Atli

Hey, why all the negativity? Thailand is only doing what is happening around the world. ...

many smokers will be annoyed at the ban but how many wish they had never taken up smoking to begin with, knowing the health problems and expense associated with smoking?

now here is the rational opinion !

I totally agree

here is one evidence, fresh report about serious facts based on serious studies :

Smoking Will Kill 1 Billion People

Thursday, Feb. 07, 2008

Time on-line

One billion people will die from tobacco-related causes by the end of the century if current consumption trends continue, according to a global report released Thursday by the World Health Organization (WHO).

At a press conference held in midtown Manhattan, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose charitable organization, Bloomberg Philanthropies, contributed $2 million to conduct the study, joined top WHO officials to present the findings. Among the litany of sobering statistics: 5.4 million people die each year — one every six seconds — from lung cancer, heart disease or other illness directly linked to tobacco use. Smoking killed 100 million people in the 20th century, and the yearly death toll could pass 8 million as soon as 2030 — 80% of those deaths will be in the developing world, where tobacco use is growing most rapidly. "We're on a collision course," said Dr. Douglas Bettcher, director of WHO's Tobacco Free Initiative.

If the unveiling of the report felt more like an assault, it was meant to. Built into the report's six primary policy goals was a directive to countries to warn people about the many dangers of tobacco. Another of the study's main objectives was to get countries to assess their tobacco consumption. "If you can't measure a problem, you obviously can't manage it," said Mayor Bloomberg, who banned smoking in New York City's restaurants and bars in 2003.

The 369-page WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2008, bound like a high school yearbook and bundled with a "cigarette pack" of colored markers, called on governments to adhere to six tobacco control policies it calls MPOWER: monitor tobacco use; protect people from secondhand smoke; offer help to people who want to quit; warn about the risks of smoking; enforce bans on cigarette advertising; and raise tobacco taxes. The report also breaks down tobacco consumption and prevention efforts country by country. To date, it is the most comprehensive study of its kind at a global level, said WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan.

The collected data should equip countries around the world to begin implementing anti-tobacco policies, Chan says, including smoking bans, aggressive anti-tobacco campaigns and massive tobacco tax hikes. According to the report, nearly two thirds of the world's smokers live in 10 countries — China, India, Japan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, the U.S., Brazil, Germany, Russia, and Turkey. China alone accounts for nearly 30% of all smokers worldwide. Currently, only 5% of the world's population lives in countries — predominately in Western Europe — that have any antismoking policies in place. "These are straightforward and common sense measures within the reach of every country, regardless of income level," said Chan.

According to the study, the most effective tactic globally has been simply to raise prices. "Increasing taxes is the best way to decrease consumption," Bettcher said, pointing to the direct relationship between a rise in excise tax rates and a fall in cigarette purchases in South Africa between 1990 and 2006. Making tobacco prohibitively expensive, said Bettcher, will decrease consumption, especially among those who can least afford to smoke. Lower income people smoke significantly more than the wealthy, and spend a much higher proportion of their income on tobacco — 20% of the most impoverished households in Mexico spend as much as 11% of their household income on tobacco — mostly due to the tobacco industry's objective to get people addicted to nicotine, according to the study.

Another vulnerable group: women. Though women still smoke at just one quarter the rate of men, tobacco advertisers are increasingly targeting this largely untapped market. Though parts of Europe have enacted some of the most aggressive anti-tobacco policies in the world, in recent decades the rates of smoking between men and women have begun evening out — even as rates decrease among European men, they are increasing among women. Among adolescents in European Union member nations, girls may now be even more likely to smoke than boys. Globally, Chan said, "the rise of tobacco use among girls and young women is among the most ominous trends."

As with virtually all public-health problems, a major hurdle to reducing smoking, the study said, is lack of public education. People are not fully aware of the hazards of smoking, and it's a weakness that the tobacco industry is quick to exploit, Bettcher said. A recent Chinese study found that "only 25% of the Chinese population knew tobacco was bad for their health," he explained. Warnings should be bolder and scarier, said Bloomberg. Other countries put skull and crossbones symbols or photographs of blackened lungs on their cigarette packs, he said, and the U.S should follow suit: "The U.S. government isn't doing enough."

Asked whether he would back a federal ban on smoking in the workplace or public spaces, Bloomberg said he would, but added, "I don't think the federal government should prohibit the manufacture or sale of cigarettes," but that combatting tobacco should mean diminishing the demand.

Once a smoker himself, Bloomberg said he was able to quit only when he truly understood the consequences. "As I became more mature and started thinking, 'Do I want to live or not?' it was an easy decision." For those who want to smoke, however, he feels it should be their right, so long as they aren't harming others. "I happen to agree with those who think you have a right to kill yourself," he said.

LoL LoL LoL ........ but I guarantee you the rest will die, too. The chances of getting lung cancer from Bangkok's air pollution at its best is just about a 100,000 times more likely than from second hand smoke in a park, where outside it, thousands of stinkers drive by every hour, and cohorts of industries add to the for non-smokers so pleasurable air mix. According to the usual Anti-Smoke Nazis who have their field day now, the real polluters smell of roses and blow pure oxygen out of their exhausts and smoke stakes. I feel sorry for every cop who needs to cover his mouth and noise because of us smokers when he regulates traffic at intersections. Oh, and did I mention lead? Get real, it's called bashing.

"Old western-countries saying "Don't pull a knife or gun unless you're willing to use it"

.... expats know that Thai's will do just that, but do tourists? And is it emphasised in guidebooks?"

It sounds to me like the Thai's are willing to use their guns if they pull them. They just don't know when to pull them...

Also, I am no CSI guy, but how do you shoot somebody when you are laying on the ground, and the shot goes through their face, then into their shoulder??? You are shooting up at somebody when you are on the ground, but then the bullet changes direction and comes down through their shoulder after going through the face...Or wait, the falang was probably doing a backflip attack at the time so he was completely upside down when he was shot! There we go, now it makes sense...

Ya and the cop will get away with it. I also like how the newspapers always report it simply as being a "police officer", not "an off-duty police officer".

Ever heard of the magic bullet theory?

Actually it is possible for the bullet to change direction inside the body, .38 shot very close, it's possible.

What we can be sure of is that the scene is already destroyed.

There is, of course, a possibility: If the Thai officer was flat on his back, and the Canadian bending over him to seize him by the collar, or similar, to pull him up, to hit him or for whatever reasons, a shot in the mouth can easily end up in the upper body.

Already, we've determined that an execution took place. I'd guess some beligerent tourists insulted the wrong Thai guy. He may or may not have been a cop, doesn't much matter now does it. Lesson learned: drink lots of water, walk slowly and respect the local population. Funny, works just about everywhere.

can I say this?, I,am half and half ...<deleted> to any idea of kowtowing, showing respect for the culture ( which is what exactly...? )if it means backing down, do not back down from any of there cowards- none of them!

do not change anything, policeman or not,just do as a normal decent person would do and 99.9% of the time your be fine.

,most locals are a bunch of cowardly <deleted> who would,nt do anything without all their friends behind them or a gun,knife or whatever, or some high-so daddy, its pathetic! Get them on their own and they,re nothing.

one to one for people here does,nt exist, at heart I,am ashamed to say this-thais by and large ( not all of coures)are cowards, its just the typical primate mentality of a nation still with one foot in the rice paddy .They ( we) also see westeners as 'better' and so are more likely to act like a primate fool.

I hate it when i see people suggest that westeners should somehow act differently, why does,nt someone suggest that thailand grow up for a change- then we really would have something to be proud of instead of all this mindless propaganda we,re fed from day one

This logic just has a tiny little dent: We live in their country. Their culture and their behavior is their business and none of ours. We like it, we stay, we don’t like it, we leave.

I am responding to the quote and not the shooting of the Canadian guy, where it would be good if we could see a proper investigation and justice done.

Yet, if I were 5.2ft or 5.5, and probably only half the weight of my “Noble and Fair Fighting” attacker, who also had only some blood in his alcohol, and was raving mad on the top of it, because his lady had brought home an unwanted addition to the family, and with his lady now also on the attack showing a rather belated solidarity with her hubby, who knows what I would have done if I had been armed.

I am really sorry when a young life needlessly ends like this.

However, I don’t think he was very smart right from the beginning. Never mind how much it hurts, but when the wife or girlfriend brings a “Cuckoo,” one says ‘Thank you very much for the good times we had, and have a nice day,’ and flees her like a bat out of hel_l. This is 2008 in the Western World. As a Canadian he should know very well that the notoriously anti-male biased courts, cynically called “Family Courts,” pin him down for supporting this child with the full force of the State, if he reconciles. Garnished wages and the confiscation of his driver’s license are only a very small part of the game, if he doesn’t to pay. Several thousand unfortunate Canadian “Cuckoo Fathers” can testify to my statement.

Now, that’s what one can call “Losing Face.”

We can travel all these countries if we know how to behave.

That’s the funniest statement ever on this board.

ANYONE even joking they have a bomb or a gun in any bags should instantly receive a big knot on his noggin from a officers night stick and promply be trotted off to the local lockup.

This joking "I have a bomb/gun" bullshit is the epitomony of ignorance and makes a mockery of thousands who have given their lives to prevent just such acts from plaguing law abiding nations worldwide.

Doubled and trippeled!

This forum has once again become a place where idiots and ignorance gather together to beat each other in demonstrating their intelligence.

No matter what Thais do or not do it's always wrong, it's always useless, stupid, laughable, rediculous, unprofessional and, and, and....

Happy New Year to everybody and if for any reason a bomb goes off somewhere may some of the super funny jokers in this forum be the victims instead of security guards or innocent people.

Interesting. He shares something very much in common with the next Prime Minister....

Samak and Dusit

Court sentences Samak to two years in jail on defamation suit

Court sentenced Thursday former Bangkok governor Samak Sundaravej and veteran politician Dusit Siriwan to two years in jail on defamation suit against a former deputy Bangkok governor.

Court said that Samak and Dusit said libellous statements against Samart Ratchaponlasit in their television talk show programme on the Channel 5 last year.

- The Nation / Apr. 12, 2007

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btw, Dusit is the husband of the hopefully-soon-to-be-indicted Jathumas, who was, just to bring things around in a full circle with the OP, appointed by Thaksin:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=159387

US Couple Arrested In Bangkok Film Festival Graft Probe

Am I missing here something? As to my knowledge people sentenced to jail terms cannot run for public office....please fill me in on the details!

The statement at the bottom of your message, describing the "Politically Correct" as the real Neo-Nazis, is the most honest and daring one I have read in a long, long time. It should be a reminder for those overly critical of Third World countries that we don't need to leave the Western hemisphere to experience complete tin-pot countries. “Politically Correct” doesn’t say “Not Morally Perverted.”

I arrived in Thailand this year and have so far lived in 2 apartment buildings. Both use Smart Zone as the wireless internet provider for their tenants. I, in turn, need a well functioning internet service, because, as a technical writer and translator, I have to deal with my clients overseas.

In the first building my connection was so bad that I got cut off every ten minutes and had to sign in again every time. It was also so slow that half the time that I couldn’t download anything or even open a site. In the end I gave up and went to Internet Cafes, where I experienced none of these problems.

In the second building they had an average service for 400 Baht and a “High Speed” service for 700 Baht. I took the “High Speed.” Alas, it was even slower than internet on a telephone line. Although, it didn’t cut me off, one third of the time I couldn’t even get on, and the rest of the time I could read a book while I was waiting for a site to open. Consequently, I contacted SmartZone’s customer service. They told me that the building had too many subscribers and not enough capacity to serve them all, and that there wasn’t anything they could do.

After many complaints to the building management together with other tenants we were refunded Baht 700 and promised that someone would improve the service. It took another two weeks. The net then was fine for a few days, but now everything is almost back to square one again. In addition we have total “Black Outs” occasionally. Hence, I am using internet cafes again. However, since everything I need professionally is in my desktop computer and on CD's, it is a constant backward and forward every day that costs me an enormous amount of time. (I know, I know, laptop, but my hardware and software is geared up for professional use and speed, including manual speed, and a laptop won’t do.)

How can I escape my ongoing internet disaster, short of moving to another apartment building where I might have the same problem again?

I would highly appreciate any constructive advice.

Atli

Dog-napped and held for ransom

Editor;

Well I am a Canadian ex-pat for 8 years here now and usually do not have many complaints about the strange ways that things operate here, but…

On Loy Krathong night my 82-year-old dad, housekeeper, my dog and myself went out to Lake Mabprachan (Boat Race Park) to enjoy the festivities. Many of our Thai friends also joined us.

Now my dog (Shandy) is a 1.5-year-old lovely Golden Retriever who is very intelligent and has been in my training for obedience and to look after my old dad. He does a great job at both.

At about 1:00am I started to pack up and get ready to head home but noticed that I had not seen Shandy for an hour or so. My friends and I started the search party to try to find Shandy so we could leave but had no luck. Well we love him very much and stayed as late as we could (2:30am) looking but then decided we had to get my dad home and most of the party was staying all night and they could look out for him.

Shandy is not the type of dog who would go with anybody unless forced to. He is very kind tempered and would never bite anyone.

The next day I woke up and we went back out to the lake to look for Shandy. Our friends were still there and said he had not showed up so I started putting up signs that I had made on my computer for the typical "Reward", "Lost Dog" etc., and went to all of the local village security guards (who were all very helpful) and the local stores, including one local Girly Bar. The reward was for 2000 THB.

On Monday at 1:00pm we received a phone call from one of the local bar girls we had given my number to saying that there was a man there asking if any farang had come around looking for a Golden Retriever because he had found one on Saturday night at the festival. (Hmmmm why would he ask if a "farang" had been asking?) She told him that she had my number so he used her phone to call and spoke to my housekeeper in Thai. He said he wanted to return Shandy and collect the reward. When my housekeeper told him that we were so happy and could meet him and give him the 2000 THB, he kind of snickered at the amount but said to meet him at Wat Nong Yai on Sukhumvit Rd. The bar girl had told us that there was three men in a motorcycle with a sidecar. We went to the Wat and waited for 3 hours but no one showed up so we went home sad.

At 8:00pm, I received another call from a Thai man who could speak good English and would only talk to me and not my Thai housekeeper. He said that he had rescued Shandy at the park and took him home to look for the owner and his daughter had taken good care of him. He said that he only wanted to give Shandy back to his owner and that the dog was sad and would not eat or drink for the last 2 days. I told him that it was great news because our family missed him and that Shandy took care of my 82 year old father. (I knew what was coming next so…) I told him we could meet strait away and I would bring the 2000 THB reward. That was when he said that he wanted more because his daughter had bought chicken and food for the dog. I offered him 2500b but he laughed and said he wanted 5000 THB and would only meet us in 30 minutes so I did not even have time to call a police officer to assist us. I love my dog so agreed to meet him.

We went to meet the three men at the Railway Station on Soi Siam Country Club and they had Shandy tied up inside their sidecar. I did bring four of my Thai friends with me but my friend said it might be dangerous to cause trouble and that I should just pay them and leave. Well he was smart and correct. The man who had spoken with me on the phone in English was not even there but the other three henchmen were so I paid them and left with my dog.

This is extortion no matter how you look at it and we believe strongly that Shandy was abused and hit while in their care. A man can tell by his dog's actions.

Well, that is my story how my dog was kidnapped and held for ransom here in Pattaya so be careful with things like this as I am told it happens a lot.

Happy camper: Tim Rooney

Pattaya Mail

Mail Bag

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In 1987 I was in Montreal where I ordered some machines from a frellow call Pierre Bellemare, representing Agi-Sec, that sells machines imported from a company called Frimair in France, to open a business in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I am not a French Canadian. After doing a credit check on the company I made a substantial down-payment to Agi-Sec. I also had a sales contract signed by Bellemare. Short story: Agi-Sec never delivered the machines and has never returned my money. Since it was an obvious fraud case, I went to the Fraud Department of the Montreal Police. They refused to accept fraud charges. Following that I took a lawyer, a Louis Renault. With him I went to the Crown Attorney's Office. He, too, refused to accept fraud charges, because, as he said, "It was the first time that Bellemare and Agi-Sec and taken money and not delivered. Later I found out that Bellemare had defrauded others before, but every time people who were not French Quebeckers. Renault then took a $6,000 down-payment for his representation, brought the now "Civil" case to the wrong court, and the rest is history.

I am sure you would have stood a much better chance receiving police support in Thailand than I received in Quebeck when I was obviously defrauded. Alas, fraud seems to highly acceptable in Canada.

Personally I think there is something wrong with this story. There are quite a few Farangs in and around where I live, and although one hears about a divorce here and there, its not common. Khon Kaen must have a VERY large population of Farangs married to Thai women. My observation of Thai Farang marriages is that Thai women will put up with a lot more sh*t, as compared with their western counterparts, as long as the husband provides for the family, and or, does not cause them to loose face.

Yes, these nasty face losing problems with the Farangs. How happy I am, that, as I Westerner, a troublesome Asian wife can never make me lose my face, only misplace it.

How can people expect to live and/or work in England if they cannot read / write / speak the language?

... maybe as Thai teachers?