Kerryd

You know how it works. Please move, there's lots of room. (Nothing happens.) Please, there's lots of room, let me in. (Nothing happens.) GET THE F*** OUT OF THE WAY ! (People suddenly realize that there is lots of room and move while getting upset that their ignorant behaviour for not moving before when asked politely is being highlighted by the rude foreigner that is making them lose "face".) I've had it happen before (in other countries) and - shocker - it's amazing how many people suddenly understand English just fine when you raise your voice and utter a profanity or two. But when you are polite, people decide they can just ignore you and play ignorant because moving one step is too much of an inconvenience for them.

Yet somehow Soi 6 doesn't make the list. Or Beach road ! Hmmmmm - seems strange. Almost as strange as not having "Boyztown" (sois 13/3 - 13/4) on the list. Sheesh, basically from Soi 1 in North Pattaya to Bali Hai and from the Beach to 2nd Road (in most places). And we won't mention the area in behind the Esso Station on Sukhumvit in North Pattaya. But as we know - the police have conducted many inspections of the area and no women (or boyz apparently) approached them and offered to have sex with them for money so that means there is no Prostitution in Pattaya !

There's more to this than is being told. I seriously doubt there is such a huge market for "30-40 million baht per unit" condos in "select zones" that the gov't feels the need to push for legislative changes. And I seriously doubt there are over 200,000 empty condos in the "30-40 mil baht per condo" category. At an average of 35 mil each that would equal over 7 TRILLION baht in unsold units.) And he's talking about "clear zoning criteria" - meaning only allowing those 99 year leases in select areas. Which makes you wonder as, again, I highly doubt there's 200,000 high end condos all clustered together in one small area that could be zoned for "foreigners" to acquire with 99 year leases. Unless someone knows "something" and perhaps has already purchased some land in a soon-to-be-approved "foreigner zone" where those very high end, exclusive condos would be built ? And the 99 year lease sort of gets around the annoying "49% foreign ownership" rules so that entire buildings can be effectively "owned" by those foreigners. Not to mention that it's highly unlikely that any condo building would even still be around in 99 years. Most will be lucky to still be standing 50 years from now. (50 years or so from now, it will be a lot easier to get out of a lease in a soon to be condemned building than it will be to sell a condo in the same building.) And pretty much any building built today would be deteriorated, decrepit, decayed and extremely outdated in 50+ years and likely a prime target for demolition to make way for a newer, fancier (whatever). Gee, I wonder who the market would be for high end luxury condos in "exclusive for foreigners only" zones ? Maybe businesses (that can write leases off as business expenses) from a certain country that want luxury accommodations for it's top executives and don't want to have "other" nationalities in close proximity ? I mean seriously, who do they think is going to buy those "30-40 million per unit" condos ? Certainly not all those "zero dollar" tourists they've been trying to attract for the last few years. There is only one group that would benefit from this and that's the group that builds (and sells) those condos. And realistically, there's only one group that would be "leasing" them as well.

The "beer cans in the back" might be the clue. One would hope they do a blood test on each driver to see which was the drunkest at the time. I had an accident a couple years ago when a truck ran a stop sign at an intersection in a rural area of Rayong. I was taken to the local hospital and told they'd be testing my blood for alcohol. The pick-up driver never even went. Seems he dropped his g/f off at the hospital and left. I suspect as the accident was just after 1pm on a Saturday afternoon that he may have been coming from a "5 beer lunch" which is why he didn't stick around. (I hadn't drank at all. I'd had a coffee that morning and a coke at lunch. I was quite upset that they were testing my blood and not his.) Despite the fact that his own dash-cam footage showed him blowing throw a stop sign (that even had a red blinky light above it) - it seems no one bothered to check what he'd been doing before the accident. (It ended up with him paying for the repairs to the rear quarter-panel of his truck and that's it. I had to pay all my medical bills and repair costs. It seems the police decided that because "I hit him" that made it my fault ! But - because he ran the stop sign and caused the accident - he had to pay for his own repairs !) Which is why you should always make sure you have insurance when driving/riding here. Lots of insurance. And then more insurance on top of that. As you are likely going to end up paying for everything no matter what happened.

6 of the 10 countries listed I wouldn't even consider living in. A couple are not much of an upgrade from Thailand, depending where you live. Keep in mind that "survey" only had just over 12,000 respondents from around the world so not exactly a large sample size. I've seen similar surveys in the past and when you dig deep it turns out their results are based on 2-3 people from one country, 8 or 9 from another, half a dozen from a third country and so on. And they can simple "massage" the numbers anyway they want to get the result they want of course. (Perhaps depending on who is paying the most for advertising in that magazine for example.) And keep in mind - most of the respondents are probably people with lots of leisure time - and money. The kind of people who like to read travel magazines to pick where they want to go to on their next vacation. Money can buy happiness. A lot of it. And the more money you have, the happier you will be. Especially in a foreign country where you can buy a villa and have maids and drivers for less than the cost of an apartment in downtown London or New York. You're not going to get too many "bar-stool proppers drinking the one small warm glass of the cheapest draft they can afford each day at the closest beer bar" reading travel magazines online and responding to surveys. Those people spend most of their time looking at "footie" scores and watching the exchange rates like a hawk to see if they can squeeze a couple more baht out of this month's pension payment and maybe be able to afford a 2nd beer ! So you aren't likely to get "real world" responses from the "average" everyday kind of expat that (maybe) has enough to get by on but not a lot extra to blow on fancy trips to exotic locations. And if you did decide to suddenly pack up and move to the Philippines or Panama or Columbia or even Spain - you can bet it would only take a couple months before your realize that the "grass" is just as ugly on that side of the fence. Maybe even moreso. Maybe there's no grass at all. But now you're committed and probably can't afford to correct your error by moving again. I've thought about other places that might be nice but you run into the same issues everywhere. A - you are a foreigner and will be treated as such and not everyone likes foreigners as much as you'd think. B - you are a foreigner and will have to jump through lots of hoops in order to stay (wherever). No one is going to give you a "golden residence card" with full national privileges just because you have white skin and come from the land of the "big Px" (or Carrefour or Harrods). C - you are a foreigner and will viewed with suspicion and jealousy because the "locals" will see you spending like a millionaire (by comparison) and think that all your money is magically given to you and never ends. D - you are a foreigner and will have lots of people trying to take advantage of you - and your money. E - you are a foreigner and likely can't speak the local language and have no idea about local customs - and laws. Note as well that racism is alive and well - in pretty much every country, every continent and every race around the world. And far too many "caucasians" travel to foreign countries and automatically assume that they are "superior" to the locals and the locals should be bowing and scraping to them and grateful that those foreigners have even graced their presence. And that is from people who can barely afford that one cheap glass of warm beer a day. And then they wonder why they don't "get along" with the locals. Except they don't usually use such a generic term to describe them, do they ? Basically, if you can't get along and live a decent life in Thailand, it's not likely you will in any of those other countries either.

This happened in Soi Arunothai about 400 m from the Center Pattaya Road intersection. Very narrow, barely a 2 lane on a good day, soi - assuming it's not clogged with parked vehicles and moto-cy food carts. There is a narrow sidewalk on the other side of the soi at that spot and you can see, as soon as you step "down" from the bar, the concrete is sloped to edge of the soi. Literally take one step out of the bar and you are in the tiny "bike lane" - even if your balance isn't impaired. And even if you are just walking down the soi, you are pretty much forced to walk in the "bike" lane because of that sloped concrete. And I'm sure we've all seen how a lot (most) motorcycle riders ride around here, especially moto-taxis and delivery riders who seem to think every soi is a Moto GP racetrack. And accidents happen. One off-balance stagger because of roadside obstructions, one motorcycle racing to pass (or avoid) another. Hit and run could mean the driver knew he was in the wrong - or wouldn't pass a piss test - or maybe it wasn't even a local but someone who may be just here on a "temporary" stay (and wouldn't pass a breathalyzer test). There's a 7-11 barely 20 meters from that spot. Surely there must be some CCTV footage from that area (from the store or the Nirun Grand Ville or the pharmacy at the intersection). This is the spot looking at it from the opposite direction of the photo in the OP. As you can see, it is very narrow at the best of times.

Give it another decade or two and Thailand will have sunk to Cambodian levels in many areas. China is working hard to get a grip on Thailand the way they've done in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and other countries from S.E. Asia all the way to the East Coast of Africa (Djibouti). As a part of their "belt and road" strategy to project power across Asia, China uses "Export Development Banks" (or similar) to loan money to host countries so they can do things like - build hi-speed rail lines, airports, "land bridges", hydro dams, powerplants, toll highways and bridges. They offer low rate loans and retain ownership/control of the projects until the loan is paid off. And if you are having problems making the payments (like a lot of poor 3rd world nations that couldn't afford those projects in the first place) then China will offer better conditions - with the granting of certain agreements between those nations. For example, in Cambodia. China "leased" nearly 20% of Cambodia's entire coastline. "Dara Sakor" is a $3.5 bil (US) "resort hub" that China will control with a 99 year lease. In addition to controlling that coastline, they are building a full-fledged resort with it's own powerplant, medical facilities, casinos, waste treatment plant and - a deep water port. Oh and a new airport (Dara Sakor Airport), just across the bay from the Ream Naval base. (Intelligence analysts have noted the runways at that new airport are far longer than needed by even the largest commercial passenger or cargo aircraft. But are perfect for fully loaded Chinese bombers to land/take off from.) (Makes it sound like that "resort" has a different purpose altogether.) Cambodia also signed a "secret" deal with China (that China promptly revealed) wherein China is granted "dual use" of the Ream Navy base, despite a certain former PM's attempts at denying it because it violates the Constitution. There are plans to dredge the base to allow the larger Chinese Navy ships to enter and plans to upgrade/enlarge the piers to accommodate those ships. And it seems "someone" told the Cambodians to demolish 2 new "Command and Control" buildings the Americans had built for Cambodia barely 5 years before. "Someone" was probably worried the buildings were full of CIA spyware. China has also funded the new $1.1 billion (US) airport outside of Siem Reap which has a 55 year "build/operate/transfer" deal. They are also building a new $1.5 bil (US) airport 20km south of Phom Penh. "Techo International Airport" is scheduled to open in the "first half of 2025". China has also got it's hooks into Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Djibouti in a similar fashion and is working on doing the same to other countries in the South Pacific as well as even Afghanistan. (China was the first nation to receive an "official" delegation from the Taliban after the US surrendered to them and let them take over the rest of Afghanistan.) (Trump signed the Doha agreement with the Taliban in Feb 2020, agreeing to stop attacking the Taliban, to stop "interfering" in local politics and to withdraw all US troops by May 2021. Note that the "official" gov't of Afghanistan was not even invited to those talks. The US basically just gave up on the country and handed it over to the Taliban on a silver platter.) China is also working on increasing it's "influence" in Thailand in a similar fashion. And they have a lot of supporters high up the food chain. The recent about face on matters like casinos, changing the "foreign ownership quotas" of condos, expanding the list of "Visa Exempt" countries, high-speed rail lines linking China and Thailand and even increasing the length of the "Visa Exemption" stay (and plans to increase the number of Chinese tourists to Thailand by over 8 million per year) are not a coincidence. Nor is the recently annouced plan to make a "land bridge" to connect the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Thailand. Those are the long, slender tentacles of control slowly working their way in until they can get a strong enough grip that the main body can squeeze in and gain "de facto" control. Most people see a headline and then forget/ignore it. Then see another headline months later and forget/ignore it. Then again. And again. And then those same people tell you there's nothing to worry about because "it's been like a week and like, nothing has happened so like, there's no such thing as a "slippery slope" and no one is trying to do anything". And they'll keep saying that even as they are handing their passport to a member of the People's Liberation Army as they go to get an Extension on their Temporary Stay at their local (Thai) Immigration office. Because these things don't happen overnight. It's the same with other issues. Like how certain religions or ethnic groups move into an area and slowly start exerting their influence on their neighbours. They don't suddenly show up one Monday morning and start demanding you change your ways (and laws) to accommodate them. It's a slow process that can take decades, even generations, before noticable changes start happening. But if you are watching for it - the signs are there. Pretty clearly too. But, unless there is yet another major uprising and yet another military coup, I suspect it's going to take at least a decade before it becomes evident who is really calling the shots in this country and another decade or two before all suspicion is removed entirely. (This isn't the only part of the world where things are happening and as stuff happens in one place, other things may be afoot elsewhere. Nothing like a couple of high-profile conflicts in one region to draw attention away from things in other regions.)

Works both ways. I went "home" (to Canada) one summer a couple years (5+ it seems) ago. Was planning on spending a weekend at my "old" place clearing it out and boxing stuff to go into storage. I needed supplies for 3 breakfasts, 3 lunches and 2 dinners (just for me). Didn't but anything fancy. Pack of hotdogs, hamburger, buns, cheese, butter, bacon, eggs, loaf of bread, small ketchup/mustard and so on. $300 Cdn ! Literally one bag of groceries. At the time it was close to 9,000 baht equivalent ! For 3 days worth of food. I average about 10,000 - per month - in Thailand on groceries and I don't skimp. About 8 years ago a friend in Canada commented that she'd just paid $8 (Cdn) for a single "head" of cauliflower. 215 baht roughly. I went to the local "market" up the street. Bought some onions, garlic, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers and red chilies. (Photo below) Cost 180 baht. ($6.70 Cdn equivalent.) So yeah, if you're "just here on a getaway" (yeah right) and buying groceries (uh huh) and sticking with the "imported" brands of "foreign" foods, it can be fairly expensive. But if you are "living" here and doing your "normal" grocery shopping and buying "local" foods, it can be (is) a lot cheaper than "back home".

Lol - I was posted to CFB Chilliwack from '94-'96. I took an early release when the unit was moved to Edmonton. The (individual) names aren't familiar but you never know everyone's names in a large unit or on a base. The Big Circle Gang is a notorious Chinese "triad" gang based in Richmond. When I got back into the military I was on a full time contract with a "reserve" unit in Vancouver. Many of the part-time members were from the Asian community. They all knew who the "Big Circle Boys" were and to stay away from them. "Allegedly" Bindy Johal, a notorious "Indo-Canadian" gangster, kidnapped the brother of someone connected to the Big Circle Boys in 1996 and demanded a ransom. Johal was later murdered when he was shot in the back of the head on the dance floor of a Vancouver nightclub in Dec '98. (His killer was never found.) My friends "whispered" that the hit was the retaliation for the kidnapping. Another member of Johal's gang was found dead under a bridge in Surrey around the same time. I was just doing some reading and wow - "Indo-Canadian" gang crime in Canada is apparently ranked third behind "Asian Triads" and "White Biker Gangs" in Canada. The "Wolfpack Alliance" is a collection of smaller gangs affiliated that used to be associated with the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel. Seems that once the Cartel had used the Wolfpack to set up in Canada, they cut ties with them and started working with other gangs instead. From Wiki: "The Sinaloa Cartel came to prefer operating in Canada, owing to its weak justice system with regard to financial crimes, which made Canada an ideal place for money laundering. In addition, it is extremely easy for members of the Sinaloa Cartel to obtain Canadian passports both legally and illegally." Something I've been bitc*ing about for decades, especially as the Liberal approach to the drug problem seems to always be to "decriminalize" more drugs to make it easier for the drug lords to sell even more than they already do. It's like the Liberals are working with the Cartels and gangs........ I recall as well there was a lot of concern "back in the day" about biker gangs trying to recruit active and former soldiers. (Not so easy to steal weapons and ammo from the Canadian military anymore though.) I never hung in "those" circles though (luckily, as I had a high level security clearance that would have been cancelled if I'd been seen associating with "certain" groups). I recently wrote a comment on a story about the drug problem in Canada and noted that according to Canadian Customs, they only inspect "maybe" 10% of all the cargo containers that arrive in the Port of Vancouver and the RCMP only conduct "occasional random searches" of cargo ships in the Ports. It's also well known that the Ports are basically controlled by certain biker gangs and police of "questionable morals", which is how most of the drugs get into Canada. Just got to know the "right" people to make sure "certain" containers/ships don't get inspected and then bring in tons (literally) of drugs right under the noses (literally) of the people that are supposed to be stopping it.

A distinct lack of "finger-pointing" evidenced in that photo. Have they stopped teaching that as the preferred method of determining who the guilty party is ? He must have known they'd be looking for him. If you're working for someone and steal (or "embezzle") a whack of money from them and then skip the country, you probably shouldn't ever go back. Not unless you have a lot of "biometric" alterations, a new name and new passport at least. Especially when there are safer options to travel to. Maybe the money he "allegedly" stole ran out and he thought he'd just come back and try the same thing again ? And why do these guys never post about their situations on here ? Surely more than a few of them must be TV/AseanNow/Thiager forum members. And WHAT is with those frakken pop-up ads now appearing repeatedly. Every time someone new takes over the site it goes downhill a bit further.

I have zero doubt that behind the scenes China's "Export Development Bank" will step in to offer cheap loans on favourable terms in exchange for a "controlling interest" in the project as a part of their "belt and road" strategy. In other words, they'll lend Thailand the money and "own" the bridge until the loan is paid off. Fully expecting that it will never be paid off - or - they sign an "agreement" with Thailand to allow Chinese ships to dock in Thai ports and Chinese military aircraft to fly in/out of Thai airbases. (Called "dual use agreements"). And that way China benefits from the cheaper cost of transporting goods from China to the Middle East/Europe, plus the return on investment from the "loan" and - importantly - the ability to base Chinese ships and aircraft far from China, in strategic locations. And just so you know. They've made similar loans and "agreements" with countries like Cambodia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Djibouti on the coast of Africa. (And are working to do the same in Afghanistan and other places in the South Pacific.) A few years ago it was big news when China arranged to "lease" nearly 20% of Cambodia's entire shoreline. They then built a "resort" destination (with casinos of course). And ! They built an entire airport as well. But it was noted by Intelligence analysts that the runways were far longer than needed by even the largest commerical cargo or passenger planes (including the A380). But - they were the perfect length for fully loaded Chinese bombers to land/take off from. At the same time, they signed a "dual use agreement" with Hun Sen to allow Chinese warships to dock in the Ream Naval base - a mere hour's drive south of that new airport. As a part of the agreement, Cambodia agreed to demolish 2 new (under 5 years old) "Command and Control" buildings the Americans had built for Cambodia as well as dredging the port and modifying the piers to handle the larger Chinese ships. (Note that allowing Chinese ships to dock in Cambodian ports is apparently a violation of the Cambodian constitution. But when you're a 3rd world dictator that has no problem arresting and imprisoning anyone who opposes you - who cares !) As a part of the deal, China gifted Cambodia with 300 new military trucks. Hun Sen turned around and told Cambodia that "he" was donating those trucks to the military and police - as though "he" was the one who bought them. And gee, I wonder who has their eyes set on doing basically the exact same thing in Thailand ? There is no way China wants a "western friendly" country in the middle of their "back yard" so they are slowly working to spread their influence (and money) in Thailand to change it from an independent "western-allied" nation to a puppet state that is "Chinese-friendly". A lot of happenings in Thailand can be linked to that. The "highspeed train" from China to Thailand for example. The attempted purchase of Chinese submarines. The plans to legalize Casinos (Chinese tourists love casinos). Condo developments. (And the recent proposal to allow more "foreign ownership" of condo buildings - you really don't think the Thai gov't, even for a fraction of a second, took "you" into consideration when they made that proposal, do you ? No, it's about bowing down to a different master.) Changes in Visas/Exemption periods. (Again, you need to understand that the gov't really doesn't give a hoot about some old, gray, cheap charlie expats from Western countries. This is all about making Thailand more "friendly" to the Chinese.) Give it another 20 years maybe and Thailand will basically be like Cambodia. With a similar puppet gov't and economy, both firmly under China's control.

https://www.google.co.th/maps/place/Chonburi+Immigration+Pattaya/@12.9005225,100.8787108,15.46z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x31029605cbfa2661:0x66d53f76f671ae5a!8m2!3d12.8977892!4d100.8715277!16s%2Fg%2F1hm24jf1d?hl=en&entry=ttu Google maps. Click on Chonburi (which is the Jomtien) Immigration Office. Their address is shown in the info window.

Um no. You can thank all the grifter foreigners on this site and others like it that continuously bragged about how they could get around the "800k in the bank" by using agents to scam the system. That is what lead to having to keep the money in the bank. People have this ridiculous notion that no one in the Thai gov't pays any attention to what is being said in the various chat forums - in the various languages. People - on this site (and others) - used to brag about how many years they'd stayed in Thailand simply by making a once a month border run. Sheesh, when I was between contracts back in '05-'06 I did 7 or 8 border runs myself. But I didn't run around bragging to people about it. Then suddenly there was a crackdown. You could only do 3 border runs in a year and they meant "a year". Boom ! Goodbye to a lot of fake tourists. Then people bragged about how they could get around the 800k in the bank by "borrowing" the money for a day from an agent so they could get the bank letter and update their passbook. Then pay it back to the agent along with their "fee" the next day. That led to another crackdown, requiring us to keep the money in the bank for 3 months. That was meant to cut out those agents as most of them weren't going to trust you with their 800k for 3 months. (Not too mention what they'd charge for that.) Then people started bragging that they were able to get around that (again) using "agents" (again) who would "arrange" to make it look like you had that money in an account for the prescribed time. That lead to Immigration cracking down on us - again. Now, thanks to all those people who are full of kwaii khee about how rich they are when in fact they are broke and always trying to scam the system, you have to keep 400k in the bank all year and 800 k in the account for 5 months. Remember, originally that "800k" was the money Immigration expected you (as a single foreigner) would need to live in Thailand for one year. I remember back around 2011 (?) or 2012, when Immigration actually wanted to see transactions (withdrawals) on the account your 800k was in to prove you were using it to live on. (That was in Jomtien back then. I think they asked me twice and I showed them the 800k in the Fixed Term and whatever I had in my savings account and that satisfied them. Then they stopped caring if you were actually spending any of the 800k as a lot of people were keeping it safe in a Fixed Term account.) And you can bet that when people start bragging about how they are able to stay here for years using the new 90 Day Visa Exemption Stamps (once that's approved) there'll be another crackdown. It's almost like, gee, maybe they are paying attention to all the chatter going on in forums like this and maybe they are cluing in about not just how people are scamming the system, but just how many of them seem to be doing it. Whether or not Big Joke is the "one honest mango in the orchard" or not, there seems to be a large power struggle going on behind the scenes at the highest levels. Old guard, new guard. Junta appointees, Thaksin appointees. You can bet a lot of people "up there" are not happy with Thaksin being back and pulling the strings behind the scenes. He never really answered for all the stuff he got away with before skipping the country nor for the "alleged" reasons he was ousted that had nothing to do with his corruption but we can't talk about it here (or anywhere really).

Right off the bat the math doesn't add up. It says "5 tickets" but claims 90 mil in winnings. Then it says she already cashed in 2 tickets and collected 60 mil and would cash in the third at the end of the month. The only way that works is if she had 3 "sets" of 5 tickets that all had the same numbers on them. Each "set" of 5 would then be worth 30 mil. However the chances of buying 3 identical sets of 5 tickets with the same number on them are probably less than the chances of actually winning the lottery at all. Also prizes must be claimed within 2 years of the draw date. The story claims she kept the winning secret for over 2 years so the tickets would be void now. And there's no way the village headman would even know if "the money had been withdrawn". Withdrawn from where ? He would not have any access to any of her banking information (unless she'd borrowed money from him and gave him her ATM card as security - in which case he would know whether or not she'd deposited those huge winnings and he'd have taken what was owed to him - with interest of course). Got to agree with the old lady at the bottom of the article. Sounds like a put-on to attract attention. She's probably had more visitors (at all hours) in the last week than in the last 2 years combined.

https://www.khaosodenglish.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/vietnam-pattaya4.mp4?_=1

Same here ! I had to do some googling when I first saw the story to make sure it wasn't the same person. You can bet a lot of people never bothered to check though. And yeah, it's common for criminals to suddenly "long for home" when they become ill and have a choice of ending up in a Thai prison (and "gov't healthcare") or a nice air-conditioned facility with a much higher quality of medical care. Like the former "godfather of Chon Buri" who did a runner after being released from prison on bail (where he'd been sent after being found guilty of arranging the murder of a political rival). He was charged in a land fraud case so that let him apply for bail (Thai law) to fight the charges and - of course - immediately disappeared and didn't reappear until many years later - when he was very sick and needed to go to a (good) hospital. And the wannabe terrorist Joshua Boyle from Canada. Stages his own kidnapping so he can join the terrorists his former wife had praised so highly. Spent 5 years trying to convince everyone he was being held in Afghanistan when he was actually in a Haqqani safe house in Pakistan. But when one of the daughters he had while a "captive" got sick - he couldn't take her to a Pakistani hospital so they arranged to be "spotted" by American drones. He needed people to believe he was still a captive so he wouldn't be arrested and thrown in prison when he returned to Canada. (Not that terrorist-loving Trudeau would have ever considered that of course.) So his terrorist buddies drove him to a drop off point where they had tearful farewells and then he was "rescued" by the Pakistani Army who were sitting there waiting. And supposedly it's why a certain former PM criminal on the run suddenly decided to return "home". Having "his people" running the gov't certainly made it easier. (Thought you have to wonder because it's not like he couldn't have afforded the best medical care available in the UAE which is probably top notch based on all the "money" in that place. I doubt you'll find too many "doctor's degrees from a back alley medical schools in Delhi" working in Dubai hospitals.) He sure did make a miraculous recovery once he got home though !

(Duplicate post.)

Apparently the "I used to be one of Epstein's high-end Escort/Nude models" look still plays. Yeah. Look up her history. She was working as a (sometimes nude) model and apparently her "agency" would provide "classy" women to parties attended by the rich and powerful. People like Trump. The women would be there to be "arm candy" and be "available" to the men at those parties if they caught the eye of any of them. (Basically what Epstein and Maxwell were accused of. Arranging "women" for rich and powerful men.) And Melania did get noticed by a "rich person" at one of those parties in 1998. Apparently Trump's wandering eye spotted her and when his wife (#2) went to the bathroom he "slipped" Melania his private number. (Another article states he was at that party with a different "date" - who wasn't his wife either. She also claims - now - that he asked for her number and she refused and asked him for his number instead so he gave her a couple of his private phone numbers.) Supposedly they began dating in 1998 and Donald divorced #2 in 1999, but didn't marry #3 until 2005. She was pregnant with their son in 2006 while Donald was banging former Playboy models and porn star actresses. It was somewhat hilarious when Trump was elected. You used to be able to find photos of Melania on a whack of Facebook pages. Suddenly, he's the President and the photos are gone. I found one and tried to post it in a group and the instant I hit "post comment" - it was deleted. Instantly. Tried a couple times. Tried renaming the pic so it wasn't even remotely close to the original filename. Didn't matter. As soon as I hit "post" it would be instantly deleted by Facebook. And it's not hard to imagine why Epstein so quickly "suicided" himself in jail. She didn't have the pull to get it done, but Trump did and you can bet his name was all over Epstein's "client lists". I suspect her name was in his books as well. Makes you wonder if those lists will ever see the light of day or if they end up buried along with Hoffa, Kennedy's brain and all the original photos and negatives from the "moon landings". (Yes, NASA claims the "originals" were "accidentally destroyed" many years ago.) (Insert spooky conspiracy movie music here.......)

I would trust Al Jazeera reporting about as much as I'd trust Fox News. Qatar plays fast and loose on both sides of the fence. Yes, they are a "US Ally" and host a large US Military contingent - which also keeps them safe from attack. Remember when a small group of "rebels" started an uprising against Assad in Syria ? The "West" initially supported them - until they found out that the majority of the rebels were actually members of different terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda, Al Nusra and other hard-core fundamentalists. Qatar continued to support them. It created a lot of controversy at the time because factions like Turkey and Qatar were supporting the terrorists while being "allies" of the US (and others) who were opposed to those same terrorists. (And lol - it seems the "Syrian" rebels - initially - were actually part of a CIA attempt to overthrow Assad - because he'd rejected a proposed "Saudi-Qatar" oil pipeline that would have gone from Saudi Arabia, through Jordan and Syria and into Turkey.) Qatar (and Al Jazeera) have also supported the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood (and it's various chapters) for decades (financially and politically). Note that after the "Arab Spring" and the Muslim Brotherhood's ouster in Egypt in 2013, Saudi Arabia and a number of GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council which includes the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait) cracked down on the Muslim Brotherhood. Except Qatar of course. (Note that Qatar supported the Arab Spring uprisings, including the ones in Libya (which was also about oil) and Syria. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and other "US Allies" brutally suppressed those uprisings in their own countries). Qatar also supports Hamas financially and politically and then has the ****s to say: "the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, said "We support all Palestinian people. We believe Hamas is a very important part of the Palestinian people." The Emir told CNN, "We don't fund extremists." Note: "More money flows from Qatar to Hamas than any other country." ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar_and_state-sponsored_terrorism ) I see when reading up on the conflict in Yemen that Qatar initially opposed the Houthi (Iranian backed Shi-ite rebels) but changed their stance. Seems they've been at odds with their fellow countries and even had relations with them suspended on numerous occasions over their (and Al Jazeera's) actions. "Saudi Arabia and other countries have criticized Al Jazeera and Qatar's relations with Iran. Qatar explained that it had provided assistance to some opposition groups, including Islamist groups (such as the Muslim Brotherhood)." Qatar also tried to claim that "Al Jazeera" had been "hacked" at one point when they published an article praising Iran as a "stabilizing force" at the same time Iran was backing the Houthi rebels as well as Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists (and Assad in Syria of course). Qatar also hosted Taliban delegations and Doha, the capital of Qatar, was where the US surrendered to the Taliban when Trump's gov't agreed to stop attacking the Taliban and pull out of Afghanistan in what is now known as the "Doha Agreement". Qatar has been accused to allowing numerous "terrorist financiers" to live openly and freely in Qatar despite being on terrorist watch lists in many other countries. Qatar simply shrugs it's shoulder's and claims they don't recognize many of those organizations as being "terrorist". It seems in 2014 Qatar's "Terrorist Watchlist" had exactly - zero names on it. And if you recall when the current Gaza crisis started - just after Hamas attacked Israel and murdered over 1,200 people - reporters showed a number of people wearing blue body armour with "Press" badges trying to shoo other reporters away from certain houses and even hospitals. Those "other" reporters weren't reporting or recording anything but were really concerned about legitimate press taking pics/videos of them. Why ? Because they weren't actually "Press". They were wearing the same gear that real reporters wore to act as "human shields" to protect Hamas Safe Houses and weapons caches (and to try and keep the real press from seeing Hamas fighters entering/leaving the hospitals they had lied about having tunnels and bunkers hidden under). Some were flat out Hamas fighters/supports and some probably claimed to be "freelance Al Jazeera" reporters when it's convenient (or expedient). Hamas knew that Israel would be reluctant to attack any target that had reporters close by because of the fallout they'd get if they killed any (real) journalists. Hamas has routinely used human shields to protect it's rocket launchers whenever they attack Israel. A favoured tactic of Hamas for decades is to set up rocket launchers on top of hospitals, apartment buildings and in school yards. Because they want Israel to retaliate after they've fired rockets at them and they are hoping Israel will bomb those launchers and end up killing lots of innocent civilians so Hamas can parade them in front of the cameras to score sympathy and Public Relations brownie points. Al Jazeera also uses "reporters" to write propaganda anti-gov't articles in places they want to stir up dissent. Like after the military overthrew the corrupt Muslim Brotherhood gov't in Egypt less than a year after they took power. They had "Egyptian" correspondents writing anti-gov't propaganda and when those reporters were arrested - they whipped out their (Canadian or other country) passports and cried to their "new" countries to save them. (One of them was an Egyptian immigrant to Canada who, once he had his magic "get out of foreign jail free" passport, returned to his native Egypt to work for Al Jazeera. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison for writing anti-gov't propaganda articles for Al Jazeera and, naturally, whipped out his shiny new Canadian passport and begged Canada to save him. He even offered to renounce his Egyptian citizenship. So Egypt accepted and deported him to Canada where, no surprise, he started slamming the gov't that helped free him and announced he'd immediately be trying to reclaim his Egyptian citizenship.) And you see it in the news and in movies - people wearing "press" can often get into places others can't - especially if they know the people at the gates. Good way to move people, weapons and ammo around. Especially if one side are "good guys" who don't want to do anything that might result in "bad press" and the other side don't give a c-rap about the rules.

Also note. While the beer bars at that spot have (real) female employees, it is a favourite area for a lot of ladyboys to hangout as well. There's public bathroom just down the path and a lot of (people) traffic at that spot. Where the foreigner seemed to have his stuff is the bar on the left side of the path, which is where a lot of those ladyboys used to hang out (back when I used to spend too much time down there). (As mentioned, the owners are friends from a local "nice" motorcycle club.) He seemed to have been riled up by someone at the bar on the right-side of the path. I can't understand what the woman doing the filming was going on about though. She kept saying something about the "soi" and him being alone ? There's obviously more to the incident than is shown in that clip. Still can't see where he supposedly punched her and left her with a bloody face.

I didn't see any thing in that clip about him assaulting anyone. The story says he initially assaulted another foreigner and then punched the woman who was doing the filming. I've watched the clip half a dozen times and there is NO sign of him hitting anyone. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=928474172300457&__tn__=F That clip shows NO assault of any kind. I looked and that seems to be the only clip on that "Social Hunter" page about the incident. This happened beside the beer bar across from the old Marine Disco. Friends of mine actually own (lease) those bars. They used to be called the "Lucky Stars Bar (1, 2 and 3). The video starts with the guy standing just outside the metal poles they have in the middle of the little alley that runs between Walking Street and the Marine Hotel in behind. (Past where the Blues Factory used to be.) There's a brief glimpse of the Peppermint sign on the left as she pans around with the phone. I see a bunch of people trying to get between the foreigner and someone he was arguing with. Then he starts taking his stuff (smokes, lighter, etc) and putting them into his bum bag. He's an English speaker but could be from a number of countries. I get the impression he was having an argument with someone off camera. He NEVER looks at the woman doing the filming who he supposedly punched. At the end she seems to say "OK" and then walks away.

Khalid is not a "traditional" (as in - formerly from the UK) Canadian name but Canada hands out citizenship and passports to half the world's population in an attempt to get people to "like" them (and to rig voter demographics in ridings the Liberals need additional votes in). Syrian refugee ? Kosovo refugee ? Fake Afghan "translator" ? Fake Nigerian "asylum seeker" ? Just go to Canada, live free on the Liberal's generosity for 3 years while you pad you bank account(s) and then BOOM ! You pretend to swear a "Citizenship Oath", get your Citizenship card and Canadian passport and go back to your home country a rich person (by comparison). (Sheesh, you don't even have to appear in person to swear your oath anymore. You can do it online from literally anywhere - and have a translator tell you what to say. Or just have someone else entirely stand in for you.) Khalid is probably an "Indian" name (as in India, not Indigenous). There are probably more "Indians" in Canada than "African Canadians". Sheesh, "Little Potato" Trudeau's first Defense Minister (Harjit Sajjan) was a guy born in India who migrated to Canada when he was 5. His 2nd woke Defense Minister was Anita Anand who was born in Canada - to parents who migrated from Sri Lanka and Punjab (India). (And shocker - people are just finding out now that more than a couple of his MPs may/are working for foreign gov'ts or Intelligence agencies.) The leader of the NDP party is Jagmeet Singh, also born in Canada (from parents who also immigrated from Punjab). 90,000 baht in a hotel safe and then fall asleep with 2 hookers in the room ? Rookie move. And it was probably more like 9,000 baht but maybe someone was thinking that they'd be "reimbursed" however much they claimed to have lost. Like people who claim they had a bunch of gold necklaces stolen though they couldn't afford to buy a beer for themselves. Surprised he didn't claim his passport(s) and plane ticket had been stolen as well. Favourite trick of people who've run out of money - or overstayed their 30 day stamp. Cash in the plane ticket, sell the passport at a pawn shop. Claim they were stolen, get "emergency travel docs" and a plane ticket from family/friends and hasta la vista suckers ! And who flies to Thailand to pick up African hookers ? I remember days gone by when I used to spend far too much time on Walking Street (which was far more entertaining than any "reality TV show). You'd see the Uzbeki hookers trolling the bars looking for old white guys sitting alone and once in awhile you'd see a group (3-4 usually) of "Africans" strolling from one end of Walking Street to the other and back again every hour or so. And they were scary ! They were not "petite" or even friendly looking. They looked more like a war party searching for prey. (Chatting with different (Thai) bar owners, it seems the main customers for the African girls were - Thai men. When you think about it, an African girl in Thailand is as exotic to Thais as a blonde-haired, white-skinned girl would be in India or Africa or the Middle East). And yeah, hotel safes are notoriously easy to crack. If you think about that, you realize that hotels would have to know how to crack the safes because they'd probably have to reset a dozen of them every week from customers who lock them - on purpose - before checking out. And once one hotel worker knows the code, everyone knows the code.

Many Western countries won't extradite anyone if they face the death penalty in a foreign country. Even if that country agrees to waive the death penalty, the accused's country still has to decided if the foreign country's case has merit. Normally the country requesting the extradition has to basically prove their case in the accused's country's court to get an Extradition approved, which could then still be appealed. (Or they at least have to prove to a court that they have sufficient evidence to support a trial and that the evidence is "submissible". Which can be an issue because what is "submissible evidence" in Thailand may not be "submissible" in Norway or Canada or some other countries.) In the case of Rakesh Saxena for example, he fled to Canada with his stolen billions that caused the Bangkok Bank of Commerce to collapse and caused the "Asian Flu" banking crisis. Thailand wanted him sent back to face trial but they were looking at the death penalty for all the harm he'd caused. Canada refused until Thailand agreed to take the death penalty off the table. But then Saxena, who wasn't in custody because he hadn't committed any crimes in Canada but couldn't travel because his passport had been confiscated, was able to use his stolen fortune to hire the best lawyers who kept appealing every extradition order the courts approved. And while his lawyers were doing that, Saxena was running "boiler room" and "call center" scams in Canada and helping to finance an aborted coup in Sierre Leone. (A company Saxena owned that traded on the Vancouver stock exchange, Diamondworks, was going to help finance Sandline International who contracted Executive Outcomes for most of their mercenary force. In exchange, the "new" gov't in Sierre Leone would grant exclusive - and very expensive - diamond mining concessions to Diamondworks.) Saxena was able to live a rich lifestyle on his ill-gotten gains for over 13 YEARS until finally the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear his last appeal and he was finally sent back to Thailand. (In Sept 2022 Saxena was sentenced to 335 years in prison however the maximum sentence is only 20 years. He was also sentenced to 10 years in June 2022 in another fraud case. Safe to say he's going to be in Bang Kwan until he dies of old age as he was already 70 at the time he was sentenced.) Depending on your crime, often times you may be better off doing a runner and never looking back.

Keep in mind - THIS IS THAILAND. Not "old Blighty" or "Aus" or "murica". In Thailand if you are arrested for a crime you are taken to a police station where they will inform you of what you are being charged with - and how much your BAIL is. Because in Thailand, you can get bail in almost any case so you can be free to defend yourself against the charges. And even if you are already in jail for something like murder and you get charged with something like "land fraud" you can apply to be released from prison on bail so you can fight the new charges !! Which is what the father of a former Pattaya Mayor (and a Bang Saen Mayor and a Chon Buri governor) did many years ago. And, naturally, did a runner as soon as he got out. And in some cases you can be released on bail but the police keep your passport. And in other cases - you can get your passport back too ! Remember the case in Phuket not long ago where the one guy supposedly forged his business partner's signature so he could take over business and cut his old partner out. If I recall, the forger was released on bail and then fought to get his passport back as well. Can't recall if he was successful. So yeah, it's not really hard to imagine a foreigner getting released on bail and then doing a runner. Especially if the police didn't have his passport (or gave it back to him for some reason) and he split before they realized he was gone. I mean sheesh, if you're in Pattaya and need to get out of the country quick it's less than 2 hours to the airport, buy a ticket on the first flight out somewhere far away and 2-3 hours later you're buckled in and watching Bangkok fade into the distance. By the time the authorities realize you've done a runner, you're in Hong Kong on your way to Sidney. Or in Delhi on your way to Amsterdam. (Even if the police have your passport, depending on your Embassy, you could possibly get "Emergency Travel Documents" that would get you through Immigration and onto a plane before anyone realized you were gone.)

Tourism accounts for about 20% of the GDP and foreign tourism is about 12% of that. And note that Thailand's economy did NOT crash and burn even when they completely shut down the (foreign) tourist industry completely and restricted domestic tourism as well. Yes, a lot of businesses closed. A lot of people were out of work. A lot of people went back to their villages. And a few weeks later most of them were working at other jobs. Maybe not as glamourous or well paying, but still work. I know one girl who was a dancer in Baccara who went home and ended up working in a CP chicken factory. So it's not like 20% of the country suddenly starved to death. And 2 years later everything was pretty much back to normal. (I haven't checked to see if that girl went back to Baccara or is still working in the chicken factory.) Tourism is a huge revenue source for the country - but the "sex" part is NOT the main driving force - except for the old, fat, white single males from Western countries of course. The same people who often think THEY are the only reason Thailand even has tourists because when they look around their favourite beer bar all they see is other old, fat, "white" guys like themselves and they have NO idea that there's 10s of MILLIONS of other tourists in the country that will likely never even go near a Pattaya beer bar on their holidays.