fredwiggy

The safest place to drive is in the slow lanes on highways, away from everyone else. You don't trust anyone, you have a better chance to avoid accidents. Thinking they will do something stupid, which they will, not taking for granted the people around you are competent, is the way.

You can't get out of the way if you're stopped in traffic, or driving slow and straight when they get too close then bump into you because a scooter is harder to stay straight in, especially in moving traffic that's slow. People hitting you has nothing to do with your driving. I've avoided many here that thought cutting in front of me was a good idea.

As I mentioned, my children also had a grandma to help with things, including swimming with the kids while I was at work. Doesn't take long to have children lose their fear of water and learn the basics of keeping afloat. Panicking is what causes most drownings.

Some people learn things earlier than others. Some never learn at all.

I taught my children, along with grandma's help, as soon as they were able to walk, 2 years in all cases. A child can be taught before that, to lose their fear of water, which is one reason people drown, panicking. You have to know how to swim yourself, and most here in Thailand seem to not have that skill, to teach your children. You get in the water with them and support them while they're learning the skill. Teaching them how to swim eliminates most of the problems and accidents that would happen. Many here as adults fall in the water and panic, go under and drown. All my children back in the US learned to swim , and could swim, at less than 4.If you know how to teach a person how to swim, you know they can learn from a very young age, and it doesn't matter where on earth you learn, as long as your teacher knows what they're doing.

What were, are, your symptoms? I had H Pylori and did the treatment and it's better but still have some gastritis symptoms, which do happen after the treatment because your gut microbiota are hurt from the antibiotics. I also had an endoscopy and colonoscopy (my firsts), with only the H Pylori coming up. No polyps and they said stomach was only a little inflamed from the H Pylori. What diagnosis did you get and from what tests?

If they borrow, they return when I ask, simple.

People don't usually attack those that help them although it does happen. I wouldn't want to hurt anyone who isn't trying to hurt me or my family. In that case it's a no brainer.

"Authorities have reminded residents to exercise caution around artificial ponds, particularly those lined with slippery materials, and to keep children under close supervision near water sources.".............Of course these are good ideas but it's the parent's responsibility to teach their children how to swim to avoid these scenarios. This happens every week here and there's a simple solution to reduce many if not all of them. It's not only children but adults too. It's called care.

My next door neighbor, my ex's cousin, borrows things from me a lot and only returns them when I ask, but I haven't thought about attacking him with an axe.

I drove in Bangkok a few times and do not like the idea of going back. I drove in the NYC metro area for 30 years, including working in NYC, and I'd much rather drive there than here. The risks many take here far outweigh those I saw back in the NYC area, including all of New Jersey. In Bangkok at least 5 scooters bumped my car trying to pass me. This is why the death rate is so high here. lack of concern and terrible driving ability. Haven't been to Vietnam or India yet, but I hear it's pretty bad in those places also.

Quite the contrary to the "swiftly and rushed" you hear about when they are called in articles.

Unlike the west, there is no respect for pedestrians here. In a parking lot, count on a car maintaining it's movement if you try to walk across it's path. We do not have the right of way like in the west. I'm guessing this isn't taught on the driving test so they don\t care. Scooters on sidewalks along with constant weaving in and out of traffic surely accounts for many of the 60 daily deaths here. Passing others and coming into you lane head on and expecting you to pull over to let them pass. Passing you on your right when you're in the right lane, going into oncoming traffic instead of passing you on your left in the left lane. Most incompetent and disrespectful drivers I've ever seen in 51 years of driving.

No matter how much power he now has, not everything he asks for will be adhered to. Things still have to go through Congress, and they've seen many presidents try and use their power to change things. The US will never be against Europe as that's where most of our ancestors come from, and now so many live in America. Trade is necessary between most nations and that won't change because there is money to be made, and commodities that people want. Most countries thrive on this trade, so only a moron would try and change that, and that moron won't last. As far as Trump, time will tell if he sticks with his many promises or just gets caught up in his usual power trip all for his own ego.

The dogs aren't valued past puppy stage. This is why there are so many wandering free and making babies. A Thai's thinking that all life is sacred is hypocritical as they eat meat daily. They won't kill flies that are landing on their food but will poison dogs that they get bored with. I see animals abused all the time , even within my daughter's extended family here, and I'm almost 100% positive that a cousin living with them 1/2 kilo away, has been the one who has poisoned at least 7 dogs and 4 cats that have called my place home, and another 15 plus that lived at their house, while animals living next door on all sides have lived on with no problems. Life isn't sacred here as it is in the west.

What is right or wrong has no borders. It's the same everywhere. The difference between a first world country and a third world is putting some bad practices to bed and adopting ones more positive and healthy. Some are eager for a positive change and some hold onto outdated customs because they're still old school thinking.

Tigers usually don't attack humans unless they are injured. They live peacefully around humans for generations until this happens. Bears also live very close to humans where they exist, many times without the people even knowing they're around. It's when they are either injured or lose their fear of humans by humans feeding them that they can attack, along with protecting cubs. When a dog attacks humans, they should be put down, as they have been raised not to respect them, or been abused by them. The attitude here about not killing animals is a hypocritical one, as they eat animals daily. This case was a different one since the dog didn't actually kill the monk but might have been starving because he was inside 2 days and decided to bite the monk. It's happened before with other dogs and cats.

I sold guns for years before I moved here, in Texas. Read countless hunting magazines. There are quite a few that use it as an alternate. Myself as soon as I get back.

If you don't hunt, you don't understand much about it. Yes, there are many, many hunters who use a pistol, many I personally know. If you look at the sales of Thompson Centers and like pistols you'll see. Some Thompson owners are target shooters. Many carry sidearms when hunting bears for protection. Carrying guns doesn't make you more of a man. You either are or you aren't . A pistol is just another way of hunting, like a bow, crossbow, rifle, spear or shotgun.

Almost 3 million hunt in the US alone with pistols. There isn't any hunting in Thailand because there is little conservation here.

Pistol hunting is very popular, and more sporting then with a rifle. I will buy a Thompson Contender to hunt with when I move back home. Always wanted one but never got around to it. Not all pistols are good for hunting. Only certain types like the Thompson Center and others. Taking a few words from my statement isn't valid unless you use the rest.................. or target shooter.

I replied to you, answering why he would want all the guns and ammo. Yes, all gun owners should be responsible, and most actually are, with regards to hunters and target shooters, but there's always some that ruin if for others and leave their guns out where people who aren't can access them.

A couple of pistols and some ammunition isn't out of the ordinary for a hunter or target shooter. What he did with them was wrong and makes other gun owners get lumped into a category which they don't deserve. I had more guns and ammo but I'm a hunter, and responsible with them. Nut cases evolve from bad childhoods, and it has nothing to do with being a gun owner.

It's always best to not comment unless you know the facts and not just go by assumptions. Your statement ............"They have their own little club houses in almost all districts and towns around Thailand. If not there, they many time can be seen drinking at one of the officers wife´s som tam shop. Not unusual at all."............ This sounds like you have knowledge about almost all districts and towns around Thailand. You haven't, because you would have to have seen this behavior happen in almost 76 provinces and thousands of towns and cities. 6 or 7 provinces leaves you only a few instances of this behavior, and how would you know if they're drinking in an officer's wife's som tam shop, unless you knew this personally? These are assumptions, just like thinking I have to go back on my meds, and I don't take any meds besides parecetamol occasionally. Generalizing is what any do that assume about others without having all the facts. Like saying all Brits are fat drunks that cause problems here, or all Indians are dirty or all Thais are cheaters. These blanket statements show ignorance and prejudice and they don't work. I could say your avatar shows a man that appears to be a nutcase, but that would be assuming on my part. This is small definition about such statements.........................Blanket statements are never useful. They are nebulous and often send the wrong message. They seed doubt and mistrust and are usually intended to make a grand point about how right the person making the statement might be. They tend to be self-serving even when outwardly it doesn’t appear that way. In other words, we make blanket statements because we want to make a point that makes us look right and therefore look good in the position we are taking..........................What you saw, a few times, surely could be real, but it makes it sound like this happens everywhere, all the time, and it doesn't. And like I said, I know about officials here and in other countries, and have seen it happen a few times myself, so it does happen, sometimes.

Don't believe anything you hear and half of what you see, is always a good way to think. Until it's factual of course. Like what many others see here and think it's what goes on all over the country. I've personally seen police drinking at a police box a few times, right next to my girlfriends house, because we were drinking with them, but that's only one out of three times I've seen them drinking on duty. I'm sure it happens a lot as they are their own police force but I don't think it's all the time , everywhere.