smileydude

9 hours ago, realfunster said:

Some nasty business ! They seemed to have been making a <deleted>-ton of money.

If I was RPT, I would think that keeping an eye on purchases of super cars and doing a little digging now and again might reveal some interesting things...

 

Anyway, my wife constantly tells me I am wasting my life playing computer games but thanks to Call of Duty, I can identify that pictured gun as a fennec.

Rapid fire rate but inaccurate as hell, that's just as well for RPT, whom I hope make a swift recovery. See, games have their uses after all !

I think its a CAA Roni with a Glock 17 and extended magazine.  Glocks are common in Thailand and the Roni sells for around 25,000 baht.  It decreases recoil when firing due to the added stability of the buttstock and dual grip but you’re still firing from the Glock with its 4.49 inch barrel gun with a faux compensator at the end so no change in ballistics.

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

Just can't get my head around this "gender they identify with" stuff, because if they were born with a Y-chromosome, have testicles, and a penis, then in my biology classes they were always classified as male.

 

These days the in-thing seems to be this "gender identification" which was unheard of years ago, so it's lucky that some of these lady boys didn't play with bananas when they were young, and later on identified as an elephant or a monkey - - would take a whole lot of surgery to put that right!

I think nowadays Woke people are trying to make sense of everything with lots of new jargon and logic while the rest of us are left behind as archaic and relics of the past.  

I don’t pretend to try to understand what I don’t and think it would be great if we just all agreed to disagree sometimes considering all the divisiveness and hate going on.  

I think this sign is about having realistic expectations.  Both sides, Thai’s and English speakers shouldn’t be over sensitive or nationalistic about it.

Thailand has always ranked high in terms of gun related deaths.  Don’t see much change in the stats.

In 2016 Thailand was ranked #11 in the world with around 3800+ deaths.  Brazil and the US take the top spots.

Per capita we aren’t even in the top 25, because many smaller countries especially in Central America like El Salvador have that distinction.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/theres-a-new-global-ranking-of-gun-deaths-heres-where-the-u-s-stands

Thai’s tend to get all riled up and aware about stuff especially if its perpetuated on social media and that has often skewed its significance.  Then with our goldfish memories distracted by playing on our phones we forget about it and move on to the next juicy drama.

Illegal guns (from bordering countries) will always be available eg. Chinese made AK 47’s can be had for as little as 5000 baht.  Just gotta know where to source them, same as that silencer made infamous in the recent gold heist.

Violence is increasing because of several reasons:

1. Social and income disparity. 

2. Disruption taking away certain jobs —> debt and despair

3. Instant gratification society buying stuff they can’t afford—>debt

4. Widespread gambling culture eg. Football betting, online gaming, lottery etc—>debt again

5. Face saving is a big thing in Thai culture—> road rage, arranging dowries and weddings more then you can afford—> debt and more debt

What Thailand needs to do is solve some of the reasons listed above and completely overhaul its face-saving culture.

You will never stop the flow of guns like you can’t stop the flow of drugs but you can lower the potential of abuse.

On 1/11/2020 at 7:18 AM, Nyezhov said:

Well Kwaibah, you gave me a sad emoji, I assume becasue I say he needs to be captured and interrogated?

 

Well he had a Can on the pistol. Where did he get a Can (which are usually European or American or Chinese made)?

 

How did he chose that shop?

 

How was he planning to unload the gold?

 

Where did he get the gun?

 

Ordniary robbers dont attach cans to their guns. The USA has thousands and thousands of legal Suppressors and virtually none are ever used in crimes. Robbers dont rob with cans. Why was this guy using one?

 

Arent those questions worth answering in a proper investigation.?

 

 

Most cans in Thailand (aka suppressors/silencers) are local made.  3 provinces with competent gunsmiths and CNC skills have been identified as suppliers: Cholburi, Lopburi and a third I can’t remember.

Unlike Finland where their use is encouraged during hunting and thus easily obtained or with ATF permits in the US, they are almost impossible to get hold of legally in Thailand unless you’re in the Army/police.

Thailand is full of big toes with bigger ego’s and interests.  Step on the wrong one and your ala’ Surachate.

Darwin’s selection process works sometimes. Sometimes it doesn’t.

Thai’s are required to purchase travel insurance (2 million coverage minimum) when applying for Schengen Visa’s.  

The US and the UK are exceptional where travel insurance isn’t required.  The UK has an excellent National health system where you will be treated for emergencies regardless of having insurance or not.  

Not so in the US.

I think its wise to purchase it.   Even though tourists are contributing to the economies of the countries you visit you shouldn’t dump being responsible for your own health on them.

Just lost 2 minutes of my life that I will never get back

17 hours ago, Stocky said:

The couple killed were Muslim. As indicated in the post above, the ongoing southern conflict is often a cover for settling many grudges and disputes. Whilst the security forces aren't necessarily interested in a scrupulous resolution to any investigation.

 

.

I did not see anywhere in the post indicating the ethnicity/religious belief of the victims but assumed they were Buddhists from their names.

I do agree insurgency is often used as a cover for settling personal disputes and conflicts.

Aren’t these ceremonies/rituals usually arranged by other school officials and not directly by the school director?

Prostrating before teachers is a normal show of respect and thanks for their sacrifice to become (low paying) teachers who are supposed to be morally upright etc, but from a western perspective it can seem a bit overboard and undignified.

4 hours ago, saengd said:

That would suit the protesters agenda nicely because it would show China as being in the wrong, it is however the last thing that China wants to do.

Agree.  The last thing China wants to do is alienate their own rising middle class/entrepreneurs by heavy handed methods.  It would probably be easy to develop and invest in their own internationally recognized and efficient financial and banking centers in major Chinese cities so that the significance of HK can be bypassed and left to decline in relevance.

Greed and interests knows no boundaries.  We often look at less developed countries as corrupt and violating human rights yet one of the most advanced countries in the world does it on a systematic basis albeit in the form of trade deals, GSP privileges, tariffs, non-tariff barriers etc (aka economic bullying)

Money talks and ethics walks.

When it comes down to money people are innately selfish no matter how much they have.

They knew all too well it would take years for the judicial process to force them to pay up compensation and yet are now doing this circus act of selling off their assets to delay it even further.  Shameful and pathetic.

Should of followed the example of the factory owner who driving under the influence of alchohol plowed his merc into a Suzuki swift killing a policemen, his wife and child who immediately paid up tens of millions of baht to the surviving daughter (who was not in the car).  

Though no amount of money will ever be able to compensate for the loss of life at least it was the decent thing to do.

The most productive way to take criticism is to not be defensive.  Thai’s are way too defensive and take things (especially about the country) way too personally.  Hey I’m Thai and yeah everyone loves their country and its true the queues in other countries that I’ve been to are sometimes like this but it doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement.

2 hours ago, tallfarang said:

I did a google search on dientamoeba fragilis. They aren't sure how it's spread, or the incubation period. It is also not specific to any geographic region. So I still don't know what makes them so positive they picked it up in Thailand. It is just as feasible they picked it up in Australia.

Yes it is found worldwide in the gut of the general population.  The prevalence rate in Australia varies from 0.4 to 16.8% of the population presenting with gastrointestinal problems.

Dientamoeba fragilis has an estimated prevalence throughout the United States. Unlike majority of parasitic infections, D. fragilis is more prevalent in well-developed countries as opposed to disadvantaged and resource poor nations.[9] The parasite is also endemic in crowded communities (i.e institutions), populations with unsatisfactory sanitation conditions, and individuals who travel to underprivileged countries.[3] Globally, the prevalence of D. fragilis ranges from 0.3% to 90%, occurring in multiple countries including many urbanized cities such as Los Angeles, California and Sydney, Australia. Recently, D. fragilis was considered to be more prevalent than Giardia, thus leading to better diagnostics.[9]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1151954/

Petchburi came out sounding like Cholburi?  What’s the cabbie’s explanation?

I once hailed a taxi to the Sheraton Heathrow only to be taken to another Sheraton near Heathrow and ended up paying a bit more but that was an innocent mistake.  

News just updated that the accused is a 17 yr old special needs lad and is Thai and well known around the area for running amok around cars (apparently dancing by buses) and urinating all over the place.

Another example of unchecked facts and racial profiling common on social media.

Can’t really believe anything posted nowadays unless you are part of the story.

I doubt the average joe really has any political ideology.  Food on the table and some change is probably more important so at the end of day all this political haggling is nothing more then an annoyance unless it causes REAL economic hiccups.

For me its just a power struggle between a bunch of political mafioso hiding behind the legitimacy of pro-democracy versus military power looking after their personal vested interests.

I've been praying for them to all convene parliament on a ship someday which hopefully sinks.

Wishful thinking at best.