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Sad... Also, sad that there is no report on helmet usage. They should say, one way or the other. Wear your helmet everyone!!! Preferably a full face, good quality one! Edit: I stand corrected (see below - next post). Apparently he was on a bicycle, so it would be a bit weird to be wearing a full face helmet. I still wonder if he was wearing a helmet (bicycling helmet). A deep gash on the forehead makes me think not. Either way, the outcome for this guy is still sad....

Soooooo many people here missing the point. There is a time and a place for things - in every culture. Thais have apparently deemed drinking during times or places that there's a ban on it (e.g., while river tubing) = bad. Drinking in bars, etc. = Go for it. Maybe they have issues with that sort of activity in places where otherwise families with children may like to enjoy? This seems to be pretty obvious to me, but maybe for some people it isn't and they think they can go around dressed like they're on the beach, anywhere they feel like it. Would anyone think it rude/crude/unacceptable to go into a posh restaurant in their swimsuit? Same idea, just exaggerated a bit. Another no brainer... of course, that depends on what "sexual activities" means. If people are keeping it to themselves (e.g., not outdoors) and not making a ruckus, I doubt there'd be any complaints... If done like this, in a socially accepted manner, how would anyone even know about it in order to complain? I find it hard to understand why so many people on this forum are mocking this. Comparing it to a walking street in a tourist city, like Pattaya, is a grossly terrible comparison - apples and oranges. As are so many other ridiculous comparisons made in so many comments. There's a time and a place for these things and these foreigners have apparently chosen the wrong times and the wrong places. And if one doesn't expect Thais to be a bit more sensitive toward foreigners breaking societal norms than if a Thai person did it, I think it's not a charitable judgement. I believe it is likely that just about anywhere, people would feel like their culture/country is being disrespected if large groups of foreigners (or even individuals) did things that were outside of the host country's norms. I find it quite natural, the offense taken, that is - not necessarily in agreement with proposed responses, but at the same time, what are they supposed to do in order to bring order among what they perceive as unruly people? Now let the lambasting proceed... lol Apparently, I'm in an extreme minority here....

Yes, as I mentioned, "Of course, it needs reform..." This is still very far from your original argument for no trial at all.

Yes, but how does one know if the testimony is solid and the witnesses credible and any video or photo evidence is presented/interpreted properly without cross examination. This is why a trial is necessary. At first, you said, "without a trial". Now you are making a different or revised proposition re the appeal process. That's a completely different ball of wax. Not at all what you originally said. No trial at all would be tantamount to living under a Totalitarian, Authoritarian, or Dictatorial regime... no thanks. Not allowing appeals, when so many court cases are seen to be totally out of hand, is also not so different from such regimes. Justice may be expensive, but I don't think it's necessarily simply because of the fact of trials and appeals. There's a LOT more to it. I'd be willing to bet that there are hundreds of regulations that could be done away with that are part of that problem. In the end, if you personally or anyone you care about has been screwed with by the "powers that be" and out of control "law enforcement", I believe that you'd be incredibly happy that the system is how it is in the US. Of course, it needs reform, but the fundamental tenets of trial and appeal are as sound as can be.

I'm definitely with you on the death penalty, but the facts need to be established, and not by hearsay, thus the need for a trial.

No problem 😛 Yep, he's likely rude, crude, and ignorant, but generally speaking, I think any native English speaker innately understands these things, but virtually never thinks about it and probably wouldn't be able to describe it if asked. Just like how so many native speakers couldn't explain many facets of grammar of their own language. He is beyond expert, he's native.

I could be wrong, but it seems to me that getting custom made stainless tops made for these has to be a lot more expensive than just getting the stone repaired and polished! The heat issue is yet another thing. I can't even begin to fathom who on earth would ever think that this kind of bench or table, outdoors, in Thailand would be a good idea! Good thing lawsuits aren't a big thing in Thailand. In the US, they'd be sure to get sued for people getting their butts burned! And, sure, that surface is easy to clean... but they'll never get used enough to get dirty in the first place.

I'd say, pretty much anywhere in the US. Probably many other countries would yield the same result.

Well, your first usage of f*** is similar to the way he used the word, not particularly polite and perhaps rude to some people - debatable. Your second usage, however, is very different than how he used it. He did not swear AT her, as you did, and as the news story claimed he did. He was using it as a modifier (often used as an intensifier - an adverb, or simply to modify a noun), just as you did in your first usage. Your second usage was definitely swearing AT him. I don't think that is as debatable, and would pretty much universally be considered rude. Generally speaking, his telling her to shut up would be considered rude, more so than using "F***" as a modifier. It may be crass, but rude? A very subjective judgement. And his claiming that she doesn't speak English is a stupid, ill-informed statement. It may or may not have been intended as an insult. Being that he showed already how crass he is, it could be that he was just continuing in that manner, speaking his mind. Telling how he believes things to be, very directly. Although, I can fathom such scenarios... personally, would I have been surprised if that woman's husband or boyfriend cold-cocked him? Nope. And I probably would have liked it. What was going through his head is anyone's guess. I reserve my right to subjective interpretation 😆

How many people do you suppose actually know what a "type 5 drug" is?????

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 🙈🙉🙊

You want quality travel? Be a quality tourist. Just ask the TAT, they'll be happy to define what a quality tourist is!

How does that work??

What a load of crap. And they're still pushing the proven ineffective masks! The stupidity is endless 🙄

The problem in El Salvador was a bit different, but what you recommend worked there like a charm! It's amazing the turn around that has come about in that country since they took drastic measures and stuffed their jails and brought their country about to look nothing like it did for many many years. But their leadership was blasted by the UN and all of the usual suspects - the same old mantra, "human rights!" for these criminals that were destroying their society. Well... these leaders didn't quit and they succeeded. I don't think there's the same kind of capacity to do that here. It takes intelligence and wisdom. Oops... those guys who led that change in El Salvador were religious and they prayed together as they moved forward transforming their country... uh oh... that'll burst some bubbles too.... lol btw, I'm not saying there were no problems, but in comparison to an entire nation living in fear and being about the worst nation for violence in the entire world, and becoming one of the best practically over night... you can't do that without some problems, but the cost needs to be weighed. I'm with you on the problems in the south. Root them out ceaselessly, one by one, day by day, if that's what it takes.

And be left with humanism, which inevitably leads to communism... no thanks....

That comment sure came out of left field.... Nobody said anything about Christians. Where's the hatred you harbor for Christians coming from to bring them up out of nowhere?? Not to mention, your comment is inexplicably inaccurate within the context.

And of course his deathly serious illnesses obviously precluded him from being able to keep up well enough... poor guy!

Yeah, I agree, "top" is subjective, but #45 out of about 194 countries in the world, is pretty good, that's for sure. It's likely not far off. My initial take was what felt to me as an absurdity to figure on young adults' take on things in countries that have such vast differences in how that age group develops socially in different cultures, yet measure them with the same scale. I looked through a fair amount of the data that was provided and it was interesting, although at times exceedingly boring to read through. Some of their metrics were, in my opinion, absurd. But, all in all, it's a highly complicated sort of survey to undertake. I'd guess that people with experience in a wide variety of countries and cultures would probably come up with a similar estimation without spending the kind of resources that went into this report. Interesting nonetheless.

The spirits are apparently either playing these guys or are in competition against each other! How can they get different lottery numbers and both get good luck lottery fortunes? Then, of course there are the myriad other people also getting their lottery numbers, ostensibly from the same spirits? I'd be interested in how that works. Does one just hope that you are the spirits' favored person for that lottery and everyone else is being played?

By the way, anyone happen to notice the height of that balcony rail? Barely thigh high! It might not have been too difficult for him to have "jumped" because he was trying to "escape". If the landlord was a man who was similarly emotionally whacked, I could imagine such a scenario getting physical and actually happening....

Not sure if you were thinking for some reason that I didn't agree about the UK outranking Thailand. That wouldn't surprise me in the least. I was more wondering about the case of Thailand ranking so highly. I find it improbable. The hype or PR about any developing nation as being a top "happy place" is very difficult for me to believe. Polls or studies can be designed in myriad ways to make things look different from reality. To really know if the study or poll was done well, one would need to know the quality of the design of the study/poll. Or maybe, if possible, it be a poll by a tried and proven unbiased (if there is such a thing) group. It is not easy for the average man on the street living in a developing country. It seems to me, just by common sense that in a well balanced poll, this struggle for living by the average person would be apparent in the results. By the way, thanks for that link. I'm definitely interested in taking a look, especially if they show how the report was designed, as well as the outcome.

At that level of power... it may be healthy to let them chew each other up a bit. I don't think there's such a thing as any honest person in those various positions. If there ever is one, it'll become apparent very quickly because he will be hated by all sides, except perhaps a few who don't carry so much power, as well as a handful who side with him in order to ride his coattails up the ladder, and maybe even a few weaker ones who he actually emboldens to be honest as they had wished they could, but didn't have the guts to go against the system until someone with an iron backbone took the reins. He will be loved by a large number of the populous but be derided as a "populist" and he will be vilified and disowned as though none of his haters were ever coworkers or friends before. Incredibly highly unlikely for such a man to be successful, but once in a blue moon it does happen. This is not that case. Whoever gets chewed up and spit out... probably serves him right just as much it would serve the other guy right.

There is good reason for the saying, "Ignorance is bliss."

I suppose that makes sense, since after 60 one no longer needs to deal with so much of the farce that goes on in everything one is trying to do while building a life, running a business, raising a family, and constantly having to put up with incompetence at every turn. Once over 60, the vast majority of those things are gone by the wayside and one can kick back and relax without needing to be involved in that tangled web, unless one chooses to be. I really wonder about the demographics of this poll and the exact questions asked. It would be interesting to see to get an idea how good the quality of this poll really is.