pegman

On 11/13/2023 at 4:27 PM, heybruce said:

I would place the unwarranted influence of the military-industrial complex to be much less than that of social media, pundits screaming about wokeness, the medical lobby, the farm lobby....

 

In all fairness to Eisenhower, how could he have anticipated this?

Apparently there are some winners in this proxy war. 

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/11/29/biden-admin-map-states-benefit-ukraine-aid-00129068

Is there an official rate schedule for motor-bike taxis? I remember seeing a posted list with prices by destination @ the taxi stand across from VT2a. Only place in Pattaya I ever saw one.

On 11/24/2023 at 4:44 PM, newbee2022 said:

Friendly relations are ok.

But Russia is in an aggressive, brutal, barbarian war invading Ukraine killing civilians.

I doubt it's a good decision to let them visit Thailand.

1m dead muslims in Iraq say pot calling kettle black. Since all those attributes also applied to the Americans should they not be unwelcome too?

On 10/20/2023 at 6:30 PM, Morch said:

Were these massive bombings present on October 6th? Or did maybe something happen that triggered them?

Yes, triggered by any illegal occupation and an apartheid system of governance.

20 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Really?

What exactly did Yingluck do except following the orders of her criminal brother and being a convicted criminal like her brother?

I heard lots of Thai people being pound of having a pretty PM. Yeah, that was about her only "achievement". 

Paetongtarn doesn't even qualify in that department. She is absolutely nothing, zero, without her family connection. 

The economy was humming under the Yingluck govt that's what. As soon as your Greens conducted their coup they put foreign business interest on notice that they were going to change the law so that Thais must controlled all boards of directors. That caused companies like Toyota and Mitsubishi to threaten closing their plants. Soon after exports tanked. Next step was threatening harm to migrants. The effect of that was closing pretty much every construction site in the country down. I live by the construction site of the Caribbean condo complex in Jomtien Beach at the time and about 300 Cambodian workers disappeared overnight. The generals had to do some quick backtracking. And that was just a start of their bumbling.

Who knows what goes through people's minds prior to these things happening. He had enough of this world for some unknown reason. Especially tragic when it is someone so young. Sympathy to his grieving family.

On 10/27/2023 at 5:56 AM, OneMoreFarang said:

And I thought Thais want wise and experienced leaders.

But then again, who did they vote for? The daughter or the father?

 

Imagine if the father would be sick in hospital and wouldn't be able to make any decisions, and then the daughter must think for herself. Difficult times.

 

No doubt you had the same opinion of Yingluck. History I think shows how out to lunch that take was. Your Greens that replaced her were a total disaster.

42 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

The Americans are following the French record in losing wars!

Boys in black pyjamas defeated them in Vietnam, and the goat herders in Afghanistan!

Iraq wasn't exactly a win either.

Now they are making a very large portion of the humans on Planet Earth PO at them with their support for israel bombing Gaza to bits.

In Iraq it was a huge win for Iranian influence there.

Didn't the army have the build contract at one point? I remember a debate at the time about how ethical using conscript labour was.

14 hours ago, bob smith said:

The loudest one in the room is usually the one with the most dirt under his fingernails.

 

The fact that big joke claims to be this whiter than white knight in shining armor is a huge red flag.

 

He should have stayed out of the spotlight and worked in the shadows if he truly wanted to fight crime in a meaningful, productive way. His big mouth and public persona may now be coming back to bite him hard on the behind.. 

The concept there seems to be that police officers can fight crime while also committing their own crimes.

Thailand police departments and the military pay peanuts. Without corruption both would fall apart like a house of cards. If you are a member of either service you were expected to play the game. Otherwise there would be no advancement for you. I see Big Joke as no different than say Sonny Corleone. Being part of either of their respective organizations comes with the assumption that they are dirty.

13 hours ago, nauseus said:

Boring and misleading. 

 

Covid wasn't Trumps fault, in FACT most of the 7.8T added debt in Trump's term was the 4.2T in 2020 (first Covid year). Biden is on track to beat that 7.8T easily over his four years, even with most Covid reliefalready paid. 

 

Trump did not deal with Covid well in many respects but, then again, who did? Ain't hindsight a wonderful thing? 

 

*Offensive comment edited out*

Well next door here in the Great White North, Canada, we had a third deaths per cap than the USA. 

As for the Trump vs Biden debate it seems to be a choice between bad or worse. $$$ will likely be the deciding factor like most things in that unequitable country. It is grouped with Thailand by the Economist Group as a "Flawed Democracy" for good reason.

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

10 hours ago, mark131v said:

I reckon he would have been good in his former job after all he is perfectly demonstrating Thai culture, lying, stealing, running away

 

Yep seems a perfect demonstration of Thai culture from a former Minister...  

Apples did not fall far from the tree in that family. I remember when he first became mayor. He was hyped as a real boy wonder. Those days are long gone for him. 

2 hours ago, americanfarang said:

Why does Thailand always complicate things?  Make it easy for tourists or snowbirds to enter and stay in your country and the the county will generate income.  As an American, I have visited the following counties and received 90 days visa on arrival:  Malaysia, Mexico, Costa Rica and Colombia.  In Mexico, Costa Rica and Colombia you can extend another 90 days past the original 90 days, but it must be done with immigration, for an additional nominal cost.  I know Americans here in Medellin, Colombia that come live and work here in the winter for 180 days and then they must leave Colombia for 180 days and thus return to USA.  Many people work online so they don't need to always live in a particular country, thus they can move around.  The retired snowbirds can also benefit from living in their counties in the winter and in Thailand for 180 days.  To me, it's a no-brainer, but for Thais, it seems a little complicated and difficult.  Make it easy Thailand!

How about your country? Does it allow 180 day visas for people from south and central America??? If so why the border walls and armed patrols? 

1 hour ago, Dukeleto said:

Unelected by the people...they are scrapping the bottom of the barrel to find something positive about their choice.

Do you have any clue how a parliamentary democracy works? The Prime Minister position was not on the ballot. No party received a majority of the vote. The plurality winner was given the opportunity to form a minority government. It did not succeed so it went to the second largest vote getter who were successful in forming a minority government. A lot of foreigners don't seem to understand that Thailand has a majority conservative population. I wish that wasn't the case but it is.

On 8/24/2023 at 9:15 AM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

I've heard tin foil hats are very effective in preventing the spread of cashless societies.....

Outside my few years living in Thailand I have pretty much lived cashless the last 35+ years. Everything paid for by credit union debit card. I was at a sold-out football stadium last nite here in the Great White North and all its concessions are payment by card only. Completely cashless. The yaba dealers will have to scramble to get a piece of the action this way

First thing to come to mind was what took so long.

Stick a fork in the Dem Party, 

hopefully it is done