alfalfa19

1 hour ago, mamypoko said:

Respectfully disagree OP. Helping, volunteering, donating, especially to total strangers and strays has been nothing but good for me. To be fair, my philanthropic behaviors often upset my friends - and that is just another bonus.

 

But it's so much easier to be a hate-filled , cynical curmudgeon!!

1 hour ago, nchuckle said:

No alcohol,no tobacco? You do understand these are drugs,and more insidious?

Dang, I saw your post right after mine! You took the words right out of my mouth. 

8 hours ago, helloagain said:

Taking drugs. He asked for it and got it. Ive never touched a drug in my life

Well, bully for you!!   Is it safe to assume you include alcohol and nicotine, as they are drugs also?  If so, well done, my hero!

12 hours ago, tazly said:

Nonsense

I've seen exactly that sign in many hotels in Thailand. 

at first, i was thinking it must be a peeping tom.  but another explanation is somebody looking for places to burgle when there's nobody home. 

I have the same concerns and questions. I like the idea of mexico, as i now live in san diego. however, the narco violence there is unbelievable. it seems that it does not take much to be kidnapped for ransom, and worse. i like thailand much better, but it seems from what i read that foreigners really don't have many rights there, except the right to spend copious amounts of money, and smile i realize this is probably a distorted generalization, and i've heard that away from the major population centers, the people are honest and friendly. i have not really explored these out of the way places, so i can't say for sure. so, i am looking at alternatives also.

All a bunch of snitches the whole lot of em

I agree. I don't think it's great police work, it seems that every casual user or small time dealer informs on their supplier when arrested. I don't know if it's the culture, or coercion by the cops. In the US drug culture, this would result in a lot of murders.

I had a felony conviction in California in 1989. That was my last criminal involvement of any kind. I first visited Thailand in 2000. I have been back many times since. Nobody ever said anything about my conviction or even asked me about anything related to criminal behavior.

Good for you, and thanks for posting. Food for thought.

I can't think of any place that would not benefit from a 3 billion dollar injection. Of course, we must allow for the customary 1 billion for graft and bribes.

Sorry it's getting like a scratched record- tedious comments on tea money, graft and bribes- really not very amusing anymore. Things have changed a bit- if you hadn't noticed.

Well, sorry if you are not amused. Actually, that's not my intention. It was more a sardonic comment on the state of things. And to tell the truth, I don't see an enormous change in things. Yes, a lot of crooks and scumbags are being arrested and having their properties confiscated; that is, crooks and scumbags from the LAST regime. As far as I can see, the primary blights of Thailand, including jet ski extortion, taxi ripoffs, (actually , in this area, some progress does seem to be happening in Bangkok, but not elsewhere) assaults on and contempt for tourists in the major tourist areas, certain island "paradises" being a playground for murderous wealthy crime families, foreign migrant workers being set up as fall guys for murders, rapes, and assaults committed by the aforementioned scumbags, cops on the take and even engaging in kidnapping, extortion, etc, etc. Do you have some unknown evidence indicating that the standard graft slice of approximately one third of the budget for huge public works projects no longer applies? For a while, I was quite optimistic about the changes in Thailand, but my enthusiasm has become dampened.

I can't think of any place that would not benefit from a 3 billion dollar injection. Of course, we must allow for the customary 1 billion for graft and bribes.

sanctioned, as in the eiger sanction? that would be nice.

I can't keep all these acronyms straight, but for these pronouncements, i give credit to the DOFT or department of fairy tales.

cool hand luke

Isn't it against the law in thailand for a government official to tell the truth?

Well, let's hope that none of "The Untouchables" will be affected. They are already overwhelmed with all the payoffs and bribes necessitated by their antics of late.

It was only a couple of months ago the Banana Sergeant was saying Thailand has no danger from terrorists because it has no enemies.

Seems like anything falling out of his mouth these days results in the exact opposite.

As to the Ministry Of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, the buffonery is strong with that one.

Good word, buffoonery.

Really no shortage of suckers out there, it seems. For a good chuckle, have a look at their FB page.

Well, isn't that nice, they got their way as usual.

Evidently, he's been fired and charged with murder. Without the video, that would never have happened.

"The third demand is that if the current board of the Office is removed and replaced by his gang, he wants me to pay him a 30-per-cent kickback for any amount of money spent by the Office on my firm's projects in the future," Samrit said.

Isn't this standard business practice, and widely accepted? I'm not trying to be a wiseass here, it's just that 30 percent is what I've heard is the standard kickback for any public works project in Thailand.

Oh boo hoo, cry me a river. These poor misunderstood and undervalued fellows, my heart weeps for them.