RoboGeisha

The mom is trying to save face at the expense of her kids. Nobody would have given a thing about this story if the Thai media just would have ignored it. But no, the tiniest sign of injustice from a foreigner towards a Thai and Thailand goes on a rampage. Pathetic amygdala hijack Thai style. I'm sorry for the kids.

Welcome to Thailand, Loren.
I'm surprised he still believes the problem is a fake lawyer.
@SICA: Anyone can be anything as long as the right people benefit from it. I wouldn't be surprised if this lawyer aquires new customers for the machinery right now after Loren has been fleeced. Next.

Maybe it's worth spending a second to think about why such a huge number of Thailand lovers from all over the planet turn to moaners after looking behind the facade.
Shut up or leave is a very common Thai response to "solve" things but it won't trigger possible improvements for Thais and expats alike.

Spot the difference:
Mr Tassapol: "We didn't do it, she did it by herself. Our executives never obligated our staff to perform an act of prostration."
Mr. Fernandes: "My fault. I’m the leader. We need better procedures on both sides. And we will get better."

@HooHaa: You assume my motive for my post is to feel superior. You may want to have a look at the latest stats of road deaths by country (2015): http://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/10/countries-with-the-most-and-least-road-traffic-deaths . Establishing a connection between driving a vehicle and a boat is too far-fetched for you?
@chiang mai: Yes, it is a generalization and I’m surprised you feel the need to point this out. In fact I have Thai friends I feel very save when driving with them. They use common sense and drive with foresight while the vast majority is relying on lucky number plates or amulets only. If it makes you feel any better I may add that a lot of tourists obviously leave their common sense in their hotel safe when driving on Thailand’s roads.
@CoreanoOzzie: Some of my Thai friends and colleagues complain and curse other drivers on a level I will probably never reach. And they get mad far beyond a reasonable extent for marginal reasons. It's scary. You can observe this on daily basis when driving but you obviously have no clue and a lack of perceptiveness.
What is sickening is that there is no learning process in most cases. A simple “I’m sorry” or even more common “it only happened because [insert any reason you can possibly think of]” and a marginal fine will do. There is no thought wasted on how to possibly minimize those accidents and what this carelessness mindset means to the victims, relatives and friends.

You know how they drive motorbikes. You know how they drive cars. You know how they drive vans. You know how they drive busses. You know how they drive trucks. Why should there be any improvement when they drive a boat?

I didn't know that the average "Do you know who I am?" behavior of many Thai "VIP's" is considered a mental disorder.

"We can only ask, again, why petty involvement in illegal drugs must automatically lead to death."
The author may be baffled but speeding may lead to death. You can hit a (police) car, a dog or a pothole. With or without drugs.

What a naive suggestion by "Europe" to promote electric cars in Thailand. You can't really pass or overhaul other vessels at high speed in a sharp curve. You can't accelerate enough when the traffic light just turned red. Useless rubbish.

The "protest leader" and dad of one guy simply failed giving good education and teaching responsibility to his son. The kids made a series of wrong decisions and paid with their life. Call it Darwin's law if you like. Instead of blaming himself for his failure he does what most Thais do. Blame someone else. The cops have a (well deserved) bad reputation but they've done their job in this case and the narrow-minded Thalang community goes ballistic. Protesters say, they only were into Kratom but two "good young men who never got involved in harder drugs". It probably means they were a little bit bad but not really bad boys [sic]. His father states that it was his only one son and what he will get equivalent to his son's life. And there you go... give me money or I make trouble. I lost the income of my drug dealing son and that's not acceptable. Great display of Thai logic. RIP, you two little idiots.

Thailand has raised hordes of selfish and naughty adult brats since a few generations. Having money and connections equals living in an unattended candy store. Thainess has pretty much shifted to a limitless "what's in it for me" attitude even though there are still many Thai people with a big heart and great attitude, young and old. The majority has been brainwashed since early ages that the Kingdom of Thailand is the crown of creation and superior to anything else but failing miserably at developing the ability of self-reflection and initiating an all-encompassing dialogue to tackle and solve problems. These people are too busy pointing fingers and refusing any kind of responsibility. Many completely lost their sense of honor. Face and money is more important than truth and doing the right thing. Laws are just ink on a piece of paper, ready to be bend unquestioned in any kind of direction as needed by Thai people with a good network and sufficient funds. In this kind of society democracy has no base. Yes, you can have an election which may sooth the western point of view but it doesn't mean that it serves its purposes in a democratic way. Try to see the bigger picture. Thailand has moved way too long in the wrong direction to just implement a western style democracy. The Thai version of democracy didn't work that well in the past so why should it work better in the future? I'm afraid that Thailand will need generations to clean up its self-imposed immaturity concerning democracy and developing abilities to look beyond the Thai horizon.

Don't worry Tanada-san. Thais crash so many cars on daily basis that the factory will always be profitable.

- I gave up following this mystery when the police department themselves seemed to be a mystery to solving the case. I need someone to explain to me (If I am missing the main plot here), it seems it was done by some fanatical Uighur group with the so called evidence; however, why would the police department keep saying it is not a terrorist group but revenge for stopping the human trafficking trade?

To make it short and simple: International terrorists operating in Thailand is not good for tourism. The questionable treatment of sending back the Uighurs is not good for the image. Good for the image is the magnificent police work of busting a human trafficking ring in Thailand.

Gee, I got the whole concept completely wrong. My bad! Congratulations for winning the second jackpot!

If you're asking for investment from abroad, looking for exporting Thai products, inviting "high-end tourists" from around the globe and FIT from China... well then you have to deal with being judged by "outsiders". Close your borders if you want to be on your own and close all foreign companies who pay the salary of Thai people who tell you to "shut up or leave".

Even though it is true that many foreigners don't have a clue what's actually going on in Thailand and comparing apples to oranges, there are still some who know Thailand and its problems damn well. Much more than many ignorant and hypocrite Thais who don't even have the ability to discuss different point of views without getting hostile after a few sentences.

He also said that there is no corruption in Thailand but only unlawful service charges. He didn't elaborate either.

"According to Thai news site Khaosod, Mr Walsh had been persuaded to travel to Udon Thani to the visit the family of his girlfriend, who he had met approximately one month earlier in the popular resort of Pattaya.

Apparently, Mr Walsh and his girlfriend were going to announce their plans to get married to his her parents and the rest of the family."

Getting arrested was probably the best thing which could happen to this moron.

How do you know he is a moron? Do you know what went on?

It's an assumption based on the article. If you appear in the Khaosod with a story like this including photo like Mr. Walsh you're probably not the brightest bulb on the porch. Do you know him?

"According to Thai news site Khaosod, Mr Walsh had been persuaded to travel to Udon Thani to the visit the family of his girlfriend, who he had met approximately one month earlier in the popular resort of Pattaya.
Apparently, Mr Walsh and his girlfriend were going to announce their plans to get married to his her parents and the rest of the family."

Getting arrested was probably the best thing which could happen to this moron.

"...EU’s latest move as a good sign that the EU has understood the Thai..."

It actually shows that the EU doesn't have a clue how Thailand (and many other Asian countries) handles issues, especially when a "Thai internal affair" is addressed by foreigners causing problems which haven't been there before from the Thai point of view.
Nonetheless, a good job by the Thai delegation convincing the bureaucrats in Brussels that "all the measures already taken" don't remain empty promises as usual.

I'm happy to learn that Malaysia isn't that arrogant and accepts a foreign police team to help with investigation.

So they're talking about this PU quality?
[media]

...I am amazed that no one has been publicly ridiculing the police chief for his statement the other day asking for software to sharpen images, as seen in TV series CSI. It is only found in Hollywood, yet it seems no one in Thailand is even aware of just how unbelievably dumb this comment was....

There are tools available like SmartDeblur just to name one. I guess they could get a copy at Pantip Plaza for 100 Baht, free if they threaten to raid the shop. They probably don't have this or similar software because the manufacturer refused to issue an invoice of $980 per license.

If you drive NE , and see the pussies with their roadblocks , with mask and sunglasses, i almost have to trow up.

Like a bunch of girls dancing an agogo, that's how they look .

Sometimes I think, are these police guys born that stupid, or did they teach them how to act and behave stupid ?

I recently spoke to a Thai teacher. She told me that the two biggest buffaloes in her class want to become... guess what? Policemen.

I guess it's not that Thailand doesn't have any competent and smart policemen. But reality is that many of their superiors give them a target they expect them to collect every month. If the fail to meet that goal they have a problem. If they are smarter than their superior and "expose" them they have a problem. It doesn't take much to guess which policemen get promoted and which don't. As a result... well... we all know the result.

We all know that maintenance in general is not an advantage of Thailand. What worries me more is that they start accusing each other via the media while they have more important things to do.

Closed for 34 hours to collect evidence and clean the site. Closed for 2 weeks to repair the shrine. Reasonable.