Jonathan Swift

Whatever the reason, the shooter was obviously untrained and unschooled in the most basic handling of firearms, including some basic schooling on ammunition. Like, "you see this lead projectile on the end here? That's what comes out the barrel and can kill you". And like you said, NEVER point the gun ANYWHERE but at a target; NEVER put your finger on the trigger until time to shoot, treat EVERY gun as though it were loaded with a LIVE ROUND. Sadly, as long as people have guns, or even just use them at firing ranges for fun, these tragedies will happen. Some people will just never grasp that these are not just toys.

A Glock 19. An American movie staple and icon. Widely used by citizens, police, and criminals in the US, I don't know about other countries. One can only guess where and to what extent universal gun safety protocols were not followed. Where she got the idea that "dummy rounds" would be present at a gun range, or why she would know and use the term, can only be from media, perhaps from the Alec Baldwin case, and if so much of that story was not understood (language barrier?). Perhaps what she meant was blanks, the press might have mistranslated from Thai. Either way, neither would, or should, be present at a gun range. The American version of this thing is when an instructor handed a full auto machine gun to an 8 year old who could not control it and killed HIS instructor. Yup, Americans can go to gun ranges and shoot machine guns. even 8 year olds. I'm not anti-gun per se, but there are too many careless idiots in the world for there not to be a price paid for gun freedoms.

Yeah, hard to fathom. We've had quite the prime time news education about "dummy rounds" being exclusive to Hollywood/Production propmasters as the only reason for them to exist, per the Alec Baldwin tragedy. As I may say elsewhere, one wonders at what kind of bad luck would cause a shoulder injury to be fatal. My guess would be a severed subclavian artery which is almost directly from the heart and arches across each shoulder. That would bleed out fast. Imagine now how the shooter has to live with this. But as you insinuate, the safety protocols you and I know were likely not the standard here.

thank you for promoting literacy in Thailand, clearly a known issue here on this forum

You can plan on getting boosted at least once a year for the rest of your life. Covid and new variants are here to stay. Get over it, count your blessings, and spare us the inappropriate sarcasm.

Hey bro, I really appreciate that info. Luckily I haven’t incurred any costs that I can’t afford, but also there is a $100 deductible for every visit, and a whole lot of paperwork to submit any claim. Thanks. I’m sure you helped a lot of people.

Project much? I have direct personal in my face experience with real xenophobia and nationalism and racism. As in USA. The Thai people do not deserve your accusation, and one wonders what is really behind your apparent need to vilify a culture who has the unquestionable right to conduct itself as it sees fit, according to their way of thinking, and not that of people like you, who are always playing the whining victims of Thai injustice. So to people like you, would you please stop whining and complaining, count your blessings, and how about contributing to the betterment of Thailand and the Thai people who have welcomed you to their country? When you walk by the poor and homeless on the streets how much do you give? Or do you stop and complain to them about their country?

This is not an informed opinion as I am not familiar with the workings of this particular UK pension. But in the US our social security is based on the principle that every person who pays into the fund over a lifetime is entitled to their fair share, bought and paid for under law, no matter where they live, as a fundamental right as a citizen. It is regarded as a guaranteed contract. It is not considered a benefit to be withheld to penalize or punish someone for living elsewhere, or as a reward for being a flag waving patriot. The patriotic duty of the government is to guarantee every citizen his/her due. However, the health coverage Medicare does not cover overseas retirees simply because there is no international participation with that network. I don’t know if this framework applies to the UK situation, but it seems it would be nice if it did. I don’t think loyalty, nationalism, or flag waving patriotism should be deciding factors, but that is me as an American, and not imposing that view on the UK where I’ve never been. I am not privy to the financial condition of the UK pension fund, but in the US it has been claimed for decades that our social security will bankrupt itself at some vague and moving point in the near future. There have been adjustments such as moving retirement age to 67 from 65, but it is inconceivable to flat out deny anyone for any reason, and it would be political suicide for any leader to even try to change the status quo. .

I don’t know where you get your ideas, but people in the US, primarily low income, would like equal access to affordable health care and education, as well as reasonable sick and maternity leave, etc., following the examples of obvious better systems elsewhere, whether it’s EU or the North Pole. There are plenty of conservatives who agree on this. Your broadly insulting, inaccurate, and malicious reference to “idiot liberals” is ludicrous and the mark of a narrow mind. You’re not painting yourself in a good light. What exactly is at the root of your malice toward groups of people in a country you clearly know nothing about? It’s not a matter of liberal vs conservative, or democratic vs republican, or a matter of wanting to be “more like the EU” across the board, it’s a matter of the greed of the wealthy and powerful vs the working class, who struggle daily just to lead simple satisfying lives and meet their basic needs and to not live in fear. The EU has a good many widely recognized successes on all counts. But I suppose all you can see is what’s wrong with everything. I’m a US citizen of 65 years. How many years have YOU spent in the US? The need for education and what happens when you don’t have one is clear by virtue of your own words. Your malice toward your apparent enemy “idiot liberals” is part of the problem. It’s exactly that kind of divisiveness and ideological warfare which has torn American democracy apart, as well as threatens all democracies of the world, and pits people against their fellow human beings wherever it takes root. . You talk about the Ukraine war but you yourself are clearly at war with those whose ideas differ from yours. You’re not much different from the Russians. Some of us have actual fact based ideas, because we open mindedly observe and fact check before we draw conclusions, and are willing to critique our own ideas rather than argue . People DON’T always get what they vote for, because politicians are expert liars and con artists, in the pockets of oligarchs, and by the time people realize they’ve been conned it’s too late, and so there’s nowhere to turn but to blame their favorite scapegoat, which those politicians are happy to provide. It’s a a trademark of the uninformed to easily take potshots at their favorite scapegoats rather than actually learn about history, politics, class warfare, and socio-economic forces. And would you please explain how you imagine the Ukraine war will “wake some people up”? To what? To think like and agree with you? How does that terrible tragedy have anything at all to do with expat UK pensioners? What it has done is unite NATO, and your beloved EU, in a worthy cause to defend and protect even YOUR freedom and even your right to say dumb things. I’d say everyone is pretty well wide awake, except for perhaps you. Lastly, have you ever done anything constructive to positively affect the world around you in any way? Besides blessing us all with your views? Or do you sit around wasting space doing nothing but complain?

Mandatory covid insurance might cover it, which he likely has as an immigrant. But those policies reimburse after you pay out of pocket and submit bills, which can take forever. That may be the case here, but who knows. I found that many policies are reasonably priced if you shop around - but I think many newbies aren’t aware of this. (By reasonably priced I mean a fraction of the cost of self insurance in the US, which is off the scale ridiculous). I am considering donating to his fund, as life in Thailand has been comfortable for me even on my $1400 / month SSD, and I know what hardship is like. I don’t spend much here, and unlike most Americans I don’t crave a lot of material things, just my guitars and a piano and modest sound system for my profession.

The way it works in many cases, assuming he would have had to have insurance to get in, is you still have to pay up front and file for reimbursement from your insurer afterward, which could take god knows how long. This is what my insurance co does. So no reason to presume anything.

People are insanely jealous of anyone who has a happier life than them, cannot admit it to themselves, and there you are.

Status symbol. "Keeping up with the Joneses".

If you're going to bother to write something why not use a little punctuation so that we understand <deleted> you're trying to say? Because what you wrote was unintelligible gibberish. You wasted your own time.

Never happened. Any other made up stories you'd like to share? Here's a true one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Rebellion

Why do you think this prelude has been announced? Cracking the door open just a bit. It's their way of working up to exactly what you said. Incrementally. Do you think the hi so families are not already part of the discussion? Ha! They are probably leading it. Wherever there is money to be made the seas shall part. Combine the profiteering with the tourism angle and voila! It's just a matter of sorting out the size and distribution of the brown envelopes and the "taxes".

Pales in comparison to the slaughterhouse known as America

Whaaaaaaaaaaa! Taking away people’s happiness! Those terrible Happiness Police! Ludicrous. Anyone whose “happiness” depends on an endless spigot of booze is not mentally healthy, and what they end up with is not real happiness. They just end up drunk. You can get the same effect by hitting yourself in the head with a hammer. Genuinely happy people drink less. I wonder why? Happiness is not the sole property of the rich. It’s curious that you are so jealous of your purported wealthy “drinking parties”. Is everyone else in the world always having more fun than you? Maybe it’s you, not them. Anyway you miss the point of the article. Thailand is entitled to take any steps it sees fit to as a matter of public health. It’s their country, not yours. Those are the rules. Any other inconveniences you want to whine about? Yeah, I bet you could go on all day. Over your endless drunken happy pints, to everyone within earshot, whatever your rant of the day may be. BTW, I enjoy a few pints on occasion, but my “happiness” does not depend on it. As is the case with most people.

Nobody dies or goes blind from "home made" alcohol. It's only when it is unscrupulously spiked with methanol for resale that this happens. The term for this is bootlegging, as in bootlegged alcohol which is NOT the same as homemade. Nobody is going to spike their own booze with methanol. Duh. You do know the difference between ethanol and methanol, right? Most of us do. That's why God gave us wikipedia. Thanks for helping to spread misinformation.

Ya don’t suppose they’re targeting the youth market do ya? Say it ain’t so!

In the US the dog would have been impounded and probably put down. This is so heartbreaking, the kid will be emotionally scarred as well as physically

I suspect that with this story and its photos shaming the guy in public he may change his tune, unless he is just totally stupid and inhumane

There's a reason why they're used as guard dogs

Too shallow and immature to realize it

Ah the ignorance and presupposition