Bday Prang

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

So they equate having money and power with being a good person. I always suspected that. And those who consider themselves rich and powerful don't like to be considered second class , No surprises there either. A more enlightened comment would have been something along the lines of..." There are millions and millions of people who visit Thailand every year, its a vital part of our economy, naturally there will always be problems and misunderstandings but thankfully events like this are very very rare,"

Sound advice, for anybody considering behaving in a similar manner in the future, Although better advice would be simply "don't do it "

A very sweeping statement , but I would suggest there are certain circumstances where one would be applauded for doing just that. Although I very much doubt that was the case in this incident

Regardless of what they did or didn't say, had the armed cop seriously wanted to kill them (which I doubt was ever his intention ) they would probably be dead, and the cop, would have some serious explaining to do on his way to an "inactive post" He may have threatened to shoot them , but the traditional and common sense response would be to put ones hands in the air . Regardless of what actually happened the Police will have no trouble putting this to bed and appearing totally innocent, which they probably are in all fairness, likewise the media's coverage of this is totally predictable and who could blame them

Thousands of people, both foreigners and Thais ride motorbikes without a licence here , its a common misdemeanor here, and not really a big deal. In view of that their behaviour was unbelievably stupid in the extreme, effectively upping the ante considerably from a fine of a few hundred baht. But as has been said before, consider how stupid the average person is and then understand that half of the world's population is even more stupid than that

And firearms should be used as a last resort, and in my opinion only when faced with an armed assailant, there are other options available, mace spray and tazers for example, He had his gun out and ready to fire, had he shot either or both of them it would be a completely different story.

is there really such a thing as a "fine weapon" personally i find them all revolting

I know nothing about guns but apparently it was a Sig Sauer

The" maximum" penalty for assaulting a police officer in the uk has recently been increased, to just two years imprisonment, hardly "big trouble" https://www.oblaw.co.uk/assaulting-a-police-officer-sentencing-guidelines/#:~:text=The guidelines have recently been,extended to 2 years custody. its pretty pathetic really considering what is expected of the police, personally I would have expected the penalty to be much more severe, Even in the UK assaults on police are relatively common particularly during protests were the anger of the demonstrators is often directed at the police. One on one assaults like this are however relatively rare IN Thailand (from a previous post) ..."Section 138 of the Criminal Law: attacking or obstructing an officer who is on duty. The penalty is imprisonment of up to one year, a fine of up to 20,000 baht, or both" which also seems over lenient considering that for assaulting a civilian (from the same post)...the penalty is double....Section 295 of the Criminal Law: physically assaulting another person. The penalty is imprisonment of up to two years, a fine of up to 40,000 baht, or both. of course were foreigners are involved they can also deport and blacklist, but that's only a worry for those who wish to return here,

I'll take your word for it, presumably some who need to carry firearms need to have them ready to fire at a moments notice, However , as most Thai cops probably never have reason to even think about drawing their weapons in anger , I can't see why any of them would elect to have a weapon without a safety catch. Seems downright dangerous to me , I would have expected there to be a list of guns approved for police use, and that a safety catch would be a key requirement. But then again......

Well if "Mrs T" is not impressed it certainly won't end well for them. Mrs B on the other hand remains slightly amused and pretty much ambivalent regarding the whole incident despite her two brothers , her two brothers in law , her uncle, and two of her cousins being serving police officers. I have no idea what training the police actually receive regarding the use of firearms, but I would imagine they are told not to draw their weapon unless its absolutely necessary, probably also told not to point it at anything they don't fully intend to kill, and are almost certainly told to keep the safety catch on until they intend to actually shoot it. That would be pretty much in line with what a group of us were told when we were invited to spend an afternoon at the police shooting range a few years ago. Maybe firearms protocol has changed these days I really have no idea

I'm assuming he part of the video showing them stood by the motorcycles surrounded by police was taken after them wrestling the gun from the officer, due to his dishevelled appearance, but it looked a little strange to me, considering what had just allegedly taken place I would have expected the two guys to be at least restrained in handcuffs and possibly pinned to the floor by the other cops if only to prevent further possibly violent resistance. It certainly looks like the cop had his gun in his hand when it was taken from him, which implies he had drawn his weapon, hardly standard procedure when dealing with unarmed tourists who had merely failed to stop at a checkpoint Whilst none of us here know exactly what happened, my guess is that after the cop caught up with them, an argument ensued which rapidly escalated and got out of hand, the cop drew his gun probably in an attempt to intimidate, as I doubt he was in fear of his life, Most people would have complied immediately when faced by a cop with a loaded gun, it would be normal to think that obeying his instructions would be the safest course of action, why these two didn't is as yet still a mystery, but their reaction implies to me they were genuinely in fear of being shot by what they considered to be a rogue cop, The fact that one round was fired means that the safety catch had already been switched off, I'm no expert in gun protocol, but it would appear to me that he obviously meant business, The guys obviously know a bit about guns, most people would not have a clue how to remove the clip and empty the bullets, maybe they saw him switch off the safety and genuinely feared he was going to use it. That's the only explanation I can think of for their behaviour I have never heard of any tourist , now matter how unsavoury or entitled they may feel, ever behaving like this before.

Well don't leave it there , go on tell us how much you paid,