Bangkok Barry

You clearly have adopted the losing face concept - it isn't exclusively Asian - as I cannot imagine anyone on this site or anywhere else insisting - insisting as you do - that a fine of four billion baht should be imposed. That is what you said, and you can't/won't back down and admit you didn't intend it to be four billion. A mature person would admit they hadn't thought it through before posting but, instead, you dig in and lock down on it. I know it, and so do you. If you truly believe someone should be fined four billion baht for filming an erotic video which no-one reported seeing happen, then you're an idiot. But I'm guessing you aren't. You're just being obstinate about this and only making yourself look like an idiot, rather than admit you made a mistake. Not a great idea. Childish, actually. Just like an Asian insisting Sunday is Saturday. Exactly the same.

It's actually quite interesting to see a foreigner - I assume you aren't Thai - adopting the Thai way of trying to defend the indefensible - insisting no matter what it's Sunday when it's Saturday, in order to not lose face. While by doing so even more face is lost as it makes you look stupid.

Okay. I suppose you'd lose face by not knowing you were asking for a four billion baht fine, so now you have to say it's justified. Deeper and deeper....

It doesn't matter if no one saw it being filmed the point is anyone could have including children. Making a big example of this might make others think twice before filming sexually explicit videos in public places So you stand by your statement that they should be fined four billion baht. Okay. That IS what you wrote, even if not in those actual words. Maybe you didn't understand the part of the report saying that the video was viewed over two million times. Maybe you were unable to work out that 2000 times two million is four billion. Even though it isn't that difficult. Keep digging your hole....

And how many saw it being filmed? How do you know it wasn't done discretely in a quiet area? After all, no-one saw it and complained then, did they. But for you, they should be fined 2000 baht for each of the two million views. That marks you as an idiot, in my book. Other opinions may vary. Such as yours, of course. You think it is perfectly rational to fine someone four billion - billion - baht. Maybe you didn't bother checking the math before making such a stupid statement.

...now they can say they really understand how the criminal mind works Got it. They were doing undercover research.

Long straight road, daylight, dry - and still too difficult for some to handle.

Okay. Why?

A portrait of Thailand in just one sentence.

I'd re-post this, but I might be threatened with deportation for showing Thailand in a bad light.

Indeed. A school child could design a better form. And why is it also in Thai? The only people who complete it are foreigners, and the immigration officers surely understand English as most of the people they deal with are foreigners who don't understand Thai. On, wait... It would be interesting to see their reaction if someone who is proficient in Thai completed the form in Thai, wouldn't it. No no mista, cannot! 😄

I think they misunderstood their job description. They are supposed to prevent crime, not take part in it.

Because being fined hundreds of thousands of baht is draconian. The video was only seen by people who paid to see it. You appear to be quite a puritan if you think that's worth such a massive fine.

There are TWO cable breaks, one in the Red Sea and one close to Singapore. There is a delay in fixing the Red Sea one because the area isn't safe. My own experience is that streams are fine until Europe wakes up, and then a good VPN is needed. How reliable that is varies, I guess related to the number of people now forced to use the alternative routes which might become overloaded. I've used several countries in Europe. If one isn't good, then I try another. For UK stuff I've been advised by my IPTV service not to use the UK servers.

Yes. Why would she do that, instead of leaving it on to show beyond any doubt that it was suicide rather than murder?

Yet again we have people reading only the headline and then asking questions which are answered if they bothered to actually read the report. Weird.

Why?

By a degree or two. Can you feel the difference in a degree or two?

Had nothing at all to do with the weather. Every Thai knows that rules only apply to others.

I have a Thai wife. Makes a difference.

I wouldn't change countries because I'd get a few more quid in the bank each week. I've taken the death by a thousand cuts route, but then I do have a private and a company pension as well.

The key here is that you said someone. This person did not, as far as I know, criticise a person or business, but the less savoury aspects of the culture. He touched a nerve, as every Thai is raised from birth to believe that everything about their country is perfect, and when someone comes along from overseas and says that, actually, it isn't as perfect as you have been brainwashed to believe, it's like the emperor's new clothes being shown as fake. And I believe that is why the authorities don't like us long-stayers here. We speak the truth instead of turning a blind eye, and that is a no-no here. Of course, every Thai knows that their country isn't the paradise they are told it is. They are fully aware of the things that are wrong, but instead of doing anything to fix it they go into denial. And that is exactly why things change so slowly here, if at all. If you deny there is a problem, then no-one is going to fix it.

My experience this year in Kalasin Province is that the heat, 40+, has been relentless, with no 'cooler' periods of mid 30s, for the past 4-6 weeks. and that is something I've not experienced in my 27 years here. The good news is that my regional forecast shows it will be getting a little cooler this week. We'll see. The wife has been off at the rocket festival this weekend which is supposed to mark the beginning of the soggy season. Maybe the rockets worked..... 😃

With weather, there is no 'normal'. Some years are hotter than others, some wetter than others, some winters are colder than others. Everywhere. A couple of years ago it was so hot in Europe that 70,000 died, last year not so. And that is why I take global warming with a large pinch of salt. Climate doesn't change to a 'new normal' at the click of a finger, but over hundreds or thousands of years. There have been ice ages and drought throughout history, and long, long before we came to hurry things along. The Earth and nature are infinitely more powerful and resilient than us and will still be going though climatic cycles long after we have killed ourselves off in one way or another.

Those things you list are illegal activities. Criticising something is not. There's an obvious difference. At least there is unless you're in Thailand.