Benmart

This is what has become a typical overreaction by police called to the scene of a suspected crime in progress...

I rank calling the police...for protection from crime...right along with staying in a hospital overnight...both could be the death of you...

The new militarized US police force has been taught to shoot to kill first...take statements later...never apologize for killing innocent people...

Please PM me the name of the police academy that you attended or the law enforcement agency that you have recently worked for. I would live to read the training syllabus or General Order as it pertains to the use of deadly force.

When the bad guys are kicking in your door, or you are involved in a serious accident, perhaps you should consider calling the parks department.

When you are seriously ill or injured, perhaps you should consider going to the automobile repair facility nearest you.

The world is full of experts. Many are without training, experience, credentials or other credible references, other than their opinion or bias. I don't know if this is the case, since I don't know you.

It's sort of like a sick comedy.

Don't they, the police marksmen (people), know how to shoot *not* to kill!? There are no "tragic" accidents with guns only fools, cowboys and idiots!

Those with experience, either at a range or in real life, know that it is extremely difficult to hit a "non-vital" area of a human or target when it is moving or stationary.

I would add to the list of "fools, cowboys and idiots", the group of titled "arm-chair experts".

Televison (not refering to the video) is wonderful entertainment, but often does not reflect reality.

I say go for it,this is fighting true barbarism for humanities sake. The good people of Australia can always be relied upon to do whats right,they supported the UK with tremendous losses in two world wars and supported America in a badly thought out war in Vietnam,but they were there when they were needed.

Being an Australian Vietnam vet I can attest to how badly thought out this "conflict" was and I for one would never want to follow the lead of the US again. But my countrymen will no doubt be there when they are called upon.

1968-1988 US Army

Perhaps the extremists read this quote, as well as others.

If you want to rebel, rebel from inside the system.That's much more powerful than rebelling outside the system.

― Marie Lu, Legend

It remains to be seen whether the birthrate does decrease over time, however political Islam advocates a high birth rate as a means of colonization by stealth and whilst the benefits system provides it is open to doubt. As for fixating on a Muslim majority being problematic let's just say Jews are leaving France in their droves due to persecution from French Muslims, who constitute about 9% of the population. By the time figure of 20% is reached sectarian voting and intimidation will make the lives of much of the population pretty miserable.

Very few people are aware of the broad spectrum to which Jihad is applied. Lawfare is a valid facet of Jihad as jihad advocates using what tools are available to you to further Islam (look at CAIR in USA). This also includs encouraging the highest amount of births among women (this is a frequent admonishment from UK mosques), and relying on the social safety net to fund their lives. Indeed, in UK, there have been advocates for this type of lawfare who assert the social monies paid to muslims are indeed a tax, and they are entitled to it- this already inculcates in the upcoming generation dhimmitude of others and paying muslims the jiyza tax. What is immensely horrifying regarding the deceptive numbers and significance of the threat is that the results of this policy will be felt in our lifetimes. We cannot even rationalize that our grandchildren will be dealing with this... later! It will be happening soon.

I had previously noted what I believe to be a very brilliant book by Malcolm Gladwell, "The Tipping Point." In this book he discussed the gravity of fads, trends, ideologies, etc., and how they reach a critical mass and then... pooof! Everyone is doing it/believing it. This formula, IMO, hold true for modern western radical islam. IMO the genie's bottle is opened and there is no getting the monster of the current and next generation of muslim immigrants back in the assimilation bottle. UK does have a jihadi problem, but then so do a number of EU nations.

Valid, informative and distressing at the same time.

The challenge is a balance of religious or other beliefs, immigration, intergation and freedom.

The peaceful elements are invisible, but at the same time, the extremists cloaked in those groups take full advantage of the weaknesses of a "free" society that embraces diversity.

Unfortunately, those that govern are often ill prepared to deal with reality of the threat, in denial or collaborative with the growing radical groups.

The radicals seem to be determined to undermine the very governments that afford them the freedoms to conduct their destruction and, if unchecked, might well succeed.

I have no fear or dislike of any group. However, when they kidnap me, or board my bus/aircraft, take me hostage and behead me, fear or dislike is moot.

I don't have any answers. Neither do the dead, be they western, middle eastern or others.

I am not a student at this or any other Thai school.

I don't know how much money the students have in their pockets.

I don't know the financial status of the students, their families or whomever is providing their funding.

I don't know what type phones, bikes they have or anything else about them.

I only know that I don't know and won't profess to know otherwise.

Well done to this young man. He has done something neither the government nor bus companies could do. Meritocracy has little to do with the Thai culture which is a shame, because this kid could go far with his determination and tenacity.

Hopefully he continues his education and perhaps does his thesis or dissertation on this or a similar subject.

SHELL always seems to have lots of problems. It happened twice to me now that the pump was not reset to zero before they started pumping. And when I complained with Shell customer service I got a lame excuse.

I avoid Shell as much as I can while spending over 10.000 on gasoline a month

I honestly don't get it...

When the government wants to clamp down on visas everyone complains that its not fair - now they are opening it up - what happens - you bunch of whining useless pricks KEEP ON COMPLAINING!

What the hell do you want?

Extending visas to open it up to whoever wants to stay as long as they need up to a reasonable time - maybe 3 months, maybe more - would be good for some and not affect others - but for <deleted> sake stop complaining that they didn't do exactly what YOU want - whatever that might be - and accept that a blanket policy is just that - it has to cater to as many variations as possible, so it may very well allow people to stay longer than they need, but for others it will be just right - jeeesus H christ!

What a vile contribution!

Obscene abuse towards other posters in the first sentence and gratuitous blasphemy in the last.

Does this forum have moderators or not? If so why don't they do their job?

Anyhow the principle complaint is that the whole thing is meaningless since European tourist visa holders already get 60 days on arrival, plus the 30 day extension if needed.

The moderators do a good job considering the volume of posts. Nothing is perfect, as far as I know, and one instance does not paint the overall picture of the whole.

It seems "Greer's" post has disappeared and perhaps he too.

Sounds good to me and a step in the right direction....

You have got to give it to them, Thailand is really trying to pull itself into the 21st Century, with all that is going on.

All a marked improvement for Retirees like myself....

Problem is Your group is next on the agenda for the Kangaroo court hahaha

Thanks.

The dead, dying, displaced and the others suffering have no say. I would imagine the living are praying that someone, somewhere, comes to their aid.

Hahaha.

Only in Thailand I guess.

Research sometimes take the guesswork out of guessing

So am I right that Thailand is running out of money with this crack down ???

This session was closed door and I've not seen any public disclosure of expenditures versus revenue collected from the last budget.

It will be interesting to wait and watch.

I know they can be a pain sometimes, however the street stalls are apart of the Bkk scene. Be a shame to get like Singapore with no character.

And no one would be concerned if these louts stuck to the terms of their licences (supposing that they actually have them, as required).

I doubt very much that the hundreds of Thais that buy from them would consider them 'loutish' & nor do I.

I don't think we have heard the last of this as local office and other workers depend on them for their lunch. Once again the sledgehammer comes out to crack a nut.

If the local police and BMA police would organise them to just take part of the pavement and not let greed (for more 'fees') take over, both the vendors and pedestrians would happily co-exist.

Bulls***! Around Sala Daeng the vendors make it nearly impossible to walk on the sidewalks (which by definition of the name are meant for walking, not selling). There are plenty of indoor establishments serving food for the lunch crowd to fill themselves up on 40 baht noodles and the like. If the street vendors feel that they have a viable business model then I suggest they get themselves a rented space in a building as so many others along Silom have done. I'm not recommending that Bangkok become like Singapore (it will NEVER be that anyway), but some concern for pedestrians is a welcome change. I want to re-iterate that the sidewalks are public areas, and not for the benefit of enterprising entrepreneurs. They are for walking, period.

It's a pity that you didn't read all of what I said before making idiotic comments.

I never said that the streets along Silom were not full of vendors blocking far too much of the pavements. I did say that, given some intelligent give and take, they could be made accessible to both vendors and pedestrians.

You are arrogantly suggesting that Thais who buy food and other items from them should just go do indoor places, who by nature are more expensive, because you think they should.

There are plenty of areas with wide pavements on Silom where vendors would not interfere with pedestrians at all. BTW I am a pedestrian and walk many streets of Bangkok, including Silom, and prefer a live and let live policy rather than a me me me policy.

I would have left the fist sentence out and "arrogantly" in the third paragraph. The point would still be made, which makes sense, but without the uncivil bits.

If there is a Road safety film no one has ever watched that's for sure...

Again, it's a start to address roadway chaos to a very large and diverse audience.

In the past, some people complained and criticized the authorities for doing nothing.

In the present, some people complain and criticize the authorities for doing something.

He never complained. He seemed to have no instinct for the making much of oneself that complaining requires.

― Wendell Berry, Jayber Crow

The BIB will need a super mega huge bill board to contain a fraction of the wanted people

in this country, stolen vehicles? are they seriously going to have the mug shot of every

car thief in Bkk?

It's not my show.

I'm only here for the adventure.

Easy Does It.

Susan Sarandon, Barbara Streisand and Rosie O'Donnell seem to be mum on this issue.

And again for all you troglodyte do-gooders, slime back in that christian bible thumping hole you slimed out of.

Now, don't hold back. It's good to air those resentments so others can see the ugliness they contain.

In the past, I also thought and shared similar views with anyone that was unfortunate enough to be within ear-shot. I eventually stopped seeing the wrong in others and looked inwardly after I admitted to myself that I wasn't the center of the universe and wasn't perfect.

I'm still a work in progress.

In both cases, they respect the law despite being quite able to break it without being caught. So which nationality is behaving strangely here?

Here is your answer in a nut shell. Thai's respect only themselves and the baht. Everything is about 'me' and how to make another baht. Is it surprising to see this reflected in the lives of the politicians and the police? Hell no. This is how they were brought up.

Wow....my wife and I were just discussing this last night.....also, my students (Thai professionals) said the exact same thing as you. Funny, one might think that a Buddhist country be more on the selfless side of life, but not here.

"The veneer of adherence, when rubbed ever so gently, reveals a sordid, greed laden and corrupt layer hiding beneath.".

Anyone can be a monk. When I bow to a monk I'm not bowing to the man but rather his robes and the oaths he's taken.

Don't bow to monks. You can be respectful without bowing to people. You cannot show respect to the robes and the oaths he has taken when he is capable of completely disrespecting them himself. There are only a handful of people in this country you need to (or at least are well advised to) bow to.

Know your Monks!! In each of the temples in our town there is at least one pretending to be a monk. They go out in the morning, collect money and food and can often be seen giving bags of food to their wives or other relatives who come around mid-morning on bikes during quiet time. They get a lot more each day than the minimum wage, and for some it is a sustainable job. If you watch them they dont even know their prayers, they don't help clean up the temple during the day, they just sleep. Every few weeks the Abbot kicks them out and they move on to the next temple. You need to know a Monk a long time in the local community before you should trust them. We had one Monk who wanted to give my 6 year old daughter private study lessons in Buddah in his room in the wat each evening!---yeah right, that's going to happen...NOT!

People here use the orange robe as a form of absolution, thinking by putting it on for a week they have redeemed themselves of their bad deeds. Buddah said a monk should only have 'three sets of robes and a begging bowl', so, anything more and he is not adhering to the tenets of Buddhism that will lead to nirvana, ergo he is not a Monk, ergo don't bow. When I see Monks smoking and using mobiles I just give them the xenon stare! Fakes.

Everyone is still driving like idiots, looks like business as usual, well in Chiangmai at least.

Everyone does not drive like idiots. The idiots just stand out as they seem to outnumber those that are not idiots.

Everyone is still driving like idiots, looks like business as usual, well in Chiangmai at least.

Everyone does not drive like idiots. The idiots just stand out as they seem to outnumber those that are not idiots.

At least for the retirees it wouldn't be a problem since they start to drink at 8am.

BS. I don't get up till 9am.