smileydude

There is an old thai saying " To raise each child you will be poor for 7 years" or basically translated as it requires 7 years of your earnings to raise each child. Considering a person probably works about 35-40 years of his life and has 2-3 children on average its not surprising that a large amount of one's earnings goes to raising a child. This is probably more so in Asian culture as its the norm for parents to foot the bill for college, first car, wedding etc. There are lots of debates whether paying for that elite college education is worth it in terms of the money put in and how much can be earned back. People are definitely having less children then before despite earning more and Thailand with an average child rate of 1.4/family is already considered an aging society (>10% of population 65 and above) and will be an aged society by 2025 (>20%).

Unless you come from a country with a strong welfare/pension system I'm thinking we will need to have a considerable amount saved up or likely spend the last years of our lives broke. How much is enough (considering unknown future health expenses) is probably a tougher question to answer.

Due to the recent spate of events the word "bomb" does not seem to invoke the same level of emotional concern as it once did.

I hope we don't forget about all those senseless deaths and lives lost and learn something from it all.

Even if you are able to report this case to the soldiers superiors and have him reprimanded or evicted you'll only end up with an enemy with a personal grudge. In Thailand nothing is more dangerous then making enemies with people in uniform.

Easiest and most pragmatic solution is to move out, its not worth it trying to do the "right" thing.

They say when we get married we marry 3 people:

The first person is the person we'd like them to be.

The second person is the person they actually are.

The third person is the person they will become after they marry us.

Your wife thinks she married the first person but she see's the third.

Tell her she needs to marry all 3 of you and that if she nit picks she'll never be happy.

Sad but proof that no country is immune to tragic loss of life no matter how advanced it is.

As per Korean culture, some heads will have to roll to accept responsibility, unfortunately a very foreign concept to Thailand.

Japanese businesses have always been more pragmatic then most.

Economic fundamentals don't change over night and the Japanese know that.

The only risk Thailand has in terms of competitiveness is if our work force is continually handed out free lunches such as rice subsidies, diesel subsides etc. and other counter-productive populist handouts that lulls people into complacency and doesn't produce a more competitive and efficient workforce.

The innovative-driven economies have left Thailand far behind because they've educated and disciplined their people to work more efficiently, productively, and creatively.

Where you live does not change your behavior.

Once a thuggish crook, always a thuggish crook.

Judging from his "hardened" look I'm guessing he has a rap sheet longer then a kite.

Despite this day and age of IT it seems criminal records are not shared between LE's and immigration.

I don't forsee any reason why an economic collapse should occur.

The fundamentals of economic competitiveness are still there albeit with a change of guard.

Thailand's foreign exchange reserves are healthy at 168,885 USD million.

With a certain amount of uncertainty gone I actually anticipate the opposite.

The guy carrying the biggest stick has come out.

They're probably mulling who they can "buy" as allies for counter measures.

The question is what are they really saying?

The US government in terms of foreign relations has always put geopolitical interests on the forefront of their agenda.

Who would not prefer government leaders who are easier to lobby, dine and wheel and deal with (business-like), less nationalistic, and more willingly protect US interests in exchange for god knows what.

Assault rifles especially M-16's are actually quite easy to come by in Thailand because many that were "claimed" to be supposedly stolen from military armories by terrorists were actually stolen by officers for sale to anyone who could fork up cash, especially the ethnic minority groups at war along the borders with the higher value stuff like M-4A1's, MP5's, Tavors, M249's, and M60's snapped up by private collectors and politicians.

Everyone has a right to voice to their own opinion and unless it violates any rules set out by the paegent I do not see why the appropriateness of her comments need to be dragged out and debated. I personally do not see people who "sit on the fence" and lack opinion of what they feel is right or wrong as being beautiful or intelligent so lets respect her opinion as a person and move on even if we disagree.

She won because of her beauty not for being politically correct.

If there is such a thing as a gun loving culture, I'd guess it evolved from the need to use it as tools of survival such as for hunting, living in a rural environment surrounded by wild predators, or from hostile neighbors, so considering the history of how America evolved it is not surprising that guns are ingrained into their culture.

Nowadays though I think most people, whether Thai's or Americans, like guns because of the feeling of power and control we have over our own security and an extension of our masculinity.

Here's my take on it:

People tend to be cynical because its the internet where its hard to take every word read seriously.

The average age of the crowd at TV is probably older then most other internet forums.

The level of cynicism tends to be directly proportional to one's age.

As for your post on 3 girlfriends, I think your scenario is entirely possible and of course prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt.

Women are becoming more like men. Sex is sex, they have their needs and sometimes they don't want the emotional baggage.

Could this a stem from a subconscious sense of altruism East Asians are well known for where the good of the many (lies to conceal incompetence and thus bring shame to the country) is more important then the good of the few? (the truth to the families).

Yellow cones or red cones, anyone with half a brain would know it is not wise to remove cones set up by people who are likely to be obsessed and/or fanatical about a cause and coupled with mob mentality downright dangerous.

I believe the average joe on both sides has a noble and legitimate cause in their minds, but not so for the leaders and guards.

Most are akin to paid mercs on a power trip.

I think most of these altercations are due to people who want to test the limits of their ego's.

The stupid "I'm not afraid of you" people who pick up the cones and the "we are big shot guards and can beat up anyone against our cause" thugs. Its like the dumb and the dumber.

I feel the thai concept of donating/philanthropy to temples is misguided. You cannot buy blessings. You cannot take back sins commited. You are not doing any good per se. If anything it starts from how you treat fellow human beings.

Buddhist teachings never taught people to worship sacred images or build grand temples. That was invented by people who wanted something they could revere which on the contrary actually blinds them from seeing the truth that it is all about a higher state of consciousness and nothing more.

The 150 million is better spent on education and food for those in need.

I know the minister wants to impress but saying it will take 5 days actually makes his standards look shoddy and incompetent.

He's an appointed minister so no need to gather popularity votes with such statements.

Unfortunately for thai children and ignorant parents there are no thai laws requiring children under a certain age to be strapped to an infant seat and the haughty laugh is because the mother is following the thai dictum "Don't see the coffin, don't weep". Basically meaning until she actually see's her baby injured or dead because of her failure to strap them in she doesn't feel the need.

In the event of an accident since there are no laws requiring infant seats you are not breaking any criminal or traffic laws.

The car's insurance can deny you coverage if the baby is injured or killed though if they state it is required.

Go with your sense of responsibility.

As for the mother you might want to do a 100km-0 test brake really hard and have the mother's face smack into the back seat for a reality lesson while the baby is safely strapped in.

The day ideologists fighting for a noble cause opt to be involved in Thai politics is the day they stop being ideologists but rather self-serving greedy opportunists.

If they were true to their cause they would never have even considered contesting for a political position. Instead they should focus their efforts to support leaders who share their views. Once you roll in the mud your legitimacy and integrity is questionable.

Strange indeed. Normally a guard would not so blatantly harass and steal from a boy unless he felt some sort of legitimacy.

I'm guessing the security guard was sort of like the boys handler or pimp.

He either set up the boy or allowed him to beg in exchange for protection (having set aside a certain amount for BMA officials/police).

If the guard was old enough, I wouldn't be surprised if he was the kid's father being an abusive parasite.

30-40 years ago Vespa's were widely used by the local Indian Sikh community involved in the cloth trade around the Sampheng area having the advantage of ease of riding for those with long Indian style clothes and handy for hauling rolls of cloth around on the rear rack which was lacking on other motorcycles in those day. I'm guessing the prices in those days weren't as relatively high compared to other motorcycles because Indian businessmen are known for their shrewdness. I would like to have one but I think the current importers are price gouging us just like Mini Coopers because they know they have evolved to cult status and are highly desirable and trendy. Like many trendy consumer products here, prices do not reflect value but rather desirability and covetousness..

Those tushies remind me I need to buy a new pillow.

Wouldn't it be nice to be born a woman's bicycle seat in your next life?

As expected, the strategic political jousting continues.....

....whoever thought Thailand's problems would go away is optimistically naive.

As for whoever is being appointed being good, bad, qualitfied, unqualified, intelligent, stupid, it doesn't matter because at the end of the day they are not the one calling the shots. YL never truly called the shots and neither will Niwattumrong.

Nothing has changed except you might never hear "thank you three times" again, or will we?

A small step forward but like Winston Churchill infamously said:

"It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried"

and

"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter"

so until voters wake up and see the greed, corruption and self-serving politicians for what they are electoral democracy will continue to be used as a tool to pillage the country and blind us into complacency.