16 replies to this topic

[Snowy]

Thai shares dip amid coup rumours

Thailand's stock market has fallen for the fifth trading day in a row, amid ongoing anti-government demonstrations and rumours of a military coup.

Activists accuse PM Samak Sundaravej of changing the constitution to protect his predecessor Thaksin Shinawatra.

Army chief Gen Anupong Paochinda said the military would not intervene in the dispute and denied rumours a repeat of the 2006 coup was imminent. The army would "not use force against the people," his spokeswoman said.

Shaky investor confidence

But investor confidence remained shaky and the Bangkok stock exchange dipped 2.8%, adding to the 4.8% fall it suffered last week in its biggest weekly decline since just before the last coup. Finance Minister Suraphong Suebwonglee told reporters: "I have to admit that the problems over the past week have affected confidence."

Full article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7431138.stm

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Maybe this is also why the Thai Baht is on a downward slide on the currency exchanges? -- (Long may it continue, my next visit to LOS is days away!! )

[mauRICE]

Exactly. The more the Thais fuck themselves up, the better it is for old hands like us. Coups may deter first-time visitors but they don't bother us as much, as long as they're not violent. Have a good trip, Snowy.

Long live the King! Hail to the nobles.

[Snowy]

Have a good trip, Snowy.

Long live the King! Hail to the nobles.

Thank you kind Sir !

Rule Britannia!!

[mauRICE]

Hehehe...just don't get caught in Sunee Plaza. I would hate to have to do a cut n paste on you here (but I'd still do it!).

The coup rumours seem to have quieten down. No worries, I'm sure they'll think of some other way to screw themselves up. I have full confidence in the Thais. Long live the status quo!

[Snowy]

Hehehe...just don't get caught in Sunee Plaza. I would hate to have to do a cut n paste on you here (but I'd still do it!).

If you read my record of posts you will see that there is virtually no chance of me being seen, never mind caught, in Sunee Plaza. I have no interest at all in under-age kids or watching the lechers and perverts who prey upon them.

The only time I go to that area now is to visit the Thais4life bookshop. I used to go to visit a farang friend who had a condo in Soi Yensbai but he moved to BKK 18 months ago.

[mauRICE]

If you read my record of posts you will see that there is virtually no chance of me being seen, never mind caught, in Sunee Plaza. I have no interest at all in under-age kids or watching the lechers and perverts who prey upon them.

I believe when the little ones are actively soliciting, the "lechers" and "perverts" who purchase their services are opportunists, not predators. A Sydney judge made the distinction recently in a case involving a school girl who went out of her way to seduce her teacher until he succumbed. Not on all fours with with the typical Sunee case, of course, but it did make me think a bit. Pattaya is a hooker Disneyland and in Sunee Mountain, where the kids ARE the ride, surely the degree of culpability should be less? Unfortunately, NGOs and international law enforcement agencies tend to focus on the actions of the foreign individual instead of the institutionalised underage prostitution prevalent in Thailand that is largely geared towards the local market. This is exactly the kind of diversion that the Thais want.

You also brought up an interesting point about being seen in such places. I used to go to the cluster of gay bars directly behind the car park of D2 Hotel at the night baazar in Chiang Mai. I have stopped going because of the bar owners' lackadaisical attitude towards underage presence. The little freelancers are not there all the time but they do appear every now and again. I've asked these boys how old they were and "sip saam, sip sii, sip haa" came the reply. Can you imagine being photographed sitting next to a perv canoodling with a thirteen-year-old? It'll be all over the Internet in a matter of hours and all it takes is a cheap phone cam. I won't risk my name and future this way and won't support businesses which tacitly benefit from underage prostitution regardless of how hospitable they have been to me.

[Snowy]

I believe when the little ones are willing, or more specifically, actively soliciting, the "lechers" and "perverts" who purchase their services are opportunists, not predators..........Pattaya is a hooker Disneyland and in Sunee Mountain, where the kids ARE the ride, surely the degree of culpability should be less? Unfortunately, NGOs and international law enforcement agencies tend to focus on the actions of the foreign individual instead of the institutionalised underage prostitution prevalent in Thailand that is largely geared towards the local market. This is exactly the kind of diversion that the Thais want.

Sorry, we will have to disagree mauRICE. Just because Pattaya is SIN City and lives mainly on the profits from booze and debauchery is no reason to even contemplate that the lechers and perverts are any less culpable for preying on under-age kids.

If the pedos did not visit or live there the kids would not be drawn to notorious places like Sunee Plaza in the hope of making money they could otherwise only dream of making anywhere else at their age.

My stance on this issue is well recorded here and this is my final comment otherwise this thread will again turn into another slanging match and bitch fest with anyone writing detrimental remarks about pedo activities being accused of hidden motives and tendencies - the usual method the pedos and their closet followers use to try to divert attention from themselves.

[mauRICE]

Sorry, we will have to disagree mauRICE. Just because Pattaya is SIN City and lives mainly on the profits from booze and debauchery is no reason to even contemplate that the lechers and perverts are any less culpable for preying on under-age kids.

If the pedos did not visit or live there the kids would not be drawn to notorious places like Sunee Plaza in the hope of making money they could otherwise only dream of making anywhere else at their age.

Perhaps I expressed what I wanted to say poorly. Are they preying on these kids ie do they actively seek, connive, scheme to lure these kids to their dens of inequity or are they merely being opportunistic by partaking of what's already and easily available? We are not talking about sweet Mr John seducing little Tommy with a popsickle as he is walking home from school - THAT would be predatory. Did the pervs turn Sunee into what it is or was it Sunee that drew the pervs in? And it's not just limited to Sunee but everywhere in Thailand. All you have to do is signal an interest and they will tell you where to go. What I'm saying is that the people behind Sunee and all the other "Sunees" in Thailand, and this includes bar owners, the municipality, the police, greedy Thai parents and the Buddhist temple just around the corner, are just as culpable if not more so.

[Bob]

Are they preying on these kids ie do they actively seek, connive, scheme to lure these kids to their dens of inequity or are they merely being opportunistic by partaking of what's already and easily available?

Although maybe I'm dense enough not to get your point, what I perceive to be your point or comment is rather bizarre/disgusting to me. Somehow there's an ethical/moral difference between a 60 year old man nailing a 12-year-old kid "available" in a bar versus the 60-year-old nailing a 12-year-old kid on his way home from sunday school? I see none. I'm hoping I just didn't understand the point you were trying to make.

[luvthai]

I think the point he was trying to make is that these street kids are out actively pursuing these guys. They know what they are doing and are not innocent sunday school boys being seduced. These boys are feeding their families as well as themselves. The comment by the police chief following the latest arrest (which was that he knows the kids are doing it to feed themselves) seems to bring to light the sad state of affairs which puts these kids on the street. Its not right by any means but as long as there is hunger this will occur.

[Bob]

They know what they are doing and are not innocent sunday school boys being seduced.

Well, I can agree with that provided one understands what a 12-year-old can know. But, just because circumstances put them there doesn't mean they're guilty of anything (and/or any less "innocent" than the sunday school kid) and, of course, an adult's sexual behavior toward them is no less unethical or criminal just because it's a "street kid" involved.
Societies throughout the world don't let 12-year-old's drive or let adults diddle them for very good reasons.

[mauRICE]

Although maybe I'm dense enough not to get your point, what I perceive to be your point or comment is rather bizarre/disgusting to me. Somehow there's an ethical/moral difference between a 60 year old man nailing a 12-year-old kid "available" in a bar versus the 60-year-old nailing a 12-year-old kid on his way home from sunday school? I see none. I'm hoping I just didn't understand the point you were trying to make.

I think to a lot of people, be they in Chiang Mai or Podunk, Michigan, a 60-year-old man nailing a boy young enough to be his son or grandson is "bizarre/disgusting".

My comments are confined to organised underage prostitution, not street urchins, although I would venture that the people responsible for putting these boys on the stage or on the street are the same (see above).

An adult having sex with an underage person is equally reprehensible, whether the underage person was lured off the track on his way home from school or procured from a go-go stage. While in the former situation, the adult is clearly predatory and therefore solely responsible for his actions, in the latter case, there is a whole group of other people who are equally responsible for getting that boy up on that stage in the first place, for presenting that sick adult with an easy opportunity. These people should be punished just as harshly, if not more so. Ideally, we should go to the root of the problem and eradicate it but TIT.

[Bob]

Thanks for the clarification, maurice, guess we're both on the same page after all.

Now, as to Podunk, I'm not from there but, perhaps, I'm from a suburb of it.....(btw, there are actually two Podunks in Michigan....)

[gwm4asian]

Societies throughout the world don't let 12-year-old's drive.

Thailand being the exception. I remember recently being up in far Issan driving past a school when it was time for the kids to go home. Out from the school gates came a swarm, seemingly never ending, of motorbikes with 3, or 4 or more kids on each bike, not a crash helemt between them, and some looked very young, not even 12

[luvthai]

Societies thru out the world do try 12 year olds as adults if they pull the trigger of a gun and kill someone. Using the logic if they are old enough to pull the trigger at 12 years of age then they should also be old enough to drop their pants. Just food for thought. Rape tho is never ever acceptable at any age.

[Bob]

In my view, Oogie, the Thai government is inept and corrupt; that being said, the PAD group (especially it's leader) is even worse. Why Sondhi Limingkul (probably spelled wrong) thinks he can bring down a government with his accusations is beyond me. The guy is a corrupt fool but he did get back at his arch-enemey Shinawatra with the same tactics.

Will there be a coup? I don't know. Will it really matter? Probably not (and that, from this falang's point of view, is what's really sad about the state of politics and culture in Thailand).

[Hedda]

Will there be a coup? I don't know. Will it really matter? Probably not (and that, from this falang's point of view, is what's really sad about the state of politics and culture in Thailand).

I suspect that Khun Thaksin is betting that the Thais will conclude in the end that neither the Army, who ran the coup that couldn't, nor the incompetent clowns, who have been picked to run the new government since then, are any alternative to his return to power. After all, if they are all corrupt, then why not put into power a government which is at least perceived to be competent to run the government and economy, albeit corruptly ?