BangkokReady

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Attacking with a weapon, with no warning, waiting until the victim is vulnerable and unable to escape. Real piece of work. Also completely brazen. He must have known, like other boys who do the same, that he would be caught and be sent to prison. The fact that this is no deterrent is really striking. Sometimes, this type of behaviour makes you wonder how many people in Thailand would be classed as being mentally ill if they were examined by Western medical staff.

Bit of a "he said, she said", unfortunately. He could have molested her, or she might have consented and lied when her dad found out and went crazy (father might even have made her lie). A bit weird that it was an ongoing thing and only ended when they went to the police. What prevented them from ending it before hand if it wasn't consensual?

Can you actually find an agent that will allow you to get a tourist visa while not meeting all of the requirements?

And does so poorly, unfortunately.

Yeah, some weird figures there. I'm led to believe that most expats in Vietnam are teachers, and most make nowhere near $8,500. I would say that the 24,500 Baht is probably not Western expats also, more likely Filipino. For teaching at least, definitely better pay in Vietnam, but it's more like 35,000 Baht vs. 40,000,000 Dong (USD1,000 vs. USD1,700) for White monkey jobs. One of the biggest differences in Thailand with teaching is the rate of exploitation, meaning quite a few people take a slice of the foreign teachers wages. Also there is "no work no pay" in Thailand during school holidays, whereas in Vietnam expats are more likely to be in private language centres. This keeps the average down in Thailand (along with the quality of education).

Hearts and minds. Hard power is threat, soft power is PR, charm offensive, etc..

"Hub of soft power and mango sticky rice."

So the father and the baby, they have a say?

It's under 2.6 on the list of documents required for the visa:

What about if the visa application lists this type of insurance for the duration of the visa? Still 30 days? Or would you need the full 90 to match the visa?

The Thai government love bureaucracy. I would imagine they would be very happy for all tourists to have to present a stack of forms, completed in blue ink, signed every page, with copies and originals, even when visiting for two weeks. Maximum face is achieved when informing a foreigner that they haven't filled out their forms correctly. Also, this would allow them not to have to charge Thai people who are returning home.

I think with Venice, they've had masses of problems with too many visitors coming at the same time and it is causing the city to degrade quicker than it needs to, also they are complaining about people being priced out of living there. So they want to limit the number of tourists and pay for the damage they cause. I'm not sure that the same motivations are present with Thailand.

So will this spark an investigation into the treatment of conscripts by their seniors, leading to anyone found to have behaved in a similar fashion to be disciplined?

It depends on how you view logical. We are generally fairly hemmed in by our subconscious limbic system, but we are capable of engaging our conscious minds to kind of attempt to override it. Is our limbic system logical? Kind of, it just operates on a very basic "survival instinct" level that would make sense if we were still living like wild animals, but is not compatible with modern lifestyles. So we have a kind of incompatible logic that drives us, while we use a more compatible logic to try and wrestle with our basic survival/procreational urges.

It's to make people not notice their spending so much to get them to spend more.

That's the whole point. To make it easier for you to spend money. Hence "contactless payment", just one tiny tap and you're done, you don't even know you spent any money. Compare that with getting out your wallet, lifting out the note, seeing how many you have left, handing the note to the cashier. Any other reason is a smokescreen.

Just select "tourism"?

Veterans of the agent obtained volunteer visas, what do they state when they apply for a new visa under details about previous visit to Thailand? Business? Tourism? Other - then write volunteer? There's no option for "dodgy volunteer visa"! ????‍♂️ If you write volunteer on your application, will it be questioned? If you don't write volunteer on your application, will it be questioned? Is the nature of the agent obtained volunteer visa known throughout the world, as it is within Thailand?

For an apparently oppressive and evil government, a lot of people demand subsidisation from them whenever there is a price increase... ????

Lack of education, living only in "the now", insane need to show "face", etc..

Is that all in the wife/partner's name and you pay, or do they check your finances too?

Isn't sexual torture and humiliation all part of the role? Along side slavery and exploitation? I thought that was why young men collapse when they get selected, not because they're scared of doing some PT or serving their country. It's a good thing if it means sweeping changes, but that seems unlikely. Punishing one person when this type of things happens all the time seems somewhat performative. Why do they even need conscription outside of wartime?

They appear to be filming a computer screen with a phone. Also I think you mean perspective, not objective.

Jesus, can't these guys can just stop robbing the few tourists that are actually coming to Thailand for five minutes? There will be many more coming, hopefully soon. "That people are so cash starved due to covid that they are robbing any tourists that visit" is not a good tourism slogan!