JCauto

43 minutes ago, Mywayboy said:

 

Cowards Deserters should be sent to Siberia. 

I believe they're accepting foreign nationals who wish to join in the battle, and aren't particularly picky. 

Here's your chance Billy Big <deleted>! Off the the Russian Front with you! 

On 3/13/2023 at 6:59 PM, NorthernRyland said:

What kind of burning are you talking about exactly? I live in the north and spend lots of times in the mountains and I don't see the hill tribes burning those steep plots like you're mentioning. I do see them burning the forests for foraging and general rubbish though which is the cause of most of the smoke I believe. The general squalor of the Hmong is pretty pathetic in general but that's their fault and if you held them to higher standards it would help everyone.

 

Anyways, why should we be so concerned about these particular peoples needs and lack of ability? This literally affects millions of people so I find it hard to find any sympathy for them.

 

 

It's known as "swidden", or more colloquially "slash and burn", a system of rotational agriculture where you cut down the vegetation, burn it in a series of controlled fires to reduce it to ash and open the land for cropping, plant a number of different crops on the land (dibble sticks and seeds usually) then rotate to another plot in the next year to do the same. By having several plots, farmers can leave the old land fallow for several years so vegetation re-establishes and fertility can recover before it is the time for the plot to be burned again. They have put a lot of effort into changing this system in Thailand and have probably succeeded for the most part with a combination of carrot, stick and the overall development of the economy to where there are numerous viable job alternatives for the people. Pity about the loss of their culture, but can't have everything! When there were major fires in CM in the more recent past, it was generally tied to CP Group commodities production on the same lands that had previously been rotational agriculture until this was stopped. Incentives to grow corn for animal feed in particular were the major cause for the burning up to a few years ago as I recall. This was not a secret.

If we examine the Lao situation (the one I know best), we can see that the burning has always been an issue but that there's a general sentiment that it's increasing over time. This is supported by land use data, and the growth well exceeds the rate of population growth. Therefore we can conclude that it is commodities production via plantations that is both putting pressure on the rural people and therefore reducing their fallow periods so forcing them to burn more land to produce the same amount of food, and paying rural people as labour to burn the fields the plantation companies are leasing for the company's production. So, similar to Thailand, when one looks to "why?" the burning is increasing, the answer is "big bidness".

I find your proposed rural development methodology of "holding them to higher standards" an interesting one. So you take the poorest and least educated parts of the populace who are marginalized within the country due to language and cultural differences, you assign them high standards to meet in order for them to be allowed to grow enough food to subsist (their basic objective) and that somehow assists in resolving this problem? Or you forbid them from burning but without providing some alternative means that they might otherwise grow enough food to survive? I fail to see how this is going to solve the problem.

Having millions of starving people whom you need to subjugate and feed to prevent them from growing their traditional crops will be quite a challenge for the Government of Lao PDR and the other countries like Myanmar, Vietnam and China where these people live. They've been pretty good at the subjugation and marginalization part, but can't seem to find a way to keep them fed without them burning the place for three months every dry season. 

 

34 minutes ago, Reigntax said:

Whereas they should be blaming the inherit ignorance and inability to realise the results of there actions.

That probably applies to smoke, road accidents, education… or just about every part of their existence.

It is practically a law that whenever someone wishes to pontificate about other people's lack of education and ignorance, they will inevitably include a spelling or grammatical error. You are to be commended for both "inherit ignorance" (I believe you meant 'inherent') and "there actions" (interestingly, you managed to get the proper form of "their" correct in the last sentence). So tidy up that language for a start and then let's hear you give your list of how to fix Thailand overnight when you can't even write in your own language.

23 minutes ago, Albaby said:

In Oz we haven't burnt our farm,and it's big, for 20 years.

Yeah, and you and your family with their large farm, machinery, well-trained staff, International-standard education, farm inputs, consulting companies, GMO seeds etc. are pretty much the same as a subsistence Hmong family with 6 kids scraping a living off of their 1-2 hectare plot with 30 degree slope several kilometers from the nearest road and 50cc Chinese motorcycle.

Pretty much any dish in Thai cuisine has a corresponding version in Khmer cuisine. They developed in parallel, probably with a lot more influence on the Khmer side during the earlier historical periods when they were predominant. But having lived for long periods in both countries, and having hosted numerous Thai friends' wives at our house for Khmer cuisine, I feel that the closeness of the two cuisines is the single largest indicator that the Thai and Khmer cultures are the closest in the region, as opposed to the Thai and the Lao. Lao food is very different to Thai and Khmer food, they just have similar languages.

13 hours ago, HuskerDo2 said:

"No wonder you came here looking for other female companionship"...... where did I ever say that? 

You didn't. That was an inference alluding to the original article. Apologies, as you've acknowledged implicitly that the rest of your post was nonsense.

9 hours ago, Hakuna Matata said:

Did he stay in Thailand on ED visa? This practice should be stopped as soon as possible!

Erectile Dysfunction Visa? 

9 hours ago, HuskerDo2 said:

You are a fool. Your stupidity is beyond belief. You come to a msg board to find some sort of sympathy? It's OBVIOUS what he's doing there. There are so many stupid people in the world and you are towards the top of the list. No wonder why he's looking for other female companionship. 

 

Absolutely incredibly bizarre post.

You may want to consider where the post came from - I don't believe the 70yo British woman specifically came to post her story on Thaivisa, it's a reprint of a newspaper article. Now that would be...foolish? Stupid? Where might you be on the list? No wonder you came here looking for other female companionship. Absolutely dumb post.

On 2/20/2023 at 9:57 AM, 2baht said:

Play that funky music, Thai boy!

Play that funky music LOUD!

Lay down the boogie and play that funky music til you DIE!  Til you die? Ohhhhh til you diiiiieeeiiieeee!!!

On 2/20/2023 at 3:34 AM, ezzra said:

That's something i never heard before, 2 in one bullet in the game of Russian roulette, got to come up with a new name for such outcome, maybe N. Korea roulette?

Belo-Russian Roulette? 

9 hours ago, JimmyJ said:

"Howson, 57, was charged by Oakland County prosecutors last week with failure to stop at the scene of an accident resulting in the death of Benjamin Kable, 22, of Shelby Township, which also is a five-year felony."

 

 

Five years in USA for failure to stop at the scene of an accident.

 

Is this a crime in Thailand?

No, a tradition.

7 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Why do we always have these experts who somehow think they know it all?

Did she have a motorcycle license? It was not mentioned.

Did she wear any helmet? It was not mentioned.

Did she drive like an idiot or was there maybe a reason that she got off the street? It was not mentioned.

 

Why don't we stick to the facts and don't speculate about what we don't know?

Just because you haven't got the acumen of the TV Detective Squad and aren't able to "read between the lines" and draw the obvious conclusions afterwards is no reason to <deleted> on those expert Shamuses we're so lucky to have to decode the signals from the events around us. I don't know what I'd do if it weren't for these intrepid inhalers of minutiae who are able to conjure up the real story from practically nothing! 

8 hours ago, geisha said:

Well, he sure was a silly billy. Who does things like that ? Although, if what he says is true, it will all be proven through bank transfers . If she took the money , there must be proof. 

Of course there will be. But what is it they say about a Fool and his money? This guy is a walking allegory. Even if he has a full text of their convos where she says "hansum man, buy me house I love you long time!" I am doubtful that this constitutes a legally binding agreement in any country on earth. As he was living at the time with his long-term Thai GF for 6-7 years, I would expect that he was likely common-law married with her, hence his decision to take their money and send it repeatedly to his digital fantasy was likely not consensual too. Sounds like he's hoisted with his own petard, and like others I do appreciate his lack of discretion in broadcasting his idiocy to the world for our brief entertainment. 

17 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Deflection.

Those "dozens of countries with far worse laws, human rights records, killings of journalists and repression of their population or minorities" are off topic. If there were threads about them we'd have something to say about them as well.

Oh, really? So point me to your posts about the Iranian government and their cold-blooded torture-murder of dozens of students and protesters. I'm sure there must be several since this has been going on for a while. I'm sure, like the many posts here about Israel, that your posts hectoring the Iranian government are filled with ironic references to "Fascists" and "pogroms" and other words that just happen to be those describing the Nazis.

Just one post of yours and your point is well taken. If there are however no posts about Iran and their far far far far far worse behaviour over the last several months, then you're a liar and full of it.

5 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

This is a thread about seven Israel Jews being murdered and you are stating that Israelis are the same as Nazis .

   I think its better not to reply to your points , as its going off topic 

Oh but they DESERVED it! Evil Jews who supported the existence of Israel! Just Palestinians fighting back!

This is what Anti-Semitism is, dehumanization and hatred.