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I don't doubt that they are lagging. I do doubt that the literacy rate is as high as they claim.

More mentally unstable men, parading as women, acting exactly as what they are - mentally unstable men. Until society gets a clue and people with gender dysphoria start getting counseling and treatment, this will continue forever. Why do people hate ladyboys, trans, shemales, or whatever you prefer to call them? They are sick humans in need of help. Using them for sex is equally abusive. "Affirming" them in their illness is insane and heartless. Do we assist psychos who think the Nazis are after them and spies and assassins are looking to kill them by giving them weapons to defend themselves? So, why are these people who are gender dysphoric supported into believing a false reality? It is unhealthy and unsafe for them as well as society at large. Wake up and have some sympathy for these people and protect society!

I'd be amazed if 94% literacy is accurate. I believe it is much lower. They must have a different definition of literacy than I. In the countryside, illiteracy is so common, it's quite shocking.

I have over 10 years of first-hand experience within the university system here. The kind of political nonsense that goes on in the administration is mind-boggling! Some of them might actually think they are doing the right thing, but the professors are fighting each other incessantly. It's truly amazing anything gets accomplished at all. The sort of thing that passes for education is a complete joke on many levels. Students cheating on tests are often not punished AT ALL. Bribery, thankfully, seems to be less than in previous years. Keeping your university rank by whatever means possible is sometimes the political task at hand and there are pushes for various things to do that, which are often done by deception, lying, cheating, etc. I remember one professor who replied to me, when I asked him how on earth he can stand dealing with such a large number of students who don't care at all, don't study, fail exams, don't do homework, eat and sleep in class, etc, etc, etc.... he responded to me, exasperated - What can I do!??? If I fail them, I'll get in trouble! He was candid and said that in fact probably 75% or more of the class he was teaching at the time, should be failed! By the way, this is at a university that everyone in Thailand knows, ranking in the top 5. And the international programs are sometimes the worst, with programs thrown together in order to bring money into the department/faculty. Standards are very low for entrance in many cases and waived in many cases. The hideousness of what goes on in the universities is beyond the pale. There are, on the other hand, some professors who definitely are attempting to do well and are well qualified. But they are so often stymied by the old guard. One of them told me that they just have to wait until those in the lead age out and they hope they can bring in change. They are frustrated and sad, stuck in their predicament. A good number of these profs have excellent education from Europe, the US, Australia, etc. They've seen and experienced good education. They desire to produce it here. The system with the massively proud and corrupt power-holders is a problem, to say the least. It is such a huge mess. It's amazing anyone tries at all.

That would be scary, indeed! If that were the case, I'd assume that "he" was a pretend "she"....

Are they any different than just about any other woman in the country???

Directly from the article - "The businessman, represented by his partner Wassana (pseudonym), 42, reported the issue to the police in Mueang Pattaya district on the night of August 20. Wassana, a partner in the real estate firm managing the affair..." I could be wrong, but it sounds like he used a Thai real estate company. One would think that would be a decent enough way of doing it, but... one needs to remember what country one is in and that anything can happen to anyone (particularly foreigners) at anytime, even if you have a lawyer.

Having lived in earthquake prone regions for decades prior to living in Thailand, it is mildly amusing how concerned people get over little rumbles like this. Even if it were centered in BKK, it would only cause damage to anything that is built like absolute crap. I suppose that could be a concern though... with so much shoddy, scam-ridden, corruption-ridden, lousy construction work around the place. But even with that, a 5.2? lol It's no big deal. It is getting close though. Once over 5.5 it starts getting more interesting. Having been in numerous earthquakes over 6.0 and one 7.6 (very near the epicenter and THAT was something that will excite anyone!), stuff under 6.0 doesn't excite me. But, again, that is with the idea that I'm not in some building that is built by some politician's cousin's Chinese friend....

You apparently don't know much about either place.... or maybe you enjoy only frequenting areas with gang strife or entitled immigrants?

Where did you come up with this one??? In less than a minute I found that in 8 states they are mandatory. And a federal law requires seat belts in smaller buses in all states. Larger buses apparently have been deemed very safe and the expense, too much to require them in a mode of transportation that is deemed very safe. It would take about like 2.5 billion USD to equip the school buses across the country with seat belts. That estimate came from an article in a school bus news-specific site back in 2015, so today it would be a lot more than 2.5 billion. Not sure if that includes ongoing maintenance costs of the belt systems. A California education official site, summarizing the National Highway Traffic Safety Association report, estimated that the costs would be 100 million USD per year. The report cited that school buses remain one of the safest transportation modes, with a fatality rate of 0.2 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled compared to 1.5 for cars. All of this is of course regarding your post about the US. Of course Thai buses are in a different universe in their levels of safety. They are completely different vehicles and they are maintained in COMPLETELY different ways. As for your, "I have no idea of the logic applied", there is MUCH more in the reports about the logic applied on the construction of the buses, the statistics, the costs, the driving of them, the extra safety laws around them, etc.... Do you seriously not know how much research goes into laws regarding this kind of thing? Yes, I know there is a lot of corruption and logic can sometimes be suspended, but if you have no idea about the logic of something, maybe that's because you never spent 5 minutes trying to find out? And if you did, you might find out that you are UTTERLY wrong about it. But you will happily spend 15 seconds writing a post to denigrate a country about something that you have not the slightest clue about. You might want to do a check on your bias and readjust.

The number of toxic personalities in this forum is astounding. I hope you're not my neighbor!😩 Anyone who has been in Thailand for more than 1 hour should know that maintenance is not a thing in this country. Yet, people immediately jump to all sorts of hideous conclusions about the bus driver. Perhaps this driver is devastated by what happened when he was confronted with a bus suddenly losing control due to a mechanical issue that he had no control over, but now he feels responsible for. Perhaps he was drunk. Who knows! But I'd rather assume the best of him rather than the worst until actually gaining knowledge of the facts. What kind of horrible world you guys must live in with these ridiculous cynical naysaying proclamations that instantly come out of your heart and mind. You are the bane of society. I feel sorry for you and everyone in your social circles.

While it may not be completely inaccurate, the pic in the article, with the girl looking at the guy as though he's guilty, I've found that married Thai women are not difficult targets AT ALL. Perhaps a little more difficult than single women, but depending on the situation, they seem to be about as frequent as Thai girls who claim to be virgins. Maybe if a Thai girl claims to be a virgin, she's actually married!

White Anglo Saxon Protestants rarely do.... 😅

Yeah, I wouldn't expect that either. But I would expect that there would be a security guard at the entrance/exit of their dorm. But if he's anything like the ones at my condo, at 1 a.m., there's a good chance that he was resting his eyes.... But also, as others mentioned, I can't help but think that they might not be running away (more than once) for reasons other than homesickness and hope that is investigated. In the meanwhile, if you know someone needing a night job, they may be taking applications for a security guard position!

There are a LOT more shootings in Thailand that never make it to any statistic counter. I've heard gunshots regularly in some areas of Bangkok. It isn't surprising at all to hear. I've only witnessed one such incident directly and I don't believe it ever got reported. (Never have heard a gunshot in the US, other than on shooting ranges or hunting) The blood didn't even get cleaned up for many hours, by locals who just wanted their sidewalk clean. I never even saw a policeman attend the scene of the shooting in the 40 minutes or so that I was there. If Thais were allowed to have guns like people in the US... the carnage would be unbelievable! You'd have every Somchai who got mad at some neighbor or at a driver they didn't like, going down to the sports shop and buying a gun and shooting up the place in his fit of rage. In the US, in 2024, deaths by gun were 13 deaths per 100,000 people. In Thailand, in 2024, deaths by gun were 5.3 per 100,000 people. Gun ownership in the US is about 8X that of Thailand. Can you imagine how insane this place would be with the same availability and ownership levels!? In that sense, maybe it could actually be impressive that gun deaths in the US aren't higher? And with 55-60% of gun deaths in the US being suicides compared with 20-25% in Thailand.... makes it even more incredible. Adjusted, this brings it to: U.S.: ~5.2 non-suicide gun deaths per 100,000. Thailand: ~4.1 non-suicide gun deaths per 100,000. I know stats don't exactly work like the following... but humor me - multiply that death rate by the gun ownership rates to match that of the US and you'd have: U.S.: ~5.2 non-suicide gun deaths per 100,000. Thailand: ~32.8 non-suicide gun deaths per 100,000. Kinda puts a different light on it than I'd ever thought of before, even though I'd already thought of Thailand as having a much higher tendency toward violence than most people seem to think. Of course, that's only anecdotal from personal experience. But digging into the reality of things often will show a different picture than that which is bandied about, like how Thailand is so peaceful and wonderful and full of smiles and the US is a horrific place that you'll likely get shot or experience a shooting. Both polar opposites of what I've experiences in decades of living in both places. But of course, there will always be those US haters commenting their nonsense on here about how horrible the US is and how life in Thailand is so chill because Thais are so kind, peaceable, and docile. lol To each their own.

He probably will, although he doesn't need to because the leaders of Cambodia, Malaysia, and Thailand all specifically gave him credit for helping get to a ceasefire. So, then why shouldn't he? It's a fair political talking point granted from all sides of the conflict.

I'm sure he would have done something. Probably would have set up an emergency call to Taiwan asking why they're attacking Canada.

Did anyone say only Trump? More likely that's the only way toxic Trump hating mentality can construe it, regardless of reality.

Brilliant idea! Call the police to a mass shooting via social media! I've never thought of such a genius idea before!

Last I heard, there is no prostitution in Thailand. It's illegal!

To be fair, this wouldn't disqualify it. A family wouldn't need to worry about getting into this situation.

No he didn't. He didn't make any sort of judgement at all. He was just going along his merry way. There are 2 yellow HUGE billboard sized warning signs warning of the height - even with pictures! The one previous to the one he hit had metal plates hanging on chains to smack your vehicle to warn you, but apparently even that didn't turn the lights on upstairs! Either he is about as clueless as humanly possible or he was high/drunk.

Projecting much?🧐

What's up with that pic for this article??? Bizarre pandering

I don't see any fingers pointing at him in the pics.... Seems that they might not have the right guy!