TallGuyJohninBKK

Ya, and like who from Lotus's is actually going to enforce that store to store, day after day?

Yummy! Can't wait!

Not the most hygienic of set-ups -- even leaving pets out of the equation. ???? I never buy meat in Thailand that's left out uncovered for hours with who knows what going on around it. Big C used to do the same, but I have no idea if they still do...as it's been ages since I ever shopped there for any fresh meats.

One thing I took away from all the news coverage on the national police chief selection was that most of these guys this year are at the end of their police careers age-wise, but that BJ is younger and has many more years left of potential candidacy for the top job. So, even though he didn't get it this year -- depending on what does or doesn't come of all the currently pending investigations -- he could well be back again next year as a candidate once again for the top job.... especially if he plays nice with the current clan that have the ear of the highest party involved.

I'd sure like to know just what exactly BJ was holding in his right hand?

Presumably, given his "profession," he knew enough to know that he didn't want to end up getting sent to prison.... where he could potentially socialize with some of his past clients.

Also worth noting, the Australian government's Therapeutic Goods Administration recently shared a statement from its international member group, the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA), on the safety of COVID vaccines and misleading efforts to malign their safety: https://www.tga.gov.au/news/media-releases/icmra-statement-safety-covid-19-vaccines The statement included the following highlights: "COVID-19 vaccines significantly reduce the risk of severe disease, hospitalisation and death from infection with SARS-CoV-2. ... "False and misleading information about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines on social media often exaggerates the frequency and severity of side effects. Misinformation also wrongly attributes unrelated medical events to the vaccines. Vaccine misinformation leading individuals to decline vaccination has very likely led to many more deaths than adverse effects of the vaccines."

From your source: "And despite what the social media posts claim, the enhanced COVID-19 payments aren’t based on whether the patient lives or dies, experts said. “This is a stupid lie that apparently, like a zombie, refuses to die,” Gerald Kominski, a senior fellow and former director at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, wrote in an email. “The most common lie about this fact is that every COVID hospitalization (i.e., including on-Medicare) meant more payment (FALSE) and hospitals only got paid more if the patient died (FALSE).”

PS - of course it's meaningless to talk about the raw vaccination status of COVID fatalities at large, vaxed vs. unvaxed, -- something anti-vaxers love to do -- when the vast majority of the population has already been vaccinated at varying levels, and the entirely unvaccinated population is a much smaller relative group in terms of numbers. Meaning comparing the two groups in terms of raw numbers of fatalities is apples and oranges. What is meaningful, which is what the CDC has done above, is to compare the fatality RATES among the different groups -- what share of the vaccinated are dying of COVID, what share of the unvaccinated are dying of COVID, etc etc... And in those regards, the outcomes and answers are very clear -- vaccination saves lives and reduces COVID fatalities.

I don't believe that issue was addressed in the Australia report above... But it has been very well addressed by the U.S. CDC for American COVID fatalities age 50 and above that show the unvaccinated (dark green line below), who have the highest fatality rate, and much higher than all the vaccinated groups, with the lowest fatality rate belonging to those who had had 4 or more shots (red line below). The CDC link below includes an Excel file with the actual weekly COVID mortality rates per 100,000 population details for the chart above, including the the final week in the series being Sept. 3, 2022: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/data-review/vaccines.html And broken down by different age groups: "In August 2022, the risk of dying from COVID-19 among unvaccinated adults compared with adults who received a primary series was 9 times higher for adults aged 65–79 years and 4 times higher for adults aged ≥80 years. A similar pattern was observed among younger adult age groups in August 2022. Compared with adults who received a primary series in the same age group, the risk of dying from COVID-19 among unvaccinated adults was 3 times higher for adults aged 18–29 years, 5 times higher for adults aged 30–49 years, and 6 times higher for adults aged 50–64 years."

Busy house cleaning, I think! ????

Half of Americans interested in getting updated COVID shot, Reuters/Ipsos poll shows September 15, 2023 WASHINGTON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - About half of Americans are interested in getting an updated COVID-19 vaccine more than three years after the virus infected millions and upended daily life across the United States and around the world, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll. The results suggest that more might be willing to get a booster shot than a year ago when only around roughly one in six Americans opted for an updated shot, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The nationwide online poll, which concluded on Thursday, showed that almost 30% of respondents were very interested in getting the vaccine and another 24% were somewhat interested. Almost 17% were not very interested and 30% were not interested at all. (more) https://www.reuters.com/world/us/half-americans-interested-getting-updated-covid-shot-reutersipsos-poll-2023-09-15/

Republicans are Much Less Likely than Democrats to View Fall Vaccines as Safe Or Expect to Get Them, though COVID-19 Sparks the Greatest Split in Intentions and Views Sep 27, 2023 "Nearly half of adults say that they will “definitely” or “probably” get the newly recommended COVID-19 vaccine, though most parents are not planning to get the shot for their children, according to the latest KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor poll. Among all adults, 23% say they will definitely get the new vaccine, 23% say they will probably get it, while 19% say they will probably not get it and 33% say they definitely not get it. ... As has been true throughout the pandemic, a much smaller share of Republicans (24%) than Democrats (70%) expect to get the new COVID-19 vaccine – 46 percentage point gap." (more) https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/press-release/poll-nearly-half-of-adults-expect-to-get-the-new-covid-19-vaccine/

September 28, 2023 Last year, COVID-19 killed 9,859 Australians, behind only heart disease and dementia (including Alzheimer’s) as the leading causes of death in the country. ... "An infectious disease (influenza and pneumonia) was last in the top 5 leading causes of death in 1970," the Australian Bureau of Statistics said in the press release. "Deaths due to COVID-19 were a significant contributor to the increase, causing just under 10,000 deaths and mentioned as a contributing factor on a further 2,782 death certificates." (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/covid-19-third-leading-cause-death-australia-2022 "This is the first time in over 50 years that an infectious disease has been in the top 5 leading causes of death in Australia. In 1968 and 1970, influenza and pneumonia was the fifth leading cause of death. The rate of death from COVID-19 has increased by 23.7 deaths per 100,000 since 2021 and 24.5 since 2020. In these years it was the 33rd and 38th leading cause of death. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/causes-death/causes-death-australia/2022

Get ready to start passing out those baskets of birds nest drinks at the hospital.... ????

Gifts of considerable value (gifted housing) given by a taxi industry businessman who's industry comes under regulation by the Thai police?

I have seen reference to the fact that the Kamnan Poh shooting investigation was taken away from BJ and given over to the CIB, I believe... But I haven't seen any mention that the police who were arrested in connection with that, per your comment above, supposedly have been released and are back on duty. Do you have a source link for that info? It was just in the news here the other day that a large number of them were being charged with crimes for doing nothing in the wake of the shootings. "Fifteen police officers who were at the house of Praween Chanklai, aka “Kamnan Nok”, on the night of September 6, when a highway police officer was shot dead and another injured by one of Praween’s bodyguards, will face malfeasance charges in accordance with Section 157 of the Criminal Code. "Pol Lt-Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej, commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, told the media at a news conference today (Tuesday) that the 15 officers did not take any action to help the two victims or to arrest the gunman. " The odd part is, the above article doesn't say anything about the status of another 6 officers who allegedly helped allow the escape of Poh and the shooting suspect. "The third comprised six officers who allegedly aided in the escape of Praween and the gunman."

Hard to know much for certain here....but it sounds from various reports like the recent Kamnan Poh house shootings and the aftermath investigation of them stirred up some brown stuff among various rival police factions, including ones led by BJ and Torsak, as of yesterday the newly named national police chief. The underlying police investigation into this particular online gambling ring had been going on for some months prior... but I haven't seen any detail as yet of just when Big Joke's men and the supposed payoff surfaced into the picture.

There have been multiple and varying accounts of just what's been going on with the 5 houses here in BKK... But the latest version in the OP here has three of the five houses being given rent-free for BJ's subordinates. "He rented two houses from Tam, one for himself and one for his father, for 50,000 baht a month. Big Joke did not explain why Tam also let his subordinates live in the other three houses."

I have no indication the arrangement was publicly declared or disclosed -- until squads of police descended on his home armed with search warrants.

Some might consider a supposed taxi business magnate in Isan giving a senior police official rent-free use of some number of houses here in BKK as a kind of bribe....

Yes, and it's against the law, a law the police are supposed to enforce, but rarely do. Your comment suggests just how broadly the law is flouted by taxi drivers in BKK, and how little the police do about it.

Under the law here, AFAIK, truth isn't actually a legal defense. The complaining person only has to prove that his reputation was damaged.

I'm looking for something in the OP article that gives any hint of what their supposed new law (maybe a year away) is going to say or do about all the thousands of existing weed shops out there... And, I'm not reading any answer to that question, which seems a pretty primary one given how things have evolved here.