aussienam

Agree with your sentiment regarding punishment. But not sure it's that cut and dry. If the legal system in Thailand's higher courts are similar to the West, I believe it is usual for a psychiatric evaluation to be made that forms part of a pre-sentence hearing. An admission does not necessarily mean full guilt if there were mitigating circumstances such as a psychotic episode. The defence would argue for a reduced sentence in that case or perhaps alternatively a placement into a high security psychiatric institution (do they even exist here for criminally insane?) If it was a drug induced psychotic episode then the argument gets more complicated as one needs to look at whether the offender was aware of how that drug/s could impact his state of mind and if it was sufficient to argue temporary criminal insanity.

Agreed. I watched an interview on Australian TV of a nurse working in ICU. The COVID patients are majority unvaccinated from COVID who beg for the vaccine, but by then it is too late. The deaths of unvaccinated who end up in ICU vs. vaccinated is much higher.

Most farangs are not stupid or desperate enough to pay ridiculously inflated prices on things. Maybe a 'one-off' special occasion, but not consistently. I like wine but won't pay stupid prices. So off the menu for me. Same as I will never buy a nice car here with the massive import taxes. I look at the same vehicles, wine and other goods in Oz, being a first world developed country, where average wages are higher, but it's still cheaper there to buy! What a laugh. Alcohol prices increase but our income rarely does. Answer = drink and spend less.

The actions of this sick individual are very bizarre. Obviously no intelligent pre-planning to make an attempt to conceal his identity. The trail of evidence as blatant as elephant footprints in snow at both crime scenes. Leads me to think about his mental state. Even a half-intelligent dim-witted criminal makes some sort of futile effort to hide his evil deeds. A psychiatric evaluation would be a normal prudent course of action (whether to confirm or deny mental illness as a partial or total causation). And toxicology expert evidence for drugs. Can help determine level of alleged drug intoxication. I can only compare this to protocol in my country, a democracy. Not sure how thorough the Thai prosecution case needs to be (for both inculpatory and exculpatory evidence).

With the current beating of the drums on extreme nationalistic pride being force fed into the Chinese citizens by the CCP, I anticipate we need to get used to them being far more arrogant and aggressive, treating everyone with contempt or at best will only barely tolerate non-Chinese. Their CCP tour monitors will be closely watching and applying social credit scores.

Now that's the sort of excuse that a Chinese CCP official would say. Didn't realise it happened here too. Sad.

I don't always tip. I do if service and price was good and I can afford it. Back in Oz, tipping is uncommon. If I am paying for a meal here in Thailand that costs the same or near what I'd pay back in Oz then I won't tip much at all, maybe just a few coins to round up the bill. And higher prices has become more common. And in Oz the rents and salaries are much higher. Plus our exchange rate is nothing like Euro, Sterling Pound and USD. We get a terrible rate compared to others from the West. At my regular Cafe, I eat and drink coffees there often so I don't tip much at all. Because they get a lot of repeat business from me and if I tipped more then the idea of eating out cheap no longer is the case. I won't feel pressured into tipping just to feel virtuous and avoid embarrassment as a 'Cheap Charlie'. Others might. Oh well. Many of us are low income recipients and 20 Baht is not insignificant. So chucking these Baht notes down every meal, delivery, etc just causes more financial woes. Over time it can really add up. Should I feel ashamed? Nope. I don't care what others say. They're not in my shoes. I spend and tip at times within my financial means.

You ain't seen nothing yet until you've seen a pack of Chinese rushing to a seafood buffet! Google that one! It makes this scene look tame!

So where did the data come from? It was government stored data. No other database held that record. But at some point in time that data was leaked. It was leaked from government databases. Where else? Nobody else needed the data of every foreigner entering Thailand. Did they? It sounds like Chinese CCP logic when denying blatantly obvious faults.

So where did the data come from? It was government stored data. No other database held that record. But at some point in time that data was leaked. It was leaked from government databases. Where else? Nobody else needed the data of every foreigner entering Thailand. Did they?

Well to be fair, I have heard testimonials from several expats that after the Pfizer jabs, that they ended up with massive erections for days! Was there a "mix'n'match" with something else??? ????

"2. Infection rates in Bangkok need to come down from the current 2,700 to 2,800 a day." I hope they realise that once they achieve a vaccination level deemed acceptable and open back up, that infections will soar. Vaccinations do not stop infections, albeit reducing viral loads. But they do significantly reduce serious cases.. That has been proven by global data coming in. Inevitably we will all get infected. Virtually impossible not to. But, most of us would only need rest at home, like a flu. Like the flu, a very few vaccinated will die. A tiny percentage. Hospitalizations needed for vaccinated will be far less than unvaccinated. So when infection rates inevitably soar amongst the vaccinated, I hope the government does not decide to lock us all back into our homes again. The government will need to allow the virus to infect us all so we can all get it over and done with. It is unavoidable. I say this because criteria #2 has no further details.

Agree with other posters here. The YouTube videos displaying derelict buildings and homeless are making out like it is like this all over Pattaya. I have seen the videos. The camera operators focus only on those areas. They are often deceptive and misleading with sensational titles. Pure Clickbait to attract viewers and generate YouTube income. They concentrate on a small area of some abandoned sites and the same groups of homeless people who loiter in the same areas. I recognized several in the videos and some were already homeless before the pandemic. Sad that they are not taken care of. Quite a few are disabled physically and/or mentally. Of course the homeless numbers have increased since COVID. The majority of Pattaya is a scene of shuttered bars and clubs (unless they are selling food under allowed restaurant conditions) intermixed with opened businesses. The situation economically is dire of course and Thais are suffering. But thankfully most are not on the street homeless and begging. Seeing people lining up for free food is sad to see.

Khaosan Road passport vendors just hit the jackpot for making fake passports. Lots of names and numbers to choose from. As well as overseas.

Anyone who buys a new expensive car in this country with the insanely high import tarrifs has got to have more dollars than sense or so desperate for attention.

It's all about advertising yourself; being a show pony to let others know (or think) you are rich and successful. It's narcissistic of course and there are countless wa####s in this world who do it. "Look at me, look at me". Especially in a country so polarized with a poverty element.

In respect to the scene re-enactments, this is common practice worldwide and does have great benefit for the prosecution case. In Australia (as a comparison) we do these in certain cases that are serious indictable crimes. It helps to firm up corroborating evidence, it can also help lead police to identify further evidence at crime scenes. To remove this valuable investigative tool on the back of bad crowd control is short-sighted and only appeases those who don't fully understand the ways all sorts of evidence can be accepted and rejected in trials. The RTP need to do a much better job in crowd control preparation and execution rather than ditching the re-enactments. The grandstanding of the Hungarian woman as well as many other cases that are relatively minor in nature is something I would personally have been embarrassed to present to the media. Significant arrests involving serious crimes, high profile incidents and anything considered to be media worthy and in the public interest are generally what we used to release in Oz. They also instill public confidence that police are actually making significant arrests. Definitely doesn't come across well boasting on camera about arresting some poor down-and-out impoverished Eastern European illegal over-stayer. It infers an underlying xenophobia. Sure she needs to be processed like anyone, but perhaps discreetly, or at most just a brief article release for media.

I believe most of us in Thailand hold no illusion that we, the majority of expats in the low to middle income recipients, are somehow appreciated and wanted by Thailand. We are at best probably just tolerated. We are visitors regardless of how long we have lived here. There are no brownie points for spending millions of Baht over the years, supporting partners etc. and time spent. I don't know who really is ranting about these proposed incentives. But it is the theme the world over that the wealthy are privileged and treated accordingly. We the poorly do not have anything significant to offer, other than the relevance of our combined ccontributions. If you muddle through years of comments on Thai Visa Forum posts, one will also find the wealthy expats amongst us wishing for the poorer expats to be pushed out of Thailand and that's regardless of how long you've spent here. We are not worthy of being present amongst our supreme self-entitled masters and definitely not worthy of any type of long term visa, property rights or easier reporting.

Trap for young players! Anything with the words 'discount' or 'sale' uttered by real estate agents is time to run. Prices marked up and then declared a 'discount' when shown they have been marked down. Smoke and mirrors trick used by retailers every day.

Not American bashing, but I overheard an American expat recently mentioning he will only accept Pfizer. That part is fine, but his reason was words to the effect, "so if something bad happens to me I can sue them, as they are an American company and I am an American". I said to myself, "Hmm, good luck with that mate. You going up against a major pharmaceutical company as a low-income recipient and have given informed consent to receiving the vaccine". And those guys who just decide outrightly to not accept any vaccine, well I would not be surprised that as foreign guests in this country, it may well eventually become mandatory that if you wish to remain here you will need to be vaccinated. Otherwise enjoy your limited freedoms back in your own country of citizenship.

On a side note, smuggling alcohol across borders wouldn't need to happen if the Thai government dropped its incredibly large import tarrifs on alcohol. They are just ridiculous. Example: Red wine from Australia that is literally $5 to $10 (AUD) a bottle is up to ten times the price here. Forget about any of the better quality wines being anywhere in reach of acceptable affordability for both Thais and even expats over here. Regular Thai people are truly missing out on enjoying sampling the vast array of great wines from abroad and expanding their cultural awareness. It is only the snobby Hi-So elites who can.

How efficient and specialized are the Thai Police Arson Squad and fire department fire investigators? How many offenders are identified and prosecuted for arson and fraudulent insurance claims? We all know that any vacant building where owners are financially struggling is already a red flag red ???? Treat it as suspicious until proven otherwise. But I won't be holding my breath.

I spoke to a local girl who mentioned her intentions to go there so she could 'see the world'. I pre-warned her of horror stories of families (son, father, uncles, grandfather etc) gang banging, followed by a final act of defecating and urinating on these girls as a final signature to express their contempt towards these non Muslim ladies. And of course the promise of 'freedom' after 300 customers and getting their passports back - trap for young players.

Not looking forward to the daily return of hundreds of intimidating and poisonous diesel spewing coaches stuffed with Chinese tourists, who will always live up to their reputation of rudeness, shouting, spitting and shoving. All races of people have bad examples, but for China it seems it is ingrained in their psyche to behave badly. Seen it way too many times.

Sihanoukville comes to mind as to how a place can be totally trashed when governments welcome Chinese development. All we need in Pattaya are casinos and you can welcome mafia, corruption on steroids (it already is), shootings, murders, kidnappings, robberies etc .... yes I know we already have this but much much worse.