Greed is good

Published: 18 Oct 2012 at 08.49
Online news: Opinion

Giveaway. Getaway. Got away. All is well in Thailand. The rich get richer. The poor get tips. The middle class click "like".

In the immortal words of Gordon Gecko (Oliver Stone’s 1987 film, Wall Street), "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit."

So do not knock the 3G auction by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) that saw the kingdom’s mobile triumvirate – Advanced Info Service (AIS), Dtac and TrueMove – all smiling and shaking hands, having each won their maximum quota of 15MHz of spectrum.

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joe_blow
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Discussion 24 : 20 Oct 2012 at 23.5124
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41.65 Billion Baht for passe 3G technology....the ROW is on 4G LTE.
I'd say the Government made a killing selling spectrum to those 3 dinosaurs.
BTW I've got a brand new "used" car for sale, never driven, runs great. Call me.
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samut
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Discussion 23 : 19 Oct 2012 at 12.4323
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Hopefully we get more Voranai’s in Thailand we need them badly!
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Aussie John
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Discussion 22 : 19 Oct 2012 at 03.4322
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Have to agree with Jacksprat Voranai is an excellent journalist but he'd get eaten for breakfast if he were to become an MP, they're are just too set in their archaic ways. Voranai your strengths are in your honest, straight to the point articles on the real issues concerning Thailand today. I just hope some of your articles are translated into Thai and read by aware younger Thais...these hopefully will be Thailand'salvation one day as all dinosaurs eventually die out given the right conditions...Keep em coming Voranai...
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bkk-farang
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Discussion 21 : 18 Oct 2012 at 19.5521
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Sorry I don’t understand the real problem here but I am willing to learn so please correct me when I am wrong. I see it this way:
1. What Thailand sold are just permissions to use specific frequencies. Thailand did not have to buy any of these frequencies so any money Thailand receives is profit.
2. All the mobile phone operators are businesses and they want to make money. So if they would pay a higher price at the auction they would have to charge a higher price to the users. Would we mobile users be better off if Thailand would have received double the money in the auction but we would pay double the rate?
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howell
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Discussion 20 : 18 Oct 2012 at 19.4520
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'The poor are getting their share of the cake in populist policies such as the 300 baht minimum wage'.

No, not yet. This policy is only law in a few provinces that are the more expensive places to live and barley covers the rise in cost of living.
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markm
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Discussion 19 : 18 Oct 2012 at 19.0519
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Greed is not good.

The problem with irony is that it may backfire, and be misunderstood. It is possible for an article that utilises irony to be read as reinforcing opposite perspectives, rather than as educating or informing the reader.

Greed is not good, and leads to delusion.

Desire, on the other hand, can be categorised as either good, which we can call ‘aspiration’ (such as for an education), or bad (such as for a quick fix).
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Renaissance
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Discussion 18 : 18 Oct 2012 at 19.0318
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Realistically, this is all that we foreigners can do - just laugh at the theatrical behaviour of the country's rich and corrupt. The Thais, however, should take it more seriously because they will suffer badly one day when the corrupt eat more earth, concrete, rice, steel than the edifice of Thailand can stand being taken from it.
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jacksprat
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Discussion 17 : 18 Oct 2012 at 19.0017
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Khun Voranai entering politics? He wouldn't stand a chance. How many honest politicians have you seen in Thailand (or elsewhere)? He also is intelligent, has lived in the west and speaks excellent English. Those are some of the very things many people hate about Abhisit.
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kaytwo
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Discussion 16 : 18 Oct 2012 at 18.4616
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Wasn't it DTAC - having outage after outage lasting for days, not just hours?

I am surprised they were allowed to participate in the auction. Or, am I?
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bangmodken
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Discussion 15 : 18 Oct 2012 at 18.3415
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Great article as always. Now about the "What to do with that 15,000 baht per tonne of white rice?",I have to make it clear that it simply isn't true. Having spoken to several rice farmers in the rural community,in which part of my family lives as rice farmers,the payment they recieve is between 10,000-12,000 baht pr.tonne. They have filed countless complaints with relevant authorities,protested and sought "audience" with leading PTP MP's,even the "PM". To no avail. They are,as usual,completely ignored by the "Champions of the Poor"...untill the next election.
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