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

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. I assume you're referring to this? 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.

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.

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.

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.

See my reply to stoner

It is "meaningless" to the Thai political system because as a non citizen he can't vote and is not empowered to alter it. But while meaningless to the Thai political system, having a foreigner publicly criticize their country is offensive. A situation not unique to Thailand.

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.

The majority of us probably agree with his political opinions. BUT! Thailand is not his (or my) country. We're just guests who can't vote. Our opinion is meaningless to Thais, in the same way that a non citizen Thai's opinion of German politics is meaningless to Germans. No sympathy for him if his visa isn't extended.

I think I have her convinced that I'm not a criminal

I acknowledge that and reflected it in my first sentence. Meanwhile the Chinese are furiously trying to perfect MRNA technology. The people have been largely satisfied with or at least tolerant of the politburo because the economy was growing in leaps and bounds. They may not be so ambivalent if Xi tanks the economy. And I'm not so sure that the politburo doesn't care about the economy. They want their riches to increase, not decrease. Therefore Xi may lose politburo support of if he tanks the economy. The majority is happy with the status quo when things are rosy. Xi is doing many things that will cause long term damage to the Chinese economy.

I'd take Thanathorn over Prayuth in a heartbeat.

Jomtiem Immigration lectured my wife on this being why it's imperative that she file a TM30 form informing Immigration of my whereabouts in a timely manner. When the wife tried to express the absurdity of that explanation she was told to watch a video explaining the dangers of harboring foreign criminals.

I agree. Plus China still refuses to buy the foreign sourced vaccines that are superior to their own. IMO a combination of MRNA vaccines plus immunity by exposure to COVID has gotten the rest of the world past the pandemic. China is going to face a spike in infections when they finally do open, which will be worse if they don't use better vaccines. I believe they'll restrict travel until they develop their own MRNA vaccines and are able to produce enough to vaccinate the majority of their population. I also think this has been immensely destructive to their economy. I was formerly involved in the textile machinery business with many customers in China. It's very difficult to generate new business without personal visits from buyer. Repeat orders can be dealt with via the internet, but buyers constantly require new fashions and products which is why places like Pratumam exist. I'm sure many other industries are the same. Not to mention the difficulty in machine maintenance if technician visits are hugely burdensome. This extended shut down will dampen Chinese business opportunities for years. Xi us an idiot on that front and many others

Google is your friend. Lots of videos found when searching "Natt Chanapa"

In Asian centers of US cities there are "Thai style" gold jewelry shops which sell 24k gold jewelry. They'll buy Thai made 23k but obviously at a discount. But yes, typical western 14k gold jewelry is horrifically over priced junk in comparison what's sold at the thousands of Thai gold shops.

Yes, horrific to watch western retirees spending their retirement savings in Thailand. More needs to be done to encourage them to move on and spend their money elsewhere.

The Mountain B fire caused the PM to recommend Police raids of entertainment venues for $afety in$pection$. Will this prompt him to recommend inspection of all government ministry buildings?

Excellent point. Same in many venues, for example Villa Market on Second Road Pattaya. Back entrance locked for COVID checkpoint consolidation. How about buildings that are not entertainment places? How about government offices? No need for enforcement of safety regulations in those places? How many were forced to have a single entrance/exit due to COVID regulations?

So they had a great, highly productive call. But Biden failed to mention an imminent visit which is controversial enough to completely negate all progress made. Excellent strategy ????

Air France uses 3-4-3 seating on the 777 they fly to BKK. Also, per seatguru.com some BA 777's use 3-4-3 seating. Most airlines are moving to it as they refresh interiors. And if that wasn't bad enough Airbus is now offering 3-4-3 seating in the narrower A350 ????

Should do wonders for the quality of agogo bar staff...

Very conscientious of them to protect the wildlife in that remote out of doors location with masks.

Definitely worthy of a 12 month "State of Emergency".

When checking in at any Thai hotel you must show a Passport/ID card. I agree that the idea is so stupid that it will never be implemented, but if somehow it is they'd presumably determine price via Passports