soalbundy

So that's what a gay scene looks like, they don't look the least bit happy.

He was worried about getting sacked, I think he's just about nailed that.

Rather funny but you had to be there.

Never, my life is OK.

The assailant who brought the gunman down was heard to shout "Greetings from Sheffield"

Not in Isaan, kids everywhere.

Be fair, she doesn't make them wear a yellow star....yet

Who won the boat race last year?

No, in bed by 11pm. At least your alternative wouldn't cause him to be shot in the stomach. I'm not turning my back on reality, having raised and am still raising teenagers I know how difficult control is, my 17 year old son is always on his computer talking with his international friends across several time zones, this means he is talking away until 1 or 2 am despite having school the next day but I set limits and he knows there will be arguments when I catch him, I'm just thankful that at least I know where he is.

Why is a 14 year old out in the early hours of the morning, shouldn't the police also be looking at the parents?

She's planning for her future.....and it doesn't include you.

Brake failure.......even the police use that excuse now.

If you still have good health and sufficient income just about everything is better in old age, ones state of mind is also important of course. Realizing that 'I am' refers to conscious awareness , not the body mind complex and your innate connection to all things comes later in life when one has more time for spirituality and you no longer have the pressures of the daily grind. Old age is freedom. I'm 76 and love it.

Just another day another nutter.

Then you should be consequential and leave because they wont change for you.

Their country their choice, for all the chaos here I still prefer to live here than in my adopted country Germany with their strict obedience to law and order or my home country where you can be arrested for upsetting someone online. Chaos has a charm of its own, one just has to know its unwritten rules and be willing to accept the consequences, banging on the table saying they should be like farangs is hopeless.....and I like them the way they are.

If you are you are entitled to fail at trying to alter Thai society within your lifetime......but be careful not to tread on anyone's toes, it could end badly, more than one has come a cropper for trying to end corruption or trying to change the political arena. Societies systems and customs grow biologically, Thailand has lots of good laws in its books but if they aren't accepted by the people they are pointless, have you never seen policemen directing traffic in front of a school so that 12 year old kids without helmets can drive their motorbikes out of the school yard? It becomes accepted behaviour when the people say its OK, laughable to think a falang can change anything and why should they, they are here by choice.

yes, he's dead.

You adjust to the society you live in and accept it for what it is, are you going to end corruption? change the school system? change the driving habits? It's not your country.

only worry about things you can change....Marcus Aurelius.

Whatever.

A boat race.....probably alcohol had something to do with it, looking at the van it's amazing anybody got out alive.

While I agree with your sentiment I just live here in the existing environment, most of it is good but like everywhere else it has its bad points, I don't intend to break a lance for western sensibilities. One of my son's cousins to whom he had an emotional attachment died in a motorbike accident, aged 14. I went to the funeral to find I was the only person who showed any sadness (genuine) everyone else seemed 'matter of fact' I asked my son what he felt, he said it was a shame. Some days later I asked, don't you think of him at all?....yeah sometimes, I could see it was done and dusted. At the funeral I didn't see his parents weeping, not even his mother, quietly upset describes it....this was some years ago now. It's the way it is. Luckily my son is a nerd who doesn't socialize after school with his classmates but prefers his computer and his online friends.

It's all very well moralizing but the kids see it as normal, when my son was younger, 7-8 years old I tried forcing at least he should wear a helmet when his mother drove him on the 1km trip to school, it ended in tantrums and arguments, when I persisted I found out he removed the helmet when he was out of my sight which was why he wanted his mother to drive him (no license) instead of me (with license), you see nobody else at school wore a helmet, not even the teachers, he didn't want to be different. It's different when people leave the village to drive to the 17km distant market town because they don't want to be fined. I've lived in the village for 19 years, I've assimilated.

It all seems quite normal to me living in the sticks. Wife drives the bike with a two year old granddaughter standing on the 'floor' at the front and a four year old sitting at the back, off to pick up my 17 year old son from school, no helmets. My step daughter holds a 6 month old in her arms with a two year old sitting behind, it's evening and about to rain, I offer to drive them home by car, not necessary, it's only 200 meters. This has become so normal that it doesn't shock me now, in fact I am guilty of doing the same thing now within the village, it's normal.