RogueLeader

Surprised they've even been given the permits to film the movie, given the subject material. Think there may be some backlash, post release.

It's pro-government propaganda. Of course they got permission.

It's a relief to read that no celebrities were injured in this fire. Meanwhile in Pattaya...

".....stating that she needs to raise ...??.....she made to pay back the underground loan she had previously borrowed to pay for her bail money." which she needed to pay her bail bondsman after she was previously arrested for selling ganja with her kwaiteow and had to post bail.

Yeah, it's called the poverty trap. Just thank whatever deity you've convinced yourself is real that you're a rich farang who doesn't need to understand this shit.

There is a real reason to fear that. Has there been any talk of Pattaya or Phuket receiving benefits from the Russians other than tourist baht. All I hear about them is they bring the Mafia with them. Not Russian bashing just reporting what I hear about them.

I've seen personally what Russian tourism has done to Goa and Pattaya. In Goa, groups of Russians often take over a bar, bringing their own drinks, refusing to pay for what they do consume and arranging all the tables and chairs into a circle, intimidating others from going in. Obviously I'm not saying that this is the case with all Russians - I've met some brilliant Russian travellers. But this is a problem that Russian tourism brings with it.

Remember that the British Empire was founded and maintained by private individuals and enterprises stealing trade and land with the blessing of their government.

That place was a colossal firetrap that could have killed hundreds if not thousands, yet the brand remains the kwanjai (sweetheart) of the Thais. Then when Tesco threatens to open an outlet with all modern safety design and equipmnet, they bay for blood. I don't get it; really don't.

They need to keep Tesco out of their country. Tesco and the rest of the big three already ravaged British farming and communities.

Sometimes it seems scary that Google knows so much about us.

No, not at all.

Oh, that's fine then. Glad we checked...

Presumably this will all happen while he's being tried for running such a firetrap in the first place?

What happens when a country/embassy issues a travel warning?

Do travel agencies cancel selling holidays due to insurance issues?

No!!! its to advise travellers to beware. thats all.

Failing to heed government travel advice can invalidate insurance cover, however.

I walked through the demonstration on Ratchadamnoen near the Democracy Monument in 2010 when we got dumped off the no. 15 bus on Thanon Worachak with a group of Korean tourists. It was a little tense, especially around the stall where they were showing videos of police and army brutality, but if I hadn't known what it was all about I'd have thought it was some sort of festival. I've never seen McDonald's so busy. Everyone seemed quite relaxed, but I could see soldiers and police on the outskirts and I knew that if they decided to kick it off, we'd all be screwed.

Far worse was the young American on Khao San Road dressed up in full redshirt gear with a protest banner. We stayed away from him.

MONEY WALKS - PERIOD

I am the victim of kangaroo court here in MaeSot.

Long story synopsis:

I was involved in a traffic accident in 2011. I was on a motorbike, the other vehicle was a straight truck with a tag trailer. My injuries were life threatening and left me with permanent injuries which affect my former life and livelihood. The other driver was 100% wrong, violating signage and rules of the road. I was, according to police estimate, traveling 50 km/h, where the double lane highway's speed limit was 70 km/h. The first criminal court's verdict fined me 1,000 baht for excessive speed, while sentencing the other driver to 1 year in jail. He appealed. The appellant court's verdict was that we are equally at fault, and also dismissed my civil case.

1. I was not in the wrong. There should be 0% fault or liability against me.

2. The other driver was 100% wrong.

3. At the time of the criminal hearing I was very much still incapacitated mentally from my brain trauma and could not argue my own case. The court provided an interpreter who was only about 50% proficient in English and did not interpret or convey what I wanted to convey to my attorney or the court. The first hearing was not just.

4. The appellant court had no new information and no hearing, only the judge rereading the first court transcript.

I have been railroaded. I have substantial damages for a civil court to hear and award, but the appellant court has made a wrong determination. It would appear that the possibility is present of some foul play. The other driver is just a working class guy with no money. The company I would be suing that owns the truck is a large and wealthy one.

Any helpful suggestions?

You're in Thailand. If you cut your losses now, you'll save a lot of money. A Thai court will never settle in your favour, but there are plenty of lawyers who will spin your hopes up for as long as you have money to pay them.

Thailand.

A Thai problem.

Leave it to the Thai people.

Foreigners,not really your business.

Unless you're a foreigner that has actually lived here for a long time and hasn't the right to vote or even buy a bit of property in his own name.

No, even then. You will always be a foreigner. You will never belong in Thailand remotely in the way that a Thai belongs. Farang is Farang. If you're waiting to integrate into Thai society, you should probably pack up and go now.

The world was a much better place for all but a tiny minority of people - who were already filthy rich anyway - when China and Russia were communist.

It's true that the Thai peasantry work for their Thai-Chine masters. You only have to visit a building site or factory to see that. But you can't knock the Chinese just because they value education and are good businessmen.

No, but you can knock them for being greedy, with hearts of flint which is almost always the reality behind the craven, lickspittle euphemism 'good businessmen'.

There is no such thing as a good businessman. There are merely more or less greedy people.

Thailand is not a flawed democracy. Thailand isn't a democracy at all.

Why not? They hold elections and there is corruption on all sides. Not ideal, but developing democracies take time. You'd prefer a return to an absolute monarchy or a military dictatorship?

It takes more than polling stations to make a democracy.

Thailand resembles a democracy sufficiently to keep the US and the UN of its back and ease relations with greedy, hypocritical Western countries but in Thailand, there is no freedom of speech and no equality before the law. I read in another thread that a Nigerian has just been arrested in Bangkok carrying cocaine and will probably get the death sentence. Meanwhile Master Red Bull has had his day in court postponed again, I hear.

Democracy is not possible under these conditions.

ps: Scratch below the surface and you'll find that Thailand is in fact a military dictatorship. I once met a Thai in Mandalay who was delighted to be able to speak openly (in Burma!) about things he would be castigated and harshly punished for in Thailand.

No sympathies.

Throw the key away.

For supplying people with a good that they're willing to pay for? Monstrous crime.

Thailand is not a democracy. There will not be a democracy until there is freedom of speech, freedom from corruption, equality before the law and transparency at all levels. Without this, democracy is impossible and Thailand will continue to be a feudal society with a vote where people are oppressed by mobs working with corrupt officials and police.

So your solution is? Surely a flawed democracy is better than nothing?

Say what you like about the first Thai Rak Thai governments, but they had genuine popular support and accomplished many good things.

Thailand is not a flawed democracy. Thailand isn't a democracy at all.

Thailand is not a democracy. There will not be a democracy until there is freedom of speech, freedom from corruption, equality before the law and transparency at all levels. Without this, democracy is impossible and Thailand will continue to be a feudal society with a vote where people are oppressed by mobs working with corrupt officials and police.

It needs to be said again: Thailand is not Switzerland. Would anyone here want it to be?

How about some facts: Approximately 25% of China's population is considered "middle class" by western standards. That translates to about 325 million people from China who have the means to travel and spend money. Anyone who has been to China and Thailand knows that Thailand is a preferable destination. And the Chinese know this too.

By comparison, the ENTIRE population of the US is about 320 million...so the middle class of China is about equal to the ENTIRE population of the US...as a Yank, I can tell you that about half the US population is living off government (read taxpayer funded) "entitlements"...The EU is not much better off than the US, and in some southern EU countries, it is awful...traditional western tourists to Thailand are on the decline and Chinese tourists are on the rise.

Face the facts; the portion of the Chinese population that can afford travel to Thailand and spend a decent sum of money are CHINESE...NOT Americans and Europeans. Aussies and Canucks are in better shape but cannot match the sheer large numbers of Chinese.

I was just recently in the LOS and the number of western farang has dropped a noticeable amount from years past, replaced by more and more Chinese...and there are more "tourists" from Africa.

A paradigm shift is occurring not just in tourist demographics in Thailand, but worldwide in terms of the US sole superpower role vs. a rising China. Buckle your seatbelts; we're in for a wild ride...

How about some facts? China's GDP per capita is only US$6,200. Link - World Bank

But at the same link, the US is US$50,000.

What are you smoking?

Excellent. Good to see i wasn't the only one not taken in by his very dodgy numbers and assessment.

The division of wealth and labour in China between the affluent middle classes in the cities and the dirt-poor rural farmers is stark and staggering: China has about 800 million peasants who own nothing but their stomachs. Even if only 1% of her population is rich enough to travel abroad, that makes 13 million Chinese tourists all ready to empty their pockets in the markets of Thailand.

You should learn about averages.

2500 for the mucus on the plants, cigarette butts in the room, stolen items from the hotels, and wacking people with super long camera lenses to try to prove they are rich.

This. Taking portrait-stood-in-front-of-monument holiday snapshots with a $1000 SLR with a cheap Chinese no-brand 200mm lens stuck on the front? I'm the most amateur of photographers and even I can see how ridiculous it is.

Thailand is getting it just like everyone else.

'Low calibre' tourists spend money directly with small local businesses and generally leave their accommodation and activity purchases until they arrive, ensuring that the money stays in Thailand. They tend to be young and often just out of university, and they remember their experiences and come back when they're older and richer and then they spend more. They also leave far less of a footprint culturally, environmentally and economically. The people who are running guesthouses today will be employed at minimum wage in international hotels tomorrow, if they're lucky. The profits will flow out of Thailand, which will be left with an unemployment problem.

TAT and the big. overpriced tour operators and travel agents see all that money being spent without their extracting their commission and they wonder what they can do about it. Did you wonder why the Chinese were being lionised and backpackers - who broke tourism into Thailand - demonised? That's why.

Thailand will pay a price for its greed. So hungry to chase the tourist dollar, it rushes to attract the rich and the gullible.

I wonder who's name is/was on the last fire inspection? Probably busy misplacing it now.

The chances of it having been 'destroyed in a fire' are high.

Ross William Ulbricht...in connection with operating the Silk Road website, solicited a Silk Road user to execute a murder-for-hire of another Silk Road user, who was threatening to release the identities of thousands of users of the site.

Allegedly. I wouldn't trust a single word anyone says in connection with this case. If you read the right subreddit, it appears that Ulbricht isn't Dread Pirate Roberts.