impulse

Good info, but I'm curious whether anyone can work legally without paying into SS? And are you sure the formula is that simple, one month per year? As I recall, my contract was hastily ended a week before I qualified for another 2 months of severance, based on the increments. Complicated by the fact that the 30 day termination notice would have sent me into the next increment, but that's a pet peeve for another topic... I'm not asking because I think you're wrong, just trying to get a clearer picture. My brain has leaked a lot since I left Thailand, every night when I sleep. For the OP's purposes, your answer is that NGO's aren't exempt. But others may find this thread when they use the search function in 2 years...

So far, you're correct. The police have offered to investigate if he files a report. But let's wait and see if an activist judge or an ambitious prosecutor change things. The fat lady has yet to sing here.

The reason you need a victim to cooperate goes out the window if it's on video. Imagine a kiddy porn video where the kiddy doesn't want to press charges or testify. They still have the video. Not that this rises to that level, but they don't need the victim to go along. I contend it's a nuthin' burger and I suspect the prosecutor will, too. We'll see. There's a lot of anger calling out favored treatment for celebrities.

I think it's a big nuthin' burger, and Rock's being a stand up guy because he knows he crossed a line.

Have you been on a legal work permit and your NGO paying into the social security system on your behalf? I don't know your answer, but the details like that may matter. In any case, make sure you look into staying in the social security system if you're planning to stay in Thailand. Again, details matter. But it could provide you with some level of health care for a piddly monthly payment. Hopefully, others will chime in that have more experience.

He can refuse to sue in civil court, but criminal charges come on the form of "the state" vs "the defendant", not "the victim" vs "the defendant". They don't need the victim's cooperation if they have all the evidence on national TV.

I'd have gone along with that up until Smith's profane tirade. Had it been acting, no F bombs would have been launched. Lots of venues are censoring out that part.

Or just a cautionary tale. This would have never made the news had they been in 4 wheel vehicles with seatbelts. They would have exchanged insurance info and been home with their families that night.

There's places in the world where it's extremely difficult to do business without falling afoul of foreign corrupt practices laws, which are a recent western phenomena. SEA, to a large degree, is one of them. That basically concedes influence to countries that give tax write offs for bribes as an expense, instead of jail sentences for bribes as a crime. And it is a recent phenomena. Imagine the British or Dutch Empires of 200 years ago without the ability to bribe local leaders...

Is it more cases, or better technology to detect them, along with increased awareness to get tested? Is this news, or a PSA? Or both?

Remind me, how many countries did Russia invade on his watch? On Obama/Biden's? On Biden's? I've never been a fan of The Donald, but mean tweets seem pretty insignificant compared to this mess.

I understand in many cases, bypass surgery is needed because of lifestyle. Why assume everyone else has the same as yours? Could be lifestyle. In my case it was genetics. Cancer would have cost many multiples to treat for the long term. Drinking destroys livers and other organs, and that's pretty spendy to treat. Don't forget car wrecks and busted hips from bathroom falls and knee replacements just from years of walking... I didn't assume anyone had the same risk profile. But we all have one. Still feeling lucky? We all do, until that day. Edit: I passed quarterly EKG's and annual stress tests in the years leading up to my bypass. I even passed a stress test on the day. But that's another topic... Stress tests miss a good percentage of heart problems, and not just in Thailand. My brother passed his just before his heart transplant in the Houston Medical Center. 12 weeks later he walked out of the hospital debt free because he had good insurance.

Bingo. 100% risk free, unlike going first to the popo. You may end up at the cop shop for a report, and probably will. But there's no downside in asking for their advice. Edit: I'd add that the sooner they start tracking your passports, the less likely they'll be used by others, possibly for nefarious purposes.

Just like they walked back his statement to the 82nd that they'd soon see the inside of Ukraine, and they walked back his threat that the US would respond "in kind" to any chemical attack. All after he stated that a "minor incursion" by Russia would be acceptable. The world is going to get dragged into WW3 accidentally if they keep putting him in front of a microphone.

European. I worked for a French body shop on contract to a multi-national oil company.

You mean Americans and the rest of the world... My heart goes out to anyone who voted for a politician that promised one thing, then delivered something very different. That's in response to statements that the every Russian deserves it because they elected Putin. Just like every Thai deserves it because they elected...

My insurance paid out 2 million baht for my bypass surgery in 2015. Had I paid 145K for the 7 years I lived in Thailand, I'd have still been way out ahead. Fortunately it was employer provided. Are you feeling lucky?

Post back after you register your car next year.

You're advocating a fundamental change in human nature, which causes people to act in ways that maximize the benefit to themselves. Good luck with that. If there were no consequences to walking into a gold shop and taking whatever you want, how long do you think society would last? Enforcement is the acknowledgement of that basic human condition. Not a plaster.

How would they be any different from Russians that travel to places like Thailand, beaches in France, or anywhere else with the interweb?

More like arguing with an old school bwana.

The problem with that take is that the only solution for the next century is to throw up your hands and surrender. I'd love to see Thailand spend a few million baht to send some traffic cops to, for example, California to ride around with CHP cops or Texas DPS troopers. Kind of a "train the trainer" program. A few months of rigorous ticket writing could easily pay out the trip. But of course, that's just a boondoggle unless they provide radar and chase cars. Heck, even some dubbed episodes of CHiPs would be educational.

I'd agree with that except for all the foreigners I've seen going native and driving like they'd never drive back home. They obviously know better, so it's not a training issue. People act in a way that maximizes perceived benefits to them. Basic human nature. Back home, the benefits of getting there quicker are outweighed by the risk of a big fine, points on your license and higher insurance rates. Sadly, the only real risk in Thailand is getting into a wreck, and that's a low probability risk (albeit tragic result), as opposed to the much higher risk of getting caught by a diligent cop on an enforcement crusade. I was a menace when I first got my license, in spite of great training. But I was so afraid of the fuzz, I practiced driving to avoid getting tickets. Which, not coincidentally, is great practice for avoiding wrecks. It wasn't the great training I got that forced me to the habit of driving safely, it was the enforcement. Culture override is always an issue. But only for the 1%. The other 99%, not so much.

What surprises me is that they haven't figured out that cops with radar and a chase car can be a cash cow. Enforcement doesn't cost money, it generates a profit. In addition to saving lives.

It's not a conspiracy, it's Business 101. In 40 years of engineering, I did hundreds of studies and published a few peer reviewed papers in industry publications. I never once published the results of a study that would have cost the company money. If the results weren't in our favor, they got binned- never saw the light of day. I was often asked to do peer reviews of papers nominated for publication in industry journals. Usually dumped on my desk with a note asking to look for flaws and to develop a plan to respond to the paper if it got published. How we handled those papers depended on whether they were favorable to the company, and whether any of the co-authors were good customers we didn't want to hack off. It had very little to do with looking for truth, or to advance the state of the art. The goal was maximizing profit. Big Pharma is a business. Their business is making money. They aren't going to pay scientists to do studies that don't make them more money.