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Hasn't it always been a family friendly destination? I could have sworn that's what I've always read from official Thai tourist info....

Anything is encouraged to happen when one refuses to maintain things.

Did you read the story? Apparently the complaints were unjustified. How can anyone, regardless of ethnicity or nationality, be blamed for having low self-esteem and being angry with unjustified complaints that can affect their business?

That's a pretty sad and telling commentary on yourself. Not that there's anything wrong with never leaving any reviews on social media, but with your own stated reason being that either way you don't see any benefit to yourself. You seem to be completely blind to the purpose of reviews. They are not intended to be for selfish purposes. Apparently you only post something if you see something in it for yourself. So, I guess this comment you left here was for your own benefit too? The only self-perceived benefit I can imagine would be some sort of ego booster. Reviews are supposed to be for the benefit of OTHERS! Positive reviews help businesses and also help people find good businesses. Negative reviews (preferably constructive criticism rather than bloviating complaints) are to help businesses know where they need improvement and to give possible customers a heads up if it hasn't been dealt with yet (which can be seen by the business's response to the review). Reviews should be a very helpful thing for all, unless they are only being made by people who only think of making the reviews to benefit themselves... which is about as useful as making comments here, only to benefit yourself. Seems like there must be something better to do with your day...?

Go ahead... just as absurd as everything else going on in the world these days. Be my guest, abandon the name your parents gave you. You obviously don't care about them anyway or you wouldn't be living your life like a complete imbecile, bringing them endless shame.

You believe that the Thai government doesn't allow Hmong ethnic people to have passports?? They are as Thai as any other ethnic group in the country last time I checked. I don't believe that level of discrimination exists as much as it used to. It's still pretty bad, but nothing like it was in recent history.

Your chart is for some sort of weekly profit scoreboard from 2023.... I got the info from the Travel and Leisure (where the article said their info was from) website regarding top international airlines for 2024 - nothing about profit....

Ignite finance and burn it all the way to the ground. That's more likely....

You'll be happy to hear that Qatar Airways made it on the list - number 5! 🙂

I can agree with you re regionally. But this article was claiming worldwide. That, I find dubious.

It actually does say that he was "cycling", thus one can deduce that he was highly likely to be on a bicycle. But I made the same mistake and this guy was correcting me. I didn't read the caption to the photo, which is the only place in the article that gives you a clue that it was not a motorcycle accident. I'm guessing you didn't read that part either. Normally photo captions aren't the only place a writer would put vital information to understand an article.... Also, the term "bike" shouldn't be used unless the context is clear as to whether it is referring to a motorcycle or a bicycle. In this case, the context was not clear, since a photo caption would not be considered as a part of the text, but only an adjunct to it.

I read two times - "bike" an ambiguous term. And since motorcycle accidents are the extremely commonly reported sorts of "bike" accidents here, I did jump to that conclusion. I didn't read the caption for the picture, since normally that isn't where vital information for understanding an article is normally put. And of course that's the only place where one could get the understanding that he was riding a bicycle. People read, you just don't give grace to people who might miss one word, especially one in an adjunct part of a piece.... I've also already been given a decently framed correction and edited my comment. No need for unreasonable comments from the peanut gallery.

Yes, was already corrected by another and I updated my post. But thanks for chiming in 🙂

Do they still seriously sell those there? I remember when they sold those on the street on Khao San! And if I remember correctly, it was only a few hundred baht! lol

Depends on one's definition of luxury. Luxury can be real, or it can be that of wannabes. They must be quite small units if they're truly real luxury at that price.

Thanks for that! Yeah, it would be a bit odd to be wearing a full faced helmet, riding a bicycle. I think the title put my mind into motorcycle mode, since it said "bike crash" and in the article it said "bike accident". I completely missed where it said "cycling". I didn't read the bit below the pic, as I figured it was just some sort of description of the pic and him being a footballer.... Knowing that "bike" can be ambiguous, journalists would do better to use the word "bicycle" or "motorcycle" and avoid colloquial terms like "bike".

Yes, I addressed some of that in other parts of my post that you didn't quote from. I agree to some extent. But when is the last time you've seen Thais wandering around towns (not beach towns) in their swimsuit? And not just some random mental case. And when is the last time you've seen or heard of large groups, like in the pic, drinking illicitly and being rowdy in a family type atmosphere, e.g., on a river open to all tourists? There's a time and a place for things.... And yeah, as for criticism being more sensitive toward outsiders - I mentioned that already, and I don't think it's unusual at all and quite normal around the world. No surprises here.

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.