The manic

The bag weighing process should be done at the checking stage not the boarding stage. This is an airline scam. I never carry cargo luggage just 'carry on.' So my total weight is less than most peoples combined luggage. Anyway, if they want to be fair they should weigh people as well as their bags.

The more'successful' an anti drugs campaign is if based on interdiction and arrest never work because it takes more drugs out of circulation. This causes a scarcity which means the price goes up. When the price goes up the risk of selling, at any level becomes more attractive so yet more drugs get put into circulation. This model of the economics of the drug trade is clearly outlined in the introduction to The Naked Lunch by William Burroughs. Thus an anti drugs campaign as mentioned here in this article is just a money spinner for bent cops, politicians and army officials and their mafia contacts.

What to arrest them or gag them?

The Thais are the best friends money can buy!

Er I think a certain person was elected by over 25 million people then was deposed by a military whose first act was to increase their budget by a further 5%. Oh I forgot the coups have been so successful they have carried them out on a regular basis every time the wrong people vote for the wrong person. The terrorism I experienced was the hijacking of the airport and the blocking of the major junctions in Bangkok both times to destroy a legally constituted, elected government.

Amazing Thailand. Bet the man who cheated her will not suffer the consequences of his actions - he will be too well connected and protected by the people who were supposed to protect her.

Please stop reporting this nonsense. It was less than four ounces. About enough for a good student party. The war on drugs is a war on the people, their freedom of thought and a war on the weaker social groups. Just a hangover from that criminal fraud Nixon.

That's not crystal meth in the picture. More like cheap Yaa Bah. In the old days you could buy speed over the counter in many pharmacies. When it was banned at the behest of the Americans along with Thai sticks the crystal meth/ya ice menace was created. The police probably put that batch in circulation and will do again. And two poor young kids with dark skin will be sent to a prison that is a disgrace to humanity. The war on drugs is a war on the people, their freedom and their privacy. Thailand should stop this barbarism and hypocritical charade. It's just a money maker for the hi so fronted police and mafia.

Yes it would be a problem and they may plant further drugs on you. Perhaps more importantly if you had a stiffy caused by consuming the other half of the viagra you would not be able to give the urine sample and be in even more trouble. Just remember, wherever you are the war on drugs is a war on people, privacy and freedom. There are a lot of innocent victims as in all wars and there is a lot of money to be made by pursuing this war against anyone and everyone.

Walking down Sukhumvit last week, bereft of markets stalls was so depressing. Ugly abandoned, civic decay, joyless, dirty, stained, scabourous graffited hordings and rust stained cement pillars and now the plain clothed police at every thirty feet stand out like sore thumbs reminiscent of the old Soviet Union. Who are these hard faced thugs? Who are they there to control? Were they always there or are they part of the new political machine keeping dark skinned Thais, who voted the wrong way, off their own streets? Now at least there is room for those Enable Arab families to waddle, three abreast. Without the stall holders and their amazing displays lower suk looks like a tawdry shithole that can be found in any decaying metropolis.

The age of consent in many countries is 14. Both in Europe and the Middle East. All this fuss strikes me a hypocrisy. The main abuse of kids in SE Asia is in factories, rice paddies, sweatshops and construction sites. This real abuse is not covered because it is not salacious enough for the outraged moralist crowd who are quick to judge easy targets but never examine themselves. This is another non story that appeals to moral cowards. You want a child abuse story? Check out the second generation Pakistani community in North England where at least 1400 girls have been groomed and raped with the collusion of the police and social workers.

Nice one! Does it include getting shot at? Or for those with a nostalgic bent, getting burned alive and hung from a lamppost?

It is no longer the free wheeling happy go lucky place it used to be. The police up and own Sukhumvit both in and out of uniform. Random urine tests! Stall holders cleared of the streets like so much human rubbish. A massive amount of poor people, especially women, in dreadful inhuman prisons for petty offences. Massively wealthy individuals for whom there is no rule of law. A majority of oppressed fearful people for which the full weight of a military backed law machine is used to keep them uneducated, denied health care and denied justice. The world has been looking at Thailand since the Airport occupation and I must say this forum has done a lot to shed light not on amazing Thailand but on a sadly depressing thuggish Thailand. When we came here in the 60s it was especially for the weed. Then for women, partying and music in a relaxed atmosphere. It is not just that Thailand has changed for the worse- the world has tried to move on from petty neo fascism during a period of openness via modern media: Would I let my kids go to Thailand? No. The police and the absence of any rule of law combined with militantly corrupt politicians are more dangerous than any drugs, dangerous roads or foreign illnesses. Bangladesh is now marketing its self as Thailand is but the point is Thailand never used to need to markets itself. Its charm and genial corruption covered a myriad of sins. This is no longer the case.

Not Thai then - Mon. Not Mafia but people of influence - The headman and his family.

I am not really sure how 'people who live on Koh Tao' who are not Thai do so legally. Surely you are just tourists and beach bums who have wangled a dodgy visa. As for mafia not being mafia- people and families of influence who run the local government and businesses...............yes the Mafia..............Who, when they want can act with impunity even fixing it so Foreigners can live on the Island illegally and claim to represent the people who live there..

So he was working illegally - doing a job a Thai could do - He has worked there for a year but can not tell the police the names of the men who threatened him or where they hang out. He sounds like he has smoked Paranoia Grass recently. He won't be the first to go mad out on the Islands.

You travelled - You had an adventure. Welcome to life. If travelling on out of date buses and dealing with 'suspicious characters' in a border towns causes you so much stress then leave the orient and go back to the Western Suburbs where you feel more secure.

All the corridors of the Nana Hotel are CC TV'd The whole incident will have been recorded on CC TV. I know because I have been staying there for years. It's an institution free of NGOs, backpackers, feminists, loud aggressive drunks, and prurient judgemental Daily Mail types. It is not a 'Short time Hotel' and passports are required to check in, unlike with real short time hotels. It's bar, The Golden Bar, is or was one of the best places for 'people watching.' The fearsome old Dragon Ladies who run it establish a calm polite and professional demeanour albeit a tad acerbic. It's a quiet calm base used by older single men and sometimes couples. Yes there are lot's of girls around and it is in a designated 'entertainment zone.' So what?