<p><em>‘Under the new regulation, those wanting to contest MP and Senate elections must not have parents and spouses who are MPs, senators, members of local administrative bodies, or local administrators</em><em>.’ — Newspaper report</em><em> on a new constitutional provision</em><em>.</em></p> <p>It was a whirlwind romance.</p>

<p>Maybe the military government is getting a bad rap over the alleged corruption concerning Rajaphakti Park.&nbsp; I know one of their stated excuses for overturning the constitution and ousting a democratic government was the elimination of corruption, but it would be unreasonable to expect any government to be 100% spotless.&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>‘Gen Prayut said that other countries planned to use genetically modified </em><em>(GM</em><em>) plants during times of war or widespread disease that affected crop cultivation because they could be engineered to endure</em><em>.’</em></p> <p>News report explaining the government decision to withdraw its GMO bill, which had nothing to do with protests from farmers, consumers, exporters, the NESDB and the Ministry of Commerce – in fact just about everyone except the GMO companies whose fingerprints were all over the bill.</p>

<p>Some years ago, I was in conversation with a retired government official who had been a high heidyin in the Bangkok governor’s office.&nbsp; Bangkok was just recovering from the latest inundation and he was scathing in his criticisms of the administration of the day.</p> <p>He noted, correctly, that flooding in the capital seemed to be both more frequent and more severe.&nbsp; I agreed, but mentioned climate change and other factors that were not directly under the BMA’s control.</p>

<p>It’s beginning to get on my wick.</p> <p>Because of the BMA’s farcical idea of what constitutes a ‘cycle lane’, I have a choice. I can pedal along the gutter, prey to the insouciant homicidal tendencies of the average Bangkok motorist.&nbsp; Or I can mount the footpath, use the ‘cycle lane’, and become myself predator, a danger to poor pedestrians.</p> <p>My confidence in my own magnanimity (and total lack of confidence in that of Bangkok bus drivers), induces me to choose the footpath.&nbsp; But I am not out of danger there.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Sorry, but are we living under a military dictatorship or not?</p> <p>This morning’s paper has a lead that says the military are about to throw Deputy Defence Minister, former Army Commander-in-Chief and chairman of the Rajabhakti Park Foundation General Udomdej Sitabutr to the anti-corruption wolves (or at least those of them who are less selective in their outrage).&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Thai Health Promotion Foundation has fallen foul of the anti-corruption vigilantes, who claim that the Foundation has been supporting all sorts of activities that are beyond its mandate, wilfully and wantonly squandering the taxpayers’ hard-earned money.</p> <p>Well, no.</p>

<p>Acharn Thitinan ‘the Quotemeister’ Pongsudhirak produces a Bangkok Post op-ed with an exemplary regularity that makes a Friday read of the page most worthwhile (though maybe not as entertaining as on a Saturday).&nbsp; His recent offering on Thai trade policy and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), however, was a sad disappointment.</p>

<p>It is a commonplace of police procedurals.&nbsp; Somewhere around page 180, the hero detective, stymied by a lack of clues, the stupidity of his superiors and his personal failings (alcoholism, troublesome family relations, unreliable car) stays awake ruminating obsessively on the case.</p>

<p>It is reported that the policy steering committee of the National Council for Peace and Order has sent a proposal on fisheries for the approval of the Cabinet (which contains a number of NCPO members).&nbsp; The idea is to pay 228.4 million baht in compensation to 4,800 fishing boats that have been operating without a licence or with illegal fishing gear.</p>

<p>A number of government offices were forced to close their doors yesterday after coordinated DDoS or ‘Distributed Denial of Service’ attacks by tour guides, travel agents, hotel owners, taxi-drivers, Grand Palace ‘it’s closed today’ touts, the Patpong ladies ping-pong team and countless others.&nbsp;</p>

<p>People not getting jobs is becoming a regular feature of the news.</p> <p>First ultra-royalist Boworn Yasinthorn failed in his bid to become a National Human Rights Commissioner, where one assumes he would champion the right to file lèse majesté charges against anyone he disagreed with.&nbsp; And now Chitpas Kridakorn, once a Bhirombhakdi but still a Boon Rawd beer heiress, has decided to withdraw her application to join the police force.&nbsp;</p>