In case those who live in Thailand have not noticed - things are pretty quiet. Yes - it is the low season but it is also the fact that less people are coming to Thailand. No this is not a bitch about the bar business or a low season post - just calling it as I see it. Like I have always said about Thailand, the government, or should we say the lack thereof tends to make the situation worse than it needs to be. I have a few examples but have some other business to attend to first.
Looks like pmmp is on to something with the Mango Game Show - check this:
http://www.juicemag.co.uk/spot-the-ladyboy
More party announcements soon but it will happen. Thanks to Jase for pointing out the significance of the date.
Also stay tuned for some revamping of the blog - think unification. Damn I’m excited.
I am sure I am not the only one but chasing normal Thai tail has reminded me all about blue balls.
Seems the Thaksin saga came to a boil today - anyone think this will actually happen?
The Criminal Court hands down a guilty verdict on the tax evasion case involving Khunyin Pojaman Shinawatra and two fellow defendants.
The court sentences Pojaman and her brother Bhanapot Damapong to serve three years in jail. Two years for the charges relating to the conspiracy to evade tax. One year for giving falsified statements.
Loving Notthenation - this Obama article is so funny. Yes folks - when it comes to politics I make fun of them all - not just McCain:
Speaking to a vast and enthusiastic crowd in a park at the center of Berlin on Thursday, Senator Barack Obama delivered a stirring call for greater cooperation between the United States and Europe in facing what he called “challenges tomorrow stand up can face.”
For a comparison of this to things here in Thailand - check this out. 
This is one for the Aussies out there - can u say what the fuck? I can - many times.
MUSIC fans might soon have their iPods searched by Customs officers at airport checks and face jail if a large amount of pirated music is found on them.
Let me just ask the obvious here - how do they know I am carrying pirated music or not? Okay I get it when u guys don’t want me taking in that weird fruit I picked up off the street in Hong Kong but now Australia is going to check my iPod? I hope this is a big piss take.
Back to the bullets. Thailand has this amazing way of shooting themselves in the foot at the worst possible moment. Business is down all over Thailand, inflation is way up, investment in new businesses is down and wages are stagnant - so what better time to enact new draconian labor laws. My guess is these were being worked on 2 years ago and now they are going to kick in just when they are going to hurt the most. This info is from a lawyer of ours.
Here is an image showing the chart of the old laws versus the new ones:
This is a prime example of what happens when the government is too busy trying to defend themselves versus taking care of the real business at hand. In this current economic environment one would think you would just put stuff like this on hold since doing anything that discourages businesses to grow versus promoting businesses would be a huge mistake. Baffling.
Hoping to actually get out this weekend - maybe possibly. We are brewing some ideas for how to bring back the weekly - if anyone is interested in taking it on once a month please let us know. A possible mango weekly team effort is on the table.
carry on…
Yeah, I got 14 of 20. So perhaps 40% of the time I’m not shagging a women? uh oh.
View all comments by The Ghost
My Mrswent to give notice on our apartment today which we have rented for two years. Waterford park has always been popular cause its so cheap and a reasonable location. The boss lady Em begged her not to leave as 11 others flats were also being vacated this month. Are the expats legging it?
View all comments by flangrakthail
From a legal point of view the labor laws you reference are not so bad from an employer’s point of view. A lawyer’s take and a business owners take, I’m sure, will vary widely. The biggest hit (financially) I would say would be in #6 depending on the definition of ‘relocation’. #3-5 seem like common sense and prevents predetory employers from taking advantage of unskilled, uneducated employeees. The most controversial, in my opinion, is #2. This is creating a new type of ‘agency’ relationship that, to me, is too broad and creates an unnessary burden on employers who use sub-contractors especially when the principal usually has no control over the outsoucred employees.
Hopefully, you get a chance to go out this weekend.
Cheers
View all comments by bkk22
Thanks for the mention - It’s much appreciated.
View all comments by Juice Mag
18 out of 20. That will help me sleep better at night.
View all comments by bkk22
@ Smitty re Aussie iPirates. No pisstake unfortunately. At our last election the Taliban was voted in. You can’t drink, smoke or swear here anymore. Everyone is now subjected to a mandatory iPod and anal cavity search at Customs. Least that’s what they told me on my arrival back here on Sunday.
View all comments by rootrat
Surely one of the attractions of Bangkok is having the dirt poor run around being all servile in exchange for a bit more dirt. What’s the world coming to? Are the women going to get fat, display feminist tendancies and start turning us down?
View all comments by doctorbond
*tendencies* doc, not “tendancies” - sharpen up
View all comments by Times Literary Critic
Thaksins wife just got three years…
View all comments by Milo
*sigh* 15 out of 20.
but, damn, seriously, some of those pictures aren’t exactly great for comparison…i know, i’m rationalizing…but really, in all my adventures in thailand i never took a ladyboy…
…really…
-myrth
View all comments by myrth
18 out of 20. Now call me an “advanced user”
View all comments by Suk Psycho
It really depends on how you erred. I only got 13/20, but I can still sleep well b/c I thought they were all ladyboys. Better safe than sorry.
Anyone remember the Saturday Night Live episode with Charles Barkley and Nirvana(!) with a similar game show?
View all comments by fender
Woohoo, 17/20! I’m much better at spotting Western ladyboys. I guess I learned something in my seven years in San Francisco.
Now I just need to work on my Asian ladyboy radar.
On parties:
Only a few more days until I arrive in Bangkok. If scheduling allows, I may stop by the BM on 8-8-8.
On the political front:
Today’s news in the US is talking about how the Republicans are trying to portray Obama as a “cooly arrogant” elitist, while McCain is a “down-to-earth American hero”. Must have labels!
View all comments by Twice Shy
Wow… I did better on that quiz than the mango one… 17 of 20.
Missed #6, 7, 11…. Two of them were the Asian ones… dam it!!
I had my ipod search in LAX for pictures… i am so inept at technology i even asked them how i add pictures, the customs guy thought i was kidding
View all comments by GoodLife
Re the IPOD search … it’s only part of the treaty obligations being negotiated at the moment, and guess who is pushing for it ?
The good old USAnian record companies and government…..
It’s been in a couple of media outlets, so perhaps our media “downunder” is just quicker off the mark about these things than other not-to-be-named countries ?
as for the ladyboys, I got 18/20. A couple of times I just went for the ones that did n’t show their adams apple, figured they must be hiding something !
View all comments by Mike
On July 24, 2006, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided that US Customs and Border Patrol Officers had the right to search and seize a person’s laptop computer, computer discs and other electronic media without probable cause when that person arrives in the US from abroad or departs from the US for a foreign country.
I doubt they are looking for pirated music - how are they going to determine it’s illegal? Do I have to carry a receipt? Last time I entered via LAX, they were way more interested in my Camera, Laptop and cell phone camera.
I would suggest getting familiar with TrueCrypt, and keeping some good backups at home.
View all comments by sip
I’m very low technology but how the heck could they tell by looking at your ipod if the music is illegal or not?
View all comments by bkk22
19 out of 20. Whew, I was worry for a second there.
View all comments by Moonman
Looks like another shake-up with Thai Immigration, some sort of plan to issue cards to people deemed not to be a threat, whatever that means, to Thailand, to get through Immigration quicker. If they don’t stop the phony laws
about Frangs, there won’t be any around to issue cards to.
I would like to see a little more of your whats what pictures, need to see some body parts before I vote, not just head shots.
View all comments by The Man
frt - seems apartment could get with the program and realize that if u have supply and less demand - once should lower their rental rent.
bkk22 - I see your point but in this market business owners don’t need any new things piled on them that might raise their costs or make them skittish about growing their employee base. I don’t think these laws pass that test.
jm - we can take that reciprocal link anytime baby.
rr - sounds way fun
milo - I guess my point was do u think she will really serve time? I don’t think she will and the appeals that will allow her to stay out for now are already ongoing.
gl - what were they looking for - porn or underage stuff? what is the rationale?
sip - that is my point. how do they know what is pirated and what is not?
the man - what exactly are you referring to?
View all comments by smitty
15/20, sneaky buggers.
As for the winner of an Ipod law. My understanding is Aussie Customs will check the date of the file upload. So if you get a stack of tunes added while on holiday in Bangers, they can match the dates up to stiff you. Good to see the fight on terrorism is doing well.
View all comments by Tark
@ Smitty: the Immigration stuff bought up by The Man is from a speech by the Immigration chief saying that they are going to refuse entry to all known or suspected pedophiles, are going to keep comprehensive notes of where foreigners live along with satelite pictures of where they live to monitor for irregularities, setting up an ‘informer’ network of informers that will inform immigration of any suspicious foreigners and issuing special cards to foreigners that are deemed to pose no risk to thailand that allow them to pass through immigration more easily.
Always astounds me how they lament the slowly dwindling number of tourists on one hand, but bring in all these Big-Brotheresque controls which IMHO can only make the tourist situation worse.
Not a chance Thaksin’s Missus will stay behind bars - she has too much money and too many connections.
About the whole Ipod thing, I think it’s probably just a load of hot air to scare people out of getting pirated music. Even if they check the upload dates and they match up with the dates you were in Bangers, they have no way to prove wether it’s pirated or wether you just borrowed CDs or legally downloaded a lot of different songs. It’s also really impractical - I know I have something like 2000 songs and for the officers to go through all of them looking for music that might or might not be pirated would be time better spent elsewhere, like looking for drug smugglers. I also have to say that I’ve never ever met a person who doesn’t have at least 1 pirated song on their ipod, so it’s a bit ridiculous.
View all comments by Jase
18-20 beeyotch. test was difficult since a lot of the real women looked a bit on the Rosie O’Donnell side of the spectrum.
I just finished reading an article from msn that said the US will be inspecting electronic devices as well with no need for probable cause. Using the excuse of terrorism has really opened pandoras box in regards to curbing liberty. pretty soon they’ll have to change the pledge of allegiance or at least edit the whole “liberty and justice for all” bit out of it to make things jive with reality. Big brother is now upon us so everyone delete your midget porn and metallica songs along with those plots to blow up the local krispy kreme.
so i guess i better cut my beard and stop wearing my khaffiya and listening to nusrat fatah ali khan.
View all comments by UnCochinoWetback
@ thank you JASE, Smitty with all of the make-up out there I rely on other body parts to check out the lady boys from the girls, like the size of hands, arms, etc, got to check out the whole pkg. Can’t rely on a pretty face.
View all comments by The Man
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ “…I just finished reading an article from msn that said the US will be inspecting electronic devices as well with no need for probable cause. Using the excuse of terrorism…”
For God’s sake, when are people who have no clue what they are talking about going to stop trying to make something out of stories like these to advance their own political points of view?
Probable cause has NEVER been required anywhere for a customs service to conduct a search of people or goods crossing any international border in any country in the world. That probable cause is not required for customs searches has nothing to do with the terrorism, nothing to do with United States, and nothing to do with George Bush. The right of every nation to conduct border searches at their own discretion has been an accepted principle of law everywhere for hundreds of years. It has been universally applied to everyone crossing international borders as long as borders have existed.
View all comments by Old Asia Hand
So Sexual Harrasment should not be prohibited? Erh, what? Does relocation mean inside Thailand or abroad? If it’s a domestic relocation, a rise in salary is stupid. But except this point all other points are good, also under the present econoic situation. You can have fair labor laws and economic growth at the same time - also in Thailand.
The measures that would REALLY curb economic growth are not implemented. These seix labor law changes are no big deal… they are good changes in fact.
View all comments by Phoenix
15 out of 20 at the juice site
View all comments by doctorbond
@ OAH. Yeah, Customs don’t need probable cause to perform a search - no doubt there. Just that it seems to be an abuse of power when the governments controlling them use them as lackeys for corporate interests. I thought customs were supposed to look for drugs, weapons, mohammed sheik kalid stuffed into the false bottom of your suitcase, etc, etc. You know, stuff that represents a real danger to the fabric of that country. Surely a little bit of pirated music doesnt represent this - given no-one actually pays for music anymore.
View all comments by rootrat
..or is it khalid sheik mohammed..ah, who gives a shit. One of those tea-towel wearing sand monkeys. Anyway, I figure the government of any western country could search any house and go through iPods, hard drives, etc and find heaps of pirated shit. But they’d need a warrant (except maybe in France, those cheese-eating surrender monkeys have some wierd laws). Customs represents a convenient opportunity for a search without the hassle of a warrant or any other legal requirement.
View all comments by rootrat
While I am quick to admit that Thailand is screwed up in many ways at least it’s pretty rare to see this type of news in Thailand. Or maybe it’s only in the local Thai Rath paper….
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article4439183.ece
View all comments by jeezo
@jeezo - actually…..read the letter section of the Bangkok Post today about the double murder outside MBK. “People were stepping over the poools of blood as if nothing had happened”. Gotta love the mai pen rai attitude.
View all comments by bkk22
Really - how in the hell will they have the time for these digital searches? US customs is slow enough as it is…
Anyways, its once again a bit of a joke as encryption technology exists that lets you hide it anyway you want. Will the detection of encryption mean further issues?
Where does this end?
View all comments by fugu
17 / 20 ladyboys. Yikes !!!! At least I can spot em
View all comments by Calvin
@smitty… Yes they saw that i was in China, Thailand and Vietnam in the same month so they wanted to make sure there was no illegal pictures on it (i assume underage girls/sex acts).. I was not even carrying a camera at the time.. they never really told me what they constituted illegal so its just an assumption.
Oh on a side note So. Cal (Chino Hills) was hit with a 5.4 earthquake.. damage to a home i have which was 13 miles from epicenter… one picture frame fell… wow should i call the ins co. ooh and we declared, “A state of emergency” - Californication is getting soft it was not even enough of a shake to give me a woody!
View all comments by GoodLife
BKK22,
I read that article- it’s pretty disturbing the way the police handled this.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/010808_News/01Aug2008_news97.php
View all comments by jeezo
@Smitty - what I meant to say is, it’s hard to believe she will serve her time. But if the US can jail Martha Stewart, anything’s possible!
View all comments by Milo
Last time I went through US customs I got a pretty good working over. Guess they could smell the Orchid baby oil. The customs guy seemed really excited that I go to Thailand around March three years in a row (just as the meth harvest comes in, I say to myself). Then he got into my bag and found recipes from the cooking school I attended, programming books, and so on and looked awfully disappointed.
For those of you who cross lots of borders, it’s fairly simple to give yourself both strong encryption and plausible deniability with your ones and zeros.
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/12/how_to_secure_y.html
View all comments by tosh
milo - I don’t think she will serve time nor will thaksin. I think he will continually be banned from politics and the people associated with him will struggle as well. The bigger question is will they get their money returned to me. I think they will not.
That shooting thing is bizarre. sounds like a CIA hit or something more than a local thing. strange.
View all comments by smitty
[quote]
Thaksins wife just got three years…
[/quote]
I’m hoping to spend it with her, she might be a munter but at least she can pay for my beer!
View all comments by Richard Hearne
I am so glad that someone else is willing to spend 3 years with Thaksins wife, the last 3 in England was absolutely awful !!!
Siam Sunshine.
View all comments by Siam Sunshine
Can you imagine Pokemon actually doing the jail time??
Don’t rich people in Thailand have a ‘get out of jail free’ card because they have money? I mean, she’s sure to simply pay someone to go to jail for her, isn’t she?
I’ll be shocked the day she finally ends up actually spending time behind bars. I think she & the hubby are in China for the Olympic Games. Maybe they simply won’t come back….
View all comments by Werewolf
hmmmph! I was trying to be a bit silly and then I found this Bangkok Post article which seriously addresses the question of Thaksin & Pokemon not returning from Bejiing.
http://www.bangkokpost.co.th/topstories/topstories.php?id=129411
View all comments by Werewolf
I dont any of them serve time and I think they will come back because they worry about making the case look worse against them but who knows. With this level of money I think they can pretty much do what they want but maybe this time some form of justice will be served? Either way I assume it plays out over years which is no good for Thailand.
View all comments by sideshowBOB
And now this from the Bangkok Post:
http://www.bangkokpost.co.th/topstories/topstories.php?id=129499
View all comments by Werewolf
Seems to me this is good news. It also shows how guilty he is being he is unwilling to try the legal system out. Some are saying these deal was brokered with the royalty. They gave him his out and he took it and somehow, even the markets agree, this is good for the country.
Interesting times.
View all comments by sideshowBOB