soalbundy

Yes this is absolutely disgusting, without doubt I would have jumped in to help' I remember once while driving with my wife and MIL we saw the aftermath of a motorbike accident with a man lying in the road and a couple of bystanders around him, I slowed down to stop and both the wife and MIL screamed at me, "Don't stop! drive on!" I did as they said and asked why. "Afterwards you could be blamed, it was your fault, pay up, you're not a doctor, you can't help and an ambulance is definitely on its way, as a falang you should stay away from such situations, they can be turned against you". That shut my protests down. Several years ago a homeless man in Germany had died of cold on the street during the night, in the morning people were taking selfies next to the dead man before the police could arrive, disgusting behaviour seems to be universal. I also remember an incident where a young woman was sexually molested on a train in the UK and the other passengers looked away despite her cries of help. A tip from a psychologist who gave advice due to this incident, don't just cry for help in general, look someone in the eye and ask for help, he will respond and his actions will cause others to help.

The police will go for suicide, it's easier and may be true.

Surin province, we've had some decent rain this year and expect a decent harvest. At the moment the cold season is in the air, not cold yet but fairly cool, very comfortable.

Nobody sings in a karaoke bar, they get drunk and croak, screech and howl.

The most boring time of my life was living in the UK, I left 50 years ago, first to Germany and then after retirement to Thailand, I've never been back. I live in a rural village here, something that the average falang would describe as boring but to me it's wonderful.. My treat is an hours walk at 4:30 am then to sit in meditation at the lake side and listen to the monks chanting in the nearby temple as the sun starts to rise over the rice fields and floods the ornate temple buildings with light, after 19 years here it is still an exotic experience.

Kind of funny but you had to be there. No sympathy for this idiot.

In my area in Isaan there are kids everywhere, the wife's mother is a great grandmother many times over.

They get blown away

Not much difference to a certain low life politician in America who wants a comeback while fighting multiple court cases. Thaksin is still popular because, rather cleverly, he was the only politician that improved the lot of the poor. I doubt that family members resting in his shade will have his tactical genius, his sister didn't have any success. Paetongtarn is just a temporary useful tool with no power of her own and probably knows it, without daddy she is nothing.

Not surprising really, Thai society is feudal in nature, a wise man knows which side of the bread has butter on it. Hedging your bets within the heady world of hi-so's has tactical advantages and avoids unpleasant surprises, bending the knee costs nothing. Yes, we are witnessing a political farce but the play must go on to ensure stability, everybody knows what's going on here but the audience expects a full performance with no cliff hangers, disaster awaits anyone going off script.

My statement stands for itself, assuming your command of the English language is sufficient to read it and you have the ability for introspection.

This is all about your attitude, their is a saying in German, "How you call into the forest is the echo you will get back," It's very sad that you can't connect in a positive way to the people in a country you have chosen to reside in. Such animosity is only going to get you negative reactions and robs you of any delightful experiences that you could so easily have. Causality has cut the path you walk along, one can only hope that causality cuts another for you, life is determined by random causal events over which we have no power, judgement is superfluous.

Yes they have a great sense of pride and can be easily angered, they can be quite childish over little things but they are also extremely kind and are empathetic, a Thai friend or even a good acquaintance is very loyal and will go the extra mile for you if need be, granted you have to stroke them the right way. What I admire about them is how stoic they are in the face of adversity, a ruined crop will only cause him to emit "Hmmmmm" and shrug. A young man in the village lost his wife to an accident and was left with two small children, he is good looking and there were enough suitable women who would be prepared to marry him but after a year he was still alone, my missus asked him why he didn't take a new wife, he replied that nobody could love his children the way he did and he wouldn't risk having his children being ignored out of jealousy by a new wife so he can do without until they are a lot older, that impressed me.

It really does depend on, where you live, your attitude, whether you have a rudimentary knowledge of the language, how open minded you are and what size your ego is. If you live in a tourist center I can imagine that many farang would get on a Thai's nerves, not unlike many cities in the West who's local inhabitants moan about too many foreign holiday makers (or even holiday makers from their own country, Cornwall for instance) If you live away from the tourist centers we are generally well accepted and genuinely liked, taking into account my remarks in my first sentence (my experience). I live in a village in Isaan, it is a laid back existence, even the police and immigration are friendly, at my visa extension visit last week the women doing my paperwork were more interested in the photos of my son in his army uniform while one officer was chatting with my missus about the rice harvest. On my early morning walks around the lake I often get invited in to one of the houses at the lakeside for a coffee and a chat (I'm the only farang in the village) and the monks on their alms walks with their covered bowls will also stop for a chat or just a smile and a wave. I do my best to fit in, I dress decently, I show myself at the village temple on festive days to show respect, if only for 15 minutes, nobody has ever seen me drunk, I show them genuine respect, young or old and that is reflected back to me. My 19 years here has been a positive experience.

It's a good source of tax income, why not? Gambling takes place anyway illegally, this way it can be supervised and taxed. Weed and prostitution is available in every country, sometimes legally, sometimes illegally, why not legalize something you can't stop? Again, it can be supervised and taxed.

Or rather the representative of the real PM.

I prefer my Thai handyman who looks after his family and Supports the community instead of destroying it as you did with your actions, so no, I won't be buying your book.

What is hard or easy is subjective, an assumed falang hard life could be seen by many in say Ethiopia as easy. Life has many component parts, not just money or comfort, mental well being, social acceptance, spirituality, a sense of purpose, being able to make the most of your abilities and yes, a sense of happiness despite the hammer blows of life. A young Thai man who works at a hardware store full time and privately as a professional handyman, attached my new shower heater for me in the evening after work and then put in a new bathroom tap with the waste water pipe. He is married has children, works all hours god sends and is always cheerful, he is happier than my manager on a huge salary at my old company in Germany. He told me his hourly rate to privately assemble my things at home but when he realized that we live in the same area he tried to reduce the price by 30%, I refused the offer and paid him the full amount, he had worked so efficiently and quickly and so cheerfully after a hard days work he impressed me, he deserved the full rate. As far as I was concerned the man is a success.

Most were found in the suitcase but the picture shows them also cutting open the wallet where additional money was found which I found extraordinarily thorough unless they knew it was there. The German customs aren't monsters, i remember an instance many years ago of a humerous pi$$ taking German rep of my company returning from Thailand with several boxes of cigars, he duly declared these to customs, they weren't a well known Thai brand and the customs lady balked at the idea of searching through huge lists to determine the minuscule amount of tax to be paid, she said she would let it go but he insisted, "I don't want to cheat the German customs and excise", so the poor lady spent another 15 minutes going through records to eventually charge him 5 Euros, then with a smile he produced 4 packets of Thai pipe tobacco whose brand name was written in Thai, "Oh I forgot about these", "please, just leave", "But the tax dear lady", "Just leave before you produce something else."

I agree, but sniffing cash hidden in the lining of a wallet? Wallets are where money is kept so a dog will react to a wallet which should make an officer dismiss the dogs reaction but no, they tear the wallet apart.

It wasn't a big kickback, just a medium one, the press exaggerates as usual.

If she could show a withdrawal bank statement she's in with a chance, otherwise the whole lot will be confiscated. strange that customs went to such extraordinary lengths for this woman, possibly a tip off.

Muppet.

It would be silly to fear the inevitable.

A place of convenience to rub one out.