BangkokReady

So, Thailand is the land of large age-gap relationships. Not that they don't happen back home, but they are typically the reserve of the wealthy (where they get little judgement for some reason, because if the guy is rich and famous he can do what he wants without question). I think the reasons they are more common in Thailand are probably fairly clear. Money is a lot more of a factor in marriage, there is less judgement or stigma attached to an age-gap, older people are more respected in Thailand, differences in income levels make them more attractive, once women are divorced or have babies no Thai man wants them, abuse/violence, and so on. I don't really think there is much point getting into questions of morality. I think that is mostly addressed by the reasons laid out above. If everyone is OK with it, then what is the harm? (I realise there will always be someone who has a problem with it, but I guess if everyone is happy and consenting, who cares?) What I'm asking about here, is what happens when the man (who is normally going to be the older partner) gets very old? Let's say there's a 20 year age-gap. Not unusual in Thailand, but fairly uncommon back home. Certainly an amount of time where the difference in life stages is fairly pronounced. 20-40: The girl is obviously still pretty young, the man not so much, but they can still have fun, get married, have children, have a healthy amount of sex. (You can see the attraction of an older man, serious about a relationship, already established, etc..) 30-50: Probably a slight decline in sex, the woman is more mature, both getting on with raising kids and living a happy life, hopefully. 40-60: The man is probably looking a lot more like an "old man" now, maybe not too bad if he stays in shape, but father time waits for no man. The woman, having had children and maybe approaching, or in the throws of, the menopause is probably starting to look a little older now also. Even Asian women start to age a little. Hopefully, due to the changes that the woman has gone through, the sex is still satisfactory for both parties, things might have slowed down though. But then, after twenty years together and maybe a couple of kids, even if they were the same age things probably would have slowed down a fair amount. 50-70: The man has to be old now, right? Maybe no sex drive? Serious health problems? What about the woman? Still feeling young and frisky? Seeking out something with a younger guy on the side? Isn't there some quote about a crippled old guy, siting in his wheel chair, listening to his younger wife have sex with another man? Obviously the upshot of this is that it's typically OK for the man as he presumably has sex until he no longer wants it, yet the same might not be true for the woman. What about with just being together. A 20 and a 40 year old walking down the street hand in hand might raise a few eyebrows, but how about a 50 year old and a 70 year old? So, what do you think? These are just some random thoughts/concerns. The reality might be totally different for many, so if you think I have it wrong, please tell me. Any ideas, thoughts, disagreements, etc., welcomed. Just my ideas and would love to hear what other people think, or have experienced.

When did they cancel the day 5 test? Are they sure it isn't that?

Very sad and completely avoidable (presumably). You see so many people in Thailand riding along with the phone in one hand, scrolling away, no helmet either. A little bit of safety training, or perhaps a different attitude, could have prevented this.

I realise this is simply repeating the error from The Pattaya News, but ASEAN Now really needed to include the entire paragraph to give all the information. The one sentence above does not properly explain what happened and semantically suggest that they went to the location specifically to find the girl. It should have ended with an explanation as to what state they found her in. E.g. "Police arrived at the scene to find Somchai, 21, stripped to the waist and threatening to attack passers-by". "Emergency responders arrived at the scene to find Ms. Thidaphon (last name withheld), 16. She had sustained severe head injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. Nearby, first responders found her damaged motorbike and the trailer truck." The entire paragraph clarifies slightly, as additional details are provided in the following sentences, but it should still be in the first sentence. Is it all based on a bot or algorithm, or does a human actually check these?

I guess for something like this to happen, multiple things must have gone wrong at the same time. Where was the father? Why weren't her parents keeping an eye on her? Another reason why ensuring there is a solid family foundation before having a baby is a good idea. (Perhaps choosing who you let f*** you a little more carefully might help also.)

I would have thought it was quite clear that is what they meant. Bit lazy though, as most of this info is available online.

Makes you wonder what the feud was about. Was it something significant like he owed him money or slept with his wife? Or was it something trivial like he shouted at him in public? Sadly either could be the case.

I believe it is a tourism thing, but it comes from the fact that Thai people are prone to smile a lot and in many different situations. It doesn't necessarily mean they are happy, kind or genuine. There are even several kinds of smile.

How is that an eye for an eye? They don't castrate children.

I have no doubt that most developing countries are similar, as were our countries a few hundred years ago (or perhaps less).

There's a photo of the woman, the accusation is public, it is reported by the news, the police acknowledged it, she isn't being ignored, she hasn't been killed to silence her. I'm sorry if you don't understand that that is a step in the right direction, but it is.

Interesting development. Very brave of these people to come forward. Probably things like social media and these legal organisations are making a big difference here. Not unusual for things like this to be hushed up and the victims being threatened and too scared to report it. Obviously Thai people won't like it at first, as it means they would have to be less corrupt also, but this certainly seems like a step in the right direction.

Agreed, but I would argue that the government prior to the coup wasn't much better.

Easy. Vaccines work, so there must be other factors. Antivax types are normally insane, dishonest and low intellect, so I presume that if they aren't outright lying, they are at the very least misrepresenting the facts. It's not something I'm going to spend too much time looking into though (or even thinking about), for exactly those reasons.

So what are you suggesting the implication of that is? Vaccines increase deaths so we shouldn't vaccinate? The lower the vaccine rate the more protected you are and the higher the vaccine rate the less protected you are?

Are you telling me you, presumably a foreigner, couldn't afford to buy a couple of drinks and some snacks for your family visiting? And "cleaning and fixing your house"? That just sounds weird. I don't understand how you could have found yourself in this position. Unless it's some sort of bullsh*t parable-esque story. ???? Did you copy this from a facebook post? Are you continuing the trend of made up stories?

You might be in the camp of "it's OK to lie in the press about something if it happens at other times or if it means it causes something good to happen", but I am not. Don't lie in the press and social media to try and get the outcome you believe to be the right one. It is a very, very bad precedent as many people think that their side is the "right one". Present facts and let people decide what to think.

By the looks of it, the TVF Detective Force is already making inquiries...

She doesn't look like someone who has eaten a fifth of a noodle meal for dinner hundreds of times. Don't be so naïve.

Not great writing. According to the article they were swept about 50 metres downstream and found five metres from the bank. Very sad. It sounds like there were adults around when it happened, but they either didn't do anything to really stop the kids from going in the river, or didn't do anything when they were swept away. Possibly both. If there is a river that is capable of sweeping kids away, they should make sure that kids don't go in it, full stop.

It does indeed. Especially filming before she even asks for the soup. She also doesn't look particularly dishevelled to me, nor all that malnourished. I have no doubt that there are many poor people struggling in Thailand right now, but this girls doesn't look like she is sharing one bag of noodle soup between five at each meal.

I think the handling of the pandemic and the vaccine debacle plays a big part in it. They also need to maintain the antiforeigner feelings by making it difficult for foreigners to get into the kingdom. If they opened up and Thai people started accepting foreigners and no longer see them as being singularly responsible for covid in Thailand, they would lose a major tool of distraction. With only around 70% having had two doses of vaccine, around 30% at three and seemingly a reluctance to boosters, we have no idea how many Thais actually have/will have a decent level of protection against the latest variant. Presumably anyone who has only had two doses of Sinovac, not very much. Hoping for change thiough.

Good point.

Isn't Chomsky a famous, rich, influential public figure? He has at least a little SMV, or at least he would have done when he was younger and at the peak of his Linguistic professorial career. He probably had quite a few geeky girls lusting after him when he was younger.

Aaah. The meaningless update that no one has been waiting for...