mancub

The Thainess that TAT heralds is that of the long lost ideal of a friendly ,smiling ,carefree nation.

Rapid development ,greed ,and the head-long rush for all things materialistic have undermined the "old values" .

Thainess nowadays ,to those who see through the veneer of the "land of smiles" and witness the endemic corruption often means quite the opposite.

Sorry to be that guy, and not casting aspersions on your language ability, but the space comes after the comma not before.

Consider myself suitably humbled ......but I won't lose any sleep over it !

The Thainess that TAT heralds is that of the long lost ideal of a friendly ,smiling ,carefree nation.

Rapid development ,greed ,and the head-long rush for all things materialistic have undermined the "old values" .

Thainess nowadays ,to those who see through the veneer of the "land of smiles" and witness the endemic corruption often means quite the opposite.

Why go to a consulate at all now...if you have to attend in person , only for them to forward the application to London ?.

Now it seems you can apply ( only by post ) to London directly .

Am I missing something here ?

Any bend on any Thai road ,anywhere,anytime of day and you're guaranteed to meet vehicles negotiating it on the wrong side . Seems to be embedded in the unofficial highway code. It's part of the risk taking ,reckless driving mentality . It won't change and accidents are seen as an acceptable by-product ...until it affects personally.

TAT encouraging tourists to come see and take pictures of the carnival atmosphere surrounding these peaceful protests ....and the government issuing deportation orders for foreigners involving themselves in them .

Be careful where you point that Pentax , Igor .

I live here yet I understand that I am only a guest and ,as such, have very little in the way of rights .....

My opinions, being a Farang , are valueless and any political issues in this country are not my business ......So what I find particularly galling in all this ,is that these dim -witted protesters are carrying placards written in English !

Respect my vote ???

...and whom are you addressing anyway ??? ...and why ???

Stupid thing to do..attacking an ATM, BUT why are these guys always hunt as pack? A bunch of cowards..that's what they are..

Because they know that a one on one fight with a bigger and heavier farang is a lost fight. This pack behaviour has deeper roots though. It also has to do with the fear of acting alone. Thai's don't like to do things alone, especially whipping someones ass. What if the farang beats the hell out of the one or two guys. Big loss of face. At least when there are 7 of them, they can be quite sure that they wont lose face. Unless the guy is a navy seal

Really? I've seen some 10 year-old boys training on muay thai at my gym who could likely whoop da ass of 90% of the farangs in Pattaya. So not fighting one on one isn't related to fear on their part but group solidarity. It's like this in most if Asia... You have a dispute or fight with someone you have it with their whole family/group/clan/school etc. Why fight alone when you can bring all your family and friends as backup? Makes sense to me.

Thankfully this logic doesn't extend to the current political struggles. Also, from a personal viewpoint, I'd take my chances with a 10 yr old muay thai kid over 7 grown men ,armed with steel bars, anytime.

At least the kid would have some degree of morality instilled in him from his mentors !

People react differently when they find their masculinity challenged by such deception. Some can laugh it off ,others can't.

Remember the Japanese tourist who fell on his sword because of the "shame" , and recently the Thai guy who gave a "ladyboy" a lift on his motorbike , but stopped and killed him/her ,because him/her touched "inappropriately " whilst riding !

Could just be that she didn't ever want to go to England as much as you wanted it for her. Perhaps she happily went along with the notion because she didn't want to offend or rock your boat ,but when the crunch came ,she opted out and chose not to deal with any confrontation .

Surely there was something more serious and sinister occurring that was missing from this report .....but "Servicing customers with indecent exposure"....??? ....in restaurants ??? Sounds like your average Pattaya table dancing to me .( without the menu).

If I remember correctly , the furthest ahead you can book is 2 weeks and you could essentially choose your appointment time. Good luck

Guys, and most importantly, let's be honest with ourselves) We here - nobody. We here - just clowns. Thailand don't need us. Thailand will live perfectly - without a single farang) And maybe he will live even better if there will be no farang, and no any tourist. Let's not forget that Thailand receives from tourism - only 4 (FOUR) percent of total annual income))) They allow us to live here, and we are must be grateful to them for that. That's all.

You may consider yourself a clown...in which case you'd be correct , Thailand doesn't need you ...as.it has sufficient numbers already ,notably in officialdom and in the political arena .

However ,If your post was ironic in intention.....accept my apologies !

I'd wager that a substantial amount of the visa fees incurred by Thais visiting the West are actually paid by Western sponsors anyway.

May I try ? You see my grandma had a short leg and then when the fire broke out she ran she ran. Well that only made the glass eye fall out. So she ran in circles because that is what you do with a short leg. I hope that helps you doo doo heads..

Hope it's not hereditary !

Bugger it ! Sombat just discovered that his "Invincibility Tattoos" don't cover hyperthermia .

Thank goodness, some long term thinking. I am hopeful that Thailand can and will protect it's wild areas and natural environs.

I applaud your optimism ...Personally I am fearful that Thailand will do it's best to exploit and ruin it's wild areas and natural environs.

Sitting drinking Chang with my beat friend of 30 years , when he said " I'm really sorry, but I've completely forgotten your name !" After a few moments of awkward deliberation, to my great consternation ,I could only reply ," That's OK ,but tell me ,when do you need to know by ?"

I've no sympathy for the man at all and I agree with the feelings of many of the posters here that he should be put down like a rabid dog. However, the rule of law must upheld and he should have his day in court. To do less and ignore the law would put us in the same category as the corrupt politicians, police and privileged who consider themselves above the law.

The law has to apply to everyone equally or there is no equality for anyone.

Wholly agree with your sentiments .....and thankfully he does not appear to have the necessary status or funds to avoid/delay his due sentencing.

Dude....hope the drugs wear off soon !

This is a very brief news story, with minimal information. Speculation and conjecture seems to be the overwhelming beverage of choice for the self appointed detectives.

Their private source of information is most likely the open end of a beer bottle accompanied by a willing, but blurred keyboard.

RIP my Russian friend.

Pardon me, but the only speculation and conjecture forwarded has been that (reportedly )from the Police....surely you are not suggesting that their vivid imagination was nurtured or influenced in any way by alcohol consumption ?

Damned if they do - damned if they don't. Some people will never be happy. Thailand isn't going to turn into the West overnight. I , for one, hope it never does.

They wouldn't be damned if they actually DID , rather than repeatedly just talk a good game . Anyway ,a campaign shouldn't be just for Xmas ,as the saying goes , it should be a continuous matter ...365 days a year !

Sorry to disagree ,but I believe that emulating the West in terms of road safety measures and thereby lowering the number of road deaths , is in fact, something that should be embraced !

One would like to think that drinkers are aware of the effects of drinking ....which are presumably why they do it ? Raising their awareness of the effects will probably serve to encourage them further !!

Seems like a most logical conclusion by the police.........if you substitute vodka for beer and intentionally rather than "accidentally" hit himself with the mirror ?