Spock

You lost me at 'Dont get me wrong I enjoy a beer or two'.

Perhaps you don't care about the innocent policeman dragged hundreds of meters to his death under the car. Having had a Thai mate recently serve 9 years in jail for a far lesser crime than this animal committed, I tend to react somewhat unfavourably to cases such as this in which the criminal escapes punishment due to systemic corruption that goes right to the top in Thai politics and judicial system. 'Judging it by Western standards is a non starter' ignores the fact that this is not about West versus East but rather morality and giving a damn about the plight of the little man versus the rich who never have to face the consequences of their actions. Some foreigners just throw away their moral compass once they have spent a few years living in Thailand.

Why bother disciplining this guy and others when the red bull heir wanders the world untouched. I doubt that too many Thai people are even concerned about this miscarriage of justice. I am sure most people accept his preferential treatment as just par for the course in Thailand. Thailand all too often fails to take a moral position on important issues, including this case and the invasion of the Ukraine.

He said 'probably' so I don't think you'll be getting that link you're after.

I see a big brown envelope exchanging hands.

You misspelt 'correctly'.

Right. Good for you. Except that Xi was fine with shaking everyone else's hand.

I am sure you give Prayuth far far more credit than he deserves.

I wouldn't shake hands with someone who had just met Hun Sen.

That's not fair. an hotel employee has to be a trusted soul, someone to who you can leave your room and its contents without fear of theft. My proviso is that money and valuables should be locked away if possible or otherwise secreted. Temptation is a given - how it's coped with is the measure of the trustworthiness of the employee.

But you can no longer receive a new pension overseas? It ties you to Australia?

Good point. There are Condos such as Lumpini in Rangsit that don't even let you smoke on your own balcony, let alone inside. No use legalising it then preventing everyone from smoking it in public and almost in private.

Yet another poster who obviously knows little about marijuana. The medicinal stuff is not going to have the kind of THC content that will remotely satisfy a serious recreational user. You may indeed be a 'happyexpat' but it's not the result of indulging in weed.

All this nonsense you read in here about a flower (@700 baht a gram) being slipped into food that is probably cheaper than the flower placed in it! Just astounds me how dangerous a tiny bit knowledge can be in the hands of the uneducated, including boomers who obviously failed to boom but should still know better. If a leaf or two had been slipped into anything, the imbiber would be none the wiser, but no one is going to waste an expensive bud sticking it in the food of some consumer. Why would they do it? What would they hope to gain?

A boomer should no more not less about marijuana than any more recent age group.

I am a boomer and know a hell of a lot more than the younger generation about marijuana. Your youth was obviously nowhere near as misspent as it could or should have been. Whether legalising was right or wrong, what is wrong is allowing so many people and businesses to spend a lot of money setting up what they thought was a legal trade then change the regulations and force them out of business. The government should not be making up policies as they go along. This is just another example of the Thai government not thinking through a situation before introducing new regulations to the public.

And risen substantially against the Australian dollar.

I'd have thought anytime was 'absolutely necessary' when it comes to criticising Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And Russians do appear to be entering in Thailand in droves. This on the day that the Russians exit a key city and the Ukrainians move back in!

I was laughed out of here when I mentioned that my Thai nomad friends found renting a place in Phuket difficult because of the high Russian demand for rentals. Not so sure looking at the arrivals figures for the island that their assessment of the situation was so wrong.

I think you missed the 'Thai wife' bit.

At 700 - 800 baht a gram, I would be buying very little online or in store. I buy similar dispensary quality illegally in Australia where I pay about 345 baht a gram. Don't know how anyone can justify and many afford the prices charged in Thailand for top shelf stuff.

I was referring to Thailand's treatment not the UK or Europe. The Rohingyas when they were rejected by both Malaysia and Thailand.

My Thai digital nomad friends tell me it's difficult to find a rental property in many parts of the country because so many Russians are staying longer term in the country.

Outing a swastika online for any reason causes outrage and condemnation here in Australia. There's always someone who lost a relative or more. Thais don't have the same reason to fear the presence of a swastika.

You are wrong as has been pointed out to you.