richard_smith237

These are the musings of a mind absent of intelligent discretion. Dumbed down strawman logic - there is no similarity between drinking as a passenger on a train and drink driving - your example is not a clever one. Again... there is no logical reason for that law to be in place. The same as the 2-5pm ban on buying booze - many people break that law - its not same as drink driving is it?... please think before you answer with another dumbed down strawman fallacy. Your examples highlight a fundamental absence of reality. We all pick and choose which laws we follow..... Ever went to the beach without your facemask a year ago ? (example rhetorical question). Ever drive at 130kmh to keep up with the flow of traffic ? Ever have a beer at 3pm in the afternoon ? Your ‘black and white’ approach to this discussion is from an irrationally rigid view-point that fails to recognise the realities of life. Yes, no booze on Trains is a the law, but an irrelevant and pointless one - the law arrived over night, it can equally disappear over-night on the whim of a decision maker - it is not a law which has any genuine benefit to society on a whole, unlike other laws you have exampled such as drink driving laws.

Fundamentally flawed thinking particularly in light of such recent events which saw many ‘locked in country’ and unable to travel - no one knows the future, anything can happen - thus choose the best option. Use the Passport with the least limitations - There exists only limitations to entering Thailand on an Australian Passport, when the same dual nationality traveller enters Thailand on their Thai Passport there are none.

What if she encountered an emergency or situation requiring her to stay longer ? Visa issue add an unnecessary layer of complexity. i.e. a medical emergency is encountered on day 28... requires a 10 day hospital stay... the visa-validity becomes a concern and something you really wouldn’t want to be worrying about at that time. Or... a family member becomes unwell and she wants to stay longer etc... There is no logical reason whatsoever not to enter Thailand on her Thai passport. At the same time there are lots of logical reasons to enter Thailand on the Thai Passport. -------- This is so much of a no-brainer I’m surprised the topic is even being debated.

Valid and good point Dr Jack. Thanks. But what if she wants to stay longer ?... she’ll then have ‘visa’ issues to deal with. Always enter the country on the best passport for that country. i.e..... Thai / Aus - enter Thailand on a Thai Passport. Thai / Aus - enter Aus on an Aus Passport. Its a no brainer, there are no complications, hidden clauses, issues or laws.

As you are not married, there is question as to whether or not you are listed on the Thai Birth Certificate - this is the first thing to find out. IF not, you need to get yourself listed on the Birth Certificate as the father. Secondly, is the Mother ‘open’ to you being listed on the Birth Certificate (if you are not not already on it). And, finally... Is the mother ‘open’ to you having custody ? i.e. is sole custody likely to be contested by the mother?

Why are you dredging up an 8 page thread which is 8 years old ??????? I doesn’t back up any point you may have in the there currently running thread about booze on trains, its just an old thread.

If the ‘bout’ is carried out in a professional manner, then fine. i.e. women participating in conventional boxing, Muaithai, kick-boxing, Judo, Karate, Mixed Martial Arts etc.... fine... why not ?.....

But that would be stupid and crossing a line..... There is a common sense approach which you are missing. Smoking is not permitted on public transport world wide. Drinking alcohol is permitted on trains in the vast majority of countries because it's not an issue. There is no logical reason for the ban on alcohol on Trains in Thailand. There is a perfectly local reason for banning smoking on any form of public transport, including trains. Thus: Please argue the debate with at least a sensible strawman fallacy....

Resolve the issue and put measures in place to continue measures for continued resolution !!... And I do agree.... If its not soi dogs, its rats, lizard, mozzies, weeds etc... we can manage all of that. And yes, for our comfort..... managing all of that doesn’t mean ‘killing everything’ it means managing, controlling everything...... (dominating if you wish to call it that)... I don’t want rats spreading disease, or soi dogs biting kids etc.... we can deal with these issues. This is not the same as ‘killing all mammals in the wild’.... this is not a ’thin end of the wedge’ scenario. I'm not... I agree with you that we control and manage our environment - we have being doing so since before the ice-age.

And if one ran across a road and knocked a motorcyclist off ?? The point I want to make here is that they are still ‘stray dogs’ free to roam... this is not so much of an issue in your area, but in built up areas they remain a nuisance. I’ve seen dogs stopping traffic - fighting in the muddle of large cross roads. I’ve seen dogs cause accidents.. etc etc.... who is responsible for any of this? The harmless stray dog outside 7-11..... what happens when it bites a child which accidentally stood on its tail as is lays in the doorway enjoying the AC..... None of this should be allowed to happen - there should be no stray dogs. Doing ‘nothing’ is exactly the wrong solution.... we (Humans) have to take steps to remove them by whatever means, but preferably the kindest means, which IMO means spaying them all, and that is costly - the government obviously needs to pay for this. ------- I lived in a neighbourhood of Bangkok known for its ‘larger wealthier houses’ - the quietness of night was noticeable... no dogs barking etc.... none on the streets. I suspect a couple of local wealthy people paid someone to keep the streets free of dogs... what the did to achieve this I had no idea... but I was thankful. Now... If they could have only done the same for the odd d!<khead motorcyclist ‘razzing’ down the soi at 2am !!..

Or this... "Because we have brought them here and abandoned them, so finding them homes and preventing them ALL from procreating is the solution." But... finding them all homes is completely and utterly impractical - there are too many. So... at least spay them all wherever possible to prevent this issue from continuing with further generations and minimise their numbers.

Plenty of guys I know have married Thai ladies of similar socio-economic-educational status... That is to say they are of a similar age, social standing, similar financial backgrounds (i.e. financially independent), well educated Chuala or Thammarsart etc or overseas Uni.... There has been a long running myth on ThaiVisa.com / Aseannon that someone who has married a well educated financially independent Thai female of similar standing is exaggerating... the comments are often returned about the ‘white skinned high-so’ and then some slurs.... The reality is, there are plenty of these relationships around.... its normal, but not for guys who are hanging around bars or who live in areas with an *associated ’stigma’.... *associated stigma - its harder to be ’normal’ in an area such as Pattaya... Girls think you are there for the girls, guys think the girls are there for the guys - Girls think the guys think the girls are there for the guys etc etc and the stigma is create that means meeting female of ‘equal or better socio-economic-educational status’ in these area’s is difficult (but not impossible)... So... we end up with the comments... 'give me a down to earth farm girl over pasty skinned Bangkok snob’ any day of the week !!!.... I wonder whether those guys really feel like that, or are just pulling the wool over their own eyes because they know they ‘can’t’ and are justifying their position....

Never and issue with Agoda or Booking.com... I’ve found they offer a decent level of consumer protection.

Just like everywhere and everything else in Thailand... ‘there are no rules until there are rules’... I’m sure many who want to do so carry their own booze onto the train... thats pretty much a given IMO. They’re possibly not even that discrete about it... but because there is a law, it perhaps forces those who may misbehave to be respectful of others. Thats about it. If you want to take your beer, wine or whisky on the train then simply do so. Be *discrete, be respectful of others. Enjoy your journey. *that may mean masking your cans (idea above), or simply putting wine in a flask or other bottle, or Whisky in a flask etc... is not hard and if caught its not exactly crime of the century. ------ At some point in the near future I’m going to end up doing a ‘Father & Son trip’ on the train from BKK to Chiang Mai (Wives will fly up and meet us there - we’ll all fly back after the weekend)... Myself, a mate and our sons will take an adjoining 1st Class Cabin... and enjoy the ride - Kids will take snacks etc, we take cards and play some games... I’m sure we’ll take some booze with us... It never crossed my mind not to, regardless of the daft regulations.

I’m not sure they’d have made a difference...

Should have been looking ahead and seen the motorcycle-side-car and slowed down.... So... - Did the truck driver see the motorcycle-sidecar too late and couldn’t slow down so had to avoid. - Did the truck driver simply over take the motorcycle-sidecar, not wanting to slow down and expected the pick up to ‘move out of the way’ These ‘food-samlors’.... are they road legal ? Possible root cause: 1) Construction, narrower road, no space (frontage for slower motorcycle-sidecar to ride on). 2) motorcycle-sidecar - road legality? I don’t think they are road legal, should never be on a highway. 3) Lorry driver - Lorry driving too fast.

Oh... that wasn’t a good idea !!!

What an utter load of projected tosh.... From one single photo you’ve ranted on a mix-tapes !!! hilariously ridiculous optics there..... Have you ever even been on a Thai Train ???...... Dining car ? For the ‘experience’ i’ve travelled: KL - Hat Yai (2nd Class AC sleeper) Hat Yai - Bangkok (2nd Class AC sleeper) Bangkok - Chiang Mai (1st Class) That was enough, then a friend visited and wanted to do the train so I did Hat Yai - Bangkok (2nd Class AC sleeper), again. Never was there any of this misbehaviour you’ve made up.

Keep your wits about you ???... you think every time someone enjoys a beer they fall into a drunken stupor ?? there is no healthy balance, its simply straight to the extremes ?? That depends which laws..... never crept up to 125kmh on the expressway ?

What solution would you propose ?? Thats if you think stray dogs are a problem at all, you may not... and thus feel perfectly comfortable with your child on a beach with stray dogs running around, or walking down a soi through a pack of dogs, you may not mind the barking and noise at night, you may not feel concerned for the motorcyclist getting knocked off their motorcycles etc.... You may not recognise stray dogs as being a problem at all (meanwhile governments in the western world consider otherwise).... But... IF you do recognise there exist and issue with stray dogs in Thailand - what would you do about it ? --------- I don’t believe in killing the animals - As Bill writes, every animal has a right to life, even though I personally believe humans have greater rights (thats just my human selfishness, I’m comfortable with and accept that criticism).... If in a position of policy and decision making power I would choose to set up teams, sponsor vets to have these animals spayed on a national scale (every male and female) - its a difficult and on-going task, but a necessary one. With continued efforts this would bring the numbers down to a more manageable scale whereby continued efforts to minimise the amount of stray dogs on the street will be manageable. I would also impose that all dogs should have a collar identifying their owner. If found outside of the home (on the streets) the owner is fined, if the dog has no collar, it is taken away and spayed. No solution is perfect, but this would be the most humane and reduce disease, spread of and risk of rabies etc... and of course, the ultimate goal, limit the sufferer of future generations of millions of animals as future generations would not exist (or would exist in limited numbers).

yes .... you are right .. and those feeding them only exasperate the problem. Neutering solves nothing, they still attack and bite people. Take them away to a a 5 rai place and the dog feeders can go live there and feed them until the cows come home. That's the solution. I wonder if Bill takes responsibility IF the stray dogs under his ‘management’ (or care or whatever you would call it) bite someone ?? They’re not his dogs, but he cares for them, feeds them, spays them etc... So they hang around his area.... IF they run out in the road and knock off a motorcyclist, is Bill ultimately responsible ? Given his current line of reasoning he may argue that the road should not be there because that is humans destroying the environment.... Humans (the presence of) is the problem. A similar logic has been applied in some poorer countries when a foreigner is involved (but not at fault) in a vehicle accident - IF the foreigner wasn’t there the accident wouldn't have occurred, ergo, its the foreigners fault.

Two separate arguments - Soi dogs in Thailand ... Humans destroying the environment on this planet. IF you can’t see that a similar statement below could be made of you, Bill.

We know you wrote a book Bill... You keep mentioning it in every thread. But that simply means you spent the time to put opinion to paper - it does not lend weight to an argument if that argument is flawed. Did you read the book by Edward Hendrie - The greatest Lie on Earth ???.... I think that sufficiently makes my point on the validity of argument just because a book has been written. Stray dogs are an issue - whether humans caused this issue is irrelevant.... the issue simply needs to be resolved because humans are not going anywhere regardless of who you want to blame or have a preference for.

It could be argued that you are only as smart as those who feed soi dogs and perpetuate an existing problem.... I do agree, humans cause the ’soi dog issue’.... but through our inaction in controlling their numbers. This ’soi dog issue’ could be resolved in a few years if action is taken - then future generations of dogs will not suffer - why are you refusing to see that aspect ?

The ‘seat belt argument’..... [ I never wore a seat belt and I’m still here - ergo seatbelts are not necessary ]. Those dogs may be placid, or they may not be.... but people nationwide get bitten by stray dogs - if that didn’t happen, this thread wouldn’t exist. Thus, your anecdote is irrelevant - there are already scores of reports of people getting bitten by stray dogs.