JensenZ

55 minutes ago, redwood1 said:

In Thailand the saying should be Nigerians that hang out on the street conners on Sukhumvit lives matter...

I don't think lives of any colour matter much in Thailand, unless they are bolstered by a fat wallet.

10 hours ago, Jingthing said:

No. You're 100 percent wrong. This movement existed way before 45 was elected. An African American president didn't even begin to solve the original American sin of systemic racism against black people. There is no quick fix but the breadth and visibility of this current manifestation is encouraging that action may actually begin to happen. 

LOL. You can't say his name? Obama, an African American DEMOCRATIC president, number 44, couldn't do jack for the blacks in 8 years. That has to be the height of Democrat failure. No wonder you're shy to use his name.

8 hours ago, Phil McCaverty said:

According to official UN figures more people are living below the poverty line in the USA than any other Western country.

Yes, but if you're living below the poverty line in any Western country, you can still find food, shelter and medicine.

1 hour ago, Tagged said:

Think twice before you answer! 
 

Think about all the tourist and expat death the years you have know Thailand, all the suspecious suicides so many of you guys cry about is not suicide, and what you have said about police effort to solve tourist and expat murders and crime against foreigners!
 

If black doesnt appeal to you, how about justice for all of us? 

In other words, ALL lives matter. It's a fantasy. Humans are not and never have been born equal. People who live in the United States don't understand true poverty. The land of the spoiled.

It has never changed - you must always choose your parents wisely.

12 hours ago, Leaver said:

And if you paid 4000 baht and California Wow closed down in 2 weeks, instead of 2 years????

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Life is like that. Everything is a gamble.

3 hours ago, faraday said:

When you hit rock bottom, the only way is up - back up to sobriety & a happy life.

 

I know this is true.

Yes, at rock bottom dying would be a relief.

2 hours ago, timendres said:

A close friend, who has now been sober for 26 years, had to wake up in the emergency room with a doctor informing him that he could have died were it not for the actions of the people around him, before he finally got serious about staying sober. It is one of the most difficult battles known to man. He needed AA to get through the first 5 years. After that, he could manage on his own. The important thing is that you can fail many times. As long as you keep trying to succeed.

There's a lot more to success than staying alive. He might have been upset that his friends saved him. There are worse ways to check out than in a drunken stupour. We're all going there so who's to say what is the right time.

The way some people talk here one might think we are supposed to live forever.

6 hours ago, Canuck1966 said:

Yeh but if you have a long rap sheet, you are going to get treated differently by the police. It's human nature

It was the "human nature" of a twisted cop who shouldn't have been wearing a badge. Apparently he already had 16 complaints to his name, some of which were for unnecessary force. 

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

According to which side one listens to he was a wonderful human being or a career criminal.

Amongst the uproar it's pretty impossible to decide without having known him personally.

All I know is that the police department's training and /or procedures were obviously deficient. There should be standard procedures to follow in any situation, and kneeling on someone's neck should not be among them.

However, nothing justifies burning property and rioting, PERIOD.

You say "nothing justifies burning property and rioting, PERIOD". OK, I agree, but the way you word it suggests that you can justify the killing of George Floyd.

I don't care if you knew him personally or not. I don't care if he has a rap sheet a mile long. There was absolutely no justification for his killing, PERIOD, PERIOD and PERIOD!!!

There is no need to even mention burning and rioting as they are totally irrelevant when discussing George's death.

21 hours ago, Phuketshrew said:

So they weren't dismissed then?

Transferred so they can continue their extortion in another precinct? With some good training they can hopefully escape detection next time.

1 hour ago, sometimewoodworker said:

There is no guarantee that you can apply for an extension late.

 

All immigration offices are open and processing extensions normally. If you have an annual extension that is expiring and you wish to stay in Thailand you should renew as normal.
 

If you do not Renew you may have to leave, and as the conditions for return are not at all clear you may not be able to return for a long time.

With emphasis on "may". 

I fit into this category, with an annual retirement extension that expires in July. I will go to renew on time just in case your "may" becomes "definitely".

19 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

They have the attention span of a fly! Focused for around 10 milliseconds!

This does have a lot to do with all staff constantly fixated on their cell phones. Orders (customers) are considered distractions to whatever they are doing on their cell phones at that moment.

2 hours ago, Max69xl said:

Annual extensions are not covered by the amnesty. 

According to the Thai Immigration information leaflet posted above they are. It specifically mentions "all types of visa". 

(please note the following is my opinion on what this leaflet means)

If your extension expires in the period from May 1 to July 31, the extension is not required until after July 31 and "once the situation has resolved". This leaves the option of further amnesty after July 31. As everyone cannot get an extension on the same day, they will likely have some way to deal with this. My guess is they will offer a window of time (perhaps 2 weeks or so) in which to complete the application for extension, after July 31 and once the situation has resolved.

5 hours ago, Jingthing said:

We all know he won't. 

45 is all about winning a base election with another minority of votes. 

He figures his racist fascist personal is his only hope of that. 

If he loses he likely goes to prison. 

His motivation is purely about himself. 

I see you've kicked off your election campaigning in earnest. You and the Democrats are savouring the pandemic and the rioting, hoping that finally Trump will fall. There's only one problem with that fantasy. You need someone with half a brain to replace him. That's the way you win an election. Not by praying for someone's demise, but putting up a good candidate with good ideas to beat him.

I suggest you stock up on tissues for November to last 4 years, after you lose yet again.

6 minutes ago, poskat said:

I think it is due to several factors, most importantly, thai culture is one of non-physical contact, without the handshaking/hugging/kissing that is standard in western cultures, sunlight, which contains UV radiation, is extremely effective in killing the virus, and because of the PM 2.5 problem, many/most were already wearing decent quality masks, although I think the mask issue had the least effect based on how the virus is actually transmitted between people.

Yes, it is strange considering that in the early days it seemed like they were trying their best to spread it as fast as possible. They were accepting tourists long after other countries had stopped incoming flights. I remember in March they were complaining that only 10,000 per day were coming through Suvarnabhumi. Remember how long it took the Immigration department to catch on? 

On 5/29/2020 at 9:51 AM, Cali farong said:

Yeah keep it locked down until it’s total economic free fall.

Then guess who will be there to help,  the ones who started 

this pandemic.

It's easy for these well fed academics to make such assertions as hundreds of thousands of regular folk can't eat regular meals.

44 minutes ago, stevenl said:

That is a good description of the Washington protests, dispersed with teargas so Trump could go to church for a photo op.

I believe there have been some protests that fit that description.

Here's an update from the Moscow Times:

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/06/01/coronavirus-in-russia-the-latest-news-june-1-a69117

3 hours ago, Dart12 said:

I don't know what's actually going on in Russia, but I read your article and that is not a news piece.  That is self-written propaganda piece by her PR people. 

It doesn't matter what is presented, there's always someone ready to quickly rubbish it. It was obvious that Russia was hiding their true numbers as I've watched them closely since March. They didn't make sense. It's no surprise that Putin is shutting information down.

I have contact with a Russian that is a scientist in the aircraft industry. I asked him on March 24 about the situation over there.

This is what he said:

"Mxm, [24.03.20 11:44]
We dont know all situation too. I work in a significant place where infection is unacceptable.  but the only safety measure is to measure the temperature with a broken thermometer at the entrance.  no quarantine is out of the question"

Me: Where do you work?

Mxm, [24.03.20 11:48]
In moscow region. Im a scientist. Spacecraft industry

Me: "what is your average temperature at the moment?"

Mxm, [24.03.20 11:49]
32 LOL

Mxm, [24.03.20 11:50] My body

Mxm, [24.03.20 11:50]
Today only -6

Mxm, [24.03.20 11:50]
Tomorrow will be +12

Mxm, [24.03.20 11:51]
thermometers are in the cold and show the wrong temperature

Mxm, [24.03.20 11:53]
we are as irresponsible as Italians.  masks are 1 in 100

50 minutes ago, rabas said:

I have good friends in Moscow whom I've known for decades. This is what life is like there. They became concerned about Russian state information on the pandemic in early March. Soon after, there were runs on pharmacies. So much for trust in comrade Vlad.

 

Now they are quite fearful because they know that the hospital system may not be able to help.

 

I've read other reports on the situation in Russia, all along a similar line. I would trust these reports over anything from the Kremlin. I have contact with Russians too, and most of them don't have a clue what is really going on, but they all don't trust the government's information. I certainly don't believe their very low reported mortality rate.

12 hours ago, Logosone said:

Exactly. They could still protest and justifiably so. It's the wholesale destruction of cities, looting and burning cars that's somewhat betraying the events for what they are. Not dignified protests, but evil, inconsiderate and brutal violence aimed for selfish gain.

You didn't mention anything about protestors attacking innocent police officers just doing their duty. Once they start attacking police officers (throwing projectiles, etc), they have lost their right to protest. They have taken it upon themselves to extract revenge by attacking innocent people at random. That's twisted and very wrong. 

The looting is another story. That's other people with no interest in the actual reason for the protest using it as an excuse to steal property. They make the protesters look bad. The protestors should be attacking them instead of the police officers.

1 hour ago, StevieAus said:

As we all know unlike Western countries and for whatever reason the police in Thailand apart from the odd checkpoint to check on insurance and helmets are not proactive in enforcing driving laws.

I have seen cars speeding past so called highway patrol police cars and no action is taken.

Regarding affording a motorcycle although not in all cases many pay them off per month for years and at a high rate of interest.

In the town where I live I know  the owners of a shop that sells motorcycles and they have confirmed that’s where the profit comes from

I'm aware of the financial situation regarding motorcycles, but they are not a necessity and lot of people get by without them. There is no excuse for killing babies due to this type of gross negligence. People were raising children long before automatic scooters became popular, giving mothers (and fathers) the ability to endanger the lives of their children while riding them.

If adults choose to endanger their lives by speeding, reckless driving, or not wearing helmets or seatbelts, it's their choice, but babies don't have a choice and there is a much higher responsibility involved.

Mama is too poor so she has to carry her baby in one arm, or she cannot afford an infant seat, are not valid excuses.

For anyone who has, as I have, been wondering what is going on in Russia... here is a very good report just out on ABC Australia.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-02/anastasia-vasilyeva-doctors-alliance-russia-coronavirus/12276094?nw=0

On 5/29/2020 at 5:37 AM, yogi100 said:

Floyd could be heard saying quite clearly that he could not breathe yet the cop continued to purposefully exert pressure for several minutes when he should have eased up.

 

The death was intentional so it's a clear case of murder.

 

It would be manslaughter if it had been accidental which it obviously was not.

Closer inspection of another video not yet shown revealed that the knee remained pressed on his neck for 2:40 minutes AFTER he was unresponsive. One of the other officers checked his pulse to reveal he had none.

IMO He should be charged with murder 1, giving prosecutors a better chance of sticking him with murder 2. The other cops should at least be charged with murder 3.