Mike Lister

Yes, my comment was in response to Britman just above.

I think the poll is an excellent idea, I was curious what the demographics are and now I know. It appears a majority are older and resident expats so not a lot has changed.

You, "Actually I think forum rules should get rid of the term".

Well I've stopped listening to most of yours so there's no reason why you should listen to any of mine, if you don't want to! That said, you do raise a useful point, Opinion – a view or judgement formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. Advice – guidance or recommendations offered with regard to prudent future action. Mr Pancake is recommending something which in my opinion is not a good thing....are you getting there yet!

I disagree. Tweaking the rules and the approach is not the same as getting rid of important rules entirely.

I'm not too sure about that. My joining date is last month but I've been here and a forum member since 2006 hence the date is not reliable. There is however a poll in another thread that attempts to uncover exactly what you describe, if the results are accurate, the number of resident expat members is very high.

Society doesn't function well when everyone has a say about everything, as we see today. There's nothing mornonic about forums or anywhere else having rules, everyone needs structure and rules whether they care to admit it or not. If I own a shop, I have rules, if somebody doesn't like them they are free to shop elsewhere. If ultimately that leads to me having no customers, I may change my rules but up until now, most of my customers are reasonable and sensible people and business is brisk.

Oh well, in that case....!!!!

Isn't Thailand or Asean the common interest here?

I think we should all stop burning fossil fuels by midnight but that aint going to happen either. One of the big downsides of the internet is that today, everyone has an opinion about everything and has a medium for pressing that their preferred version is adopted. Such things are akin to debating how many angels are dancing on the head of a pin. They detract from progress being made elsewhere, "Lord, give me the strength to understand the things I cannot change.....", and all that.

You want to widen the definition of what is generally accepted, nice try but you can't.

DHL is great for Thailand to UK in 3/4 days at a reasonable price.

90% helping people understand and sort out the taxation issue.

A good idea, I can agree with that.

I belong to a UK investing forum that doesn't have any emojis, posters ask questions, other respond with views and occasionally debates will follow but mostly, people post their views that other consider silently. Nobody needs emojis to determine if what was said is good or not and it's a very very helpful environment. That works for me, perhaps others need something different.

One only has to take a quick look at a posters posting history to see what they have said from time to time on different subjects, to see if they are trolling stupid or if they are really really stupid.

I suppose we have to take the good with the bad. If posters want the feedback and positive reinforcement that positive emoji's give, they have to be prepared to accept the obverse. Personally, I never felt the need to chase after reinforcing feedback but I am always open to rebuttal or an explanation explaining why my beliefs are misguided. That's how people behave in every other scenario in life, apart from on internet forums so why should this be any different! If somebody says something and I respond, I don't need emojis to confirm to me, over the course of the debate, whether I am right or wrong. If I am right, I don't need the approval of others to reinforce that, because it is after all my belief. As for people liking or not liking my beliefs, why would anyone care about that, debate is not a popularity contest, it's an exchange of ideas and thoughts that leads to a conviction that something is or is not.

It's not a Phd course, the absolutely precise interpretation of what it is wont save the planet. Somewhere along the way people have to use their judgement and common sense, much of which has been lacking in the debate on this subject, especially by Bob. The forum definition is right there, it's as good as it gets, if people can't sensibly work with that they shouldn't be consuming oxygen.

You've trolled enough in this thread, back you go onto my ignore list, I'm not playing your stupid, "I don't know, who me" games any more!.

I was trying to be nice. But since you claim not to get it still: large numbers of posters associate your name and your posts with nonsense and trolling, it's like Pavlov's dogs, if it's from Bob, it must be crap.

Well, you were given an authoritative interpretation of what the term means, then you were given the forum's interpretation, perhaps on this occasion, no, your opinion doesn't count.

Imagine you snitched on the mob and now the mob wants to kill you, so you enter the witness protection program.....that's why you should change your name.

Just having your have your own unique definition of what is a troll, doesn't count for anything. What counts is what everyone else thinks it is and you have been given that definition. TBH Bob, if you are of the age you suggest you are and you really want to engage here, which I doubt very much, you probably need to go out, change your name and come back in again. The fact that you don't do that speaks volumes and conforms why you are here.

I rest my case!

They don't mean open carrying, they refer to what people have in their vehicles and in their waste bands. Concealed gun possession is very common.