Thaddeus

i can only shake my head! some of you people are really disgusting. there's a poor chap in a coma, double poor because he has no health insurance, and you discuss whether he was drunk, asked for it, deserved it, was disguised as woman...

Maybe to improve young people's thinking and reasoning skills, they should be encouraged to ask questions.

Sent from my shoe phone

tlansford, on Today, 00:30 , said:

I think you are mistaking my comment about the state of democracy here for a partisan argument about my politics. I don't have a vote here & I'm as happy to criticise any party if they are breaching laws that protect normal citizens and the stability of the nation. Thailand does not & has never had a fully functioning democracy. I felt that there were hopeful green-shoots signs a few times over the years, but now I think we can start talking about autocracy under this regime.
I meant that all the pieces are here for a democracy, freedom of information and communication between citizens using print and digital, a voting system, police force, votes for women, etc. Why it is fledgling is because it is lawless and unregulated & the democratic process is currently hamstrung by this criminal leviathan who keeps surfacing from the depths to take bites out of the social fund.
I used the word fledgling democracy as it is commonly used, to describe the "baby steps" of a democracy that is yet to find its stable footing and walk on. The UK is not a perfect nation, but their long-established democracy and leaders are  legally accountable and closely monitored by independant agencies. In the UK terminally ill people are not left out in the street to die, because of the NHS which protects the poor along democratic principles. Closing the NHS would be political suicide for anyone in a democracy, but for a dictator it would be a mere signature over his morning coffee.
This is the best hope & raison d'etre of democracy, it is not just about having a vote, it is literally the process of accountability, leaders have to stay within an acceptable radius of behaviour to get re-elected & to not get imprisoned. Democracy combined with free media is a social tool for normal people to keep the leaders on a choker-leash. Thailand does not have democracy for this reason.
This regime / familial crime oligarchy are basically wasting national funds and crucial time, to pass laws that pardon their friends, families and hired thugs for all crimes committed, while shelving the important & essential infrastructure-building work, but can still find time to fly overseas and whip-up a spicy salad for photo-shoots.

Maybe not really on topic, but personally I think we have a democracy still in it's infancy and figures who show dictatorial streaks stunting it's growth. That covers both 'interesting' figures like k. Thaksin and General Sonthi. IMHO

A guilty person who is wasting this much money, time, and human lives, just to clear his own tarnished name, is  an arrogant and unrepentant wastrel.  A guilty person who commits these actions at state-level in a poor developing-world nation that is socially and economically fragile at this time, is an uncaring despot.
He could have walked away with his stolen money & lived out his days in the type of luxury that most people can not even dream of, yet he hovers vulture-like over this nation, fermenting divisions, unbalancing people's lives, and uprooting the first green shoots of a fledgling democracy.

Time to start jailing people for electoral fraud instead.

samsiam, on 2012-05-26 11:02:06, said:

Err, yes. Is this a trick question?

Thaddeus, on Yesterday, 09:21 , said:

They'll no doubt throw in a few token whitewashes for some on the other side to keep them quiet and make it appear like it is all part of some grand and noble reconciliation plan.

whybother, on Yesterday, 09:35 , said:

A law can be applied proportionally to degree of responsibility and participation, but should be applied to all. Even if it was merely a reprimand for civil disobedience, the message that this was NOT the right thing to do has to be proclaimed.

geriatrickid, on Yesterday, 08:27 , said:

It attracted your comment, GK, so that's not such a bad start for the anti-yellow faction. Quit your bitchin'.

bigbamboo, on 2012-05-26 21:28:11, said:

while similar...


this is very, very different...


the latter Big Brother doesn't have mustache.

,

Maybe you should get your writing abilities up to par before you comment on another person's effort.   "More", in your usage, is comparative. You didn't compare it to anything. You should have written "more than enough" or simply "enough", as I have indicated in parenthesis.

Thanks for your time.




good to see yet another "qualified" teacher  got a job yet?




Perhaps we should not be surprised by how often smart-arses fall flat on their faces.

Apparently the OP has drawn conclusions about Isan based on his visit to one village?  Something to consider is the difference from one village to the next, village vs city, and city vs city.

I just moved .. from a village to one of the largest cities in Isan. It is waaaaaaay different!

In my/our (in-law) clan, everyone works except my 80 year old MIL and my wife (and me, of course).  Only a few drink alcohol and then normally on occasions.  Everyone's house has air con in bed rooms. Only one divorce in the group (woman unable to bear children).

We have nurses, farmers, police, business folks, government workers, computer programmers, a uni professor and ... lazy me. And yep, they are all Isan folks .. except one Thai-Chinese husband by marriage .. and me, of course. Every nephew and niece I have met has been either frightened of me (the kids) or very cordial. Fortunately, the kids are starting to come out of hiding.

I would guess everyone's Isan is a bit different, don't you think?

NCFC, on 2012-05-26 12:35:20, said:

You should be aware that sarcasm gets lost in the written form.

jayboy, on 2012-05-26 12:35:46, said:

I was referring to New-speak, and institutions whose titles are opposite of the real interests. We have the red horde ranting about democracy and double standards with no apparent understanding of the terms, a Truth and Reconciliation Committee which apparently seeks neither, a DSI which hides crimes, a Foreign Minister appointed to be the servant of a criminal citizen, criminals appointed as MPs while the DSI fails to investigate their crimes, a fugitive criminal who is not even a member of the governing party appointing ministers while his sister performs a charade, and now a law to make any criminal behaviour legal if it can be portrayed as political.
Next will be a constitution change to make treason rewardable.  

Actually Orwell never went that far, it would have made his story too incredible.