fredwiggy

Up to 65 and more die daily on the roads, mainly because laws on the books aren't enforced, people are paid off, and a wai, and maybe a bribe, gets many out of situations where jail time is mandatory. Locals do not pay child support for the children they make, meaning the men. This absence of fathers, and eventually mothers, who feel the need to go elsewhere to work instead of staying with their children, at least giving the kids one parent who raises them, leaves many kids to fend for themselves, as grandmas, many of whom are illiterate and not capable of taking good responsibility, can't do the job. This lets children to grow up with no guidance, which of course lets them do what their peers do, which is mistreating women, animals, and leaving the kids they make also, repeating the pattern of many decades. Corruption here is huge, and the human trafficking that is sometimes protected by this corruption, lets it flourish. In a democracy, which is the best source of government, the people can elect new leaders. The people here do not have much of a say. Leaders elected are put aside and the rich who are in charge put one of their own in position. This would be okay if they did the job intended, which is to help all people. Yes, in America, sometimes, or actually may times, a leader is voted in place who does more harm than good, but at least the people have a say in who's elected. Expats are treated as outsiders, whereas Thais are accepted in the US as like all others, except by those who are racist or prejudiced., and not allowed to work in most jobs. In the US, you can get most any job a citizen has eventually. Women and girls are considered second class here. This isn't the case in other countries besides some Muslim and other Asian. They are slaves to the men in many cases, a place where boys, many useless, are put in higher regard than the girls, who usually are the ones trying to get ahead. Thousands of food stalls are unlicensed and many get sick from the food they serve in filthy conditions. Animals, especially dogs, are allowed to roam free because no one takes care of them or their offspring, besides the spay and neuter programs who are sometimes frowned upon, and the laws are there to keep this from happening but aren't enforced strictly. Greed is very high here, and scammers are everywhere, which doesn't help with tourism but has been hurting it more and more. Thailand's image of a place to go and have a good time has been tainted by this and crime towards foreigners. Punishment should be dealt out more, especially towards those who are targeting farangs, for the same reason. This is a beautiful country, with many good people, but it's gotten worse for decades now, and is one reason I will take my daughter from here to give her a better life back home. I don't see things improving until the younger crowd gets their say and removes the ones who have been doing the damage for years. This also happens in the US, but as mentioned, there you can get rid of the garbage by voting them out, or punishing them when they commit crimes.

I'm sure if you're home town is Mayberry there are people now smoking weed. Even Barney and Goober need a break from the daily tension.

I think you're missing a few major points. Cannabis doesn't make people violent, and most crimes associated with drug use involve meth, yaba, cocaine, heroin and fentanyl. Drugs which are highly addictive and cause the body great harm, and also the mind. I'm not a big smoker but do indulge when I visit my kids (yes, they all smoke, and work), but when I smoke, all I wanted to do was listen to music, make love or eat afterwards. Cigarettes, which are legal, addictive and make people think they need them, cause a lot of health problems we all know of. My dad smoked up to 3 packs a day, and was lucky to live to 79 before lung cancer ended his life. When you were young, smoking pot wasn't rare, unless you're over 80. I'm 67, and it was used by more then I knew at the time (found out later), and I tried it in 1974 at age 17. The only drugs I saw hurting others were the before mentioned ones. People might get mellow smoking weed, but it doesn't necessarily make them lazy. Everyone I know who partakes works, and it hasn't affected their work in the least. Weed is used medicinally and for good reasons. Many of these, nausea being one, most of us know by now. The other side of this is doctors who kill many daily by over prescribing narcotics, opioids, for pain, which slow down the system (this it did to my ex wife who had to have her colon removed because of a doctor(s), prescribing fentanyl along with either morphine, dilaudid or vicodin, and she died from a heart attack last year because her body was abused for years from this doctor advice) , and cause many other health problems. As you said, drinking a beer with friends was considered normal and wasn't (isn't) illegal, but alcohol kills hundreds daily, many by those drinking then driving. Legal because someone's making money on it. Weed doesn't cause the accidents which alcohol does. It's obvious you don't like the idea of smoking weed, but if you don't understand something, it doesn't give you the right to condemn it. You're still a drinker I assume, and I'm sure you have had times when you drank then drove, as many of us have. It's a scary thing, and one that shouldn't happen, but people think they are okay when they aren't, and still get behind the wheel. You would be very surprised just how many people get high. People you know, and people you think don't. Hard drugs are never a good thing for sure, but weed isn't one of those, and it makes a lot of people chill out, especially in these times of high stress. It should have been legal for many decades everywhere, but ignorance hurts this. If you're going to have cigarettes and alcohol legal, which cause so many problems, weed, which doesn't, should be legalized. Nothing silly about people being happy. And nothing proved dangerous by smoking weed. Like anything else, moderation is crucial, but people will do what they want no matter if it's legal or not. There are people in jail for weed, and others who are given lesser sentences for murder. Sick world and court systems, but it is what it is, for now.

Oh we understand all right. It's just that we don't bow down to anyone, knowing no one is any better than we are. We really don't care if offense is taken, for narcissists don't deserve any recognition. Some, many people, aren't interested in responding to any greetings from strangers. Some aren't friendly enough to respond. Many do,as I've seen in many places of many nationalities.

This isn't about the Bangkok area but Isaan, especially in the eastern area.I have a few friends in the 6 years I've been living in Sisaket province. All seem to be pretty friendly, but only a couple are like minded and share common interests. I'm not a bar person, having gone only a couple of times since moving here, mostly to meet for a party, so I don't get to meet with them a lot unless a couple at their homes. It's nice to talk with those from other countries, as some of Europe is still on my bucket list, and those from back home in the US, as we can relate, especially if they are hunters or fishermen. I'm the only farang in my village, and only a couple can speak any English at all, so there's not much relating here. I'm all for meeting up with any that are friendly as I've seen some that seem to avoid farangs like the plague, and one was dragged away from me when we started to speak in Tesco once. Probably thought I would give him some advice that might endanger her milking him.

That is the explanation of many locals here daily. Especially on the daily news. Many not wearing shirts looking to expose their skinny, or out of shape bodies for their 15 minutes of shame. Hot weather isn't an excuse, as being from Texas before here, I never saw anyone on TV not wearing a shirt, and it's hotter there on average than it is here. Of course that comment is prejudiced also, and doesn't warrant much of a response.

Some of the comments I see here daily make me wonder the ages of some. Also, the daily prejudice seen here towards other foreigners shows a lack of proper upbringing as a child. This happens daily with hundreds of people, and the higher percentage is locals,and it wouldn't make news in the US. Assuming anything never works, and shows that prejudice when there's no evidence of what nationality he was. Foreigner means anyone outside Thailand, meaning any country. As I've mentioned many times before,there are Brits, Scots, Asians, Africans, and all other nationalities in the US, where I'm from and returning asap, and the racist and prejudiced cause the most trouble there.

That works, along with leaving the clothes in the washer for awhile once it's filled with water and detergent.

You do understand that with the amount of ridiculous posts you make, that most of us here will not take you seriously when you are asking for sincere help. In this case, seeing it sounds like you are serious, Crossy gave you all the information you need. I stayed at my ex's mom's house for a few months while our house was being built and I was bitten daily by bedbugs (I think, because it looked like they're bites), a scorpion, ants, and had a centipede of 9 inches walk over my arm until my ex killed it. They aren't very clean besides the fact they shower daily. I sealed the edges of the house with mortar mix to try and keep most of the bugs out, but as most know, leaving food out, un refrigerated, invites trouble. Food was kept in a cabinet, which didn't do a thing to help besides keeping out flies, and every type of Thai bug invaded. My ex was stung by scorpions at least three times staying there, as she is again now, and my daughter is there most of the week, which I abhor. Dust mites, like some have mentioned, are everywhere, and it isn't a problem unless you have an allergy to them. Mites are found on most everyone's faces, called Demodex, but again, they aren't a problem unless you are immunocompromised. Scabies has to be treated. Permethrin works. As has been said, washing bedding works when hot water or dryers are used, something which isn't prevalent here. Cold water cleans most things, but lice and mites can survive it.

That might be true, but there the men, and sometimes women, are held responsible through child support. Thailand leads the world with children raised by grandparents, at least 35% and rising. No other country comes close. And in the US, men see their children more, and take part more in raising the children. Deadbeat dads are worldwide, but again, here they are allowed to get away with it.

Especially here. Kids are put into school s soon as possible and the school becomes the daycare center until schools out, then it's home on phones until dinner. Then sleep and repeat 5 times a week. Happens worldwide but here kids aren't as special as they are in other countries. Boys are held in high regard and are spoiled, growing up like their dads, looking at women as secondary and the boys take on that thinking. Girls are secondary slaves to men, and it's one reason, besides possibly more money, they choose farangs for a hope at a better life. Only problem is that some farangs treat women the same way, putting their needs, sports on TV, and friends in front of their wives needs. If the courts here would make the boys responsible for the children they make, they might think twice before leaving so quickly and "mating" with other girls, repeating the process.

We are, and your bias towards ignorance is growing. If you're not a meat eater, I understand your inability to understand why meat providing animals are here, and the difference between them and domestic. If it's just a choice that you don't like eating meat, I understand that too, but to call people who hunt deer murderers, also includes those that eat chicken, fish, pigs, cows, buffalo and other hoofed animals, and that includes almost 80% of the people on earth, is ludicrous.

I guess you haven't noticed as an adult , that this world is filled with unstable, disturbed, narcissistic sadistic people that haven't a place in society and are the cause of most of life's problems. Although all people have somewhat of a dark side, many lean more towards that side, or are fully there. They are called anti social people, and they don't belong with those that are good hearted.

That's your opinion and it happens to be a false one, as the millions of hunters who also own dogs and cats can testify. You cannot understand this and that's okay. Dogs aren't here to be food but companions and helpers. It's the people here who are allowing them to breed, because they like them when they are puppies but can't tolerate them when they get older.

I refute what is right and real. Some animals are here for us to eat and some are here for us to teach and domesticate. Anyone with any common sense knows the difference, but some think we can eat cats and dogs. These are people who don't understand the difference between pets and food. It seems this shows how the same people treat domestic animals and dogs, looking at them as something to eat, abuse and destroy. Any animals left to overpopulate will either hurt their own habitat, or cause harm to others, like dogs allowed to breed wild without any care for them or their offspring, as happens here. This is why people who are actually doing something about it should be supported and commended, and not commented on negatively, because if you're not part of the solution, you can be part of the problem. Complaining does nothing in this case. I\m one of the ones who eat meat and treat domestic animals well, meaning I have common sense. Wanting to destroy all the dogs because the locals allow them to run wild isn't helping matters. This is the government and locals problem. Deer are here for us to eat. The meat is low in fat and healthy. The problem is people overdeveloping their habitat for profit, allowing these same deer to breed the same, with less habitat to support them and their offspring. Hunting is the only way to keep their population in check with the available habitat. Left to overpopulate, stopping hunting in rural and city areas, allows the deer to eat whatever they find, which is gardens and vegetables grown by the people who have moved into areas which were originally the deer's home. Deer aren't pets, and will become pests, increasing the car accidents, and deaths from same, and deer allowed to grow accustomed to people will attack them during the rut, or mating season, causing up to 6 deaths a year in the US. There is no other recourse besides hunting, and a lot of the meat from these animals is donated to homeless shelters. I don't try to justify my own anything. I tell it exactly how it is. Some cannot understand the dynamics of animals and what happens if left to breed without control. This is again why these people who are spaying and neutering them are to be supported. If you don't eat meat, don't comment, because millions of others do, and it's our right. No one will ever change this, as meat tastes good, and is also good for you. And dogs and cats aren't meant to be eaten, but as pets and sometimes as rescue and support animals.

Obese people are more likely to get diabetes because of their diets, which is usually caused by too much sugar, refined carbs. There are many who, like my son who's very fit, got diabetes not from diet but genetics. My ex wife and her family members have it, and they are all lean to average. My aunt had it, an uncle, and my brother died from a heart attack brought on by his weight and diabetes. You are correct in saying that sugar should come from natural sources. Refined sugar is the problem. It's found in too many foods and drinks are loaded with it. Drinking calories is how people put on extra weight. Diabetes has a few causes, they are explained here........https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/symptoms-causes/syc-20371444

I'm in Sisaket province next door,and in 6 plus years, I've seen more and more fat adults, especially the ones not doing daily farm work, every year I've been here. Thinking about my small village, there are quite a few that are overweight. The shops here all carry junk food and sugar drinks, and when I see the kids after school, they are all going to those shops and eating the crap they sell, which is just like the 7-11's carry. I'm the only farang in our village, and I'm lean, but the ones I see in the other villages and towns in our province are the usual kind, a little overweight to obese, with a few lean ones scattered around, mostly the younger crowd.

I've been a gym rat for 50 years, and eating healthy all that time. I've introduced my children by example my way of living, and they all exercise and eat pretty healthy. My 7 year old here, who I have joint custody of, eats healthy when she's with me, but when she's with my ex, at grandma's house, she eats eggs and rice most meals, and snacks are given frequently, although I've tried to tell them not to. When she comes here, they used to send crap here for her to eat, and I kept telling them, I know what to feed her better than any of you, don't give her any crap while she's with me. Parents are the first teachers of children, and the reason so many are obese and overweight is because their parents didn't know or care enough to teach them proper nutrition. They won't learn it outside of the house, as most of their peers are eating crap because that's all they saw growing up in their own houses, and when kids get together, they hit the stores and buy the garbage that they sell. You start a child out a certain way, and that's the way they'll stay as grownups, unless they see otherwise that's its wrong, and make their own changes. Fat kids usually come from fat families, parents who don't know any better. Thailand has gotten fatter through the years, and western food has some to do with it, but like you said, it still starts at home, and snacks have been around a long time. Too much rice, although not unhealthy as is, is still a problem, especially if that's a major part of their diet, because of the high glycemic level and the problem with diabetes here. Combine rice every meal with snacks and sugary beverages, and that's a child that's going to have problems later. especially if diabetes runs in the family.

Eating meat doesn't make you a hypocrite, especially if you're an animal lover. Meat is here for a reason. Vegans have their say, and if you know what you're doing as far as amino acids and how you get complete proteins, you can live on plants. Being a vegan doesn't give anyone the right to tell others what they can do with their diets, as if they'll listen anyway. If you can't understand that people like me can hunt, eat beef, deer, elk, fish, chicken, eggs and the like, and still love and respect life, as in animal life, that's your deal. Hunters do more than anyone else as far as contributing to the welfare of animals, with license money put towards habitat restoration, land purchases and game wardens to protect the resource. As far as wanting soi dogs dead, that's seeing animals as not a life but a pest to be destroyed. Animal lovers see them as pets, and running loose like they do here is the locals fault. People like dogs and cats as puppies and kittens, but when they get older, they aren't taken care of and let to run wild, which makes problems with over population, disease spreading, accidents and rabies. This isn't the animals fault but peoples. These people doing the spaying and neutering are doing what's best for the population. The more spayed and neutered, the less progeny. Simple. Stepping up these programs is the governments responsibility, which is to protect human life here. It has to be done all over the country, and more people need to get involved in the program, with more money coming in to help them. I have taken n a few "wild" dogs and cats in my life, only to have some of them poisoned by disturbed farmers who don't like them around for whatever reasons they can come up with. This is surely a problem, but these people are the only ones doing something about it, so they should be commended and not trashed. A hypocrite is someone who says they love animals, and then says they should all be put down because they inconvenience him somehow.

Right said. All I would like to see is this program funded by the government so it could be carried on in a bigger level, especially out here in Isaan.

Whether you are a believer in God or not, some animals were put here for our consumption, and some for our companionship and to help us. I hunt and love animals, but you might not be able to understand that. Deer especially, left to breed and not harvested, over populate and cause many problems, one of which is vehicle accidents which kill about 200 people a year in the US alone, and another is that they attack and kill 5-6 people a year. People are the main cause of this, as over developing of woods areas deprives deer of their natural habitat, letting them encroach on neighborhoods, causing said problems more. In a perfect world, people would stop population growth, thus enabling the deer and other animals to have enough land to survive. This does not stop them from breeding, which means more habitat is needed. Habitat which is disappearing daily by the hundreds of acres. Nothing will ever be done to stop people from eating fish and animals, so it's better to accept this, as there isn't anything you can do to change this. Like I said, certain animals are here for us to eat. Some eat domestic animals, and that's wrong, but certain cultures do things that aren't normal behavior, and it isn't easy to change this. because money talks.

"He pinpointed sugary drinks as the main source of sugar in the Thai diet and urged manufacturers to cut down on the sugar content in their beverages". Not understanding this is intentional knowing that people get addicted to things easily, one of them sugar. Look at any 7-11's cooler shelves. Two or three diet sodas, maybe two sugarless teas, and another 100 loaded with sugar, which is what most locals choose. Drinking calories is the quickest way to gain extra pounds, and is also a one way ticket to diabetes for a lot here.

Most of the bodybuilders don't have a need to use very heavy weights. The steroids increase the muscle mass even using moderate weights. I had this proven to me countless times when I saw huge men using weights I would use in a warmup, especially in arm and shoulder training. I was stronger than many of them and drug free. I always used good form, but the sheer amount of weight I used took it's toll on the weak links, the joints. I didn't listen to the older men who had injuries using heavy weights who told me I would pay for it eventually. They were right. I'm capable of training in most lifts, but I won't squat anymore. I was very strong in squats and now I won't do them because of my knees. They were right. I wish I would have listened and not just lift as much as I could. It gets to your head when you can lift heavy. Not necessary unless you're competing. I could have, but didn't care for it.

Why is having a child at 19 a bad decision? He could be a good worker, provider for his family, and besides the mistake of not wearing a helmet in a country known for bad drivers, roads and lack of enforcement of road rules, be also a good dad and husband. There are countless people, many of them narcissists, that have children every year with no feelings for them or the women they create them with besides their own pleasure. This comes at all ages, not just in the teens. Not wearing a helmet anywhere is playing with fire. Here, it's plain foolish to get on a road with many vehicles going at all speeds, with people who are totally incompetent, inconsistent, on phones, inconsiderate and lazy, and not wear as much protection as possible while driving a scooter.