Yann55

5 hours ago, webfact said:

an accident at the new Central Pattaya tunnel.

Well, that sure didn't take long ...

6 hours ago, Hayduke said:

Another step downward. One of the key tools of any dictatorship is fear. But fear of the government is one thing…fear of being informed on by one’s fellow citizens is much more powerful.

I totally agree. Yet, as you can see in the thread (the post right after yours for a start), a lot of people do not see the problem in reporting their fellow human beings for doing something 'wrong'.

Europe as a whole is divided on that question, and the division is reflected here. It's interesting to note that the sanctimonious attitude is more common in the Northern part of the continent, probably due to the protestant background, which tends to produce more law abiding citizens. Their stance is "I'm not breaking the rules in any way so why should others feel free to do so?". It makes sense, there's no denying that, but when it leads to reporting other people to the authorities, knowing full well that it will cause them trouble, the attitude becomes contentious, and rather unpalatable.

In Southern European countries, on the other hand, everyone is busy bending the law in one way or another, which tends to temper the urge to rat out on other people's wrongdoings.

In Thailand (as in most of Asia) we see yet a different pattern. People from all layers of society bend the rules constantly, and the general atttitude seems to be 'if no one catches me doing it, then it's OK to do it'. The tendency to grass up, nevertheless, is also very common, and I see 2 possible causes for that interesting paradox :

1/ Most Asians are fascinated by gambling, and breaking the rules is part of that game. Ratting on others also becomes part of the game.

2/ The very heavy Confucian influence on all South Asian cultures and the way it shapes Asian minds into a rather subservient behaviour towards any form of authority.

3 hours ago, webfact said:

the latest case of a Burmese person apparently not receiving justice.

Yep, I can think of two Burmese guys who 'received justice' they never asked for, and are still on death row in their capacity as scapegoats.

That Burmese nationals still come to Thailand for work only proves that :

1/ They badly need the money, and

2/ Humans always assume that 'it only happens to others, not me'.

3 hours ago, hansnl said:

Again, the government stands at the front of foreigner bashing.

There is absolutely no control whatsoever over illegal possession and use of firearms.

It is not certain at all if legally owned guns are used in criminal or threatening acts.

And of course, foreigner owned firearms are only a very small part of legal gun possession.

So in it's infinite wisdom, the government attacks the tiny legal ownership of guns by foreigners, in the farang bashing mode, so to say.

And will do and can't do anything about illegal guns.

My compliments, government.

 

Foreigner bashing ... the number one sport in the world nowadays ...

In Thailand xenophobia is nothing new, it's just more blatant, and the famous smile that used to cover it up (which Thais themselves ironically call Yim Siam, the Thai smile) is quickly becoming history.

By the way, let's not forget that the guy who started the official foreigner bashing stance was ... Thaksin : calling his first party Thai Rak Thai (Thais love Thais) was pretty explicit, I would say, and very much in tune with modern 'communication' (read propaganda) techniques  - you say something that looks positive, for the gallery, while everyone understands that the underlying message, the real one, is negative.

Xenophobia ... here's one thing that Thaksin&Co and the present government have in common. Who knows, they could even use it as a base for national reconciliation ! Which is roughly what the extreme right parties are trying to do in the West : unite people against.

5 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

And yet at mid evening,  it was quiet.  When several  wide bodies arrive, there will be a delay.  45 minutes is acceptable when one takes into consideration traffic flow. Compared to  delays at other airports BKK is still decent. Miami can take 3 hours, Toronto 2+ hours, Paris - 1+hour, Gatwick- 2-3 hours, Madrid - 3 hours,  etc.

Agreed. I do fear, though, what it will be like during the peak of the coming high season ...

I've been through immigration at Suwarnabhumi a few times in the past 4/5 months and it took anything from 15 minutes to 1h30'. Each time it was obvious that the bulk of the crowd is from mainland China, so I think it's time to rename this airport Chinabhumi.

In terms of strict figures it certainly supports the claims of TAT (numbers of tourists going up up up). As for the true impact of this new model on Thai income (short, middle and long term), that I bet is a very different story.

And here I was, thinking the ultra liberal/republican mantra was all about FREE trade ...

I guess it means that other countries are free to buy American products, or else.

At least with Trump the 'American dream' shows its true colors. When the other guys are at the helm, the US economic policy is basically the same but it comes all festooned with all kinds of humanitarian and democratic sermons.

19 hours ago, Laughing Gravy said:

The rise is not only in Thailand but also around the world and with good cause.

 

On a local level I hear the mosques seem to be calling prayer a lot louder than before. Just annoying people.

 

Internationally well the UK, France, Belgium, Canada just a few places to mention have a justifiable cause to start hating Islam. juts see the TV on a weekly basis and the acts of terror in the name of Islam will see why people are detesting it.

 

The rise of extremist hate is not only among Muslims.

Your one-sided, bigoted, prejudiced and blind comment bears witness to that, as do most of the comments on this thread, who are only too happy to jump once more on the 'Let's Hate All Muslims Collectively and Blame Them For All Our Problems' wagon.

When you start generalizing in such a manner and start considering different cultures as 'the ennemy', you give up your ability to think as a rational and mature human being. You become a mere puppet, caught up in a general phenomenon.

The rise of Islamic extremism (which is very real, there's no denying that) and the parallel rise of anti-islamic hysteria are signs that we are in a pre-war social context, where reason is set aside and preconceived ideas become the norm. Wars happen when people become collectively bipolar.

5 hours ago, webfact said:

What was once a "world class" beach

When the hell was that ???

A lot of the comments are quite funny and accurate in their stinging irony.

Personnally, though, I have a hard time laughing when I read this article, because fundamentally this man is clamouring, at the highest level of state, a brand of pure, unadulterated hatred and contempt for foreigners. He's aping what the worst demagogues around the planet are constantly doing : pinning all of their country's problems on other people's backs, throwing oil into the xenophobic fire and thereby driving this poor, aching world deeper into insanity.

It's not that there are no bad guys, foreign or local, in Pattaya. There is a mafia problem in this city and we (both Thais and foreign expats) all know it. But the angle he chooses makes one thing very clear : the authorities are not interested in solving that problem, all they want is to blame it on someone else. How tragically immature, self-serving ... and downright depressing.

The highest irony in all this : by going on and on with this anti-foreigner stance, the present governement will succeed in gradually chasing the normal, law abiding and good people who elected to live here, while the mafias, who don't give a damn and are used to going around the law, will not only stay on but likely prosper even more.

10 hours ago, rooster59 said:

However, Titipol said the Shinawatras would continue to maintain their relations with their international allies in order to pressure Thailand to return to democracy

Purrr leeeeease .... 'return' to democracy ? Thailand never was a functioning democracy !

Elections are not what define democracy, anyway, and yes, they are indispensable in such a system but it's just a technical point, and if the other conditions for democracy are not met, elections become a mere farce. Worse, they actually serve to blanket what really goes on, lending a veneer of legitimacy over every possible kind of abuse.

What defines democracy is first and foremost the separation of powers (legislative, executive, judicial) as  theorized by philosophers of the 18th century, especially Montesquieu, whom Thaksin ironically quoted recently. He (Thaksin) of all people knows full well that the separation of powers never worked in Thailand, which makes his particular form of cynicism quite revolting.

Not just a Thai problem, either, as it should be noted that in Western countries which proudly call themselves democracies, the democratic principles are actually becoming less and less real, like labels on an empty bottle, as the system is more and more efficiently hijacked by big and powerful corporations - and behind them, individuals. These cancerous monsters own the economic fabric and the mass-media, who in turn manipulate the public.

Interestingly the public's only way to respond is by ceasing to vote, whereby 'ordinary' people show that their gullibility is not fathomless. The level of abstention is a clear indicator of how disfunctional our 'democracies' really are, and not surprisingly, that level is highest in the US, where the political game is rigged beyond recognition.

4 hours ago, rooster59 said:

"I'm not happy. OK? I'm not happy," Trump told reporters on the White House South Lawn.

OMG, the kid-POTUS is not happy .... that's devastating ... he might even break a toy or two in the process ... Let's just hope he doesn't pick the one with the red switch on top ... But hey, cheer up, Donald ! you will soon meet with the Thai PM, who is a expert on happiness issues and will help you fix your problem in no time at all.

Bicycle lanes in Bangkok ??? Sounds like suggesting a vegetarian menu in the tiger's den.

On 28/09/2017 at 4:35 AM, webfact said:

taxis ordered to turn on meters - or else!

or else ... they will have to be told again (and again) subsequently 

1 hour ago, boomerangutang said:

Even so, the vast majority of humans still think our species is superior.  Religionists want us to believe we're not even related to animals, but instead some sort of angelic super-beings.  Go figure.

'religionists' ... now there's an interesting word ...

1 hour ago, yellowboat said:

So Mr. Somkid is acting as translator for the Commerce Secretary. Malaysia, Vietnam and Burma will one day relieve Thailand of its self bestowed title.  It is a crappy place to do business under the junta. 

Your last sentence indicates that you did not do business here before the junta, or if you did, you must have done it within some kind of miraculous bubble. As far as I know, there are mostly two kinds of Westerners doing business here in Thailand :

1. Giant corporations, who factor in the corruption parameter at all levels including of course the highest, and make money anyway because they're operating on a very large scale. If they stop making money, they pack up and leave. Political changes have not affected these businesses, not in the least. There was corruption, there is corruption, so the formula here is summarized in the well known French saying : 'Plus ça change et plus c'est la même chose' (the more things change, the more they stay the same).

2. Expats who like this country for all kinds of reasons (but mostly one reason) and end up investing their savings in small(ish) businesses, a high percentage of which are gogo-bars. They also have to deal with 'administrative' corruption, it's not easy, but it is not worse now than it was under former governments. Way back. Depending on how savvy these 'entrepreneurs' are, their businesses can be successful, but most of them merely survive because the 'farang' keeps injecting money. The market study prior to opening is usually non-existent, as are the management or marketing skills, because for most of them it's a first time experience. For some it's a retirement pastime, for others it's a high stake risk and for the latter, a balcony-jump kind of ending is sadly not rare.

The situation in Malaysia, Vietnam and Burma or other Asean countries is very similar, and in some cases, worse.

Thailand declares readiness to tighten cooperation with US

Now here's a headline that could lead to all kinds of salacious jokes, but I wouldn't dare ...

5 hours ago, webfact said:

a rice subsidy scheme that proved wildly popular with farmers but which the military government says caused billions of dollars in losses.

Wildly popular with farmers ????

The military government says it caused billions of dollars in losses ? As in 'the military government (and no one else) pretends that...' ?

What kind of idiotic, biased, unprofessional and pathetic journalim is that ? Who are the buffoons based in Thailand that write for Reuters ? Who pays them ? I'd really like to know ...

19 minutes ago, MichaelJohn said:

I wonder how many people watch it?

Oh they watch all right, it's just that they don't listen

3 hours ago, chrissables said:

I saw the sign, "welcome to Buddha land" 

 

I wonder how Indian people would feel seeing this fake sign?

LOL, Lumbini, where the Lord Buddha was born, is actually in Nepal, not India. But we get your point.

The greatest irony here is that the Buddha expressly forbade any representations of himself ...

That's the reason why all these statues are 'idealized' and have features which are not strictly look-alike ... a few hundred years after his death, however, his followers just couldn't stop themselves from representing the Enlightened One anyway, notwithstanding his wish, and went around the ban by cooking up these non realistic images. This is so typical of human nature, and how cunningly fast humans can turn gold into lead ...

Apparently all these devout 'Buddhists' who show such deep concern in this matter do not know that when it comes to statues or pictures or whatever representations, the best way to respect the Buddha's teaching and the Buddha himself is NOT TO REPRESENT HIM.

5 hours ago, webfact said:

"The meeting of the two leaders reflects the importance of the strengthening of the alliance between Thailand and the U.S.," the Thai Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

Talk about patting oneself on the back ...

Aaaaaanyway ... It's clear that the US of A will benefit immensely from this rapprochement, and there's no doubt that the Donald will pay attention when Thailand's Dear Leader tells him how to keep his cool when the media lash out at him, how to always keep the political debate above schoolyard level, how to respect the people who make up the country he governs, and above all how to make the difference between democracy and mockracy.

5 hours ago, Rancid said:

Economic war often leads to actual war, so in a way NK is correct that the US has declared war. Likewise the tried and proven flying your air-force around a country and stationing your ships offshore could hardly be called anything but intimidation and threat of invasion.

 

The US when formed was a shining beacon of light for a free society as opposed to the autocratic European monarchies, a great loss for humanity that the money men took it over and created the concept of perpetual war.

Thanks to you and Cory1848, this thread is one of the few that remind me why I keep reading Thai Visa Forum, in spite of the considerable amount of absurd, brainless bigotry that is being spewed with every 'discussion'.

Right after you wrote your post, some typical angry American patriot lashes out at you in perfect schoolyard rethoric : 'ha ! so you're saying that NK has no responsibility in this?' ... This level of 'discussion' is exactly where the last American presidential campaign has brought 'reason' and 'intelligence' : to their knees.

Facts : 1/ NK's dictator is a demented spoilt brat with nuclear weapons at his disposal. 2/ Saddam Hussein was a bloody dictator who had no objection with gassing children by the thousands if they happened to belong to the wrong ethnic group. 3/ ISIS are a group of mad terrorists who get high on the notion that they yield enough power to challenge Goliath and turn the world into a ball of fire.

Question : Because the above facts are true, are we to switch off our capacity for reasoning, our intellectual honesty, our ability to question history, both recent and ancient, in order to make sense of what is going on at the present time ?

If we do decide not to silence our intelligence and honesty, we will be reminded that :

1/ The amount of bombs (including napalm) showered on North Korea by the US in the 1950s is stupefying. Air Force General Curtis Le May, who headed the Strategic Air Command during the Korean War, told the Office of Air Force History in 1984 : “Over a period of three years or so, we killed off ... what ? 20 percent of the population". That is not North Korean propaganda, it's a statement made by the American military man who oversaw the 'operation'. Twenty percent, now that's about 2 million people. Not 2 million Kim Jong-Uns, two million people like you and me. Does anyone imagine that Krazy Kim has a hard time reminding the North Koreans why they should hate the US ? Oh sure, he's doing it for the wrong reasons, but isn't that a recurring practice in politics, and everywhere ?

2/ George W. Bush did not invade Iraq to bring freedom, peace and democracy in that country. He knew that the regime was not developing weapons of mass destruction, and lied about that to the whole world, apparently without the slightest hint of guilt (his legendary smirk is what blankets any form of guilt in that guy's deranged personality). He didn't give a damn about Sadam's morals and tactics. The invasion was carried out for purely economical and self-serving political reasons. It's a chilling assessment, it's mind boggling for anyone who still believes that our Western countries are functional democracies, but it's the truth, a truth that hurts like hell for Westerners who, unlike George W., have a conscience.

3/ ISIS did not arise spontaneously, they are the direct result of Western imperialism, and I won't take up the impossible task of summarizing in a few words what has been going on in the middle East from Saladin (1137-1193) to the 2003 George W. Bush invasion of Iraq, but that's where the explanations are to be found, and there are lots of very good books on the subject, many of them written by intellectually honest American researchers, scholars, and journalists, a species that is alive and well, thank God.

Schoolboys on a lethal combination of testosterone and steroids. Both of them. And World Peace is in the hands of those maniacs ...

At least the North Koreans have an excuse because their leader is a full blown dictator, but Trump ? Trump was elected ... that's the scariest part !

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Another woman Ben Benjamas went further: "Some foreigners bring it on themselves and deserve what happens. Thais wouldn't do this sort of thing unless foreigners looked down on them first.

This incident and article are quite revealing ... I have lived in Thailand for 16 years, 13 of which in Jomtien, and here's what I have observed :

1/ Countless times I saw white guys telling Thais off in a very rude manner, and displaying what can only be called a 'post-colonial' attitude, especially when the white tourist or expat decides that he/she is being 'pestered'. Problem is, the 'pestering rules' are very different here, and to realize that we only need to note how Thais react to pestering : they put up with it with a smile - or not - but they do not tell the person off. We might find that strange but it's a typical example of behavioural difference due to a different cultural background. Do many white people look down on Thais ? Yes, unfortunately, many do. We can deny the fact but the fact is stubborn, and Thai Visa is jam-packed with comments that use individual incidents to rant viciously against all Thais, in the stupidest fashion.

2/ Are all Thais innocent victims of the Big Bad White Tourist ? Of course not. There are violent people in this country, there are thugs, there are arrogant a-holes, just like in any country, and to make matters worse there is a great deal of anger that festers within Thai society, made much worse in the past 10 years by the political situation. Turning this kind of anger against foreigners is, unfortunately, a typically human reaction and Western countries are themselves confronted with an orgy of xenophobia, so who are we to tell the locals that it's not the right thing to do ?

3/ There is a growing paranoia among Thais, and their 'traditional' way to react ie passive aggressiveness is quickly turning into active aggressiveness. Absurd stereotyping is blooming, and walking around with a white face around here is a very different experience from what it used to be, until a few years ago, when things started to change rapidly. One fact I notice again and again : until recently, if you smiled at a Thai person, anywhere and any time, that person would immediately reply with a smile too. Now, I cannot count the instances when I smile and get nothing in return. Sometimes it's even worse than that : I see eyes filled with belligerent spite. It's sad and makes me want to leave ...

1 hour ago, robblok said:

Yes you can suggest it but something like his body is obtainable without steroids. Just a lot of hard work, but its easier to say steroids because that would diminish his effort in your eyes and make you feel better about not doing anything about your shape yourself. 

 

Of course you need a few good genes too.. not everyone gains muscles at the same rate. 

Time for you to support your claim by posting a selfie, robblok ... with or without the orange robes, no worries.