Walker88

1 hour ago, JimTripper said:

With bars and nightlife closed I do think a different quality of people will come around, eventually.

 

If they want family friendly and classy people that is what they need to do.

 

However, making the country a name for itself in this niche could take many years and would probably never be able to compete with established destinations in this regard.

 

 

'could take many years'

First, there might be a half dozen people on earth who have avoided visiting Thailand simply because of its worldwide reputation for nightlife. I'm at a loss as to who these 'classy' people might be, as it isn't unheard of to see multi-millionaires, Oxford-Cambridge-Ivy League types, diplomats, UN Officials, NGOs, even church deacons in the agogos.  Ain't nobody innocent when it comes to the biological imperative and how it manifests itself in entertainment decisions. I'm only slightly red-faced to admit that even I, who through no fault of my own fits multiple of my aforementioned categories, have entered an agogo or two over the years. I guess I'm of the same stripe as Oscar Wilde, who said "the only thing I can't resist is temptation". Most of us are quite human.

Second, even if it was a noble goal to erase the nightlife image from Thailand's reputation, before those 'classy' types will pile into the country, it might help to clean the air of 2.5 particulate matter, ban open field burning, install proper sewer systems, stop the flow of untreated effluent into the waters, get rid of dual pricing, and remind officials---whether elected or appointed like cops---that public service does not mean always having one's hand out waiting for tribute.

Now cleanup of a society where corruption is entrenched is possible, but not easy. Hong Kong used to be equally corrupt decades ago, but an anti-corruption effort was put in place and---at least until the commies took over---HK had built a reputation for being pretty darn honest. Perhaps, given a miracle, Thailand can do the same.

All of this is not to say Thailand does not have its pluses, as it surely has many. One of these pluses, however, to a good many people, is the very thing some authorities are wont to eradicate. They might remember the old line, whose source escapes me at this time:

"If my demons leave me, I fear my angels will soon follow".

Perhaps the PM is being influenced by the actions of his role model, President-for-Life Xi of the PRC.

It's bizarre what is now happening in one of the world's largest cities, Shanghai. In lockdown, as part of Xi's Zero Covid policy, the masses are beginning to rumble as many have neither money nor food. The CP is woefully inefficient in trying to address the food needs of tens of millions of locked down subjects. Of course, anyone would be unable to adequately meet the needs as well as corral so many people, except in an authoritarian State. And therein lies the attraction.

A question remains: why is Xi so hellbent on total control of Covid? Does he believe it is even possible, save via keeping China ringfenced and its borders locked for the next five years? Does he have some special knowledge of Covid no one else has? Is it simply his penchant for wanting total control over people whose 'votes' he obviously will never need, plus a kind of delusionary view of how long even the CP and PLA can keep a billion four hundred million Chinese under their bamboo hand? Does Xi think he can keep economic activity at a high enough level to sustain China's growing debt and RE problems under lockdown?

In any event, it seems Xi's actions might be inspiring Thailand's PM to maintain the 'advantages' of Covid fear in a self-appointed and unpopular regime.

There are no two sides to this issue, other than right and wrong.

A country was at peace, going about daily life just like folks in New York, London, or Bangkok. The country represented no threat to anyone.

Then, because a psychopath suffering from Napoleon Complex and SDS, decided he wanted to rebuild the USSR, he launched an unprovoked and horrific attack aimed squarely at causing terror---striking schools and hospitals, destroying food storage facilities, and engaging in rape and summary execution. The war crimes are the worst Europe has seen since Srebanica, and before that the Concentration Camps of Nazi Germany.

To side with russia, or to try to suggest some sort of moral equivalency, is bogus, immoral and at best, willfully ignorant. To anyone suggesting such things, may the same hell be unleashed on you, your life and your loved ones. See how you like it.

In 1992 Ukraine gave up the nukes stationed on its soil in exchange for a non-aggression pact from russia. Ukraine abided by that agreement 100%. It is only because little vlad the psychopath felt he should be Nicolas II reborn that he launched his invasion.

That putin supposedly felt fear because NATO was expanding is his own fault. Nations such as Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Hungary, the former Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania asked to join NATO is because they suffered under the heel of the former USSR that putin is hellbent on rebuilding. These nations also saw the slaughter putin carried out in Chechnya, Georgia and Syria, so they wisely sought safety under the umbrella of NATO. It is no surprise that even Sweden and Finland are asking about joining NATO after the Ukraine invasion.

The world was pulling out of the Covid Recession, but all of that is under threat now because of putin. Rising fossil fuel prices and higher prices for grains (Ukraine previously produced 14% of the world's wheat). This is going to lead to inflation across the globe. Of course, I suspect the ones trying to pretend there is some moral equivalency in this war will find a way to blame Biden or their own leader.

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

The COVID restrictions have destroyed the western economy, they desperately need 'bad guys' to point the finger of blame towards, in order to distract the proletariat. Russia or China are equally good in the role of 'bad guys'.

 

Expect several years of hate from the media.

 

The US GDP grew 6.9% in Quarter 4. That would seem to be something other than destroyed. Also, job creation hit a record in 2021. I was just back in the US for a month, and virtually everywhere there are Help Wanted signs. The number of people employed is at a record, so companies are hard pressed to attract staff.

Again, not quite 'destroyed'.

On 4/2/2022 at 1:14 AM, LaosLover said:

They think you're going to support them for no good reason and you think they're going to give you the sex you want for no good reason.

 

There has to be a non-toxic, rational reason for these unusual events to happen.

Not sure if the reason is toxic---either toxic masculinity or toxic femininity---but it is chemical.

We will always dress it up for more than it is, because it makes us feel we have things like free will and all that, but most every action we take in life is driven by the instinct to propagate our gene pool. We males can produce an almost unlimited number of offspring, but not every women will have us, so we possess that drive from about age 13 to (hopefully) 80+. Women's chances are limited by the toll it takes on her body, so her drive has her seeking support, which in today's world tends to be financial. After menopause, her instincts fade, as she isn't going to be able to propagate her gene pool anymore. If she has a particularly sensitive bit of lady parts, she might still want to engage in the deed, but for many women it seems the thrill is gone.

All things considered, I see no Earthly reason why I would ever want to be female....who the heck would want to endure, even one time, nine months of discomfort and a body out of control. That's not even to mention around 40 years of that 'monthly visitor' or whatever the quaint term for menstruation is. A males function in the reproductive process is pure pleasure, and unless one is a responsible sort of fellow, can be one and done in an hour's time. That's a biological advantage of males of most every species that's tough to beat.

So what's love got to do with it? It's just a way humans put frosting on a cake. Obviously it can be a joy, but dopamine's main function isn't love, it's to get us randy and in the mood for love (making).

1 hour ago, placeholder said:

Most rational complaints about the appointment system of US ambassadors is that it's politically tainted. People with no diplomatic experience are appointed as reward for contributing large sums of money to one party or the other.. It takes a very special kind of thinking to criticize appointees on the grounds that they are professionals.

There is a very good reason why ambassadors appointed to major posts are selected....it costs a lot of money to be the ambassador to most major nations. Access to the POTUS is an added plus, but---for example---the US Ambassador to the Court of St James (the UK) is out of pocket maybe $20 million per year. Most of the entertaining ambassadors do is out of their own pocket, not foisted on the taxpayer. The Amb to the UK is quite often a billionaire.

Posts at smaller, less significant nations are usually filled by a career diplomat, who is not---contrary to another poster here---a 'yes man'. Most have done good work in other posts. Often they have specific direct knowledge of the nation and its issues, but generally those appointed just have a good record of leadership and management skills. Obviously this isn't always the case, but more often than not it is.

Expats tend to have an incorrect impression of the job as well as what aid they can expect from an embassy. Some expats think embassies are responsible for them. One hears things like "I pay my taxes so the embassy owes me blah blah blah", when in fact few expats pay much tax. Of course citizens who are not expats but just at home would beef that 'some guy who chose to go to Country X expects my tax dollars to support him or get him out of trouble'. So you see....it depends on where one views the issue.

Any embassy is going to have senior people who fill in for any knowledge an ambassador may lack. There's always a Political Counselor, Economic, Commercial, Consular, Chief of Station, etc., who represent the collective knowledge. Getting into the foreign policy arm of the govt is an onerous process, requiring a great deal of varied knowledge. Agency folks not only must pass knowledge tests, but also IQ tests, psychological evaluation, and a rigorous security check.

All appointees---career or FOP (Friend of POTUS) must turn in a resignation upon Administration change. The resignation need not be accepted, though all political appointees are accepted.

Occasionally some Ambassadors royally mess up...such as when Amb Lewis (to the UK) remained on holiday when the Falkland War began, while recently the US Amb to Germany was about as ill qualified, inept, and offensive as any Ambassador had ever been. He was then appointed to head the DNI and was tasked with trying to collect names of deep cover assets in certain countries (Russia). The IC, of course, thwarted his efforts, as he had no need to know and it was assumed the covert assets would be given to the then POTUS, who would give them to his friend putin.

It is possible humanity is suffering a bit of 'use it or lose it'. We may be generally less intelligent because we have changed the way we do many things---from typing rather than writing longhand, to using calculators instead of learning Tables to seeking out too much mindless entertainment like most television and cinema.

It could also be a kind of Bad Darwinism, as the more successful people in societies---who most often are intellectual superior---are producing fewer offspring. Dumb is being selected in because those so afflicted are reproducing more.

On the other hand, I would say that many people (perfect example is the US' 45) are willfully ignorant and intellectually lazy. Much in life is so easy now, that some people think it's a feat on par with Newton & Leibniz developing calculus, Einstein developing relativity theory, or JC Maxwell discovering the laws of electromagnetism just to repeat "person woman man camera TV". Said individual---willfully ignorant---was unaware China and India share a border (and fought over it many times), or that there are not Indian neighbors called "Nipple" and "Button". Intellectual laziness also makes people ripe for exploitation by those who want to promote particular views. The silly QAnon conspiracy is about as foolish as anything anyone has made up in a thousand years, yet it has captured the minds of upwards of 30% of Americans. That should scare rational people, particularly because democracy gives those people the right to vote. H.L. Mencken was proven prescient in 2016, based on his old quote:

 “As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

The internet age has given everyone a voice and made it easy to spread absolutely ludicrous beliefs. We may actually be dumber, but it may also be that the ignorant are much more visible than when they did not have the entire world open to them. The Village Idiot is now online.

Then there is the problem of personal insecurity, which prevents some people from wanting to know actual facts. In a recent thread I noted some economic data I retrieved from entities such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US Treasury, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. That data flies in the face of what some want to believe about recent history, and such people purposely avoid facts, as these interfere with their belief system.

Another example is the horribly named Critical Race Theory (CRT), which the right argues is an attempt to force Caucasians to feel guilty, when in fact it is merely to stop hiding unpleasant historical realities in the very nation whose originally stated goal is to 'form a more perfect Union'. The Founders of the US seem to have known they were flawed individuals, but set up a system where progress toward total societal equality was an ongoing process. Ignoring unpleasant historical realities prevents the very equality sought. Students should learn about slavery, because its effects are still being felt in society 150 years after it ended, and the biases which allowed slavery in the first place impacted society in everything from Jim Crow Laws to lynching to the 1921 Oklahoma Black Wall Street Massacre. In a similar vein, it is important students are taught about Relocation Camps such as Manzanar. Slavery, Manzanar and other realities are unpleasant and can make some people feel bad, but knowing the reality and committing to never allowing such things to happen again benefits everybody.

14 hours ago, TheScience said:

US walked off a cliff when they legalized homosexual marriage. After that it was all downhill. I think it's great Thailand is holding the line on the institution.

 

Now, Florida has need to create a law to prevent teachers from discussing homosexuality and gender and God knows what else with children under ten.

 

If you were to pick a country on a map of the world that represented trannies undoubtedly it would be Thailand. Nevertheless, has anyone seen on a regular basis or even much at all a 40, 50 or 60-year-old tranny? I ride the MRT and BTS daily and my answer is undoubtedly no. Non existent. It's purely fetish and fashion. Pity the children. Pity us all.

You have an odd moniker, considering the superstition you bring to the 'argument'.

Gay is not a choice, but people like you (who often are insecure about their own masculinity and orientation, if not outright hypocrites like a good many TV 'preachers') want to limit whom others can either love or commit to in life. It is absolutely none of your business, and undoubtedly you would be the first to bark if someone with a different view than yours demanded some of your wants/desires/practices should be outlawed.

I doubt being born gay is an easy thing, largely because of ancient superstitions or people like you.  Research proves that there are developmental differences in the brains of gay people, specifically in the size of certain brain components. Folks born that way did not ask for it, yet you are outraged that CIVILIZED society has finally recognized reality and has enacted laws that stop discrimination based on factors totally out of the control of the individual, particularly when the behaviors driven by those physiological differences cause ZERO harm to anyone else.

Yours is a world of superstition and bigotry, and best left in the dustbin of history, letting civilized and evolved men and women carry on with the progress of the species.

By the way, even religious people have to consider that there were likely gay men among the apostles. Maybe the more recognizable term is the old one the US used in the 1950s: "confirmed bachelor"

(I happen to be a practicing heterosexual, not gay, but I carry no bigotry for gay men or women. Of course I do carry contempt for people holding silly and superstitious views which SCIENCE has proven wrong.)

2 hours ago, vandeventer said:

I am from planet earth ,where are you from?

I am from a planet where there are things called Facts. These rather quaint entities are readily available to anyone.

Even you, should you desire, can access GDP data going back decades. You can see the REALITY that 45's performance was mediocre at best. Before Covid hit, GDP growth under him was worse than 71% of all Quarters since the end of WWII. After he mishandled Covid so badly and he---like EVERY Republican POTUS since Lincoln---presided over the start of a Recession, his performance fell even lower.

The jobs numbers and UE rate are collected and published monthly by the BLS division of the Dept of Labor. If you access those FACTS, you see that even Pres Obama's job growth was much higher than under 45.

The National Debt---factoring in ALL debt and obligations---is also readily available. When Pres Obama left office, is was around $19.4 trillion. That is the total amount of debt over 240 years of the US' existence. When 45 left office, it was $26.5 trillion. GDP growth was substantially below that $7 trillion figure, so during his single term things were wildly inefficient debt based profligacy....like your neighbor looking wealthy with his new Ford F-150 and Bass boat not because he earned more, but just max'd out his credit cards.

Just because 45 repeatedly spouted lies and exaggerations doesn't make them true, anymore than him claiming his condo is 30,000 sq feet and worth $300 million makes a 10,000 square foot condo grow, or as his CFO said of his condo's value, 'give or take $200 million'.

It doesn't take Columbus or Lewis and Clark to take a look at the IQ Bell Curve, move a few standard deviations to the left of the mean, and realize one has landed in trumpistan.

19 hours ago, vandeventer said:

Just look at the USA today! You really think Biden is doing a good job? Trump did more for the USA and the world since Reagan.

Yes, look at US today under Biden....+6.9% GDP in 2021 4th Q....more jobs created in a single year ever....UE down to lowest in decades....job openings everywhere....deficit down $350 billion in FY2021 vs 45's last year, and OMB expects upwards of $1 trillion lower in FY2022...NATO now a unified force....US respected again....US rejoins Paris Climate Accords

45 was a disaster. WORST economic performance in GDP terms in 40 years.....even before Covid GDP was in bottom 29% of all quarters since the end of WWII....45 ran up $7 trillion in National Debt in 4 years (a 37% increase over the US' first 240 year total)...45 preached such absurdities as injecting disinfectant or using horse de-wormers for Covid....45 actually tried to overturn US democracy and egged on the terror attack of 6 January (even the FBI Dir appointed by 45 referred to 6 Jan as a Terrorist Attack)....45 pulled US from TPP, which handed Asia to China

Pres Obama entered office with 10.4% UE and gave 45 4.8% UE. 45 left Pres Biden 6.9% UE.

45=DISASTER

4 hours ago, MasterBaker said:

i think China's influence is better than American's. especially with potato head running the show in Washington

Frankly, that 'potato head' has the right approach.

Does the US really need the juntas of Myanmar and Thailand as allies? China isn't going to upset the US too much because it needs the market, and doesn't want the US to get all 'democratic' in its view of Taiwan, an independent nation ruled by the self-appointed and answerable to no one CP for a sum total of ZERO seconds (hardly a 'rogue' province). China sees the trouble putin is having in Ukraine, so knows now is not the time to 'lose face' via a Million Man Swim to try to conquer democratic and successful Taiwan.

Under Pres Biden the US has cordial relations with the democracies of Japan and South Korea, an adequate relationship with Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, and kind of ignores the Philippines. Biden might even be able to resurrect the TPP, the program that would have gone a long way to rein in China had not the last guy given China the gift of having the US pull out.

Just as the old colonialists and imperialists were eventually hated by the people of the countries Brits and French and Dutch abused, so will countries come to hate China...including its B&R Initiative, which is just imperialism by another name. (Just as China exploited Myanmar under SPDC, it is doing so again under the Neo Junta....doing slash and burn timber extraction in Kachin State, the PLA kidnapping Kachin women to sell as brides in China, mining precious metals and rare earths, adding to its port in Yakhine State so that it can bookend India with Yakhine and Gwadar in Pakistan, etc.)

Oh, and that 'potato head' not only has presided over 6.9% US GDP growth (vs the former guy who delivered the lowest term economic performance in 40 years and even before Covid was in the bottom quartile of all Administrations since the end of WWII), the largest number of jobs ever created in a single year, lowered the 2021 deficit by $350 billion over the clown he followed---and is projected to lower it even more in FY2022---has a massive plan to actually do something useful for the country (infrastructure), rather than just give more tax cuts to the Donor Class, but Pres Biden also pulled NATO together again after the abject disaster that was '45', so that NATO can face down the murderous psychopath that previously got away with butchering Chechnya, Georgia and Syria, as well as domestic critics like Litvinenko, Nemtsov, Politkovskaya, etc.

8 hours ago, Saanim said:

And not to forget his silly statements about Hunter's laptop...

Why bring a shovel down the rabbit hole? You'll never get out.

This may come as a shock to your system:  All that 'research' you do on the internet is nothing more than confirmation bias, and when your original opinion is fiction, you merely add falsehood to fiction to abject idiocy......and that shovel you carry just gets you into a deeper hole.

Not that you believe all of these, but.....Bill Gates isn't injecting microchips into those getting vaxxed....real children were slaughtered at Sandy Hook (Alex Jones is a performance artist and liar)....there are no chemtrails....at Bilderberg they don't roast babies in gold leaf and eat them (Alex Jones again)......Jade Helm wasn't a prelude to a Globalist takeover of the US.......the Rothschilds don't run the world and their once great fortune is so widely dispersed as to make them just wealthy, not BezosRich.....there is no rogue planet Nibiru......Queen Elizabeth is not a 10' Lizard Person......there are no FEMA Camps and no Black Helicopters are coming to take you away.....the agency didn't run drugs out of Afghanistan.......there never was a basement at Comet Pizza........Vicky Nuland is about as powerful as Pee Wee Herman......Oh, and the election wasn't 'stolen'.

Of course, if living in an alternate Universe of absurdity gives you joy, knock yourself silly.

4 hours ago, Saanim said:

In the civilised regimes with democratically elected leaders there are ways how to exchange their leaders, other than to assassinate...

Well, let's hope, then, that one day russia becomes civilized.

So far, every episode from Litvinenko to Skirpal to Anna Politkovskaya to Navalny to Nemtsov to the slaughter of Chechnya to the invasion of Georgia to this latest invasion of Ukraine says russia has a long way to go to meet the criteria of 'civilized'.

I remember the chubby guy---whatever his name was---when he had the chance (even a very short time before the election, right mitch?---to select another SCJ, stated that he would 'choose the best woman'.  Pres Biden added one more criteria, but somehow that is an abomination.

As for the Hearings, it seems the Я Party is sending out trial balloons of what 'issue' it hopes to run on in the midterms in Nov.  It seems they think child p is the winning issue. Funny how josh hawley and the guy from Cuba (cruz?) are apoplectic that Judge Jackson didn't chemically neuter and put away those perps for life, 'somehow' forgetting they voted for THREE SCJs who issued the EXACT same range of sentences for the same crimes when they had bench authority. Didn't seem to bother them before, when a non-Dem was naming an SCJ.