Spock

I read that and did not take it as conclusive proof that the incident occurred during those years. It is implied that it occurred while he was teaching in those years, and I guess that is what is meant to be the case, but the wording was ambiguous.

Doesn't actually say it occurred 10 years ago - 'many years ago'.

Thailand doesn't let morality get in the way of maximizing tourist numbers, hence the Thai PM's visit to Russia when just about every other world leader was avoiding having anything to do with the country and its inhabitants. I am just glad Russians chose the place I least like in Thailand, Phuket, as their destination of choice.

I always come in the rainy season June - August. I like not having to compete for accommodation and transport options and room prices are more competitive. Depends too on what you want to do in Thailand. I want to escape Melbourne winters so off season suits. But I think it would be unfair to ignore Australians for 90 day visas while giving them to tourists from just about every other country that visits Thailand.

It would be nice if Australians were included too.

True. He would be much worse off in a western prison.

They don't generally take action against teachers. I think that is very well known. In the west, everyone of the 35 parents would have taken action, whereas only one in this instance went to the police. Speaks for itself.

I am not so sure that travel insurance would cover something like this as he is working as a volunteer, and surely you'd need special cover for bear feeding activities and injuries?

You ever stopped to think it was nothing personal and motivated solely by greed? That if the teenagers all had knives they came prepared? Why is your immediate thought that the Kuwait guy must have done something to provoke it?

Fat 'L's or 'Als' or 'Ells'? You sound like someone who has only ever hung around heavy Cheech and Chong type users as an abstainer. You also come across as the sort of straight guy I would avoid like the plague, a lecturing gym freak who knows little about the benefits and enjoyment of vaping, smoking or eating weed, someone from outside looking in and pretending to know more about the effects than they actually do. I would agree that teenagers should avoid use of marijuana AND alcohol because it adversely affects their study habits. However you exaggerate beyond reality the after effects of weed, particularly the morning hangovers, which are a bit of a nonsense, particularly compared to alcohol. Legalisation of recreational marijuana is common in a number of countries now. The kind of problems you attribute to alcohol could more easily be attributed to alcohol use.

I imagine the Thais will just as readily accept any decision in the next few weeks by the Constitutional court to dissolve the Move Forward Party for proposing reform to the lese majeste law. If so, it would seem kind of strange that the banning of the party that won the popular vote in the last election did not create a backlash of protest from the public. I wonder if the average Thai really cares much anymore about politics, or perhaps they have just had all enthusiasm for it sucked from them by the various machinations employed to maintain the same parties and individuals in power no matter who is deemed to have won an election.

You don't stop discussing politics or politicians simply because the conversation would not 'make an iota of difference' unless you are living in an authoritarian dictatorship. I suspect many Thais are guilty of avoiding the 'conversation, hence the country's often weird governments made up of coalitions that seem unrepresentative of the preferences expressed in the election results. You see the same attitude expressed in the apparent acceptance of injustice and corruption in the Red Bull affair too. In many respects I think Thai people get the politicians and governments they deserve. I think pardons and acquittals say more about the power of political opportunism and questionable alliances and practices than the worth of the individuals on whom they are bestowed.

I imagine Thaksin could play a role in implementing the dismantling of the recreational marijuana business. He has proved adept in the past at assembling squads of police to put drug dealers and users to the sword by their thousands. Where many think the legalisation horse has already bolted, Thaksin through injecting a substantial amount of fear into the situation will find a way to bypass the concerns of growers, sellers and users and halt the runaway beast in its tracks.

In 2 months travelling around Thailand last year, I did not smell marijuana more than once or twice, and that was from people smoking in weed shops. The law prohibits smoking in public, and from what I can see, that is observed.

I am 70 and know nobody who used weed as a gateway to harder drugs. Weed users tend to be quite content with the buzz they get from the dope.

The Chinese in Singapore used the same expression when I lived there as a child from 1960-63..

If it takes that long to shut the weed down, yes I will have enough time for another trip. I got my Thai mate to buy some ahead of my last visit and could do the same again.

I came to Thailand last year for 2 months purely on the back of recreational legalisation. I won't be coming back. Cambodia may not have legal weed but it's easily obtainable and safe to use it.

Are you saying that periodontists in Hua Hin or Bangkok or both are all booked out months ahead?

Might be more accurate to say that zoos in certain countries, like China, are horrid places because the visitors don't genuinely respect the animals or the zoo authorities underfeed the animals and keep them in inappropriate enclosures.

No wonder the rich continually get away with murder or something approximating it when Thais continually accept an apology for outrageous behaviour, particularly from a teacher, and do not insist on following through with a complaint until authorities take action. Weak effort from the grandfather.

But you are not going to get the same effect using more of an inferior product (e.g. leaf) as opposed to using premium product. And edibles are as efficient as smoking or vaping in terms of quantity used. Plus for me taste is important too, whether vaping or eating.

Got to disagree. Good quality heads makes good quality edibles in my experience.

That's what I am - 70. I am aware of one relatively cheap insurance in Thailand that requires a 100000 baht excess for over 70's. Doesn't seem that others exist for 70 year olds taking out an in country insurance for the first time to live in Thailand.

On minimum wage of 353 baht a day, at the bottom of the barrel of occupations, and in a job where he would be dealing with taxi drivers all day, I cannot see why an uneducated kid in a menial job would be remotely interested in interfering in a dispute of this nature.