fusion58

They’re only taking an interest because they got caught.

ROFL! ???? If the Major General were a defense attorney: “Your honor, I move that only the defendant’s testimony be admitted and that all eyewitness accounts and all accounts by interested parties be stricken from the record.”

Gotta love the way they frame the whole scandal here, i.e., it’s the story - not the actions of cops who were involved in the shakedown - which is damaging to the RTP’s image.

False comparison. You might not like Biden or his politics, and that’s fine, but to claim he lacks the qualifications to be president is ridiculous. IQ45, on the other hand, was elected despite having virtually no qualifications for the office.

Yep. Also, the irony of a person who more than likely voted for a third-rate reality TV star/con man whose “qualifications” for the office of POTUS amounted to nothing more than decades of documented fraud and white collar crime talking about “embarrassment” can’t be overstated.

“We just saved 100% on our taxes by switching to Jesus!”

Gee, and here I’ve been laboring under the assumption that this was a discussion forum for people who lived in Thailand. Should I be using this space to voice my opinions re: police corruption in Madagascar instead? Why didn’t somebody tell me?

Ding ding ding! Winner.

It’s for that rice farmer who wants to say “I can’t afford a gold chain, but I’m saving up for one.”

Oh oh! Looks like somebody forgot to wear the proper magic amulet or to wai that roadside shrine.

Yep. Because power and authority mean doing whatever you please with no oversight and no accountability. There are no real checks and balances built into the system.

I think there’s a name for what he’s doing… Whataboutism or whataboutery (as in "what about…?") denotes in a pejorative sense a procedure in which a critical question or argument is not answered or discussed, but retorted with a critical counter-question which expresses a counter-accusation. From a logical and argumentative point of view it is considered a variant of the tu-quoque pattern (Latin 'you too', term for a counter-accusation), which is a subtype of the ad-hominem argument.

Conclusion: “We investigated ourselves, and we found we were innocent of all charges.”

If there’s a positive side to the story, it’s that her “celebrity” status allows her to shine a brighter spotlight on these corrupt jackals than the average shakedown survivor could command.

Perfect all-around summary of the culture.

The last time I was in Pattaya was back in 2014, and the Russians were pretty much running the place back then. Then, the ruble tanked, and "poof!" - they all disappeared as though they'd been sucked into a black hole. Sounds like "everything old is new again," as the old adage goes.

Received a Pfizer booster for no charge at Med Park Hospital two weeks ago. Appointment required.

Yep. Also, it doesn't help that we're dealing with a culture whose members are constitutionally incapable of admitting they have a problem and whose motivation to change is non-existent. For example, just try telling a Thai driver that texting and chatting on Line or WhatsApp while driving are dangerous driving behaviors, and you'll usually get a middle finger by way of response.

Just think of this cozy relationship as analogous to the alliance between the New York and New Jersey mobs.

Cool story, bro. However, it doesn’t change the fact that Kun Khmer predates Muay Thai by ~500 years.

Beat me to it. Our “tourism brand” trumps human lives, health and safety every time.

Not sure which culture Thais hold in greater contempt: the Khmer or the Indian. In any event, no shortage of irony around these parts! Thais: "Thailand is the geographical, cultural and spiritual center of the universe. The Thai way is always the best way." Also Thais: "Please arrive in great numbers, dear foreign nationals, for we cannot survive without your tourism and investment ducats!"

It's so the pharmacy can recoup its own cost from your insurance company (if you have insurance.) You can't be denied for not having insurance.

Depends on how you define "effective." The first generation vaccines, while not guaranteed to prevent infection, are still effective enough to reduce the likelihood of severe illness and death from all COVID variants. My physician in the U.S., who, BTW, is also a specialist in infectious diseases and virology, advised me to get another booster here in Thailand as it had been ~6 months since my last booster and I had no plans to travel to the U.S. until late spring or early summer this year.

Yep. From what I've observed, the Buddha is little more than a good luck charm for the average Thai. Most of these crassly materialistic money grubbers couldn't name a precept or a sutra if their lives depended on it. In any case, I'm no Buddhist scholar, but I'm pretty sure the Buddha never advised his followers that money and social status were the only basis for respect and human dignity.