skippy_nl

tragickingdom, on 2012-04-30 11:52:23, said:

Considering who transfered him it's more likely because the alleged  millions in bribes were non-existant, and so didn't come back up the chain of command as expected.

Am I jumping to conclusions (as a Westerner) but some Thais look at killing someone as a matter of fact-- no consequences or conscious of doing wrong????

How about a crack down on stupid officials?!

Mr. Noyes, did you intend to extort money , yes or no!......

Like kids fighting over candy; obviously the Ministry of Agriculture is the hot seat at the moment with so much to be made from mega- projects. Something HAS to be done to stop ministerial positions from being so profitable. Seeing as Thailand practices the death penalty, I'd suggest extending it to extreme cases of corruption at the highest levels. However harsh this may seem, It MAY act as a deterrent to those entering politics for the wrong reasons. We should remember that these people are stealing from millions of people, and destroying lives through their inaction and general incompetence. And what do they get? IMMUNITY. This seems to be acceptable to most people, whereas drug dealers are put to death with no or little complaint from anyone. Something really should change if Thailand is to move onwards and upwards.

To be fair here the second sentence (in bold) says the police are asking the drivers to observe the dress code AND obey traffic laws.  Seems that most posters are getting hung up on the dress code and ignoring the second part.  If indeed the police did make sure the drivers observed traffic laws, then they would be addressing all these items poster are highlighting: gutter crawling, seat belts, illegal stopping, refusing fares (yes it is illegal for a taxi with their "free" light on to refuse a fare).  etc.   I am not expecting that the police will actually enforce all the laws, they never do.  But it unfair for posters to whine about what the police should be doing other than enforce the dress code when the statement clearly says that the police plan to ALSO include the traffic laws.

Of course the taxi are a part of the problem, but the traffic jams are mainly caused by individual cars.
Some thais are so proud to have their own car that they prefer to stay stuck for hours in their cars instead of using public transports.

OzMick, on 2012-01-13 04:29:47, said:

It already happened back in 1972 resulting in the destruction of a CX airliner over Vietnam with all lives lost.Police Lieut Somchai Chaiyasut was accused of using contacts at Don Muang to place a bomb in a Cathay flight to Vietnam.Newspaper reports at the time mention a policeman coming on board before take off and placing a parcel under the seat of Somchai's 20 year old mistress who was accompanying (this is the scarcely believable part) his own 7 year old daughter on a shopping trip.By coincidence Somchai had just taken out large life insurance policies on the soon to be dead couple.After 11 years he was found not gullty by a Thai court - lack of evidence (though most will have a different conclusion).Somchai thereafter fled to the U.S though shortly after died of cancer.

There's reference to all this in the other paper today in an excellent article by Vorani.

meanwhile.... in the Philippines...

This is bit like the guy next door inviting your kids over for a swim in his pool and you being the responsible parent say, "I don't think that is a good idea kids as he keeps his pet piranha in there."   The next thing you know, the guy is banging on your door complaining about the piranha having nothing to eat.