sidneybear

Precisely, Elon Musk didn't get to be the world's richest man without all those fat taxpayer-funded subsidies. Tesla was worth more than all the large automakers combined, despite making a tiny fraction of the total number of cars . EV's are just another gravy train for corporations and their government buddies to feed off. Ditto those daft wind turbines.

I read the same. Here's a proud owner of an electric Porsche...

OK, gerontophobic bigot. And I loathe Trump as much as you do.

You sound like one of those people who drives so little, the sun is all ypu need. Check the laws of physics for maximum available solar power there is per square metre of solar panels, versus how much power you need as a serious driver. Have you considered buying a bicycle? Meanwhile, back in the real world: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12585467/Furious-EV-owners-resort-getting-middle-night-charge-cars-fights-break-charging-points-arent-marshals-brought-police-service-stations.html https://www.smh.com.au/national/ev-owners-warned-to-plan-ahead-to-avoid-easter-charging-queues-20230402-p5cxe3.html

Rudeness doesn't add anything to a sensible debate. It just shows that you have nothing to add, but want to make some pointless noise anyway.

There's nothing wrong with respecting people who have more life experience. They're not always right, but they're more often right than the young folks. This article was obviously written by someone who is trying to replace charming Thai culture with the ghastly lefty western kind. Lefties hate the old, because they remember better times.

I'm in Australia at the moment. Hardly anyone uses cash here. People are happy to tap and pay a higher price that includes a bank surcharge. Only 1 or 2 percent, but it adds up. I insist on using cash. Some places love it (they probably don't declare it to the taxman). A couple of places offer a discount for using it. Other places refuse it.

Here's more. People who can afford Teslas probably have a second car with a proper engine anyway.... https://www.drive.com.au/news/study-finds-some-electric-car-owners-considering-a-switch-back-to-petrol-power/ Housewives use them as runabouts, but forget them of you're a serious driver.

EVs are a failure in the world's most developed countries. They're extremely expensive, heavy, have zero resale value and have insufficient supporting infrastructure. People queue for hours to recharge them. Other than to scam people, what on earth use would they be in Thailand?

EVs are a failure in the world's most developed countries. They're extremely expensive, heavy, have zero resale value and have insufficient supporting infrastructure. People queue for hours to recharge them. Other than to scam people, what on earth use would they be in Thailand?

Guessing you're British. I was too. It's nothing more than a client state of America these days. It needs a ruler like de Gaulle, if you ask me, one who isn't afraid of expressing independent thoughts and standing up for his country's best interests. Indeed the topic is about why Thailand would (dare to) invite Putin for a visit. You condemned it and singled out Thailand as bad. I then offered reasons why the bigger picture should be taken into account, for the benefit of Thailand in the longer term.

Oftentimes, leaving a western styled bogeyman like Putin where he is saves more lives in the long run, as we've seen in places like Iraq. Thailand realises this, so it keeps its nose out of other people's business, while adopting a pragmatic foreign policy. By pragmatic, I mean that Thailand needs to make new friends, because who needs friends like America anyway? Look at how the US just turned its back on those poor Afghanis for some pointers here. Moreover, places like Russia have conservative values that are more similar to Thailand's these days, unlike modern western values which Thais find are increasingly repulsive, and who can blame them for that? Thailand isn't America's cheerleader anymore, I'm so glad to see.

Did you read anything about the West condemning Azerbaijan for kicking Armenians out of their ancestral homes in the Nagorno-Karabakh region? Or that the West maintains friendly relations with Azerbaijan's dictator? I don't believe you did, or you'd be agreeing with my point about your hypocrisy.

I've used examples to show you that Thailand and the west are actually no different in their nuanced approach to international relations. It's therefore unreasonable for you to single out Thailand for your pompous condemnation, even though you won't acknowledge your error.

You seem to first concede that Biden shamelessly fist bumping an evil dictator, who has journalists chopped up with bone saws, is an acceptable expression of foreign policy. Then you double down on your condemnation of Thailand for welcoming Putin, presumably because Putin is currently the bogey man in the mass media. You have a very obvious double standard.

Not at all. If you read my earlier post in this thread, I said that foreign policy is nuanced, pragmatic even. People here think international relations should be like supporting a football team, so buy into all this "with us or against us" nonsense that the US is so fond of using. All Thailand is doing here is minding its own business, while daring to maintain friendships with places the US government of the day and media circus currently disapproves of. Lots of other countries around the world seem to be doing likewise, because recent history has shown us that the US (and the west in general) isn't as powerful as it was, and has lost the moral high ground that it still tries to claim.

So stay away from places like that then. Thailand certainly isn't one of them though.

So why doesn't the US stop doing business with Saudi Arabia for the killing of Houthis going on in Yemen then? Or, for chopping people's heads of in public. Or, for the grisly dismemberment of that journalist in one of its own consulates? On the contrary, Biden flies over and does bromance fist bumps in pressers with Mohammad Bin Salman. Something to do with the price of oil, wasn't it? You criticism of Thailand for being friends with the world is nothing more than ill-informed hypocrisy.

Well you obviously do, or you wouldn't have replied to my post.

Oooo. The US once cancelled Cobra Gold because Thailand didn't kow tow. That'll show 'em, eh? The fact remains that Thailand maintains friendly relations with countries of its choosing, while minding its own business and not starting wars all over the world. Your insulting Thailand, while lauding the west for imaginary moral standards, is groundless and just plain daft.

Oh dear. The truth hurts you. Thailand reflects the temperament of the observer, so brighten up and you'll find that Thailand brightens up too. Smile, and the world will smile back at you.

Thais only look down on foreigners who are miserable losers. Foreigners with a positive attitude are respected just as people with a positive attitude are respected anywhere else. All the foreigners I've seen who look down on Thailand are unsuccessful in their work or personal lives, but they're incapable of looking in the mirror and being honest with themselves. Such people stick around nevertheless. They should go home, but they know they'd be even worse off if they did so.

So why do you live in Thailand then? Why do you hang around this forum, if you feel so superior to a country that welcomes you as its guest? Go home.

Oh come off it. I'm Thai. Are you?

You're having a laugh. That will never happen.