Jonathan Swift

9 hours ago, Misterwhisper said:

Even after 30+ years in this country I am still amazed (even a little impressed, actually) about the elaborate, pre-plotted scams these people are able to cook up when they smell money; and lots of it.

 

But ask them them to plan or carry out something that should be within the scope of their regular work duties (and where there is no immediate financial benefit apparent), they all too often mess up miserably. 

 

 

"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? 

6 hours ago, DGS1244 said:

Nothing new, always been this way. Why waste money on designer clothes when copies here are cheaper anyway?

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. 

7 hours ago, up-country_sinclair said:

Is this a new development?

I thought you always had to apply for a non-O outside of Thailand and then do the extension of stay inside Thailand.

 

And just to clarify, a visa exempt is people who get 30 days based on their passport, for example, US, UK, EU, etc...

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. 

31 minutes ago, johncat1 said:

What were bullets, live or dummy doing on the floor ?  Sounds like a very sloppy shooting range with poor safety. It should be closed down until they improve their safety.  Years ago I caught young students throwing bullets at each other at a school Later when they were checked they turned out to be live rounds the students picked up off the ground at a POLICE shooting range. 

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. 

7 hours ago, connda said:

They are real.  They are called "snap caps."  You can use them for dry firing, or they can be useful when working with a student to get them use to clearing an unexpected misfire. 
 

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. 

8 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

She said she thought that it was a dummy round after picking up a bullet mixed with others on the floor, reported Thai Rath. She was taken to the police station for questioning but as yet no charges have been filed. 

 

Huh? Even if she thought it was a "dummy round", why would she be pointing the gun at the instructor, then firing the gun? And why would a gun have blanks at a firing range? So many unanswered questions. Looks like manslaughter to me. 

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?

9 hours ago, darksidedog said:

I guess the instructor never told her the very first rule of never pointing a gun at anyone, whether it is loaded or not.

"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?

9 hours ago, Henryford said:

Even if it was a dummy why did she aim at the instructor and fire?

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

8 hours ago, AwwYesNice1 said:

Or even had the guy pointed anywhere but downrange.

 

 

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. 

8 hours ago, Cabradelmar said:

I own handguns. I shoot IDPA and have been to many ranges with many instructors, and never have I used or even seen a "dummy" round. The gun is either loaded or it's not. Your job is to know which it is. Why would this even happen? This confusion about the round being live or not. Or is the only dummy here the person who shot the instructor.

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. 

11 hours ago, JayClay said:

 

 

 

I mean.... You could at least try reading the article??

 

"If Thailand has a realistic chance to attract the Formula Grand, they will need to find a new location away from the countryside, possibly in Bangkok or even Pattaya."

 

Burriram is not on the cards.

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

10 hours ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

What about the 5th or 6th booster

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.

4 hours ago, Wake Up said:

I was forced to buy the LM Thailand insurance to get an extension of stay for my OA visa.  Could not leave Thailand easily to change to O visa. 
 

to my surprise I got heatstroke and had to go to the hospital to see a neurologist. I showed hospital my LM insurance.  When I checked out I paid 21 baht and LM paid the rest.  When I went back to the neurologist a second time I paid zero and LM paid the bill including prescriptions.   No claim forms no reimbursement just sign the bills at the hospital and LM took care of it. 
 

I have to say for all the bad you hear about health insurance companies, LM on the Thailand approved list actually does pay and makes it easy and most of the Bangkok hospitals are on their provider list.  

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. 

22 hours ago, RandiRona said:

Covid doesnt discriminates between Thai and a Falang unlike this guy. I am all for being a nationalistic but this kind of Xenophobia doesnt bode well for a country which runs on tourism.

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. .

On 5/2/2022 at 6:46 AM, 10baht said:

F'ing social engineering, You get what you vote for. And the idiot liberals in the States want to be more like the the EU. OMG thank heaven it's a slow process and I will be dead by the time it might happen. Maybe the Ukraine War will wake some people up.

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?

19 minutes ago, pacovl46 said:

So what? Accidents happen all over the world in each and every country on the planet.  What I find way more shocking is that none of the foreigners who have these accidents happening seem to them have health insurance!!!

 

Having said that, I hope it all works out for him and that he recovers completely! 

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. 

9 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

Unfortunate accident, and I really hope he will pull through. However, it makes me think it´s just another one without an insurance.

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. 

7 hours ago, Orinoco said:

Unfortunately we are viewed as no more than traitors and scum for leaving the uk and living in Thailand,  that's the government, general population, friends and family, the latter will never say it to your face.

But keep trying, never say never and all that. 

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

10 hours ago, Geoffggi said:

Time to be honest with themselves & the Thai people, a submarine would definitely be a nice to have item but in sincerity is it a NEED to have item? who is the country that would invade Thailand by sea?? 

Status symbol. "Keeping up with the Joneses". 

11 hours ago, TheFishman1 said:

If they can’t get the subs the top brass will figure out another scam so they can get paid a lot of money in offshore for an account the reason they want this deal to go through as we don’t get through absolutely a lot of money corruption at its best TIT

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. 

11 hours ago, Thunglom said:

the answer is not have one. Te military don't trust the navy to have a submarine. The last time they had one they staged a coup. Would have worked but they got stuck in the Chao Phraya river.

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