Guitar God

In places here drugs are legal, people don't have to resort to theft. It's the laws to blame on that one.

In Portugal drugs are legal and problems are dealth with as health issues, not criminal. I think cocaine costs around $100-150 a gram, with a DEA license, researchers, pharmacies etc. can buy it for less than $10 a gram, I've seen the catalog.

It's the "crime" tax that adds the other $90-140.

Heroin is probably around the same on the black market, legally obtained morphine costs slightly more than asprin.

If you can't stop theft, and you can't stop drug abuse at least it's better that addicts need only a few dollars a day (free if they're heroin addicts on methadone treatment) instead of stealing $1,000s a day to fence for $100.

Crime in every country and state that has ended their wars on drugs are reporting decreases in violent and petty crimes.

If alcoholism is a disease than so is drug addiction since alcohol is a drug and one of the most damaging to health and society.

Alcoholics are lucky enough to be able to get a government condoned drug for close to it's actual cost so most can support their habit by begging for money to buy a few $2 bottles a wine a day. Are alcoholics "scum" too?

Not sure how you can equate growing marijuana & trading in contraband to being a scum of the earth drug dealer. Depending on what contraband he was dealing he may well be scum but nothing in the report to indicate what it was. Marijuana is legal in many places now & is used by many for medicinal purposes http://www.trueactivist.com/still-believe-nature-got-it-wrong-top-10-health-benefits-of-marijuana/

Maybe if they burgled your house to fund their drug habit, you may agree that they are indeed 'scum'

After all the steroids he's taken, I don't think he has much in the gonad department anymore.

I'd classify it more as a bully with roid rage who's used to intimitading people and getting his way.

Scum of the earth...

Good on him for standing up to them. Certainly has his own style which make a few insecure expats not like him.

It's total bs that they make up allegations to raid his home then steal gold and cash.

I must say he has some gonads to go into the station like that. Good on ya sharky.

I think it say a lot about the person you are to actually admire such a low-life.

The amount of scooters driving around at night with no tail light and sometimes, no headlight either. Damn near invisible until you're almost on top of them. They risk their lives to save the 50฿ A new bulb costs. The indifference of the police towards drivers of cars and scooters with burnt out head, tail and turn signal lights.

The lack of food hygiene, people cook chicken, eat some and leave the rest at room temperature for hours while bacteria blooms and flys walk over it, then they eat some more.

The friendliness of most Thai people and their willingness to help strangers, but that's after living in Amsterdam for 18 years so my perspective was probably skewed.

The way motorists stop at a side street, look and see if road they're turning into is clear, seeing it isn't and then turning out anyway, expecting drivers with the right of way to slam on their brakes to avoid rear ending them.

The cost of tropical fruit, not totally unexpectedly but mangosteen (mankhut) costs 30-40 times more in Europe and the U.S.

The realization that western women underappreaciated just how handsome I am.

I ran a business near BKK, advertised on many sites, in Thai and EN, put up ads outside the business and never had a single person apply for a job. Every hire was a friend of a friend. I think when they say that Thailand has a near 0% unemployment rate, they mean 0% of the people out there who aren't working, aren't interested in getting a job.

Look for my new business opening soon. I'll be renting out umbrellas and selling beers at Wat Pho and in the front lawn of the royal palace. I'll keep my receipts from the people who don't own it so I'll be legit.

Too bad they had an illegal business and were trespassing on government property, not paying any rent or any income tax.

Great business model, until you get caught and have to work within the rules like everyone else does.

I wonder how many minutes I'd last renting out seats at Don Muang airport or picnic tables at a park?

A friend of mine owns a hotel ,bar and laundry in Karon.

He has had a sign outside advertising many positions for months now and not one person has applied.

Probably think they will have to do something instead of lazing around on their phones

The point is that these people had an income far higher than 300 Baht/day for a long time, they have obligations to meet, children going to school, installments for the motorcycle, supporting relatives residing upcountry.

If Phuket is anything like the rest of Thailand, I'm sure there's more than enough holes in the roads for the government to hire them give them a shovel some cold patch asphalt. I just avoided a pothole here last night that was no shit, at least 50cm deep. Big enough to kill anyone on a motorcycle or rip the wheel off a car.

For what it is worth. They came from a time when everyone was before their time. Can anyone recall the 14 minute "Innagaddadevida" by Iron Butterfly? Different genre but same fortitude. Or closer to home Jethro Tull and "Broadsword".

Innagaddadevida was groundbreaking. I had front row side seats at the shed at Tanglewood in 1969...when the drummer played a solo for 20 minutes. The entire audience was entranced.

And the rest of the band were below the stage riser getting blown by groupies...

My U.S. Wells Fargo and Dutch ABN-Amro debit cards work fine in Thailand.

I had a much different experience, I drove up to the big lot with a stage set up across the street from my wife's work, found a parking spot 10 meters from the gate, found my wife and her department sitting in chairs in the first row, 10m from the stage, next to the big bosses couch, we were 10 of the 500 or so people with real chairs, people brought me water, we watched the performances, a woman gave us a big loi krathong for free, we took photos, lit it and put it in the lake and drove home and had sex.

It's illegal because the U.S. pulls foreign aid money to contries who don't kowtow to the U.S.

Pot is illegal in Thailand because USA pulls their strings. The Thai laws are left from when the USA war machine needed their conscripts sober other than Budwiezer and Beam..

I'm not going to even bother to comment on this because the thread's going to be locked because we are "discussing illegal activities ".

Just like the other thread that was locked yesterday when I asked how there can be ganja in pla ra if it's supposed to be illegal.

In other countries it's not allowed to grow a field of opium poppies but grandma can have a couple in her garden. In some countries commercial production of cannabis is not allowed but one plant in your yard or house is fine. I wondered if it was the same here.

If it looks like ganja it could be false schefflera (Plerandra elegantissima).

That's the most similar looking plant I know of, but if you grew med MJ you could definitely tell the difference, unless you were speeding by in a vehicle.

I concur with point 4. I heard it from someone who definitely isn't me.

A couple of related comments and or questions....

1) I have seen a plant here in Thailand ( some were in a planter box, in front of a Police station ) that looks EXACTLY like marijuana...I was a legal grower of medical marijuana in California and do know it pretty well.

I have seen it a few growing a few other places as well.

In one case, growing in a pot in front of a cafe!

My wife tells me that there is a plant that grows here that looks like it but it is not marijuana.

It this true?

2) I have seen road side drug testing take place numerous times and it seems the police only test young Thai males.

I have been told they are shy to ask a female to drop her drawers and pee in a bottle for them.

3) I know it is available here. I have been offered some for sale a few times, but since I am a farang, living here with my Thai family, I don't want to take any foolish risks, I have always declined.

4) A friend who does indulge tells me the safest place to buy it is from one of the BIB. " they confiscate it, and save a bit for themselves and to generate a little extra cash" he also says they are very unlikely to "bust" you for something they supplied you with.

I'm not being judgmental, but I find this to be a very interesting theory.

Pla ra traditionally contains a few leaves of ganja to make it more "aroi" . If ganja is illegal, where do they get the ingredients?

I asked a few Thais and they said that people could grow one plant if they used it for cooking. I asked if you could just grow a bush in your front yard and they said you had to hide it in the backyard and if anyone complained the police would either give it the blind eye or ask you to destroy it.

Having to hide it doesn't make it seem like it's officially tolerated.

Has anyone else heard of the one plant for cooking story?

If it's not tolerated, is there some pla ra mafia somewhere paying tea money so they can brew up Issan's second favorite addiction ?

Duck's opinions of me are directly proportional to the amount of bread I have.

God, I can't believe the cynicism and bitterness here. I think all the critics and police slaggers should move back to their own country where all the cops, lawyers and elected officials are perfect and people fully appreciate their arm-chair quarterbacking. It's a lot easier to criticize than it is to actually do the work, isn't it?

The clearance rate for murders in the US is 60%, lower for stranger-on-stranger violence.

The Phuket police identified the suspect in less than 48 hours and it's only a matter of time before he's caught.

Who gives a flying <deleted> if the cops had to visit bike shops and shooting ranges to ID the guy, they found out his identity and he'll be captured and brought to justice. They did a lot better than cops in a lot of other places.

Som tam, and the high, hard one.

Mine worked fine as of the 5th. I'm not there to try it now though.

I think most hemp oil is essentially THC free. It's made from hemp which has less than 0,3% THC

Give me THC free Hemp Oil.

It's either about something other than hemp protein or the list is outdated. I'm in Vienna right now and I've bought it and eaten something with hemp protein in it for the past three days.

www.birdsthatfart.com?

That really sucks. I like to photograph birds and what I see in some of the places I go is unreal...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/avianphotos

I wonder what they'll do if the majority of them fail. It would shut down the city. Would they let only the slightly high drive?

So now it's going to cost me 11,000 baht?

I'm sure Win will be photographed at a press conference soon with police pointing at him and I'd assume that if he was beaten within an inch of his life to confess to something he didn't do that the injuries would be noticeable.

I was going to disagree and ask where's the evidence of the accused being set up but then I suddenly remembered that the Burmese have a reputation for killing people gently and with the absolute minimum required whacks to the head with a hoe. Silly me.

Sorry, I don't believe that for a second. Where's the motive for the ferrocity of those attacks ?

Total stitch up.