ianf

1 minute ago, Gary A said:

 

The sickness is the people who are blind and cannot see that the country is in horrible condition. Check the definition of insanity that says doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results IS insane.

Horrible condition or not, Jingthing is quite erudite and should be listened to.

9 hours ago, colinneil said:

I got plenty of tissues for all you Trump haters to wipe away your tears   

Bye bye Barrack, welcome President Trump.

 

If it was that simple then you could be right. But it ain't. Your post ignores many issues: Psycho-social amongst others. Anyone with any wider understanding of humanity and the world at large would be understandably concerned at the turn of events that has led this unfit and unqualified person to the Presidency. Sadly people put ideology before common sense, bigotry before human needs (and so on): that applies equally to Isis as it does to right wingers in so called 'civilised' countries.

Wow! Hasn't this monk got anything better to do? Is this Buddhism? If so, leave me out!

Typical J Head article that really says nothing partly because he knows nothing and understands even less.

Thai driving: They do not have driving lessons; They do not understand road markings; The police do nothing whatsoever to police traffic. The country is too corrupt; Thais with money think they own the road, ie an attitude problem; In most cases cars are dangerous and unsafe (blacked out windows, illegal but applied to 95% of the cars on the road. They can move cars but cannot drive them. And the police do nothing at all. As for motorcyclists: They won't wear helmets; they weave in and out of traffic as if they are playing in the school playground; they have no road sense and no awareness of what's going on around them, they drink, they overload their motorbikes with whole families; they allow 10 year old kids on the road driving by themselves. In short: Nothing will change because the underlying attitude is wrong and the police are grossly incompetent. If Head had any nouse he would have explored some of these issues.

Struck? More likely tickled.

1 hour ago, Dipterocarp said:

No I totally understand you point I used to make it myself. Now I understand it to be apologism for all these ignorant assumptions and prejudices. So I have been rhetorically hammered into a position of admitting dual pricing is based on Nationality. You still have this standard is that is  very very difficult to achieve.  Then I'll likely get the Thai price at an official venue if I fight for it showing a Thai ID card because I can't expect people to accept a white face as Thai. Still won't help in all the other informal situations like markets and Transport bigotry. 

 

We have people here for decades raising Thai families and children, paying taxes, not so wealthy maybe, even PR holder.  "Farang Price".  Meanwhile Tiger Woods, a multi-millionaire sports figure with tenuous ties to the Kingdom can rock up every few years and he is entitled to a passport (by law) and Thai prices based only because he happened to tumble out of a Thai woman.  

 

Totally backward and inexcusable cannot be explained away by Nationalism alone.

100% racism. Two friends: One half Thai half American; One half Thai half German. We cycle to a national park: They refuse to pay the farang price. After 10 minutes soft argument they produce their Thai ID's. Got in at Thai price and so did I because they told the park attendant that they cannot charge me farang price.

47 minutes ago, Fairynuff said:

I rest my case!!

Principle?

20 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

Because the choice ended up between Hillary and Trump - not an unknown, homeless guy with a few missing marbles....

I have met people who live on the street who have less marbles missing than Trump.

20 minutes ago, piersbeckett said:

Disrupt as they may, the American quasi, left-wing dream is already shattered: 'There is a time in every man's life when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better or worse as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernal of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till.' - from Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nothing to do with a left wing dream. Or a right wing takeover. The Americans have chosen an absolute nutter, yes a madman as it's leader and the rest of the world is aghast. You only have to look at his track record and his behaviour: It doesn't inspire confidence does it.

57 minutes ago, Luckysilk said:

 

55555555 sure Dude

 

Taking the baht bus ?

 

i seriously cannot think of one issue you lefties scream about that I really care about so enjoy your little get together and don't forget to wear sunscreen. 

Nothing to do with left or right. A lot to do with ability and common decency. Let's face it, Trump is not there because he has an innate ability to manage or to understand wider issues, diplomatic and others. He is not there because of his ability to choose talented people and manage them. He is there because of 1) his money 2) his narcissistic personality and 3) because of his ability to scare others into believing how powerful and able he is. Sadly he is a disaster waiting to happen and in my personal view he has a serious mental disorder. Off course there are people, too many, who are easily manipulated by people like Trump. More fool them but the real sadness is the effect he will have on his own country. In my opinion: A horrible man and I would say this whatever party he was in.

My lovely Thai wife wants to learn German. Does anyone know the best options in Chiang Mai?

Sorry, I posted this request a couple of years ago but for various reasons didn't follow up.

4 hours ago, HiSoLowSoNoSo said:

"Some foreigners are walking down the main street in Pai in bikinis" 

A visit to a German or a Scandinavian beach would be a real shocker for the resort owner from Pai.

There are no temples on Scandinavian or German beaches.

It's great listening to all the farangs here telling us all what is wrong with the Thai drivers. And off course we see incredibly stupid driving every day. I had occasion recently to take the Chantaburi Sa Keow  road and the number of Thai drivers overtaking on blind bends on double yellows was astounding. Here in Chiang Mai I wonder if the Farangs that I see everyday without helmets, with small kids on their motorbikes, with passengers on the back of their trucks (and so on) also post here? Because if they do I would ask them to set an example and modify their behaviour.

On 12/28/2016 at 6:41 PM, ukrules said:

 

DHL has a valid place in this world, it's for urgent worldwide deliveries.

 

It's not really supposed to be for people ordering trinkets off the internet but if you are prepared to pay the fees you can use it for whatever you want.

 

Customs agent services along with VAT and Duty payments made on your behalf cut out a lot of the crap you won't want to deal with but they come at a price.

 

It's a higher end service with a higher end price attached.

 

In my opinion it's a dishonest rip-off.

DHL is the absolute pits. It's the worse way of having something delivered to Thailand. Two recent experiences:

1) Bike frame from Condor Cycles in London: 75% VAT/duty etc. Then another 10% storage and handling. I refused to pay. Eventually a compromise was negotiated because Condor had words with their DHL agents in the UK. We ended up paying 40% overall.

2) Some cycling shorts from Rapha. They ship "free" from Hong Kong. $129 US; Import costs via DHL? $110. I refused to accept. Told Rapha and they refunded the whole cost. My son then bought these in the UK for me and mailed them to me via Post Office. Shipping about $15. Import? $0

If I order anything from anyone I first check if they use DHL. If they do I try to persuade them to use EMS. If they won't then I cancel order.

DHL have added the discount I received from Condor back onto to the product; they added the UK VAT back on and made the price much higher in that way. They can then charge a fortune for VAT & duty on an enlarged price.

NEXT: Hang Dong Post Office steal mail at their sorting office. I only ever get mail now if it is sent signed for unless it's in an official envelope like a bill or a bank statement. Lost so much stuff over the past couple of years.

AVOID DHL AT ALL COSTS!!!!!

31 minutes ago, farcanell said:

 

I'm not really "telling you" anything...... although I'm pointing out that the Thai government might be opting for the financially cheaper option.... like not really providing basic items, like decent amounts of food, internal security, Adequate medical treatments etc, to inmates

 

two or three weeks ago, they had a charity campaigne requesting woman to donate second hand underwear... the system doesn't even provide that.

 

so... providing shrinkage is not really happening.... not really an option.

 

a bullet is, and it's been proved to stop recidivism, which would have protected the boy, in this case.( preventing human suffering, as you put it... just to a different person.... to wit.. the five year old boy)

 

but as always, it's your choice to champion whatever cause you like, such as advocating human rights and releasing a mother raper, to go ahead and continue to harm others, or to protect others... using the options made available by the state... such as a bullet.

 

Obviously releasing the man was the wrong option.

 

Problem with this approach is that you begin to get into selecting humans on the basis of their value to other humans with power. You can't go around shooting people because they are mentally ill, can you? Perhaps you'd also advocate selection on the basis of colour, shape, size, disability, religion and wealth? But you are right that releasing him was the wrong option: there seems to be little alternative to that here in Thailand and elsewhere. Mental health services could also identify the narcissists and sociopaths that grab power in countries like .........(see p94)

8 hours ago, PatOngo said:

Curious to know how much time he did for raping his mother, obviously not enough!

 It's very difficult to comprehend the mentality of such low life's.

Sadly people with mental health conditions don't have much chance in Thailand. Very few places that care for and treat these folks. This many should not have been roaming the streets, as many more are, but inside an institution. When I see headlines like 'depraved' I feel that there is something wrong about peoples' understanding of mental health problems. Some people have physical problems, can't walk or talk or cannot hear. In the same way people have problems with their mental functioning and quite often these are the people committing crimes against neighbours, strangers and humanity in general. So please, less of the 'depraved' headlines and more of a campaign to have people who present in this way treated in secure institutions.

On my trip from Chantaburi to Sa Keow by bicycle recently I was appalled at the number of grey passenger vans overtaking on double yellow lines and on blind bends. I spied no less than three very near misses during my journey. I'm an experienced cyclist so I'm good at defensive riding but .......well, I won't be riding those roads again.

4 hours ago, klauskunkel said:

a government consisting of millionaire generals, admirals and marshals surely is most credible in such a fight. I mean, how could they possibly lose?

Is that any different from any other country? Socialist government in Cambodia?? Look at Hun Sen's lifestyle and wealth? The elite in Lao? Wow! Some good socialists, eh? Trump, the right wing bigot, elected largely because of his wealth and not his brain in the USA? Putin? Mugabe? Every bleedin' country, eh?

Come to think of it: If every 'alien' here followed the procedure exactly as required by law then the whole system would totally break down as Immigration would be overwhelmed. Shall we create a fun scenario?

14 hours ago, montypython said:

im coming for day time excursions, treks, animal sanctuarys and cooking classes but would also like to have a few beers at night time (not gogo bars, regular bars )

Hi: The best bar is CU Corner in Soi 1 which is on the opposite side of the moat from Loy Kroh; Not a girlie bar but great music played by peeps sitting around a table and jamming. The regulars are really great folks: Aussie, UK, USA and so on.

Before I vote for you please tell me what colour shirt you are wearing.

8 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

 

I find your comment incoherent and have difficult understanding your point of view.

 

What rule of law is missing. Please explain. I see rules of laws being used quite extensively to deal with government and even got 2 prime ministers dismissed from their incumbent posts.

 

Thaksin set himself as dictator?? That must be the strangest statement I heard when he only an elected official for 4 years and can be deposed by the people. Can you seriously think that the existing establishment and the military will allow that when a whims of that desire will meant LM and almost a death sentence. Come on, be serious Lanf.

 

And you really lost your self by bring up that part about hierarchical way. What has that got to do with democracy. It is old Thai patronage tradition which existed throughout history until the current times. Red bull and rampant corruption; blame that on the weakness of the judiciary and the effectiveness of the RTP. It also happen in developed countries. What that got to do with democracy.     

Both you & Jag are well-known supporters of Thaksin. Your responses and rudeness reflect this.

5 minutes ago, JAG said:

 

Three elected governments brought down by "interventions" (two of them being military coups) in less than a decade. Elections blocked  to create the conditions for a military junta to take power. Removal of the franchise and suppression of freedom of speech and the expression of political views. All to prevent a government being elected. All to suppress an existing democracy. To deny that is at the very least short sighted. As for stupid and prejudiced, well we can decide that on the basis of your posts. Post #16 could be a start: "nothing to do with the military..."

Jag: Elections per se a democracy they do not make. Miss the point? Hun Sen had an election in Cambodia: Over 90% voted for him. Tell me, is Cambodia a democratic country? Freedom of speech and opinion under Thaksin's 'democracy'? Well his drug war managed to wipe out a number of his political opponents. Democracy under Thaksin - or under Abhisit for that matter ? No way. No rule of law in Thailand. No democracy.