Jonathan Swift

And it's always the other guys who are the idiots and fools... Let me guess, you don't believe Covid is real, it was a conspiracy, and was faked, right? All the people who died of it, well that was just nonsense, right? It was a golden ticket Willy Wonka hoax. So last question, why are you even here? So that you can whine and complain about it while reaping all the advantages it gives you?

With all due respect - Unless you have a crystal ball into the future you are simply speculating according to your own preferences and biases. In my 50 years in the bar and entertainment business as a musical entertainer and designer one of the most common fatal mistakes is when someone buys a place and tries to reinvent it in a way that ignores the preexisting patronage and history, and simply goes against the grain of traditional business models. ESPECIALLY if they expect to change something from a regular neighborhood bar or venue into an upscale attraction. Overall economic recovery from Covid will take time. Right now is not a good time for anyone to invest in anything, save new smaller venues taking advantage of lower rents in the abandoned former businesses. In the US I've seen as many as a half dozen "rehabilitated" venues in a given year fail in 1 to six months. It got to where I could predict it. It was a tough and unforgiving economy where I lived. The idea that you can take a place like Walking St., established over decades as a particular kind of attraction with its own identity, raze it, put millions into it, completely change its identity and overcome its past reputation, turn it into something it has never been, and then take an "if you build it they will come" position HOPING the people with money will show up is extremely risky - as there is no track record, business model, or template for the success such a thing in that type of situation (Thailand entertainement districts of that type), except those that ended up in failures. How are you going to lure investors? If I was an investor I wouldn't touch it. Is the government going to be willing to gamble with huge amounts of money? It looks like a big fat no. The sure, practical, and sensible thing which doesn't gamble with existing livelihoods as well a huge amount of capital is to let it come back the way it was. There is ample evidence to think that will work. There are enough places still open there to indicate the small businesses would be happy to come back. It will follow the course of Covid restrictions and tourism. As to the well off potential tourists they will come as well and spend their money. Bangla Rd in Patong for example has come back about 80%, and I had a great time there in April. Soi Buakao is thriving, as far as viable business models go, proving that there is a potential clientele which would likely return to Walking St. So, the difference between me and you is I am speaking from direct experience and my intuitive business sense, as well as reliable examples of business models. You are just guessing with wishful thinking and obviously little or no actual experience in that kind of business, no disrespect intended. Cheers.

So why are you still here? Did you get covid? Sounds like you're still very much alive. Meanwhile 1,000,000 dead in the US. But don't let me spoil your fun, complain away.

"These people". Dog whistle term used by racists, xenophobes, and bigots. This isn't a scam the natives "cooked up". It follows standard successful Western textbook examples of scams, all anyone has to do is read about enough of them in the news and you can put one together. Convince a bunch of investors to cough up money with an effective sales pitch and bait, take the money and run. Ponzi scheme. Bernie Madoff. There are always going to be people tempted by the smell of money, regardless of nationality. Meanwhile as to your accusation about Thai people messing up regular work duties, I have found Thai people to be almost universally conscientious and responsible - don't know where your unfounded prejudices and bigotry toward Thais comes from, but very likely you create your own bad experiences with your own attitude and then scapegoat/gaslight others. If a Thai person doesn't like you for good reason, what should you expect but to have your bad attitude reflected back?

Authenticity becomes part of the status and bragging rights. To such people the money is not wasted, since they have plenty of it to waste. No doubt some of these items were intended for discerning Thai people willing to pay. And no doubt they knew the risks of this happening beforehand. So they gambled and lost, and now are whining about it.

Lieland. Seriously? Did you make that up without any help? Razor sharp wit.

I applied and got my non O from a tourist visa in Bangkok about 4 years ago. They converted from tourist to another type of non immigrant, then to non O retirement. It was not well known that you could do this, and there was a lot of contradictory "advice" about it, but I did it.

I agree, close it down, investigate, and then investigate other ranges for safety. Some people enter into businesses who are simply not responsible enough or qualified. Happens in all professions, some deadly and some not.

I think it's more likely that she meant blanks, not knowing what a blank really looks like, somehow the terminology got mixed up in translation.

Something similar to involuntary manslaughter or negligent homicide. She's 50 years old, understands right from wrong, knows that guns kill, culpable negligence. But we don't know what Thai law does with such things. A substantial payment to the family?

"Treat every gun as if it is loaded, never put your finger on the trigger until ready to fire" etc. Maybe she missed the first day of instruction, maybe she wasn't even taking the course and was just there for fun, who knows?

People see guns in movies and video games and think they are toys until taught otherwise

Not funny. How old are you? The autopsy will answer such questions as why a shoulder wound which one would not consider typically deadly would have killed her. It would determine whether an artery was severed and he bled out too quickly, or it might raise valid questions as to the emergency care. If a subclavian artery was hit the bleeding would be unstoppable short of surgery or military level intervention. It would definitively rule on the bullet trajectory, indicating how the shooter was positioned, it could figure in whether the shooter was culpable, and specifically state the cause of death such as shock and repiratory/heart failure from rapid blood loss. Autopsies are also a tool for the education of medical professionals. Now, do you feel just a LITTLE bit smarter and less inclined to joke about human tragedies?

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.