Bday Prang

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

And how exactly did you determine the strength ? You didn't , you are talking more rubbish

Absolute rubbish.

Wouldn't surprise me if the police have applied some pressure to recriminalize it ,its not the rank and file cops who have issues with it, but some near the top of the table must be missing a bit of tea money. And the growers who normally provided it must also be feeling the pinch what with the drop in prices, and a lower demand due to more variety now being available , brickweed must be almost a thing of the past now, as far as the Thai market is concerned, and they used to produce tonnes of it 20,000 a kilo not that long ago. A lot of influential people losing income won't be allowed to continue The concerns of the the health minister are straight out of reefer madness, I doubt he even believes that rubbish himself , They are not actually going to kill the goose that lays the golden egg, its just that there is going to be a change in ownership and a different but somewhat familiar business model will return He could have introduced a few regulations limiting its usage in public and by kids (they already done that and it seems to be working) and tasked the police with enforcing them in order to "protect the youth" you know just like they have traditionally and quite successfully with alcohol and that would have solved the issue about misuse, but it wouldn't have put any money back into those empty pockets, nothing other than recriminalizing's it would do that , so that is what will probably be happening Just for good measure I predict a dramatic increase in cannabis related news stories around the time of any significant moves by the government on this issue, non of them will be positive

So is it not somewhat strange that a relatively low ranking police officer in a third world country is armed with the gun equivalent of a rolex? And how could a firearm which is apparently liable to misfire be considered as a fine weapon, or even suitable for police issue, considering the environment in which it is likely to be used. This is the first time I have ever heard of a sig sauer and it misfired , somebody could easily have been killed, hardly a good advertisement for a quality weapon in my opinion

I'm not really sure but I think its a combination of how many posts one makes and how popular those posts are with other members which builds ones reputation, as you can see from my profile I have made around 4600 posts or comments and have a reputation of over 6000. I wouldn't worry about it too much if I were you

I don't care what Anutin said or didn't say , and you can keep your links, they are as irrelevant as what ever Anutin allegedly said or didn't say. The fact of the matter is that recreation cannabis is , for the moment at least , freely available for purchase and consumption by anybody over the minimum age limit provided they are neither pregnant or lactating. There have been absolutely no reports of people being prosecuted for indulging in recreational use whatsoever. The proof of the pudding is in the eating ,as they say, and the views of two or three posters on AN are neither here nor there I also find it very surprising that anybody buys from the retail outlets, and pays obscene amounts of money, more than they would ever consider paying in their own countries where it is in many cases still illegal ,but then again I guess the bulk of those doing so are short term tourists who have neither the time , inclination or wherewithal to find the source or people connected to it Those from japan and singapore where it is very frowned upon probably just don't know any better and are only too happy to have access to it at any price if they can consume it without any hassle I don't understand why it isn't sold in 7/11 or any other of the mainstream convenience stores either but to be honest I'm not really bothered where they sell it , Personally I have only once ventured into one of the retail places , a few weeks ago i was in Bangkok and curiosity got the better of me I was offered a single ready rolled joint for 600 baht ! by an annoying british guy (southerner ) who was working behind the counter, he also tried to sell me some for 900 baht per gram The second word of my reply to him was "off" I can get 100g for between 400/500 baht locally , jesus I could get a kilo for less than 3000 baht , and even before the deregulation I could get 50 g for 500baht from several sources. I can't understand why I should pay anymore than that.

if there are really a million and one examples why somebody would want a base I'm surprised you could not think of something more realistic than glorified boarding kennels and a dubious and risky place to dump the kids,

I doubt any family poodle would be ecstatic about being abandoned in Thailand Can't see the kids being over enthralled about the concept either, If I was saddled with either of those example of " baggage" I would seriously consider just leaving them at home in familiar surroundings whilst I disappeared on my travels, again each to their own

Would digs in Laos not be even cheaper, I still don't get it , if i was travelling around asia or anywhere else for that matter I would just book accommodation in the countries I was intending to visit, and one sure fire way of avoiding being grilled when entering Thailand would be simply to refrain from doing so with unnecessary frequency. But as I said each to their own

not quite sure what you problem is , you attempted to insult me with no provocation and then got upset when I responded. I'm guessing your adult diaper needs changing or you have run out of "werther's originals" either way you had better rest now ,we wouldn't want to over do things would we?

What does that actually mean ? if you don't mind me asking Why would anybody need a "base" in Thailand if travelling around Asia ? and what form would this "base " take? would you maintain some form of rented accommodation here whilst day tripping (or longer) to Laos and Cambodia sounds a bit bizarre to me but each to their own

After the recent events in Phuket I wouldn't be surprised if a few more restrictions might be applied to New Zealanders applying for visas

Ah age related digestive issues, very common, you should ask the day nurse to feed you only bland food. "Khao Tom" is ideal for your sort, but make sure to consume it with some bread and butter, and wash it down with some milky tea. You could ask matron tonight when she is tucking you into your adult pampers before lights out or is it too late for that ? it is 8:30 pm after all.

a license is clearly currently not required for recreational use what on earth are you talking about,

Ah another of the "but but Anutin said brigade" Your "understanding" is flawed you need to accept that, If you require confirmation you only have to open your eyes, 1000's of shops selling and millions of people smoking cannabis all of which contains considerably more than 0.2% THC with no interference from the authorities whatsoever. It really isn't rocket science. But feel free to believe whatever you want no matter how ridiculous it make you look

well they did a very poor job of stopping the sale of cannabis before it was decriminalised. I doubt they will have any more success next time round

I'm not normally one of the grammar police, but shouldn't you have used the plural "pussies" it fits the rest of the attempted insult much more appropriately interesting use of the word "we" presumably referring to your fellow geriatric keyboard warriors, (AKA pussies) whose contribution to any uprising would be limited to posting a few sad faced emojis on a website like this, in between bouts of incontinence, and before your afternoon nap of course, Although in the case of a revolution I imagine the internet will be shut down , along with the day room so that will be a double whammy for you to contend with

No they did not steal any shoes , I was commenting on the disparity between the maximum sentences for assaulting a cop (1 year and 20,000) compared to the maximum sentence for stealing from a dwelling place,( 5years and 100,000) I used the theft of shoes as an example of what might be stolen from a dwelling place .

well they didn't beat him up did they ? in the video one of them was restraining him , at least that,s how it appeared to me. Size is not relevant when carrying a gun, I would hesitate to describe an unarmed man who disarmed a police officer as a coward. A fool maybe , but not a coward

so stealing a pair of shoes could land one in deeper trouble than assaulting a cop ? theoretically at least , I was going to say .".well this is Thailand " afterall, but there are plenty of instances in other countries were the disparity in punishments for different crimes defy logic