Misterwhisper

3 hours ago, smutcakes said:

This is the guy who has 30 million in assets, spent 5 years in prison in Australia for drug dealiny a stint in Thai prison for rape/murder which was later acquitteed and whilat seemingly never having a job ammassed 30 million USD, has the concession to run Klong Toey port.... and no one anywhere in the 'independent agencies' seems to think anything is amiss....

Hmmm... I wonder whether this has anything to do with the draconian criminal defamation laws this country's elite stubbornly uphold -- because it benefits them and keeps critics silent. 

So a convicted heroin trafficker can lead a political party here without anyone even flinching? Ah, the mysteries of the Orient...

Found lavender and berry flavored "Cannabis Water" in my local shop yesterday. It tasted like... well... lavender and berry flavored water.

3 hours ago, JeffersLos said:

Good.

 

Well done for them protecting the public that can now enjoy eating their watermelons injected with red food dye. 

As well as all those healthy vegetables, up to 80% of which are contaminated with pesticides according to some surveys in supermarkets and wet markets.

3 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

there will always be a demand for horny old men to come and live near young sexy women !

Well... what do you expect, when each of these "young sexy women" calls you a "hansum man" and promises to "love you more than monkey love banana" despite your bulging beer belly, bald head, flabby arms, alcoholic red nose, double chin, man boobs, questionable personal hygiene practices, and Birkenstock sandals?

I am NOT speaking from experience, of course... ????????

I couldn't be concerned less. Haven't been to "entertainment venues" in years. Instead, I frequent "restaurants" quite regularly.

7 minutes ago, Bert got kinky said:

Anyway, got to go, I'm planning on drinking myself into a stupor on a bottle of Heineken 0.0. ????

I'll join you... but only if we can roll up my linen shirt and light it up. I like a good smoke with my hard liquor.

What Thailand sorely needs is an adequate social security system.

We know the money is there. Problem is that it's always squandered on utterly useless investments such as engine-less submarines, blimps that don't fly, explosives detectors that actually are golf ball finders, an aircraft carrier that basically rots away at its dock, a flashy parliamentary club where MPs can surf their favorite porn movies in luxury, a palace-like new parliament building when the old one was perfectly fine, etc. etc.

Frankly, a "state pension" of 700 baht is an insult.

And what are pensioners supposed to do with an "extra" 100 baht? It's barely enough to buy a couple of plates of fried rice these days.

Maybe we should "raise" MP salaries by a generous 100 baht and see how they react.  

2 hours ago, webfact said:

I met a lady called Charity who had a twin sister called Faith…..but there was no Hope. 

???????????? Brilliant!

2 hours ago, webfact said:

“Tobacco is killing our planet. Every stage of the production and use of a cigarette – from farming to manufacturing and from selling to smoking and littering contributes significantly to environmental pollution,” said Dr. Olivia Nieveras of World Health Organization (WHO) Thailand.

This is laughable.

What about the systematic burning down and slashing of rainforests everywhere? If we go with Dr. Nievera's argumentation, the resulting mono-cultures of oil palms, sugar cane, maize, rice etc. etc. are therefore "bad for the planet", too, and should be eradicated. And I don't even want to begin mentioning the practice of burning fields post-harvest. If you live in Southeast Asia, you know exactly what I am talking about.

As per manufacturing: Have you actually seen the thick black fumes emanating from sugar factory and palm oil refinery smoke stacks? By contrast, there are NO noxious fumes wafting from tobacco manufacturing plants. 

Last but not least, if you're living in one of Asia's mega cities such as Bangkok, for example, I would dare claim that you are harming your health considerably more by simply breathing the toxic air on a daily basis than by occasionally getting exposed to "second-hand [tobacco] smoke. Is Dr. Nievera's solution that we therefore should just bulldoze down all large cities in the world because they're bad for peoples' health? 

In any case, the much touted and controversial "deadly second-hand smoking hazard" appears to be far from scientifically proven, with most studies standing on very shaky ground:  https://www.tobaccoasia.com/features/q-a-simon-clark-the-passive-smoking-myth/

I am not defending tobacco here. But what I am doing is pointing out that tobacco - once again - is demonized as some sort of a global scourge -- because it fits the political agenda.

God knows there are countless other agricultural products that collectively would fit that "bad for the planet" bill and in fact cause considerably MORE harm on multiple levels than tobacco ever will.

And if Thailand allegedly "loses" 350 billion baht per hear in healthcare expenses related to tobacco use, the expenditure for treating diseases and ailments caused by overconsumption of sugar, salt, MSG, unhygienic food in general and the exposure to polluted air and water, airborne dust, pesticides etc. etc. certainly must dwarf those supposed 350 billion.

Yet nobody constantly raps on about that for the simple reason that tobacco apparently has been selected as the sole devil that needs to be wiped off the face of the earth.

And while I DO advocate for and indeed welcome smoking bans in certain public places, I still opine that the operators of restaurants, bars, clubs, etc. should be accorded the CHOICE whether they want to designate their venue as "smoke-free" or "smoking permitted". And if you are a rabid anti-smoker... instead of complaining that everybody around you is trying to kill you, just DON'T frequent places where you KNOW that you're going to be exposed to smoke.  

2 hours ago, ThomasThBKK said:

This unused land tax is so stupid.

 

 

They will deforest all land and even the islands just to plant banana trees, if they don't destroy the forrests they have to pay more taxes on them. 

 

 

Did no one think about this dumbass tax for more than a minute.......jeeeeez

 

 

 

 

Exactly my thinking. If anything, they actually should grant a tax REPRIEVE for fallow or unused land on which the owners allow nature to take over.

I can cite a first-hand example for that "if you plant bananas you pay less land tax" folly.

Literally right next to my house, there was a 2-rai plot on which a dense forest with mature trees and lots of undergrowth had developed. It was the perfect urban biodiversity habitat for all sorts of plants and copious wildlife such as birds, reptiles and small mammals. When I opened my kitchen window, I would hear birds chirping instead of being assaulted by the incessant traffic noise from the main road.  

But one day the entire plot - trees and all - was simply bulldozed down. It was a heart wrenching sight and I wondered how many animals were simply buried alive, how many bird nests were destroyed.

After the forest had been turned into a plot of barren land, workers arrived and started planting banana trees (of course!). The intent was clear: the land's owner wanted to save on land tax.

In the meantime, the banana trees have matured -- but the previous brush and even new trees have grown back, too. However, about twice a year workers cut down the "wild" growth just to maintain the illusion that this plot is used for agricultural purposes.

If fallow plots would be exempted from land tax, perhaps there would be a chance for more green areas to break up this desolate concrete jungle that is inner Bangkok.  

1 hour ago, 2long said:

So, this wealthy businessman fathered his daughter when he was 16/17 years old? Or am I misreading something?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not judging... I just see it as strange, or something to be expected from the working or lower classes in Isaan.

Yeah, he engaged in a lot of "moo pinging" in his teenage years.

10 minutes ago, NativeBob said:

Our neighbor's daughter went to work in Bahrain since 2015-ish as "manager for International company" three or four times. With basic "thai international school" education (means "banana") and 2 years of college in Aussie-land (means banana v 2.0). 

What I noticed she became really snobbish toward not only thais but farangs. On the bright side - she bought Nissan car, paid for a condo (Life @ Suthisan) and doing pretty well-off in Bangkok between her trips to Bahrain.

My point is: no way that un-experienced young thai woman will get that much dough for doing something in the office. Those who flew to Bahrain knew pretty well that they won't do massage only but obviously some sake-sake and boing-boing instead. Please get things real!

In the old days, when these women were asked how they made their money, they either claimed to be "phone operators" or "hotel receptionists". In other words, when they mentioned either of these jobs one usually would know what their true profession was.

2 hours ago, webfact said:

The pair are mega rich individuals

And surely didn't become "mega rich" by selling grilled pork balls.