impulse

I make it worse on myself because I wear shoes, long pants and a collared shirt whenever I go out in public in Thailand. I acclimate myself by not even turning on the A/C on the days I plan to be outside most of the day. More accurately, I set the A/C at about 28, just to knock out the humidity so the place (hotel nowadays) doesn't get musty. If hotel rooms had oscillating fans, that's what I'd use at night, but they usually don't. That's what I use to sleep at home, even in the heat of summer. It's amazing what you (I) can become acclimated to and find perfectly acceptable. Sitting inside all day in the A/C isn't on that list. I'd rather be out and about, even in the heat with my long pants. Getting acclimated is a lot like getting on an exercise program. It sucks for a day or so, but then I find myself happier when that gets to be the normal.

Some of them need to be in prison. But others are only guilty of walking through doors held open by cops and security waving them in. In any non-dystopian world, that would be called entrapment. But not in the 92.1% Biden voting Washington DC, and by the Biden controlled DOJ. But that's not the point. The point is that if you are going to stand up for the 1st amendment rights on the left, it's hypocritical (but completely unsurprising) to then clamp down on free speech from the other side. Like Dem senators actually raising bail for BLM rioters who burned down city blocks, then demanding long prison sentences for gawkers walking through an open door into the Capitol. Also, if you're following the current Supreme Court case, there's some pointed questions being asked about the unequal application of the laws that they may or may not have violated in quite a few contemporary cases, including Trump cases and Jan6.

The river's actually pretty nice up there.

I'm not doubting your experience, but I wonder whether you were really "nearly kicked out", or just pulled aside for extra scrutiny? Just before Covid, entering by land from Malaysia, I was "pulled aside for extra scrutiny". I wasn't aware that it was a Malaysian holiday and there was a huge scrum to get in. I think the first IO took pity on the only white face, way back in the huge crowd. So she pulled me out of line and into the "Big Guy's" office. Then the big guy was curious why in the world I came by land. Short story, I always wanted to try a train trip from KL to BKK. I just picked a bad weekend for it. First and last time I'll ever make that trip. It was pretty miserable, aside from the stopover in Penang, which is worth a visit. Bottom line, I never felt like I was "nearly denied entry", though they had the discretion, since I was on visa exempt. And that's why I always wear long pants, a collared shirt and a smile through immigration. And carry cash and extra socks and undies, just in case I do get the boot.

The linked article says BB guns. But are they really BB guns (metallic BB's), or are they Airsoft guns (plastic pellets)?

You mean like the 1st Amendment rights of the Jan 6 protestors? Because you can't have it both ways. Unless you're a Dem. Then, you can have the FBI go after concerned parents at school board meetings while giving a pass to liberals shouting "Death to America". 'Cause conservatives are a threat to democracy and liberals will probably vote your way, right?

There's no "cult of Biden" because Biden doesn't stand for anything, except buying votes and delivering for donors.

I wouldn't go down that rabbit hole. All they need is one dude to service the reproductive needs of 10,000 wimmuns. 20 or 30 dudes could service an entire city and prevent in-breeding... And with anyone able to identify as whatever gender they want, they could do it with 20-30 "women" like Lia Thomas. Edit: But God save the city if any of them get a flat tire...

Head over to Old Siam Plaza in Bangkok Chinatown and you'll see that Thailand isn't one of them. Dozens of gun shops within a stone's throw. But eye watering prices...

If they did a GoFundMe to raise this guy's bail, half the guys here on AN would kick in.

Using a WW2 analogy, we currently have the equivalent of the Brits and the Yanks sending France weapons and money to kill Krauts. All that would have caused is more deaths. Ukraine is a spent force. The only way for Ukraine to get back Crimea and Donbass is NATO boots on the ground. That means WW3, millions dead, and the prospect of nuclear annihilation. Many of us don't think it's worth it. That doesn't make us Russian apologists. Just realists.

Is that possible at age 16?

The problem isn't what we read. It's what they're not revealing. Like a cause of death, a toxicology result, or even a statement whether they suspect foul play. Zip. Nada. Just that it's an open case. Is there any surprise that social media is filling in the blanks with wild conspiracies, especially with the Burmese duo making the news? Solving the case is just one of the jobs of the police. The other is to communicate with the public, especially on an island that counts on tourist money. Gotta wonder how many British holidaymakers have changed their plans since the news hit.

Ukraine already lost. Crimea, on Obama's watch and Donbass, on Biden's watch. They've made no meaningful progress on any front for over a year, in spite of tens (hundreds?) of thousands of deaths and $Billions of treasure squandered. I'd like to see the killing and the dying stop, and those $Billions spent on rebuilding what's left. Or, you can keep poking the bear, then lament what you've pretty much forced him to do.

The last year in Thailand, every hotel I've stayed in posted notices of a 2000 baht fine for smoking in the room. And most of them don't have an in-room balcony.

Where else do you go for a smoke?

Self selection bias. We usually don't hear from the >99% of tourists who sail through immigration with no problems. We just hear from the guys who had problems, often leaving out salient details of their history. Next week, I'll be on my 13th exempt entry in a row (monthly, for about a week each trip), after having worked in Thailand for about 7 years. Then 3 or 4 exempt entries and an in-country extension before Covid put a stop to my travels for a couple of years. My buttcheeks tighten up on each entry. But so far, nothing but a smile and a stamp.

I miss sanity in the media. They've always been biased. But not so loony. That's relatively new.

I'd agree, but I'd add that there's no such thing as a 220V LED bulb, nor an LED bulb that runs on A/C voltage. They all run on D/C, at much lower than 220V. What you're really trying to control is the circuitry that converts 220V A/C to whatever the LED bulbs themselves require. And makers of "220V LEDs" have a very mixed bag of how they do that. That's why some dimmers work and others just gum things up.

Flip of a coin... The airline could have referred you to a gate agent from the auto check-in. I get asked for an onward ticket about 3/4 of the time when checking in. So it's not worth the risk of showing up with fingers crossed and no ticket. My other guess is the SG looks at the cost of flying a passenger back to where they came from (Singapore), estimates the odds that errant passengers will be denied entry and the odds they won't be able to get the passenger to pay (cha-ching, because that's not going to be a discount fare) and made an economic decision not to ask for an onward ticket. But it's up to the airline.

FWIW, he was apparently a male escort... The Sydney knife attacker had advertised himself online as a male escort and tried to join groups of gun owners, it’s been revealed. https://metro.co.uk/2024/04/14/sydney-stabbing-attacker-killed-six-people-named-joel-cauchi-20643570/ Linked article also has some very tragic details about the victims.

I disagree with you there. There's a public interest in knowing whether there's an active murderer running around Koh Tao. They may not solve the case in a month, but they know whether there was foul play by now.

No. I'm suggesting that griping about it is futile, and working up negative energy about it doesn't serve me, or my health. So I'll let that cloud go by without yelling at it... You guys can give yourselves ulcers if you want.

From the linked article: Thai police said they are waiting for the post-mortem results. Generally, I get suspicious when they withhold details like cause of death and autopsy results. Even a preliminary report of any injuries they found. A month later, it's almost as if they don't want the public to know that (much less how) the guest died on their island.

Have you compared your property tax bills? Back home in Texas, my property tax bill alone was more than 90% of Thai people make. And for that, we got beach cleaners that came by every morning, trash bins every 50-100 meters along the beach, curbside trash pickup once a week, and some level of confidence that the trash contractors didn't just dump it on a quiet road. Texas has its share of pigs (just like Thailand). But we pay a buttload of money to pick up after them. Money that Thai people can't afford.