Jonathan Swift

Funny thing about that brown envelope cliché, I was getting paperwork at my bank and they put it in a big brown envelope and so I said to the teller, "ohhh, brown envelope, dee mak" and pretended to hand it under the counter, and she completely cracked up - I had wondered if they knew.

In today's world amputees begin rehab relatively soon since it helps with the overall recovery and result. The longer a person is off their feet the longer it takes to recover. Meanwhile bear in mind that these stories are not written by medically educated people who then make their own interpretations of what is said

The original story discloses that the guy has made a small fortune doing this, and it's quite likely that suddenly everyone now wants to wet their beak. We all know that porn sells, every Thai person knows there's a cottage industry here for it and that most hotels are brimming with porn creators, he must have committed a big blunder to attract the wrong kind of attention. Could be he picked the wrong hotel to do this, could be he copped an attitude toward the manager, maybe made a ridiculous amount of noise, could be he should have cleared it through the manager first and cut him in for a brown envelope. I don't think he's at any real risk, but now the gov't has a poster boy to make an example of and present this as a show case for the sake of tourism. I think they'll look at his income numbers, demand receipts and tax returns, bank account balances, and then come up with an appropriate "fine" with no further jail sentence, he may be deported or banned, or maybe not, maybe they'll want him to continue to bring them more revenue.

Exactly. There is a billion dollar porn industry going on in hotels all over Thailand, the difference here is this guy managed to attract the wrong kind of attention by making noise, making himself too visible, or otherwise screwing up. I suspect that the 5 years threat was trotted out prior to a negotiated settlement. That's what police did to me when I had a minor incident and got caught with pepper spray. First they emphasized how long a sentence I might get, then they said they'd rather not do that, then we negotiated a "fine" which I paid with no qualms, since I already knew how the game was played.

"Your air"? Really? That's how you think? Anyone you don't like is stealing "your" air? (yes I understand that it is a figure of speech, duh) What has this kid done that could possibly affect you in any way? So he's another dumb kid making big mistakes in the wrong place. He may even truly be an a-h. There's no way to know exactly his state of mind, he could be posing for sympathy, or he may be a real suicide risk. I was jailed once in the US with no one to bail me out, based on a false accusation, and the despair I felt was crushing, and though I said nothing I was in fact suicidal. I had a complete emotional breakdown by the time I got out. We can only speculate, but that may very well be how he feels. Happens all the time, why do you think they take your belt and shoelaces when you get jailed? This kid has parents, family who care about him and they don't deserve to see him die. I would say that if he's not otherwise prone to depression that as time passes his suicidal impulses may pass. Strategically, going public with a suicide threat might help prevent him from disappearing into a Thai jail indefinitely, which is a reasonable goal. And what he did was a victimless crime, for which I hardly think the death penalty applies. If you're that twisted up about people you claim superiority over stealing your air that you would wish death on someone for a misdemeanor, perhaps you're the one whose humanity ought to be questioned. Based on that I would place you a few rungs lower than him on the ladder. And you can be sure I'm not the only one who views your comment that way. Making light of the topic of suicide speaks volumes about your character and values. But the big difference is, we're not worried about how much of "our air" you're breathing, we don't think that way.

Um, in a word, no. I've asked the same question ever since I came here 10 years ago and saw the silliness of foreigners. Myself, I studied the place and culture for quite a few years before I came and I had no real problems except for a very few that were due to some (ya think?) misinterpretations of my surroundings. It's always baffling to people like us who are blessed with common sense when we see people who apparently have none.

There are a lot of statins to choose from. I’ve been on atorvastatin for years. But why are you bringing these questions here? You need to be asking a doctor.

Maybe some good samaritans from the construction trade can be found. Or a good lawyer. Or maybe the construction company might fear publicity and cooperate. My heart goes out to them, but at least he wasn't hurt or killed

You can buy protectors that keep leaves from clogging such things

Study history and you will find your answer. It's not limited to Thailand, btw.

I get that, but tourism is so often waved around as the major Thai industry yet the impact of the likelihood of more foreign money spent in Thailand as a result seems to be being ignored. An economist I'm not, these are my limited observations. 10 years ago the baht was the same, about 35/dollar, went down to 29 for a while and now it's back up. The cost of oil had been quite low in the US, I don't know about here, and now it has risen but not overly so. To me these seem like normal market fluctuations. I would think that other economic problems such as loss of revenue due to Covid, loss of jobs, and any ensuing problems with inflation would be in and of themselves more significant that the exchange rate. But again, these are the observations of an expat with a limited scope of 10 years here. But all of that windfall revenue from cannabis sales ought to fix everything, right?

Favorable exchange for the dollar means more dollars will be spent in Thailand, so what's the problem?

Why is this writer tying fluctuations in the exchange rate to the political squabbling? Nonsense. Rates rise and fall for many reasons, but petty local politics is not one of them. Not unless an all out revolution occurs. Does Joseph O'connor fancy himself an economist? What's his agenda?

Maybe but unlikely. Highest it's been in two years is 38. It's been at 34 most of the year. But what these people aren't talking about is that the favorable exchange rate means more foreign money pours in.

He said nothing of the sort. Everyone is entitled to a fair trial. Until then a defendant is not legally guilty. The press is neither judge nor jury. Is this hard for you to understand?

It was non verbal diarrhea

In a formal setting, faecal matter should always be served on a plate.

Ordinarily sunlight would pose no risk whatsoever, this tank must have been grossly over pressurized, and whether the sun triggered it or simply someone handling it, it was a bomb waiting to go off. Whoever said that about it being out in the sun was speculating and didn't know the facts, nor do we.

You're right. I never heard of it either, probably because 99.999% of them ARE tested and certified regularly. I remember seeing the inspection tags on them at school when I was a kid. I think rules were probably broken in this case, it would take a lot of pressure to split one of these open like a can of sardines. What a sad thing. A lot of people must be distraught over this.

Metal fatigue, faulty valve, over pressurized, etc.

Absolutely not. I've never even heard of an actual case of this happening and I'm 66 years old. These are supposed to be inspected on a regular basis, at least in civilized countries, and changed out when necessary. Very likely it was long out of date and had corroded at the seams or at the valve. Just buy from a reputable supplier and check the brand name. Personally I would trust Homepro.

What we call "whack a mole". Same everywhere, same with drugs, prostitution, always been that way, always will be.

And a sticker on the knock off saying "my real one is at home, ask to see a picture of it"

Also, listen to your lawyers and pay them.

The head is a vulnerable place, as you know, all it takes is a hit on a hard surface or even a punch. Glad you were fortunate in your accident. When walking in Thailand I constantly remind myself to be aware of my surroundings, especially those tiled sidewalks when they are wet with unexpected puddles.