Gecko123

You're assuming that people have control over their mental faculties at all times which they don't. There are lots of ways to subdue a knife wielding suspect other than with a firearm.

The Thai police are to be commended for only using lethal force as a last resort. American police are often insanely trigger happy, with the lethal force often directed at racial minorities and those with mental disabilities. Those with a "shoot first, ask questions later" law and order mentality might want to consider the possibility that lethal force could one day be used against you or a loved one.

Wielded a knife? Deport. Life time ban.

The notion that Thai pedestrians regularly wander into oncoming traffic like headless chickens is something I have almost never witnessed. If anything Thais are more cautious pedestrians than those in the West. The only exception I've experienced in 20+ years here is an elderly woman on a back road not far from my house who abruptly decided to cross the street on her way back home not far from my house. Either she was deaf or the wind was so strong she couldn't hear my approaching pickup. Problem is a lot of elderly people can only move so fast, and if they misjudge that the road is clear and start crossing the road, and suddenly a speeding vehicle approaches, they simply can't get out of the way the same way a younger person might be able to. All foreigners need to drive with utmost caution here; nowhere should the admonition "you are a guest here" be more stringently adhered to than when one is behind the wheel.

That he was riding in tandem with another bike is significant. He may have been distracted by attempts to communicate with the other driver, and his view of the pedestrian may have been blocked momentarily by the other bike. He may have been an inexperienced driver lulled into a sense of over confidence by a more experienced driver on the other motorcycle. The fact that he dropped to his knees in a distraught wai posture suggests to me that he was not a rank newbie tourist.

You are quite correct. lame duck: an official (especially the president) in the final period of office, after the election of a successor. However, in the sense that Trump has a cult-like following but can't be re-elected in four years, his power to dictate policy to the House (with a razor thin majority) and Senate is diminished. People will be looking towards a 2028 without the possibility of him being in the picture, and I believe that will change the political calculus for many Republicans.

I'm wondering if the Republican party is waking up to the fact that Donald Trump is effectively a lame duck president from day one as he cannot run again, and his ability to coerce Republicans into towing the MAGA line is far less than he imagined, as witnessed when he tried to coerce the Republicans into eliminating the debt ceiling for two years. Also many Republicans are fiscal hawks, so Trump's tax cutting and spare no expense on deportations "mandate" is going to run into a lot of headwinds. So if you can't get a tax cut proposal through, the only thing left is trying to cut back entitlements, which makes many Republicans very skittish about the 2026 and 2028 elections. Another thing: lawmakers taking orders from an unelected autocratic arrogant narcissist is not a good look, and I sense an undercurrent of rebellion brewing on this front as well.

A few days ago, I was automatically funneled into the voice verification set up menu. Using the microphone on my computer they asked me to repeat a series of three statements which included a lot of number, but I haven't been prompted to verify my identity using voice verification since. @bkk6060: below the pop up menu prompting you to request an SMS be sent to your mobile phone, there should be an option to send a verification code via another method, ie. email, which is what I have been doing recently.

White boys alway' be thinkin' it dey bitness who other people be getting busy wit. Min' yer own damn bitness, white boy. Ain't non' your bitness, no how. An' get some shrink care while you at it, sorry a** you you.

Very funny, Simon, but seriously, don't you think that even if a Thai person never made it past Prathom 6, because it's so common a form of address and encountered all the time that even a Thai person with a very low level of literacy would know how to spell this? And what are the chances someone so illiterate would be living in a high rise condo? Seems far more likely the type of short vowel/long vowel error a beginning non-native student in Thai would be apt to make.

As you point out, a paper airplane is a pretty haphazard way to send a message. If you live in a condo, and you wanted to send a specific person a message, wouldn't it make more sense to slip it under their door or put it in their lobby mailbox, or on their windshield wiper? If you're just sending off messages via paper airplane without caring who the recipient is, what is the psychological motivation for sending an anonymous message when you have no idea if it was received, who received it, how they reacted, or that someone completely unintended could be the recipient? That's part of the reason why my suspicions keep turning back to the OP as the author of the note.

Your wife pointed out you misspelled "kuhn" after the note had been written, didn't she?

"คุณ" is misspelled as "คูณ" which is not a mistake a native speaker would likely make and the handwriting of the word "เป็น" is suspiciously that of a non-native learning Thai as an adult which is now making me suspicious that the OP wrote the note. What threw me off was the "please read" handwriting which I am still confident is native handwriting. The block letters in "GAY" were written so crudely to disguise native English handwriting. My guess is the OP with a little help from his wife wrote the note, never sent it, deciding it would be more amusing to start a topic with it instead.

The handwriting in Thai that says "please read" is unmistakably native Thai.

Well, whoever it was intended for, they anticipated that the recipient might not be able to read Thai. Does that narrow down who it was intended for? I didn't consider the possibility that it was a random prank not aimed at a specific individual. I guess I jumped to the conclusion that someone dislikes you. Curious that.

Message translates to: "Please read. You are gay. HaHaHa" Written by a native Thai speaker, likely female, but so un-Thai like in style of communicating (poison pen note/attacking sexual orientation), I suspect it was written by a Thai female on behalf of her farang boyfriend/husband with whom you have some beef. Another forensic linguistic clue is the "555" with "hahaha" added to ensure 555 meaning was conveyed. It looks to me like after 555 was written, consideration was given whether "5-5-5" alone would be understood so "ha ha ha" in English was added for purposes of clarity. While this could have been done by a Thai, the awareness that "5-5-5" might not be understood by a foreigner, suggests to me that a foreigner might be involved in the sending of the message. Also, the crude English penmanship suggests someone who is following instructions about what to write, or is copying what to write, or at the very least someone who almost never has written in English.

Don't get me wrong about this, but I'm not sure if continued operation of a motor vehicle late into life, especially a motorcycle, is an advisable goal. My concern is fixation on the goal may cause one to overlook telltale signs that its time to hang up the ignition keys. Just don't forget that it's not just one's own safety and life you may be risking in the process.

Would like to discourage one and all from thinking of overseas travel as a measure of success or fulfillment. That mindset is environmentally unsustainable. The joys of traveling back in time through the study of history, traveling internally through spiritual reflection and meditation, and engaging in cultural exploration through cooking and language study are all far more rewarding than taking trips to places where you will likely only encounter others in search of something that's no longer there. 2024 is the year I decided I will remain here in Thailand for the duration, and a great peace has come from this decision.

I'm sure police recognized urgent need to track this gang down, and kudos to Pattaya police for swift action. Pattaya does seem to be attracting more of a criminal element. Are people still maintaining that there is no correlation between decriminalization of cannabis and probable increased use of other drugs and this increase in criminal activity? Seems like mugging of tourists may be becoming seen as an easy way to fund a drug habit? Predictable correlation in the West. Why do people think it won't happen here?

With what money? https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/datasets/debt-to-the-penny/debt-to-the-penny Greenland and Panama Canal proposals are nonsensical bright shiny objects designed to distract from his glaring failure to vet his cabinet appointments, Gaetz, Hegseth, Kennedy, and Gabbard, just to name a few.

Royal Canine Medium https://assets.aseannow.com/forum/uploads/monthly_2024_12/IMG_20241211_190436.jpeg.cdea4b6124e2842f569933e90eeb34d5.jpeg https://assets.aseannow.com/forum/uploads/monthly_2024_12/IMG_20241211_190436.jpeg.cdea4b6124e2842f569933e90eeb34d5.jpeg

He's gonna end up paying a fine as well as civil damages for his loss of self-control. Setting aside for a moment it was caught on tape, when the ladyboy and her pals start turning on the waterworks and launching into 'La Cage aux Folles' histrionics at the mediation session, the cops will be turning up the heat for him to pay up just so they can get her and her entourage out of the station house. I would be very cautious about getting into a physical altercation with a ladyboy, simply because more than a few of them have firsthand experience or second hand familiarity with assault cases and they know how to exploit the law to their advantage. For example, I have little doubt that she would probably have left the hospital wearing an arm sling whether she felt it was truly medically necessary or not, although I will readily concede that with the violence of the shove and how hard she hit the floor, it may well have been medically recommended in this case.

It wasn't an "attack on the character of every woman in Thailand." It was a reminder that in the event of divorce or turbulence in a relationship, knowledge of a visa irregularity can be used as a tool for gaining leverage, blackmail, or simply exacting revenge. It may be your experience that it "is nearly always another foreigner acting as the snitch" but I can assure you there have been plenty of cases where Thais, including estranged spouses, have reported foreigners for overstaying their visa. Also, did you see my earlier post on page one of the thread? I think this might shed some light on where I was coming from. I'm simply advocating extreme secrecy when it comes to revealing visa irregularities to others.

Have only heard 'chocolate man' used in the most affectionate and endearing way by a Thai woman to describe her African-American husband. Never, ever have I heard it used as a put down.

Story doesn't add up. You have to believe that he didn't once check on her medical condition over a three day period, even though he knew she had been assaulted prior to arrival at the room.