Chiang Mai's reputation for being a nice place to retire is long gone ...

the always same disastrous scenarios repeating itself EVERY year only prove the  absolute  incompetence of the local authorities  .

19 hours ago, webfact said:

the suspect admitted being drunk and unable to control his emotions.

Sadly that is the case with so many crimes here in Thailand ...

Grown up men who never reached maturity .

6 hours ago, rooster59 said:

"in order to uphold friendly relations."

If India detains the burmese policemen and sends them back to Burma , they are not better than these burmese criminals in uniforms .

" Friendly relations " ?

Whom wants to have friendly relations to a non-elected , dictatorial regime that oppresses and kills it's own people ?

If the burmese miltary does not allow free elections very soon , there is  a civil war coming .

This time is different .

11 hours ago, Tug said:

Imo it doesent really matter as long as it wasent intentional it’s really all about how we deal with it that counts 

To discover the origins is very important to avoid future , similar , outbreaks .

Surprised that this topic is still going on ...

I do not find anything bad about an objective , independent and unbiased investigation by the ICC ... It may bring to light at least a part of the truth , of what had really happened ...

But , if , some of the parties involved in that investigation try to discredit it before it even started , that can only mean that there is something they prefer to keep hidden and not want it to be known by the public ...

But the truth is difficult to hide ... more someone tries to , more suspicious it becomes .

Anyway , about everybody already knows what had happened , it is documented , but not officially regarded as proof of the crimes committed . The investigation by the ICC will change that .

Tactical political manoeuvres  will not be able to hide the truth for a long time .

Yesterday 38 protesters were shot and killed .

I do not understand why the low rank soldiers executing these orders not just shoot in the air , but intentionally killing people ...?

They are burmese as well , and mostly from poor families whose other members may very well go to the demonstrations ...

What happens in Burma now is done by criminals who wear uniforms . The only law these military criminals respect is the law of the gun .

Who has the gun , gives the order . Who does not obey , dies .

A pity that this is still possible in the 21st century .

40 minutes ago, Morch said:

And I notice that, again, your focus is totally one sided. To be expected, but needs to be pointed out.

 Sorry Morch , but that is not true .

I try not to be biased at all ... but it is the facts that talk ...

 I am not against Israel . Israel did some really great things , too . And , of course they have a right to exist as a state  within their defined borders .

I am not pro arab . There are a lot of things that I do not like ...

Most of all , I hate Nazism , ( extreme nationalism ) of no matter from what side it comes from ...

.I had my personal experiences with Nazis , they are completely wrong .

It is a pity that Israeli policies sometimes do resemble a lot that ideology .

A lot more countries recently chose that way , Populism on the rise everywhere , really worrying .

33 minutes ago, Morch said:

 

@nobodysfriend

 

Alleged war crimes. The purpose of the investigation is to determine if there were such. Deciding it in advance makes claims of objectivity, fairness and such hollow. Also, you'll note that (nominally, at least) the there will also be investigations into alleged Palestinian war crimes.

 

As for Netanyahu (and other Israeli politicians) over-playing the antisemitism card, agreed. It neither applies in all cases (like this one), and even if was more prevalent as motive, repeatedly harping on it 'devalues' the arguments' strength.

 

The 'throwing stones' bit is nonsense. Attacks by Palestinians include rockets, mortar shells, small arms, IED's, small arms and even an anti-tank missile. Granted, these are no still no match for the IDF, but a far cry from your description.

 

War Crimes, an in the legal, rather than everyday speech and people's imaginations, is not quite as simple as some may think. This would apply to attacks in urban surroundings (which aren't globally legally prohibited), the use of civilians as human shields, or the use of unguided weapons against civilians.
 

I have little doubt that under international law, the Israeli settlement effort in the West Bank can be labeled a war crime. When it comes to military actions in the Gaza Strip, probably less legal footing to base cases.

No doubt that war crimes have been committed .  probably by both sides , but disproportionally more by the Israeli side .

Understandable that Israel does not want to be confronted with those facts .

https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/06/13/israel-apparent-war-crimes-gaza

(New York) – Israeli forces’ repeated use of lethal force in the Gaza Strip since March 30, 2018, against Palestinian demonstrators who posed no imminent threat to life may amount to war crimes, Human Rights Watch said today. Israeli forces have killed more than 100 protesters in Gaza and wounded thousands with live ammunition.

Human Rights Watch interviewed nine people who witnessed Israeli forces shooting protesters in Gaza on May 14, the day with the highest toll of deaths and injuries so far when more than 60 people were killed

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/amnesty-report-finds-israeli-army-committed-war-crimes-1.1104073

Amnesty report finds Israeli army committed war crimes

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the court's decision was "undiluted anti-Semitism and the height of hypocrisy."

Everything somebody says that is not liked by Netanyahu becomes anti-semitism automatically .

Bored with always this same behavior , there is no excuse for the war crimes committed by the Israelian Army .

3 hours ago, webfact said:

"Without any jurisdiction, it decided that our brave soldiers, who take every precaution to avoid civilian casualties against the worst terrorists in the world who deliberately target civilians, it's our soldiers who are war criminals," Netanyahu said in a statement.

" the worst terrorists in the world who deliberately target civilians ..."

He must have got something wrong there ... one one side it is ' the worst terrorists ' who are throwing stones against heavily armed soldiers who target civilians with live ammunition , but it is the ones who are responding by throwing stones , that are the ' war criminals ' ...

Mad logic .

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi said the decision was "morally bankrupt and legally flawed," while Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Gilad Erdan, vowed to "continue working together with the American administration against this shameful decision.”

"morally bankrupt and legally flawed," ... again , the opposite is the case in reality .

This decision by the ICC was long overdue .

Netanyahus policies always follow the same principle ... the Israelis have a right to just do whatever they want , if somebody complains about , it is anti-semitism . Once the facts are created by the Israelis , excuses will be found that they were forced to do so because .... somebody else's fault . Period .

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/02/soldiers-good-palestinians-bad-israel-double-standards-justice

----> Two sharply contrasting sentences were handed down recently by Israeli courts.

In the first case a teenage Palestinian girl, Ahed Tamimi, was accused of slapping an Israeli soldier. Although she caused the soldier no physical harm, her assault was regarded by the Israeli military court that tried her behind closed doors as warranting incarceration for eight months.

The second example concerns an Israeli border police officer, Ben Deri, who shot and killed a Palestinian teenager, Nadeem Nawara, at a demonstration in 2014 where – the court in Jerusalem accepted – the youth posed no threat to the policeman officer or other security forces.

Nawara was one of three teenagers shot that day, two of whom were killed, with Deri prosecuted only in one killing.

The court gave him the benefit of the doubt that his act was not deliberate but a mistake. It accepted that Deri had negligently loaded a clip of live ammunition, and in a second act of negligence he had also fired his weapon, not noticing he had failed to load a plastic round into a barrel extension attached to the gun.

Because of this Deri will serve just nine months in prison, a month longer than Tamimi who killed no one. <----

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2021/mar/03/israeli-officials-start-to-feel-the-impact-of-icc-investigation

Myanmar army is nothing but a bunch of thieves and criminals .

Please read the following part of an article by Aljazeera :

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/26/follow-the-money-myanmar-coup-puts-pressure-on-army-businesses

‘Massive theft’

The military began getting involved in business when Ne Win moved to nationalise the economy as part of his “Burmese way to Socialism in the wake of the 1962 coup.

As the military abandoned the planned economy, it began to nurture a form of crony capitalism with senior generals and military officers able to secure preferential access to many sectors of the economy, including some of the country’s most lucrative industries. In some areas, military companies and their affiliates were the only ones allowed to operate.

The process gathered momentum with the asset sales of 2011 when senior generals and their families were able to take advantage of the opening of the economy to secure control of some of Myanmar’s main assets.

“It’s really the elite and the business cronies who benefit from this massive theft of state resources,” Roberts said. “Rank and file soldiers don’t benefit, and obviously ordinary people suffer because money that that should be spent on health and education is being funnelled into buying military equipment instead.”

While the armed forces’ business interests remain largely a “black box” according to Clare Hammond, Global Witness’ London-based researcher on Myanmar, recent reports and document leaks have revealed more details of two giant conglomerates that are key to their wealth – Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC).