JingerBen

Some governments never learn !

That's true, Jimbo.

But it doesn't apply to the US Government.

The war-based industrial complex does very well regardless if conflicts are won or lost.

Geopolitical considerations, such as oil or keeping the neighbourhood safe for Israel, are of secondary importance.

The essential thing is to keep Americans - or their proxies - fighting.

Better infrastructure, much better hospitals, transportation links to the rest of the world, more cosmopolitan, more things to do, not too "third world". Despite the change in government, it seems that other governments (Lao, Vietnam, Myanmar) are more xenophobic and place more limitations on where foreigners can go, what they can do and even seek to regulate things differently compared to locals where you don't have this in Thailand (different colored licence plates for vehicles in Laos compared to locals). Lack of transparency when things go wrong in those countries - more transparency in Thailand.

That sums it up very well for people who are comparing countries in this region.

Thailand Is a better place to live.

I don't approve of these new settlements but I also think if Israel left Judea and Samaria completely that the Palestinians wouldn't give up on their real goal which they share with Hamas.

Now you're playing the psychic.

Judea and Samaria ceased to exist almost 2000 years ago. Only the old Zionist knuckleheads like Menachem Begin used those terms Israel has to accept that fact and build a secure and prosperous country within their 1967 borders.

Stupid argument. The British had ALREADY given the Palestinians approximately 70% of what was supposed to be the Jewish homeland - The British Mandate. Nowadays, it is called Jordan. The later split of 56% to the Jews and 44% to the Arabs was a division of only the remaining 30%. On top of that, much of the 56% figure is actually the Negev desert, which was state-owned and had few settlements. It was pretty much worthless. The Palestinians were given FAR more land in the whole process.

Sorry but why is it "supposed to be the Jewish homeland"? What gives them the right to settle the land in perpetuity? In no other part of the world can a race get away with making such ridiculous claims.

When the balance of global power shifts and the USA is no longer in the position it now is, there will be a solution to the problem that Israel has created in the Middle East but perhaps not one the Jews will appreciate.

Everyone's a psychic.

Maybe so, but it doesn't require clairvoyance to see that Israel will be overwhelmed by a hostile Palestinian population in the occupied territories.

The old Zionist dream of Eretz Israel will turn into a nightmare.

You keep repeating that "The Palestinians NEVER HAD A COUNTRY." That's utter BS and you know it. There was never a country called "Native America" either. Yet Native Americans lived in North America for thousands of years. That is, until the Europeans came and stole all their land and killed about 99.9% of them.

Sorry sonny, but you have it all backwards. The Jews came in peace and tried buying barren land legally for Jewish immigrants to live. Thes Arabs started attacking THEM. In fact, they were the ones that tried forcing them from the land that they had bought and improved by making the desert bloom.

The Palestinians never had a country and if they keep trying to get their way by VIOLENCE, they never will have one. They will just keep losing like they have for the last 70 years.

Utter nonsense.

I would gladly tear apart every single sentence in your pseudo history, but I feel we would be drifting off topic.

Every European colonization has created its own mythology to justify its land theft and repression of the indigenous population...we were bringing civilization/Christianity/whatever to the savages and they just didn't appreciate our kindness. Israel and its apologists are no different.

I agree Absolutely. Please educate yourself on the financing of the Jewish refugees from WW2. The proposition that each of these Jewish refugees - who barely had the skin on their backs, after the Nazis finished with them, had the money to buy land, is an outright lie. Europe, especially Britain, paid some Jewish land brokers, to get rid of what they thought of as untouchables.

And by the way, use the correct terminology, when you accuse one of the posters as spouting anti-Semitic tropes. Wilkipedia defines anti-semitism as : prejudice against, hatred of, or discrimination against Jews as an ethnic, religious, or racial group. Just about every poster here protesting against the land grab by Israel might be called anti-Israeli......but it is a knee-jerk reaction ( and a typical mistake of Israeli apologists) to call them anti-Jewish.

In most cases it's not ...a typical mistake... it's a calculated propaganda tactic.

prosecuting those responsible for starting the war in afganiistan for crimes against humanity wouldn't be a bad start either

Are you talking about the British, Russians or Americans???

He was talking about Americans, if I read it correctly.

The disasters experienced by the British and Russians in Afghanistan should have been object lessons.

It brings to mind the old chestnut: Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

And where is the blue diamond now? Six people dead, others in jail, and according to wikipedia: "The number of Thais working in Saudi Arabia fell from 150,000-200,000 in 1989 to just 10,000 in 2008. The cost to Thailand is 200 billion baht in remittances as fewer Thai workers were permitted to go to Saudi Arabia.^{[9]', "Thai Foreign Minister to reopen Saudi gems scandal case". 2Thailand.net. Mathaba. 2008-03-06. Retrieved 14 Feb 2015}

All worth it of course, because it made some special people happy.

I think many know where the gem is......

It was probably recut a long time ago.

Kriangkrai's theft of the gemstones in Saudi started the whole thing... that's true.

There is no evidence that he was involved in the subsequent chain of events.

Bloody murder by the guardians of justice.

Kriangkrai was just a kamoy.

@Buckbee . As a climatologist, I am baffled at the confused, inexact and contradictory statements I have just read.

I just hope it's a problem of not exact translation from Thai to English.

In fact, a heat wave from ocean breezes is absurd, that's right, moisture can only increase the heat indexes (feeling like temperature) not causing a jump in the temperature. Continental air instead can cause a jump in temperature together with a decrease of the moisture, but it's more typical of the temperate and desert climates, that's correct.

In a tropical humid country like Thailand, the hottest temperatures are indeed recorded just after the passage of the sun at the equinox but the small differences between years are mostly due to atmospheric conditions and quantity of moisture in the terrain aka presence of drought (which reflects the sun) , this year we are still under the influence of the Nino , so the atmosphere is warmer than the average because the warmer than average oceans exchange its surplus energy with the lower levels of the atmosphere.

Maybe that was that guy from the University meant ?

Informative post.

The straight stuff - nothing lost in translation.

In wars, bad stuff happens all the time...R.I.P. to the innocent people if you can tell who they are. Many a 'bad guy' could be getting fixed up to go back out and kill again.

Using that simple-minded logic, even conspicuous war crimes could be justified.

haha. some joke mossad agents stuck in mud:) so wonder how they handle desert sand? do they stuck all the time?

funny, the security of israel is in stakes then if mossad agents are that incompetent!

It wasn't always so...

Five of them were dancing on the roof of their moving van in New Jersey while watching the Twin Towers burn.

The miasma of propaganda makes it hard to breathe and see things clearly.

Meanwhile, back on topic...

This is an impressive list of countries and organizations.

The very fact that they agreed to meet and discuss the conflict at the request of the Palestinians is a positive step forward.

Sooner or later it will be realized that Israeli intransigence has made a two-state solution to the problem impossible, and Israel will have to deal with the profound consequences of that reality.

More and more influential people - on both sides - are recognizing that.

A good example: Welcome to the One-state Club, Thomas Friedman.

www.commondreams.org/views/2016/02/14/welcome-one-state-club-thomas-friedman

Dream on, even the OIC are in favour of two independent states, unlike the Palestinians. They have never aspired to a state of their own, except as a phony construct with which to attempt to end Israel as one.

I'm not dreaming. I was pointing out a possible - and increasingly probable - outcome of this stalemated conflict.

The Zionist dream of Eretz Israel will become a reality, along with 2.5 million Palestinians who will be part of the package.

They will have to be dealt with in one way or another. Either expelled to neighbouring countries; kept in Bantustans; or given civil, as well as voting rights.

All of the various choices will mean the end of Israel as a Jewish state. Even the mass expulsion scenario would result in a catastrophe for the radical Zionist leadership.

There are no good options left.

Brilliiant. A plot straight from the x-files or Sleepy Hollow. People with no idea how this works will howl their dogmatic contempt from the bleachers of angosticism, or narrow mindedness, but I find this very re-assuring that the illusion of our oh so concrete reality, can be split apart.

Go talk to Billy Fingers.

Onward psychic soldiers.

Most likely, the relative was tipped off by someone that knows the perp and the ghost story is being used to protect their identity. Or is it "narrow minded" to use logic ?

Its a good slant for a sleuth and logic can exhale its cold breath on any window to cloud the view.

You see? Window pane. Nothing beyond it! However, I have the "sight" myself and use it often.

Clever reply.

Quick-witted posters make this forum very interesting.

The miasma of propaganda makes it hard to breathe and see things clearly.

Meanwhile, back on topic...

This is an impressive list of countries and organizations.

The very fact that they agreed to meet and discuss the conflict at the request of the Palestinians is a positive step forward.

Sooner or later it will be realized that Israeli intransigence has made a two-state solution to the problem impossible, and Israel will have to deal with the profound consequences of that reality.

More and more influential people - on both sides - are recognizing that.

A good example: Welcome to the One-state Club, Thomas Friedman.

www.commondreams.org/views/2016/02/14/welcome-one-state-club-thomas-friedman

One more down the crapper.

Really.

The election campaign is a farce.

Talk about a failed state...

Your observations are familiar to most - if not all - of us who have married into Thai families.

My own experience is that it took a while to feel totally relaxed around them.

When my wife and I started to bring up children of our own, the relationships with the extended family improved in all sorts of ways that have continued to this day.

Some I enjoy talking to, some I prefer to keep at a distance... just the way I feel about my family back in Farangland.

An 'extraordinary' summit set up based entirely on a false premise. The status of Al-Aqsa has never changed and any short term restrictions were caused by Palestinians throwing rocks and pipe bombs at Israelis visiting Temple Mount. One day the OIC will tell the Palestinians to grow up and stop the incitement, peace would then quickly follow.

...and neither has the status of Israel's 50 year brutal illegal occupation and repression of Palestinians, which is also on the OIC agenda.

Peace has not quickly followed because in 1967 from a position of strength, Israel had a chance to make peace with its neighbors, but it chose instead to illegally occupy and colonize the West Bank, Gaza, Sinai and the Golan Heights. It has simply created a rod for its own and everyone else's back.

I wish the conference every success and hope with the backing of almost a quarter of the world's population it can achieve some concrete results to brings Israel to its senses.

Nothing will bring Israel to its senses short of a comprehensive economic, cultural, and academic boycott imposed by countries that want to see this conflict brought to an end.

Anyone remember a few months ago when the president of Israel addressed the US Congress? The right-wing loved him. But the conservative fringe is as virulently anti-semitic as German propaganda in the 1930s. How does that work? Add to that these people all have a deep love of Jesus, who was a Jew. Maybe it is Israeli money, in the form of campaign contributions, that keeps the GOP politicians from going anti-Jew.

I've been waiting for Trump to stumble on this: his supporters will love it, but the media will only say "ooo, what he said!" But Trump will back off, saying he was really talking about "shrews," like his ex-wives. Then he'll claim he didn't hear the question because his head was up his ass.

If Bernie were to get the Dem nomination you can bet your bottom dollar there will some big-time Jew bashing. Glen Beck will add to his fortune by selling copies of Dr Zhivago and "Protocols" from his website.

You're absolutely on the money.

Dr.Zhivago and much much more.

Perhaps even Solzhenitsyn's Two Hundred Years Together fully translated into English.

She must be a Texan.

For sure.

Who but a Texan would wear shoes like that?

There used to be an annual slingshot competition held in town every year. Very popular with the Thais, both young and old. Most of them use the cheap wooden ones we see in every souvenir shop. I remember watching some of the wait-staff at a restaurant practicing out back several years ago. Pretty impressive shooting too!

Don't dis the handcrafted slingshots here.

Some of them are quite good, especially the ones made by the hilltribes.

As a kid growing up in semi-rural New York State we made slingshots out of dogwood. It is extremely hard wood that grows usually in three branches out of a main branch that we used as a handle. Cut green, the middle branch was sawn off and the two others were tied together with wire to form a "U" shape. Dried in an oven at low heat for a few hours and it was finished. Surgical tubing or Wham-O bands made it a lethal weapon against the little furry critters of the woodlands, or for some local mischief.

The USA in the 1950s and '60s was a great place to grow up. I really feel sorry for the kids there now.

When I was young we wondered how the German people could elect Hitler: they were educated, aware, etc (which probably puts them ahead of many of my fellow Americans). Support for Trump and his crazed agenda, totally at odds with what US was founded on, has given us the answer.

Part of the answer to your question might be the deplorable state of affairs in Germany in the 1920s.

Support for Trump and his crazed agenda doesn't reflect well on the American people or the state of their country.

"So you do not actually have any details on whether he was charged or not?"

No. That's why I asked the question. Notice the "or" ...either someone is charged OR they are not charged,.

Do you know whether he has been charged or is he one of the hundreds in Israeli jails detained without charge or trial?

Of course they are political prisoners. Israel made a political decision to illegally occupy the West Bank in 1967 and against international law transferred its own population there. Therefore, all resistance is similarly political and stems from that.

Thanks, so the link in question is simply to add the impression that he was not charged.

I did not make any claims regarding charges being made or not made. Try turning the tables on someone else.

I see, so once again, you justify any violence, if it is carried out in the name of resisting the occupation. Apparently no holds barred this time.

And to be sure, do you assert that all Palestinians in Israeli prisons are there due to "political" reasons and not, say, any mundane criminal activities?

Violence carried out in the name of resisting occupation is freedom fighting by another name.

You can't justify the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands by any legitimate argument.

A propaganda barrage in defense of the indefensible just gives the game away.

Incidentally, as brevity is the soul of wit, so it is of proselytism.

A turgid prose style combined with personal nastiness lets the side down.

ANY violence carried out in the name of resisting occupations is "freedom fighting"? Attacks carried out against civilians within Israel included? Attacks against kids of Israeli illegal settlers are cool too? Anything goes?

I did not justify nor condone the Israeli occupation. Not on this topic or others. In the same way, there was no "defense" of Israel offered in this topic, more a position in favor of maintaining the security coordination. Do keep up before posting nonsense.

I believe Forum rules mention repeated comments on posting style.

Palestinians need to stop any kind of Israel cooperation until sanctions to Israel gets tougher. If they start to ban Israelis to travel EU and if they grant them embargo same as Iran, i am sure they will be broken hard and faster than Iran bc Israel has nothign but sand! then peace might prevail over those unfortunate lands.

and yes, exactly we call it freedom fighting, resistance or whatever you name it. bc those people there just trying to protect their own stolen land and their families from Israel backed by foreign powers pushed by rich and affluent Jewish diaspora.

if it is cool for Israel to steal others' land and pushing those people and their 'kids' into poverty followed by radicalism (which turns back to Israel as stabbing or resistance) so i believe it must be normal flow of life if some Israelis get stabbed in the meantime. It is the price to pay, they did not see this coming? Where in the world people are willingly to get their land stolen? haven't they expected a reaction? c'mon!

Bc what i see is phosphorus bombs when Israel wants to protect their land and families, no? what is a knife when you compare with cruel and unmerciful phosphorus bomb?

as i said before, it is a price to pay for Israeli if they want to steal cheap and illegitimate land belong to others forcefully and illegally and if their innocent kids are paying this grim price, shame on their fathers, authorities and politicians in Israel!

again and again, it is the fault of Israelis if a small innocent Israeli kid is stabbed.

It's hard to know where to start rebutting the ignorance and downright lies of some of our esteemed members. You are conflating Palestinian civil disobedience with a wholesale embargo on Israel by the EU. Total fantasy as recent rulings against BDS demonstrate. White phosphorous was never used in a weaponized form by Israel, as was recently refuted also. Huge sums of money flow into Gaza and the West Bank, straight into the bank accounts of their leaders.

The Palestinian authority are dealing with a population incited and indoctrinated by their leaders from cradle to grave. It is this which is responsible for the predicament of Palestinian security personnel.

The link which you will ignore shows Palestinian parents condemning the hatred and incitement, which are all that is available by way of children's programs. Abbas should be tried by the ICC for child abuse on a national scale.

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=340&fld_id=340&doc_id=17365

What's your point?

It's hard to see it through the fog.

Although I do sympathize with your dilemma.

The Israeli position can't be presented in a simple and concise form because it is indefensible by all standards of international law and justice.

Exactly Morch.

Often the voices of the Israel demonization agenda are actively cheerleading for terrorist attacks on innocents, anywhere and everywhere.

Like the Jews murdered in the Paris supermarket, that was done in the name of "freedom fighting" as well.

Not at all.

What happened in Paris was terrorism, pure and simple.

What happens on occupied Palestinian land is justifiable resistance to Israeli aggression.

It is remarkably similar to the electoral rout of R Sen Barry Goldwater who in 1964 led the right in its seizure of the Republican party nomination for Potus.

I don't remember an ongoing criminal probe into security violations by the FBI concerning LBJ. It is a VERY different situation.

No one running for Potus is being investigated. The far out extremist and vast rightwing conspicuously continues to think they can stop the Clintons yet youse guyz have lost at every turn. In fact you got even worse in Barack Obama.

Now the extremist fringe is gonna get worse than that come back at 'em again compounded by the new factor in US politics called Bernie Sanders and democratic socialism. So the right is just going to have to keep sucking it up.

Bernie's not my guy but sorting it out is up to the Millennials and those that come along after them. I supported HR Clinton in 2008 and wuz happy to vote for Barack Obama. I support HR Clinton today and going forward. Rightwing super patriot intelligence agency IG's and Republicans in the senate don't change the fact.

Hogwash from beginning to end.

Hillary Clinton is indeed being investigated, and the outcome will decide the election.

" the cashier refused to give me the Thai rate despite having a work permit. "

Are you Thai ? Because having a work permit one would presume you are not, ergo, you should not pay the Thai national price.

Maybe you're new around here. In the past, having a work permit has entitled one to the Thai rate, although it had always been a little inconsistent with regards to which parks and attractions abided by it.

Not that new, but I do know that a work permit never "entitled" you to the Thai national price, it was a concession that some places gave to foreign workers.

Fair enough. But the quote suggests there was a change in policy. So my question still remains. Is this a blanket policy now or do some parks and attractions still make the concession?

There is no blanket policy for admission fees at Thai parks and attractions now - nor will there be in the foreseeable future.

Keeping foreigners confused and off-balance is the name of the game. It's more profitable that way.

To think otherwise is naïve.