wealthychef

I think that the "global leaders" are elected through similar shenanigans and do not have aspirations of giving power to the people. I would personally have more faith in the local military to do the right thing for Thailand than the UN or whichever "leaders" you are talking about.

I think I hear a NATO membership dangling! ????????

Better cover your face -- seems like something the authorities are going to get involved with? I love that Thais are becoming more activist and involved in pressuring their government.

That's the very definition of senator. Self enrichment aside, the Senate was invented in Rome to give the appearance of democracy and still avoid having to listen to the public. They are doing their job just fine.

OR... you could just respect the election results... yeah, ok, got it. We're fortifying.

Fully agree, it is not my place as a guest in this country to say how it should be run, unless someone asks my opinion. Nonetheless it is worth discussing the impacts or probably outcomes.

Yes, my Thai friend of many years who always has great things to say about her country now says negative things and thinks this is absolutely tyrannical. She is an educated professional, so this is going way beyond just youthful protests now. This is making a lot of average Thai people upset I think. Will they act or just complain like a bunch of Americans?

I guess maybe they forget that others are also free to do things like .... MURDER mwah ha ha

What is he talking about? He clearly has a marketable skill he can sell in jail... nothing to worry about. 5 years will be over in a wink.

That would be awesome! I also have never heard a single clear description of someone falling off a balcony; the stories are always "we heard a crash and there he was on the ground." I can see how it would happen, but always wonder, like we all do -- is this a rash of suicides as claimed or is there a band of mobsters throwing people off balconies?

Probably over time the lower railings are being replaced? I don't know. This is something I noticed literally the first week I was in Thailand, which I spend in Pattaya by the way. I think this tends to be on older buildings. I've seen it in a fancy condo on Soi 8, specifically, and in a hotel near Walking Street Pattaya, those are the only clear memories I have but since it's scary I remember them. ????

Nope, but they exist. Railings that come up to about butt-high. They are dangerous.

It was in Pattaya. Maybe it's more like an everywhere but Bangkok thing? I think Chiang Mai also has this. Sometimes things built for Thais have lower rails and smaller doorways.

I've only been here about 5 years and I've seen plenty of dangerous railings. They come right up to your butt, so that you just will flop over the railing if pushed.

It's not hard when those doing the maneuvers do so at the point of a gun and write and interpret the rules to boot. This reminds me of the US's Democratic Party primaries: there, you can vote all you want, but the Party chooses the candidate in the end using loopholes in the rules which they are continually tightening to avoid any competition.

It's because the politicians make the rules maybe?

I can't say exactly why, but it seems to me at this point that the monarchists are a bit low on support lately. Literally I'm unable to legally state why.

The pickup probably expected him to continue into the center divider and get out of the way. This assumption cost him a crucial second he needed. This is why I'm very defensive when I drive here. If I were the motorbike, I would have waited longer. If I were the pickup, I would have been slowing down as soon as I saw the motorbike at the side of the road. I assume everyone is out to get me. Since neither person here gave any margin for error, the errors were not correctable.

Exactly! I also use the Frogger Maneuvre frequently here. The key words here are "inch out." The motorcycle was too aggressive here. I always take shelter behind another vehicle when possible, and if not, then I make damned sure that cars see me and are responding as I expect before going in front of them.

Gosh, out of the blue, I mean, whatever could have happened to depress tourism last year? It's a miracle!

Actually what does not mix with meth is machetes. 555 Pot mellows you out. How many times do us pot addicts need to explain this to non-users? Yes it can trigger psychosis in those predisposed, but it does not cause people to attack each other with machetes or other things. It makes you sleep and get lazy. Addiction and violence are extremely rare under the influence of the drug, it's an expression of deeper issues in the patient. I would venture to guess that addictions to political news sites or even Facebook cause far more violence than weed. I'd like to see a study of the number of violent crimes committed by pot users vs. non-users. I don't believe I've ever seen that one done.

Reforming les majeste might be one step in a plan to overthrow the monarchy. However, it by no means is sufficient nor is it even indicative of such intention, so I would say this article does not apply. But I'm not a Thai lawyer. Thank gods! :-).

As usual, the oligarchs will always move against popular will and attempt to crush any democratic impulse. Democracy is not profitable. Much better to have slaves.

You just described half the people on this forum. LOL

My understanding is that it's China's policies that are preventing its citizens from traveling, not Thailands. Am I wrong?