coma

Thanks for the humour you bamboo munchers LOL.

Any real info would be appreciated also. Thanks.

I have tried searching but had little luck finding any recent news in the last few days reference the extension of stay for the Chiang Mai Panda Bear family.

Has anybody got any news on the the meeting that was to take place between 8-14 January ? The Thai Government officials and a Chinese delagation were Chiang Mai to dicuss an extension of stay for the Pandas? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.:jap:

Well, it's been made quite clear what the cause of death was...

I'm not sure exactly what happened, but it's either murder or accidental death.

..so I don't know what you lot are going on about..

totster

I wouldn't mind backing the fact that the officer making this statement will be 100% correct. LOL

The "Update" report has got it right on. The case is as 'clear as mud'

I believe " complete ignorance" lives within some posters here in this thread. The Thai Police have declared it a possible homicide already based on the evidence at the scene. This evidence,such as multiple stab wounds on the victim, blood soaked bootprints and numerous Thai men named as possible suspects have all been well documented in all the Thai scripted newspapers as I have read it personally.

The investigation is in its infant stages and will obviously rely heavily on the coroners report. ie are they indeed stab wounds and did he do them himself or were they inflicted by another.

We could do well to get off their backs for once and give them more than a day to solve a murder case. How many cases get solved within 24 hours in western countries?

Enlish newspapers and those who report for them can not be taken as gospel due to numerous language and cultural barriers, plain misinterpretations as well as interviewing any old footbeat BIB they can get their hands on, who only has his information by means of Chinese whispers in the first place.

problem for us is it's not presented the way in which you speak, and everyone here is mentioning all of the conflicting reports from different news sources cast doubt on the credibility of all of them-media, police, investigators....and not one of them are accountable for the claims they make in these reports. There are no misintepretations or cultural misunderstandings here (for those of us residing here a long time and reading the local news, or watching it on TV..thats only an excuse to provide for poor information). If it was presented like you said, maybe people would feel less cynical...sometimes the reports seem premature like you're saying, they give out suspicions and motives before they even know, however the reader or listener definetely feels misinformed.

Sorry if I have implied that we expats misintepret the news that we are given. My point is and IMO that foriegn reporters gathering information in Thailand to report for various news agencies can misinterpret or are more proned to be misinformed by sources who have no business giving out such information. Where as Thai reporters reporting in Thailand have no such barriers and are more likely to have contacts within the BIB that may give them a clearer,more accurate account if you like.

If one reads a story in Thai language newspaper and then reads about the same incident in a Enlglish written newpaper you will quickly see the information in both is like chalk and cheese. There is way more information and detail in the Thai paper. Correct or otherwise. The information I provided in my original post came from the Thai language newspaper, The Daily News. Just another source of information. Thank you. And sorry again if I have been misinterpreted. :jap:

I believe " complete ignorance" lives within some posters here in this thread. The Thai Police have declared it a possible homicide already based on the evidence at the scene. This evidence,such as multiple stab wounds on the victim, blood soaked bootprints and numerous Thai men named as possible suspects have all been well documented in all the Thai scripted newspapers as I have read it personally.

The investigation is in its infant stages and will obviously rely heavily on the coroners report. ie are they indeed stab wounds and did he do them himself or were they inflicted by another.

We could do well to get off their backs for once and give them more than a day to solve a murder case. How many cases get solved within 24 hours in western countries?

Enlish newspapers and those who report for them can not be taken as gospel due to numerous language and cultural barriers, plain misinterpretations as well as interviewing any old footbeat BIB they can get their hands on, who only has his information by means of Chinese whispers in the first place.

Yes. I read that also. Tthere was boodied foot prints in the apartment. So they have stated in is a possible homicide. What more does one want the BIB to state at this early stage of their investigation.

I read this story today in the Thai [thai script] news paper " Daily News ". They reported that the deceased, a High Society type with alot of money, had a habit of inviting male friends back to his room for drinking binges. They also reported that when they examined the scene the deceased had stab wounds consisted with knife wounds therefore they are indeed treating it as a homicide. The police theory is that one of these ' friends' murdered the deceased and stole an unspecified ammount of money from the room.

I did what any law abiding citizen should do. I took their photos and submitted to the authorities. I hope that they get deported.

Been here only a year and they made you the town sherrif already ? Good for you.

ah sure, blame the Thai Government

....Paragraphs like that show the "nanny state" mentality surfacing again as with the poster.

As a suggested alternative to having mandatory medical insurance for retiree's visa

Option 1

800k in the bank + Medical insurance

Option 2

1.6 million in the bank (800k per normal + 800k for unforseen medical treatment)

This would go a long way as to alleviate the problem of retiree's being refused insurance and not being able to pay for medical care

The only loop hole in this at present of how to deal with retiree's who are the 65k/month criteria ?

You have miss quoted me. That was LaoPo's comment. Not mine.

I will say this again, loudly because this is really what the thread is about.

WHAT ABOUT ALL THE OVER 70's AND PEOPLE WITH PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS WHO CAN NOT GET MEDICAL INSURANCE????

How will these people be able to show "proof of medical insurance" so they can gain a retirement visa????

Maybe they are wealthy. Maybe they are super rich. If they can't get a peice of paper from an insurance company, how will they get their retirement visa. Do you understand the question????

If they cant get the insurance, then per my option 2.....800k as normal in bank + addtional 800k, therefore total 1.6 million to cost of unforseen medical expenses and no insurance certificate required...

Unlike some of the posters who on TV who dont have medical insurance, I do..and my hearing is perfect....so no need to shout...

Now this idea sure does have merit.

The simple/sensible solution would be to require all retiree's in Thailand to have valid medical insurance as part of the visa issue/renewal process, no insurance no renewal of visa....its that simple.

It is completely beyond me why someone would live in a foreign country, with no access/right to "free" medical treatment and not have medical insurance even at a basic level

I couldn't agree more. Not just the elderly, but many foreigners of all ages just love to live in Thailand burning the candle at both ends and living well beyong thier means.

The Thais refer to these individuals as "Farang Khee Nok ฝรั่งขี้นก". Which literally means " Bird shit Foriegner.

Then all of a sudden. Medical emergency! Ohh! No money to pay the medical bills. Next minute those close to these sorry individuals have the hide to pass the hat around looking for donations to bail these guys out. I have seen this too many times to count over the years.If you run out of money and cannot finance yourself for ANY situation that may arise whilst abroad, then I am sorry but it is time to face reality and GO HOME!!!! These <deleted> are what gives foreigners a bad name here in Thailand. One more time. GO HOME!!!! :jap:

Rule number 1 when conducting military operations : Assumptions are the mother of all F##k Ups.

Sounds like these guys hearts are in the right place. However they will just be pumping another 11000 pounds into the Thai economy for no return IMO.

Where do these guys get their wives from? Quite sad really.

Let's just hope that someday soon Palastinians can have their own state. After all that is all they want. Then maybe this bickering will finally come to an end.

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For Koheesti : Most civilized militarys have things called rules of engagement [ROE]. In those ROE's there is always restrictions on excessive use of force. But like I said. Mostly in civilized militarys. .

ROE don't say that if someone is firing a pistol at you that you can't use a higher caliber weapon. Airplanes would be outlawed from dropping on soldiers with mere rifles. Tanks would be allowed to only fire on other tanks.

You my friend. Have NO idea whatsoever. And clearly have not the slightest bit of knowledge on this particular topic. If you did then you would realise the above post is a pathetic arguement and is totally out of context with in regards to excessive use of force. Excessive use of force means just as it reads. It has nothing do do with what type/ size of the pee shooter one is using. But IMO your arguement is a failure.

I will let you have the last word. As for me the case is

Some may do well to use Oneeyedwilly as a user name.

So we have one side saying they were handling explosive devices and the other side saying they were collecting construction material.

Out of those contrasting views you automatically believe they were handling explosive devices. Hmmm

Well said Wallaby. I can clearly see that everybody here is very quick to believe the Israeli side of the story whilst dismissing the Palistinian's version of events. No wonder why they feel as if the world is against them.

I guess if you stonk artillary rounds down range, blowing dirty big holes in the earth and lord knows what else, then it is quite difficult to determine whether there indeed was any explosives at all. Or was their intent ? Surely the IDF have competent snipers deployed that can do the same job much more effeciently. Limiting 'collateral damage'.

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For Koheesti : Most civilized militarys have things called rules of engagement [ROE]. In those ROE's there is always restrictions on excessive use of force. But like I said. Mostly in civilized militarys. And futhermore. Based on the limited information provided on this incident thus far, one cannot possibly come to the conclusion that the 3 boys were conducting any sort of attack therefore there was NO imminent threat to any IDF members.

Good for you President Dmitry Medvedev . I and millions of people in and around the region sure do appreciate you efforts.

Must have been a rather large ' explosive device' if it took 3 boys to handle it. Five tank artillery rounds against a group of 3 20 year old Palistinian boys. Mmm. Please!!!!

Give em' a break. Any new inititive to ' attempt' to improve road saftey gets a big thumbs up from me. It can't possibley do any harm. Can it?

The IAEA has offered to supply Iran with uranium which could be used for civilian but not military purposes. Iran said no because they want a bomb. If this is news to you I suggest some reading. The US does not care if Iran has nuclear power plants. They don't want to be able to enrich weapons grade uranium. The world knows this. This is common knowledge.

Only if you say so.

It seems once again that the US Government just cannot/ will not keep its nose out of other countries affairs. Iran toes the line by letting in " prominant figures " from 6 foriegn countries to inspect the heavy water and Uranium enrichment facilities,one of which being Russia, which I may add is a permanant member of the UN security council. And it is still not enough for Uncle Sam.

What does Iran need to do to satisfy the all too often two faced foriegn policies of the US Government?

Iran ranked 166th out of 169 nations in Freedom of the press. In most freedom indexes only Yemen in the Middle East ranks below Iran. Tunisia is a relative hot bed of Freedom in comparison to Iran.

It is no surprise that most other nations in the Middle East (as revealed by WikiLeaks) do not want Iran to have a nuclear capacity.

It is obvious to almost everyone in the world (except for certain TV posters from down under) that Iran and Russia are not Free countries. They don't have hoards of people on their borders waiting to get in.

The US has taken the burden of defending the free world with the approval of almost all of the Western democracies.

There are good guys and bad guys. Iran and Russia are the bad guys. You don't need a weatherman to tell which way the wind is blowing on this particular issue.

I sympathize with your hatred with the U S's role as the policeman of the world. It is easy to hate cops. I don't care for them much myself but I do understand what is going on.

I was watching a movie on Australian TV last night about a retarded guy who robbed banks using remote controlled little toy cars and big robot ash trays. He and his convict buddy and a girlfriend escaped capture and prosecution. You rarely see a movie in the US where the thief gets away with it. I think this is an Aussie phenomenon and Aussies seem to have a high tolerance for crooks and a low tolerance for police. So I can see how Aussies would dislike America's role as policeman of the world even more than most people.

As much as I sympathize with your deep seated hooray for convicts mentality in this case it is really better for the world that Iran not have nuclear bombs.

I seem to be missing your point. Do you have one? If Russia and Iran are not 'free' countries then so be it. Has nothing to do with your or the USA. Further moire, what does Australia have to do with me ? Seems like you have made a mess of yourself with this post.

One should not watch too many movies dude. It seems that you have seen one too many.

Most of them ARE fictitious therefore one should not take too much away from them.

No worries, you are missing the point but if I read you correctly you want Iran to have an atomic bomb. OK that's cool. Not many people agree with you. But if that is your opinion you are certainly entitled to it.

WRONG! I definately do not want Iran to possess Nuclear Weapons, nor have I stated so in any of my previous posts. This news report, if one reads it in full, states that they are allowing foriegn inspectors in to ensure that they are NOT moving towards producing such weapons. However I do believe that they have the right to use nuclear technology for medical and energy purposes. I mean it is the energy of the future. In a time when governments around the world are looking for alternate sources of energy. Uranium /nuclear energy seems to be the leading contenter. In time ,maybe well after you and I are gone, the entire worlds power supply will be run on nuclear energy. IMO.

It seems once again that the US Government just cannot/ will not keep its nose out of other countries affairs. Iran toes the line by letting in " prominant figures " from 6 foriegn countries to inspect the heavy water and Uranium enrichment facilities,one of which being Russia, which I may add is a permanant member of the UN security council. And it is still not enough for Uncle Sam.

What does Iran need to do to satisfy the all too often two faced foriegn policies of the US Government?

Iran ranked 166th out of 169 nations in Freedom of the press. In most freedom indexes only Yemen in the Middle East ranks below Iran. Tunisia is a relative hot bed of Freedom in comparison to Iran.

It is no surprise that most other nations in the Middle East (as revealed by WikiLeaks) do not want Iran to have a nuclear capacity.

It is obvious to almost everyone in the world (except for certain TV posters from down under) that Iran and Russia are not Free countries. They don't have hoards of people on their borders waiting to get in.

The US has taken the burden of defending the free world with the approval of almost all of the Western democracies.

There are good guys and bad guys. Iran and Russia are the bad guys. You don't need a weatherman to tell which way the wind is blowing on this particular issue.

I sympathize with your hatred with the U S's role as the policeman of the world. It is easy to hate cops. I don't care for them much myself but I do understand what is going on.

I was watching a movie on Australian TV last night about a retarded guy who robbed banks using remote controlled little toy cars and big robot ash trays. He and his convict buddy and a girlfriend escaped capture and prosecution. You rarely see a movie in the US where the thief gets away with it. I think this is an Aussie phenomenon and Aussies seem to have a high tolerance for crooks and a low tolerance for police. So I can see how Aussies would dislike America's role as policeman of the world even more than most people.

As much as I sympathize with your deep seated hooray for convicts mentality in this case it is really better for the world that Iran not have nuclear bombs.

I seem to be missing your point. Do you have one? If Russia and Iran are not 'free' countries then so be it. Has nothing to do with your or the USA. Further moire, what does Australia have to do with me ? Seems like you have made a mess of yourself with this post.

One should not watch too many movies dude. It seems that you have seen one too many.

Most of them ARE fictitious therefore one should not take too much away from them.

It seems once again that the US Government just cannot/ will not keep its nose out of other countries affairs. Iran toes the line by letting in " prominant figures " from 6 foriegn countries to inspect the heavy water and Uranium enrichment facilities,one of which being Russia, which I may add is a permanant member of the UN security council. And it is still not enough for Uncle Sam.

What does Iran need to do to satisfy the all too often two faced foriegn policies of the US Government?

So which would you rather have a ride on... This was on Loi Kroh road.. The mahouts go away when the heat is on and return as soon as it dies down. Typical of all Thai policework.

I almost hit a small elephant a few weeks ago on a dark soi at night. Its trunk just brushed my arm as I went by between it and some soi dogs that were barking at it. The elephant retaliated towards the dogs just as I was going through.

When was this pic taken exactly may I ask? Before or after the "Crackdown"