BangkokReady

Glad you said it. I was about to type this myself and thought it might be an unpopular opinion. I had a feeling that most people would be blaming the police 100%, but as I was reading through the article it was like a checklist of "Thainess". Don't criticise, don't make a fuss, avoid confrontation, avoid consequences. The police obviously bare some responsibility, of course, but Thai society is part of this also. "Mai bpen rai" is great in some situations, in others, not so much. It will be interesting to see what the response will be long term. I can remember what happened after the Dunblane massacre in England. Most of the responses I have seen on social media have not been about why it happened or how to stop it happening again.

They want to reach the UK because they believe that simply by getting to the UK they will be given money and a free house. It isn't related to the economic performance.

Sounds like a reduction but not complete prevention. Any research to back it up?

We had a bash at it before: Conclusion: unclear...

Oh, then he deserved it then... ???? If he held that back, they might think it an overreaction! ????‍♂️ What does this even mean? "Even in a country where they no longer practice corporal punishment this is over the top"? That makes no sense. In a country that no longer practices corporal punishment, then any corporal punishment is over the top. This sentence would only work if it was "Even in a country that allows some corporal punishment, this is over the top".

Should say "electrocuted to death" according to the "modern definition". ????

An interesting one. Stole all his money, belongings and also passport, made homeless in Thailand, somehow couldn't apply for a temporary travel document, and simply locked up in detention. Not impossible, but something in there seems a little implausible.

It says he was planning to go home to live with his daughter. Perhaps he was "self-insure" up until a point and then decided to go home to get taken care of. Why is that such a bad thing? Not everyone expects to suddenly be taken ill. Would you really have sympathy in different circumstances?

It's odd, given how reliant Thailand is on foreign people for income. Also they could have a much better education system if they were more appreciative of foreign people who have skills they would benefit from learning. Perhaps a knowledge of these two facts is what causes this in the first place. I suppose it's simply a cornerstone of their psychology that is imprinted on them almost from birth. Something needed by the elite and society as a whole to keep people happy and compliant. Have the conditions within Thailand since tourism was suspended changed her point of view at all? Or is she in denial of what has been happening to the economy?

Because they don't want to acknowledge anything positive about foreigners, least of all expats. In fact, they need things like 90-day to make foreigners look bad and feel unwelcome.

It got pretty bad and things were starting to give. No money for subsidies, issues around debt, suicides up. Thailand needs tourism very much.

At bus stops and on the BTS?

I forgot how upset you get by people pointing out your mistakes. I'll reply to whomever I want thanks. ????‍♂️

How would you know how much focus I gave each comment? I have read all the comments carefully and greatly enjoyed hearing about Thailand before smartphones.

I'm sure that before smartphones they did indeed do what they did before smartphones. I was simply hoping to get a little first hand knowledge of what that was.

It's probably the opposite. The older guys are marvelling at not having to carry their book, newspaper and camera around and the ease at which they can contact their family, while the younger people are probably more aware of what smartphones are more often used for and the many negatives.

Sure, the whole world has been changed by smartphones. But Thai people even now have different pastimes to what we have back home. Safe to assume the things they did before smartphones were different also.

Why would you assume that? Many, probably most, Thai pastimes are very different to what we see back home.

I'm not looking to criticise or make comparisons. I'm simply curious. It seems that many Thais, young and old, are glued to their smart phones for much of the day. To the foreigners that have been here long enough to remember: what was Thailand like before smartphones? What did people working in shops, waiting at bus stops, on a break from their job, etc., do before the smart phone? What did it look like walking down the street, waiting for the BTS, or sitting in a café in Thailand before the smartphone? Were people reading? Talking? Staring at the palm of their hand wishing that something entertaining was visible there?

"Keeping up with the Joneses" simply means having a similar lifestyle to your neighbours when it comes to consumer goods.

"Why didn't another Thai do this? All the other Thais are so lazy... ????" Always so close.

Or where the communist backed half chose to invade the Western backed half of their divided country, as was the case in Korea and Vietnam.

If your home country had free medical care, but while in Thailand you purchased private medical insurance, would you wish you hadn't bought it if you finished your time in Thailand having never used it? You wouldn't, because you might have needed it, so it was a sensible thing to do at the time. No reason to regret doing something to keep you safe, even if you didn't use it. And that's before we consider the fact that people being vaccinated (not only the individual) may have contributed to someone never having contracted the virus.

Doesn't that apply to all the laws in Thailand?

It's more that the virus is weaker and the resistance to it is higher. When things closed it was a very strong virus and there was low resistance to it. As the pendulum has swung, so the measures have reduced.