AZBill

We can only hope that any prison officials found to be "unusually wealthy" are transferred to a cell.

That should be a pretty full cell! It will never happen. He will just agree to donate a portion of his ill-gotten gains to the "Thai MP Retirement Fund" and all will be good! The prisoners will get their cell phones back, the drugs will flow until the next time some government officials need a new vacation home and all will be right with the world. God I love this country!

Tarnish their reputation? Bahahahahahahahahah!

They could use a little eerie calm. Give them time to wipe off the kee ma they've been tossing at each other!

This sad episode says so many things about life in Thailand these days...

--a bunch of drinking late teen types decide to celebrate Song Kran by going to Silom to shock other students with an electric stun gun, not to mention groping women in the crowd.

--some of the rightfully aggrieved victims or their friends decide to respond by beating the offenders to death, succeeding with one and almost succeeding with the other, presumably somewhere amid all the celebration.

--the police are where to be found while all this was going on?

--the surviving offender is a polytechnic college student and the son of a police/custody official (wonder if the kids got the stun gun from good ole' dad)

--the dead offender's face is beaten so bad as to be unrecognizable.

It's hard to know what to say about all of the above... except... Happy New Year to All...

Not that I agree her deserved to be beaten to death but.

--a bunch of drinking late teen types decide to celebrate Song Kran by going to Silom to shock other students with an electric stun gun, not to mention groping women in the crowd. Agreed but no where different to people in Australia going out getting drunk and deciding to have a fight/beat up someone, for the hell of it. So not just Thailand.

--some of the rightfully aggrieved victims or their friends decide to respond by beating the offenders to death, succeeding with one and almost succeeding with the other, presumably somewhere amid all the celebration. Clearly anyone can be pushed past a limit..

--the police are where to be found while all this was going on Agreed. On the first day of Songkran at Silom someone pulled a knife out and the crowd ran in all directions...was waiting for the police to come and see what was going on...and nothing (this was right under Sala Daeng station as well).

--the surviving offender is a polytechnic college student and the son of a police/custody official (wonder if the kids got the stun gun from good ole' dad) Stun tazers can be bought off the street in Silom (at night), so thats a bit of an assumption and not fair to his father (who may be normal).

--the dead offender's face is beaten so bad as to be unrecognizable Clearly they pushed too far and the wrong people.

It's not JUST an issue in Thailadn these things happen all around the world. Your post makes out like this type of thing ONLY happens here and the rest of the world is much better, when in fact I would disagree.

It is a bit odd that it happens with a bunch of geeks attending a polytech school. Don't they usually just build fighting robots and settle things that way? But Thailand has no franchise on violence amongst teens to be sure.

Maybe she's hiding the assets in those cheeks!

Four wives!!!! Shoot me in the head! The one I got, whom I love and adore with all my heart, is quite enough thank you!

30 minutes. Taxi. 300 baht plus tolls

Relax

Just did it. 300 plus tolls is spot on.

Two of Thailand's best and brightest, apparently

It had all been quite different if they had been given a cheap Chinese iPad at school!

Plenty and I can't see them having a problem with backpackers at 5000 baht a night.

You didn't mention if they were looking for nightlife or other entertainment which might limit there choices - without I can recommend The Dewa on Koh Chang.

Thanks very much for the recommendation

To clarify, they do not require any nightlife - just a nice hotel and nice beach

Koh Chang would be a very nice spot and can get some great rooms right on the beach well within the budget. I recommend the Koh Chang Paradise Beach Resort. My wife and I have stayed there numerous times and it would suit your friends' needs very nicely at about 2500 per night. Beautiful resort with a nice clean beach!

Jing, me old fruit....you boys wouldnt have this problem now if you had stayed a colony, you would have only been paying tax on the tea...

yeah, but they'd be too good at cricket and they'd monopolise the commonwealth games. Couldn't have that.

Not to mention anything else we put our mind to trying - Old Boys!!!

The writer might actually want to investigate the meaning ofthe word "racism!" It has nothing to do with anything he is writing about. What he is writing about is simply partisan politics and it exists everywhere and will forever!

I don't think he is 100% Korean. Did you look at his pictures closely. He looks a lot like a Thai woman I saw once.

He has the same crappy hairdresser as his late father.

Ya, that's a problem. My 60 baht cuts are 1000% better and I use an old Thai guy.

Yeah you're right! One of the true joys here in LOS is getting a haircut! The lady who cuts mine does a great job!

Geez you'd think they'd know how to treat a hooker after working for all the whores and pimps in this administration!

After realizing yesterday that i was becoming a grumpy old man, i decided to buck the trend and took a visit to khao san on Songkran to see if i had become as miserable and grumpy as i thought i might have become. I was pleasantly surprised - had a great time and realized that there is still life in the old dog yet.

As for Khao San the BiB are doing a really good job, very visible, friendly and don't mind too much when you give em a good dousing with the water pistol.

Yeah same here! In the end we couldn't resist missing out! Did Silom first then took the tuk tuk to Khao San and had a great time! Found a nice balcony table at the Hard Rock Cafe at Siam Square today and watched a few bands and knocked a few back! Again, a great time!

The USA can try to pressure all it wants, but it is telling that the USA has done everything possible to keep its largest trading partner, Canada, out of the pact. Look closely at the participants. All of the current participants are economies that can be "muscled" by the USA. Canada, the largest energy supplier and the most important US export market is more likely to align itself with Australia and Chile creating a barrier to pushing through policies that favour the US economy to the detriment of others.

I have no animosity to the USA, but it is rather obvious that this trade deal is intended to benefit the USA. Thailand should act cautiously and not be pressured into a trade pact that could seriously disrupt its key exporters.

Exactly why shouldn't the US act in its own self interest? No one else is going to - especially the poor redheaded stepchild to the north!

I draw the line at discussing the bodily hair of other men! It just doesn't get it done for me.

Laughable! Really! Notice they are increasing penalties, not enforcement! If they were serious a simple sweep of any outdoor street market anywhere in Thailand or MBK will produce enough fines to run the country and pay off all the MPs for the next 20 years! My wife just bought a nice fake designer name purse yesterday right across from Siam Paragon.

Cabinet kickback checks must be late this month and they had to look elsewhere to dip into! Sorry kids - daddy needs a new man purse!

One difference is, Phuket is full of loonies who think they are better than those staying in Pattaya.

Oh, almost forgot about taxi mafia, keep your wallet wide open once you step outside the Phuket airport.

By the way, why waste money and bring your China / Brit GFs here? Go alone and get yourself another one right here, they will love you loooong time!

edit typo

Dude - First let me say how sorry I feel for you to be stuck with BOTH a Brit and Chinese chick! Even the dankest Thai street hooker beats that combination and worth a trip to Phuket in itself - ALONE! But anyway there is nothing special about it. Tourist trap and scammers everywhere looking to rip you off. Way to many fat, white foreigners laying on the beach with way to little on! Good ladyboy show though and if you're lucky you'll get your ass kicked outside a bar for no reason at all by the Thai mafia types! Enjoy!

One difference is, Phuket is full of loonies who think they are better than those staying in Pattaya.

Oh, almost forgot about taxi mafia, keep your wallet wide open once you step outside the Phuket airport.

By the way, why waste money and bring your China / Brit GFs here? Go alone and get yourself another one right here, they will love you loooong time!

edit typo

Dude - First let me say how sorry I feel for you to be stuck with BOTH a Brit and Chinese chick! Even the dankest Thai street hooker beats that combination and worth a trip to Phuket in itself - ALONE! But anyway there is nothing special about it. Tourist trap and scammers everywhere looking to rip you off. Way to many fat, white foreigners laying on the beach with way to little on! Good ladyboy show though and if you're lucky you'll get your ass kicked outside a bar for no reason at all by the Thai mafia types! Enjoy!

Hire a bunch of ugly girls. No profit guaranteed!

Really? Ever been to Detroit? But again, no one will ever blame the Thais for being overly ambitious! If they find they can't make their own copy they are welcome to the original - 20 Baht!

Apparently no one here has ever lived in Boston! Not only will they run you over in a heartbeat but will also piss on your mangled corpse and call you an A-hole after the fact for denting their car!

Now that all the proper bribes and kickbacks have been handled, the kids can finally get their POS chinese tablets to play their video games in class, at least for the 1 or 2 months that these things will work! Only here people - no other place in the whole frickin world would be this damned stupid!

I sure hope nothing happens but I got a bad feeling about this year so just staying home.