DaddyWarbucks

A temporary setback for Thaksin and the Shinawatra clan. These corrupt slimebags know full well that gambling addiction is a major problem in Thailand among all classes and levels of society. Casinos were first proposed by Thaksin when he was PM in 2005. The Shins are nothing if not persistent... they will be promoting "Entertainment Complexes" that include gambling, high-end prostitution, call-scam centers, and who knows what other sleazy operations that will make them and their cronies happy as pigs in poo.

Thaksin first proposed legal casinos as PM in 2005. His ouster the following year ended those plans. Three subsequent governments led by his proxies - Samak Sundaravej; his sister Yingluck; and Shretta Thavsin, all during their time in power reintroduced the plan under the guise of "entertainment complexes" without success. Thaksin's Jan. 13th initiative is the latest attempt.

He's a crabby old geezer. American commies - both overt and covert - never recovered from the collapse of the Soviet Union. They had started taking in Socialism along with their mother's milk. It became a religion with them. The light that failed.

Don't blame him. It's a pathological condition that he - and so many others - just can't seem to control.

Another solid accomplishment by Trump using his signature wacky style of diplomacy. But it worked. Just imagine Biden trying something similar - it would have been a fiasco.

His past career has shown him to be decent and honest, He also seems to have a moral compass that shows him right from wrong. Why else would the slime-bags hate him so?

Yes, that's a reasonable proposition to make. He would probably be more secure and safe from assassination attempts.

If you can't - or won't - assimilate in a few basic ways, then bag-out... the sooner the better. Not speaking the language is a sensory impairment akin to being deaf and dumb. You don't know what's going on around you. Living long-term in the expat bubble results in the kind of chronic irritation that is on full display in the forums day after day. Constant complaining and the nasty denigration of Thais become a familiar refrain. It isn't confined to Thailand alone. Wherever large numbers of people go for a "better life" is where you can see this disillusioned bitterness show itself among them.

See'um rape... maybe.

It's incredible that a kite string would have the strength to do this. TIT, I guess. Anywhere else and I would suspect some kind of video trickery.

The ineptitude that resulted in the shooting down of this aircraft is typical of the modern American Military. Otherwise they would win more of the armed conflicts they engage in. Saying that "South Vietnam" is now one of "...our allies." when that entity ceased to exist with the Fall of Saigon in 1975 is beyond ludicrous. The initial successes in the assault on Kuwait and Iraq in the early '90s led to the full scale invasion and occupation of Iraq that ended in 2011 without anything like a "win" by any conceivable metric. It would be like pointing to the success of the Nazi Blitzkrieg in Western Europe and ignoring subsequent events in WWII; D-Day; the carpet-bombing of German cities and the Fall of Berlin.

Spot on. The post-war relations after the fighting stops are an excellent way to judge ultimate success or failure in a war.

Since the Allied defeat of Nazi Germany and the absolute crushing of Imperial Japan in 1945, American Forces haven't won a decisive military victory of any consequence anywhere in the world. Incidents such as this characterize their actions and lead to deadly quagmires that more often than not result in ignominious defeats in the end.

Many of Ireland's elected officials have taken a principled and outspoken stand against the frightful war crimes committed during this never-ending conflict in and around Israel.

He looks ghastly. Back in power himself - instead of being a puppetmaster - he would very quickly degenerate into becoming Thailand's version of Joe Biden.