Are you the son of a Wall Street Banker or a Saudi Prince? Have you never done a real day’s work in your life? Do you spend your time traveling the globe looking for entertainment? Have you got more money than sense? Then “Thailand Elite” is just for you.
With Thailand Elite you get flunkies to carry your bags at Bangkok Airport, you get the use of yet another VIP lounge, you get an airport pick up service just like the one at your hotel, and you get a special immigration counter with a subservient officer to process your passport. However, looking at the Thailand Elite web page, it seems that the visas issued by the Thai Government to “Elite” members are just the same as those issued to common, vulgar folk. But what the hell, its only 500,000 to 2,000,000 Baht and people get to see you with all those flunkies. (Editors Note: 2,000,000 Baht will buy you a new three bedroom Western style house in Thailand). The news from the Nation (8 Feb): THAILAND PRIVILEGE Card Co (TPC) has launched four diversified products to lure more wealthy members, aimed at securing more than 600 new members and increasing revenue to Bt1 billion this year. Company president Pruet Boobphakam said TPC would focus on three marketing activities and strategies this year. It will diversify its assets to fulfil the current needs of targeted clients, diversify pricing for each target group of clients to create as many choices as possible, and appoint more sales representatives. The company now is offering the Elite Card in four new categories, in addition to the original four. The new ones are Elite Family Excursion for five years at a cost of Bt800,000, Elite Family Alternative, which is valid for 10 years at a cost of Bt800,000, the 10-year Elite Privilege Access for Bt1 million, and Elite Superiority Extension, which is valid for 20 years at a cost Bt1 million. Pruet said the four new categories of the Thailand Elite Card and renewed marketing strategies would bolster the company’s goal of 10-per-cent revenue growth this year. “TPC is introducing the four new packages in a bid to attract more European-based clients, as they are considered to be among Thailand’s highest-spending visitors. The move is expected to stimulate tourism and lure more international income,” Pruet said. Last year, Thailand Elite Card had a total of 4,037 members. The new members are expected to spend Bt200 million in Thailand this year, Bt300 million in 2018 and Bt400 million in 2019. TPC’s overall income is predicted to reach Bt1 billion this year. The company’s database shows that Elite Card members entered Thailand 14,768 times in the 2016 fiscal year, and are estimated to have contributed more than Bt1.7 billion. The company believes that these high-spending foreigners will indirectly stimulate Thailand’s economy as they will invest in real estate, luxury cars, and infrastructure investment. According to the database, since 2013, Elite Card members travelling to Thailand were 30 to 60 years old, and 80 per cent were male. Previously, there were four Thailand Elite Card categories, one for individuals, one for real-estate networking, the Elite Easy Access card, and a family category. The new categories bring the total to eight. The top 10 sources of Elite Card members visiting Thailand are Britain, China, the United States, France, Japan, Australia, Bangladesh, Russia, Scandinavian countries, Germany and Singapore. TPC recently appointed Henley & Partners Holdings as a concessionaire to market Elite Cards through its portfolios across the world. The company is also adding 38 more individual sales representatives and 21 general sales and services agents. Thailand Privilege Card also offers direct sales through its own staff and website. The company next year will expand its client base by focusing on European and African countries and India, while rolling out in the Asean region including Laos, Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia.
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Thailand is the land of the free. You are free to get high on meth, smash your BMW into eight other cars in the centre of Bangkok, injure three people, get sent to hospital instead of jail (even though you are not injured yourself), and still get a new driving license three months later. Provided, of course, that you are rich, famous and have enormous breast implants.
Private Tye reported on the incident when this “Zombie” driver first came to the attention of the public beyond the social media. Now it appears she is going to get a new driving license. “Zombie” is one of those products of the plastic surgeons art who spend all their time shopping, getting high and wondering around Bangkok’s fashionable bars and clubs. However, she has 250,000 adoring followers on facebook. Looking at the endless selfies on her facebook page you see that not all of her followers are sex starved men, some are girls, presumably Zombie wannabes. Its seems she provides a valuable role model for Thailand’s youth. The report from Khaosod English (6 Feb): Millionaire Pretty’ Who Hit 8 Cars Cleared for New License BANGKOK — Police said Monday they’re not sure why an internet celeb accused of crashing into eight cars while under influence of meth two months ago was allowed to take a test to regain her license to drive. Despite facing a criminal trial for DUI stemming from the November incident, Kritrada “Zomy” Tabtimphol posted a photo of herself sitting for a written driving test on Saturday, which the officers in charge of her case said they were at a loss to explain. “I didn’t think she could do that,” Col. Arkom Chantanalat, chief of Huai Khwang police, said by telephone. “Maybe the Land Transport Department is unaware of information about her case?” Arkom later said he was informed by the department that barring a conviction or special court order, Kritrada was entitled to get a new license. Arkom said his force revoked Kritrada’s driving license after she crashed her BMW into eight cars on Nov. 1 and caused traffic mayhem on Ratchadapisek Road with her erratic behavior. Three people were injured. But Kritrada, who came to fame as a commercial model, or Pretty, posted a photo of her written exam for a new driving license on Saturday. While many comments were posted in support of Kritrada, others chastised her for taking the test while her criminal case is ongoing. Kritrada appeared to have either deleted the photo or made it private by Monday afternoon. She did not respond to a reporter’s messages requesting comment. Arkom, the police station chief, said police and the department don’t share a database of offenders barred from driving due to traffic-related criminal cases. “This is an issue about systems that need improving and linking with each other, and areit’s not updated,” Arkom said. The Nov. 1 crash caught widespread attention particularly because of the bizarre behavior Kritrada exhibited after exiting her vehicle. Not only did she shout there was a bomb in her car, she also prayed and danced when policemen tried to question her. She later fainted at the police station and was taken to a hospital by her family. Lab results sent to police later revealed she was under influence of methamphetamines at the time of the incident, police said. Kritrada was subsequently charged with DUI and other related offenses. She was freed on bail. US Govt Funded NGO finds that all the Free Countries in the World have Military pacts with the USA2/5/2017 Thailand (which means land of the free) is not free at all according to the report of Freedom House. In fact, along with Malaysia, Burma, Cambodia and Laos, it is worse than the Philippines (which is Partly Free, despite the fact that the President openly sanctions extra-judicial killings). Freedom House is not technically part of the US government; but as it is funded by them, nobody would seriously expect their results to be significantly different from what they would be if they were compiled by the state Department or Pentagon. Here are the defense pacts with USA, these match nicely with the Freedom House map of World Freedom: Philippines (mutual pact) Japan (mutual pact) South Korea (mutual pact) AZAC (USA, Australia, New Zealand) NATO (United States, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Greece, Turkey, Germany, Spain, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Albania and Croatia). True believers will say the USA only makes Military Pacts with Free countries. Skeptics will say that their interpretation of Freedom and their fact finding is skewed in favour of the Military Partners of the USA. The Anomaly is Turkey, which is only Partly Free, but a member of NATO. True believers will say this is because of political harassment of opposition members. Skeptics will say that it is because Turkey is moving away from NATO and may be considering alliances with Russia, Iran and China. The Freedom House understanding of “Freedom” is complicated and eclectic. It involves measures for “Political Pluralism and Participation” and “Associational and Organizational Rights”. By contrast the Dictionary Definition is quite straight forward. Wiktionary (the free dictionary) gives us: 1. The state of being free, of not being imprisoned or enslaved. 2. The lack of a specific constraint, or of constraints in general; a state of being free, unconstrained. So, lets look at a map based on the primary dictionary definition. We find that the USA is the least free country in the World; it has both the highest number of prisoners and the highest per capita number of prisoners. This does not help with Thailand much, it also has a high prison population. Despite all this, Freedom House seems to be take seriously, see Prachatai English (3 Feb): Freedom House: Thailand remains “Not Free” country three years in a row Once again, Thailand has been ranked by Freedom House as 'Not Free' due to chronic human rights violations, suppressed freedom of expression and a military-sponsored draft constitution. On 2 February 2017, Freedom House published its annual report titled Freedom in the World 2017: Populists and Autocrats: The Dual Threat to Global Democracy, a review of the freedom situation worldwide. According to the report, 2016 marked the 11th consecutive year of decline in global freedom since it has been threatened by populist and nationalist policies in many countries. Meanwhile, as China and Russia continue to exert a significant influence on their neighboring region, authoritarian ideas appear to be constantly reinforced. The report states that the reason why Thailand remains in the category of ‘Not free’ country is mainly because of the alleged human rights violations and a culture of impunity. It also points out that the ruling junta is responsible for this poor ranking since it rejects any form of criticism against itself and would prosecute anyone who commit such an action. “Thailand’s military junta, which seized power in a 2014 coup, maintained its grip on power by prosecuting even the slightest criticism under an array of restrictive laws. In this constrained atmosphere, voters approved a draft constitution that guaranteed the military outsized influence over civilian politics even after general elections scheduled for 2017,” read the report. This year, Thailand scored six out of seven in the political rights index (one depicts the most free and seven represents the least free) and five out of seven on civil liberties index. Thailand has historically been classified as a “Partly Free” country by the Freedom House. However, as soon as a junta seize the power, Thailand is classified as a ‘Not Free’ country. In 2007, Thailand was also ranked in the ‘Not Free’ category following the 2006 coup d’état. The Bangkok police chief enjoys playing Pokeman Go on his new phone. The phone is so big that it will be able to display the Police Lt. General’s bank balance.
The cop was discovered to be short sighted when it was rumored that he was obtaining an 50,000 Baht per month salary from Thailand’s biggest beer company, in addition to his police salary. The rumor caused outrage in Thailand’s press and social media. However, as nothing seems to being done about this, some opticians are saying that he is not short-sighted at all. They say that his vision is perfectly normal for a senior Government official. The problem is with mobile phones, which when used to do Internet Banking, simply do not have enough screen space to display all the digits necessary to represent the General’s balance. The story from Khoasod English (3 Feb): BANGKOK — Both the chief of Bangkok police and the nation’s largest beverage company failed to respond to a state watchdog’s demand they clarify their financial relationship. Sanit Mahatavorn and ThaiBev were given a week to explain whether Sanit was still a paid adviser to the company, which produces alcohol under the Chang and SangSom brands. The deadline expired Thursday. The secretary-general of the state ombudsman’s office, Raksagecha Chaechai, said Thursday that his organization would have to discuss its response, saying it could choose to renew its request to both parties. “If it’s necessary for them to gather documents, they could ask to extend the deadline,” he said Thursday. “But if they neglected to respond, they might not know that’s a criminal offense”. Failing to comply with the ombudsman is a crime punishable by up to six months in jail and a 10,000 baht fine, Raksagecha said. The request was made public on Jan. 25, but the seven day timer didn’t start until Jan. 26 when Sanit and ThaiBev received notification, Raksagecha said. The request came after it was disclosed that Sanit, who was appointed chief of the metropolitan police in October, had been receiving 50,000 baht every month from ThaiBev since 2015. ThaiBev, one of the nation’s two major brewers, said he was employed as a consultant. His total annual remuneration is 1,425,600 baht per month, according to financial disclosures filed with the National Anti-Corruption Commission, or NACC. Members of the public were incensed at the apparent conflict of interest, but police representatives have steadfastly denied there is anything wrong with the arrangement. Despite daily appearances in front of the media at police new conferences or crime “re-enactments,” Sanit has refused to discuss the issue. He could not be reached via his mobile number on Thursday and Friday. A staff member at the Metropolitan Police Bureau said he was out of the office Friday. As for ThaiBev, a spokeswoman who identified herself only as Fon said Friday they had no information. “The PR team doesn’t have any information on the issue,” she said. “Poo yai have been discussing it.” The ombudsman’s office also asked the NACC to respond whether Sanit had disclosed his ThaiBev allowance to them. Raksagecha said it also has yet to respond. According to Britain’s Independent Newspaper, “Barack Obama passed on his mantle to Angela Merkel, not his successor Donald Trump”. They continue: “When Barack Obama revealed that his last phone call as President was to Angela Merkel … He was handing over his baton. The German Chancellor isn’t just the leader of Europe, she is now the de-facto leader of the free world.”
However, as Trump is tearing up everything Obama did, the mantle/baton will not be very big. With Merkel holding Obama’s baton, the question on everybody’s mind here in Thailand is: “Will she continue the Asian Pivot?” The full story from the Independent (1 Feb): Angela Merkel is now the leader of the free world, not Donald Trump The US President isn’t motivated by protecting liberal democracy or freedom, his sole ideology is Trumpism: corporate autocracy with a populist facade. And he surrounds himself with white nationalists even more hostile to liberal democracy than he is. When Barack Obama revealed that his last phone call as President was to Angela Merkel, reaffirming their alliance and friendship of the last eight years, he wasn’t just saying goodbye. He was handing over his baton. The German Chancellor isn’t just the leader of Europe, she is now the de-facto leader of the free world. The thrice-elected, soft-spoken former scientist from East Germany, armed with a doctorate in quantum chemistry, doesn’t just carry the weight of Germany and Europe on her shoulders, but that of defending freedom and liberalism across the world. This is not an attempt to be provocative or exaggerate for effect. Donald Trump cannot claim the mantle of “leading” the free world by default. America’s military might is not the only criteria necessary. The title also requires the President to be committed to the values of liberal democracy. But unlike his predecessors since the Second World War, it is already clear that Trump has no such inclinations. He is heading, at terrifying speed, in the opposite direction. Do I even have to make the case for this? Since his inauguration Trump has undermined and ignored judges, even though an independent judiciary and a separation of powers is key to a democracy. But the ban on immigrants highlighted something far more draconian. If a President can abruptly restrict the rights of US residents without bothering with lawmakers or even government departments, he is in effect an autocrat. That is exactly what Trump did and will continue to do so. His actions don’t just undermine the rights of all Americans, they undermine the institutions that support American democracy. Then there is Trump’s assault on international trade and cooperation. He is already threatening Mexico, China and now the EU. Who will be next? We can debate whether globalisation benefits people equally, but only a fool would deny that international trade is a global good. And it can only work if done on an equal, rules-based footing. But Trump doesn’t care for those, he is ripping up international agreements so he can bully smaller countries into submission. That sets a dangerous precedent for the entire world. And lastly there is the Trump administration’s hostility towards the media. Regardless of its bias, a thriving democracy needs a media willing to challenge the government. Trump isn’t just hostile to criticism, in his warped world it must be driven by lies and vindictiveness. He is wracked by deep insecurity. When his chief aide Steve Bannon says the media should “keep its mouth shut” – they mean it. They don’t want a free media criticising them at all. These are words that dictators use, not democrats. The US President isn’t motivated by protecting liberal democracy or freedom, his sole ideology is Trumpism: corporate autocracy with a populist facade. And he surrounds himself with white nationalists even more hostile to liberal democracy than he is. Having grown up in communist East Germany before re-unification, Angela Merkel is the polar opposite. She doesn’t just recognise the sounds of autocracy, she chose to escape it. This is why she has stood up to Trump’s bullying and bigotry, saying on Monday that the “necessary battle against terrorism” did not justify putting “groups of certain people under general suspicion”. The British government in sharp contrast has been slavish and spineless. It’s now abundantly clear that the free world needs a new leader. With respect to Justin Trudeau, Canada simply isn’t powerful enough. It has to be Angela Merkel. Her opponents know this, which is why the pro-Trump, pro-Putin, far-right forces are lining up against her. We know this. And she knows it. It’s time the most powerful woman in the world embraced her new role. The world needs her.
The story from the Bangkok Post (2 Feb):
CHON BURI - A Finnish couple on their first day in Pattaya fell victim to a street thief, who snatched two gold necklaces worth about 50,000 baht from the wife's neck early on Thursday afternoon. They were robbed on Soi Wat Bunkanchanaram in Bang Lamung district about 1.30pm, police said. Raimo Kalevi, 53, and her husband Eilo Mario, 51, still looked shocked when police arrived at the scene. Mrs Kaveli, who sustained bruises on her neck, said she and her husband had arrived in Pattaya on Thursday morning. After checking in at their accommodation they went out shopping in the area nearby. They were in the middle of the road, crossing back to their room, when a Thai man on a motorcycle suddenly snatched her two gold necklaces and fled away. The stolen necklaces were worth about 50,000 baht. A witness, Natpairat Pengpinit, told police he heard the tourists shouting for help, rushed out to look and saw the thief fleeing on the bike. The theft was filmed by a surveillance camera at his accommodation, Mr Natpairat said. There were several hotels and rented rooms in the area, and many tourists stayed there, he said. Theft from tourists was not uncommon, despite the closed-circuit television cameras installed in the area to deter crime, said Mr Natpairat. Only a few days ago, Pattaya police were ordered to step up vigilance after several tourists visiting the beach city fell prey to them. The Shogun’s instruction to end a decades old tradition has prompted outrage from Thailand’s manufacturers of sanitary ware. A representative of the Siam Squatter Company told Private Tye that toilets made in Thailand are made from the finest vitreous china and are perfectly hygienic. He continued that, if Prayuth’s instructions were put into effect, sales would plummet. The Thai Home-brewers Association complain that there is nothing wrong with a bit of urine in beer. They point out that back home in the UK, “Gilpin Family Whiskey” is made from urine. And, they say, everybody knows that the finest whiskey comes from the UK (Ed. Actually it comes from Scotland and Gilpin comes from England). James Gilpin, himself, was educated at the Royal College of Art and has taught at Chelsea College of Art. So, his work on the Whiskey brings a whole new meaning to the word “Piss-artist”. As previously reported by Private Tye, the Shogun believes that Thai people should be healthy even if it kills them. Thai New Year’s Day is not far off (Songkran, 13-15 April) and it is time to think about presents for people you love, people you admire and those people in government that have helped you out with your business. So what to buy? Private Tye thinks a bottle of Gilpin Family Whiskey would be ideal. Order now at http://jamesgilpin.com/ while stocks last. The story from Khaosod (31 Jan): BANGKOK — Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha used his podium at Government House on Tuesday afternoon to slam craft beer, saying rules forbidding making beer at home ensure hygiene and safety. Long-brewing sentiments frothed into public consciousness last week when a man was arrested for making and selling from his Nonthaburi home, leading the junta chief to pour cold water on calls for more freedom in the market. “There used to be a lot of moonshine going around. Could they control the quality, the hygiene, or the strength of it? Big breweries can but can small brewers?” Prayuth said. That’s why the law only allows alcohol produced in factories by well-capitalized breweries, he said. “You can’t just brew it in the back of a shop, in the back of your house, or in your toilet,” Prayuth said. “There have to be rules and regulations.” Nonetheless, he said that he was not taking a side on the issue. According to the 1950 Liquor Act, booze can only be made in a proper factory or brewpub. A 2000 Finance Ministry regulation said brewers must produce over 100,000 liters per year and be a limited company with at least 10 million baht in capital to gain legal status. |
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