Patong2021

Egypt and Qatar are fed up with Hamas. Israel has offered all sorts of concessions and still Hamas won't agree to a ceasefire by releasing the hostages. Ask yourself what justification Hamas has to prolong the war and to hold non combatant hostages under horrific conditions. Hamas wants and needs the war to continue. Iran needs and wants this war to continue. Every country involved in trying to negotiate an end to the war knows that Hamas is intentionally prolonging the war. Why do you think the Arab countries are really not putting pressure on Israel? Even Turkey is keeping cool and Erdogan despises israel. The entire diplomatic world knows that Hamas has been told to keep the war going. The $200million paid by Iran to Hamas leadership has to be earned.

Ethnic cleansing? I don't think Israel or Egypt got the memo. The Gazans are still in Gaza and are not going anywhere. They are not going to Egypt and they are not going to Israel. You do know that despite the war, the population of Gaza is not decreasing. They keep popping out babies. Gaza has one of the highest birth rates in the world (39th). As for the IDF policies, why don't you help us out and reference the specific documentation that supports your claim of ethnic cleansing. In respect to your claim that the US funded ethnic cleansing, you are confused. It was Hamas that diverted cement from humanitarian aid to build its military tunnels and reinforced bunkers for hamas select members, all the while telling the world that israel denied it cement to build homes. Remember that lie? And it was Hamas that diverted humanitarian aid of water pipes and sewage pipes to build rockets to fire the daily barrage at israel. Remember when Hamas and NGOs were complaining about an inadequate amount of piping? now we know where all the pipes went and why KMs of new water piping disappeared. So technically, it can be said that the US with its generous aid donations to Gaza helped fund the Hamas military build up. The Gazans who have families in the USA are financially well off and are fine. They are doing well in their exclusive communities of Dearborn and elsewhere in Michigan where non muslims are not welcome. The israeli Arab hostage families on the other hand are not doing so well. BTW, any kind words for some of the Israeli Arabs injured by Hamas and iranian missiles? Amina al-Hassouni is the 7 year old bedouin in the Israeli hospital ICU with a severe head injury after her family home was hit by iranian missile shrapnel.

For a large number of agitators and protestors it is. The war is giving a lot of angry hateful people cover to express their hate. If the same comments were made about muslims it would be called Islamophobia and we would have all manner of people rushing to apologize. As others have pointed out upthread, many of the protestors have no idea what they are protesting. it is a mob event, They chant "from the river to sea" without knowing the name of the river or the sea and that it means that israel must disappear and with it, all the people inside it, both Israeli hebrew and israeli Arab, all because they do not share the radical ideology of Hamas or islamic jihad. Many of the events indicate the true nature of the events. for example, NBC in January reported as follows; A swastika was projected on the facade of a University of Wisconsin-Whitewater dorm Sunday night by a group of people chanting racist remarks, according to school officials and video posted on social media. The group was “chanting racist words, lighting what appeared to be road flares and displaying antisemitic symbols,” Chancellor Corey A. King said in a statement to students and staff members. On April 23, CBS News reported the following in respect to the Columbia protestors; Near Columbia University, antisemitic slogans including "go back to Poland" were heard among the protesters' chants. In one video, a demonstrator can be seen holding a sign near Jewish students that reads: "Al-Qassam's next targets." Al-Qassam is the military wing of Hamas, which carried out the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, killing about 1,200 people and sparking the war in Gaza. It's been going on since last october. Recent days have witnessed what Jewish students and watchdog groups describe as a raft of antisemitic incidents on college campuses. Jewish students at Cooper Union in New York City sheltered in a library as pro-Palestinian demonstrators banged on the glass walls of the building. At a pro-Palestinian protest near Tulane University, at least two students were assaulted in a melee that began when someone tried to burn an Israeli flag. And anonymous posters flooded a Cornell message board with threats, prompting the school’s president to alert the FBI. “If you see a Jewish ‘person’ on campus follow them home and slit their throats,” one message said. Another threatened to “bring an assault rifle to campus and shoot all you pig jews.” more examples are at the article site https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/10/31/antisemitism-college-campuses-jewish-hamas-gaza/ There is obviously outspoken hatred. What is puzzling is that it is tolerated. Worse is the acceptability of the statements to students in the liberal arts who are supposed to be enlightened. And while all this is going on, Toomaj Salehi the iranian rapper and hip hop performer was sentenced to death on April 24 for lyrics that criticized the Islamic Republic's regime over the death of a Mahsa Amini who died in police custody in late 2022, allegedly from police beating after she was arrested for wearing an 'improper' hijab. Not a word from the protesters on this, nor on the abuse of fundamental womens' rights in Iran. Keep up the focus on bogeyman Israel, and no one will look at the evil that is Iran.

Best advice so far. Going back to Sweden demonstrates that you can go home. It will help to reset the starting point. The immigration issues are almost always with the people who are hopping around to the lower income nations of Laos and Cambodia. Thai immigration isn't stupid. They can figure out when someone is trying to play the system. It is rare to have entry problems when the visas are initiated from a homeland after a "cooling" off period. Just go back to Sweden and consider staying there for a few months to help clean your history.

2024 and I still see these claims of "jew plots" and "jew domination". Ok so President Biden's kids married people of jewish heritage. Is that a crime? It just means that jewish people are more likely to assimilate into the general culture and to be accepting of other faiths and religions? Should they be like some muslims and only marry their cousins who are muslim? And just how would having mixed heritage children influence the President, other than his being sensitive to Americans who call for the killing of them as is being done on many US university campuses? It certainly hasn't helped him with PM Netanyahu, whom Biden detests. Is it the president's fault that people of jewish heritage want to be loyal Americans and to serve their nation? Secretary Blinken is hardly a religious jew. The guy can't even speak hebrew and speaks English when he meets with the Israelis, many of whom he dislikes. Would you also condemn Latinos and Afro Americans who volunteer for US military service knowing that they could be sent to L Latin America or Afro heritage locales? There is no genocide. Not even remotely. Genocide is what is occurring in Somalia where 75,000+ are dead, and 18 million on the verge of starvation. Genocide is what the Iranians funded in yemen with 250,000+ dead from the war and another 350,000 dead from the related famine. Genocide is the 600,000+ dead in Syria and 14 million displaced at the hands of Iran, Hezbollah, Russia and Assad. Not a word from you on that. If there is a genocide in Gaza, Israel hasn't been effective as the number of dead has stagnated over the past 3 months and the Gaza population is still growing. How would you know if Arabs are denied equal rights in Israel? Overall, the vast majority of israeli Arabs are not complaining and on the contrary, many have been outspoken in their defense of israel. They may not agree with the gaza campaign, and they most definitely have their own issues that arise from income disparity and localized conflicts, but they are not oppressed nor denied equal rights. How about a dose of reality? Arabic is an official language of Israel, Israeli arabs have all of the same rights as any israeli citizen, with one exception: They are not obliged to participate in national service, although there are growing numbers of arabs who do. The other reality is that most of Israel's arabs are Sunni. They know what the Hizbollah, Houthi and Iranian Shiites are and that the Shiites hate the Sunnis almost as much as they hate the jews and the Christians. When Hamas attacked last October, they also murdered Israeli Arabs and took 3 Arab hostages. Hamas made clear that israeli Arabs are legitimate targets too,s o don't expect israeli Arabs to embrace gazans or to cheer when Houthis fire missiles at them. Which then brings this back full circle to the protests. At some point we will see that the money to fund the unrest is coming from foreign sources, in particular Iran and that China has been supporting the dissemination of media that fans the unrest. it's no differrent than the Russian campaign of disinformation last US election and in many EU elections. Disrupting the calm and good order of the free world is on the agenda for the Axis of evil with iran at the center of it all.

So many of the negative comments come from infrequent flyers, and some who do not fly on Thai. Yes, the issue with the seat is unacceptable if a seat maintenance issue, but it is not specific to Thai Airways. Every airline has its infamous issues. One of the UK/Europe's largest had an issue with claims of bedbugs and deplorable catering, Air France still had 3 abreast seating on some of its business class flights to BKK and KLM has the dreaded 2 abreast seating and lack of air flow control at each seat, Air Canada had the infamous "deflategate" where its air sack seat cushions deflate and left pax sitting on a metal plank. The aircraft on the Beijing route is the relatively new AB350. (So much for the comments that TG uses old decrepit aircraft.) The seats are Soltys II from Airbus subsidiary Stelia Aerospace. The seat controls are distinguished by their difficulty of use. Control of the seat is awful. On my last flight to Tokyo, I couldn't get the seat to recline. I had the exact same problem as this passenger. The seat wasn't broken, I just couldn't figure out how to use the seat controls in large part because I mostly fly on B777 or 787 who have simpler seat controls. I am not alone. Many passengers have the same problem. My mistake was that i didn't ask for help, not that the FAs were attentive. They were no worse than on an EU or North American airline. I expect this passenger had the same issue. Why then would the airline pay compensation for something that wasn't a malfunction. The problem is with Airbus and its poor seat design. I just got off an AB 330 and its seat controls were just as bad. I sympathize, but the problem was most likely not a broken seat.

The 100,000 include only a very small number of UK nationals with Thai partners. The issue is driven by the inundation of impoverished immigrants from around the world, and more specifically certain nations, who have long been a source of problem immigrants/visitors. As a reminder, the BBC reported the following; As highlighted in a recent BBC Panorama episode "Immigration: the UK's Record Rise", last year, the Government issued 1.44 million visas. Only around 5.6% of those were family-related. In response, a Home Office spokesperson said in a statement: "The current levels of migration to the UK are far too high. "That is why the government announced a plan to cut the number of migrants coming to the UK by 300,000 a year – the largest reduction ever. “By tethering the minimum income requirement to the general salary threshold for skilled workers, it ensures migration policy is supportive of the wider ambition for the UK to be a high-wage, high-productivity, high-skill economy.” . The UK must reduce the levels of immigration to a sustainable level. Yes, some Thai couples will be penalized, but this measure was enacted for the sake of the UK's economic survival. The reality is that the government would be accused of discrimination if it imposed the rules on the countries that were driving the crisis. You need only look at the number of impoverished people who show up every year from these countries under the guise of family reunification, or as "students", or "visitors" who play the system. These communities would rise up in civil unrest if they were singled out despite being the culprits. Look at the protests in the streets now and you will get an idea of what would occur.

When a story is short on useful content a photo distracts. Ok, so he screwed up. He is a victim of crime, why does he need to be punished for a stupid error? And why are you excusing the theft? Stealing is wrong. The person who stole the necklace is the type of person who does not return an elderly person's purse or a lost mobile phone. The wrongful act here is the theft.

Considering the air quality in Thailand, a majority of people wear masks because of that. My friend wears one continuously because his work requires him to circulate outdoors in Bangkok. The car fume particulate in rush hour alone can knock you out.

If you have no income, then you will pay no tax, despite holding the Canadian passport. That document must have some value to you, but you do not pay anything for the benefit of that passport. 20% of Canadian taxpayers shoulder the burden of income tax, paying approximately 67% of the taxes collected. This means that 80% of tax filers do not pay enough tax to cover the services and benefits that they receive. In effect, the people who do not pay any tax get a free ride. Worse yet is that most of the people who complain and say they pay the salaries of politicians and for the benefit programs, really do not. On the contrary they suck the life out of the people who work and pay the tax rates that exceed 50%.

It never finished. It was however, managed. The planet was not shut down. Essential services continued. The management strategy was intended to keep the health care system from collapsing, and was to ensure that essential services were continued. You ate during Covid didn't you? Police, fire and EMS services were available were they not? The power grid remained on? Your TV and internet functioned? Food deliveries and essential product deliveries were prioritized. Governments responded as best they could. As explained above, the problem is now. Referring to data prior to the critical period is pointless. If you were the parent of the thousands of kids and young adults who died you would not be so dismissive. This is the data from the USA only. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1191568/reported-deaths-from-covid-by-age-us/ The roll out of vaccines is in large part responsible for reducing the number of deaths. People who were infected after vaccination were able to withstand their infection and prime their immune systems for their next infection.

Do you hold a Canadian passport?

How about holding the entity accountable? With the amounts of money involved, an outside auditor is needed. This agency has never been audited by any responsible party. There is no transparency. How the money is actually spent in detail is never declared. That's one of the core issues. It is likely that large amounts of the donations are diverted into people's pockets or for activities not related to relief.

Who controlled the Constitutional Court? That's like saying the judges who sentence people to death in Iran for being gay or blasphemy are independent. In any case, it is time to move on. Thailand needs to get past the violence and hatred. It has done well since the return to quasi elected government. Yes, the MFP should be in office, but the path to freedom will just take longer. The next election will most likely return an even larger MFP mandate. The days of Thaksin's grip are coming to an end. How long did it take to end the Chicago Cook county stranglehold of US politics, or the dominance of the Gaulists in France? Change will happen and is happening now. Young people want change and the days of a military junta being able to change governments like a Pattaya hooker changes customers is coming to an end. propserity and opportunity are changing Thailand for the better. Change is a slow, but progressive future.

The man is free to do as he wishes. However, it is quite obvious that he has a sense of entitlement. He genuinely believes that he should keep his titles even tough he no longer represents the institution, nor acts on its behalf. As long as he insists on keeping his royal titles he deserves to be ridiculed for being a hypocrite. His wife doesn't get it. She isn't royalty and never will be. It isn't just about being born into it, but in being trained since birth and a willingness to give up one's own privacy and individuality for the sake of the nation represented. The "palace" doesn't bleed anyone dry. Why offer up such nonsensical hyperbole? There isn't hatred, just disdain for a hypocrite. You really don't know if he is decent or not. All you have seen are what has been presented through small amounts of media coverage, both independent and put out by Harry and company. Maybe he is decent, and maybe he does have some empathy for others, but it is obvious that he is not particularly bright. The Invictus games were a well planned strategy to present him in a good light. As the participation in active conflicts has reduced, so too has the number of military wounded and amputees and hopefully, we will continue to see fewer of them. His pursuit of the tabloids has been a bust. He claims he doesn't want media interference, yet, he and his wife seek to use the media for their own financial benefit. If he really wants to be separate from the Royal family and its obligations and dutie,s then he should just make a clean sweep of it and let go of his titles. He was quite adamant about retaining titles for his children. Quite a contrast from the hardworking princess Anne, who never complains. Anne did not give her children royal titles. This is why people have little patience for Harry. He won't let go.

There is a reason why legitimate pharmaceutical products come with a product monograph that provide clear instructions on how to use the product. People who do not follow the instructions are usually the ones who have adverse reactions and who sometimes die.

Question for the Embassy Team: Does the UK embassy in Thailand ever render assistance to foreign nationals? In countries without UK representation, UK nationals are instructed to present to the nearest Commonwealth representative office for assistance. So I would expect some Commonwealth countries would have similar. For example, Canadian passport says that if a Canadian office isn't present, to contact the nearest Australian or British office. Obviously not needed for Thailand since both countries have consular services available. Just curious if anyone from a Commonwealth country ever needed assistance in Thailand. I would expect that this would be a rarity. Thanks in advance.

That is not the principal reason. The media environment has changed. Chat rooms and webforums were very popular back in the 1990's and even into the early 2000's they hung on, and then chatrooms died. Many years ago there was Bangkok Chat. It was spun off from ThaiVisa. Then along came apps like Tinder, Plenty of Fish, Rome, Cupid, Match, Badoo Zoosk and many others. And then Line and WhatsApp appeared. These all put the pressure and eventually killed online chatrooms. And now even these websites are facing competitive pressures as newer more targeted websites like Only Fans have started up. Web forums outside of specialty areas are a dying activity.

Tim provides an honest and clear explanation. Thaiger got too big for him, and he felt that it was time as the oldest person there to step aside and to let younger, more ambitious people push on. Also he wasn't comfortable with the progression to ecommerce and the attempt to monetize the media assets. Perhaps a bit over dramatic. How many active users of the forum are there? I think you will be lucky on a busy day to hit 10. There is one moderator, and he keeps a low profile. I can't say I have ever seen him take sides, even when we had a disagreement. And yes a handful of people push their pro Russia agenda and claims of conspiracies and anti vaccine claims. However, these are in private threads and I doubt that they will interfere or bother anyone at AN.

I have not posted at AN for at least a year. Nor did I bother visiting the forum during that period. I did not agree with the moderation, disliked some of the moderators, and found too many member comments to be banal, and ignorant. In hindsight, I can understand why some things were they they were. I mention this so that my bias is stated upfront. I was one of the people who took some pleasure in the problems that befell AN. It wasn't out of pettiness or vindictiveness, but in part driven by the memories of the original Thai Visa and the value it had at one time. Times change. Way back when TVF started there wasn't much in the way of social media, and there were limited ways to access visa information (RIP UbonJoe). TVF helped out. it was the principal outlet for so many people in a wonderful, yet at times strange country. TVF is where I went to get updates on the Red-yellow shirt conflict when I was trying to leave the country as the yellow shirts seized BKK. Fast forward, and we had the Covid crisis, an economic crisis and general aging that forced many people to leave Thailand, never to return again, and of course we had the grim reaper visiting many of the people who had made the site what it was. It's a very different environment now. We can't go back and neither can AN. The best that it can do is to adapt to the changes. As I understand its structure, Thaiger is a multimedia platform. It's core business is advertising, promotion and affinity sales. Hosting a forum and providing news isn't its business. The forum is an adjunct to its core business and with the news section is intended to attract potential customers. Yes, Thaiger has a very open approach to moderation. IMO, too open at times. IMO this approach has impacted the attractiveness of the site to potential advertisers. However, there may be no need for the strict moderation as Thaiger did do what I think was very smart and that was to put the most contentious threads in a section only accessible by members. For example, the thread on the Ukraine-Russia war is dominated by Russian agents and their rehearsed talking points. The Covid and vaccine threads are filled with the usual idiotic conspiracy claims and misinformation but views are limited. In effect, what they did was to say, let the crazies write, but structure it in a way that you have to go look for it, rather than to allow these people to mess up the publicly accessible parts of their forum. This doesn't mean that moderation is a bad thing or that I do not agree with its need. And yes, I know that AN forbids discussion of moderation. My point is that there are benefits to the Thaiger approach. And yet, there is also a need for the current AN methodology. It will be interesting to see what happens now. The status quo cannot continue because people will not accept the current approach and IMO it will be reflected in active membership declining. The reality though is that the moderation is a side issue; What matters is content and Thaiger has a team of young and talented Thai people ready to breath some life into both platforms. Thaiger has the potential to deliver some interesting affinity programs and hopefully a better real estate platform. One thing is certain, change here will be good. Whenever there is M&A activity promises or assurances may be given, but these can fall by the wayside once the reality of the transaction sets in.

Question Were you in Pattaya on the day of the event? Did you see ocean conditions? I can tell you that across the bay where I am now, the wind has been the strongest it has been and the sea current very strong. People drown in open calm waters on any given day, so this is not unusual, especially if the person is older and weak. Pattaya has many older men with poor health. Any trauma can push them over the edge.

Pfft, so much complaining. If there was a problem, the caring and benevolent ruling administration would act decisively and crackdown. They can find protestors to the ruling cadre within hours, so they can find the responsible land burners and air polluters easy peasy. Besides, no one is really protesting. Many Chinese, Indians and Russians love Thailand and find air quality acceptable. Their happiness is all that matters.

The unknown amount of raw sewage must be one of Patong's selling points since it is as popular as ever. No need to ever check water quality and disclose the results, since the water is pristine and unspoilt. Nothing speaks to the approved and ingrained corruption than the ongoing jet ski mob operations. Supposedly, the use of the beaches for personal profit is illegal, and yet there they are not a word from a provincial governor or deputy governor or a cop. There should not be any surprise then when other illegal activities are. revealed. Corruption allows such things to thrive.

She should have been dealt with long ago. Her forensics reputation was in tatters a decade ago when she was the center of media attention. Describing the bomb detectors as a "mistake" isn't sufficient. She has responsibility in the debacle.

Shouldn't you be looking at this as "Replacement Cost"? The intent of insurance is to put you back to where you were before the loss. Do an inventory of your household goods and then look at some of the home furnishing catalogues online and you will get an idea of the cost to furnish a bedroom, kitchen etc. In respect to the house structure, ask a reputable builder for an estimate of the cost of rebuilding. If the house is 25 years old with original windows , doors etc. those items will be depreciated and likely worn out, so you need to estimate using current cost to replace. If someone here suggest looking at the evaluation used to obtain a bank mortgage, never mind, because it is different than that used for insurance purposes. The bank takes into account land value. Land remains after a loss, so the value doesn't need to be considered for insurance.