Kerryd

And if the debris hits any populated areas (anywhere on the planet) China will deny it was their rocket and then try to blame someone else (i.e. the Americans) and threaten anyone who dares suggest that an investigation into China's responsibility be started.

Lol - people are upset when the proposal was to have foreigners invest (at least) 40 million baht for a minimum of 3 years before being allowed to buy 1 single rai of land, so lets increase the requirement to 100 million baht that has to be invested for a minimum of 10 years before you can buy that one tiny rai of land !!

That'll surely make it an acceptable proposal for the "people" !

I'm sure so many investors around the world were flooding the government with requests to invest over $1 million US for 3 years that the gov't decided there must be at least as many willing to invest $2.6 million for 10 years in exchange for the right to (eventually) buy a single rai of land.

This harkens back to what seems to be the marketing strategy taught in Thai business schools.

If something doesn't sell, increase the price !
If it still doesn't sell, increase the price even more !
If it still doesn't sell - oh well, you went bankrupt and had to sell your investment for pennies on the dollar but hey ! There'll surely be another sucker along in a minute to try the same strategy again.

Well this is a disaster just waiting to happen.
 

Quote

 

The essence of the edict is to allow individuals to produce liquor for household consumption and for commercial purposes if they wish, said Deputy Government Spokesperson Tipanan Sirichana.

 

She explained that it will promote fair competition, equal market access and protect the health and safety of consumers by ensuring that the liquor products are up to standard.

 

With all the low quality knock-offs and poor standards (of every kind) already being used, where on earth does she get the idea that letting individuals produce liquor for commercial purposes will "protect the health and safety of consumers" ??????

I keep think of the videos I've seen of people making the "juice" you see being sold in small plastic bottles at roadside vendors. You know, like the "orange juice" sold in unlabelled bottles.

That's made by people dumping loads of commercially made juice into a washtub and then adding water (to dilute it) and maybe some sugar to cover up the weaker taste, then filling the bottles by submerging them in the tub with the same bare hands they had probably just used to wipe their butts with (or picked their nose with) and then screwing on the lids.

Now imagine those same people making alcohol in the same way and then selling it commercially.

In the article it quotes the spokesperson:
 

Quote

The SMEs are, however, required to meet health safety and environmental standards and the production machinery must meet the requirements set by the Excise Department, she explained.

(SMEs - Small/Medium Enterprises, not "Subject Matter Experts".)

Yeah, just like hotels/condo buildings/nightclubs are supposed to meet safety standards as well, which are also rigously enforced. 

And what will happen when a few hundred people die from alcohol poisoning ? And a few hundred more from lead poisoning ? And a few hundred more from ingesting alcohol laced with insecticides/anti-freeze ?

Oh right, a two day crackdown on (known) producers and then everything continues as per normal. Again. And again.

(Speaking of unsafe standards. I visited a friend at the apartment building he moved into. The steel "screen" doors at every Fire Escape are locked with padlocks. Good luck getting out if there's a fire.)



 

A couple things to keep in mind.

Erdogan (in Turkey) staged a fake coup that resulted in him essentially becoming "leader for life". The Turkish military had staged numerous coups in the past and considered itself to be the defender of democracy in Turkey.
Erdogan termed out as Prime Minister and was able to get elected as President. While he was PM, he replace most of Turkey's "old school" generals with new leaders whose loyalty was to Erdogan first and Turkey second.

Long story short.
The position of President was mainly a ceremonial position whose main purpose was to rubber-stamp appointments made by the Parliament.

Erdogan arranged a fake coup so that a State of Emergency could be declared. The President gains extra powers then and he used to them to round up and imprison 10s of thousands of influential people that might oppose him. He then used his power to make changes to Turkey's Constitution to let him to keep those powers and allow him to remain in position for as long as he likes.

Also keep in mind that Thailand has Myanmar on one side, ruled by military dictators (again) after overthrowing the democratically elected gov't.
On the other side is Cambodia who happily locks up it's opposition leaders and rigs elections to ensure it's leader stays in power.
Both are heavily indebted to China, both financially and politically.
(And of course, Laos to the north with it's communist gov't. Vietnam to the East with it's communist gov't.)

And Thailand is currently run by the same military crew that overthrew the last democratically elected gov't, except they (mostly) wear suits now instead of uniforms.
And they are very friendly with China as well. Thailand itself though is, currently, not indebted to China the way some of her neighbours are. Yet.

With the former PM on the outs over term limits (mere coincidence) and dispute over the acting PM's term as well, it's small wonder that coup rumours are starting.
The top dogs don't want to lose the power and prestige nor the possible consequences of their time in office. (Think Thaksin and all the criminal charges still pending against him. Same for his daughter.) Some of Thailand's current leaders are unusually wealthy considering their previous positions.

Wouldn't take much for another coup to happen here.
Sheesh, I was here for two of them already and the only way I knew they'd happened was when I saw news stories posted on ThaiVisa !

Canada won't extradite unless the death penalty is completely off the table.

Just like when Rakesh Saxena (the guy who caused the Asian Flu banking crisis and the collapse of the Bangkok Bank of Commerce in 1997). 
He was able to live freely in Canada off the billions he stole while fighting extradition, even after Thailand agreed to waive the death penalty. He was finally extradited after his final appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada was denied, almost 10 years after he fled Thailand.

Then there was Michael Karas. A career criminal in Canada who'd spent nearly half his adult life in prison, mostly for armed bank robberies.
While on probation, he "stole" someone's ID (who apparently never bothered reporting it stolen) and flew to Thailand.
Met a young woman and spent a year living with her in Pattaya, in rooms and apartments rented in her name. 

Had an argument with her one day and "snapped her neck" in a fit of rage. He then mutilated her face (hoping no one would recognize her and tie her to him), dismembered her body and threw the pieces into a local swamp.
He then flew back to Canada, still using the same "stolen" ID.

He was arrested and sent to prison - for violating his probation.
While in prison, Thailand tried to extradite him. When his prison term was nearly up, Karas admitted to a couple bank robberies the police had listed as "cold cases". He was given a few more years in prison and then extradited to Thailand.

He was found guilty (I think for 2nd degree murder and for desecrating the corpse or "offering insult to the corpse" - however it's worded) and sent to prison.
No death penalty at all.

However, he and his lawyer got a story printed in the Toronto Sun about how hard done by he was and how he'd spent "half a decade" in a Thai prison already and that Canada should bring him home - and release him !!!

The Sun deliberately used "half a decade" hoping their readers would think that was a lot longer than if they'd said "5 years".

And it worked. Even after the "Public Safety Minister" was personally informed of what Karas had done, he rubber stamped a prisoner transfer and Karas was sent back to Canada.
Corrections Canada gave (me) a BS statement about him having to comply with terms and be properly supervised blah blah blah. He was released almost immediately after arriving.

We know this because within a year of the newspaper story, Karas was arrested in Winnipeg for a series of bank robberies he did in Ontario after his release.

This guy (Dupre) probably won't face the same charges and if he pleads guilty will maybe get 10 years (half of a life sentence). He'd only have to do about 3 years (or nearly "half a decade") before he'd be eligible to be transferred back to Canada.

And if the Liberals are still in office he'll probably be release upon his return. Maybe even get a personal apology from Trudeau.

I wonder how many other countries she may have also applied for asylum in but was rejected. 

Wouldn't be the first time Canada wasn't the first choice, but the last choice.

Like those Filipinos that helped the traitor Snowden escape. They couldn't go home and applied to numerous countries for asylum including the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
All turned them down.

Canada was their 4th choice. Not because they thought the country was great but because they had run out of other options.
Canada took  them.

Similar to Afghanistan. Canada left the country at the end of 2013. 8 years later the Taliban took control and suddenly everyone wanted to leave the country and suddenly people were howling that it was Canada's responsibility to grant refugee status to every Afghan that could say the word "Canada".

Literally.
During the 10 years I was in that country, we employed a few hundred locals on the different camps. And they didn't work for "Canada" but for 3rd party contractors.
The number who actually worked for "Canada" was even less. Mostly interpreters and Embassy staff.

However, in the last year, Canada has accepted over 17,000 Afghans who supposedly worked for Canada. And, according to various stories in the media, we are "failing" all the Afghanis who are still in the country or neighbouring Pakistan because we haven't brought all of them (however many 10s of thousands of them there are) to Canada as well (at Canadian expense of course).

I suspect most of them had also worked for the UK, Australia and the USA, especially in the years after Canada pulled out, but probably didn't get accepted by those countries so tried again with Canada.

The Liberals are a soft touch for anyone who isn't Canadian.

The leader of the country (Justin Trudeau) even publicly stated that:
"Immigrants make better Canadians."

Implying that people who come to Canada because they can't get into the USA or other, better places, make "better Canadians" than those of us born and bred there. 
Even the terrorists who acquired Canadian citizenship and plotted to mass murder Canadians in terrorist attacks apparently "make better Canadians" than people born and raised in the country.
(And when one of those terrorists had his citizenship stripped by a Conservative Prime Minister, the Liberal Prime Minister who replaced him made it a priority to restore that citizenship. You know, so that when he is released from prison, he can stay in Canada and maybe try again.)

Funny because (supposedly) Kung <deleted> was started in China after an Indian (Buddhist) monk noticed that the Chinese monks were lazy and fell asleep during lessons.

Supposedly he instituted an exercise routine to help the monks get in shape so they could better focus on their learning.

Those routines eventually led to the development of a martial arts style which then spread throughout China as monks migrated from temple to temple over the years. Over the centuries, different styles were developed in different regions of the country until there were dozens, if not hundreds, of different styles as each temple developed their own versions.

I've noticed a lot of monks in Thailand that could benefit from an exercise routine. In Pattaya they are given so much stuff they simply can't eat it all. They have to have people in cars and motos follow them around to carry all the extra food and stuff they get each morning.

Literally every single club on either side of Walking Street is the same. On the water side you have an entrance from the street and out the backside, if you could get there, maybe be a couple meters of polluted sludge, garbage, old pilings and sunken boats from decades ago.

On the "dry side" of the street you have the entrance from the street and - that's it. The backside is the back wall of another building.

They don't want additional entrances/exits because they are worried people will sneak out (including staff). 

Fire safety ? "Som nom na". "Not my problem." "Don't worry, I have an amulet." "We have a "spirit house" to protect us." (Ect, ect.)

Nobody will be shut down. Nothing will change. Even if there's another major disaster. And another one after that.

Used to be a common sense thing, especially when in foreign places.

Always keep your back to the wall and one eye on the door.

If the police did their job, they would check the CCTV cameras at the Esso station which may have some close up, decent images of them as a lot of them were parked on the road right in front of the gas station.

And this was at the Pattaya Tai/Sukhumvit intersection, which is usually quite busy even in the wee hours of the morning. Can't imagine a bunch of Thai drivers in cars/trucks just sitting at the intersection because some scooters are racing on the road.

It was probably a 2 minute thing after a light change when there wasn't any traffic trying to go down that part of the Suk and they probably moved off as soon as the lights changed.

24 minutes ago, transam said:

But why do we have to do 90 day reports....?

Also - Siamburi's has excellent prices on cheese and a decent selection of them. Maybe they could do a "90 Day Report Whine" promotion. Show up with your new 90 Day report notice and get a discount on their cheapest cheese (and wine) for your whine !

1 hour ago, andyman57 said:

Yes I'm in Philippines stay 3 years on tourist visa just renew every 2months easy I was in Thailand but sick off all that <deleted> leaving the country 

People here whine to no end about having to do "90 Day Reports" as it is. Imagine the amount of cheese that would be needed if they had to go to Immigration every 60 days instead !

I thought it was easier in the Philippines.

The process is pretty straight forward and doesn't require a multi-part story.

From personal experience (when my father died here in 2010).

Dad was in the hospital (age 77 - late stage lung cancer) when he died.
No need for autopsy. (If the cause of death is known, they don't need to do an autopsy.)

Assuming you are the next of kin/legal guardian.

1. Hospital issues Death Certificate. (Body taken to the morgue.)
2. Death Certificate has to be take to City Hall (to be authenticated or something).
3. Death Certificate and passport of the deceased taken to national Embassy. (Passport is cancelled. Get Death Certificate translated and notarized copies made.)
4. Embassy issues Letter authorizing disposal of the body.
5. With copies of the Death Certificate and Letter from the Embassy, make an appointment at whichever temple you like for a cremation ceremony. 
6. Make arrangements to move the body from the morgue to the temple on the appropriate day. 

Notes:
* The Embassy should try to contact next of kin if possible. If you are the next of kin, you need that letter from the Embassy authorizing you to dispose of the body, either locally (in Thailand) or transported back home (at your expense of course).
* You HAVE to have that Letter authorizing you to dispose of the body. The temple can't do a cremation without it.
* Cremation ceremonies can be one day affairs up to 5 days. But if the body has been in the morgue for a few days, they will want to do a "one and done" ceremony.
* You will be expected to dispose of the ashes the morning after the cremation.

That's pretty much it as far as Thailand is concerned.

Many foreigners won't have a Last Will and Testament which will muck things up a lot. Normally in Thailand, you have to wait 45 days before you can go to court to have the Will probated (read and approved by a judge).
(Got to have time for people, including any possible family members and/or creditors to lay claim to the assets.)

You can't dispose of any of the deceased's assets before then.

Which means someone has to pay for the cremation and (presumably) storage of personal effects.

I was the heir and only relative when my dad died. I paid for everything of course. Due to work issues, it was nearly 3 months before I could get back and go to court to have the Will probated (Dad did have a Will in Thailand and one in Canada as well).

I had to make a trip "home" later that year to notify the various gov't agencies (hence the need for the notarized copies of the translation of the Death Certificate) and to get his (Canadian) Will probated.

Most of that won't apply here though, as I doubt too many "bar stool buddies" are going to put much (if any) effort into settling someone's affairs (and paying out a wad of cash in the process).

Final Note - If you die in Thailand and don't have a Will, your relatives (if any) are screwed. Basically, the "gov't" (City Hall presumably) would take control of any personal effects and, if no claims are made against the estate, dispose of them after a period of 7 years.

A friend of mine died some years ago. Old Vietnam Vet. He actually travelled back the USA after he got sick and died there.
But he left assets in Thailand, including vehicles and money in the bank. No one could touch any of it because he didn't have a Will. Even his sister in the USA. 
She could have flown here and petitioned the court and maybe they would have given her his stuff but apparently she didn't want to make the trip or something.
So what will happen is that, after a period of time, his bank account will go "dormant" and after about 7 years, they will close it. I'm guessing any assets he had will have long since disappeared.

What if a foreigner dies and there's no one to do anything ?
Basically, the body would be taken to the hospital for an autopsy.
The Embassy would be notified. The body would stay in the morgue.
If the Embassy can't find any relatives, they would be expected to authorize the disposal of the body.
(I'm guessing City Hall would then make the arrangements with a temple for a "pauper's" cremation and the temple staff would dispose of the ashes.)
As to the person's assets, who knows ? Probably gone to whoever got there first.

By rights, any money in the bank would stay there until 7 years have passed. Then the account would be closed and the money (in theory) transferred to the (Federal) government.

If it is a friend of yours, you can go the "e-beggar" route, set up a GoFundMe and try to cash in (by claiming you need the money to settle his affairs and pay for his funeral).

(A few years ago some "Youtube" guy that was worth a bit of money died in Thailand. His relatives didn't want to spend their own money so they set up a GoFundMe with a ridiculous amount, like $100,000 US, to travel to Thailand to get the body and fly it home. I'm guessing after they spent a couple weeks in 5 star hotels and flying back and forth on chartered jets.)
 

Back in the 90s (maybe before) bars were basically open 24/7.
They were required to stop playing music at 6am but could start again at 10am.

I remember leaving bars at 11 pm and then jogging past them the next morning at 6am and the same staff would still be there (bored as heck), and sometimes the same drunks still propping up the bar.
The staff worked 12 hour shifts, usually 8am-8pm and 8pm to 8 am. (Used to be a huge difference between the "day" staff and the "night staff" as far as attractiveness and age were concerned.)

Stayed at a hotel on Walking Street but had to move after 1 night. The room was facing away from the bars but it was still too loud to sleep except for that 4 hour window in the morning.
Half the rooms in the hotel faced the bars and the manager said they couldn't rent them out at all.

Lol - when I was working in Afghanistan I'd come to Thailand for my holidays. I remember one trip where I literally did not see the sun the entire time because I slept (or stayed indoors) all day and went out for supper in the evening and then hit the bars. I felt like a vampire.

Many of my friends worked in or owned bars and pretty much did the same thing.

Many a time we'd close out the bar/go-go and then move down in front of a restaurant another friend owned. It was closed but we could still use the bathroom and some guy had a mobile "drink cart" set up in front.
Great place to have a couple more drinks while watching all the girls make their way home (and more than a few tourists puking in the streets). When the sun started to rise, we would go home.

And, of course, a lot of the locals who worked in those bars, restaurants and shops would want to go out after their shift ended so the Thai nightclubs and karaoke bars would still be rocking into late morning.

I remember a couple years ago I was coming back from a nearby temple one morning after making some offerings to dear old (long dead) dad.

Got stopped by one of those "traffic stops" on the railway bypass road.
I was legal (helmet, license, insurance, tax decal) and then the cop asked if I'd been drinking. I laughed and pointed out that it was 8:30 in the morning ! (I was thinking "What ? Who starts drinking at that hour of the morning ?". Then it dawned on me that the karaoke bars probably closed around then so they were looking for the drunk customers/staff that would be on their way home at that time.

The cop laughed and I was on my way.
Shocker ! Once again, like every other time I've ever been stopped, no one asked me for a bribe ! It's amazing ! It's almost like hey, if I'm wearing my helmet, have my license and my tax decal is up to date, the cops don't try to squeeze me for a "donation" !

One also has to keep in mind that Thailand has apparently recently reclaimed it's title as the worst country in the world for road accidents/deaths.

And a lot of those involve people who were drinking and driving.