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Interesting article helps explain the reasoning behind assets seizures from Oligarchs. "Legal experts say that generally, the sanctions themselves don’t allow countries to simply take ownership of oligarch’s boats, planes and homes. Under the sanctions announced by the U.S. and Europe, members of the Russian elite who “enriched themselves at the expense of the Russian people” and “aided Putin” in his invasion of Ukraine will have their assets “frozen and their property blocked from use.” (source CNBC.com Wed 9 March 2022, "Here’s what happens to Russian oligarch yachts after they’re seized" ) Interesting strategy that has been adopted not only by the US. Anything that can be used as a tool to stifle Putin and any influential powerful people, means another way to hopefully aid in stopping this really disgusting war. personally talking to a Ukrainian recently, he told me of his harrowing escape with his wife and kids, his house blown up - no insurance, his neighbor raped, his other neighbor murdered by Russian soldiers. The sadness on that poor man's face told it all. Just a regular guy. Using rape and murder to terrorise citizens is an old Russian war tool (the pedophile soldiers allegedly raped my father's young child sister in WWII after entering Berlin). Incidents of raping and murdering innocent citizens in Ukraine have been reported. Plus bombing hospitals,.schools, destroying whole towns. A##h###s. To smile and take happy snaps of a potential arm/ally of the Putin regime is in really bad taste IMO. Lots of ignorance and/or indifference to what is going on and how things work. I don't care of the "oh, but what about ...." defence. The topic is Ukraine and what's going on there right now.

If no consent, then unless a court application can be made to mandate it, it appears it's useless.

People like this lured by selfish greed are aiding the continual extinction of species, that future generations will only see (only if interested) in old documentaries and online. Certain Asian cultures have a "me first" mentality and if that means killing and eating the last existing species on the planet for just them, that is fine by them. Sustainability and conservation is not in their vocabulary.

Great news! When most call scammers get away with ruining the lives of millions of people worldwide, it is really good to see a sting on one of these many dodgy call centres and arrest these lowlife pieces of garbage. Unfortunately, most of these call centres are located in places around the world where they often operate with impunity, due to corrupt paid-off officials, little to no law enforcement, lack of resources, jurisdiction issues. Also, individual crimes often do not meet financial thresholds to initiate investigations by Federal police forces, so countless victims' crimes are never investigated. Lots of great videos on YouTube of hackers accessing the scammers call centres and identifying their locations and even identities of the criminals. These call centres range from small operations to whole floors in office complexes being run by very wealthy criminals. I have a family member who suffered financial losses (Microsoft scam) after being scammed. Often the target market are the elderly and those not tech savvy. Low life scum. Hope they get prison terms. I am surprised that some of these call centres have not been targeted and bombed yet.

Desperate to impress others by showing off their riding skills, 'bravery' for riding fast, making noise to attract attention. In their minds it almost seems we all stand on the side of the road in awe, clapping and cheering and waving or furiously mas*ur*****g from being in instant love. Truth is the opposite.

I just don't bother going to places that charge dual pricing. yes, it means I may miss out on seeing certain attractions in Thailand, but I won't lose sleep over it. We all have different attitudes and principles when it comes to how foreigners are treated. I just don't like being ripped off and it irks me enough to not go. Others will take it in their stride and pay the extra. Whatever you want doesn't bother me and vice versa. But the national parks and other attractions are the ones to lose out if there are enough foreigners avoiding the places. However, I suppose the thousands of tourists who get herded in and out of those diesel fume spilling coaches just pay whatever is asked. Hospitals on the other hand really annoy me as they are an essential service and our hand is forced in circumstances where we may be injured or fall ill and our insurance does not cover all aspects. The triple tiered pricing is terribly unfair. Our bodies are anatomically the same as other Thais. There is no need to charge us more. It is a greed based system.

I have to admit I sort of like the fact that Thailand have been very possessive of land ownership and kept foreign ownership out. Other countries are seeing the issues already with the extent of problems faced with foreign ownership. Example - Thailand's largest neighbour - China would see a massive influx of investors buying up Thailand and this pushes up market values and also agricultural land being used to export directly to China, with near nil benefit to the Thai people. Chinese have bought up a lot of land elsewhere and pushed up market prices, as well as excluding access other than Chinese. Personal experience in Australia were auctions where Chinese present (or their agents) would outbid everyone else and buy up premium waterside properties and farmland. Another way for Chinese mega millionaires to move their money out of China out of reach of the CCP. I agree with not having Casinos in Thailand. With Casino issue, I personally hate them. They are huge problems in countries that at least have reasonably low levels of corruption. They are basically open slather for money laundering, mafia, gangs, low to high level criminal entities (individuals to organised). The individual punter who gambling away criminal proceeds basically is a very small percentage of the main sources of income for the casinos. More often than not, the policing of Casinos is severely deficient and pressure from Casino operators to not investigate or turn a blind eye to illegal activities. Governments get huge tax benefits of course so resources to increase oversight and accountability of Casino operators is watered down to basically just a token presence. Thailand, which already has a hugely deficient and inadequate and reportedly corrupt police force, would be a terrible place to open Casinos in my opinion. Look at Cambodia and other Asian Casinos.

There is in Oz. Refuse breath analysis attracts the same penalty as high range drink driving (alcohol). Hopefully Thailand has something similar.

Australia- buying nuclear powered subs from the US - threatened by China that we are now a nuclear target (despite not being armed with nuclear weapons). Thailand- buying their subs from China - staying aligned with the CCP. Just like their COVID vaccines early on - made in China. Everything to appease the CCP and ensure when war eventually occurs they won't be invaded (well ... good luck with that). Will Thailand also declare war on the West (like in WWII when Japan occupied Thailand)? I can see a future of war with interned expats stuffed into camps awaiting their organs to be removed for Chinese citizens.

Exactly. As an ex-member myself, I recall at times receiving calls over the radio that ended up being an overkill of police resources for one job - always the case because of confusion, exaggeration, or misinformation received from the callers. I am guessing in this instance that if relatives attended, perhaps there were reports of several people and becoming very aggressive, perhaps fears of weapons involved and retaliations. As well as being in a sensitive place like a hospital, placing others potentially at risk (patients, staff). Some calls can be frantic, panicked and unintelligible. Once the dust settles, police would have most likely been swiftly reduced in numbers to only those needing to remain for the investigation and others redeployed elsewhere. Well ... that is what normally happens. And as usual, someone with a camera will take an opportunistic shot of all the police there and make assumptions and call police idiots. Been there done that. Not sure as well if all the police from different zones are using the same radio frequencies, how their radio centres are managed etc.

I've been riding since my mid 20s right up to my current age in my 50s. I've 'come a gutsa' (got thrown off) in my 20s that put me in hospital in Oz. I've also lay my bike down here in Thailand in my 40s after a dumb fool of a female rider pulled out of a side lane at speed into my path and then stopped looking at me like a stunned mullet. I could have killed her but instead I ended up worse off (thanks for riding off too you lovely woman). Point being ... any age when riding is a risk and we all accept it as a trade-off for the 'freedom', ease of travel and fun that it offers. Life is extremely random and whereby one average rider can get through life no dramas, a great rider can just be damned unlucky. Lottery of life. An 80 year old, still riding is a subjective judgement call, if he was still 'compos mentis' (got all his marbles working up top) and rides according to his abilities then I don't see a problem. An 80 year old can get into a nasty car accident too, just like. 20, 30, 40 ... yr old can and do.

I am sure that the Thai police will end up following other guidelines and legislation already in place for drug driving. This usually involved a roadside saliva test and then if positive an impairment test (like a sobriety test) and the sample sent off to a lab for checking levels of THC and/or other drugs in their system. It would probably also be used alongside usual alcohol testing too. Here is a link from an Australian law site as an example of legislation and procedures in place in Victoria. I am guessing it won't be long before we have something similar here in Thailand. https://sherlawyers.com.au/everything-you-need-to-know-roadside-drug-testing-vic/

It "seems" murder and murder cover-ups by the BIB has been a national sport for many decades. $$$$$$ Money talks. Greed is rife. Cash and assets incentives for drug and property seizures needs to be stopped. Never, ever get involved with police here. Pay them the money they want from you and go. They can make up any arbitrary charge against you and ruin your life forever with years or decades in a third world prison or just kill you. If you are lucky you'll just be deported, albeit that also being able to severely impact someone's life. Corruption is so massively entrenched from top to bottom I really don't know how decent reform could happen. It would take decades of slow change and modernisation of every department. Ferrari Joe is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. He won't get the death penalty. A lengthy prison term more likely. These are my opinions based off what I have read and seen via media reports, documentaries, movie re-enactments of true stories, relayed accounts by others and personal experience (forced to pay my hard earned money to police). Others can disagree as it is just my opinion.

The war atrocities are piling up. I had a video consultation with an eye lens specialist from Ukraine. A really decent guy just earning a living and supporting his wife and kids. His house got bombed - no insurance and all he had and saved for for many years. He has had to flee and managed to seek haven in Spain to start all over again. His neighbour got raped by Russian soldiers and another murdered. Just civilians living their lives caught up in the horrors of war. Heartbreaking stories.

Basically, not only Harleys but any other bike that has been fitted to make the loudest sound possible. It's all about "look at me", "aren't I wonderful and cool?", whilst people, particularly with sensitive hearing suffer in pain and get ramped up tinnitus for the rest of the day over some a##ho## who revs it up and down the street. I truly think there are noisy exhaust bike riders who think we all look on in awe and admiration and go home fantasizing about them in our beds. Reality is I, fantasize about their bikes being crushed.

At least Thailand isn't as psychotic, paranoid, ignorant and weird like China can be with the citizens and officials throwing dogs and cats out of condos and slaughtering them because of the insane fear of COVID being spread from the animals. If Thailand was China the Chinese would probably be ordering mass culling of all monkeys (like Mao Ze Dong's instruction to wipe out all the sparrows there).

Back in Oz it has been so much of a relief not having to wear a mask in stifling heat outside in Thailand, breathing in even warmer air and adding to heat exhaustion. At times I was feeling breathless with a mask on from and drained and dreaded at times going out at all as the mask was really getting to me. An extreme annoyance and constant discomfort. Sore ears from elastic pulling on it as well. For now I can go anywhere, except only for doctor's clinics and hospitals without a mask. So much of a damned relief. To feel 'normal' again is great. You see just some elderly and some others still wearing masks here - and that's fine. But for the rest of us here, NO NEED ANYMORE. Common sense has prevailed with medical advice from those in charge. Thailand is no different in it's stage of the COVID disease IMO. The Delta strain smashed us all and was a nasty variant (I got it), but Omicron has demonstrated far less severe and more akin to a cold for most. Inevitably, everyone will get the virus. We have vaccines, and immunity response from that as well as previous infections. What are they waiting for? Complete eradication one day? Nope. It's never going to happen. COVID is a permanent addition to all the other viruses we have in communities. It will mutate and persist forever, unless there is an actual antidote that causes 100% immunity and cure. We could be wearing damned masks for the next 100 years. Ridiculous. No way to live and enjoy life. Paranoia just perpetuates.

"Remains" generally implies body parts, such as a partial recovery of a whole corpse , but this article describes a deceased male with a single entry wound (bullet). The comparison to the gun related homicides/violence in the US should have mentioned "per capita" as that would seem to make sense considering the population differences.

Dumb <deleted> wins the Darwin Award. At least he can't reproduce in jail.

You really believe in a war that Thailand will support the West? How about WWII? It quickly surrendered to the Japanese and became allies. It then declared war against the West for a period until the Japanese were A-Bombed and then backflipped allegiance. China has Thailand in a wrist-lock of obedience. At the moment Thailand plays the neutrality stance. But I would be placing bets on Thailand more likely aligning with China (which is where a large war would most likely start from).

I came back to Oz last month and have to say it is a huge relief to be able to walk around sucking in fresh air without a damned piece of cloth stuck over my mouth and nose. Fresh breeze up my nostrils ????. It's only medical centres that still require masks here which is fair enough. Will feel weird when I return soon to yet again don those bloody things - unless they are fair dinkum and scrap the mask ???? mandate.

Why keystone cops? This is what happens nearly everywhere else in the world. If there is insufficient evidence to lay charges then police have no choice. Arbitrary detention of suspects attracts legal issues. Then then the public backflip and criticize police for holding people without enough evidence. A lack of identification evidence is a major issue in any investigation. If a victim's testimony (statement) lacks positive ID, then what can anyone do? It applies anywhere from a shoplifting to a murder. In a murder, the ID issues are often more difficult. Murder suspects are often tagged and released due to lack of evidence and if more evidence is obtained, then they can be re-arrested (as long as you are able to prevent them from leaving the country before you have legal rights to arrest). Nothing new there. Happens all over the world. We may speculate on what we read in news reports and its apparent accuracy and be critical but we do not know all the evidence or lack thereof on hand. ASEAN news journalists do not get 'carte blanche' access to all the police investigation either. So often the news reports are full of missing parts and forum posters speculate on police investigations armed with limited information. The apparent reported admissions made by the suspect - let's see the video/transcripts/signed confession. Was there any? Was it done under duress? If the female was attacked, hopefully the clothing and anything else where the suspect may have touched or left DNA evidence behind (which by the way is not always guaranteed), has been retained and sent to forensic laboratories to compare against the suspect's DNA and fingerprints (if any) - to either match or eliminate him or remain undetermined. Hopefully there were crime scenes established and forensic evidence retained. CCTV, phone records, possible other witnesses, etc, etc. I do realise that crime scene preservation and evidence collection procedures here do frequently fall short of other international standards though and forensic evidence can be contaminated/ruined. Other times they seem to get it right. I also get that there is also rampant corruption and systemic apathy towards crime solving (low wages, lack of training and accountability and local police culture). Media interest often means the case becomes higher priority and more scrutiny both from external and internal senior police management and hence more resources and specialist support. I hope so.

This is a well known scam literally called the 'pig butchering' scam - Sha Zhu Pan” (殺豬盤) romance scam. The idea is to seduce men online and then introduce them to a financial investment (often crypto or shares onto a fake exchange platform). It can go for days/weeks/months. Fattening the pig for slaughter. Often handled by Chinese mafia. Looks like the Thais are being recruited to join in on fleecing farangs too. Lovely people.

Dregs of Thai society - yes there are low life criminal scum that come to Pattaya - more than usual in this red light town. But you need to include dregs of society brought in from around the world as well. Plenty of weirdo farangs as well. Scammers, swindlers galore, thieves, organized criminals, money launderers, traffickers, fraudsters, sexual predators, druggies, plenty and plenty of crooks who never got busted by the law for really serious crimes and legitimize themselves in Pattaya. Cesspool of scum both sides. Intermingled with normal Thai and farang expats and tourists as well.

Sad story. Balcony rails are way too low here. I've been drunk before and felt very uneasy and unsafe. I can see how easy it is to fall. Thai safety standards are woefully inadequate/non-existent. Death traps everywhere. Compounding the issue is yes there are obvious unfortunate accidents, but homicides seem to be under/improperly investigated and written off far too often. Murders do occur here of course and frequently it seems. Foreigners are easy targets and relatives have little to no influence on pushing investigations further. Then, there is corruption as an additional layer of issue where there are cover-ups, altered autopsy/ cause of death reporting, money exchanging hands and apathy. We can speculate on cause of death. Hopefully there was no foul play and we can accept the police reported version. Sad and tragic ending for a young guy on vacation. Poor parents now dealing with grieving of their dead son. Thailand can be awesome and it is for most. But it can be incredibly dangerous too. No second chances when you are dead.