Spock

I am not condemning him. Just don't know that his experience is more worthy than others of having a film made about him.

I have read several books written by past foreign inmates of Thai prisons and I am sure that with one notable exception the facts have either been stretched or fabricated to create drama from an otherwise monotonous existence. I regularly visit a Thai friend in prison. He has already done more time in a Thai jail than this guy and suffered a life threatening bout of tuberculosis from which he took 2 years of medication to recover. I like David McMillan's book. He was the only person to ever escape from Bangkwang prison and didn't sensationalise life inside as did Warren Fellows in The Damage Done. I don't think I will bother seeing this movie, though I am very surprised that the Thais allowed it to be filmed inside a real jail.

So you cannot get health insurance in Thailand after 65? 

6 hours ago, darksidedog said:

The fuel economy on that van must be mind blowing if it can travel for 8-9 hours without stopping to refuel. Newsflash for the whinger, long journeys take a long time. Next time, when you want comfort, lob out the dollars for a private taxi or fly.

Private taxi from Krabi to Bangkok! You have to be joking. Only for rich tourists with money to burn. And where is the train line on this side of the country that posters are suggesting to take? A cheap flight would have been the best method of transport.

I know this has been asked in a range of ways, but there is still no information available that suits my needs. I need a good periodontist who can perform major work, not just someone who can deep clean or do implants. Someone who for instance can peel back the gum surrounding an 8 mm pocket so that bacteria can be cleaned more easily and stop bone loss. Preferably in Bangkok, but Chiang Mai or indeed anywhere is possible for the right person and a reasonable price. Feel free to move this to the correct forum - I had a difficult time trying to make the correct selection. I would really appreciate advice.

8 hours ago, KittenKong said:

Australians.

 

I gave you a like though I am Australian. I am glad I hung back from commenting in the other thread, because it's all too easy for a 72 yr old Australian man to go from victim to violator in the space of a video. I haven't even watched the clip where my fellow Aussie gets punched. Poor guy must think Thailand is some moral backwater where machetes RULE, and mutilating the other guy's car is legitimate retribution for a minor driving irritant. Surely the Aussie has been in Thailand long enough to absorb the etiquette and behaviour expected of a long term resident? Tourists can go apeshit because that's what their culture tells them is OK (though not with machetes!), but not an expat with an 8 yr old child, a car and obviously a Thai life of some sort. Whatever he got he earned. Sometimes it's better to refrain from pulling the moral pin too early, lest the sh*t explodes inyour face. 

What can I say that hasn't already been said? This just would not be so delicately handled in any other country. The students would be expelled and prosecuted and the parents would be paying far more than 3000 baht each in compensation. Disgracefully dealt with by the school authorities.

1 hour ago, Aussieroaming said:

I keep saying that i want to retire at 60, then i think to myself "do i really?" I like work and work has taken me to all continents, so i'm loath to cut that option out. 

I retired at 60, though I did some part time work for a few years. If I had the decision over again, I would still be working 4 years later. I need to work in order to live. I didn't know that then but I do now. 3 or 4 days a week was enough to keep my mind and time occupied. Some people relish the freedom that retirement brings and others are frustrated with all the time they now have to kill. 

1 hour ago, keithpa said:

So the beaches are shit, your blind. Unfriendly Thais, Going by a lot of your posts, I believe that they  would be unfriendly towards you. Affluent, I prefer a lot of them to the many  effluent farang Ive met.

My comment applied to Phuket only. Not beaches elsewhere in Thailand or Thais in general. I lived in Phuket for a year in 1996, in Nai Harn which was one of the nicer, less spoiled areas of the island. You are no doubt aware that Phuket is the most affluent province per capita in Thailand, hence my reference. I speak Thai reasonably well, and actually have many Thai friends and am happily accepted by Thai people. To me, Phuket was a tourist island, although there were/are some out of the way places where some expats resided - perhaps you live in such a location, away from the seething tourist crowds. Patong and Karon beaches were destroyed by tourism 20 years ago; physically, in terms of stripped vegetation, and culturally. I can't imagine they have improved since then but as I have never returned to Phuket, I cannot be certain. In any case, you have a better chance of meeting 'effluent farangs' in Phuket than just about anywhere else in Thailand. Phuket is not a place in which I would choose to live, but each to their own.

On 9/26/2017 at 1:56 PM, keithpa said:

Spent some time in ,on, Phuket mate, 100 times better than Pattaya. Azzure seas, golden sands, heaven, a true tropical paradise.

Phuket is a dump. Don't know what you see in it. A tourist island and home to the unfriendliest, most affluent Thais in the country. No better than Pattaya. 

8 hours ago, starky said:

Guess I'll be first to say it.So 5 years for Red Bulls blue notice to be issued @ 5 weeks for YLs blue notice seems both unbiased and reasonable. So I guess I can infer from that negligence of duty carries more weight than killing a cop.

My first instinct on reading the headline was to make this comparison. Thai politics and the inequality of Thai justice come together to provide yet another glaring example of how the morality of this country has gone nowhere in 50 years. I hope Yingluck evades 'justice' and the Red Bull heir has to face the consequences of his actions, but I know that the latter hope will never be fulfilled. 

On 7/16/2017 at 9:06 PM, chris455 said:

 

YAWN!

 

In Cambodia there have been numerous well publicised raids where Cannabis suppliers, and  users have been found, and gotten into trouble. No doubt they had to pay their way out to freedom, and some have probably gotten imprisoned. There must also be loads of idiot travellers who get set up all the time in Phnom Penh, and are relieved of several hundred dollars, they probably don't go bragging about it though.Also, the riverside isn't where the majority of Tourists reside, so it's not the best place to gather your info.

 

It is 'semi legal' for CAMBODIANS, who use it in traditional cooking. This doesn't apply to Tourists. If you get caught doing something illegal, you WILL get done over in one way or another.

There have been one or two raids including an infamous one in Kampot, but otherwise Cambodia is fairly laid back, though the weed quality is not great, particularly in wet season. I have never heard of anyone of my acquaintance having a problem with police. It's those who don't smoke themselves who spread these stories about tourists getting set up etc. The tuk tuk drivers will try and panic you into believing weed is dangerous so they can rip you off. You don't know the facts and are just guessing. Like so many things of a borderline nature, you just have to be a bit discrete. 

1 hour ago, nobodysfriend said:

Only people with no heart or a black heart would torture animals ... these people are usually worth nothing themselves ...

People who harm animals usually also harm humans.

I went to Cambodia in May to do voluntary work and found none available till August because of a huge influx of students from Hong Kong doing placements. I ended up doing a paid teaching job at an 'international' school teaching the children of upper middle class Cambodians. This was no where near as rewarding as assisting the poor learn English although it did give me something to do with my time.

A lot of money is spent in Cambodia placing foreigners in positions with aid organisations on high salaries and other perks rather than training up locals to play the same roles for a fraction of the price. Yet a well qualified volunteer prepared to devote many months to a task has difficulty finding a suitable role.

I speak quite a bit of Thai and would love to do volunteer work in that country but have always got the impression that there are too many hoops through which you have to jump. There should be an easier way for people to volunteer their services without having to get a visa to work in the country.

On 8/12/2017 at 5:31 PM, tryasimight said:

I've tried to buy booze at duty free but when they see my Oz passport and ask where I am going they refuse to sell it to me. They know the rules. It's never got to the stage of being confiscated.

You can buy booze duty free for Australia but it needs to be delivered to you at the gate. You also need to allow at least an hour for delivery. I asked 2 days ago at duty free and was also told it is cheaper to buy in Australia duty free on arrival, which is probably true.

16 minutes ago, nasanews said:

O my lord you care about astray dogs how about homeless people don't they break your heart?

Each to their own. Personally knowing a helpless stray and wishing to help it is thoroughly worthy of merit. 

I have no relevant information but am concerned that people not appear to attack the poster who is so obviously trying to do the right thing within his means for the dog.

3 hours ago, smutcakes said:

What would you suggest is appropriate for burglary?

Two to three years.

4 hours ago, mania said:

No Aprils fool

 

Actually they are saying new tax on smokers is 5 baht per cigg

So 100 baht a pack

We don't smoke so ...meh

 

Tax on soapy as above 1000

we dont soapy so meh

 

But for those without vices don't feel left out if you need fuel & soda

Tax is said to be 20 baht per liter on fuels ...That sucks

 

Alcohol will not be spared either 30% increase +

nightclubs have to pay by area size talangmeter per year

 

Ah ......Although we had left last year after 5 years living ... we had hoped to return

for visits...Maybe not as the prices (of some things) was about the only good thing left there

 

Anyway.....

Cambodia for me then for now on if alcohol is to increase by 30%. What a puritanical country Thailand is becoming. And to think of all the time and energy wasted learning the language.  If I wanted to pay more for 'vice items', I would have stayed in my own country.

16 minutes ago, Sumarianson said:

Obviously you have not lived here long enough Spock!!! The law of the jungle prevails here. After all, it is a jungle with poorly erected condos everywhere. Not so?

Sent from my SM-G935F using Thaivisa Connect mobile app
 

No harm in seeing what is but wishing it were otherwise, is there? Someone here has to keep their moral wits about them. Of course, given the omission of values and fairness from Thai moral and ethical practice, championing the cause of the underclass and powerless is hardly a rewarding pursuit. But someone has to do it.

9 minutes ago, onemorechang said:

You don't know Thailand very well do you.

But hope all you said comes to him.

 

I have only lived here for 7 years! 

6 hours ago, onemorechang said:

What a nasty vicious attack.

Animal behaviour,     hope he gets fired for that. 

and a good kicking from her friends.

 

 

Gets fired? What about charged and jailed?!!! And why is it up to her friends to seek justice for her? Surely the video evidence is enough to get him fired, charged and incarcerated. If not, what sort of country is this?!!

9 minutes ago, Delight said:

 Yes you will need a native Thai to assist you. My wife in my case. However not difficult to pay a few hundred baht  for that service. Other than that you only need your passport

Should you need to actually use such a hospital -again you will need help. I could now do it by myself.

But if you speak some Thai it should be possible to register without the assistance of a Thai person.