Jonathan Swift

Way back when in the US booze could not be sold on Sundays. "Blue Laws". When governments finally started smelling the money to be made they eliminated that. In Thailand I believe originally there was a reason for the 2 - 5 ban, possibly to do with afternoon naps, or a king's decree, or something Buddhist. I think someone told me once but I forgot

I'm not sure how it works here, the price might have to do with taxes, as it is in Scandinavia, where booze is exponentially higher than the US because of tax. I don't drink wine so I plead ignorance. All I buy here is beer, and that's only when I go out

I think it was a court suggestion

You can't stop the drugs, never could, never will. Name one country that has? First there is always a demand largely due to untreated addicts who can'r stop. Second because there are fortunes to be made making and selling it and no amount of attempts at law enforcement can stop any significant percent of it. If it were possible it would have been done by now. BTW you're not Thai, so why does what the Thai people, politicians, police, and government have to do with you anyway? How do they affect you directly?

Hide your face but let everything else hang out. Well we already know these guys aren't the sharpest tool

Ummmmm, because most of the criminals are foreigners? But, what did you do, time them and collect statistics for a year, you know, collect actual facts behind what you say, or did that just come spilling out of your head like a bucket of waste water?

So next time you might need one of these cowards what will you say then?

It is an objective and accurate descriptive statement of fact, nothing wrong with it. So, to your question, yes, relevat. Why do you ask?

How many of you were there at the trial and saw the evidence and heard the testimony? How many of you are legally trained and educated? Keep that in mind. Some of your opinions may be well thought out and sensible, others' might be untethered to reality. I agree with what the court has decided for now. In the past it was highly unlikely that a cop would ever get convicted for anything like this, but today is the era of video and cops can't lie and perjure their way out of their crimes. having said that, who cares what I think? I didn't come to Thailand to dwell on the God awful behavior of Americans.

I don't know anything about Thai law enforcement, but if they don't want to invent charges like prostitution because of the exchange of drugs and money I think there will be no other prosecutions other than for drugs. Silly really. I think they will all get off easy. I think the cops might think they're setting an example and also posing for the press to show everyone how successful they are at their jobs. Just a press photo op and showcase, really

he's looking at the guy in front. Looks like a special deal in the works

Nahhh, why would he, right? Looking for something new? Seriously, why does it matter? There are a million sites with millions of Thai and Asian content. Well, a friend told me that, 5555

Good to see a happy story for a change. I wish him health and a speedy recovery. Not everyone is fortunate when it comes to go fund me. I started one for a Thai lady whose leg was shattered in a motorbike accident and I got all of $60 US. I sent her $500 US. I guess it matters how many western friends you have and if your big on Tiktok and/or youtube.

Regard your million baht as a nest egg that you can build on for 14 years, not as a fixed amount that you'll have to slowly drain. Once you settle here you will know how much you will need on a yearly basis. based on your budget You should take part of it and invest it where you will get a return on it, and can easily liquidate it in an emergency. I keep my nest egg in the Vanguard High Yield Index mutual fund where it pays me a dividend, but even a money market fund would be better than letting it just sit doing nothing. It won't take more than 2 years or so to evaluate your trajectory and make the necessary plans and changes. You should have more confidence by then.

While your estimate may be true by way of your experience, you're dead wrong to declare "no way". There are many much less expensive options.

The kind of story one wishes one didn't read.

It seems to me that would be the easy way out, compared to life in a Thai prison. Such a sad shame when someone gets involved with someone without seeing the red flags that are always visible in such people. A violent temper is npot something that just appears. Very heartbreaking to see this happen to a doctor who no doubt helped so many people in their lives.

Some people are addicts. Others are just stupid and careless and will always learn things the hard way. Hopefully most of us won't have to wait for advice from a twice convicted 55 year old drug user.

If you don't have anything helpful to say then zip it. What he said is quite credible. I've been here 11 years. I know what it takes and what you can do if you proceed slowly but surely.

That's about $30,650 US dollars. You don't say where you're from as to your pension, I assume it's not the US. 14 years is a long time to be making such predictions. Some of it depends on what kind of visa you get. Obviously you're too young for a retirement visa, so you may have to do the visa runs every month or so, although I never did and I'm not sure how that fits into today's new visa rules. A lot also depends on your anticipated lifestyle and ability to live simply and frugally. I live nicely on about 57,000 baht per month. For visa purposes I add about 10,000 baht to my incoming income transfer to show total income above the 65,000 baht per month retirement visa income requirements. This money goes back around each time. Strictly based on cost of living, if you live frugally, you can live on as little as 1500 dollars/50,000 baht per month. There are people who live on much less. I have a nice large furnished one room apartment in a high rise in Makkasan Ratchatewi Mid town Bangkok which is about 8500 baht per month. Housing can be quite inexpensive depending on where you are. Much of the advice here is based on a higher standard of living than you probably need. Also, once you're here, you may be able to do some kind of work such as teaching. Teaching will give you a long term visa, but you need a basic degree. You can also go to Thai language school and get a student visa. Once here, you can probably improve your situation a little at a time as the years go by. Start by living on the bare minimum you can and work your way up. Don't listen to the naysayers, I've been here 11 years and personally have known people who lived here on very little. Based on what I know personally and people I know personally, you've got it covered, where there's a will there's a way.

Obviously makes a good footrest. Imagine someone's smelly feet in your face all night.

You're not missing anything. There isn't anything you can experience on Hard stuff that isn't better straight. Good for you for listening to your common sense

Stock photo, not the one he's talking about

Your'e comment is disgusting in its bigotry and racist hatred. You don't belong here, so please self deport. Meanwhile, when your comment gets deleted because it is offensive, I am the one who reported it. Yup, point the finger at me, I am proud to stand for the values I was raised on, and which the Thai people embrace. Don't go away mad, just go away.

Depends on how you define woke. They don't have to be "woke" because they have always been largely free of hate and bigotry against which woke came into being into other countries. Thais are inherently cautious and reluctant to rock the boat. In other words, they have nothing to be woke from, besides the fact that western terms don't even translate here. You can't superimpose western thinking onto Thailand. It's sad that in the west the term is used as an insult and treated as a dirty word just because a demographic of people are trying to move forward in ways that another demographic group objects to. And on the "woke" side, obviously there is extremism that undermines otherwise well intentioned attempts at change. But that's the nature of change - the pendulum always swings and overshoots its mark before reversing into the other direction where it also overshoots. I find it sad and disturbing to see this western cultural civil war in which nobody wins raging on, with the casualties being peace and harmony. Thai society has largely achieved those two things, pre-empting those derogatory divisive terms. Peace to you brother, and to everyone.