ATF

Yawn.......it's turned into a piiiisssssssing contest.

I've got an idea, let's get back to the topic.

Most gun loving:America vs Thais?

I'm going America, these boys really talk the talk and going by the stats, some of them can even walk the walk. No matter who wins, it can be a dangerous obsession, which is clearly demonstrated by the events of the day that seem to be so readily acceptable by some.

Sad, yet mildly amusing..... in a sick kind of way.

Disregarding population size I would say the Anti-Gun Lobby is a higher percentage in the US. Most Thais wish they could afford guns. Legal guns are limited to the wealthy in Thailand. Around 100k for a decent Semi- Auto 9mm handgun with 17+1 rounds. Another 2.5M Baht for a concealed carry permit. However a Bor 4 permit allows you to carry a gun in your car.

So in reply I would say it's about the same, however most Thais will never be able to afford one.

Great if TV started a Gun Forum!

If half a baht roundup is worrying anyone, what are they going to do in a real crisis ?

Worry about the 25 Satangs of course!

Granted it's daring to hunt polar bears with a .22. I bet they do darn well know where to place the kill shot. I myself have hunted wild boar many times with a .22 Winchester.

.22LR is completely different from .22 WMR. WMR is almost twice as powerful and can be FMJ or HP. LR is just lead. Most States do not allow hunting big game with any Rimfire Cartridge because the animal is unlikely to be killed with one shot and will just bleed out or suffer for days if you can't track it. Hunting Polar Bear or large Wild Boar with .22 LR or WMR is not something I would recommend. Unless you have a .45 ACP on the hip.

Bugger Off! You are stereotyping stereotypes!

OK what's the worst Asian dish? Pak Pak in Flipperland. It's made from re-cycled discarded food from the trash cans of foodstalls, restaurants, homes wherever. Then made into loose meatball shapes and served in a soup. Don't forget to try it on your next trip to the PP.

I'd wager he takes home his empty bottles from bars too. They are worth 50 Satang each!

Double post

CC I understand that you wanted to attract all the gun nuts out of the woodwork and I agree that a lot of people should never be let near a gun. One of the problems is there is no firearms proficiency testing or examination. People should be taught how guns work, how to strip them down and repair them if necessary, besides proper handling and marksmanship techniques. Unfortunately if you qualify for a license you get a gun.

Of course there are idiots that pray for the day when someone enters their property so they can take them out, but I would call the Police first before engaging an intruder. Trouble is if you shoot someone on your property their family knows where you live and then you could be the next target.

Psychos have access to bombs, poisons and a host of other weapons of mass destruction. They don't need guns.

I have always liked guns but never liked killing things for sport, except wild boar which is great eating. I don't shoot Bambi or Polar Bears. Only reasons I could imagine Eskimos use a .22 on Polar Bear is not to damage the hide and .22 cartridges and rifles are cheap and legal in most countries. Including Thailand.

There are responsible gun lovers out there.

There is a lot of mis-information here about guns and the American Constitution. Firstly the vast majority of gun related deaths in the US are from .22 calibre ammunition. There are several types but it's basically what you use to shoot squirrels. It can be used in handguns or rifles, usually the .22 LR Rimfire Cartridge, which means it doesn't have a primer at the bottom of the cartridge. It is fired by the edge of the cartridge being compressed. It's only practical purpose in killing people is as a point blank range shot to the head. From a distance it will probably bounce off. Probably at least 10 body shots to kill you.

All the mis-information about automatic weapons is BS. They look good in movies but rate of fire means nothing without accuracy. 30 round mags? What's the point of emptying a 30 round mag in 1-2 seconds? A professional soldier seldom has use for a fully automatic weapon. So unless you can spend $500-$1000 at the range showing off your full auto there really isn't much point. Because anyone who can shoot properly can fire a semi-auto at close to full auto speeds and remain in full control.

I believe everyone should learn about guns because they are a part of life, like it or not. Shooting at the range can be a great hobby. Psychos who go on rampages would do the same thing with or without guns. Most gun owners respect their responsibility in owning a gun and use it as means of absolute last resort.

Issanus, thank you for your report which clarifies that the Rohingya people are allowed to own land so they must have citizenship. It has been said that these were denied to the Rohingya by the Burmese Government. Secondly the Rohingya burnt down and destroyed over 19 Buddhist Temples prior to their "persecution".

You say that the Muslim population has dramatically increased, I believe this has been a result of Bangladeshis entering Burma together with an increase in the natural population. Bangladeshis are also passing themselves off as Burmese or Rohingya. Would you agree this is true?

What I've noticed happening more and more is that you have the same 25/30/35 bht menu but along side is the 35/40/45 bht 'extra portion' menu which seems to be similar in size to last years 25/30/35 bht menu :-)

I go shopping sometimes for a couple of the inlaws to bulk buy stuff for their small restaurants and it is worrying for them how the price of even basic produce has risen so much and to be told to hold prices despite high inflation seems very unfair to me.

Well what do you expect? The people responsible for producing the food are making more money and getting free food by attending political rallies.

Price fix = extra dogmeat the savings have to come from somewhere.

Before you all go crying to get these factual posts removed read this first: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohingya_rebellion_in_Western_Burma

Proves Rohingya Muslims were and are Muslim insurgents.

And before you start talking about Aung San Suu Kyi the real reason her election was disallowed by the Burmese Military is because her party had been infiltrated by communists. She was just a patsy for China. But you won't know that unless you visit Burma.

The reason why the military rejected the election was because they wanted to hold on to power and the economic advantages that the military coup had given them.

BTW I have visited Burma - I was born there and witnessed the Military takeover and what has happened since.

Well please give us all an unbiased view of what is going on.

When I renewed my license last year, I was required to sit through a Thai soap opera (complete with sad music and crying kids)safety video. It was rather entertaining. That said, after the Thai driver gets this additional training and safety instruction, they will still back up 100 meters on any road because they missed a turn, tailgate like they want to sit in your backseat, assume indicator blinkers are mere accessories, talk and text on the phone while driving and generally be rude, thoughtless, selfish drivers!

You forgot Arrogant.

If it's so bad you can always move on. Nobody is forcing you to stay after all..

I prefer the Anarchist System to the Orwellian State approach to traffic management.

Why do they have to come to Thailand to seek sanctuary, surely the nearest safe haven for the Rohingya is Bangladesh -populated by their ethnic and religious brethren. Why don't they go there - assuming that they are genuine refugees and not economic migrants? just wondering....

Because that's where they came from and Bangla is a massive craphole. 100,000's Banglas have been pouring into Burma for years. Congrats to the Ethnic Cleansing Monks great job. Keep it up.

Well whenever I see adult male, "Farang tourists" "interacting" with five-year-old flower sellers and beggars in lower Sukhumvit I try to get the message across that they are not only behaving in appropriately, they are behaving like pedophiles.

I do NOT care a hoot if I make the odd mistake.

I never confront mixed couples.

But single men with funny hats and little stuffed toys hanging from their belt loops are great fun to smack around once in a while.

A gentle but firm "What the <deleted> are you doing with that kid, @$$hole," usually gets the point across.

If not, a gentle but firm hip check followed by my watch going into my front left pocket and my wallet into my front right and then a little smile and a nod to the dooshbag has always been enough.

Exited the Tilac bar with a couple of friends one night about 2am and guided a lone male child interactor to the dark end of the soi and advised him NEVER to come back. He'd been playing with a rose seller whose minder was a few metres off waiting to close a some kind of deal.

English language skills were probity better than the poor kid's we simply helped the slimeball find his way to soi 23.

The ONLY good thing about pedophiles is that probably because their fear of adult interaction extends to street fighting, they have no wish to respond in any way except an act of surprise and indignation.

A far second place to this vermin are the stray Kao San types who feel that ardent spit swapping demonstrations on BTS and MRT trains and platforms at ANY HOUR of the DAY help the local population to integrate into futuristic Global sensibilities.

Been known to have a word or two there as well.

Yeah, I'm a killjoy.

"Sometimes, 'fuggedabowdit' just means fuggedabowdit. . . . "

Well Donnie glad to know there's someone out there sweeping the scum off the streets. While you're at it why don't you pop around the corner to the Grace Hotel and give a bit of your diplomacy to those scumbags that take a girl out of Cowboy only to find there's ten of his mates waiting in the room for her.

Please feel free to remove your shirt whilst engaging in such endeavors. No one except the scum will be offended.

Up to seven years jail for slander. Lese Majeste don't even think about it. Beating the crap out of someone 500 Baht fine. Unless they decide to take you to court.

I'm sure one of the factors to consider is price. How much would a Glock 22 cost in the US? How much would it be for the exact same gun in Bangkok Chinatown? The pricing here is absolutely ridiculous

Tax is ridiculous in Thailand, but to buy one you have to bite the bullet (excuse the pun)

My wife's 9mm CZ SP-01 Shadow cost nearly 70000 Baht !

Well for something a bit more tasty you're looking close to double 70k. Shotguns are reasonable though. Rem 870 around 35k.

Good Night

Super Duke 299 kph on a freeway

Wadda nut

Cool. Greece if you didn't notice. KTM1290 or ZX-10R and CBR1000RR for 1.3M

Don't worry about the 0.5 satang or do you mean 50 satang? 0.5 baht. The E20 is going to cost you a lot more even if your car is tuned to use it you will use more E20 than E10 or benzine. If your car isn't tuned for E20 you'll be paying for a new engine soon.

are you allowed to say Black Taxi....I mean surely somebody will jump up any minute and shout "racist remark"...

I thought it was about blacks robbing taxis. Where are the black taxis? Surely not airport limos?

American "exceptionalism" at its best:

Fortunately the one's doing the best job of eliminating themselves seem to be mainly in the "red states."

This is a crock because Mexico, South Africa and Russia are not included, Chile??? Where's Brazil? Just another anti- NRA propaganda stunt. Switzerland gives an M16 to every Swiss head of household in the interests of national security. 15 deaths out of 100,000 is 0.015% far less than the chance you have of slipping in the bathtub or whatever. Whatever the anti gun lobby says, please say it when you have a gun at your head or a knife at your throat.

The guy I use will do a full half day run and map but you need one or two 18mm holes in your exhaust to take the wideband O2 sensors and a means of flashing your ECU or a PCV or Bazzaz. 6000 Baht. Just a run will cost 2-3000 Baht. Honda BigWing have a dyno too.

Forgive me for asking a rather simple question.

The hours of 'instruction' are increased. OK, but does the person actually have to take an official test with an examiner, as in the UK for example.? You can have 200 hours with a driving school and still 'fail' the actual test.

I have had a clean licence for 51 years both in the UK and here. I only mention that to reinforce any readers understanding of my constant fear of driving over here in and around Pattaya. I call it defensive left mirror driving - that's the most important of the mirrors to me.

Good luck everyone and stay safe.

No examiner in the car. They have a small driving test course, you don't go out on a real road. No instruction for Motorway driving/lane discipline. My advice to anyone driving a car in Thailand is always double check before changing lanes because of bikes and if you are on a bike try to stay ahead of the traffic. I know that's not possible on a scooter. Be safe.

P.S. You are old enough to remember the public information films for driving they used to put on TV in the UK. Why they don't do that here I don't know.

Serious question: has anyone EVER seen a police cruiser on a busy Thai road waiting for speedsters???? I have seen police on motor bikes, stopping to check safety belt usage or m/b helmets, but NEVER have I seen a police car chasing a speeder or ANY kind of law-breaker.

Does anyone have an experience to relate?

Their cars are not fast enough, but they do bring out the radar guns sometimes. Hopefully I'll get another 15 years of driving at 320 kph before it's all Westernized.

Sounds like Kingsgate Consolidated an ASX listed company.

This is a great opportunity for the DLT to issue a Big Bike license. 500CC+ So we can ride our bikes on the highways.