JonnyF

There seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding on this thread of the difference between criticizing the Thai rider (which I don't think anyone is doing but simply putting his achievements so far in perspective) and criticizing the Thai Politician who is exaggerating the rider's achievements for his own benefit. Same as Milli the Mango Muncher, I thought she was great fun and very entertaining actually, but I thought the Politicians attempts to claim that Thai 'soft power' was now being spread around the Globe were laughable. Anyway I've explained it 3 times already, can't be bothered to do it again ????.

If you're referring to "Eddie the Eagle", I can assure you he was far from second rate. He was at least fifth rate ????. He wasn't so much a national hero as he was an endearing figure who was famous for his lack of success, but yes he was thought of fondly, if somewhat a figure of fun. If you're talking about serious competitors in motorsport, the UK has produced some all time greats like Lewis Hamilton, Carl Fogarty, Joey Dunlop, Jonathan Rea etc. and currently have 2 drivers in the top 6 of F1. We also have the most F1 championship titles of any country, ever.

Not at all. Once again the point has gone right over your head, or maybe you are simply deliberately creating a straw man? My criticism is not of the rider (as you imply in your post) but of the politician trying to bask in the glory. Like I said, national hero should be a label reserved for people who have achieved great things, and not necessarily in sport. Throwing around such a label simply devalues the term. Winning a couple of motorbike races in the second tier of the sport is a good achievement and commendable, well done to the rider and let's hope he can progress to the top tier and do well there. However, labeling him a national hero is clutching at straws for a politician looking to bask in the glow of someone else's success, get his name in the news and whip up some nationalism at a time that the government is woefully failing the Thai people. I hope that wasn't too complicated for you.

OK, let me make it simple for you as it appears that your username is not intended to be taken literally. The point is whether being a second tier sportsman with some limited success makes you a national hero. Allow me to use an analogy. It would be like if I claimed that Ohara Davies is a national hero. Who is Ohara Davies, you might ask? He’s a pretty average boxer from the UK, not bad, but nothing special. Then when you question whether a second tier boxer from the UK is really a national hero, I retort “Well, he could beat YOU up”. It’s an inane argument. Real low brow stuff. The type of "comeback" I’d expect from my 10 year old Nephew ????.

I'm pretty sure a previous report said he worked in a government office or had some kind of government job. Can't find it now, but if so I suspect he has some kind of connection that allowed him to buy his way out of this. Pretty sickening either way, given that he confessed.

So if I am reading this correctly, as long as you are not making extract and not growing it for commercial purposes you just need to register on the FDA app (which probably won't work). So you can grow a few plants for personal use and then consume it? Personally, I wouldn't risk it. Best to see how many innocent people end up arrested and fined/jailed due to some 'misunderstanding' of the law first. Opening yourself up to inspections by the FDA doesn't sound like too much fun either.

Missing the point. Again.

Couple of wins in Moto 2 and currently 7th in the Championship. Not to be sniffed at but it's not exactly Valentino Rossi either, it's basically the kids class. If he moves up to MotoGP and secures a Championship or two I think he might be worthy of the title "National Hero", although even then I have reservations about making 'heroes' out of sportsmen, I'd rather apply the tag to people who do good, selfless work for the community, breakthroughs in medicine etc. But like I said, when you very rarely win anything on the international stage I guess you have to take what you can get. Also, politicians love to try and bask in the achievements of others and stoke up a bit of nationalism, especially when a gullible audience is waiting to lap it up as you have done.

Just shows how low the bar is set. God help us if they ever produce a Valentino Rossi, a Lionel Messi, a Roger Federer or a Tyson Fury. The "soft power" would be rock hard.

So what? You're here for the temples or to learn how to weave baskets in traditional Isaan style? People used to come to Thailand because it was cheap, fun and the availability of beautiful women. The first 2 have gone. Remove the third and it's all over. It will be a dirty, expensive, inconvenient, dangerous version of Greece

Yeah, screw civil liberties as long as the GDP looks OK, right? "Dismiss anything else, we will continue to be your single source of truth". Jacinda Ahern. Totalitarianism. Kiwi style.

Dr Google's granddaughter showed him how to turn on his PC again. Expect a few out of date announcements from the wise old man in the coming days.

Politicians love taking away freedoms and liberties. They hate returning them. Especially mobs like the Thai "government". Expect this to drag on for a good while yet.

Exactly. No mention of Ardern and Trudeau? Absolute Loons the pair of them. Sturgeon? A Narcissist of the highest order.

The only speech I'd be interested in from this guy is his resignation speech.

Being able to show a foreign passport should provide exemption from these childish bans. Not so much for expats who are aware of this and can plan ahead, but for tourists who walk into a bar at 7pm expecting a good evening and are told they can't have a beer because Thais are voting. It annoys people and makes the country look backwards and foolish. Won't affect me at all. As long as they're back open at 6pm on Sunday I'll be having a few cold ones before the Premiership deciders kick off at 10pm ???? .

So it's the foreigners fault for expecting them to actually work when they hire them? You're quite the apologist. Maybe we should just hand over the money, prostrate ourselves, thank them profusely for allowing us to be in their presence for the duration of the job and beg forgiveness for the heinous crime of being a priviliged Whitey in Thailand? What next? "If the foreigner wasn't in Thailand employing them, the Thai wouldn't have been lazy on the job"? ???? BTW in case you hadn't noticed, in this case the Thai stole from another Thai. Good luck blaming that on the foreigner.

You know what? That doesn't surprise me one bit, and tells me everything I need to know.

"I remember now...." ???? That's quite the imagery you've conjured up there. Have you considered writing a novel? ???? Pampered farang? ???? Are you one of those liberal lefties who think all white people grew up rich? Suffering from white guilt much? You'll be lecturing me on white privilege next. You're not Robin DiAngelo are you?

Like I said, increase minimum wage to 2000 Baht if you like. Watch the price of essential goods skyrocket, watch the foreign manufacturers pull out and setup elsewhere, watch local businesses close down, watch the export market crash and burn. Thais are some of the hardest working people in the world? ???? I've been working here myself for 16 years, worked with Thais, employed Thais, worked for Thais. You must be living in a different Thailand to me. Of course there are some hard working Thais but there are also a lot that would rather steal or cheat (or just remain poor and moan about it) than work hard.

Not really limited experience. Quite a few years now with many Thai people. I would have thought my point was fairly obvious. Try reading it again, slowly this time. Wages are low, I would agree but that's the way the Thai economy works. Raise the minimum wage to 2000 Baht a day if you like and see what happens. The point stands that while some of them work their way up from 300 Baht a day to maybe owning a food stall, then a small shophouse selling food, then a small restaurant etc. others just sit there and moan, gossip, play the victim, do nothing and steal from others who can be bothered to get off their backside.

Actually we offer a decent (by local standards) wage for quite easy work. Cleaning the inside of our house (with the air con available) for example. Washing up. Laundry, dusting etc. Maybe some light gardening like pulling weeds out of the driveway either early morning or late afternoon when it's not too hot. We add on lunch and normally offer them some fruit to take home at the end of the day. If they work for us for a while we'll get them small gifts for Songkran and other events (rice cooker, electric fan etc.). Drop them off at the market at the end of the day if they need. Still often there are no takers (have to go to temple, have to visit cousin etc.). Then we see them gossiping with each other on the porch when we drive past. Then they come and ask to borrow money which they have no intention of paying back. That is my experience. They have every excuse in the book and play the victim, same as this woman.

I love dogs, but if that was my daughter then that particular dog would be having an unfortunate accident in the next few days.

A lot of them are too lazy to try and break out of the rut in my experience. We have a farm near Korat and trying to get them to work is really difficult. A lot of them don't have any money or any job but would still rather sit around on their porches gossiping all day and stealing fruit off other people's trees at night (often ours) than go and earn money. Then they moan about how poor they are. Same as the rice farmers. A lot of them plant the rice and then just sit around waiting a few months for it to grow. If that was me, I'd be doing other work during that downtime to pay the bills but they just sit in the hammock waiting for harvest time. Then when it's harvest time they pay a machine to harvest it and lose about 30% of their profit because they don't want to do a few days work in the field. The one's who do work, seem to do OK. We know a few builders who do a good job and they are always busy, have relatively new trucks, decent house, kids are well dressed etc. It's like when I was at Uni, all the other students wondering why I was always cashed up during term time. It was because I was working 7 days a week as a labourer on a building site during the holidays while they were lounging around at their parents house waiting for term to start. Then they'd moan they hit their overdraft limit half way through each term. I'm not saying it's easy, but they really don't help themselves a lot of the time. There are obviously exceptions.

All my favourite bars have been opened for months. I haven't noticed any food available, although I've seen some massive melons.