chalawaan

Teflon Thailand. They even once got away with blowing up a Cathay Pacific jet! https://southeastasiaglobe.com/cathay-pacific-flight-cx700z/ A BIB was the prime suspect, and his acquittal, in Thailand of course, led to a frenzy of national rejoicing on the court steps. He eventually died of stomach cancer in the US, so there's that.

I guess the "Taxi mafia breaking the law" has been put in their "cash cow crime syndicate" basket for now and forever.

Is this still the eyebrow raising Red Card scheme, or are they a little on the back foot because of the behaviour of more recent bulk arrivals, vs the rest of the western world's yobbos? Unfortunately all of us harbour some pieces of work in our society, but decades of enforced socialism seems to have produced some very anti-social individuals in other societies. One notable group demolish buffets, while another just demolish everything they can before the law steps in. Unfortunately, all farangs are included in this group as the average Thai looks on. With their sustained recurring and serious criminality, they are truly ruining it for the rest of us.

Most news stories must be read in full. The boring facts aka the truth, usually starts about ⅔ in. In the linked story, the pattern is clear, there's really no need for the concern that the story would at first glance suggest. As with everything in life, do your homework, read the story critically (especially if it is in your favourite newspaper) and actively watch for the actual facts of the matter to appear very near the end of the piece. Nine times out of ten the facts bear little resemblance to the headline that draws us in.

If you think China was ever benign, you're woefully under schooled or a "little pink" keyboard warrior. Actually the two are almost indistinguishable. Peace and love, Comrade! ✌????????

Your comment coincidentally described China's own domestic problems perfectly! Does the word "globalisation" resonate with you?

It's almost as if you didn't even read the article. Hint: It's not about America at all!

As an ally of the US I agree with you. We can strike CCP or their proxies, at will and with decisive outcomes, from the assets we already have elsewhere. ????????

Don't really need a US base here, though the USAF was highly visible in Korat during Cobra Gold. Advanced technology means US weapons can strike anywhere on the globe with its existing bases, subs or carrier groups. IMO the US should never have left Clark AFB or Subic Bay, so it's fantastic to see them back in Subic at last! Unfortunately China now has several completed bases within PI territorial waters, and aggressively harass harmless subsistence fisherfolk. This is what happens when you give an inch in the region.

Redwood1 is having a laugh. That kind of Singaporean style nonsense doesn't deserve a response from reasonable people. I saw many reefers being enjoyed in Singapore during my time there. Although at that point in my life, it was not my drug of choice, their over the top death laws didn't appear to stop anyone who wanted to use weed, ecstasy, or even cocaine! Especially among wealthy expats living there, or their Singaporean WAGs. ????

Any Thai kid who can get a hold of B900 to blow on weed is either a juvenile delinquent, or a figment of your imagination. The delinquent is going to be that way no matter what laws exist. Your argument is a great example of moral panic, it is regressive thinking based on false assumptions.

Maybe smarter heads are looking at the North American continent, and realising the tax benefits in legalisation far outweigh any health risks -or the moral panic of ignorant, programmed "pissheads" who discount the massive societal damage of alcohol in the news worldwide, daily. We can but hope.

A very comprehensive report from Radio Free Asia, and it's surprising that the CCP seem to finally be cracking down on Triads, but this is only because they're now so out of control, they are damaging CCP's trade interests and political image. I'm no friend of the CCP, both myself and my dad served in seperate theatres against them, he was in 1950s Malaya. But I have had Chinese friends and and even one Chinese wife, and not every Chinese we see in Thailand is a crude brute product of the PRC Regime. Many are our allies from Taiwan, Singapore, and a host of countries across the globe. Having said that, the PRC population in particular, are rabid racists and nationalist fanatics, with atrocious manners. The whole thing is a bit depressing in the 21st century, the world should really have moved on from political extremes after the lessons of last century, yet here we are staring down WWIII.

The 2021 population of Russia is 143.4 million. External passports issued in 2022 is 3.87 million (fun fact, they still need internal passports too!) The best guess population of China is 100 million under the claimed 1.4 billion. The percentage of Russians in Thailand, and there are many other options for them in Asia, doesn't even begin to make up for China's declining figures.

In our Moo Baan, a retired Chinese couple rented a large house near us, she was always pottering in the garden, he was older and sat on the porch most days, they were model neighbours. They went back to China in Feb 2020 for Chinese New Year. They haven't been seen or heard of since, their car is rotting away, unwashed, in the driveway.

"Morons. They have morons on their team." With apologies to Butch and Sundance. Also some of the whataboutism in this thread to get a cheap dig at America is brain dead. Uncle Sam may not be the tooth fairy, but how does getting put on a plane to China, with a hood on your head, sound? It's an entirely possible outcome for writing the same things about the CCP you just did against the US. Thai police are more than happy to accompany the CCP Ministry of State Security to your happy home right now, today. Just ask any Chinese stand up comedian about that response to free speech, then think again, and be careful what you wish for.

Statistically, since this is a Coronavirus = Common Cold Family of Viruses, then every human on earth will get it, and then will get it more than once. It's like death and taxes, unavoidable at some point. Maybe a mask makes sense on the BTS at rush hour, but we can't go through this life wearing masks for years on end, and I stopped when it was no longer mandatory.

I'd love to protect myself but I can never find the condoms under the beer bottles and pizza boxes. I finally got Covid in January, about 24 hours after I entertained a vivacious young demimondaine. I'd been away for a year, the Covid was less hassle than all the other social bugs I've, occasionally picked up in this sporting life. But I was vaxxed.

Love or hate him, he divided America in a way not seen since the 1863. I can't believe it's got to the point where the American far right support Russia, and meanwhile Putin claims he's fighting Ukranian Nazis. It makes no sense. And it all started imploding from the day of "the biggest inauguration crowd ever". So yes, American history is about to get very dark, because as a true Republican once said: "A house divided against itself, cannot stand."

Fun fact. He shot his own eye out. That was the second dumbest thing he's done.

Has anyone sent cash from Thailand back home using their Wise account, I can't see a straightforward way to do it via the app. Also can I pay myself from my Thai bank to my overseas PayPal as an alternative to Wise? I have a one-off expense in the motherland looming. Thanks in advance.

Malaysian "MM2H" retirement visa was always very pricey by comparison, and was recently massively increased, it's upper middle class territory (surgeons, judges, etc) Cambodia is very unappealing from what I experienced over two visits. Hun Sen and his merry men are basically veteran Khmer Rouge, and make my skin crawl. How does mature health, geriatric, and hospice care plan out in Phnom Penh is another concern. Anyone retired there based on the cheap beer and bargirls is a mental midget. The same applies to the Phillipines, fun fact, they are so narco-paranoid there, that there are a total of five(!) chronic pain specialists, in the whole 7000+ islands! And their access to serious opioids is close to zero. Duterte himself got his Fentanyl pain management in Singapore. In short, if you're cash strapped and elderly here and they boot you, it's going to be bleak indeed!

There's always marriage. And if the new government were going to become anything like advanced economies in terms of expat visas, the humanity of those marriage visas would evolve, and the annual immigration harassment, (let's call it what it is) would have to end. Currently, if your wife dies, and you can't afford the million baht just to park and season B800,000 of that sum, whilst using the remainder to keep yourself afloat (rinse repeat until death or worse) then it's byebye, Khun Widower, the day the annual marriage extension of stay ends. And by advanced nation standards, that's seen as so very wrong, that there are specific laws to protect spouses set adrift by various twists of fate, such as spousal death, abuse, etc. To get back on point, if the cost of visas go up the humanitarian considerations would have to advance to reflect a vastly modernised economic and social services model for ALL who live here.

If it was Poipet he likely would have been flat out denied. Even legit tourists on their first bounce currently get sent to PNH Airport!

Let it go. If you were meant to be shagadelic after 60 you'd have the nuts for it naturally. Like blokes who dye their hair, sad and extremely obvious, making it even sadder.