Misterwhisper

I find it quite disturbing and massively hypocritical that the "Secretary-General of the Muslim World League" would even dare touch on the subject of multiculturalism. After all, it is precisely "the Muslim World" that has time and again shown its rejection of and contempt for multiculturalism by systematically oppressing minorities in its own countries -- with very few exceptions. "Multiculturalism" for many Muslims seems to be alright only as long as all these different cultures are submitting to Islam. The fact that the "Secretary-General of the Muslim World League" happens to be a citizen of Saudi-Arabia, one of the most rabidly fanatical stalwarts of fundamentalist Islam in the world, speaks volumes. Try living in Saudi-Arabia as a non-Muslim, non-Arab for any length of time and see how far notions of "multiculturalism" will get you there. In addition, look at the vast, vast majority of diaspora Muslims around the globe and realize how they all tend to be living crammed together in their own secluded ghettos. They want no part in the "multiculturalism" of their non-Muslim host countries. Also let's see how that "multiculturalism" so highly praised by the Secretary-General is going to pan out for the Thai laborers that his country so desperately wants. I already have a hunch.

So the Saudi bloke praised Thailand for (allegedly) being everything in terms of multi-culturalism that HIS country is not? How quaint.

Great! I herewith am declaring myself a "highly skilled foreign expert", saving quite a few percentage points in personal income tax in the process. Wonder if that'll work when I file my PND.91 in about 2 months.... Then I finally will have the cash available to visit national parks and assorted tourist attractions again at the official ten-fold entry fee. Something which I have skipped for many years.

Oh, I am all for it.... as long as it is an "entry fee" levied on foreign TOURISTS, Mr. Phipat. So... how are your ministry and the immigration bureau going to distinguish between foreign TOURISTS and foreign RESIDENTS? After all, I already pay personal income tax in this country and hold a comprehensive private health insurance. Thus, I am neither in need of your crappy "tourist insurance" nor will I require any assistance from your dodgy "emergency fund". Therefore, please permit me to reiterate: How will you distinguish between TOURISTS and RESIDENTS? My hunch is that I will have to pay your "entry fee" each and every time I return to my country of residence from a business trip (which pre-Covid happened about 15 - 20 times per year) just as much as I am still forced to pay a ten-fold entry fee to national parks and other tourist attractions only because I apparently have the wrong skin color and a nose bridge. It's not about those 300 baht, Mr. Phipat. It's about the principle of things. Otherwise, please consider calling that "entry fee for all foreign tourists" as what it truly is: an "entry fee for all foreigners".

The same place that they increasingly seem to copy in every respect and kiss up to -- their bosom buddy China?

Thank you, Mr. Prayuth, for once again confirming that you have absolutely zero, zilch, nil comprehension of economics, neither on a domestic nor international level. Should've stayed in the barracks and continue collecting (undeserved) medals instead of usurping an elected government!

And feudalism doesn't?

I always cringe when continuously reading about Thailand's intention to "export" workers to Saudi-Arabia. It conjures an uneasy image of hundreds of people being crammed into shipping containers and being sent on their way. A mere commodity rather than human beings applying for job openings abroad. Speaks volumes about the Thai government's attitude towards its own people. They are little more than trade goods that will bring in financial benefits.

What an obnoxious, arrogant, deluded, narcissistic and self-aggrandizing man. He disgusts me. Good job! Millions out of work. Crime sharply increasing. Xenophobia on the rise. Households ever deeper in debt. A once flourishing tourism industry destroyed to the point of non-recovery. Should I go on?

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result." Oh, and Nikorn, next time better do some background checks on who exactly moves into your shrine. Not every spirit likes "nam daeng', you know? Some really appreciate a good bottle of scotch. Daily!

He might want to consider applying for a janitor job in a Saudi palace. As the past has proven, this can potentially be much more lucrative than wasting money on "nam daeng" and the Thai lottery.

Why do I have the numb feeling that there soon will be a follow-up story? "Danish nomad couple detained for working without a permit and failing to file their 90-day reporting"

Don't forget your 90-day reporting, renew your Thai work permit in a timely fashion and pay your Thai personal income taxes... lest you want to risk your bubble to pop.

Is that one of Thailand's new submarines? Impressive!

I likewise oppose the name change. Why don't we just stick with Krungthep-mahanakorn-amorn-rattanakosin-mahinthara-ayutthaya-mahadilok-pop-nopparat-ratchathani-burirom-udom-ratchanivej-mahasathan-amorn-pimarn-avatarn-sathit-sakhatathiya-visanu-kamprasit instead?

Hmmm... I think it's a fantastic deal at only 32 baht. Or did I misread something?

The problem of pedophilia continues to be widespread in Thailand, but as so many other things is still swept under the carpet. I vividly recall hooking up with a cute waitress during my early years in Thailand, who hailed from Nakhon Sawan. She was 24 years old at the time according to her ID card. One day soon thereafter she introduced 2 young children to me, a boy aged 10 and a girl aged 8, whom she claimed to be her own offspring. I was shaken to the bone! To make matters worse, she revealed that the girl's father allegedly was her own stepdad! That guy, in his late 40s, was married to her mom... who was only 40 at the time and who had given birth to my waitress girlfriend when she had just turned 15. Needless to say that my relationship with that waitress didn't last long. I just couldn't handle it. This wasn't an isolated case. In the ensuing years I frequently came across young women who had had their first child in their mid-teens. Very often they even had several offspring -- each one of them from a different father. In the 80s and 90s it was very common to stumble across very young girls in go-go bars and hostess lounges even in Bangkok. They usually would show you fake IDs, of course, that "made them" of legal age when in fact they were only 15 or 16, the girls' exceptionally young looks betraying them. In the countryside the situation was even worse, with girls in local brothels frequently being as young as 12 or 13. An "English teacher" once took me along on one of his regular weekend sojourns to Kanchanaburi, where he happily "partook in local customs" as he cynically called it -- at 20 baht a "pop". I literally fled the scene in horror and broke off contact with the "English teacher". My kudos to "Big Joke" for wanting to do something against this disgusting trade. But I think it's going to be an uphill battle. The practice is just too deeply ingrained. Many local males see it as their "manly privilege" to <deleted> just about any female they can lay their hands on - and no matter what their victim's age is. "A doctor, a soldier, and a politician's son"... do you need to know more?

The only real improvement would be to do away with this idiotic "Thailand Pass" altogether.

How about developing a "Reason and Rationale Dispenser" (RRD)? Could be a winner.

No they don't. I'll tell you what they are actually "seeking". Hefty profits from the gullible. You could just hang an empty plastic bottle around your neck to attain the same "magical powers" these two charlatan companies claim their "trash amulets" to possess.

Wonderful news. And what will those cars run on? AA batteries?

The hat from which these arrival numbers were pulled daily was stolen in Phuket and so far has not been recovered by any local hero. Hence...

Better have that necklace tested for authenticity pronto-pronto. The Saudis will tell you why.

Luckily, he didn't have a spoonful of the plaa ra.