thaibeachlovers

The conservatism is related to their upper body, not their legs. Though it seems to have changed, shoulders always had to be covered, as with bellies. Crop tops were a no no. Lots of things have changed though. By the time I left LOS, girls seemed to have stopped holding hands, which used to be common, and the real Thai smile pretty much vanished etc.

They already can do that, and most probably went to school so are educated. They already have a savings scheme, called banks.

Are they dreaming? Given that most BGs seem to move around different bars or even only do it for a short time ( in the farang scene- I don't know the arrangement in the Thai scene ), how would they be with the same employer long enough to get those benefits, and how many bars in eg Pattaya could even afford them? I don't know which organisation covers workers in the farang scene ( is there even one at all ), but sounds like they want to change the scene altogether, and force BGs to stay with the same bar, also have to pay fees to the organisation, or are they thinking that all BGs have to belong to an organisation that covers all of them, regardless of which bar they work in? Still ends up with them having to pay fees, even if they don't get many customers. Perhaps they want to go the Singapore way ( in the 70s ) and force them to work in brothels, short time only.

Yes, but the thread isn't just about that bank.

Perhaps not, but rockets can not defeat the Taiwanese alone. They would have to put boots on the ground to do that.

Hmmmmm. IMO hypersonic missiles make US aircraft carriers just large targets. Far as I'm concerned just give Taiwan the means to deny China the ability to land there, and put all essential services deep underground against ballistic missile attack.

All of which IMO makes war against Taiwan more likely. IMO governments like a war to unite a country and take people's minds off internal problems. Up to me, I'd be arming Taiwan with as many anti aircraft and anti ship missiles as possible. If China can't get there, they can't invade.

Even for experienced riders LOS is problematic when riding on Thai roads. The only way to stop such events as the OP happening is for the law to require insurance and a valid home country m'bike license before being able to rent a m'bike, but being LOS that's unlikely to happen any time soon.

That is NOT always true. After my accident I didn't inform the insurance company before having surgery, which would have allowed them an out, and they reimbursed me as soon as possible after I submitted the paperwork. I never tried to get them to pay hospital direct, so don't know if they would or not.

So, even if he had insurance for a m'bike he had voided it by not wearing a helmet. Seems we are having so many of this sort of thread now that they could have their own sub forum.

It's not that long since the 2008 crisis, and it seems that no lessons were learned. Perhaps because it's still all about short term profit and no concern about long term stability.

Fund them in Nth Africa and they will still come. The only way to stop people paying traffickers IMO is to make it so unattractive that no one will think paying criminals is a good idea. The Australians proved that it works.

Probably because western countries are IMO run by the woke, while countries in the rest of the world are not.

How did a thread about woke morph into a discussion on abortion? IMO two completely different subjects.

IMO it's only a problem if a man is in a female changing room, even if he wears a dress. I reckon it wouldn't be much of a problem the other way.

Propaganda is as important in a war as soldiers, IMO. If the population lose the will to support it, likely their side will fail. There are examples in WW2 of actions carried out simply to bolster public support.

Agree 100%. IMO the only certainty if the war continues is that lots more Ukrainians will die and more destruction will occur. The west, IMO, is carrying out a war against Russia using Ukrainian bodies, which is intolerable to me. Either go all in and risk WW3, or stop interfering and force Ukraine to the negotiating table, IMO.

You are young and handsome, very rich or some sort of celebrity then. The chance of me getting a girlfriend that doesn't look like granny and come with lots of family baggage in home country is zero. NB I have zero interest in grannies.

I had to look up DILLIGAF, and my only thought is that no one could survive if they didn't care about something, even if it's only about eating, and some out there really care about eating, if you know what I mean.

One of the few advantages of not taking part in club activities is that I don't get involved in other people's lives, which has made life a lot simpler, and in some ways more tolerable. While I enjoyed having friends when I was working, sometimes they cause too many problems. The people that did me the most harm in my life were those that I had called my "friends".

I've never danced on the edge of a precipice, the closest being standing on the crowded back step of a Thai songtheaw doing 100 kph and holding on for dear life. It was an immensely enjoyable experience as my principle thought was that it was a poke in the eye to all the H and S wonks back in home country, that was part of the reason I preferred living in LOS to that over regulated country. Whatever, I can visualise you doing your dance, and I cheer for you doing it.

I can offer no explanation that would be acceptable to you ( or many others on both sides of the debate ) so I have no reason to give one. After all, as I have said before, I'm not here to convert anyone. I'm just adding to the conversation about my own life experience. I believe in what seems right to me, and if that's not enough for others to accept, so be it. In a human world IMO going ( or already gone ) insane, I can only try and find a way to survive, and if my belief helps me to understand that death is not the end, that, IMO is a good thing. I at least am able to provide the means for proving what I say to be true to one's self and provide rational and reasoned explanations including a working model. That's fine for yourself, but do you make room to accept that not everyone agrees with you, and be OK with that, or are you saying that it's "your way, and no other"? some of the unexamined mass beliefs which were taught you on your trail through life Why do you think you know what I have, or have not examined? I doubt you are psychic to know, so all you have are words that I have written on here, and words are a very imperfect way of communicating at the best of times, and more so when it comes to this subject. If I were to attempt to explain my beliefs more fully my posts would be as long as yours, and I've already said why that would not be a "good thing". I wish you well on your own journey through life, but I won't be joining you on your path.

I envy you, that you experienced such emotions as a child. A tragic event in my young life robbed me of such, and seems to have made me extremely cynical ever since. I don't remember ever not being cynical. I think it's pretty self evident that true happiness is not compatible with extreme cynicism, so such emotions were rare and of limited duration in my life. The first two years of my married life were the longest I've ever been happy, and then it all turned to the brown stuff. Perhaps that may go some way to explaining the way I post.

IMO the only "cult" on this thread is of the "god doesn't exist" mob that are totally invested in denying something that science can't disprove. Seems that even though some scientists admit there is a great deal out there that they can't explain or even understand, the anti God crowd deny the possibility that a creator God might exist- in other words, closed minds. I actually understand some of your frustration, as I don't understand a lot of the conversation, mainly because I'm not sufficiently invested in it to get involved, or pursue the theories presented, but among the stuff I don't understand there is some really great information to be be acquired, so I'll keep reading. Up to you of course, but it's the only thread on this forum that challenges us about our innermost beliefs, and the fact that it's lasted longer than any other thread, perhaps in the history of this forum, proves that it is of interest to many.

I've just come on and haven't read the previous pages, but from the above post we had the same experience, except I was agnostic at the time. I call it my "road to Damascus" moment. It didn't last long, but it opened my mind to the realisation that God does exist. Never happened again, and I haven't sought to experience it again. The pro "science knows everything" crowd could never understand it, as it's not, IMO, something that could be repeated on demand to investigate. Perhaps it ( or something similar ) could be experienced by use of chemicals, but I have no need to go that route. Even alcohol was too bad, and I gave that up pretty quickly.