Bday Prang

unless they are Thai

didn't even pay for 1/2 of lager or a bag of chips, c'mon that's stretching it a bit

If I was a gambling man I would bet everything I own and all I could borrow that it was costing him, one way or the other, and I would win

Everybody pay's for it one way or the other, except perhaps in our teenage years when we might be given a free taster or two , but that's only to get us hooked.

I 'm sure every word is true, but some might be forgiven for asking why you have waited until now to release the results of your social experiment.

hmmm, an already pregnant Thai woman or a crazy Russian, ? that's a tough decision to have to make ,, I'd go with "none of the above" if that's an option

Now I'm getting confused, who exactly does the island belong to?

And don't forget the delights of the regular internal examination for cervical cancer screening which you would be fully entitled to, along with a mammogram too if you wanted it.

however a male senior manager would be quite reluctant to dismiss the excuse in these "enlightened times"

not only violent women, its a common excuse shoplifting and other bad behaviour

Its not the first time this has been used as an excuse, In the UK a woman literally got away with murder by using the same b/s https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/11/11/A-British-woman-who-said-pre-menstrual-tension-drove-her/4609374302800/ There are other examples on google, Women's problems have always been a convenient, "no questions asked" excuse for a few days off work, few male bosses would ask any questions or request the "victim" to go into detail, those who did would be up before a disciplinary themselves In my limited experience as a third party in such matters, the temper tantrums generally appear prior to the actual period its self/ Things tend to calm down once the red flag is flying I am now fully expecting to be attacked by any women who might be reading this , and also any half men who are currently identifying as women

A common fantasy for many on here is men getting bummed in prison, like i said earlier some blokes get a bit weird when they reach a certain age, some are weird from birth

Not here they won't pal we are not talking "in general" we are specifically discussing Thailand, and things are done differently here The best legal advice would be telling them to plead guilty,it is their only way of reducing whatever sentence they will receive when they are invariably found guilty ! unless some serious irrefutable further evidence appears, which in this case is very very unlikely even if it did exist it would never be made public Just recently there was an event in Sa kaew were a woman was murdered by a teenage gang. Her husband was the initial suspect and he confessed to the crime despite having nothing to do with it. It was effectively an open and shut case as they say and his fate was sealed Only the investigative skills of a TV journalist who unearthed some cctv footage saved him from a long stretch in prison and caused the real suspects to be apprehended. Amazingly he was still admitting to the murder for a while after the new evidence was discovered and swore he had not been pressured by the police. You can totally forget any comparisons to the legal process here and what may occur in any other civilised western country, the same goes for the concept of justice. When you are in the $hit here you will be in it up to your neck and it will be impossible to claw your way out regardless of innocence, and regardless of what legal help you may think you have bought. probably not that much different than north korea in real terms

apologies, if i have spoken out of turn or been misquoted, I am a bit confused now, However I did claim a conviction rate of around 95% I'm guessing the link you provided kind of confirms that but to be honest I started reading it but gave up after the first few paragraphs,

from genuine real "experience" or simply from what you have heard ? Have you any Idea what the conviction rate is by Thai courts for "normal" people ? That would explain their willingness to plead guilty regardless of whether they actually are or not

Absolutely , if I remember correctly the conviction rates by Thai courts ( for normal run of the mill people at least) is somewhere around 95% possibly even more, so generally speaking if one is unfortunate to be appearing in court its pretty much a certainty that one will be found guilty anyway. Pleading guilty regardless of actual guilt is the only way to reduce what sentence one would inevitably receive. A no brainer in anybodies book, unless one is suffering from "principles" and is prepared to cut one,s nose off to spite one's face

fortunately most of them are too old for jury service, Something weird happens to some blokes when they get to a certain age,

I think its a bit strange that they are actually charging them with attempting to bribe a police officer, That would be equivalent of the police shooting themselves in the foot. It would certainly have a negative effect on their day to day business model if it became common knowledge that doing so could get one into serious trouble. But I guess they want to throw as much as they can at these to guys and the police will have little problem informing everybody else that for the rest of the population it will be business as usual

Absolutely correct, I actually admire the persistence and tenacity you have shown throughout this thread but I am sorry to have to tell you that you are pretty much wasting your time. It is impossible to indulge in a logical factual adult discussion with a fired up baying lynch mob. especially one consisting of the usual arrogant and sanctimonious members on here As you can see any salient points you raise are either dismissed or ignored, and the replies you receive generally consist of nothing but personal insults. Its understandable that some people are a little shocked by the events that have taken place more so considering the sheltered lives many of the elderly members on here have lead. Most of them feel the need to show their hysterical outrage and demand ever more severe consequences for the two guys involved, partly and mistakenly thinking it will stand them in good stead with the permanently outraged Thai netizens, Its pretty much nothing but virtue signalling but it will not help them . If it ever came down to a mass deportation of westerners they would be on the plane along with the rest of us. The Thais would be doubled up laughing in disbelief if they read this thread completely unable to understand how we cannot resist the opportunity to stick the knife in to each other and totally unable to stick together, (rightly or wrongly) when some of our own are in trouble.

I have been coming and going from here for over 30 years and have never once had a problem entering by land or air either with a visa or even visa exempt despite in many cases my passport being full to bursting point with Thai entry and exit stamps and dozens of visas . I have no idea what "situations" you are referring to

So renting a place in Bangkok for 9 months would be cheaper than paying the cost of checked luggage on a few short trip flights, I don't think I have heard of any accommodation that cheap . and even if it was available I doubt I would feel comfortable leaving my possessions unattended in such a place.

Whats is strange is that a gun which is apparently considered a fine quality weapon has a history of being prone to misfires, Another poster compared them, in quality to a Rolex watch! I don't think Rolex watches earned their reputation due to any inherent design problems ,which these guns appear to suffer from Relatively new here yes, infact I only logged on about an hour ago Did it misfire in the hands of the cop or the NZ guy, ? I guess we will never know My wife confirms that there's a lot of gossip about farangs right now. Not sure if it's fuelled by anger or suspicion, or the fact that they can't gossip openly about the things that are SERIOUSLY wrong with Thailand. Certainly no doubt about the above statement, The Thais, bless them, are addicted to social media and anything that is currently trending will inevitably become a subject of gossip and interest , but its generally short lived so no need to worry too much My missis is no different, a few weeks ago she bought several pairs of elephant pants, having been caught up in the "online trend," despite the garments having been available for years and despite her never expressing any interest in them previously, several of my mates wives made similar purchases,and yes of course they all turned out the following week wearing them and extolling their virtues. They don't wear them anymore though, in fact one pair has already been cut up into small pieces and is used as floor cloths and for mopping up spills and other such purposes They are a nation of gossips, but like you say are pretty much forbidden from discussing the things that actually really matter, and are pretty much conditioned not to do so from the moment they can speak. Even when alone in the house late at night my missis will lower her voice when discussing certain "aspects" of Thailand and if the truth be known its pretty obvious she feels uncomfortable discussing it at all and would rather not So yes anything that distracts them from the real issues is welcomed by the authorities ,who, with the assistance of a compliant mainstream media and a healthy dose of nationalism have no issues fanning the flames of gossip when it suits them. But the Thais generally have short memories and todays news will soon be forgotten as the next trend hits social media

Out of interest where are all these people quoting the % of THC getting their information from ? Is there now an app on their mobile phones that can give them this information ? No of course there isn't . The equipment required to provide this information is rather expensive , no doubt requires some expert training to use , and is not readily available either to the smoker or indeed to anybody else. Obviously those selling cannabis will make wild claims about the quality of their product but that is all they are , I have smoked cannabis for over 45 years I don't feel the need to search out the strongest possible weed available, in the same way that I have happily enjoyed a few beers with around 4 - 5% alcohol for most of my life without ever craving spirits containing 40% or more, Yes a small minority of people will have issues with alcohol, either becoming addicted , or unable to control themselves when intoxicated, but only once was it actually banned ( at least in civilised countries) I believe that didn't work out too well when they tried it either, The decriminalisation of cannabis from what I can see has not caused the breakdown of society nor has it produced a sub culture of zombies, in fact the only issues I have heard about are a few elderly expats on here who don't like the smell (bless them) So if taking the supply of cannabis out of the hands of responsible regulated vendors and putting it back under the control of mafia type organisations and the corrupt police is considered to be the only way to end the scourge of misuse and protect the young, why not do the same with alcohol ? why stop there? why not put everything that is potentially risky under the control of criminals, ? what could possibly go wrong?

Of course it is less harmful than alcohol, at least we can agree on one thing. So the few rules regarding alcohol consumption by the young appear to be sufficient to prevent that happening, (I can't remember ever seeing a drunk kid) yet allow adults to enjoy a drink as and when they want. Yet when it comes to weed the demand is for a total ban, nothing else will suffice. There are plenty of things that should not fall into the hands of children, but are not banned Knives, matches, cigarettes, alcohol, paracetamol, motorcycles, smartphones, deep holes full of water , dogs, poisonous plants, small items that can be swallowed, electrical items, plug sockets the list is endless, but common sense seems to have prevailed and education is considered sufficient. What is the difference with cannabis ? There is no difference except that none of the other "potential risks" have been the subject of a 100 year campaign of reefer madness style b/s courtesy of the good old USA. I thought mature adults these days were intelligent enough to see through all that rubbish, most actually are , but a few unfortunately remain brainwashed, So to protect the young, licensed cannabis shops, who legally cannot sell to kids, (and which kids never visit) will be forced to close, The production and use of cannabis will return to how it was pre legalisation, it certainly will not stop. The next people to be incharge of the retail of cannabis will no longer be required "not to sell to under 21's" what do you think is likely to happen ? Do you honestly think its new "illegality " will be any sort of a deterrent? if you do you are living in cloud cuckoo land. Cannabis itself is not a gateway to anything, but once it becomes illegal again that will change, it will become forbidden fruit, and there is nothing as attractive as that.

More reefer madness rubbish, " falling into the hands of young children" the complete absence of any shock horror news reports of this happening indicates it just does not happen. Do you honestly think "young children" are sat around craving their first cannabis hit ? You appear to live in a parallel universe. Are kids smoking cigarettes in epidemic proportions ? no they are not , and what about Lao Khao or even "normal Whisky" not exactly a national problem either is it? If it was the case that kids are taking drugs the media would be all over it and they are not Should motorcycles be banned? they regularly "fall into the hands" of children many of whom actually drive themselves to school but there is no hysterical comments calling for motorcycles to be taken from the rest of society. You should stop repeating the rubbish that come out of the mouths of "experts" it makes you appear as stupid as them