Rogie Posted January 4, 2012 Posted January 4, 2012 After another eventful year in Thailand, I wonder what will happen in 2012. Your thoughts anyone? I thought it would be interesting to come up with something you would like to see happen, and / or make some predictions. For myself, as in some ways Thailand is a very unequal country, I would like to see a narrowing of the gap between rich and poor, and for my prediction: Thailand will win 3 Gold Medals at the London Olympics this summer. Quote
Guest luvthai Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 I predict a year of political turmoil as Thaksin makes a move to return home. Also look for the PM to step down as she can't get a good handle on the problems. Not going to be a good year for tourism. Quote
KhorTose Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 On a brighter note, I predict a more stable government with glowing support, the baht to rise to 32.5 and a fantastic year for tourism. I also see the actual start of a real flood control project, a serious attempt to get some control over corruption. More and more tourist from the Arab world and the old Soviet Union will descend on Pattaya, and Chiang Mai's traffic will become more and more unbearable. Before you ask, yes my glasses do have a rose tint. "Oft expectation fails, and most oft there Where most it promises; and oft it hits Where hope is coldest, and despair most fits. Quote
Guest thaiworthy Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 Not going to be a good year for tourism. I disagree. I think it will be a banner year for tourism. Before you ask, yes my glasses do have a rose tint. An excellent observation and I agree completely. While I do wear glasses I don't know what tint they are colored, but the people who ask are usually blind themselves, anyway. A great perspective, KT! Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 I am more of a pessimist. I cannot see Thailand changing much, unfortunately. I cannot see the wealth gap being reduced. Even if the rich stay at their present level, raising the incomes of poor people to a more reasonable level will take a lot longer than one year. And, let’s face it, this being Thailand, at least some of the rich are going to get even richer. Corruption and influence will make sure of that. So it won't happen. I hope that something is done about a reform of the education system. The government can dole out as many tablets and subsidies as it wants, but that will have little overall effect. So nothing will happen. I hope there will be a grass roots movement to ensure that those at the top of the political tree finally have to take concrete action against corruption. With so much endemic corruption, there will always be some gainers and a helluva lot of losers. But to tackle corruption, you also have to overhaul the justice system – the police and the judiciary. And it won't happen. On a different level, I hope that some go-go bar owners will actually read some of the threads on this and other Boards and finally drag their bars in the 21st century. The bar scene is slowly dying – a combination of various forces including the rise of gay dating sites, far too high prices and customers who are plain bored by what is offered. Yes, I know that even without reform, there will always be a new flow of tourists to ensure some continue. But let’s bring some sparkle back into the gay bar scene! Let’s make it fun again to pop into a bar! But I know it won’t happen Quote
Bob Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 Little-known things that will happen in 2012: Poster FH will meet the love of his life, a violin maker, on a pier in Hong Kong; fortunately or unfortunately, he'll fiddle the opportunity away. Poster TW, while performing a "magic trick" for his boyfriend, will use a little black magic and cause the boyfriend's mojo to shrink; unfortunately, TW forgets the words to reverse the dark magic and so ends up on the short end of the stick (or maybe schtick?) the rest of the year. Poster KT travels to Gnome, Alaska, to see a dramatic play performed by Sarah Palin. Unfortunately, having confused some funny-sounding English script with a Tarzan movie ("Tarzan VIII - Jane Gets The Point"), she says nothing at all but only stands on the stage while she shakes-a-spear. Kevin Spacey is not impressed although he does note that a much worse tragedy could have occurred, i.e., Sarah Palin actually saying something. Film at eleven.... Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 Poster FH will meet the love of his life, a violin maker, on a pier in Hong Kong; fortunately or unfortunately, he'll fiddle the opportunity away. Sorry, Bob, but all that happened some years ago! Now, I'm waiting for an expert flute player Quote
Guest thaiworthy Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 Little-known things that will happen in 2012: Film at eleven.... Hey, I can do this, too. KT will turn Republican and donate his life savings to the election committee of the GOP. Bob will invest all his money in electronic cigarettes and open a low-cost law practice in Chiang Mai for indigent farangs. GayThailand will finally move to Thailand, permanently. Z909 will be hired by National Geographic to film "The World's Greatest Beaches." Unfortunately In one subsequent pictorial essay, the magazine gets banned in Thailand. Fountainhall meets the real guy in his avatar, who is actually not Asian, falls madly in love anyway and moves to an island in the South China Sea. bkkguy writes a romantic novella and wins the Pulitzer Prize for literature. kokopelli moves to Thailand and is awarded distribution rights for a French winery in Thailand. ChristianPFC will get a circumcision. and Rogie will remain eternally the same. Ooops, I forgot one: Thaiworthy will become a kinder, gentler poster. How am I doing so far? Quote
Rogie Posted January 5, 2012 Author Posted January 5, 2012 Some great predictions, so I'm going to combine them with whether I would like them to come true or not. My comments in red obviously: "Yes" = would like, "No" = wouldn't like KT will turn Republican and donate his life savings to the election committee of the GOP. Yes Bob will invest all his money in electronic cigarettes and open a low-cost law practice in Chiang Mai for indigent farangs. Yes GayThailand will finally move to Thailand, permanently. Yes Z909 will be hired by National Geographic to film "The World's Greatest Beaches." Unfortunately In one subsequent pictorial essay, the magazine gets banned in Thailand. Yes Fountainhall meets the real guy in his avatar, who is actually not Asian, falls madly in love anyway and moves to an island in the South China Sea. No (I'm guilty of one of the 7 deadly sins) bkkguy writes a romantic novella and wins the Pulitzer Prize for literature. No kokopelli moves to Thailand and is awarded distribution rights for a French winery in Thailand. Yes ChristianPFC will get a circumcision. Oh dear . . . and Rogie will remain eternally the same. I couldn't possibly comment! Ooops, I forgot one: Thaiworthy will become a kinder, gentler poster. That's simply Impossible! How am I doing so far? Hey you forgot one! What's in store for Gaybutton? Quote
Guest thaiworthy Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 Rogie, you don't really believe I'm brave enough to tackle that last one, do you? Actually I did have something for GB, but it got deleted automatically! Quote
bkkguy Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 leave it to the experts - Voranai Vanijaka - one of the best commentators in the Bangkok Post, worth reading every Sunday: The things that I'm certain will happen in 2012, Even though I'm sure they won't happen bkkguy Quote
Gaybutton Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 How am I doing so far? "In my opinion, lousy." - Walter Matthau, 'The Sunshine Boys' Quote
pong Posted January 6, 2012 Posted January 6, 2012 this is Thailand-and remains THailand, so what will happen is unpredictable: expect the unexpected! Thats what makes all these ever repeat visits interesting all the time. Change for both good and worse-and unable to predict what will be what. What WILL remain are the ever moaning expats, bus+car+van+train crashes, delays in having any major public work finished, a few more corruption scandals, a few more o-so Thai ''discoveries'' that remain very Thai and unknown to this wide world and a full repeat of always the same questions on any forum, be it just tourist-tripadvsior and the like- or on the more dedicated like this one- the best incentive to get repetetive behaviour. Quote
Guest thaiworthy Posted January 6, 2012 Posted January 6, 2012 An excellent read and very fine work, Pong! The best prognostication I've ever read! Quote
