BKK's nightlife is dead - exagerated?

[Guest]

guys,

just found the following on a libertarian french website, I started to translate only the conclusion but had to give up 'cause ain't quite up the task I'll paste it anyway for whoever interested

 

"Les bouteilles de vins et alcools seront désormais obligatoirement étiquetées pour mettre en garde les femmes enceintes.

 

Voilà encore une marque de la sinistre progression de ce qu'il faut bien appeler le fascisme sanitaire dans notre pays.

 

Cette obsession de nos gouvernants pour la santé de leurs sujets est une marque de mépris incroyable à l'égard des individus: c'est dire que les femmes enceintes ne savent pas, alors qu'on le leur rabâche tout au long de leur grossesse, que l'alcool est nuisible. C'est penser également qu'il suffit d'une petite inscription sur une bouteille pour que les gens changent de comportement, alors que l'alcoolisme est une phénomène beaucoup plus profond, qui ne peut disparaître que grâce au progrès intellectuel et social des personnes concernées, progrès qui n'est possible que si on laisse aux gens la possibilité de se prendre en main, d'être indépendants, responsables et fiers de leurs vies. Or que fait l'Etat ? Il entretient les gens dans la dépendance, dans la misère morale et intellectuelle, en subventionnant l'inactivité et en récompensant l'incompétence, c'est-à-dire en entretenant les conditions propices à l'alcoolisme.

 

Le fascisme sanitaire est la forme moderne de la tyrannie, le fameux principe de précaution. Il faut donc s'attendre à ce qu'il progresse encore et encore.

L'extension est théoriquement infinie, puisque toute activité humaine, par définition risquée, peut faire l'objet d'une mise en garde, ou d'une interdiction : les voitures pourraient être recouvertes d'étiquettes du style "Conduire tue", les rues pourraient arborer des panneaux indicateurs "Traverser la rue tue", les escaliers de votre immeuble : "Descendre les escaliers tue", et les ascenseurs : "L'ascenseur tue" ! Tout le secteur industriel, alimentaire, mais également le secteur tertiaire peuvent y passer. "Travailler en usine tue" (pensez aux accidents du travail) ou tout simplement "Travailler tue". "Voyager tue" (pensez aux accidents d'avion), mais "Ne pas bouger tue" aussi (pensez aux complications consécutives à certaines phlébites). "Boire de l'eau tue" (combien de gens boivent de l'eau putride dans les pays du tiers-monde ?), mais "Ne pas boire d'eau tue". "Faire l'amour tue" (le Sida !) mais "Ne pas faire l'amour tue" aussi (les violeurs ne sont-ils pas des frustrés ?).

 

Bref, il faudrait tatouer sur chaque nouveau né l'étiquette fondamentale qui sous-tend toute la morale du pouvoir politique : "Vivre tue".

 

Car c'est bien de cela qu'il s'agit. C'est bien la vie dans son intégralité qu'il convient de condamner, car la vie est une succession d'actes risqués par définition, car aux conséquences irréductiblement incertaines.

 

Le principe de précaution est un prétexte qui peut servir à paralyser une société toute entière, jusqu'à l'asphyxie, jusqu'à la mort. Il faut le combattre sous toutes ses formes, même anodines, dès qu'il pointe le bout de son nez

 

Here's the link to the whole article :

 

http://www.pageliberale.org/billet.php?niw=1209

[Guest lazyphil]

French is a beautiful sounding language, however, I'm pretty sure a board rule is English only please!!....got a spare few minutes mate?...translate and repost please!

[pattaya127]

Note that most are in their llate 50's and 60's a new generation is coming, whom have studied abroad.

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that does not make any sense. BKK and Thailand were late nightlife (read early AM) havens when old guys were in power, and Thaksin and a few in his cohort did study abroad.

[Guest]

I do not know the English term for it, but I see at as the last return to the old ways. With Chuan being the one trying to set things straight and than these guys coming in.

 

Thaksin might have studied abroad but in a time that very few did so and society hadn't changed to much. BKK has changed a lot since then. And the young generation like Apirak are a different breed. I have the pleasure of knowing a few of this young generation of rich kids and they do not like what their father's are doing, but awaiting their time.

 

CM

[eyebee]

keith doug said:

hiya would like to clarify this ok ..english pubs are open from 11 am till 11pm ONLY and sundays until 1030pm .. the only place one will get a drink after that is in a club!! with extended license..

 

Bollocks!! At weekends many pubs are open till 1am or 2am - certainly they are in my home town of Cleethorpes. All part of the Govt's liberalising of the licensing laws.

 

And BB - pubs in the UK haven't closed in the afternoons for several years now.

[Old Hippie]

I believe Fiery Jack was responsible for the early bar closings in the greater Stoke area...or so I heard anyway...

[pattaya127]

I have the pleasure of knowing a few of this young generation of rich kids and they do not like what their father's are doing

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that's the oedipian privilege of youth. ::

[sayjann]

'Bollocks!! At weekends many pubs are open till 1am or 2am - certainly they are in my home town of Cleethorpes'

 

lucky old Cleethorpes,down here in Pompey they can't wait to get you out at 11pm.......

the 'early closings' never bothered me while in LOS as they were still late for me.

but 12 Hour openings in the UK can sometimes be painful.

 

finished work at 2pm yesterday and went for a pint,met a friend and we just drank and chatted.

then around 5pm i was invited to a Christening of a Filipina Child in the Bar opposite and was there until 7:30pm.

then had to meet another friend at 8pm(from another Board) and we chatted about Phuket until 10:30pm.

i was wrecked by the time i got home and am feeling awful this morning......

[Guest]

I am not a big fan of the CEO, but after reading Khun Pasuk's Chris Baker's Thaksin - The Business of Politics in Thailand and hearing them speak at today's British Chamber function, I am not sure I agree. Khun Pasuk mentioned that Thaksin is ultimately a pragmatist, and recognizes that prostitution won't go away in Thailand and is a proponent of legalizing prostitution and the underground economy generally. In identifying likely challengers to Thaksin's power base, she identified religious conservatives. Now she didn't say this, but I will: because the CEO is a pragmatist, he recognizes that there are votes in adopting a social conservative agenda (and votes to be lost in not adopting that agenda), and this goes a long way in explaining the New Social Order.

 

One other tidbit from a news article I found while cleaning up the storage room in my condo over the weekend. But first some background. Khun Snoh Thienthong is a very powerful figure in TRT; in some way he is considered the political genuis. When there was a conflict between Khun Snoh and Khun Purachai (Mr. New Social Order), it was Khun Purachai that got "promoted" to an office where was essentially powerless.

 

Now here is the tidbit. I found an old newsclipping I saved from the 17 August 1997 Bangkok Post where the then Interior Minister advised Phuket officials to spruce up the massage parlours and staff them with younger masseuses to boost tourism. That Interior Minister: Khun Snoh.

[Hardy641]

Don?t know what you want to tell us with this post. You are right that Snoh is probably the best known heavyweight within TRT, who opposed the Purachai?s social order crusade back in 2001 and finally put it on hold. However, I don?t think Purachai is the brain behind the current even stricter crackdown, as he is just one of dozens of vice PMs without any executive power.

So who is behind the current crackdown? Religious conservatives? Reading today?s article about ?Students? lewdness to be graded? in the Nation one might believe it, but I personally don?t believe they are that numerous and powerful. After all Thailand is not a Muslim country. I still believe it can only be Thaksin himself endorsing all this nonsense, but must admit I still haven?t figured out the why.

May be he wants to increase tourists from Saudi Arabia and similar countries. If so first successes can be seen walking down lower Sukhumvit. While the number of Farangs is down, I definitely feel a significant increase of black covered Muslim birds there. Wonder if they are bigger spenders than Farangs?