Galong

I assume that all Thai men are cowards and won't do anything without extreme odds.

Rolling a drunk is a very cowardly act. The image of Phuket is increasingly being chipped away by this sort of thing. The world needs to hear about this!

I think that you the victim's position is wrong. Get the international press involved. Make Thailand lose face and THAT will get results.

Another option is to go to the tuk tuk pussies and have a little batting practice. But of course, the farangs will get in trouble for not being jai yen yen.

I much prefer overt corruption (Thailand) to covert corruption (US).

Certainly can't disagree with anything you're saying. My hope is that less revenue actually comes in due to this ridiculous new policy.

Yes, some of the places that are trying to get 400 Baht off of us walking ATMs aren't even national parks. I would like to know if there is some gov department to call in cases where forest parks, waterfalls, etc are trying to get the same fee as a real national park... I already know the answer, it was a rhetorical question. :-)

NORTH NEW CULINARY TRENDS

Dog meat is gaining in popularity in this northern province, with an increasing number of roadside food stalls serving dog meat dishes over the past few years. Three food shops on the side of the Chiang Mai-Chom Thong highway in San Pa Tong district are enjoying the rising popularity of dog meat.

Continued .. Bangkok Post

Am I the only one who finds so many of the aspects of this story "distasteful".

especially the last sentence which really "sticks in my throat"

"feedback" from thaivisa gourmets welcome

This is absoutely disgraceful!

Aside from the extreme cruelty that killing dogs for meat involves, eaters of dog meat risk ingesting all sorts of nasties and diseases from eating dog meat.

It is doubtful to say the least, that these dogs are being bread specifically in captivity for dog meat & most people don't even like to touch a 'soi dog' but are willing to eat one!?!? Can you imagine the risks unthinking people are running!

Do people even imagine that dogs are killed in anything even approaching a humane way & in sanitory conditions?

What happened to the saying that a "dog is a man's best friend"? This practice should be outlawed as a priority!

why would dog rendering be anymore or less sanitary and humane than the rendering of other animals like pigs, chickens and cows? If you are okay eating one of them then Dog is no different except for the western cultural practice of keeping them for pets.

I personally don't want to eat any soi dog but there are plenty of hungry people in Thailand and if I don't have to swerve wandering dogs on my next bicycle ride then good deal I say.

Well, let's see, in today's news it seems like Thai men like to beat women and children. Some posters seen to think that this is a cultural thing and we shouldn't butt in or have a bad opinion on it. Now the folks in CM want to eat dog!

Dogs are intelligent sentient animals with feelings and personalities.

BTW, soi dogs are a product of neglect and cruelty by the humans that should have taken better care of them.

I hear that dogs are often beat to death slowly because it somehow makes the meat taste better... I hear that some people like to eat puppies. Personally I find the whole idea totally pathetic and totally unnecessary. No, there aren't starving Thais who need to eat dog so that they can survive. That's absolute BS.

Anyone who eats dogs lacks compassion, which seems to be the order of the day here these days. Where is the Buddhist compassion? I guess it's a myth just like that jai yen yen joke.

But remember my fellow Americans, we're supposed to boycott Myanmar for human rights' abuses.

I think it's called selective hypocracy. :-)

I hope out of this tragedy some good might come & the police start to enforce the laws about children riding motobikes RIP.

Every minute of every day I see people riding without helmets. It is not uncommon to see policemen riding without a helmet. What is it about helmet that makes Thais hate wearing them? I wouldn't even consider hopping on a bike without a helmet... not even to go down to the corner of my road. It simply ain't worth it.

I would like to see the parents of this poor youngster held responsible for the tragedy. It is as much their fault as it is the boy's.

How many more innocent people have to die to before the police actually start enforcing traffic laws?

There are millions of lovely Thai women who are caring, loving people. I married the most compassionate woman I've ever met. We've been together for 13 years and haven't had any real typical marriage issues at all. I couldn't be happier.

Judging by many comments on this Forum and all other Thai related Forums, Farangs appear to think they are somewhat superior to Thai people.

Thank you for sharing your own ridiculous prejudices with us.

One only has to browse through the many threads on Thailand related Forums to come to the same conclusion as I have.

In what way is it ridiculous, are you telling me that many Farangs do not come across with a superiority attitude in many threads and posts?

I beg to differ.....

How many posts do you see slating Thailand and Thai people, Thai government etc, how hard done by the poor farang is............

But still, they come....and still they buy houses not in their names, and still they complain even though they knew it would never be in their name, they buy, then complain. lol

I bought a house too.

You should run for the PM office. I'm sure your racism would instill a fire in the bellies of your countrymen, you know, like Toxin did with his Thai Love Thai party.

You sir, are a racist plain and simple. You don't know nearly as much as you seem to think that you know. When in your life have you had to pay more merely because of your nationality or race? If you don't like foreigners, just come right out and say it. I'm sure in your eyes that Thais can do no wrong. I've certainly never heard a Thai man accept responsibility for his actions. It's alway someone else that's at fault....

I'm not wasting one more minute with you. You're a racist!

Under the 'news' section of the website, it says, "On December 15, 2005 about 01.30 p.m., over 7 thousand people from the nearby communities, Maehea, Nongkwaii, and Namphrae district, amphor Hangdong, gathered themselves in order to resist the NGOs trying to stop opening of Chiangmai night Safari... They spoke that after November 16, 2005, the soft opening day of Chiangmai night Safari had enabled many people in Hangdong to produce 700-800 Baht-per-day income for their own. Hence, if here has been no Chiangmai night Safari, they could not have earned much more money."

Um, so! There are plenty of ways to make money. Abusing animals for money is disgraceful. I don't remember reading in any of the Poli Canons or Sutras that it was OK to exploit animals for profit.

The government should provide options for the people of these villages to make a decent living by doing something more compassionate.

I would think there should be numbers available from the gov't on this matter. That should help settle the problem. Should also answer the question as to where the tourists are coming from.

I don't think it's a matter of where they're coming from, but a matter of how full the planes are.

Having said that, most of my clients are from North America... for some reason.

The tsunami year didn't affect my business, nor did the coup. Maybe I'm just lucky.

You probably weren't running a business in Phuket then? Without knowing the exact nature of your business it's impossible to say whether it's luck, good management, or just being in the right place at the right time.

In every economic downturn, in every depression and even in war there are always plenty of people who thrive.

Yep, I was running a business based in Phuket. I run high-end nature tours. I attribute it to the fact that the type of tourists that are drawn to my type of tour aren't influenced by the media and they figured out that NOT visiting Thailand after the tsunami was the wrong thing to do. Many of them told me that that was the reason why they didn't cancel their vacation in southern Thailand.

I reckon I'm lucky then...

A tour operator friend of mine told me recently that this will be one of Thailand's busiest ever Novembers. The coup had hardly any effect at all on tourist numbers.

Your friend is obviously nuts. There is not a single person I know in retail, entertainment or other tourist related trade that is not complaining about lack of tourists and customers..

Nuts? You haven't asked the right people. My tour company is having a banner November. December is close to fully booked too. Next year's bookings are coming in steadily. I guess I'm nuts, eh

Perhaps the tour operators who rely on mass tourism (airplanes full of cheap charlies) are suffering. Good, the environment can't handle a massive onslaught anyway.

Educated/wealthy tourists will most likely always travel and they tend to see through the things that keep the thundering masses at bay... such as the bloodless coup (if that is part of the reason) or the violence in the South... OK, where is it safe anywhere these days.

The tsunami year didn't affect my business, nor did the coup. Maybe I'm just lucky.

Thais can buy land in the United States, Americans can't buy land here.

Thais get into national parks in the United States for the exact same price and Americans. In fact, if someone was to charge a Thai any different from what they charged an American, that person would be in trouble with the law.

Whenever and wherever I go in Thailand, I'm called a foreigner. I find this offensive. If everyone in the US called every Thai that they see a foreigner, they'll be called racist.

The United States give a lot of money to Thailand. What does Thailand do for the United States?

The list goes on and on. This, as you see, is not a case of individuals, but of a nation.

I love Thailand, but that doesn't mean that I have to accept some of the cultural shortcomings... that is, if I actually have freedom of speech here. Do I?

Pakistani people are not Thai. That's a poor example. It sounds like you're reaching. Come up with some examples of Thais being abused if you can.

When Thais go to America they are helped in business, the complete opposite of what happens when Americans start a business here. They get low-interest loans too.

You can find examples of racism and xenophobia in every nation. To stereotype an entire nation by judging the acts of a few people is a sign of ignorance.

There are countless examples of blantant racism against foreigners here.

But I guess you overlook that through your racist eyes.

Absolutely, positively, 100% sure get rid of her before you get hurt. If she's insane enough to put a weapon on you, then it's just a matter of time before you do something else that she doesn't like.

There are plenty of short-tempered Thais and I for one wouldn't give her a second chance. There are also plenty of calm-hearted Thais. Go find one of them... now!

Oh, and carry a knife with you wherever you go... just in case Ms Mentally Unstable follows you. Run Forest, run! :-)

It looks just like Marilyn Monroe in that dress, dunnit

Yep, I'll bet if you dig her arse up right now that's what she'd look like alright.

Wow, gee, oh my! Imagine that, a Thai trying to redirect blame onto someone else.

Come on man, your ideas are CRAP! Yes, you can find foreigners doing all sorts of stupid things, but not quite as 'in your face' as this farce of a conservation project you call the Night Safari. The place is a failure and the people have spoken. It's a bad business plan. Change it or live with it, but for Christ's sake be man enough to accept your shortcomings...

I must say that having been to Sumatra a couple of weeks ago, I find the Thai drivers running a close second to the Sumatrans. They are absolutely suicidal AND they never take their hands off of the horn... man, now that's annoying!!

They've tried this before (check out the old worn arrows painted on the roads already).

The tuk-tuk drivers protested and that was that.

Yup, yet another law to ignore. If it ain't convenient, it ain't gonna happen.

This is after all, a mob rules society to some degree... innit?

I had this little guy in my bedside cupboard the other month

from south Thailand

snakes gootta luv um

Nice snake shot... thanks! That's a Scarce Wolf Snake. It's not dangerous. I wish I had one in my house

Will someone please give Bush a blowjob so we can impeach him!

Never saw a survey that wasn't skewed in some way. Note this one was done in some of the major cities in the Isaan. I'm sure the results would be different if it had been conducted in the countryside.

Great now they are going to be fat like us americans !

Well at least they probably still won't understand most of what we're saying, so they won't likely interogate us about everything we say....

the first question that comes to my mind is whether or not the injured travelers had their seatbelts fastened? I don't really see how one can get such serious injuries if they were strapped in properly.

Am I missing something here?

Always smile....always.....if you have a difficult time with this consider cosmetic surgery.

Chownah

While you're kissing his hindside, why don't you give him a reach-around too? Geez, grow some nuts man.

I usually just hand 'em a Western Small-sized condom. That usually shut 'em up.... innit.

Angry locals threaten to block roads

SUVARNABHUMI: -- Residents disturbed by the noise of take-offs and landings at Suvarnabhumi airport yesterday threatened to block roads in the area if Airports of Thailand (AoT) fails to address their complaints. The residents of Chaiyapruek housing estate in Bang Phli district of Samut Prakan announced plans to submit a four-point demand to AoT management tomorrow.

These include calls for authorities to:

- relocate domestic airlines back to Don Muang in order to reduce the noise,

- introduce technology to reduce the noise of take-offs and landings of planes at Suvarnabhumi,

- compensate residents for the disturbance by fitting their houses with devices to contain noise, and

- ensure that all the demands be met by Dec 20. [... more]

--Bangkok Post 2006-11-13

Riiiight... yet another angry mob (yawn) in the land of smiles.

Shouldn't they have said something before now?