JonnyF

Maybe they can send Mango Munching Milli and all that "soft power" that nobody outside Thailand has heard of?

Thanks for the advice love, but you're not exactly in the position to be preaching morals to others ????. I am totally OCD about checking the account numbers before I send money on banking apps. I check it 5 times times, click OK then check it another 5 times before clicking Confirm. Because I am in no doubt about how hard it would be to get money back if I accidentally transferred it to the wrong person. Getting money back off a Thai is like getting blood out of a stone, even if you are obviously in the right. I doubt this woman will ever see the full amount repaid. I wonder how she managed to spend so much in such a short period of time. It doesn't look like she spent it on house renovations or clothes. Maybe paying off old debts? Gambling? A week in a 5 star hotel/spa?

Exactly. If he was really concerned about these types of issues he would tackle the chemicals in cigarettes that cause cancer by allowing the much less harmful Vaping. But no, that would upset the Thailand Tobacco Monopoly. Or tackle the carcinogenic filth that is expelled from public buses in Bangkok every day. But no, that would cost money and leave less in the trough to siphon off. I too suspect he (or his cohorts) has a vested interest in selling the alternative.

That's my experience as well. Most wealthy Thais will let you know about their wealth fairly quickly, either by telling you the name of condos/land they own (and how much it cost), the car they drive, some big business they have recently done etc. Often it's not very subtle by European standards. This talk of Thais owning 200 Condos and hundreds of millions of Baht and still riding around on an old motorbike is the total opposite of what I have found. Their attitude always seems to be "What's the point of being rich if nobody knows I'm rich?". If they can just about afford a Vios they buy a Vios. If they can just about afford a Benz they buy a Benz. Sometimes they can only afford a Vios but buy a Benz anyway. Never have I heard of one being able to afford a Bentley or an Aston Martin yet choosing to ride around on a 15 year old Honda Wave. Never.

I tend to see them in a part of Ladprao that I have cause to frequent. Quite a few uber wealthy Thais in that area, Yingluck has/had a home there (crawling with Army now) and Prawit's house is just around the corner. Bright orange and lime green seems popular for the Lambourghinis but I've also seen baby pink on Porsche SUV's ????.

That's surprising. I've known quite a few wealthy Thais and none of them drive old motorbikes. One of them has a new Yamaha Fino which he occasionally uses to get to the office building that he rents out but only because that is 50 metres from his large deatched home. He also has 2 new European Sedans which him and his wife uses for everything else (she wouldn't be seen dead on a motorbike). It's very unusual for a wealthy Thai to conceal their wealth. I did know a multi-millionaire English guy back in my home town who used to drive around in a 20 year old rusty beaten up Escort van, but even he had a brand new 3 series BMW for the weekends. I've never known it here, in fact most of them are all too happy to tell you if they are from a wealthy family etc. I've known a couple of Thais who are land rich (30-40 million Baht worth of land in a good location) who appeared poor, but that was because all their money was tied up in the land and they genuinely didn't have a ton of cash lying around.

I agree. No need for expensive designer clothes or trying to impress people, but by the same token personally I wouldn't wear a Chang vest and Crocs around Bangkok. In Pattaya maybe, but only if I was trying to fit in ????.

Not so sure that's so true with Asians. I see quite a lot of ostentatious displays of genuine wealth around my area, guys driving around in brand new Bentley's, Lambourghini's wrapped in some hideous colour etc. It does make me laugh when the pretenders start acting like they are loaded though. I rode my electric mountain bike to a local shop recently to buy some takeaway, as I'm waiting for the food outside holding the bike some middle aged woman pulled up in a 10-15 year old BMW and looked down her nose at me like I was some kind of peasant who couldn't afford a car or even a motorbike, hence the 'pushbike'. If I had to guess, I'd say she wasn't a wealthy individual, probably in mountains of debt to keep up appearances. Personally, I try to hold the middle ground. I do have a few toys, mainly nice motorbikes (although not all kept at the same home) but generally I live well within my means, drive a Camry instead of a European import etc. I don't think it's really smart to be too flashy in a place like Thailand but I don't go too far with it, because if you walk around looking like trash you'll be treated like dirt by many Thais.

The thing about soft power is that it pertains to international relations. The problem we have here is, that the only people interested in Milli eating a Mango with sticky rice are the Thais themselves. It was in Thailand where everyone spoke about it and rushed out to buy the dish, not elsewhere. Most of the world has never heard of Milli or her mango munching. Thailand's soft power is like an echo chamber, and the enclosed space where the sound reverberates is limited to Thailand.

British guy assaulted by a fellow gym bunny? I'd be checking where Robblok was at the time the offence occured ????.

Yeah, because they were all so polite, friendly and welcoming before Covid ????. A lot of them are just ripoff merchants. I remember ordering a bottle of water from them and when it came the water was luke warm and the seal on the lid had already been broken. Checked with the girlfriend who confirmed they were refilling it from the 1-2 Baht vending machines and then selling it for twice the price of a legit, unopened bottle from 711. They probably hadn't even washed the bottle since they did the same thing to the previous customer. Scammers. The OP was right to complain IMO. People who tolerate this nonsense only encourage it.

Yes it's probably best not to argue with me, since I will continue to insist that you argue against my actual position, rather than a false position that you have either imagined or deliberately created. Enjoy your holiday.

Thanks for the suggestion re. my choice of words but unfortunately if you re-read my posts you will see I used both hypocrisy and virtue signaling. IMO they are guilty of both, and much more besides. You misrepresented my position by saying "If you do not believe on religion just don't partake in discussions if you have so much hatred for that secular group." That obviously implies that I do not believe in (the word you should have used is 'in' not 'on') religion and that I have hatred for a secular group. Neither is true, hence you misrepresented my position.

Just another method of creating a conformist, subservient, acquiescant population that never questions authority and 'knows their place' in society.

That's a weak straw man. I don't know which secular group you think I hate, but I have no issue with secular or non-secular groups (although I dislike the way certain groups use such groups for their own ends), and I especially have no issue with Buddhism, quite the opposite in fact. What I DO dislike are corrupt, self righteous Army Generals or Politicians who have (in the current case) illegally stolen power from a democratically elected government preaching morality to the populace in the name of their religion of choice, when they themselves are breaking virtually every moral code known to man. Big difference. It's not the fact that they ban alcohol either. If they banned meat, cigarettes (I quit years ago), sexual activity or whatever else they thought made them look morally superior then I would hold the same viewpoint. It's none of their business whether I (or anyone else) follows their chosen religious beliefs and practices on their chosen days. By the way I'd appreciate it if you do not deliberately misrepresent my position again. It's very unbecoming.

Maybe best you cut down on the Ganja, Bro.

I understand it perfectly well thanks. Those in power are extreme hypocrites. They lecture about morality while partaking in incredible levels of corruption. They pretend to be virtuous while drinking and 'partying' in Hiso 'hostess' clubs in ThongLor. The levels of sanctimony are staggering. They want the population to believe that they have the moral high ground while acting like degenerates behind the scenes. Even if we ignore the fact that history shows us that the mixing of religion and the state rarely ends well, the act of treating citizens like children and 'banning' alcohol in the name of their preferred choice of religion while having members of government that are convicted drug dealers doesn't sit well with me. It is virtue signalling. Hypocrisy. Sanctimony. They cannot help themselves, they are supercilious in the extreme. The fact that you voice your support for it (in the name of 'respecting the culture') strongly suggests to me that you are doing the same thing, albeit from a slightly different angle.

In the office I work we get regular ATK tests as company policy. So we all go down to the car park, get the nose violated by the Hazmat guy, test negative and then immediately go back to the office and put the masks back on. We've literally tested negative minutes ago, but dirty looks all round if one of us dares to remove the mask for 5 minutes ????. The masks are staying. Burned into the Thai psyche unfortunately.

Did you consider the possibility that they are not 'flaunting' anything, but they simply find that wearing a sweaty piece of cloth across their face in 37 degree heat as they walk/jog along the promenade enjoying the sea breeze is not particularly enjoyable, hygienic, healthy or logical?

The authorities right to virtue signal and display their control over the population.

Yes, foreigners do seem to be more capable of thinking for themselves and speaking/acting out against ridiculous/illogical rules. I guess that comes with a decent education that encourages independent thought and doesn't only focus on subservience and acquiescence to some 'higher' power. Which is probably why many of our home countries are pretty much back to normal while most of Thailand is still walking around wearing face nappies in the open air while nobody is within 100 metres of them and acting as though the Black Death is upon them.

That's fine. If you want to wear one, knock yourself out. I might still wear a N95 mask on smoggy days if I take the motorbike. However, this thread is about masks being mandatory. There is a huge difference between an individual choosing to wear a mask because of pollution and being forced to wear a mask by a government looking to assert power/control over the population.

Did you really think my post was joking about terminal illnesses in elderly Thais? That's a rhetorical question by the way because of course you didn't. It was just a weak attempt at a straw man to setup some dull, predictable virtue signalling, wasn't it? Well done Sir. Well Done. ???? Shame these treatments don't help with being a sanctimonious bore, after a 30 second diagnosis you could have qualified for a couple of kilos of grade A produce.

Medical jargon for getting stoned out of your mind and getting "the munchies".

Hopefully this is made 100% clear to all potential tourists. The famous Ad campaigns from the TAT should all feature tourists fully masked as they ride elephants, walk along deserted beaches, ride in TukTuks, sit by the pool, visit temples etc. just so it is 100% clear that your holiday will be spent wearing a sweaty face nappy. There could also be a section where a tourist is arrested for Vaping, just for the sake of clarity.