Spock

Bit pathetic when a restaurant cannot comment on a law. Can't see how libel has anything to do with people or businesses questioning laws or regulations. If faces are not to be shown and they are blurred in the restaurant's photos, in what sense have they done anything libellous or illegal?

1 hour ago, Misterwhisper said:

No problem at all. You can dispatch them to Saudi Arabia. After all, it's not going to be easy to fill the 6-million quota that you have so enthusiastically pledged to the sheiks.

 

Besides, we also need a fine new crop of exploitable menial workers and domestic staff working for peanuts for the elite.

 

I apologize for my scathing cynicism, but last I heard was that Thailand MANDATES a total of 9 years of so-called "basic education" consisting of 6 years of elementary schooling ("Prathom") plus 3 years of lower secondary schooling ("Mathayom"). So, children "dropping out due to family problems and other factors" should not be cited as an excuse by the education ministry. Why is there no enforcement that children complete their basic education?

 

Perhaps and even more importantly: Why do parents still need to pay for school uniforms and text books when in fact that should be the financial responsibility of the government that "mandates" that arrangement? I have witnessed on numerous occasions how poor families had to pawn or even sell what meager belongings they had just to being able to purchase those damn compulsory uniforms. Is that burden perhaps among these "other factors" the education ministry cited?   

Four sets of compulsory uniforms in the case of my poor Thai friends. Their child just started school last year and had to pay out over 5000 baht last year for uniforms and books although the child only learned online. Now the school has closed and the child has to attend a new school over 10km away and they have had to purchase four sets of uniforms for different occasions which can only be purchased through the school. The money had to be borrowed from an older sister.

Even now, if they really want to catch the heir, they could have him back in Thailand in no time at all. To make someone who is probably guilty as hell of corruption and taking bribes the fall guy, after he has resigned and is living overseas, is just a token gesture. The Thai authorities have no intention of catching this guy. It's an indictment of the government, police and the Thai people. Such is the level of apathy among Thais, I doubt that many people truly care if the heir is brought to justice. Meanwhile they will continue to treat convicted prisoners as a sub human race, while turning a blind eye to the most heinous criminal of all. How many Thais are boycotting Red Bull products in protest? My bet is none.

No better example of police duplicity, corruption and incompetence than their failure to get the Red Bull heir back to Thailand. All else, including overlooking piddly water fights banned by an over zealous government, pales into insignificance. And what happened to Joe Ferrari? I haven't heard the outcome of that trial. Thailand's authorities get excited about minutiae but turn a blind eye to real crime by rich and influential people.

32 minutes ago, BestB said:

Up until mass media hysteria most did not know what Ukraine was , where it was or what it was.

 

Do not agree with war but also do not agree with American manipulations.

 

MSM pound a Russia and yet not only do not report but cover up Ukrainian officials calling on mass murder of all Russians any time , any place. And in case many forgotten or were not aware Ukraine was a willing collaborator with Nazi on Jewish people extermination.Babi Yar ,Nazi battalions still in existence and still have nazi SS as a flag , now called Azov.

 

But for some unknown reason MSM and the rest seem to totally ignore it  and arm them . Weird if you asked me 

What absolute nonsense.

4 hours ago, Mr Derek said:

Young = naive and emotional.

Older = wiser and level-headed.

Principle is universal. So obvious it wasn't worth saying - even by the Guardian.

 

What is more interesting is the obvious left-right divide when it comes to the war. (Left-right in politics nowadays of course no longer means rich vs poor, but bleeding hearts vs hard-headed.) The left is on the side of Ukraine because they assume Ukraine is the victim (without giving any thought to the complex background and history of the war), and victimhood is the apotheosis of leftism.

Your view ignores the all too obvious reality of the situation. It's got nothing to do with left or right but rather people able to recognise brutality, bullying and war crimes when they see it.

17 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

What has Thai scammers to do with this? Just had to put some negative on Thailand again, right? Here we have an American that comes to Thailand and engage in criminal activities. Not the first one too. Just let the police do their job and send him the heck out Thailand with a note of PNG-no-return.

Better to jail him here I would have thought. Why offer him the opportunity to return home?

I have been waiting to see which of Cambodia and Thailand lifts all restrictions of tourists and in particular do away with the possibility of testing positive and being compulsorily quarantined after arrival. Cambodia has now dropped all requirements including the pre arrival PCR test. I booked today to go there for a 3 month stay. I am sure I won't be the only potential arrival that Thailand's continued insistence on tests and restrictions will discourage. I also never thought that my own country, Australia, would apply less restrictions on entry and life and movement within the country itself than Thailand. 

3 hours ago, Neeranam said:

I'm just saying there should be the same law for all. 

 

My colleague was drunk and on drugs when he killed a motorcyclist. He paid 600k baht because he was a farang. I know of two local guys who paid much less for the same offence. 

 

So much self-righteous criticism of Boss and his family, just because they are rich and the foreign press don't understand the legal process in Thailand. 

 

As for the family; there's no one here that wouldn't do the same for their child.

 

 

 

 

You begin by saying that 'I'm just saying there should be the same law for all'. What you support is anything but an equal playing field. My Thai friend did 13 years in prison for a far less severe crime than the Red Bull heir committed and didn't have the luxury of escaping jail because he was rich. Your colleague should also have served a long stretch in prison. 600k baht is nothing compared to 10 or 20 wasted years in a Thai prison. What you call a 'legal process' is simply one law for the rich and another for ordinary people. The foreign press were not alone in their concern - many if not most Thai people were unhappy with the corruption highlighted by the Red Bull heir's case. 

3 hours ago, Neeranam said:

This is one of the reasons the Red Bull guy didn't face an unfair trial. If a drunk rice farmer kills  a motorbike rider the fine/compensation is 50,000 baht; Boss paid millions in compensation to the family of the deceased yet is still hounded by the press just because of his wealth and who his family are. 

 

There were no witnesses in this case, yet people here automatically think the foreigner is the victim. 

How can you possibly defend the red bull heir!? Even without trial, the evidence in the public arena leaves no doubt he was 100% culpable in the death of the policeman. It does you no credit to defend these people who have more than enough avenues of escaping prosecution and conviction without the likes of you whitewashing their actions.

5 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

It is being legalized now all over the world, why travel thousands of miles to smoke a joint?

But,  I guess as an addition reason to come here it will bring younger people with little money who also want to get stoned.  Maybe the modern version of a quality tourist.

Thailand is not going to legalise marijuana for recreational use. At best, there will be restaurants that are allowed to scatter a few leaves though a meal. Don't kid yourself that young or older tourists are ever going to be sitting around around smoking joints. It's not going to happen.

As for the 'wellness' business, the word alone is enough to turn me off. 

3 hours ago, Homburg said:

I have friends in LOS that I have not been able to see for some time now, but I am not tempted to try to visit.  For my winter sun break I chose Cambodia instead, and arrived there this week from UK.  I flew in on Thai Airways via BKK.  On arrival in BKK I was shocked to see the treatment of those passengers who were waiting to enter Thailand.  Seated in two rows of plastic chairs on the concourse at Swampy, waiting to be attended to by Thais in spacesuits. (Well I assumed they were Thai - they could have been Martians underneath all that kit.)

 

As a transit passenger I was able to bypass this and the rows of Thaipass checking desks, which I guess was the next stage in the process.  All very sensible if there was no Covid in Thailand, but there is. This, plus the day one and day five scams is why I am in Cambodia rather than the Land Of Scams. 

 

Contrast Thailand with my arrival in Phnom Penh: No insurance needed, a FREE OF CHARGE (are you reading this, Thailand?) test on arrival, they checked my vax status, checked my pre-flight PCR, I got my negative result in about 15 minutes and was OUTSIDE IN THE SUNSHINE.???? ???? ???? ???? ????

 

One final point of insanity (or perhaps just profiteering), I did not need to buy Covid insurance for Cambodia, but had to have $50,000 coverage for Thailand - just to transit through Swampy!!!

 

It's almost as if the Thai government had a braistorming session on how to pretend to open the country but really intending to deter as many tourists as possible.

Although if you test positive in Cambodia, you are sent to the government quarantine centre which is a hell hole and need 2 negative tests to get out. If you are a resident of Cambodia, you can self isolate. I don't currently find either country an attractive place for a holiday.

16 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

These little paranoid conspiracy theories are juvenile. 

 

Do you really think the few foreign positive Covid-19 cases forced to take Hospital Treatment and isolation even register on the financial books of hospitals and hotels which are already bustling rendering services to Thailands population ????

 

Go into any hospital in Thailand, private or government and its always a busy place. 

 

 

 

 

So if there are so few positive cases picked up on the tests, why have them when they are deterring hundreds of thousands of tourists from coming to Thailand?

19 hours ago, Bkk Brian said:

Unfortunately the damage has already been done with the double tap Test and Go. Its going to take a lot more than doing away with the second test now to get any good numbers of real tourists to come. What a complete mess they've made of this entry system.

 

Tourists Returning to Thailand Find Closed Bars, Empty Streets

The country’s attempt to jump-start tourism may be hurt by the absence of the very businesses foreign visitors come for.

 

Thailand’s strict travel regulations, such as requirements to take multiple Covid tests and provide proof of medical insurance with at least $50,000 coverage, will also limit the type of people who come.

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-16/pandemic-has-thailand-s-tourists-returning-to-closed-bars-and-empty-streets

And after the positive test begins the private hospital scam which is certainly keeping many people, including me, from returning to Thailand. 

How does a police lance corporal afford a 'Ducati monster'?

10 minutes ago, car720 said:

So many children, as well as adults are murdered by these dogs in every country every year.  
In this instance I agree with genocide both for the breed of dog and breed of owner.

It is beyond my ken to understand the thinking that goes with this type of dog.  All I can think of is that it is some sort of weakness or inferiority complex.  Definitely a need to dominate others regardless of the consequences.  Jai dum.

Most people I have met who own pit bulls look like they own pit bulls. I love dogs and work as a dog sitter and walker but do not understand why anyone wants a pit bull, other than as an extension of their own aggressive personality and inclinations. They give other dogs a bad name. All this talk about never leaving a child alone with dogs - I would not hesitate to leave a child alone with a golden retriever or similar natured dog. Again and again there are reports of pit bulls attacking and maiming people. It's all very well to say it's the owners fault and not the breed, but there is no doubt that pit bulls are inherently aggressive and built to cause considerable damage to a person or another animal. The majority of owners probably don't have a clue how to train their dog to not be aggressive around people. And the pit bulls I have seen in Thailand and Cambodia are among the strongest and most aggressive I have encountered. They should be banned.

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

While your records and health details maybe private, in the context of this thread, Covid-19 and any other highly transmissible disease, if testing positive your health is of concern to those you may expose to the virus you are carrying. 

 

To suggest otherwise is either in a different context to this thread and refers to non-transmissible illnesses, or it suggests a degree of careless, selfishness and disregard for anyone around you. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It could also be said that not allowing people who are asymptomatic or not particularly sick to self quarantine and force them into expensive quarantine care is totally over the top and a reason why some people might avoid providing health details if at all possible. Doesn't mean that people would not self quarantine - just means they do not want to waste their money on needless state quarantine procedures.