tors

I believe that you should have the democratic right to protest a government , I DON'T believe you have the right to involve Transport Hub safety & effect others doing it.

Thousands of protesters sitting in the airport terminal doesn't effect safety. It effects money, every hour they're there it's costing millions of lost sales to the airport, the stores, the resaurants, etc.

PAD supporters have been at my Soi's market all evening offering up to 700 Baht a day for anyone coming to protest at the airport. And they have pick-up trucks waiting to be loaded with people before they drive off. They offered it to my wife and her friend while I was standing besides them. Proof enough? Come see it for yourself if you're still ignorant.

No, it's not and please don't resort to personal attacks calling me ignorant just because I demand proof to your claims. Now, do you have evidence? Like a video, audio, pictures? Rumours from the opposition isn't evidence, it's barely a rumour. I'm willing to listen if you give me something more then unverified facts which can not be verified.

They really do pay people...usually for high profile protests. First looking for free supporters, food, etc. Not sure how much but some people who have gotten the calls have been offered a nice amount compared to a typical day's work. Nothing gets done unless someone's paid or it affects money...everything is money money money in Thailand (everyone knows that)!

700 bath/day to join the PAD bus to BKK

as I understand it, the people were mugged while they where sleeping, then they woke up and found out;

They then made the bus stop, and demanded the staff to be searched (by them) and only then the driver and the staff fled, which could indicate they felt intimidated

and yes, it is still possible that they were the robbers, but so far, we do not know this, it is even possible that one of the passengers tried his luck;

Actually with the given info, nobody can be sure about what happened

But it is something completely different from the original posting, which stated that they woke up 'in the middle of nowhere robbed and abandoned'

I work in the tourism business, and Thailand is among the safest to travel in;

maybe some of the people posting here should stop this ridiculous constant criticizing of the country where they choose to live and keep on travelling and stay somewhere else

Tors, how on earth can you, even for one moment, believe that the bus staff were not 100% responsible for this? If bus staff would have been able to even put forward the most of ridiculous of excuses to the police, do you think the owner of the bus would have paid even 1 satang to the tourists?

Yes, Thailand is 'relatively' safe considering it's geographical location, but what is frustrating most of the readers of this thread is the method by which the police dealt with the complaint, i.e. blatantly got paid off by the bus owner to NOT pursue the cuplrits AND the arrogance of the bus owner in not giving the names of her staff to the police and obviously bullshitting the tourists with the promise of a future money transfer.

As I said earlier, if tour operators did a little more to protect the tourists interests instead of pampering to and blowing smoke up the asses of the local mafia and Police then perhaps tourist numbers wouldn't be looking so bleak.

And yes Tors, this includes cowards like you.

Tourists get the tour operators they deserve

Tors, as someone who works in the tourist business, I am absolutely fascinated as to what makes you think that tourists get the tour operators they deserve?

Do you see tourism as a Darwinian test of survival?

Do you think that if a 'Newb' picks the wrong bus company on the Koh San Road and then gets done over then this is a form of natural selection?

Do you want to see innocent people punished for picking the short straw?

Please PLEASE tell!

Thanks for leaving the name calling aside...

Of course I am appalled by what has happened

I can however not agree with all the assumptions and generalisations about Thai people

You just cannot expect coming to Thailand and have the same protections you have in our overprotected countries

you actually have to look around you and ask yourself the questions why some tour operators offer a 12 hour bus ride for 60bt

this has been going on for a decade, and has been widely reported, even in the backpackers bible

So stop buying tickets with these crooks and choose for a reasonably priced, thrustworthe agent

as I understand it, the people were mugged while they where sleeping, then they woke up and found out;

They then made the bus stop, and demanded the staff to be searched (by them) and only then the driver and the staff fled, which could indicate they felt intimidated

and yes, it is still possible that they were the robbers, but so far, we do not know this, it is even possible that one of the passengers tried his luck;

Actually with the given info, nobody can be sure about what happened

But it is something completely different from the original posting, which stated that they woke up 'in the middle of nowhere robbed and abandoned'

I work in the tourism business, and Thailand is among the safest to travel in;

maybe some of the people posting here should stop this ridiculous constant criticizing of the country where they choose to live and keep on travelling and stay somewhere else

Tors, how on earth can you, even for one moment, believe that the bus staff were not 100% responsible for this? If bus staff would have been able to even put forward the most of ridiculous of excuses to the police, do you think the owner of the bus would have paid even 1 satang to the tourists?

Yes, Thailand is 'relatively' safe considering it's geographical location, but what is frustrating most of the readers of this thread is the method by which the police dealt with the complaint, i.e. blatantly got paid off by the bus owner to NOT pursue the cuplrits AND the arrogance of the bus owner in not giving the names of her staff to the police and obviously bullshitting the tourists with the promise of a future money transfer.

As I said earlier, if tour operators did a little more to protect the tourists interests instead of pampering to and blowing smoke up the asses of the local mafia and Police then perhaps tourist numbers wouldn't be looking so bleak.

And yes Tors, this includes cowards like you.

Tourists get the tour operators they deserve

Tors,

Please square your posting with mine just above it.

It seems to me you are anxious to shore up your tourist business - at the cost of the truth.

Thailand is still for many (young and old) people from Europe the first country they visit outside of Europe

This is because it is considered safe and easy, so the profile of the tourists to Thailand is different from many other countries,

on the other hand, since Thailand is welcoming tourists for several decades, you have a lot of hardened visitors

that are using the Thai visum system to stay here on an semi-permanent basis, with a lot of specific problems (like the marital disputes)

that all show up in your statistics, but are not representative in comparison to other countries;

for people with a little bit of respect for the Thai culture (of not being agressive or intimidating toward Thai people) I can assure you that Thailand is wonderfully safe!

But people that think they are doing a good deal buying a bus ticket of 60 bath from BKK to CNX should be aware something is not right

as I understand it, the people were mugged while they where sleeping, then they woke up and found out;

They then made the bus stop, and demanded the staff to be searched (by them) and only then the driver and the staff fled, which could indicate they felt intimidated

and yes, it is still possible that they were the robbers, but so far, we do not know this, it is even possible that one of the passengers tried his luck;

Actually with the given info, nobody can be sure about what happened

But it is something completely different from the original posting, which stated that they woke up 'in the middle of nowhere robbed and abandoned'

I work in the tourism business, and Thailand is among the safest to travel in;

maybe some of the people posting here should stop this ridiculous constant criticizing of the country where they choose to live and keep on travelling and stay somewhere else

The facts as stated do not add up; none of the other stories include 'abandoning' the entire bus;

And one of the culprits being the father of the agent??

there must be more to this story

Hi Malcolm,

My time searching for the answer was well spent!

Up to now I was convinced that the cigarettes I had on my balcony

after a stressfull day helped me to put things in perspective and calm

down but apparantly the cigarettes had nothing to do with it...

Is there something like a good substitute?

for example meditation sounds good, since I expect that replacing the cigs

with an extra bottle of Singha is not a really good idea?

cheers

It reduces my stress and helps calm me down

This health intellectualization is false. The body's pH balance is delicate. Nicotine is an alkaloid and stress an acid producing event. The more stressful the event the quicker the body's remaining nicotine reserves are neutralized (in the same manner as pouring a baking soda solution on an acid covered car battery terminal). The stressed smoker is thrown into early chemical withdrawal adding additional anxiety to the underlying original stressful event. It's why the anxiety associated with a flat tire causes smokers to reach for a cigarette while the non-smoker reaches for a jack. The anxieties build until the doubly stressed smoker cries out "I NEED A CIGARETTE!" Within eight seconds of the first puff, the smoker's nicotine blood serum nicotine level rises and their withdrawal anxieties subside. The addict is left with the false impression that smoking cured the underlying stressful event when in fact the tire is still flat. All non-smokers experience stress too. The difference is that they don't add early nicotine withdrawal to each stressful event. In truth, stress nicotine depletion causes smokers to experience far more anxiety than non-smokers. In truth, it is much easier and calmner being the real "you" than it is living as a chemical slave

tors,

Here is your question.

When you registered you said:

........................ but unfortunately started again in a period of stress;

so I could use some help...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

How does whyquit .com response to the following statement:

"It reduces my stress and helps calm me down."

For you a clue also, your answer starts:

" This health intellectualization is false. The body's pH balance is delicate. Nicotine is an alkaloid and stress an acid producing event. ............................."

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hello, please sign me up for the programme;

I am 35 years old, smoke since I was 16 and recently succeeded to stop for 3 months, but unfortunately started again in a period of stress;

so I could use some help...

One late night someone gave me the following explanation, don't know if it's true but it sounds like a possible explanation:

Statistically there are more men wanting to have a sex-change operation in Thailand than in any other country, this could be explained by social circumstances but there is also an extremely high number of hermafrodites here and the men have less of typical male hairgrow (chest, beard, arms...) and the women are more feminine;

The reason they give for this is the amount of the female hormone Oestrogene in soja, and since for generations the Thai are large consumers of Soja milk (and far less of cow milk) there is possibly some relation...