outsider

BiB - Bell-ends in Brown. Enough said.

Utter BS by dumb authorities - again. What about returning Thais who travelled abroad? Not a day goes by without some brainless idiots trying to find something to target foreigners.

As a regular traveller to Malaysia, their airport-to-city express rail link is simply superb. It's a non-stop express service from airport to their rail hub (yes it is a REAL hub). Thailand's 'airport rail link' started with a commuter and express service, the latter which no longer exists. Let me put it this way - even when it was operating, Thailand's express link is nothing compared to what Malaysia has. Where is that face-saving pride (and making things work better) when you need it?

Not saying all LBs are angels. Just saying they don't physically attack people for no reasons. Them relieving unsuspecting tourists of cash and valuables is rampant, this I know.

Finally! Someone with a pertinent question. I've been to Patong a few times and I am pretty sure the LBs there don't attack people for no reason. At worst they will just physically (and suggestively) accost you and if you ignore, refuse politely or just walk away, nothing will happen. This guy must've said or done something to piss the LB off in a big way. The Instagram clip is typical media sensationalism without telling the whole story.

Many 'headline readers' in here. Mostly their aim is to get a comment in first, without regard for accuracy or context.

Let me help with the inaccuracy... "Over the past two decades, we had governments that saw opportunities and seized scammed them." ... LoS is a hub for at least one thing - xenophobia, scamming and, exploiting/abusing foreigners. Sorry that was three things. LoS - Land of Sniggers, Land of Scams... take your pick.

Reverse the sequence - stand on red chair, put red t-shirt over head, secure noose around neck, secure hands at the back with cable tie (this could be a bit of a challenge but if the lead is long enough, it's still doable), kick away chair and snap! Not suggesting this is what happened, just saying it is possible. It could be a suicide, or murder made to look like a suicide.

Not exactly 'objective reporting' eh. Journalistic ethics/etiquette - what's that On a separate note, I'd love to see what the Shinawatras would do to the 'lying sack of crap cum crybaby general dictator' once the (Shinawatra) family is properly reunited.

'Bad foreigners', to borrow Thai authorities' favourite term as well as scapegoat, may cause some problems for some tourists (and locals!) but they are not the single cause of low tourist arrivals and everything that's wrong with the tourism industry. They need to be removed, of course, but stop blaming them for everything. Start by looking at the mirror first, useless brainless muppets.

Doesn't matter what the polls say or what Thais really want for their country. As long as the stubborn, greedy, sneaky and short-sighted pre-historic gits continue to conspire and rig elections, nothing's going to change. I guess the next-gen will have to wait until these dinosaurs die off (figuratively or otherwise!) before they get the chance to 'repair' the country.

Every time I see/read TAT, I see in my mind a circus with not very good clowns.

Surprised there was any standards, to start with.

It's just how the same things are known, or named, differently somewhere else. I don't know about the rest of SEA but if I'm not mistaken, I think Malaysians and Singaporeans refer to these vehicles as 'tour buses' too. I guess the locals needed to differentiate them from the regular single-deck buses and gave it the term 'tour bus' because they probably perceived that these 'more elaborate' buses were built to carry/ferry tourists. A lot of tour companies use these buses too - even for regular passenger services - hence the term 'tour bus' stuck, I guess. In a way, I suppose it is somewhat similar to how our (to me at least) 'lorry' is known a 'truck' to other people in other parts of the world.

For a country and society hell-bent on 'saving face', they will be stripping it off without any help if the Chinese police are allowed to 'operate' in Thailand. But, to answer the other question, yes the Thai police really is THAT bad, and that's putting it mildly. The logical was to solve the problem is not to increase Thai manpower, but to fire the ENTIRE force and replace it with a new one. Mission impossible, it is.

Laughably typical. This operation to eradicate criminals and illegal and improvised weapons is just a one-off knee-jerk. Like all other operations whether it's traffic- or drugs-related etc. nothing will happen after this one major clown show. After this, everyone will just go back to their normal police duties - bothering people, extorting for tea money and, in major cities, it also includes harassing tourists and foreigners. Basically doing feck-all.

Limiting noise-generating activities and those that unsettle peace and tranquillity would be enough. The rest of the public should be allowed to stroll, sit and enjoy the breeze anytime they want. But, as usual, there is lack of enforcement, or the will to do so.

Thank you very much for your help bkk_mike.

Hi, a friend is interested in this but not sure where she can get more info. Can you please point me in the direction where we can get this 'digital nomad' visa, or does the usual visa-on-arrival also double as a 'digital nomad' visa? Thanks.

And that's supposed to make law-abiding foreigners feel safe, or what? What about locals - thugs, scammers, hustlers, you name it - targetting foreigners? Or is this operation designed to protect the livelihoods of local thugs?

Sore losers. A bunch of old geezers who can't face the fact that they are past their 'best before' dates. They're more irrelevant than a peep-hole on a see-through, clear-glass door.