halloween

Globally the move is for fast growing plantation trees and leave the forest alone. The ban is for the forest trees and not plantation trees. I think the government has very poor understanding of the regulation. Plantation teak is fast growing and very different from forest teak which takes years to grow. You can get a pretty good 8" girth for plantation teak in just 10-15 years.

Anyway, today news indicates that the teak trees will be cut from other plantation and is 5,000 not 2,000 trees.

If I plant a few thousand trees, when and how do they stop being a plantation and become a forest? I ask as I would prefer to avoid ill-applied regulation, and misinformed public condemnation.

".....the ruling party is said to want to speed up plans to outlaw honour killings."

As killing is already illegal (assumption!) you would think that it would not be that hard.

200 years ago the outrage would have been about falling off a buffalo.

There was a street prostitute who worked the bench outside of the Krung Kasem Sri Krung Hotel, Hualamphong. Saw her (might have been a different girl,hard to tell from the 5th or 6th floor) hard at it on several occasions months apart. Tail-back traffic from the lights would stop alongside them without any signs of outrage.

Late night, and some years back, though.

Good to know that Mrs Trump share the values of the First Lady. There's still hope, I guess....

Apparently those values didn't apply when she accepted her husband's proposal.

"....that your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise, that you treat people with respect." That's Trump?

Revenge for the death of his friend in Afghanistan.

Pity the West isn't fully informed of the Drone Strikes that kill many innocent Afghans including women and children. Collateral damage has consequences. Unfortunately the West just sees one side of the issue and are oblivious to what is being done to innocent Muslims in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. Tens of thousands have been killed by the West's military action. Collateral damage in the West is tragic but in the scheme of things trivial when the scope of civilian deaths by the coalition war machine is considered.

As usual a double standard applied. Dead Afghan civilian women and children is of no concern. A handful of dead people in the West and white hot anger is displayed with no regard to the tens of thousands killed in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.

I find both an equal tragedy.

Hang about - who is killing the majority of those "innocent Muslims in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq."? Other muslims, that's who.

Now if they don't care about their own people and co-religionists, why should I go all bleeding heart? Why should people with little regard for their own life, even less regard for the lives of their own people, and SFA for the lives of us infidels, get a free pass across the border and then be treated like honoured guests until they decide to pop their cork?

And he had mental issues, suffered from depression and had rejected attempts by Islamic extremists to radicalise him.

Do you think it makes much difference to those smacked with an axe whether he was a mad muslim or a radicalised muslim?

I think what yogi is trying to say is that he never considered himself a devout muslim...might not of been all about west vs muslim...

Maybe just severe mental illness....

Wow - consecutive posts with contradictory claims. First he's attacking Germany by wounding Chinese tourists, now it "might not of been all about west vs muslim".

Do you notice the common theme in "mad muslim" and "radicalised muslim"? If they had stopped him at the border and told him to pi$$ off back where he came from, then he could have gone postal in his own country. Nobody much would care, as he would just be one more in your big statistic.

BTW I consider devout islam as a severe mental illness, usually caused by your parents.

Actually, no. My experience is that the private hospitals on Samui go out of their way to void insurance for faster payment,

Well you'd be wrong.

I had a motorcycle rental business here for a long time, and spoke to quite a few customers who have a different opinion to yours. Alcohol blood tests were regularly carried out and insurance denied - even for pillion passengers. Passports were demanded and held until full payment.

I find that 100% reasonable.

Why should any insurance company carry the liability of a drunk on a motorcycle, and probably inexperienced ride as well?

The passenger would have know that alcohol was involved.

You might change your tune if you have a few drinks and catch a motorcycle taxi home. But it has nothing to do with the insurance coverage, but with the hospital being reluctant to wait for payment, and claiming the policy is void whether it actually is or not.

A 17 year asylum seeker from Afghanistan it's now being reported as being the culprit.

Let the spin begin as this will have to be downplayed considering he's a Muslim ' refugee '.

And he had mental issues, suffered from depression and had rejected attempts by Islamic extremists to radicalise him.

Do you think it makes much difference to those smacked with an axe whether he was a mad muslim or a radicalised muslim?

Actually, no. My experience is that the private hospitals on Samui go out of their way to void insurance for faster payment,

Well you'd be wrong.

I had a motorcycle rental business here for a long time, and spoke to quite a few customers who have a different opinion to yours. Alcohol blood tests were regularly carried out and insurance denied - even for pillion passengers. Passports were demanded and held until full payment.

well...Now you've changed you argument haven't you? - Insurance companies of course don't want to pay out - the hospitals do as it is a licence to print money.

No, I'm not changing my argument. The HOSPITALS are taking alcohol blood tests even for non-RTA injuries, claiming the insurance won't pay, and demanding cash up front or passport. Insurance payments allegedly take months to settle.

Terrorism Death Count Since 2015: The West 658 - 28,031 The Rest Of The World

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-07-19/terrorism-death-count-2015-west-658-28031-rest-world

Is that supposed to be a good reason to allow migration? I don't care that much if they want to kill each other at home, but I don't want them coming to my country to kill me and mine.

The "revenge for family killed by western troops" theory looks really shaky now it has been revealed the initial victims were a family of Chinese tourists.

THAT is going to be hard to spin.

do you think it could be more of an attack on a NATO country affiliate?........

Sorry, I hadn't heard that China had joined NATO.

Approximately 28,000 baht/day bill run up.

It makes the idea of compulsory health insurance look quite sensible.

the hospitals would love that!

Actually, no. My experience is that the private hospitals on Samui go out of their way to void insurance for faster payment,

Well you'd be wrong.

I had a motorcycle rental business here for a long time, and spoke to quite a few customers who have a different opinion to yours. Alcohol blood tests were regularly carried out and insurance denied - even for pillion passengers. Passports were demanded and held until full payment.

The "revenge for family killed by western troops" theory looks really shaky now it has been revealed the initial victims were a family of Chinese tourists.

THAT is going to be hard to spin.

It seems Susan Estrich wasn't sexually harassed. You would need a blindfold and earplugs.

Approximately 28,000 baht/day bill run up.

It makes the idea of compulsory health insurance look quite sensible.

the hospitals would love that!

Actually, no. My experience is that the private hospitals on Samui go out of their way to void insurance for faster payment,

That's the problem with enforcers, their only answer to everything is violence and more enforcement.

I wonder why they choose to live in a Buddhist country then assume that their imported violence is the answer to everything?

Fortunately it is not.

There is a different approach that is gaining momentum around the world and it is not based of forcing others to do things through violence and suppression - fortunately!

Here is a balanced article from Safety Professionals which discusses the history of Safety in the workplace. To many of us the road is our workplace. Even if not the same thinking applies.

Hypercompliance

"With tougher rules and higher penalties, it makes sense that incidents should diminish.

The truth is that any approach loses effectiveness at a certain point."

http://aeasseincludes.asse.org/professionalsafety/pastissues/061/07/F2_0716.pdf

But of course correspondence bias and fundamental attribution error means people will contest this, so many stuck in the old enforcement approach they are not prepared to consider anything new.

Good luck in your outdated thinking and assuming you can enforce safety. Maybe it will take you another fifty years of failure to see the light? Maybe? good luck.

I agree that many of the suggested penalties in this thread were excessive. I also note that you didn't offer any alternative suggestion.

I think you should research a little more into how travel insurance works.

It is ok for the short time tourist on holiday but it does nothing for a traveler.

I knew they covered VD, but why exclude gypsies?

If they can't stop racing they should be allowed to continue, but without the bikes. Street racing on foot may even be legal.

Will he re-appear in next weeks news, having cut his mother's throat because she wouldn't give him money?

Yes and not much can be done about that, I do however think that having the ability to buy an asssult rifle primarily designed as a militarty battlefield class weapon should never be available to the general public to have at home, if someone wants to use such a weapon either join the army or join an approved gun club were the weapon must remain after use, there is no possible situation were such a weapon should be availabe in the public domain......none

As for Europe including the UK some of these types of weapons are being smuggled across open borders but they still remain highly illegal.

There are many valid reasons for using a semi-auto hunting rifle, and some manufacturers present them in both military and sporting form. Remington make the sporting 7400 and "military" R25. Beneath the furniture there is very little difference except for magazine size.

That's reality. Most religious people aren't really religious at all from my experience. Even in Thailand, most Thai Buddhist go through the motions and rituals without really following the precepts or even knowing Buddhism. Hypocrisy and apathy rule over real religious belief for most all people in the world. Many in fact live the lives of atheists while claiming to belong to one religion or the next, especially the Christians who spend their time in the bars and out in the Thai nightlife.

Generally speaking, they are much nicer people to socialise with than the rabid true believers. Especially those with a god-given right to kill sinners and infidels. Just to get back to the topic, you understand.

Couldn't agree more, but this rarely happens.

I can remember the IRA attacking the hotel in which politicians were staying during the course of their conference - but this is the exception rather than the rule.

Even the well-funded and organised 9/11 attack didn't kill any politicians or military AFAIK.

Its far easier to attack civilians .

"....9/11 attack didn't kill any politicians or military AFAIK." You really should educate yourself. Or did you think a plane flying into the pentagon wouldn't kill military staff working there?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks

He was not a very devout Muslim. He was only fanatical about the killing infidels part.

By the way he killed a few Muslims too...but

...in the French medias they have shown again and again the first body on the road was from a Muslim's Tunisian woman, also a Tunisian man who lost his four years old son and his wife. So much so that In the French Social Networks many answers ironically were, he did try to kill Muslims and the French dead peoples were only collateral damages

The prevalent theory is that he did them a favour, as muslims killed as part of jihad are granted immediate entry to paradise. Not sure what a 4yo does with 72 virgins.

I agree with controlling the borders. Not with the prejudice that so many here show. Many here are straight out xenophobes and racists. If you ask me to support their posts, I wouldn't. But controlling borders and having more processing of immigrants and migrants I would say absolutely yes. I'm an atheist. I see Christians and Muslims as quite hateful people who are very willing to murder for their insanity. Most blacks killed in the American south in the past 100 years were murdered by supposed Christians. And of course the Christians supported slavery in the first place. And today's racists are supporting the same party as the fanatical Christians. As an American, I feel more of the threat from Christians with guns than foreigners. I just wish the media would say 'Christian' or 'Christian terrorist' when a Christian kills for his religion. Many gays were murdered by Christians over the past century too. Collectively many more than were killed in Germany or Paris. Let's remember that history too. These endless murders were inspired and commited by Christians.

I'll go one better, most Mexicans are murdered by catholics, because that's what most of them are. Why is what happened one or more hundred years ago relevant to what is happening today? As an atheist, are you afraid to go to Spain because the Inquisition might get you?