Sig

No idea what you think you are checkmating about.... I never made any claims about numbers of transactions processed in a single day. I never made any claim about numbers of transactions AT ALL. Or did you perhaps intend to comment to someone else? That said... BTC is often used as a generic term for cryptocurrency. Solana is a cryptocurrency that is newer and more advanced than the original Bitcoin. There are many coins that have developed to be better, in various ways for various purposes, than Bitcoin. Solana, for example, is known to be able to process 65,000 transactions per second (carried out to a whole day, it would be over 5 billion). I believe that is fairly substantial. It is significantly more than the combination of what SWIFT, ACH, RTGS systems, all large banks of the world (JPMorgan, HCBS, etc), Visa, and Mastercard handle in any given day. I believe Bitcoin is in the range of 400-500,000/day, which would be enough to handle all of TARGET2 (Trans-European Automated Real-time Gross Settlement Express Transfer System) transactions. That is significant, but of course, the original coin (Bitcoin) has been far outdone by others thathave come along, (like Solana, Polygon, XRP, Ethereum, etc). There is no need to be dependent solely on Bitcoin. I'm not intending on playing chess, but if we were, it doesn't appear that your idea would equate to a checkmate. But then again, I'm not really sure what you are trying to prove.

Bitcoin is not a company that pays anyone or has consultants....🥸

You quoted somebody else, tagging me as though I said that. I did not. Although, I agree with the sentiment, of course BTC is not about to replace the banks. But, I'm not sure if I'm understanding your statement re BTC being impossible to become a globally used peer to peer electronic cash. Either you have no idea what BTC is, or somehow I'm misunderstanding your statement. BTC is exactly a globally used peer to peer electronic cash! I did a transaction today, as a matter of fact, with a friend thousands of miles away.... Sounds like maybe a miracle happened? I experienced the "impossible"?? This friend travels all over the world (digital nomad), frequently paying for his flights, meals, and hotels with BTC. Seems like the impossible happens regularly! Amazing....

Ya don't say!!😯

I could see this catching on with Thais. And if they could host an international competition like this, they could make it a two day event by having a local event with modified Tuk Tuks running the course the day before!

Why don't they try something that is actually plausible? Maybe that's a stupid question... but sea sports should be a venue they could succeed in. I know they have sailing and jet ski racing, although I rarely hear much at all about them, other than from friends who are involved in them... but what about sea sports like diving, spear fishing, offshore or coastal rowing, canoe ocean racing, wind surfing... world class sea sport competitions... Oops... I just realized the folly of my idea...."world class"🫣🥸 Caveat: There may actually be some international competitions of some of those sports that I don't know about, but if there is, they are sorely under-reported, just like how incredibly under-reported and under-sponsored the Phuket King's Cup Regatta is. It has been around for a long time, maybe I'm missing something... but it seems that it could have been brought to a higher level than at present. It's a high level for the region, but after being around for over 30 years... it just seems that it would have been given higher visibility and support to advance it more. I guess F1 is glitzier? What good is glitz if it is unobtainable?

I have. Have you? And there's Blackrock... They just started a BTC ETF last year. In that extremely short time period, they now own about 2% of all BTC. Convince me that a company that is the largest asset management firm in the world, managing around $9.5 TRILLION USD, is wrong about the value of BTC! Good luck with that. The ignorance people so proudly wave about to the world about BTC is staggering. Just keep right on following along with the talking heads in the mass media and other entities controlled by the banks. They obviously have your best interests at heart, right along with all of the politicians...🙄 They are all here to help you. So, keep right on funneling your money to them in their system. BTC is obviously a scam. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. And when they are as stubborn and arrogant as many BTC deniers, I'm sort of glad they don't drink. They don't deserve the refreshing fulfillment that water gives to one that is on the edge of fatal dehydration. It makes me think of Plato's Allegory of the Cave (in Book Seven of "The Republic "). These ignorant deniers are just like those prisoners preferring to stay in the familiar darkness of the cave than be rescued and come out into the light and learn what their rescuer is trying to explain to them!

There are so many city street circuits already. I'd love to see them do a run from somewhere in Chiangmai province over the winding roads to Maehongson. The road conditions may be less than desirable, but that'd make it that much more interesting! Or maybe a motorcycle race would be amazing to see there. It would be a long course to control, but I can't imagine it would be any more expensive to organize than a race through Bangkok streets.

Many here express the idea that even though such a tragedy, nothing will change. I beg to differ. I believe that in order to get away with the same kind of nonsense, the thickness of brown envelopes may need to change.

Yeah, the headline is a choice, but it does come directly from the article and they do live ($$$) on clicks.... And maybe they enjoy the absurdity of it as much as many in the forum😅

Sounds like a recipe for tyranny to me.... I can easily see people who only look to the here and now and to me, myself, and I not having a problem signing on. They don't care what happens 99 years from now, let alone 50 or less. What does a 60 year old care, as long as he gets an easy income off his property, and with no property tax now, until he dies. I haven't come across many here who plan or even care to think much about the generations that follow, other than maybe their immediate children. Most people I've asked, don't even hardly know much at all about anyone beyond their grandparents, so it makes sense that they wouldn't think much about the future of their own progeny.

To be fair to "Asean" (to which, I'm assuming you mean ASEAN NOW), according to the article, it was the Pattaya officials who said that and not just some concoction that ASEAN NOW came up with. In a paraphrase of what the officials said, the article stated, "The authorities said the beggars were causing damage to the image of the city, which is a world-class tourist destination." (Emphasis added) Definitely agreed on the "😂 " part!

Nobody is "butt hurt", except perhaps you. No need to apologize when it seems pretty clear that you are not particularly feeling apologetic. It comes across as "butt hurt" and highly disingenuous. Not saying you are, only saying it comes across that way. Did I "even need to bring Miranda rights into the discussion"? No. Did I say that I needed to? No, I didn't. Was it relevant to the comment that I was replying to? Yes, very much so. Did you bother reading the comment that I was replying to, in order to understand why I may have brought it up? I don't know, but it doesn't appear so. If you were only trying to clarify the issue, my bad for misunderstanding your intention. Other than chalking it up to toxic social media sort of nonsense, it was quite confusing as to why you would feel the need to critique my comment with what seemed like an unneeded correction, stating that a right in American law would not apply in Thailand. I figured that's a given that anyone would grasp. My somewhat lengthy comment before had much more context, which I felt made my point quite clear already. You reiterated my point after your critique of what you felt was the unnecessary injection of Miranda rights into the conversation, even though I believe it was relevant, due to the original comment to which I was replying. Since I felt like my comment was exceedingly clear, your "statement to clarify" seemed like an out of place, overly critical and unneeded comment that I took to be like the typical kind of critical toxic crap seemingly spawning everywhere on social media (of which this forum is so commonly a perfect example). If that wasn't your intention, I'm sorry for misinterpreting your comment.

Your grasp of English seems to continue to evade you. You never said anything about quotation marks before, but now you are saying that you did. And I apparently fell for "it" (not really sure what "it" is) "hook line and sinker"? Nobody, that I'm aware of, believed that "tarnishing the image of Pattaya" is an offence. You yourself mentioned the reason they were arrested. Tarnishing Pattaya's image was an effect of the perpetrators' activities. It was not an offence they were arrested for, so, I don't know why you bothered to mention that irrelevant point. You seem to still think your idea that the issue of Pattaya having a world class tourism image to protect was only clickbait in the headline and not mentioned in the article is accurate, even though I quoted directly from the article (NOT the headline), two instances where it was very specifically stated. As far as the translator's lack of quoting the exact statements, I don't think that is required (but it appears that this is highly important to you). His paraphrase of what "the authorities" (specifically, Chonburi Immigration, Pattaya City officials, and the Chonburi Provincial Social Development and Human Security Office) said should be good enough. Of course, that assumes the translator is doing his job at least half way decently. Just in case "paraphrasing" is a foreign concept to you, "paraphrasing" involves restating the original statement in different words, capturing the essence or meaning while not using the exact wording of the original statement. Do you seriously think that Pattaya officials are beyond thinking that Pattaya has a world class tourism image that needs to be protected and might say such a thing? You could "be forgiven for not understanding everything written on this forum"? Again... reading comprehension would greatly assist you in understanding the example you provided. You quote part of what I said, minus the exception statement in the middle of my statement, which explains what you failed to understand. You say that I gave a "clear explanation of exactly why (I) think tourists want to go there" after stating, "I have no idea why tourists want to go there". No, I did not. I gave an exception, clearly stated as such, to one aspect of tourism for which I could understand SOME would want to visit Pattaya. Please read the entire statement again, carefully -- "I have no idea why tourists want to go there, other than the ones who enjoy that sort of sleazy environment." (Emphasis added to help you grasp the meaning) If you can't understand simple things like these, It's difficult to fathom how you get along day to day. Apologies accepted if you were drinking heavily at the time, woke up on the wrong side of the bed, or some other such thing.... This is tiresome... Go ahead and respond if you like. I don't see any use in banging my head against a wall anymore, when it seems like you are either being intellectually dishonest, purposely difficult, or just can't grasp clear concepts in decent enough English. Unless, of course, maybe you get it now? That would be refreshing.

Perhaps English isn't your best language, although your comment is written well enough, your reading comprehension appears to be severely lacking, if you indeed read the article at all. The very beginning of the article refutes your claims in spades. "Crackdowns" of this sort are for protection and they specified what exactly they want to protect! "Pattaya authorities detained several illegal immigrant beggars on Thursday to protect the city’s world-class tourism image. At 6:00 PM on September 26th, Chonburi Immigration, Pattaya City officials, and the Chonburi Provincial Social Development and Human Security Office, jointly launched a crackdown on illegal immigrants begging in Pattaya. The authorities said the beggars were causing damage to the image of the city, which is a world-class tourist destination." Of course there are some very nice places within Pattaya city limits, but with the amount of filth (in many ways) there, I understand why my (Thai) friends, who own properties there, have moved away from the city they lived in for many years. It has become much less than desirable. With soooooo many nicer places to visit, I have no idea why tourists want to go there, other than the ones who enjoy that sort of sleazy environment.

The delusion is fascinating

OMG How shocking!

Did I ever say that American Miranda rights are applicable in Thailand? No. I didn't. I didn't even imply that. Not sure why you felt the need to make that comment.... You seem to have completely missed my point, especially since you mention that and then go on to make the point I was making. 🤔

It's interesting about that. I'd agree with you that he should know better. It's drilled into Americans like we can all repeat the Miranda warning word for word! "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law...") I've met a lawyer just recently who has practiced for 20+ years and has defended many clients in sex crimes as well. But regardless of the crime, he told me that it is a VERY rare person who can keep their mouth shut and most people say things that they shouldn't and can be used against them, even innocent people. The police can be very good at questions that lead a person to say stupid things that they wouldn't otherwise ever say. Or they might give perfectly good answers, but they could look bad and appear to be incriminating even though one is completely innocent. Best policy, shut up and don't talk to ANYONE except your lawyer.

That is definitely a horrific experience to survive! 😱 I'm amazingly lucky to be an American and never have to put up with such horrible stereotypes or generalizations about the culture or people of my country! I can understand why she would be so upset to even cry! Truly terrible😵‍💫😭

But only up to the ankles.... let him heal up, then to the knees.... let him heal up, then draw and quarter him. Some on here might not be aware of the excellent punishment of drawing and quartering. Back in the 1300's, in the UK (and other places), they seemed to have a better grasp of heinous crimes being deserving of severe punishments. Here's a bit from Wikipedia to explain: "The convicted traitor was fastened to a hurdle, or wooden panel, and drawn behind a horse to the place of execution, where he was then hanged (almost to the point of death), emasculated, disembowelled, beheaded, and quartered. His remains would then often be displayed in prominent places across the country, such as London Bridge, to serve as a warning of the fate of traitors."

Was he an athiest?

A 48 year old grandmother of a 14 year old... do the math. It could be worse, but that's pretty young! It's no surprise the family is as apparently uneducated as they are. And the mother abandoned the child. Seems that this family has been a mess for generations. Very sad.... Hopefully this girl and her brother can learn from this tragedy and break out from the cycle.

Grandchild of an abusive alcoholic... It's bad, but if you've been around truly chronic abusers, it's not difficult to understand, at all. I also don't think children really grasp how deadly stabbing can be and they often are intending to hurt, not kill. For that matter, adults often don't grasp it. Often, it can be heard, why did they shoot him? He was only coming at him with a knife....

I would think that one's driver's license would be suspended or revoked if refusing some sort of lawfully ordered test. The way the article is written, it sounds like one can just refuse and consequences are up in the air. I didn't read the fine print, but I assumed that part of licensing would include agreement to be tested for drugs (prescription or recreational) or alcohol if the police determine that they have cause to believe one should be tested. At any rate, I'm all for getting drivers who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol off the road!