Amras

Re teh video mentioned herein, there are reports that the speech has been translated as suggesting that the initial reports of who, where and why are incorrect.

However this just seems to be apologist nonsense [even if true] and such violence against women cannot be tolerated.

But if this new twist is accurate then the chances of anyone, anywhere doing anything to catch these Neanderthals* is zip to zero.

* I apologise to any of Thailand's resident Neanderthals if they feel slighted by this comment.

Yeah the Daily Mail is implying the people doing the beating are police. Certainly would not surprise me, but I agree that the odds of these animals coming to justice is......... non-existent.

I thought it had been shown that the guys doing the beating were the Burmese pimps. Trafficking is a nasty business, but has very little, if anyhting, to do with the farang prostitution scene.

Men (people) like this are scum. It's not rare that those forced into prostitution are treated like this, think Europe but the 2nd world countries there that have trafficked women from the west.

I agree, this isn't something to do with the 'farang' prostitutes, but the country bars etc catering for the local clientele.

To be perfectly honest, I don't think Thailand has much more prostitution going on than Japan or Korea. It's just cheaper and thus more tourist-oriented.

Ahh those crazy Japanese who love sex and all things sex....

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Going back to when news of her trip was first announced seven days ago, it'll be interesting to see if she is able to achieve her goal of visa-less entry for Thais to New Zealand.

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And now word of further travels for the On The Road Prime Minister that logs more miles than Jack Kerouac.

Next week, she's also off to New Zealand. Her and some thirty business types are off in search of more foreign investment. The solicitation is scheduled for five days.

She's also there to receive her second Western university degree.

To go along with her Masters degree from Kentucky State University, she's adding an honorary doctorate degree from Auckland University of Technology.

For her part, she'll be asking the NZ folks to waive visas for Thais wishing to go there.

From there, she's then off to Papua-New Guinea.

She's due to return to Thailand at some point in April.

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I can't ever see Thai's being allowed visa free entry into New Zealand. NZ immigration is tougher than Australia's, from my recollection.

I think he's not guilty. If he were, and there were evidence, there would be no reason to delay the law suit for 3 years. He didn't pay up for a crime he did not commit, that's why he's being held in Thailand, and expected to die asap. He musn't go back to Australia to tell his side of the story in order to avoid another major embarrassment for Thailand. I feel sorry for the guy being trapped in a Kafkaesque situation like this, and due to avcanced age and disease, unable to defend himself any longer.

Hmm, not sure. The whole point of words do matter. He never said I'm innocent, I'm not guilty of these charges. He said, "I didn't do anything wrong" which can mean anything, usually along the lines of belief of their actions aren't wrong in their mind.

People who are innocent, usually 'scream and shout' innocence. They don't say the things he said. Which are much more benign and less intense in protesting his innocence.

I don't know if he is 100% guilty, but things just don't add up.

And the 3 years to get a court date...it does happen. Courts are back logged and he may have been considered a low flight risk hence not rushed.

Thai Rak Thai indeed!!!!

What a bunch of subhuman scum!

Lets see the Thai huggers defend this one!

Thai's never fight one on one.

"police are investigating the you tube videos to see if any criminal acts occured" - <deleted> are they blind? This is assault/GBH etc

I don't consider myself a Thai hugger - well, except for the wife - but you appear to be a Thai basher.

Thais never fight one on one; really, you've never seen or heard of a fight between two Thais, or are you just spouting one of the usual TV myths?

And for crying out loud, even in our glorious western world it is usual for single victims to be beaten up or killed by groups of thugs; that's the thug style wherever you are in the world.

The people who did this are bar-stewards for sure, but such people can be found in all countries.

I think the point is, it's much more the norm and frequent for a group to attack a single person here, or delay a fight to go get 'their friends' to come and attack them later.

Much different to the west where, if you piss someone off, they will fight with you. They won't put it off, go get their friends and come back later to re-ignite the argument (generally speaking).

Yes, there are groups of thugs everywhere, but I also rarely have seen a group of guys join in on girls bashing each other, they are usually the ones to stop them. Quite the contrary to here, where everyone is 'fair game' so to speak.

Men have much more respect for women in the west, which isn't here (always exceptions to the case). That's obvious isn't it?

coffee naturally burns up alcohol, try strong coffee after a knee bender, you recover a lot faster..

Rubbish. Have the laws of chemistry changed? Drinking coffee actually can do a lot more damage because coffee dehydrates the body. The last thing a drunk needs is to lose more water. Do you understand that a hangover is caused by dehyration?

I'd really be keen to see a demonstration of coffee "naturally burning up alcohol".

Indeed, I was going to say the same thing. All this myths on how to recover from a hangover.

Not myths. Vitamin B6 reduces the recovery time. That is what you are urinating out when you are drunk. The B6 helps process the alcohol in the liver. Don't believe me? Take about 50 milligrams before you go out. Put 50 milligrams in your pocket and drink with water about 4 hours later, and then another 50 when you get home about 4 hours later. If you really hate hangovers, this will help.

Vitamin B6, is not some Myth. I'm talking about the drink coffee, that type of stuff. Taking Vitamin B6 helps recovery as your body is depleted of many Vitamins after drinking. It doesn't help reduce your alcohol, only reduce the effects of alcohol on the body (ie the hangover). Same can be said for drinking fluids (water) etc after drinking and before sleeping. All your doing is replacing what has been depleted.

That's just common sense.

Silly to claim your product does this.

No more silly than this stupid whitening cream, whitening deodorant, whitening viginal cream, whitening nose canal cream, on and on.

Rubbish, whitening creams do work by inhibiting melatonin production, thus reducing pigmentation in the skin. Different products, work differently and people react differently depending on how strong their pigmentation expression is, sun exposure etc etc. It's not some magical pseudoscience. Research goes into the actual brand name products (and cheap stuff is a copy of those).

Assuming the product does in fact work, though I am sceptical, surely reducing the alcohol level in the system is a good thing for drivers, as they will not legally be drunk and therefore not a danger to society. Assuming the breath analysis equipment is not faulty, you are either drunk or you aren't, regardless of the amount of alcohol or any remedy used to reduce alcohol levels. If the cop were to be talking about the potential health dangers inherent in attempting to influence the metabolic process and the potential for missuse he might be onto something.

Without injecting large amounts of something into the body, I can't possibly see how this works. UNLESS, it is a masking agent and somehow it absorbs the alcohol in your 'breath' thereby hoping to fool the instruments. In theory you could do this by having something react with the alcohol in the air inside your mouth, and 'may' work as there are various types of breathalyzers. Some just require you to just talk at the end of the instrument (maybe that type here?) Other's require an active breath for 10 seconds or so (like in Australia). I could see something that 'may' potentially work against the former, but the later can't be fooled, you wouldn't be able to reduce the amount that quickly.

Even if it is based on science, the amounts in the actual gum would be soooo small, that it won't actually work. There's no regulation on these types of products, and the government is rightly concerned it may encourage drink driving.

What I heard from my Thai friend is that the distributor threatened companies that if they carried Pepsi instead of EST, then they wouldn't supply them with the other products they offer. It has nothing to do with popularity.

Indeed, not only this, but it's clear that this was planned for a long time, before the contract with Pepsi ended. Pepsi I'm assuming would have thought the contract was going to be renewed as a standard, but they were told nup, seeya. Otherwise Pepsi would have had their new manufacturer and distributor ready to go long before it ended.

Swap out one poison for another. Whatever. Let Darwin do his work, drink up everyone.

All in moderation. Anything in excess will kill you. 'sodas' are no different.

I find EST revolting, my wife is Thai and detests it also. I have to hand it to the producers, creating something so unpalatable - my wife eats all manner of oddities; congealed blood cubes in soup, chicken feet and fried insects and won't drink EST - that really is an culinary achievement on one level. How did they manage to mess it up so badly?

The first time I drank EST I thought it was a new name for pepsi in Thailand and I didn't taste any difference. I think it's a good copy and I think it will permanently keep a bigger market share than pepsi. The marketing campaign was very successful. Most Thai people don't care, if the taste is about the same as pepsi they are ok with that.

It's a pretty poor copy. It takes like the no name, brandless cola labels back in Australia. I'd say it's your tastebuds that are probably dead (they eventually die). But it tastes very different and I refuse to drink it. Similar price to Coke and Pepsi, only forceful business tactics will keep it in the market, where consumers don't have a choice.

I can't believe the number of OP's here who claim to drink Coke Zero. The stuff is poison and full of Aspartame. Look it up, or enjoy a shorter life. Any of these sweet sticky soft drinks (sodas for you yanks) like Coke and Pepsi are all garbage anyway but then each to his own.

As opposed to the 25+ grams of High fructose corn syrup that is used in regular 'soda'. It's the better of two evils, if you want to drink soda.

Fine to take if you have been sweating a lot.

Green coconut water will taste better and achieve the same thing.

How is the sugar content of the green coconut? While not technically diabetic, family history and the sugar shakes tell me I need to watch sugar intake. Add that to Russian lineage so I sweat even in blizzards.

Any advice about maintaining electrolyte balance is appreciated. Right now, I just go through water like it's- well, water. And I do cramp up occasionally in BKK here.

I can have/get the same issues. Chronic aches in my calves, which I've determined to be from dehydration (and must be easy for me to get there). Can't drink Coffee as it causes it as well.

Those electrolyte packs I use, one a day, if I feel a little dehydrated. There's about 5g of glucose in the one I have, so not an issue, less than milk and no where near the 25g or so in Gatorade.

They do help.

I have commented befor about the iresponsibility if Thai with the proper disposal of plastics, ie, not throwing all garbage on the ground and not burning plastics....and arrogent Thais told me it was a problem caused by farangs who have made plastic products available to Thai people...go figure!

Well it's true, isn't it???

Were plastic bags invented by Thai's?

Ahh yep. Blame foreigners for "MAKING" Thai's use plastic bags.

Apparently free will doesn't exist in this country and they all do what they are told.....wait on second though.......

So plastic bags are not used in England or America then!!!

You have'nt been to Sainsburys or Tesco's lately, have you!!

What are you on about? I was talking about the statement of blame the foreigners. As in they can CHOOSE not to use them.

I never said they weren't used overseas, Australia uses them as well. But no where near like here. You often have to actively ASK for a bag. They don't automatically put a single bottle in a plastic bag. They assume you don't need one.

Also they implement re-usable bags etc etc. The mindset is very different.

I have commented befor about the iresponsibility if Thai with the proper disposal of plastics, ie, not throwing all garbage on the ground and not burning plastics....and arrogent Thais told me it was a problem caused by farangs who have made plastic products available to Thai people...go figure!

Well it's true, isn't it???

Were plastic bags invented by Thai's?

Ahh yep. Blame foreigners for "MAKING" Thai's use plastic bags.

Apparently free will doesn't exist in this country and they all do what they are told.....wait on second though.......

"With a higher ratio of garbage per head than other capitals, we need to adopt a 'think new and act new' approach to manage the problem

no shit! start by taxing plastic bags 1baht/bag, see how many 7/11 gives you with every purchase of everything then.

I'm the same. I bring bags to go shopping. The staff working there get confused. What huh, you want me to do what with this bag. Umm, that's not normal, I'm confused. I don't know what to do! Sorry but they are pretty dumb.

And at 7-11, I buy a few items, I can carry them. I tell them no bag and they get confused again. But what huh. You are going to use your HANDS to carry that.

It's truly amazing at the mindset they all have. It gets quite frustrating.

Thai people need to be "RE-Educated" about waste reduction and recycling. no eduction => failure.

I feel upset when I see most drink products so small, like 100ml tetra-pack milks and juice, and people jut buy whole packs of it. Not to mention the plastic abuse everywhere.

Why Thailand cannot follow Malaysia procedures? In Malaysia supermarkets charge about 1Baht per plastic bag! which is very good, so people now bring their own cottom or durable/reusable plastic bags.

There is just so much garbage in bangkok and people dont care at all and make no effort to change it.

we have to start acting:

- bring your own reusable 'Green bag" to the 7/11 and supermarket (I always do and people look at me surprised, like, look at Farang Bah.) a few people doing it here and there and will make other aware and start become more common practice.

- Buy a green bag for friends and people around you.

- Stop buying Tetra-Pak products, i.e. those paper boxes of juice, Look at the bottom of the bag and it will say "Tetra-Pak ™"

They are very very hard to recycle, in Fact thailand does not have the proper technology to fully recycle Tetra-Pak. They contain 4 to 6 layers of different materials glued together, like 2 aluminum foil layers (to avoid light), 2 plastic layers, 1 paper layer. They require special machinery to separate the layers for recycle.

- Use Glass bottles instead of Plastic bottles for water and other drinks.

- Use aluminum cans, they are better than plastic for recycling and more effective. But best is to avoid all cans and bottles.

- Separate the garbage materials accordingly, it becomes easier and time-saving for the recycle workers to process "your garbage". You should separate plastic, paper, metal and most importantly Organics (food waste). It makes a huge difference. (i used to visit and inspect recycle factories)

One of the worst pollutants are from auto-vehicles. like old tires, old burned oil, very hard to recycle and to process.

Tetra-Pak:

Agreed. Charge for the bags. I've educated the gf about bags, so one person at a time. She's pretty good. Thai's don't give a rats a*** about much outside their little world. (or sometimes even in it!)

Mine's been up all day. No issues. TOT in the city as well.

It's the Thai mindset. Cut down anything that stands in the way of making a profit.

Even locally at the condo, a restaurant and beer area opened up. There were palm trees and a few number of bushes around that made them have an open air atmosphere that was quite nice and relaxing.

But no. They cut down 4 trees and removed all the bushes, so they could build a big ugly square building to house their beer taps and replaced the trees with concrete for more tables (Instead of placing things around them like well thinking people would).

So now it looks ugly as s***, doesn't feel nice at all and they removed more trees just to make money (instead of working around the trees). The bushes were removed behind their restaurant, obviously because they just didn't like them there.

You presume figures to justify your position. Number 1 what age would be considered premature death.

Secondly if it was me I would have a large Cole Zero and only one order of fries.

Studies have actually looked at the calories in a big mac (in many countries). In Australia they even require nutritional labels so by law they have to provide that information (the menu even shows how many KJ's per meal etc).

So my numbers aren't just made up, nor are my average calories per person.

I studied Bio Med and also read a lot about food etc, exercise, so it's all from real facts. I don't make up stuff.

And I too, refuse to drink non diet drinks. Even though it's still not good for you, lesser of two evils unfortunately. So with ya on that one.

Well there is truth in what you say however a large part of the reason for those diseases is man is living much longer and has more time to catch them.

Ironic when you think about it. Keep a close eye on your diet so you can live longer and get old peoples problems that you would never have if you died at 50.

I'd still rather live to old age than die prematurely. Besides there's no reason by you couldn't get those disease earlier and die from them anyway.

"a few big macs A DAY, you would most likely put on weight"

Care to fill us in on the calorie count in one Big Mac I believe that it is not that high three a day would be less than the regular intake of calories.

Personally I prefer the cheese Whooper at Burger King. When I eat it I really don't care what is in it. It is not like it was a daily occurrence. I really don't know a lot about diets but I was told to allow yourself a treat every now and then. Who would eat a few big macs everyday as there regular diet? I really think posts like that are grabbing at straws. 66,000,000 people in Thailand and less than 100 McDonald's. Why even mention it.

About 500 calories in each and every Big Mac. 3 a day and you reach the average caloric intake for a average sized male. If you add in the fries and drink you are looking at over 800-900 calories in a single serving. More than 2/3's the needed daily intake of an average person.

If you were eating 3 of these, you would be consuming (just burgers) your needed calories for a whole day with crappy processed food. Not a good thought.

Not at all. If you were eating a few big macs A DAY, you would most likely put on weight. With the amount of sugar, fat etc that in that. I would disagree and so would any nutritionist etc. Add to that, people who would be in this 'basket' would not be eating only raw fresh, healthy food the rest of the day. They sought of don't go together.

True to the second part, but a consistent habit shows they're likely behaviour. I can eat McDonalds once and I feel like crap. And, back to your original statement, if you only ate that and you were very active you would lose weight, but even if you only ate that and you weren't very active, you probably wouldn't lose it, but increase your levels of fat.

No need to continue here. Take it to the "I'm too fat forum". We can talk about it there all day long. I'm under 10% bodyfat, so I know a thing or two about fat control. I could easily stay lean with 2 big Macs a day and stay reasonably healthy too - the only problem is I don't like them, so I don't want to start eating them to prove my point.

Why would I need to go there? Who said I was too fat? What has been your highest body fat? I see plenty of lean people around here (and even in Australia) that are lean by genetics, not by actually having had reduced their body fat from 16-18% (average) to under 10%, who would not know anything other than they can eat what they want and never put on fat.

Sure you might be able to, if you're very active and have a high metabolic rate and need a higher than average caloric intake and even have favorable genetics (and are 'lucky'). But we are talking about the average person here who doesn't fit that profile. So, no they would not be able to do it without affecting their weight and their health.

I would also disagree that eating 2 big macs a day would be considered by anyone as healthy. Especially anyone who 'knows' anything. Sure if you had one every now and then, but certainly not everyday.

Also the fat makes up a whopping 300 of the calories (about 35 grams of it). And that aint' any of the good stuff, plus the sugar and the 1g of sodium in each burger and that's something that is not good for anyone.

I also know a thing or two about fat and more importantly how the body uses it and what it does with it.

Very very not true. You would still be unhealthy. It's not only the total calories you take in, it's the type of food that counts as well. Unless you have especially good genetics, but even so, no matter how active you are, you're arteries will still feel the effects of that food, so as your general health.

As I said, you'd have to take into consideration a person's total calorie intake, his metabolic rate and activity level to determine if a person will put on weight. That is what we were discussing, not general health.

You could be reasonably healthy eating a few big macs a day if you ate only healthy food the rest of the day.

You can't take one meal in isolation and say the person will gain weight and be unhealthy.

Not at all. If you were eating a few big macs A DAY, you would most likely put on weight. With the amount of sugar, fat etc that in that. I would disagree and so would any nutritionist etc. Add to that, people who would be in this 'basket' would not be eating only raw fresh, healthy food the rest of the day. They sought of don't go together.

True to the second part, but a consistent habit shows they're likely behaviour. I can eat McDonalds once and I feel like crap. And, back to your original statement, if you only ate that and you were very active you would lose weight, but even if you only ate that and you weren't very active, you probably wouldn't lose it, but increase your levels of fat.

Not if you're frying with it.

Olive oil has to major problems. First the molecules are unstable and therefor not good at all for cooking. Used straight out of the bottle on salads it is an excellent source of healthy fats. Second problem is that the majority of Extra virgin olive oil is fake or cut with non-virgin olive oil. It's a big Italian mafia operation. Search it if you don't believe me. I found one brand at Villa Market in Phuket that comes from Australia and is very expensive that I think is the real deal but I'm still not sure. Olive oil produced and sold locally tends to be real more often but anything that is exported is suspect. Again search it and you can find info on how to tell if it's real. Generally if the price is cheap forget it.

Indeed. Stuff made in Australia has to comply, or else I believe there would be significant issues. Imported stuff though is a different situation.

As to what oil is best...there's contradicting information all around. Although using saturated fats may help cooking, they still aren't good for your diet. Otherwise fast food would be healthy for us.

Two big macks, two large fries and a diet coke please.

Really helps right?

No it doesn't help at all - this will make you fat in no time with all of those trans fats, simple carbohydrates and aspartame!!!

You can't say that unless you know the person's total daily calorie intake and level of activity. If I only ate that every day I'd lose a lot of weight.

Very very not true. You would still be unhealthy. It's not only the total calories you take in, it's the type of food that counts as well. Unless you have especially good genetics, but even so, no matter how active you are, you're arteries will still feel the effects of that food, so as your general health.

When you drink soda or most candies you get a huge amount of sugar, but it is not actual sugar cane sugar, it is CORN SYRUP.

That mean GMO, and a sugar that stick to your body.

The government should also look into the palm oil everyone is using here because it is cheap (increase drastically the risk of heart disease).

There is a cocktail in Thailand for a huge health outbreak in the short future, and when I see how many Thais are really huge everywhere, I feel that Thailand will be looking like New Orleans very soon.

When you drink soda or most candies you get a huge amount of sugar, but it is not actual sugar cane sugar, it is CORN SYRUP.

That mean GMO, and a sugar that stick to your body.

The government should also look into the palm oil everyone is using here because it is cheap (increase drastically the risk of heart disease).

There is a cocktail in Thailand for a huge health outbreak in the short future, and when I see how many Thais are really huge everywhere, I feel that Thailand will be looking like New Orleans very soon.

Yes most sugar in sodas is HFCS [ high fructose corn syrup] which was invented in Japan in 1966 and is worse for you than other types of sugars because of the way it is processed in the body. And yes if it comes from the USA than a 90% chance the corn used to make it is GMO which is another whole bad story. Diet sodas like Pepsi zero use artificial sweeteners like aspartame which in some ways is even worse for you than sugar. Plain water is the only answer.

Actually palm oil is the safest oil to cook with [ accept for coconut oil which leaves a bad taste ] because it is 50% saturated fat which is the most stable fat molecule and sustains the least amount of damage when subjected to high heat and damaged fat molecules is one of the primary causes of damaged arteries. That's why now that NYC has banned trans fats [ another human invention] for cooking in restaurants, most all of them are now using Palm Oil. Best not to eat ANY fried foods at all if you are really serious about your health.

At last, somone else who has read up about the subject and understands what it is all about!!!!

I only use Olive oil, which is also good (but vastly too expensive for a restaurant to use).

As you said.

The high fructose corn syrup is so dangerous because it causes such a massive insulin spike, it also inhibits leptin, so you remain hungry and continue eating. It can also lead to insulin resistance which is even worse. White sugar is completely different and no, you don't put on the same weight from eating white sugar (ie glucose).

Have a read. http://www.naturalnews.com/031971_HFCS_abdominal_fat.html

HFCS is so cheap to produce that's why it is used and besides, if you never feel full after drinking a coke...what are you going to do...drink more.

Agreed, artificial sweeteners are no better.

Trans-fats are so bad, because you body doesn't actually contain the right enzymes to break down the 'trans' bonds, meaning the fat can never actually be broken down. This sums up pretty well about fats. http://www.realfooduniversity.com/healthy-cooking-oils/

One thing, if anyone is using Canola oil, throw it out immediately and use something else. There is no such plant as a canola flower (like nearly everyone is made to believe), it is made from a rapeseed plant, and is extremely unhealthy for you, your arteries and your health.

Good marketing won over the public on that and it's a product that should be taken off the market.

The big picture, as I see it, is this as the beginning of a domino effect situation. The people who have lost, or will lose their jobs, contribute to the economy, or at least, used to contribute. The purchases and payments they can no longer make, will effect even more people. But this is just one facet. It's going to get worse! Count on it!

I doubt many of these people on the minimum wage, have much residual money to spend on luxuries. I would be guessing (logically) that most if not all, goes towards food and shelter and that's about it.

I disagree with people who constantly say a Thai can live on 200-250 baht per day. It's borderline survival. Not living.

I also agree that multinationals or companies that are exporting say they can't afford the wage increase is bullshit. We hear the same everywhere, in every country.

If you are serving the local community, it is different, but no different elsewhere, where running your own business with employees is hard, when you have high salaries you have to pay, high overheads etc.

I think people just got used to the cheap cheap labour and don't want to have a greater expense than they are used to. For a Thai on minimum way life is hard. Nothing is that cheap here, if you look at it from the viewpoint of someone earning 300 baht a day.

What a crock of crap from these idiots in wooden long nose boats. Having been on the receiving end of the same style of driving from Koh Lanta to Koh Har, also from Krabi to No, Hong and other islands (on many occasions), these fools have no brains and no idea of safety. Then to get the company to make 'statements' countering the charges, the truth lies in the injured, not the lame excuses from these nut cases. But with no coast guards and like Thai drivers in general, there is a complete disregard for anything like safety on land, or water. About time the maritime authorities got off their collective asses and started doing something about it. Another nail in the tourist coffin...

As a person who has spent signficant time in small power boats it is not an unusual practice to increase power when heading into a heavy sea ...in fact is it prundent to do so in most circumstances. Many times the changing seas and wind require the use of on the spot judgement to decide the best course of action. This is called seamanship. I have done so many times....headlong in to a very large wave may be the correct decision at the time. Not saying that what happened is acceptable but please realise that being at sea isn't the same as popping down to the 7-11 on the scooter...things can and do change rapidly and with little warning. The outcome could have been much worse.

But it depends on the design of the hull. Small power boats (ie most modern 'fishing' and even cruising boats) hulls are designed to 'cut' into waves with a sharper angle of the hull, this is at the expensive of speed of course, but they can ultimately go faster through larger waves, because they cut through them.

Speed boats are designed for relatively calm weather with a much larger angle on the hull (ie more flat) so that they skim across the water at high speeds. However they are much more dangerous in choppy and worse conditions.

The boat design is different as they suit completely different purposes. Fishing boats and normal cruising boats are much more forgiving than speed boats in rougher conditions.

That's where these captains have no idea what they are doing. They (most of them) drive one way regardless of conditions, where as they should be dramatically changing their driving habits.

It's the population density in Bangkok that's the issue. It's quiet a bit higher in Bangkok compared to nearly all western major cities. It's even 1,500 per sq/km more dense than London and london faces much the same problem. I'd guess that those estimates of Bangkoks population is under valued too.

http://www.citymayors.com/statistics/largest-cities-density-125.html

There's no easy fix, except build much much more skytrains. There's no way around it (or secondary roads, above existing roads.)

I agree with the Thai government, as much as possible of these chemical shit products from Pfizer and similar companies must be banned. Chemicals in your body can never give you any benifit.

This sort of comment always baffles me - your body is made 100% out of "chemicals" - and even if you were to narrow it to "exogenous chemicals" then I would just have to wonder if you plan to never eat or drink anything.

Your body is not made of of synthetic chemicals. Therein lies the difference. Drugs of any description are usually a bandaid for the symptom rather than treat the causes. Drugs are usually modified natural substances and every man-made drug bar none, has toxic side effects. Can't see how anyone defends this shit (any drugs).

Bandaid? Maybe, in theory. But drugs often help alleviate symptoms while you can at the same time find the source of the issue. You can't eliminate stress from your life overnight, nor money issues, anxiety etc, but stuff like this helps you get it together so that you can then work on the underlying issues.

Drugs (pharmaceutical) always have potential side effects and every chemical in the world has a toxicity (every chemical has an LD50, it's lethal dose to 50% of the test group) water included.

Drugs are bad when abused or when people become reliant on them. Some people do have no choice though, as correcting faulty brain chemistry is not something that can be done by pure will. As has been said, Thailand is so far behind the mental health issue it's not funny. They are afraid of being called crazy if you need to see a pshychologist/psychiatrist and knee jerk reactions like this just add to the issue.

For most Thai's they don't believe mental issues exist and the people are crazy, add to that there 'war on drugs' and these things are just never thought through properly.