JonnyF

You are creating a strawman because you cannot argue against what people are actually saying. Nobody is saying LGBT shouldn't have civil rights. We are saying that we don't have to pretend men can have periods. It's a ludicrous statement and I refuse to go along with it out of fear of being called mean, bigoted, intolerant or whatever since I am none of those things. I just refuse to play along with the fantasy, something that I know is scientifically/biologically untrue. I will happily refer to Samuel as Samantha. I will refer to them as she/them out of respect for their choice. But I will not pretend they can have a period. It's like painting stripes on your dog, feeding him Whiskas and calling him Tigger. Then calling me names because I refuse to say that I believe he is now a cat.

But some of them believe (or like to pretend) they can. And if the rest of us don't play along with their little fantasy world, we are bigoted, far right, transphobes etc. It's "THEIR truth". The rest of us are expected to pretend it is "THE truth". If we dare to contradict "THEIR truth" with "THE truth" then we are labelled evil, as this thread has shown. Strange old world ????.

It's the new buzzword. Even Thai colleagues have been telling me how Thailand's new found 'soft power' is so great, and that people will aspire to be Thai just as Thais aspire to be Korean (and worship everything about Korea from K-Pop to Korean fashion to the Korean series on Netflix). I gave up telling them what the world really thinks of Thailand years ago. It's a bit like being released from the Matrix, once they reach a certain age it's too dangerous ????.

The PM doesn't give a toss about the people. There were countless decisions made during the early stages of the pandemic that proved that (refusing donated vaccines, widespread use of SinoVac, disallowing hospitals from privately sourcing their own vaccines etc.). All they cared about was profiting from the vaccines, not distributing them quickly. Good to see he's looking so old and haggard though. Maybe he has a conscience after all, although I doubt it.

I watched the game live on Saturday night. Arsenal were very average yet still won 3-1. Ten Hag has a huge job ahead of him, especially competing against two of the greatest sides in Premier League history in Liverpool and Man City. The main issue I see with Utd is the attitude of certain players. The likes of Pogba, Lingard etc. really don't seem to care. Then you have players like Matic and Mata who are clearly past it. Then the likes of Maguire, Dalot and Wan-Bissaka who just aren't good enough. Seems like they need to replace most of the starting 11. I think 6th place flatters them to be honest. It will be interesting to see how much time Ten Hag gets to turn it around. He needs a minimum of 3 years to even compete for the title IMO, that's if he gets the money and spends it well.

Looks like the post Covid explosion in case numbers isn't happening. Great news. Now drop the restrictions further please. It's over. We have a new 'flu'. It's Endemic. Time to put this sorry saga behind us and move on.

So are they expecting tourists who have weaned themselves off the more harmful traditional cigarettes and onto vaping to revert back to the more harmful traditional cigarettes for the length of their stay? Can't wait to see the headlines and viral social media posts when tourists start getting banged up for a few days for the heinous crime of Vaping.

Missing the point. I am sure it would have been a little more than an annoyance had the result been positive.

Thailand always misunderstands what people want. They don't want silly events. They don't want to be preached (lies) about how great Thailand is. They don't want to be educated (lied to) about Thai culture and history. They want a cheap holiday with no hassle, a few encounters with cute Thai chicks, a clean beach, cold beer, friendly faces, decent food. Like it was 20 years ago. It's not complicated.

The people love this girl. She's pretty, talented and charismatic. She casts Thailand in a good light on the global stage. Prayut on the other hand? Yeah not so much. At least he's acknowledged this is a battle he cannot win.

Variant schmariant. Some people can't let go.

I think it will be a huge help. I'm off to Sydney for work in June and it's a real weight off the shoulders to know I won't face a test and possible quarantine upon return. This also confirms my plans to visit family in the UK in August. I can live with Thailand pass, it's a form on the internet. Unnecessary but not a deal breaker like the test on arrival was.

Actually you are wrong. Farang means Caucasian but it's more of an informal word - it is inoffensive slang/a nickname like Whitey/Whiteboy/Honky or whatever. Thais do not call Chinese people or Indian people Farang because they are not Caucasian. I don't find it particularly offensive but I am not particularly easily offended. I do find it strange when white people are fine with the word but at the same time would frown if someone used a term like Slope or Wop. It's a double standard, especially when we are expected to creep around our language with other races, for example "People of colour" is fine but "Coloured people" is not. So I have to be OK with the word Farang but I can't say coloured people? Not exactly consistent is it? Personally, I jokingly use nicknames for other races, for example I tease my girlfiend about her "cute chinky eyes" so I am in no position to object to the word Farang (if used in a nice way or jokingly).

I didn't abuse him. I simply showed him the same amount of respect that he had shown me. It's a simple rule I follow that serves me well.

Exactly. I remember a Phuket taxi driver yelling at me "Hey, Farang" pretty aggressively as I walked past him to get my attention. I shouted back "Hey, Asian" with a similar tone and he didn't like it at all. So much so that had he had his mates with him I reckon he'd have attacked me. When Thai friends use it nicely/jokingly I don't mind at all.

I have no problem with the word Farang. As long as I am also allowed to use similar words to classify other broad racial groups/ethnicities then I'm all good. Fair's fair.