soalbundy

$52 million, obviously a man with ambition but he couldn't find a country that doesn't have an extradition treaty with the USA? A serious lack of planing. The FBI found him, not the the RTP, they were just the collectors.

She definitely deserves a helmet.

It is understandable, in the countryside where I live nobody is alone because the village takes care of its own but in the cities life is different. The young are working and raising their own families trying to make ends meet, looking after an elderly relative, usually 100+ Km away just isn't possible.

I can agree with that.......obviously it's all about experience but on the other hand the experience pales after an hour and after a day it's as if it never happened, joy from outside of the true self 'atman' (not the 'me') needs constant replenishment, atman is the pure joy of being, synonymous with Brahman, when not smothered by the 'me' and its constant need for labels of identification and its search for meaning in pleasure. Even in Christianity (and all major religions) there are hints of this, in the bible when God/Brahman/consciousness was asked for his name the answer, "I am that I am" was given, nothing else was needed, no labels, no reasons, atman is attributeless, self- illuminating, unrelated, omnipresent but it apparently needs the illusion of Maya to be aware of itself. Death of the 'me' is release and freedom for the atman (poorly translated as the soul, atman is Brahman/God/consciousness, there is only one absolute.

Although counter intuitive the point was, there is no reality to existence, everything is a manifestation, nothing exists in and of itself. The Rishi sages whose meditative experiences 4,000 years ago lay the foundations of Hinduism said that only Brahman (we would say consciousness) is real, all else is Maya, an illusory 'reality'. Quantum theory (which nobody really understands as it too is counter intuitive) says all 'particles' (which are really vibrations) only come into apparent existence when the particle wave function collapses due to observation, until then it is only a probability and is spread out in the whole universe. Experiments in quantum mechanics have also shown that the future affects the past which lends credence to spiritual thinking that neither are 'real' and only the present moment 'exists' (although not really). It's a paradox of understanding of that which isn't but is never the less experiential.

I'll be 75 this year, my son will be 16. I want to see him finish a higher education at 20 or so, he is intelligent and has shown that he is willing and capable of having an academic future. Whether I live that long I shall leave it up to causality. I am still fit, clamber about on the roof cleaning the rain gutters, cut down the odd tree in the garden etc. just a matter of genetics. Filling ones life with activities and bucket lists isn't a source of happiness, fleeting enjoyment is just distraction but that is just my opinion. Many can't bear silence and solitude because then something unknown starts nudging their consciousness and wants to shine through the baggage of 'me'. Hinduism, Buddhism and quantum theory seem to agree that your manifestation is illusory and some westerners have had a spontaneous flash of realization, Tony Parsons was one such man, an Englishman walking through a London park had to sit down on the ground in shock seeing that he was the grass, the trees, the dog and that his 'me' had disappeared. Here an extract from his small book 'The open secret'. There is no me or you, no seeker, no enlightenment, no disciple and no guru. There is no better or worse, no path or purpose, and nothing that has to be achieved. All appearance is source. All that apparently manifests in the hypnotic dream of separation – the world, the life story, the search for home, is one appearing as two, the nothing appearing as everything, the absolute appearing as the particular. There is no separate intelligence weaving a destiny and no choice functioning at any level. Nothing is happening but this, as it is, invites the apparent seeker to rediscover that which is . . . the abiding, uncaused, unchanging, impersonal silence from which unconditional love overflows and celebrates. It is the wonderful mystery.

Or she was having a secret lesbian session with the doll.

It could be a brilliant Sonkran then.

I can agree with you only to a certain extent because corruption in Thailand is almost innocent in its openness, as you say, everyone is at it, it's like a national sport. Of course it is harmful to society as a whole but in most cases it isn't done to crush and harm, in 90% of cases the harm done isn't excessive compared to the overall sum involved. It even has a certain charm about it, the official may open his left hand for the tea money and then open is right hand with an engaging smile as if to say, "OK that was the bribe but what about the Bakschisch". The government purse is, like everywhere else, normally the target. I used to live in Bavaria, Germany, the minister president of the state/county was Franz Joseph Strauss, a firebrand of a businessman/politician who was regarded as a bit of a scoundrel on the quiet. He once said that a little alcohol (what he meant was corruption) kept the wheels of industry turning, he turned the state of Bavaria from an agricultural economy to the richest industrial area of Germany, when he died he was given what looked like a princely state funeral. Thailand, compared to its immediate neighbours, is doing rather well, the people are generally happy and one doesn't see abject poverty, there is no state terror as in Mayanmar, things roll along with slow progress despite hypocrisy and corruption, they have arranged themselves with the middle way, not too white and not too black, I rather like it the way it is.

Perhaps he's from Barcelona.

This isn't new, as far as pollution and disregard of human rights and suffering goes one could say its hay day was at the start of the industrial revolution and before that things weren't particularly rosy either, the peasants revolt in 1381 shows how catastrophic life was for the ordinary person. Things have actually got a lot better. What has changed is our access to information, we are overloaded with information and disinformation. Our overlords aren't any more corrupt or stupid than in the past it's just that we get to know about it in real time. Indoctrination has become easier for the state and industry and the sheep all over the world are easily led, willingly almost, there is no political party, religion or philosophy be they so idiotic, that doesn't have its fanatical followers (see especially America in this respect, it's almost difficult to realize that they do have sensible people there). Patriotism, religion, fear and bigotry are the 4 pillars of control that make up our prison but it has never been so easy to see through them for what they are, self imposed illusions, it's up to you as an individual to ignore them.

That's a Thai job and she would need a work permit so a Thai gets to clean up. Send her back to Bachmud.

They probably do own a fair bit of it with the help of straw men and brown envelopes, works well in London.

Pragmatism wins, the wives would have been arrested anyway, they wont do more time because the husbands escaped, if it had been the other way around no doubt the ladies would have scarpered as well. They wont get far though, the police will now have names and photos.

Thais have it easier, even most straight teenage men look effeminate to begin with.

Prevent crop damage?

I was about to bring this money to the police, this company has attempted to bribe me, me an honest civil servant, you've got here just in time to arrest them, here is the evidence. That would be my first response then let my lawyer provide further smoke screens.

Put on a tight crash helmet and get a charter flight back home, where's your British stiff upper lip?

Just when things were getting boring. Ahhh Thailand, there is life in the old dog yet.

No different from any other nation, the Thais have their own version of 'Gods own country' or the British 'by jingoism'

The same reason a product costs $1.99 and not $2.......it sounds like a bargain.

Which shows that the whole system is rotten. There aren't many jobs that pay well at an entrance level even with a university degree. People aren't inherently bad if given a chance to do a worthwhile job at reasonable pay but even the most naive, enthusiastic person can be turned corrupt by bad pay, including farang. I met a female captain in the tourist police who had a university degree and started as a lieutenant, she was honest and enthusiastic until the day she passed all her exams to become a captain and still had to pay 100k under the table to get the position, all naivety about serving the community and pride at being a police offer flew out the window, she became a cynic trying to pay off her 100k debt. The average cop here doesn't have a good education, the alternatives aren't attractive, as a cop from a lowly background he has increased his status and with a bit of corruption money he can pay off his debt for gun, uniform and motorbike (which over time becomes just part of his wages). I in no way condone corruption but I can see where it is coming from.

I think it is too easy to point the finger at underpaid policemen when in reality the whole system is rotten. The average policeman can't live from his wage alone and so has to make a few thousand on the side while his superiors makes a hundred thousand from corruption and their top dogs make millions. Those figures change to billions for top politicians. There are very few checks and balances and any honest cop, judge, or politician will suffer persecution from his corrupt seniors for upsetting the apple cart. In the USA corruption in the police force was brought under control after the prohibition by raising the police wages, in the UK the amount of wrong doing by the metropolitan police is just being uncovered so this isn't a just a Thai/Asian problem, it is a world wide systemic affordability problem, poor training, low IQ, poor moral in the police as a reflection of societies that value money above all. Corruption will never be stopped completely unless the root causes are put right and we get a few enlightened leaders in all segments of society who can serve as good examples but I can't name one country where this is happening.

In my old age I've learnt not have one, nobody gives a flying fart what I think and tomorrow I will have changed my mind anyway.

That's just your opinion.