catweazle

Am I correct saying that it boils down to this: A pub owner who is responsible for 67 burned and trampled to death people and over 100 people injured with some of them having lost limbs (and now look like zombies) walks free; but a person who tricks some cash out of people by eventually not sending them the ordered and paid for merchandise gets a 75 year jail term, or at least would get it if the culprit would have been a ) uncooperative and b ) sentenced for some other offense earlier????

I think we should balance this out for good by locking the pub owner and his co-partners, all surviving Santika staff who is fully or partially responsible for locking exit 3, plus the band leader idiot who reportedly lit a firework on stage (given that he is still alive), along with 167 activated, blahblahing and babbling Furbies in a garage filled with styro-foam, grease, buckets full of diesel along with other highly flammable materials and force the cheating furby seller lady to set the whole thing on fire so she eventually breaks her parole

After the smoke has settled, we all know whom to appoint to announce that nobody died in the resulting inferno...

Justice my @$$...

Certainly he would have received a life sentence or even death if the owner* would have been a foreigner.

*(respectively in that case the foreign managing director holding 49% of shares)

Oh, shoot... I expected to see an Englishmen with a 160kg "girlfriend" by his side...

Think the whole religious system worldwide, whether it is Buddhist, Muslim, Hindi, Catholic, etc. needs a >format C< and a restart (or two)... Too many rotten skeletons in the closet with all religions just being used for financial gain and as a tool to control, suppress, and hurt people.

Anyone hiding behind a robe or uniform, for the simple reason of living an easy life and for using his/her religious status to either extort money, live or enrich himself/herself on "donations", supress, control, hurt people, or rape children who have been put under his/her care, should not only be defrocked, but simply should be put behind bars for life.

Biggest problem I see is the rule of sexual abstinence or most religious abbots and priests since - obviously - the naturally given urge to perform sex is stronger than rules or guidelines written (and later falsified) by other mortal human beings.

what im wondering is why no one has picked up on the fact that supercheap had recently bought land behind its store to destroy and rebuild and entire new and modern store?

Conveniently about a year and a half after it burns to the ground which is about the timeframe it requires to draw plans, put money in pockets and get materials for building

Do you have a source for this info please ?

Would be good to find out if the store was insured or not. If any insurance company covered that pigpen built of old timber and corrugated metal, they must either have been out of their minds or anyone on the management floor all of a sudden "won" a new Mercedes after signing the deed...

This post has me in awe... Such an abundance of wisdom and determination in such a small article. With Mr. Intusut at the helm, Phuket will certainly steer into safer waters...

I mean, come on... even Stephen Hawking could not have said this better: On the sea, he stressed, fast action to save people is essential. “For marine safety, if someone is at risk of drowning, the faster they are rescued and received medical help, the less the risk that they will die.

"Spongebob for governor!!!"

From what I see on the photos, the colonel and his team

a ) were inventive and creative to provide a "home alike" atmosphere for the inmates to lessen the negative phsychological impact of being imprisoned

b ) provided inmates with the necesary freedom, material and media to express their artistic talents

c ) actively engaged in and encouraged inmates to take an interest in plastic and paper recycling

d ) saved the government a lot of money for unnecessary painting and cleaning materials

... this said, I don't see where the problem is - the colonel and his team should have been promoted!

What if the whole human population would disappear tomorrow from planet earth?

What if Obama would ever openly be challenged to describe what he really meant when he babbled "change" and "yes, we can!"

What if all US troops would disappear from the countries they have in a stranglehold?

What if planet X comes?

What if the sun dies?

What if bigfoot really exists?

What if the moon landing was a fake?

What if all other babies in this world would suddenly receive as much attention and media hype as baby George?

What if the dollar collapses?

What if all children find out that Santa Claus is a fake?

What if the Thai bashers and 30 day tourist visa whiners would finally (please) disappear?

So many questions, so little time...

Nobody is ever forced to build a house where it floods every year.

It is personal choice, and the government should not be involved.

If they had built a traditional house on stilts, no problem.

I think the above statement is one of the most nescient post I have seen on TVF. I am not flaming just making an observation.

Clicked "like" and have to admit that I very much like your signature too!

Unbelievable to see that murderers in Thailand (as long as they are Thais) get bail and bail is denied for a fraudster who managed to trick a person into throwing money at her... I think Thailand has to rearrange it's priorities if this country and the Thai people ever want to be taken seriously in the world out there...

Whenever things like this happen, I lose my faith in humanity in general.

RIP little unnamed baby boy.

May the culprit and any family members protecting him/her suffer in hell for eternity.

I believe I can fly...

After 10 Oct the earth quake about 6-7 Richter scale from Myanmar Yangoon and Northern parts and Bangkok will fell the shake,as the source from planet movement.

&lt;deleted&gt;?????????

I was about to write a comment of ridicule, but figured that it would be a waste of time and also not help anyone who takes the TV forum seriously. It is good and - in my opinion - necessary to throw in a joke from time to time to take the boredom out of a forum, but for this posting, I would like to give something great I have learned recently to all of you. What you make of it is up to you in the end.

Out of the hundreds, if not thousands of books I bought in my life, one that I recently acquired stands out like a lighthouse in a stormy night: It is "The art of thinking clearly" by Rolf Dobelli. This book is a plethora of wisdom for the ones who are willing to get their way of thinking under control in these difficult times, where lies, wishful thinking and deception make up for a good 90% of actions of governments, media and most of the religious establishments of the world. Some may say, "Well that has been going on for thousands of years already.", and I could not agree more; but in recent years, these lies and deceptions are not even kept a secret anymore but are punched right into our faces on an hourly basis and still, most couldn't care less, what is sad to see. It appears that most people have surrendered, and even though they see that something is very wrong, they fall back into the "Well, we can't do anything about it, anyway." excuse - very easy, very comfy. If then something goes wrong, blame the government or, perhaps, the stars...

In the book I am referring to, at page 40, one can find the topic "False Prophets". I woud like to quote some of the information here without judging and without making any assumptions:

Philip Tetlock evaluated 28,361 predictions over a period of 10 years, made by 284 self-appointed professionals. The result: in terms of accuracy, the experts fared only marginally better than a random forecast generator. Ironically, the media darlings were amonng the poorest performers; and of those the worst were the prophets of doom and disintegration.

further...

There are two kinds of forecasters: those who don't know, and those who don't know they don't know.

and - to sum it all up...

The problem is that experts enjoy free rein with few negative consequences. If they strike lucky, they enjoy publicity, consultancy offers and publication deals. If they are completely off the mark, they face no penalties - either in terms of financial compensation or in loss of reputation.

I just love this book!!!!

I found an off-white colored, odourless pimple on my nose this morning - I believe it is approx 13 hours old...

Will be very interesting to see what happens after a Typhoon or another natural disaster destroys a good chunk of those farms with billions of locusts attacking the crops of farmers who weren't into this latest get rich quick scheme...

On top of all, for Thailand, history repeats itself over and over again - may it be bird's nests (these ugly gray and windowless "bird houses" popping up like mushrooms all over Thailand in the past 10 years and then prices dropping to an all-time low following an export/import ban), shrimp farming (millions of acres of fertile farm land destroyed forever, markets collapsing, shrimps full of antibiotics and hormones, in-debt failures killing themselves, etc.), rubber tapping (trying to squeeze double production out by injecting hormones with markets eventually dropping due to overproduction) and all those other farming bandwagons the Thais so willingly and naively jump onto...

Later they will find anyone to blame for they have invested their live saving into something that in the end did not reel in any profits because everyone else fell for the same "idea".

Good to know is that not all Thais fall for it and are doing sustainable farming, permaculture, hydroponics, aquaponics, etc. - thus not all hope is lost...

"Mr. Walton′s wife said he had a mental disability and tends to "black out" when he is stressed. "Sometimes he does things without being aware of it," his wife said."

A I missing something here? How can it be that Mr. Walton is not under permanent supervision and how can any person who knows and (loves?) him allow this guy to drive a F$#$ng car, respectively allow him to participate in any activity that would not only put him, but countless other people in danger as well?

Would be great to know if the police had this "Mr. Walton′s wife said he had a mental disability and tends to "black out" when he is stressed. "Sometimes he does things without being aware of it," his wife said." information as well when he was reported missing.

Un-f####ng believeable...

Rent a Muay Thai fighter for an hour with the task to get the two Irish into a similar medical condition as the Scot, then load all three of them onto airplanes home with a red stamp in their passports. Case closed.

Sad way to go

RIP to the victim. Hope he/she will be identified and be put to rest in peace, condolences to the family and may the culprit be found and receive what he deserves.

Would this be in the news if the scene of the crime was Manhattan, New York, Kings Cross, Berlin, Frankfurt or Amsterdam?

Hi Possum,

you are not the only one! I'm totally with you on this one and agree that shorts look kinda ridiculous on most men. Since I came to Thailand approx 22 years ago, I was and still am wearing long jeans and boots most of the time. Basically it all started with my very first job which was being some kind of Crocodile Dundee jungle guide, riding a Land Rover, showing tourists around, do cave exploration, climb waterfalls, etc... for a handout. Also did demolition and repair work, and modify boats whenever there were no tourists around. I found that shorts and flip flops not only look stupid, but can cost you your life, especially when you walk about in the jungle, do hard work, climb, explore, etc. - I can't count the many times, my boots and long trousers have prevented me from catching snake bites, scorpion and centipede attacks, and saved me from being eaten alive by mosquitos and leeches. The metal caps in my boots have prevented my toes from being squashed on several occasions on construction sites and while lifting tanks and carrying equipment around. Think I would be missing a few toes by now if it weren't for my boots.

In public, a proper pair of trousers and proper shoes simply make you look smarter, appear more polite and down to earth than a person who wears a typical tourist outfit. I am even tempted to claim that long trousers make you appear more reliable and trustworthy. I wear casual shorts only when scuba diving from a day tripper or liveaboard, or when my family forces me to go to the beach (I prefer waterfalls). I simply would not be me and everybody would ask me what's wrong with me if I ever would appear in shorts someplace else than on a boat or at the beach. I don't believe in suits, tuxedos and ties though - that wouldn't be me either.

Btw, while typing all this, I am sitting at home here in Thailand wearing long jeans.

I believe every person should simply wear what they think is right for them without being judged or discriminated. If anyone wants to ride a CBR 1000 wearing slippers and shorts - it's his choice in the end. If he's not concerned about his safety why should we? Who cares if it looks stupid? The shorties however should leave us trouser lovers alone in return. I however despise people who think it is ok to walk into a bank or restaurant wearing only flip flops, a speedo and a money belt. This sickens me and I believe it is a display of disrespect to everyone else in the room.

Oooohhhh, slippery ads, slippery campaign and slippery terrain. Not a good idea, especially coming from that university. Thammasat University was the stage of one of the most violent massacres in Thai history back in 1976... I am not judging anyone here, just pointing out the fact.

I don't know if it is only me, but from my life experience I very much get the impression that academic high school students tend to provocative actions and deeds and thoughts that overcomplicate life and situations without reason more than "normal" people. I remember back in my army years that trainees coming straight from high school, the so-called "academics" were the most embarrassing and complicated ones. Always intervening, disturbing, asking stupid questions, erratic reasoning, etc... all the way to the point where they get punished just like a child that is asking for a flogging, pushing mom and dad to the breaking point, intentionally.

Personally, I like student uniforms and think it is a great way to prevent all those "look, at me, look at my expensive brand clothes, I am better off than you" rich das/poor dad show up discrimination problems that are part of everyday student life in western cultures. It is already bad enough that students in Thailand see and talk about what kind of car the parents of each individual school kid ride to gossip and badmouth about it if, especially it is just a 2nd hand Toyota pickup or "worse".

In a country like Thailand, where most people feel compelled to having to show what they got, student uniforms are a great way to prevent additional problems that this hip and new HiSo culture has put on the table.

Keep the uniforms!!!!!!!!!