soalbundy

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.

They wanted a result not a contest, the victim will know who they are.

Oh no! not racism, how awful.

depends on her last medical examination, HIV is still a thing here.

That one would want to do that and the reason behind it is due to causal events, life is a series of causal events beyond our control, only the misguided think they have control over their own lives even though the package looks like it.

Causality would argue that.

It's bad everywhere, national debt and interest payments on bonds are eating away at the substance of many western nations, especially the USA. Industrial activity in Germany and China is slowing down and a stock market crash is expected in the next few weeks due to high yields in the bond market, why did Thailand think this would leave them unscathed? In the UK 25% are on or near the poverty line, there is rampant unemployment in China, 50% of young workers in Spain and Italy have been unemployed for years, even Phd graduates are homeless and yet Thailand thinks with a few gimmicks they can entice more tourists. Thailand at the moment seems to be a sanctuary of relative well being, the poor have warm weather and a bowl of rice, better than the ice and snow coupled with homelessness in farang land.