JensenZ

To be clear, I was referring to foreigners who are educated in how things are done in Thailand. You of all people should be in that category as you've been around for quite some time. Let's take a commonsense approach to the logistics of ordering food at the Terminal 21 Food Court at lunchtime. Would you prefer that the people who reserved a table by placing a personal item upon it should walk around for 20 minutes with a tray of hot food, usually including soup, hoping they can find a table? I made that mistake once at Paragon and I regretted ordering the food. A bottle of water or a drink is usually sufficient to reserve a place as the Thais respect the process. The people who reserve a seat are customers who have already purchased their card and are looking for or waiting for their food, and in many cases, a minute or two away from arriving at their reserved seat. If the food court is jam-packed and you cannot find a chair, Thais will probably not get upset if you politely ask to share a table.

Everyone has a right to reserve a table before they order their food. It's the done thing in food courts when it is busy. Thai customers and educated foreigners respect this system, and so should you. They are booking their table to ensure they have somewhere to eat their food, yet you complain they have no right to do this. You are the problem.

You're confusing Immigration policy with Thai law. English translations of Thai law are rarely official (there are some rare "official translations" published by the Office of the Council of State), but for informational purposes only. The only official law in Thailand is in the Thai language, which is not open to interpretation. English translations will always vary slightly, but not enough to change the meaning.

Passport translations were not necessary at the Laksi District Office. I used an agent and it took less than an hour.

Consider also that the black market will be more extensive and lucrative than ever before as more people have become recreational users during the 2-year free-for-all. Users will forgo healthy eating to save money for weed, which will be much more expensive on the black market.

Yes, laws. It's better to have laws than none at all. I'm sure you have a decent life in Germany/Thailand/Philippines or wherever you live under the laws of those countries. There's no point dreaming about a utopian society that can't exist in the real world. Despite all their complaining, people are living quite well in many countries these days. Transport back a few hundred years to appreciate the difference. BTW, if you find a deep province somewhere in the Philippines, you can live in a society that practices a version of "led by morals". The NPA take care of business without any help from the law. If you're mistreating your wife or kid, they will punish you according to the severity of the abuse.

Get a grip! If you don't believe something, prove it wrong - how simple is that? Instead, you want to blab on about it in 50 posts, begging for me to prove I'm right. I'll give you a clue. Look up the laws on Sex Tourism in your home country. You must be planning on under 18 dating, so it is best you familiarize yourself with the laws in your country. You might be ok, you might not be - I don't care.

Unfortunately, it is necessary to have laws and set boundaries. If not, we'd be back in the Wild West where anything goes. Did the Romans have it right? They start having children as soon as they start menstruating. My wife's sister started at age 11. Are you upset about this subject because you plan to find a young virgin in the Philippines and you want to avoid any moral judgement?

Yes, it was an incredible overreaction. He has difficulty finding the laws on Sex Tourism in whatever country he comes from. It wasn't very challenging... and anyway, who is interested in visiting foreign countries to "date" under 18s? Why is it even a debate?

I can't believe you're serious. You just don't want to admit she's as tough as nails, getting through that.

If you're charged with an offence under the Criminal Code, any offence, they take your passport and cancel whatever visa you had. If convicted, whether you do jail time or not, you won't have a visa. The Immigration Office does not need permission from a Judge to deport you.

She's tough and resilient, and now smart too - turning this experience into a cash cow. Sure, she did something stupid back in 2000, but people can change. Who didn't do stupid things when they were young? She's done her time and there's no need for her to be retried here.

She's not after your sympathy, but your cash.

Talk about obtuse. I can back up claims, but I don't want to as I find your demands irritating. There is no obligation for members here to provide references, or proof.

You just don't let go, do you? I don't come to this forum for legal advice, and neither should you or anyone else. If you need legal advice, check the laws of your home country before you start dating someone under 18. Most laws of most countries can be found online these days.

I'm pretty sure it's correct and it's easy to verify, which I am not going to do for you. I suggest you do the checking if you want to "date" a girl under 18. It's not my concern.

It's quite easy to find the laws on "sex tourism". Do you have plans to have sexual relations with a girl under the age of 18?

It's not nearly as simple as you describe here. The age difference of the participants comes into it too, and for countries such as the US and Australia, it's illegal for anyone to have sexual relations with anyone under the age of 18 in ANOTHER country.

Wake up! She figured if she was caught, it would be in Australia and serving time in better conditions.

I'd rather be executed than go through that hell. IMO it was a fate worse than death, and she did well to survive it. She a lot tougher than all of the people commenting here.

I wouldn't believe any of this. We have a direct comparison between "Christianity" in the Philippines and Buddhism in Thailand. There's no doubt that Thailand is a safer place to live with far less crime overall. The misunderstanding comes from thinking that most Filipinos are Christians. They aren't really. Catholicism in the Philippines is a weird mix with animism, the predominant religion before the Spanish arrived. It hasn't gone anywhere. Your average provincial dweller has a strong belief in animal spirits and many claim they talk to them. They never stop talking about "white ladies", lighting candles and praying to spirits.

If anyone needs help, it's you... If you revise my posts, you won't see the words "climate change" or "global warming" mentioned. I'm discussing coral bleaching, which is caused by a small increase in water temperature. You think plastics are the "hugest" and biggest environmental problem in the world? That's nonsense and has nothing to do with coral bleaching and the rise in water temperature which causes it.

Vast coral reef zones suffer from bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef. Areas nearly as large as the whole of the Gulf of Thailand. I can assure you it has nothing to do with garbage, plastics or sewage. Sure, it would be nice if they could clean up the beaches, but it won't prevent bleaching. The Gulf of Thailand is quite shallow, with an average depth of only 45m, up to a maximum of 80m. This makes water exchange slow (with the Pacific Ocean) with strong water inflow from rivers making it low in salinity and rich in sediments. In a good year, it's not an ideal place for pristine coral reefs to grow. The Great Barrier Reef is 15 - 150 km offshore, and up to 65 km wide. The water is as clean as you can expect anywhere on earth. On the far side of the reef, the continental shelf quickly drops to over 2000m deep. Few people live in this part of Australia. The Great Barrier Reef is about 340,000 km2 vs 320,000 km2 for the whole of the Gulf of Thailand. Of course, only a small part of the Gulf of Thailand is an actual reef, around the islands and near the shore. The only way to solve the problem is to install refrigeration units throughout the Gulf of Thailand, to reduce the ocean temperature by a degree or two. Other than that, we can pray for cooler weather.

I know a lot of people like to blame the Catholic Church for the high fertility rate of the Philippines vs Thailand, but the truth is, they really want large families and it is seen as a way out of poverty, which for many, it is. The Catholic Church has little to do with that among the poorer populations which do most of the breeding. Thailand is a much wealthier country with growth more in line with what you see in Western nations.

As the world's largest exporter of an English-speaking labour force, the Philippines will be doing well in the following decades. As a close neighbour, I predict Thailand will be relying heavily on labour from The Philippines as its population ages due to a low fertility rate. Thailand has a similar (low) fertility rate and population growth to most Western nations with a similar median age, in the low 40s. Its population is ageing rapidly (and documented in recent media reports). The Philippines has a median age of 25.4 years vs 41 years in Thailand. The population under 20 years of age are 21.26% in Thailand vs 39.81% in the Philippines (of a much larger population). The population growth of Thailand is currently about 0.2% vs 1.58% for the Philippines.