrats good
There. Now Thepchai does need to write another thing all year.
But as the two comments above touch on, it is the elite who condemn bad politicians and the elite that does nothing whatsoever to fix the problem.
A perfect analogy is the Bangkok bus system. In the early 1990s, the government pushed the BMTA to privatize. The BMTA cleverly dodged this by agreeing to privatize half the fleet as a test. They then proceeded to put everything bad in the private part and everything odd in the public part. Voila! Privatization failed.
Flash forward to now. The elite condemns politicians, then passed a constitution that rolls back all of the steps of the ten years to improve politics. The elite intentionally created an environment in which politicians will fail.
Thepchai is playing his role nicely. His masters will be pleased.
Thepchai Yong on normality in Thai politics
(Gasp)…There was corruption, vote-buying, buying of politician, barter of minister seat, illegal, etc etc before TRT came to power?… (Shock! Horror!!!)
Contract farming
[…] on my local research I speculate that the overall picture for garlic production may be something like […]