ftpjtm

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Everthing is imported from China for them including Chinese cigarettes and Chinese liquor

Sounds like my favorite French restaurant. French chef, French cheese, French wine. Not even a token Thai dish on the menu ????

4 hours ago, webfact said:

The pickup truck driver blamed poor street lighting as the cause of the accident.

I wonder if he had a dark tinted windshield? I did on the second hand car I purchased in Thailand. Surprising how much better night vision was when I removed the windshield tint (to the dismay of the service shop and Thai neighbors).

On 10/11/2022 at 9:06 PM, ThailandRyan said:

Like most Embassies around the world they seem to leave the expat community in the lurch.

When in the US we're in the Boston area. The New York Thai Embassy comes to Boston twice yearly to serve the Thai expat community. But Thailand being a wealthy nation, we certainly can't expect similar service from the impoverished US Embassy in Bangkok ????

The older I get the more likely I am to pay for extra service, be it Business Class seats, VIP arrival service, or agents to make dealing with bureaucrats easier. 

I'd definitely use an agent to help with a passport renewal if offered. 

17 hours ago, webfact said:

Phuket International Airport Authorities said, "Taxi vehicles are not allowed to enter the airport except when they have permission from the airport."

I wonder what that costs?

Shameful that they enable taxi fares that in many cases exceed the cost of a domestic flight to Phuket. 

On our single flight there, we avoided the taxi mafia by renting a car. They can be booked for around 1,000 baht for 24 hours and give extra mobility along with an <deleted> to the taxi mafia. 

????To Canada for granting asylum. 

????To Thailand for not granting asylum, but also allowing her to take refuge from the Myanmar authorities.

????To the US for being able to accommodate 1,800 per day across the southern border to take "refuge" from low wages, but unable to find space for 1 person who's situation meets the textbook definition of asylum.

9 hours ago, webfact said:

We're "na rak" aren't we," he quipped. It's an expression that means "lovely".

You, Anutin, not so much.

But the maskless girls in my favorite bar, mak mak ????

Or just batter and deep fry, and serve with chips ????

Who's shocked that the latest scheme to lure the world's millionaires along with their bankrolls to Thailand isn't working as well as expected? Me neither. 

And it's going to be tough to fill those empty resorts with the current nose bleed airfares, which will likely be even worse come high season. 

5 hours ago, loveushorttime said:

Sorry how does getting a visa agent change what you need in a bank account here ?

Because agents fabricate the bank documents out of thin air.

I use an agent mainly because I prefer to have my X00,000 baht invested in mutual funds in the home country, not in a Thai  bank account earning somewhere between zero and 0.01% interest. 

The interest earned in a real investment more than makes up for the cost of an agent, and the fact that dealing with an agent is faster and less stressful is a sweetener.

7 hours ago, Lorry said:

Thx for the compliment.

Unfortunately,  in many occasions Americans could tell after just one sentence I was a foreigner. ????

Your written English is far better than that of my naturalized US citizen Thai wife, and many other US citizens I know. 

7 hours ago, Lorry said:

Some posters think,  Thais don't care  what foreigners think or say. That's not true. They care.

If their views are the same as yours,  they are especially happy,  because you as an outsider confirmed their views.

If not, they are especially angry, that's what you experienced. 

While that makes sense, when I was near the protest sites I never received any indication that protesters where happy I was there, even from Thai protesters. Then again, just 1 persons experience.

5 hours ago, Lorry said:

I had the opposite experience. 

I once took part in protests against goverment policies in the US as a foreigner. I even helped the Amrrican activists to organize protests. 

The other protesters didn't care about my nationality.

The police didn't care either. 

There were demonstrators in favor of the government policy and I had some lively discussions with them.  From my accent it was quite clear where I was from.  But I never heard anything like "you are not even American" or  " your own goverment does the same" (true). They didn't care about my nationality either.

There are enough naturalized American citizens and dual citizens in the US that many probably assumed that you were American in spite your accent. Unlike Thailand where it's next to impossible for a foreigner to achieve Thai nationalality so a quick glance at us pretty accurately identifies at least me and the guy mentioned in the OP as a non Thai.

Try the same clearly labeling yourself as a non citizen. For example, a group in the US calling themselves "Germans/Chinese/etc for Candidate X" would probably receive more scrutiny than a person with an accent advocating for/against a candidate or policy. And Candidate X would likely downplay or reject an endorsement from a foreign person or group. 

I've never heard of a foreign candidate actively pursuing endorsement from Americans, so I assume this to be true in most countries. 

And per my experiences above, plus many links posted on this thread, no matter what Americans or Europeans think of foreign involvement in local politics, many Thais and the Thai government are clearly against foreigners publicly expressing opinions on Thai politics. 

15 hours ago, jonclark said:

In fairness, he is criticizing Prayut and Prawit, two individuals....not the entire country. 

To supporters of those 2 individuals, he is by extension criticizing the country. 

13 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

I'm glad that you can at least admit that you are wrong. 

If you thought that my statement referred to every.single.one of the 70 million Thais, then you're right and I'm wrong. Congrats. 

13 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

The rest of your comment is nonsense

I assume you're referring to this?

14 hours ago, ftpjtm said:

In my experience having a foreigner lecture a citizen on what's wrong with their country very often results in a citizen who disagrees with that sentiment being more offended than if they had received a similar lecture from a fellow citizen. Regardless of whether they are Thai, European or American. 

Let me elaborate. The Thai wife and I were in Chonburi January 2020 - mid 2021. During that period you may recall that there were massive anti-junta protests in Bangkok. The wife desperately wanted to attend several of them but couldn't convince Thai friends or family to accompany her to Bangkok. So she asked me to. I agree with her Thai politics but feel that I should not broadcast those opinions publicly in my name (which is different than stating them anonymously on this forum). So our compromise was that I would travel to Bangkok with her, accompany her to the outskirts of protest sites, and then return to a nearby hotel (after a quick stop at a few of my favorite Bangkok venues ????).

In the process of accompanying a Thai woman dressed in black "Democracy" adorned shirts to protest sites, I got many suspicious stares and angry glares. Police at vehicle barricades wouldn't give the wife a second glance but would all focus their attention at me; would the farang dare pass the barricade and enter the protest site? I had yellow shirt counter protesters focus their attention at me, in normal street clothes, while ignoring dozens of Thais in black garb. I had many angry diatribes shouted at me, but never any show of support for being in the vicinity of protests.

That doesn't mean that no farang was ever welcomed by any Thai during the protests. But from my personal experience the majority of Thais were displeased with my being near the protest site even though I made no attempt to make any political statement. And the wife, who initially wanted me to attend the protests, quickly changed her opinion and agreed that I should stay away and not get involved. 

Internationally, in US elections, any attempt from from a non citizen to offer support of an American politician is greeted with much suspicion. Why is this Chinese/Canadian/Japanese etc person getting involved? What's the ulterior motive which will benefit the foreigner's country or circumstance? To avoid misunderstanding, this is not universal. Not EVERY American is suspicious of foreigner's statements about US politics. But it's common enough for politicians to avoid touting foreign endorsements. I believe this to be largely true in Europe as well. 

Similarly the Junta often accused the 2020 Democracy protesters of being driven by "foreign influencers". Which possibly caused many Thais to want farangs to stay away from protest sites, as an affirmation that theirs was a Thai and not foreign influenced cause.

13 minutes ago, stoner said:

would german police show up at a thai house in germany in a similar situation ? 

Obviously not. Obviously German law is superior to Thai law in this regard. 

That doesn't change the reality that if you criticize Thailand and/or Thai politics as a foreigner in Thailand you will offend a large segment of the population, and there's a very good chance your permission to reside in Thailand will be terminated. 

32 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

This is simply not true.

 

It depends on the person and it depends what they say.  Some Thais could easily think "If even a foreigner thinks that, then maybe it is true", or whatever.

 

Equally, a Thai person living in Germany could make a comment on German politics that makes people change the way they think.

Yes, there's always the exception to the rule.

However, in my experience having a foreigner lecture a citizen on what's wrong with their country very often results in a citizen who disagrees with that sentiment being more offended than if they had received a similar lecture from a fellow citizen. Regardless of whether they are Thai, European or American. 

But if you feel otherwise and think it's constructive for you to publicly lecture Thais on Thai politics, have at it. Maybe you'll inspire someone. Maybe your visa won't be extended. 

5 minutes ago, Thai Visa Member 999999 said:

He didn't criticize the country. He criticized a politician. They're not the same thing. 

That's a matter of opinion. 

I personally agree with you. My feeling is that a very large number of Thais would disagree with you. 

And their opinion is much more consequential than your's or mine in Thailand. I do my best to respect that while a guest in this country. 

6 minutes ago, mikeymike100 said:

Whilst you are correct and I agree with your sentiment, if  Thai person did a similar thing in Germany, or France or the USA or really anywhere in the west, I cant imagine the local law enforcement turning up to warn him or her off.

See my reply to stoner

41 minutes ago, ftpjtm said:

True. And I commend Germany for allowing freedom of anyone to critique their governance. 

 

And I commend Thais using Germany as an example of good governance. 

 

Regardless, I don't think it's a foreign citizen's place to publicly protest against the government of a foreign nation on their soil. And while a Thai wouldn't be deported for protesting against the German government in Germany, I can't believe he would be well received by the majority.