Loptr

Just Loptr so far.

Are you denying it happened or is this a lame attempt at humor?

You're obviously a newbie if you haven't heard of Thaksin's extra-judicial murder of over 5000 suspected drug dealers when he was PM...

Actually the count was more like around 2,500 of which they figure at least 1,350 were innocent.

I've read the numbers and there seems to be a difference as to whether there were 2800 killed, plus another 1800 who were innocent or whether the 1800 were part of the 2800... Either way it makes the execution of the Indonesia nine seem tame by comparison...

Not a Lambo, but one of my neighbors here in CM passed me in one of these leaving the moo ban a couple days ago... Oh yes, there is some serious money floating around this town...

Newbie above nailed it for me '' we are in exile ''

Think about it ?

Perhaps fugitive would be a better term...

If they are called EXPAT it is because they have been relocated by their multinational company thus you know the answer. All the others are immigrants.

Hardly, as my visa says non-immigrant and yes, I am an expat as I am a resident of foreign country not of my birth... You've been reading political correctness blogs again, haven't you? Why do people try to change the tone of a conversation by changing the definition of terms?

I spoke with the owner about what wood they use for smoking and yes, they do use Mango, but they are well aware of the dangers... Once the wood is cut, they strip the bark off the wood and let the sap dry out before using it for smoking...

Unless you place an order for pickup, everything they have (that I saw) was sealed in vacuum bags and frozen... I don't think it's a problem picking up freshly cooked meats if you arrange ahead of time... They had a pretty good supply of everything, although frozen...

I can't speak to specific pricing on each item, but my total price was 2100 baht for .5 kilo of smoked brisket, corned beef, salmon, canadian bacon and ham... So, 2.5 kilos of smoked meat for 2100 baht... Not sure how to compare the pricing to elsewhere, as this is the first shop of this nature I have found and I don't mind paying a premium... The smoke brisket is the first package I've opened and it is wonderful...

Technically, any time you enable VPN your throughput is going to suffer, for 2 simple reasons...

1) You are adding a proxy to your connection to route internet traffic on your behalf... This adds at least 1 hop count and usually more... Each hop takes time and will increase latency...

2) The VPN has to encrypt the data stream before routing it to your IP... Once you receive each packet, it has to be decoded before use...

Both of the above will increase response time and latency... How much it effects you depends on the speed of your network and the connected resources... In the case of accessing content in the US via VPN, you have to route that traffic over already over-subscribed circuits from Thailand to the US, then add in the overhead of the VPN tunneling... The result is a slow connection at peak hours of usage... I use 3bb and have a 30/3 fiber connection... Streaming content from the US yesterday afternoon was no problem until about 17:00... After that, I could not get anything to stream without excessive buffering...

I use both Skype and LINE, but for different purposes... Skype international calls to the US for me are peanuts, plus I have a US telephone number that rings through to any device I have Skype installed on... No dual-sim phone necessary and I get mobile international calls to my cell phone for next to nothing...

Meh, New Orleans is 18 feet below sea level and has been for over a century... It is settling too, just like Bangkok... Once NOLA finally goes, give Bangkok another 100 years or so, then start worrying...

The EU has a bad habit of shooting itself in the foot by taking the moral high-ground... Case in point, the backlash from EU economic sanctions on Russia and the repercussions for their exports... If the EU holds to their sanctions and ban against Thailand's fishing industry if they do not comply with the EU rules, there will be other buyers for the fish exports... India, China or Russia would surely like to strengthen their economic ties to Thailand and we know those countries have no scruples when it comes to protecting the environment... The EU represents roughly 350+/- million people, while the three countries I named represent close to 3 billion souls... You do the math...

Just back from the Chiang Mai Smoke House with a bevy of booty.... I picked up 1/2 kilo of smoked ham, corned beef, Canadian bacon, salmon and brisket... I was able to sample everything prior to purchasing... They have portions as small as 1/2 kilo on everything, or you can call ahead and place an order for exactly what you want... In talking to the owner, it's best to call ahead to make sure someone is there that speaks either English or Thai... I got lucky as I just hopped in the car and went...

Be forewarned, the address provided in the OP's map is not correct... The place is actually in a residential soi near the 2nd Ring Rd off of 118... The correct GPS coordinated are: 18.810714, 99.033468

the URL might have been in the name of someone who isn't around anymore, or the email sent to an address no one checks, plenty of reasons why sometimes URL's lapse.

What? If you have an ecommerce website with a viable business, that business is going to make sure the domain name gets renewed.

I have no idea what you mean by an email might have been sent to an address no one checks. That makes no sense either. And no there are not plenty of reasons why a domain name would lapse, especially if it is tied to a business unless the business is shutting down or already gone.

Guess I will stop by and see if anyone on the premises has anything to say about this. That's if they are still open when I get there.

I used to be involved with a company whose focus was providing internet circuits, domain name services, web site hosting / development, etc... It was almost a daily occurrence that someone or some company would allow their domain name registration to expire... It's one of those things that doesn't usually wind up on someone's task list to monitor and they only expire on an annual or bi-annual basis... In other words, it's fairly common, even for the biggest companies...

Thanks for the tip... Let me get my coat, I'll see you there!!!

Riot erupts after funeral for man hurt in police custody

The headline should read "man died in police custody"

His only crime was looking at a policeman, this drawing their attention, after which he ran away in fear... Some time between this point and when he arrived at the police station, his spinal column had been severed and was refused treatment...

If you read the whole story..you would see that he was "irate"...which could have been the reason (not justification) for rough handling.

I have seen officers tackle suspects to the ground, put a knee in the back, and cuff them, routinely. The harder they resist, the more force is used. Acting up in the back of a police car will not go well for you either.

If the man is innocent...he has recourse...but putting up a struggle will not end well...for anyone.

I do believe he was profiled...."just staring" in some cicumstances, can irritate a situation. It should not lead to arrest...but you notice people get angry (especially police) if somebody tries to intimidate. There is such a thing as an "curious stare" and an "agressive stare". When tensions are high, I just leave the area.

He has recourse? Sorry, but he's dead... His family has recourse against the BPD for a wrongful death law suit... Still doesn't justify burning the city down, but hey, that's what the natives want and the Baltimore Mayor gave them free reign to do so...

Riot erupts after funeral for man hurt in police custody

The headline should read "man died in police custody"

His only crime was looking at a policeman, this drawing their attention, after which he ran away in fear... Some time between this point and when he arrived at the police station, his spinal column had been severed and was refused treatment...

And of course that means the mobs are allowed to burn and loot? These mindless actions cheapens and destroys the support by the greater community across the nation for the wrong that has been done by the police. Every act of looting and rioting means fewer and fewer white people give a damn about the injustice ... That is just the way it is... no one can change it ... it is human nature. Had they formed long lines in protest, bearing signs speaking of the injustice, bearing flowers in honor of their neighbor, had speakers on podiums telling the story, asking for support, the white community across the nation - by in large would have embraced sympathy for the man and the black people Baltimore as they watched the news. BUT NO - burn and pillage is all these fools know ...

Notice that the violent riots, burning and looting takes place in black neighborhoods ... not in the white communities in small towns and suburbs... Why ? - because these rioters know the people living there have guns and will defend their property and lives against the violent actions of hooligans.

Please don't attempt to put words in my mouth as you are implying that I condone the actions of the rioters... I do not condone the actions of the animals on either side of this situation...

There are too many cases where civilians die at the hands of police in the US and this one stinks to high heaven... Had the cops not killed this kid on the way to the police station, the riots would not have taken place... Cause and effect...

There have been 380 people killed by police in 2015 alone...

http://killedbypolice.net/

All part of the reason I left the US as this sort of thing is escalating at an alarming rate... Both the change in tact by the police and the breakdown in civility as demonstrated by the riots... It is only going to get worse...

Costa Rica for me. Not cheap though and does not have the same variety of food compared to all the dishes you can get here. T

. Food Sucks, if I ever see another Black Bean, il $&@&.

I believe you will find that aroz y frijoles are the staple of diet in most Central / South American countries... If you don't like the food, might be best to avoid latin America altogether... As for Costa Rica, I like the central valley and the east coast around Limon, but the northwest coast has been invaded by too many gringos searching for the eternal summer... Kind of like Thailand, but you don't hear them belly ache about the place as much as here...

Riot erupts after funeral for man hurt in police custody

The headline should read "man died in police custody"

His only crime was looking at a policeman, this drawing their attention, after which he ran away in fear... Some time between this point and when he arrived at the police station, his spinal column had been severed and was refused treatment...

Medellin, Colombia... No bout a doubt it...

I spent the morning cycling out to Doi Saket and back and the weather was glorious...

If it were me, I would want to know, no matter how much it hurt... Better to know the truth than to live a lie...

you can just hear it ' we dont mean anything by it,' 'we've always used it ' it comes from' . Well, for all your ignorant and dim witted arguements, people find it offensive, that should be enough for EVERYONE to respect and recognise.its time to start to stop using it., but no, self rightous ignorance rules. Well meaning ,derogitary , whatever term u put on it doesnt matter, its a term/word used to group a people by the color of their skin and its, therefore, racist.

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Why should Thais adjust their behavior because you are offended by it? You have some special visa that the rest of us don't know about?

There seems to be a reading comprehension situation gone awry here,

And who cares what some 75 year old has to say about it,

I wrote the OP after a 70 year old American friend from

New York used it to self describe, and he sounded retarded.

I too, asked my soapy princess if it was derogatory and she said no, unless the falang was acting a fool or was otherwise drawing attention to himself,

But it was the face she made when she said it to describe the fools

That was clearly derogatory.....

This question is only directed to the people who disagree or ambivalent about it,

"If you had a female child, of mixed Thai and w/e you are, and the kid had light skin blonde or reddish hair and blue eyes, would you want her teachers in school to single her out as the falang, so she felt like an outcast, and was abused forth with by her classmates, because the <deleted> of a teacher called her a falang, or would you want her called by her name, the one that you gave her?

And if she was so devalued by that name, making her different from all the rest, what further abuses might that possibly lead too?

I grew up with busing, in the new york 60's and I know that kids will not repeat their parents prejudice,

So why would you encourage it, because some old teacher gave you her definition, when we all know it is used as a form of separation and devaluation?

All you have done with this post is expose your own racial programming and bias derived thereof, to feel fear and guilt whenever someone uses a term which you have been programmed to interpret as racist... Just because you had a f##ked up upbringing in the US does not mean that every culture and every race on the planet is subjected to the same programming... You are not in US anymore...

Yet you continue to trot out your bias when the facts say otherwise... I give up, have a nice day...

Some collateral damage is unavoidable in war and IMO, that is the case here. Rather than drop drones, we need to keep using them, but also grab some live terrorists for Intelligence from time to time.

But therein lies the rub UG, the US has not declared war on anyone since the end of WWII... What some view as collateral damage due to military operations in the best interest of the US are viewed as terrorist attacks by those on the receiving end of a hellfire missile... Much like his predecessor, Obama is being called a war criminal for his unilateral, covert assassinations in foreign countries...

Costas what is going through your head, wanting a pole about sex.

Evidently not getting enough!

And anticipating his move to Pattaya... Never to old to play catch up...

OK, I am not telling anyone what to use.

I do think it is really moronic to use that term for ourselves though and I'm entitled to that opinion as well.

I think it's pretty stupid to assign racist motives to a neutral descriptor. I guess we can leave it to others to decide which opinion they think is more valid.

I asked my Thai language teacher about the origins of the word farang and whether it was a derogatory term... This teacher is Thai, she holds Masters degrees in three languages and is about 75 years old, so I give credence to her opinion... She said that the word was derived from the word Francais, which was how the Thais identified the French in the country decades ago, but it was too difficult for Thais to pronounce, so it morphed into the word farang... She also stated that it was in no way derogatory...