BeforeTigers

... and once again I say, never move to Thailand, or you will die.

When I first moved here I saw this guy get his chest blown open by an exploding gas container. He was bleeding out right there in front of my office. I jumped into lifeguard mode and simultaneously tried to instruct his friend on first aid while also arranging for a ride in a neighbor's truck... I swear on my life, the friend looked me in the eye and waved me off while literally a dozen other people just stood there and did absolutely nothing. No ambulance was called. Nothing was done to stop the bleeding. I eventually organized the truck and a makeshift stretcher just to see the guy check out right there in front of me.

I dont know if it's Buddhism, or a general lack of faith in infrastructure or what. But from that day I knew for sure, gawd forbid I ever find myself bleeding on the street with nothing but Thais around me.

Footnote: I didn't get a single acknowledgement for at least trying to do something .. but at least I now know for certain how I react in an emergency.

Rather than try to instruct someone else on 1st aid, why not just do it yourself. Basically you didn't do anything either

(not that anything you wrote is true in the 1st place)

Troll much?

I can only imagine what sort of motive you think I would have for making up a story like that. I did not.

On any other chat board this is the part where I would tear into you, insult your intelligence, point out that you clearly have no idea what you're talking about; the logical deduction being that you have never actually been in an emergency situation like that and that you probably live the sort of non-eventful life that would irritate a person to the point of going after strangers to insult them when they talk about trying to help people...

but in this case I'll just let you know that that was really ----ing cold. If you'd ever been in that situation and took a little pride in handling yourself well under pressure you might know how incredibly insulting it is for some douchebag troll to come on and say you "didn't do anything".

Side note:

I tried to explain in my post that I thought it was a cultural thing that seemed to cause the Thai people around me to act so non-chalant in an emergency. I certainly didn't mean to say that Thais are bad people in general.... especially since half the people there were my coworkers whom know to be generous and caring individuals.

Maybe I just watch too many movies- But doesn't it seem like if someone were hired to shut him up, they wouldn't risk being caught with this ill-executed check cashing business? That seems unreasonably risky for an abductor with ties to a higher-ups?

Yeah, because crank is notoriously difficult to produce. Only people from countries slightly poorer than Thailand are capable of making it
I mean, it's not like every other rural redneck in the entire united states knows how to cook it or anything. =\

"Crank. So easy even a tweeker can do it"

The obvious question being; why does the Great Garuda hate Lamborghinis so much.

Friendly reminder:
Never travel to Thailand or you will die.

Could be worse.

I don't really understand why this article focuses so much on their avatars.
Are they not aware of the history of that mask on the internet?

Ok, let's game this out:
So they make this law about the harsh penalty for overstay- presumably to keep foreigners out of the system.
The most obvious logic flaw being: You're a tiny little country that not many people care too much about.

How the hell is anyone supposed to know about your medieval law if they're not from your country to begin with?
And if nobody knows about it before they break it, then how is it supposed to be a deterrent?
And if it's not a deterrent, then what is it?

It's stupid. And childish. And xenophobic. And cruel for cruelty's sake.

... and worse yet, you're giving American Republicans ideas.

Sounds about right, by my experience around there.
When did someone get knifed? I didn't hear about that one.

I especially liked the bit about westerners having a different culture about sexual harassment.
Gave me the warm and fuzzies.

hm. Kinda. I guess.

Personally, I think sex work is as legitimate a vocation as any other unskilled labor.

Why isn't anyone talking about how this insults sex workers?

I mean, they didn't accidentally call her a whore because she happened to be female. It was an intentional insult. When you insult someone you need to use language that will hit it's target. "Whore" is an historical insult for women. They could just as well have called a male minister a whore but it wouldn't have quite the same sting, don't ya think.

Not to defend misogyny, but, what were they supposed to call her? A fag? A sissy? Impotent? ... Any of the other insults that are historical insults to males the world over.

Seeing sex work as a vocation is an interesting worldview. I'm sure many sex workers would regard themselves as being very skilled. Classing them as unskilled labour is more of an insult.

The word whore is a legitimate word, as is harlot or prostitute. It is not a slang or swear word and is not in itself an insult. The insult is that people think lowly of sex workers, which is also has illegal connotations in many countries, and to be called one or compared to one is therefore deemed an insult.

"Unskilled worker" is common English vernacular for a person with no specialized education or training.

That's all I meant by it.

I feel bad for this guy but I don't want Obama to give those lunatics one tiny thing in exchange for his life. Enough is enough.

"In exchange for his life"?

That's a bit harsh. You'd have this guy kidnapped and executed just to call this weird government out on their BS?

... and what is it that you imagine Obama would be giving them in exchange for his freedom? All they sked for the last few times was a photo op with a high ranking US official.

I would endorse that. Again.

I want to know if they beat a confession out of him, or if they simply lied about that part.
I don't remember hearing anything about any "advanced interrogation" (as my government likes to call torture) the last couple of times this happened. I'll assume they simply lied about it.

Thailand doesn't have the luxury of pretending this isn't happening.
Wish the States would take that lesson.

"He added that, during the next 30 years, all must start working together
to prepare prevention and alleviation measures..."

But that "working together" part- isn't that the definition of government?

FYI: I've never been asked for onward travel plans when entering Thailand

I've read that you can be. But it's never been asked of me anywhere.

Oh yeah.
I'm sure the tourists are going to love that.

Any plans to compenate uh, like every-single business on Khao San, since they just robbed them out of one of the biggest sales weeks of the year. nahhh.

... There is no way in a million years 92% of Americans would ever be in favor of anything...

Ha.

Classic.

Well, given the simple mathematical fact that there are more Russians on the beach than Germans, Chinese or Japanese, uhhhh <deleted>?

I wonder if every-single-thing my government does would look as gonzo to Thai eyes as theirs does to me.

My Thai friend actually interrupted dinner at a restaurant to watch and then bitch to me about this video.

She didn't even realize it was a spoof.

Even after I explained it she still didn't really understand how it was funny. She was still hella pissed.

It's not just the government acting retarded- which it is- it really is a cultural difference as well.