jing jing

2 hours ago, Kieran00001 said:

 

Buying things from farmers for more than they are worth happens all over the world, opposition parties may like to criticise it by calling it populism but other praise it for how it keeps the vital farmers afloat.  The EU does it in the form of subsidies, one in five of the biggest subsidies going to someone on the Times rich list.  Anyway, did Thaksin line his pockets with billions?  I recall him starting politics already a billionaire, an attempted confiscation and the courts giving him back his money that turned out to have been his all along!

Difference being, most voters in the EU aren't poor farmers being offered double the market price for their one and only crop.  Comparing Thailand's socioeconomic situation to that of members of the EU may be where your analysis begins to go wrong.

Also, some folks may find it illuminating to read a biography of Mr. T in order to better understand the origins of his wealth and the particulars of his administration.

3 hours ago, z42 said:

So many detractors of the current regime seem to think their blatant corruption and outright criminal behaviour makes Tingluck some kind of heroine.

It simply doesn't stack up imho, she was negligent in performing the role of PM and was little more than a puppet for her criminal brother Thaksin.

The fact she ran says a lot about her moral courage. On more than 1 occasion she claimed she would be ready to die for democracy, yet at the first sign of a major hurdle she bolted off to join her criminal brother.

 

The disgusting nature of Prayuth's govt is undeniable. However YS has shown her true colours here. 

Thailand has some wonderful young figures such as Netiwit, Ja new, Pai Dao Din and others.. What potential Thailand could meet if people like that got a real platform to make a difference. The shin rein is over, but a whole population will now be looking for new faces. I would prefer to be hopeful than cynical for the next chapter

Love this post.

1 hour ago, ChidlomDweller said:

It's not 50/50 at all among the foreigners I mingle with (mostly mid-career professionals).   Nearly all support the democratic process, which is a very different thing from supporting Yingluck.  I don't know a single foreigner here who believes the current junta represents anything other than a power grab.   You just get a very vocal minority here (and Thailand attracts probably more very weird men than any country) so that's useless for determining the relative size of the camps.  

Problem is, with a mostly poor and uneducated electorate, whoever offers the most generous compensation for their vote will win every time.  Doesn't matter that it's all just a lie told to get into power; any politician who was honest would never stand a chance of being elected here.

The whole charade is so predictable if you stop to think about it, yet most westerners can never really quite fathom how things work here.

12 minutes ago, Nickymaster said:

On CNN: She left two days ago for Dubai

 

 

 

No wonder the government is unaware of her whereabouts; they don't watch CNN.

Such an utterly predictable, typically Thai approach to conflict resolution.

Anyone who sees either side in this struggle as virtuous or "right" is, to put it diplomatically, rather gullible.

11 minutes ago, greenchair said:

Well no, when you know that you did the crime and your lawyers know you did the crime and you realise you are not going to get away with it over a technicality and reached the end of the road. 

You do what you should have done in the first place, do the time that fit the crime. 

They are not going to win. 

Don't push the courts. 

They will provide the death penalty if forced. 

These lawyers will have had 4 chances to have their sentence commuted but continue to fight with their fantasy . 

That is ridiculous 

Anyone with even the slightest familiarity with the Thai criminal justice system knows that defendants, especially poor ones, very seldom plead not guilty to whatever crimes they are accused of because they know full well the futility of such a choice.  Not only will the required evidence for a conviction be produced by any means necessary, but the penalty will be far greater than if one simply cops a plea, begs forgiveness, and/or offers restitution.

Only someone naive enough to believe that a confession - or any police testimony - has the same credibility in the context of the Thai legal system as in the West would put any faith at all in the verdict reached in this case.  That would be the very definition of naive.

52 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

I wouldn't forgive anyone who said "so what" to such a gross miscarriage of justice. 

Nor would I, back in the west, but in these parts it's pretty much the normal course of events.  To expect otherwise would only result in disappointment.

44 minutes ago, JLCrab said:

I do not think that the Thai prosecution -- especially in a capital murder case -- proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt ... and so what?

Precisely... there has quite possibly been a miscarriage of justice resulting in 2 innocent men being condemned to death.  Not so unusual in the annals of legal history, and most Thais could be forgiven for thinking "so what?" especially when the victims of said miscarriage happen to be Burmese.

30 minutes ago, JLCrab said:

The only hearsay and gossip I believe I have mentioned is that of those who say there are persons on Koh Tao who know and have corroborable evidence as to who the real killers are but (if you really understood how things are in Thailand and especially on small islands) you would know that such persons will never come forward at risk to their lives and livelihoods.

Such hearsay and gossip, as you call it, is no more or less reliable than that "evidence" which was used to convict the 2 defendants in this case.  Any person capable of critical thinking would naturally be highly skeptical of the verdict rendered.

1 minute ago, JLCrab said:

If they are sentient human beings, yes. But then again you would have to assume that there are such people.

It strains credulity, having any knowledge of Thai ways, to imagine any local stepping forward to accuse an "untouchable" member of the Thai elite - presumably a cold blooded murderer - out of some altruistic desire to see justice done.  Any sentient Thai person who values his life and that of his family should know better than that.  

This isn't like a Hollywood movie where a good person steps forward and the bad guys get their comeuppance in the end.  

There have been far, far too many cases in this country where the guilty parties have walked free and everyone knew it.  Why does this particular case come as such a surprise to you?

13 hours ago, JLCrab said:

It is now almost 3 years since the murders and there has not been one person publicly or anonymously to come forward to say that they saw the would-be perp on the island the night of or days before the murders or that anyone saw anybody harassing the late Ms. Witheridge.

And exactly what conclusion are you able to draw from this most significant observation?  If it's true that certain people who may know the truth have been threatened to shut up or else get themselves and their families killed, would you really expect anyone to take that risk on behalf of 2 Burmese migrant workers?

On 6/27/2017 at 2:39 AM, joebrown said:

The mother allegedly kept account books for the prostitution ring. I wonder whether those books and all the pages therein can be accounted for since her detention? 

Possibly the true motivation behind the arrest?

On 12/24/2016 at 8:06 AM, Heng said:

 

Because of the fact that they (the mother of the wife and the wife herself) tried to cover their tracks in order to still be 'family members' of the abuser's wealthy family  (less the abuser of course)      That in my opinion is murder and not self defense.    The wife could have easily gone the self defense route (but that would also mean having to go back to being plain middle class)...  but chose the conspiracy/hiring of an assasin route.   IMO all five parties (the abuser if he was still alive, the assasin, the wife, the mother in law, and the attorney who hired the assasin on behalf of the wife) involved deserve to be in cages.     

 

 

Absolutely, killing her abuser was not enough; this was more than simple self defense.  She needed to extract further payment to even the ledger.  

Guys from money aren't invincible after all, I guess - even in Thailand - especially where a beautiful woman is involved.

I think you are spot-on.  Of course, asking 75% might not be a bad idea :)

Given the total lack of any corroborating evidence, it's anybody's guess what really happened to the drunken, loudmouthed old codger.  Likely as not he was roughed up by an indignant ladyboy for stumbling off without paying for services rendered.  Nobody here can offer any evidence to the contrary, it's all speculation, so believe whatever suits you.  I rather like my version of events :-)

Sad to see this type of accident happen again, RIP to the young man and condolences to his loved ones.

In my opinion, based on over 40 years of riding high performance street bikes and almost 15 years of motorcycling in the Kingdom - given prevailing Thai road conditions and local driving habits - any sportbike over 250cc displacement is nothing but a disaster waiting to happen.

Nevermind liter bikes - most 600cc sportbikes available today are capable of reaching 160kph in little more than 10 seconds with just a twist of the wrist.  Some folks will say all that power need not be used - all that is needed is a bit of wrist control - but in the real world that's not how it works.  That feeling of rapid acceleration is too seductive, even intoxicating, and very hard for anyone, let alone young or novice riders to resist.  This is not a video game, and the margin for error on a high performance sportbike is razor thin.

Eventually a rider will give in to the temptation and find himself going way too fast for the conditions.  It happens before you know it.  Most local motorists' judgement is not calibrated for vehicles that go from a standstill to 100 kph in the blink of an eye.  All it takes is for one inattentive person to pull out from a cross street after it's too late to stop or change course, and boom:  Game over.

Maybe there should be a restriction that bikes over 250cc be sold only to those with at least ten years of licensed driving experience and no record of driving while intoxicated.  Not a perfect solution, but perhaps a good start?

10 minutes ago, carmine said:

Theres no doubting bad behavior on the part of an element of foreigners here, thats not in question.  All i'm saying is the increase in such behavior on the part of locals seems to be increasing.  It used to be the case here that if you kept your nose clean trouble would not come your way but as the times roll by i really don't think thats necessarily the case here anymore.

 

Theres also that old saying; it takes two to tango!

No question about it; the tourist areas of Thailand are more dangerous today than ever before.  I can think of several contributing factors, such as ever increasing substance abuse (especially meth-based drugs) and related gangsterism, increasing nationalist sentiment, simmering resentment towards westerners, who are now generally perceived as arrogant, vulgar, and disrespectful, and so on.  This is why, whenever I am out and about and see so many red-faced foreigners behaving exactly that way, I find myself feeling that maybe those folks are the problem -- not the Thai people they seem so determined to aggravate.

Let's hope this young lady is still alive, somewhere, somehow, but after all this time the odds are not in her favor.

Normally when someone drowns, their body will float to the surface and wash ashore within a few days.  My gut feeling is that something else happened here.  Perhaps those she trusted to take her out to a dive spot had other ideas.

It's all speculation at this point.

5 minutes ago, carmine said:

I've lived here longer than you and neither have i been involved in trouble, but, arrogance, excessive drinking and trouble causing is not confined to foreigners as you seem to imply so don't tarnish one side when both are potentially as bad as one another

Fair enough.  But please, take note of how many responses to these sort of topics are knee-jerk defenses of the poor innocent foreigner victim, when in fact there was usually substantial provocation leading up to the end result.  How is it that you and I have managed to stay out of trouble for so many years, yet others come for 2 weeks and end up in the hospital straight away?

34 minutes ago, carmine said:

And you have clearly learnt very little from your visits.

To the contrary, it would seem the gentleman actually comprehends the essence of how to comport himself in order to enjoy the best possible experience on Koh Samui.  Are you suggesting he should have learned to be more like the Dutchman?  Discretion is the better part of valor, especially around those islands down Surat Thani way.

6 minutes ago, carmine said:

I'll restrain from referring to your post as half witted because you've clearly forgotten that two vile thugs should be arrested for attempted murder for twice stabbing a person.

 

BTW, can you explain to posters how you have arrived at the assumption that "every social norm" was violated?

 

Can you also explain how stabbing someone would not be labelled as a violation!

 

Please leave Thailand and don't come back, we don't need the likes of you, thanks

After over 12 years living in the Kingdom, I've yet to be involved in a serious altercation with anyone, Thai or not.  I've spent more than enough time on the islands in the Samui archipelago to understand how things can go wrong very quickly for foreigners behaving badly there.  Arrogance and excessive alcohol consumption can easily become a lethal combination.

Never would I defend the criminals accused of stabbing of an unarmed man, but I do see how the poor attitude displayed by many tourists leads to their demise at the hands of those they so drastically underestimate.

16 hours ago, Paruk said:

Where did I say it was "Good Thai Culture"? I suggest you read again, again and again until you get the picture, if you know what I mean?

They'll never get the picture.

Travel halfway around the world, violate every social norm in a culture about which you have not a clue, expect the locals to bow down and pay respect to your magnificence, then take it upon yourself to educate them as to their error of their ways.

Then be angry you ended up in the hospital instead of thankful you're still alive.

Sadly typical western attitude, yet some still wonder why they keep taking a beating.

Reading between the lines of the OP, it would seem that the German tourist with passenger aboard was riding unusually slowly, creating an obstacle for motorists behind him.  He was probably in the middle of the lane instead of the far left, where anyone intending to turn left is supposed to be.  Anyone who's ever driven in Pattaya should know that motorbikes frequently use the gap on the far left hand side of the roadway to circumvent traffic, and you need to check very carefully for bikes undertaking on the left before entering that zone.

Of course, there's no disputing that the rider who was speeding and collided with a slower vehicle from behind was at fault, was probably driving too fast for the conditions, and is guilty of reckless driving.  The fact remains that normally he would have gotten through unscathed but was caught out by a tourist driving erratically and making an unexpected maneuver that local motorists would probably not attempt.

I ride a very lively 150cc 2 stroke "baby Ninja" that hates to be ridden slowly, so am constantly slicing through tight spaces, maneuvering past slower traffic at the pace of an average Pattaya Pizza Hut delivery driver.  (For those who don't know what that means, it's about as fast as you can go through traffic and live to tell about it.)   To increase your chances of survival, I recommend you assume that nobody ever sees you coming, know that other drivers will always do the opposite of what you would expect, and in all circumstances be prepared for the worst case scenario.

In my experience the most dangerous drivers in Pattaya are usually foreigners, because they tend to drive according to the customs of their home country and fail to respect the local customs.  To make matters worse, they often feel obliged to vehemently "educate" the local drivers as to the error of their ways.  Even worse are the foreigners who've stayed here awhile and have gone too far in their assimilation, taking all the dangerous Thai habits to a ridiculous extreme.  I saw one deranged fellow this morning - shaved head and belligerent look on his face - overtaking a long line of traffic on the wrong side of South Pattaya Rd. in his new pickup truck, forcing oncoming traffic in his path to either swerve out of his way or collide head-on.  Embarrassing at best, lethal at worst.

2 hours ago, Rough Rider said:

Tony Kenway was out on bail for the crimes that he and his x partner Toby James Nelham was involved by scamming people to invest money in Thailand when he was shot. He was supposedly to appear in court later in January 2017. A Lot of evidence  about the case was lost when he was shot. That is why Toby James Nelham is being accused as the mastermind behind the assassination.  

There is a theory, currently favored by the police, that an 8 million baht debt was the motivating factor behind the killing.  If this story is to be believed then it is done and dusted, mystery solved, case closed and no reason to pursue the investigation any further.  Very convenient for the police, who can always be relied upon to stop short of implicating anyone of real influence.

One might suspect the upcoming court date was more likely what sealed Mr. Kenway's fate, but that would raise the inconvenient question of who (besides Mr. Nelham) might want to guarantee his silence.  Obviously, the police will never publicly pursue any such line of inquiry.