IanDelMar

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Would point out some teens behave like this with no input from their parents.

I know as I made the mistake of taking in such a 13yo girl last year.

Complete nightmare, she's gone now.

Your part of the problem

11 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Don't forget that he and the RTP are still being sued by the family for B70m.

Hope they've got a good lawyer.

5 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I saw lots of yellow shirt supporters. I would call many of them middle class.

And I saw the aggressive red mob in their pickup trucks and at their barricades terrorizing the city.

They were very different from each other.

And I spoke with a few people who got offered money to join the red shirts in the middle of the city. For what? Democracy? Give me a break. 

Were you there under orders, wearing a uniform and holding a gun? It certainly sounds like it. Maybe your still under orders to troll for the junta to justify their illegal hijacking of an elected government. 

I was having lunch in a restaurant today with the Gf and the TV was on (without sound). Whilst enjoying our food I happened to glance over to the TV and was shocked to see a news video showing 4 guys beating the s**t out of another and I mean seriously full on graphic violence. Then the whole video was repeated again followed by snips of the most graphically violent bits. It went on for about 3 or 4 minutes. I know there's a lot of real crime programmes showing all sorts but this was really bad and the repeating of it was completely gratuitous. They censor out the drinking of alcohol, smoking and the smallest glimpses of risque flesh but when it comes to real life violence almost anything goes any time of the day. How hypocritical is that? I have to say it briefly put me off of my khao pak pak. TV companies and the government need to act more responsibly. I'm not a fan of censorship but there has to be guidelines at least to protect younger viewers seeing these horrible images. The country is covered in CCTV cameras and these acts of violence are fast becoming a regular feature for cheap TV entertainment. 

31 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Whatever, so long as Russia has air supremacy and lots of missiles it doesn't look good for the Ukraine, IMO. Let me know when Ukraine lands a missile on or bombs the Kremlin.

Any expert on war or military affairs will tell you that dropping bombs and launching missiles is the easy bit. The hard bit is to win hearts and minds. Putin is nowhere near to doing so right now or any time soon if ever. In fact it could be something he bitterly regrets ever doing.

9 hours ago, Walker88 said:

Some foreigners want to live in Thailand. Some Thais prefer to live in Western nations. No absolutes.

A somewhat pedantic response but distinction has to be made here. Foreigners in Thailand are mostly here through choice. Even digital nomads choose to work in Thailand because they think it's a nicer place to live. On the other hand most Thais (also Filipinos, Vietnamese etc) who manage to live in the west do so for the purpose of employment and can't wait to get back home.

Having said that I do like the Thai girlfriend quip about farangs who want to live in Thailand rather than Australia. I think she's spot on.

23 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Spot on. I asked a good number of Thais over the years to find Thailand on a world map. Guess what, most failed!

Since the advent of gps navigation systems I've found map reading skills have all but disappeared. Being old school myself and an ex boy scout I love maps. Maps have become superfluous for most people now. 

12 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

No wonder you aren't in favour of the coups, have have no knowledge of their necessity.

Necessary for those living the hiso lifestyle in their Bangkok condos and keeping in with the top man and the military so they don't lose their grip on the gravy train. Perhaps your on that train yourself. Why not just install a permanent military dictatorship like Myanmar and be done? That's the logical answer to your assertions.

11 hours ago, IanDelMar said:

115 million plus votes they received

Typo here. Should read 15 million. It was late ????

4 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

Sure, basically the methods that Thaksin and his proxy sister used to gain and hold power were such that you cannot really class them as being properly democratically elected. Did they get the most votes? Technically, sure. But if they had not used corruption, cronyism, silencing free speech/criticism, and the straight up purchasing of votes (and not the regular kind), would they have still gotten into power? Possibly not.

Ah OK I see where your coming from. Of course in a perfect world you may have a point. Flawed democracy is more common on our planet than bright shiny perfect democracy. Maybe doesn't exist anywhere at all. But one thing is sure... if one candidate is employing these tactics then the they all are. Kind of makes it a level playing field. Certainly not to be condoned. But we have to be realistic. They can't buy or silence or corrupt every single one of the 115 million plus votes they received in the 2011 election. There was most definitely a mandate for their leadership even accepting it's geographical bias.

5 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

On the contrary, the coup would serve as an essential part of the process, to ensure that absolute power does not slip into anyone's hands and remain there indefinitely.

Really? This doesn't make sense to me. Your saying give the army (or other force) of a country the essential right to ursurp the democratic process and take absolute power to avoid absolute power being taken by somebody else. That's a new one.

2 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

Narrator: They weren't

Huh? Can you expand on this?

6 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

Clan politics is bad for democracy all over the world even in western democracy.  

Define clan politics. Do you mean as in the Central Asian countries such as Azerbaijan or Kyrgyzstan whose authoritarian  leaders keep a tight grip on power, don't allow elections and pass leadership onto family members? Or do you mean western democracies such as the US and UK and numerous other countries worldwide where politics runs in the family eg Bush, Kennedy, Johnson, Trudeau, Shinawatra? Do you get my point? Using the phrase 'Clan politics' per se could be misleading.

3 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

Neither total control by the elite, nor total control by the poor, results in an optimal outcome for the country.

A spurious statement. Total control? In a democracy the people choose who governs by an election. They choose from a selection of candidates and vote accordingly. Total control is seldom the result. On the other hand the result following a coup where the will of the people is removed forcefully by the coup perpetrators could be called total control. To be clear that is the current situation in Thailand. 

Going back tomorrow with TM30. I will let you know.

Just to let you know I've just come back today 28/Feb/22  from the Immigration Office in Phuket where I went for a Covid extension. This is my second extension. The first extension in Jan 22 they didn't ask for a TM30. This time they did. I said to the lady it wasn't required last time and she said they're getting strict now.

Phuket Smart Bus runs down the west coast stopping at all the beaches. 100 baht any distance. Outside domestic arrivals turn left. It's a good air conditioned bus. I've used it a few times. It's not 24hrs but starts early and runes into the evening. Timetable available phuketsmartbus.com

I'm 70 and am here in Phuket for the winter. I rent a Honda Click 125. In Europe I drive and live in a motorhome probably the slowest vehicles on the road. I ride my motorbike around town and up into the hills even went off road once but wouldn't do that again. I enjoy riding it. For Phuket it's a great way to get around. Not sure I would ride it in BKK though. I keep well left when possible, never do more than 60kph and use my mirrors and common sense and avoid anything risky. A lot of vehicles overtake me but I don't care. In my humble opinion the worst riders are farangs on massive bikes trying to ride like thai teenagers. One overtook me the other day he was shirtless and doing upper body stretches with his hands in the air. When he decided to take control of the bike again with his hands rather than his hips he zoomed off doing a wheelie on the other side of the road narrowly missing oncoming traffic. 

13 minutes ago, Chris.B said:

As a Spaniard, your views don't count when it comes to Benidorm!  

 

Why? He's absolutely spot on

Hello all. I'm preparing my Tourist Visa application for the London embassy. I'm applying for a 60 day Tourist visa and then extend to 90 days when I'm in Thailand. My question is should I book my return flight for up to 90 days? I'm concerned that if I do I may have problems having a 60 day visa with a 90 day return date. I did email the embassy but their reply was not clear. Hopefully someone who has actual experience will reply rather than conjecture. Thanks.