Kerryd

For those unfamiliar with the original story. "12 May 1994 A 34-year-old Briton, who was in Thailand studying martial arts, was arrested at Bangkok airport early yesterday and charged with smuggling two kilos of heroin. Jonathan Wheeler, from Southampton, was arrested by Thai customs as he prepared to board a flight to Taipei, Taiwan." https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12697620.briton-on-drug-charge/ 1994 - NOT 1993. "8 Feb 2000 Jonathan Wheeler has lived in Bang Kwang prison for five and a half years. The story of how he got there is so familiar that it is a cliche. He was trapped in a gambling debt and threatened with death unless he carried a package out of Thailand to pay it off. The dealers tipped off customs and while Wheeler was stopped the people with the serious quantities of heroin slipped through. Wheeler's life - working in a bar on the island of Ko Samui and kick boxing for a living - was over at the age of 33. He was sentenced to 50 years." Again, making it 1994, not 1993. Note how the story has changed from what it was 24 years ago. I guess you won't sell as many books if people know the truth about why you were in prison.

Wow ! Such riveting news ! I'm waiting with baited breath to find out what the outcome of this amazing news will be ! Surely a movie must be in the works as well ? A 6 part mini-series perhaps ? It does highlight how easily a lame, meaningless "news" story that affects maybe a dozen people can be spread over social media and become "international" in just a few hours thanks to social media and the internet. Without which - no one would have heard of this story - or cared about it in the least.

Sigh. If you'd been here more than a day you'd know that pimps have been importing hookers from Uzbekistan for decades. The usual ruse was to bring them to Thailand as tourists, take their passports and put them on the street to sell their "goods". Many were not "prime" but ! They could usually do pretty good because they had a winning strategy. They'd saunter up and down Walking Street (or other areas) and look for old, white guys sitting alone in bars. And they'd go talk to them. In English. Which it seems many Uzbekis learn in school. So old Joe Brown, who doesn't understand Thai - or "Thaiglish" - and isn't doing well with the ladies suddenly has a "white" girl smiling and speaking to him in his own language. One hand on his leg and he's as good as bedded. I know this because I used to know a lot of bar owners and managers (mostly Thais) and asked them what was the attraction because most of those women were just plain scary. (The better looking ones end up in Dubai or Abu Dhabi. The "OK" looking ones end up in Budapest or Amsterdam. The scary ones end up in India or SE Asia.) And think about it. YOU go to Thailand because you like "exotic" flavours that aren't readily available (or as cheap) back home. Well, a lot of Thais - and Japanese and Koreans and Chinese - also like "exotic" flavours and to them, white (and black) girls are "exotic". That is also why you often see a lot of (equally scary) Nigerians trolling those areas and for the same reason. And it used to be, back between 2004-2010ish, that every 3-4 months there'd be an article in the Pattaya Mail (and on ThaiVisa) about the police "rounding up" a crew of Uzbeki hookers, charging them and then deporting them. It happened so often and such regular intervals that it became apparent it was a scam. (I was forced to actually do a post once listing all the news articles over the previous 2 years because some infantile, intellectually challenged, inbred mouth breather called me a liar when I commented on yet another story about yet another "round-up" and sure enough, over the previous 2 years there'd been a story every 3-4 months.) My theory was that the pimps would bring in a fresh batch of hookers and take their passports. In the beginning they'd be good earners, hoping to "buy back" their passports and return airfare quickly. But then they'd start earning less (or keeping more for themselves), maybe when they realized they'd been screwed (literally). And when they weren't earning enough to make it worthwhile, the pimp(s) would notify "someone" at Soi 9 and suddenly there'd be another round-up and the "old crew" would be locked up and deported. And a couple days later a new crew would be on the streets. It's almost funny that there are enough of them that they have "territories" and try to defend them. And the police obviously know what is going on - and obviously look the other way. I guess it's not "that time" of the year (yet) for another round-up.

This article literally has nothing to do with the topic. Mistake with a copy/paste perhaps ?

So even though it only started in "July" (4 months ago) they know that "extensions" are being granted, even though anyone wanting an extension would have at least 2 more months to go on their initial 180 day Visa ? Sounds more like "it looks like 10 or so people have applied, but lets quadruple that - and then add 3 zeros to it and then make up a lot of stuff". Seriously. It's the same as another previous article a couple months ago where a "writer" claimed huge numbers of people had applied for DTVs - with NO reference or link to the source of the information of course. Because it's NOT likely that ANY journalist, let alone a foreign one, has access to Immigration's database or data from Thai Embassies around the world. So where are they getting these numbers from ? Wild guesses, exaggerated estimations and the nether regions of a Beach Road freelancer at 3:30 in the morning ? And seriously, 100,000-150,000 baht for a "visa run" to Laos or Cambodia ? MOST of the (caucasian "Westerner") expats that would go for a DTV are the ones who CAN'T afford to live here under the current financial requirements and use agents to loophole/scam their way into getting an Extension. Digital nomads, "begpackers", Ed Visa" holders pretending to be studying Thai, retirees constantly wiring money back and forth each month to make it look like they are getting 65,000 a month. Every time there's a thread about Non-O visas/Extensions, there's a smug bunch of people bragging about how they never worry about the requirements because they just use an agent. And "someone" thinks those people are going to jump up and splash out "100-150,000 baht" for a DTV ? Plus whatever that "agent" would charge to get an Extension on it 6 months later. And then whatever the agent would charge to do the "border run" 180 days after getting the Extension. Not likely.

Assuming you actually want to know: The Statute of Limitations for offenses punishable by (death, life imprisonment or sentences exceeding 20 years) is 20 years (in Thailand). For offenses punishable by sentences between 7-20 years, the Limitation is 15 years. For offenses punishable by 1-7 years, the Limitation is 10 years.

Sigh. They don't suddenly spring from the side of the road from a camouflaged hiding spot. Not for years now. But they will try to block slow-moving vehicles that ignore the officer's instructions. Alcohol checkpoints are strictly regulated now. They MUST have lights, signs, traffic cones, officers to direct vehicles for secondary inspection, officers to do secondary inspections (i.e. breathalyzer tests), officers to write tickets, officers to detain individuals if required (and a prisoner transport vehicle) and officers to persue anyone that tries to flee the checkpoint, as well as a senior officer in charge. (If I recall, the rules are there has to be 10 regular police and 1 officer minimum per checkpoint.) And they have to have tables/chairs/computers where the tickets are written as well as wifi CCTV so they can be monitored from the main police station. Which also means they have to be located in a decent area where they can set all that up. And those rules came into effect what, 4 years ago now ? But the Pattaya police chief back then didn't like the new rules so they just stopped doing alcohol checkpoints for a long time. Now it seems they do them - rarely.

A lot of "Westerners" really have NO idea just how racist a LOT Of Asian countries really are. Our countries bend over backwards and stab ourselves in the back to try and do any and everything we can to go the other way and be as "un-racist" to everyone as we can, even while they laugh at us and happily take advantage of it. Then you live in a Middle Eastern, African or Asian country for awhile and see how THEY treat minorities and other races. And THEY have NO shame about it. No recrimination. No "labelling" or "cancelling". Because they really don't give a toss what anyone else thinks about it and if you don't like it - leave.

A "tunnel" to channel water from South Pattaya all the way north to Na Kluea so it can drain into the ocean ? (Never mind the environmental aspect of flushing all the crap in the drains straight into the ocean.) The only place they could construct such a tunnel is under one of the North/South streets (# 2 or # 3 road basically) or under the highway itself. Can't even go down the center of the highway because you hit the "Center Road" tunnel and then at North Pattaya Road you have the Highway 7 overpass. A couple years ago the city tried to alleviate the Sukhumvit/South Pattaya Road intersection flooding by installing a pump (by the north corner of the Esso station) and enlarging the drainage channel leading from the highway down the little alleyway that runs on the south side of the Batman building. I recall seeing the massive open hole in the ground where they'd started the work, got as far as the little soi that runs from the Batman building up to South Pattaya Road and then stopped. I marvelled at the size of the concrete "drain" channels. Two of them, side by side. Each was wide enough you could have ridden a mid-sized ATV down them with no problem and anyone under 5'10" tall could have probably walked down them without bumping their head. Took them a few months to finally come back and cover those channels over, install new storm drains and lay the new road on top. But I never saw them extend that drain any further past that point. And every time it rains, that intersection still floods - and soi Batman (the whole area around the Batman building) turns into a lake over 1 meter deep. It's the same thing on Khao Noi. The first time I visited someone on Khao Noi (2009 maybe ?) the road had been completely torn up so they could install a new drainage system. Then they covered it over and for awhile it was a very nice, very smooth road. And, naturally, a couple years later it was partially torn up so they could install and new, larger, drainage system, new storm grates at the bottom end and the "holding pond/pumping station" a few meters down the railway bypass. I assumed that was a part of a project to protect the new railway bed from being washed out every time it rained. (Remember when they set down that new railbed years ago and brought in all those concrete railway ties that have been stacked by the rail station for (5 ?) years or so.) Khao Noi now - if you can see the road through all the ad-hoc "repair" jobs from everyone and their dog digging up the street to put in a new drain pipe or something and then doing a craptastic job of filling in the hole and paving/cementing over it - has 3 separate drainage systems running down the road from just below The Chilled shopping mall to the railway bypass. And every time it rains, from the Mike Orchard Villa housing compound down to the bypass, it turns into a raging white-water river. And I don't think I've ever heard anyone, ever, blame flooding on those reservoirs - on the other side of the high ground east of the city - overflowing. But hey, a tunnel sounds better than their previous plan to pump all the storm runoff from the sewers straight back into those same reservoirs, flooding them will all manner of toxic contaminates and who knows what else that people routinely throw down the drains.

Here's a clue. Epstein was well known for providing "women" to top tier, exclusive parties attended by the "rich and powerful". The kind of parties Trump attended all the time. (Rich people "networking" and recruiting investors and such.) Melania was a high end "model" (nude and otherwise) and her agency often provided "classy" women to such parties as "arm candy" and "to be available" to the rich and powerful men in attendance. Trump and Epstein knew each other for a long, long time as they ran in the same circle and attended the same parties. Trump met Melania at one of those parties where he was with wife #2 (whom he'd had an affair with while married to wife #1). While wife #2 was in the bathroom, Trump approached Melania and gave her his personal phone number(s). And then cheated on wife #2 with her. (And of course, then cheated on wife #3, Melania. Probably a few times.) There is little doubt that Trump's name was all over Epstein's client lists - and possibly Melania's as well (on the other side of the "clients and contractors" ledger). Epstein was arrested and put in jail while Trump was the President. If he started dropping names and calling in favours, it could have been very problematic for Trump. Epstein's cell was monitored 24/7 by CCTV cameras and TWO guards. By weird coincidence, the CCTV cameras "malfunctioned" around the same time BOTH guards claimed to have fallen asleep. When they woke up (and the cameras suddenly started working again) - Epstein was dead. Note that the autopsy results indicate death by "strangulation" - not hanging. (Apparently, according to forensic experts, being strangled leaves different injuries to the neck than if someone hung themselves. Different location on the neck. Different damage to the vocal chords and so on. Which can be easily found during an autopsy.) And gee, who would have had the most to lose if Epstein started talking ? And who had the power to pull off such a job - and make sure it stayed a secret ? Here's a hint. It wasn't Biden. Or Clinton. Or Harris.

Maybe he mixed up Gladstone and Tonkin ? However, I tried searching that site for Jayson Tonkin (full name and just last name searches) and it has no records and he has fought in a number of tournaments - but mainly in Thailand and Cambodia. Boxrec collects data from various sports organizations so if an organization isn't a "member" or doesn't submit fight results, they wouldn't appear on that site. Just looked again and I see a post dating back to 2016 about him (as Jayy Tonkin) fighting for AKA Thailand and I found a .pdf about AKA Thailand showing a profile of him with a 17-7-1 record. (Note no "neck tatt" so the profile pic must be a few years old.) His last Instagram post was a clip from a fight 2 months ago where he scored a 1st round TKO. Fairtex had a post about Tonkin's match on 20 Oct being cancelled due to rain.

It's pretty messed up. You'd think (normally) that an athlete who obviously has to train a lot and keep in excellent physical condition wouldn't be messing with drugs at all. Tonkin was supposed to have a match less than 2 weeks ago (cancelled due to flooding). You'd think it would have been rescheduled to happen in the near future. I don't know what the drug/steriod policies are for the different Muay Thai fighting organizations in Thailand and Cambodia are but even if they don't care (or test) - cannabis and ketamine wouldn't be something you'd expect a professional fighter to be using. Got to love the "experts" who think there's no way that the ketamine found in the room could have anything to do with one of the guys being dead and the other in a coma. Sure, maybe it was just the marijuana, right ? There's a reason ketamine is a Class 1 drug and it's not because it gives a "calming effect". Sounds like something a ****ing drug dealer (or junky) would say to try and justify their own actions. One would hope that the media follows up on this story - but "This is Thailand" and following up on stories seems to be taboo here for some reason unless the subjects do something else "newsworthy". Like the Canadian found dead in his apartment a week or so ago. Chances we'll ever hear what the cause of death was (after the autopsy) ? Between zero and not a chance in h3ll. Because no one will follow up or report on it unless it's something really strange or exotic. If Tonkin recovers, we may get an update - or a report of him being charged for the drugs. Otherwise we may never know what really happened.

I do believe "straight white English speaking males" are an endangered species in most Western countries these days and do make up a small but significant visible minority in Thailand as well. But - wrong skin colour to be given any consideration regardless of length of time in the country, family, business or amount contributed to the economy.

Some time ago I needed surgery to remove a plate and screws from my wrist. Went to a large (private) hospital. Was talking to the "finance" people. Lady made a call to find out what all would be needed. Cost of operation - check. 3 nights in hospital (day before, day of, day after) - 500 baht/day - check. This, that and the other thing - check. Then as I watched, she crossed out the 500/day and wrote in 5,000/day ! The max amount my insurance covers per day of stay. The 500/day was the "Thai" rate - when paying cash. She then amended some of the other "standard" prices. Total cost for the operation - 180,000 baht. I went to another private hospital. Smaller than the first one, but the rooms seemed just as good and the staff seemed just as competent. And they charged me 90,000 baht for the SAME operation. Yeah, my insurance covers it - and then guess what happens ? My rates go UP as the insurance company tries to recoup the money they had to shell out - even if I've given them twice that amount in premiums over the previous years. Awesome. You get screwed coming here, get screwed at the hospital and then get screwed again because you used the insurance you paid through the nose for. Remember the story about what, 6-8 months ago about the Thai woman who went to the media to complain because she thought her hospital bill was too high ? The hospital ADMITTED they overcharged her - because they thought she was SWISS, not Thai ! And then they agreed to knock 100,000 baht off her bill !! The gov't claims to want tourists to come here - and then outright discriminates against them, treats them like crap and tries to gouge them at every turn. If this was South Africa the world would be shunning them and their racist policies. But because the "West" wants Thailand to stay "friendly" so they turn a blind eye to it.

And how did he manage to get a pistol and a rifle registered in his name ? And it seems he has a history of "anger issues". Road rage with an ambulance driver ? Kicks a woman in the back for the heinious crime of sitting on some steps he had (illegally) built on public land near the beach ? Methinks a quick check with Interpol might be in order to see if he's here because he can't go home.