MayBeLater

For some time I worked at the debt collections department at a creditcard company. In that time I have never met a single person that was 'innocent' for the debts they had. They made a mess and complain afterwards, I hardly ever felt pity. In life we have choices and a fact is some people make stupid choices, up to them, let them pay for it. In all cases the debt came from greed of wanting to have all. If people live for accumilating material posessions up to them, but don't complain when you can't pay your bills.

Same applies in all countries including Thailand. How stupid can you be for thinking you can repay a thousand Baht interest a day!

After reading this post I know with certainly it's impossible to have any sympathy or to try to have any compassion for the tyrant Thaksin who, if he ever were to regain power and his wealth, will seek vengance, revenge and merciless payback perhaps approaching a Thai version of the policies of Pol Pot.

Thaksin is a divider, not a uniter. Thaksin is a tribalist. Thaksin were he back in power would approach Mao's so-called cultural (nazi) revolution and Pol Pot's lunatic mass murders. While one voice does not define Thaksin, Thaksin himself has done more to define himself than any of us could whether we are so foolish to like him or realistic enuff to oppose him and his elite gang and his rent a mob Reds.

How silly can you get with trying to look into the future how Thaksin could/would/should react if he ever comes back to Thailand. Stating he will be like Mao and Pol Pot. Its nice that all people can write what they want, it reveals who has brains and who has not.

Recap.

- Thaksin was deposed in a coup while the majority of the populace supported him.

- Thaksin was tried for basicly abusing his powers while in office, he was convicted, and thats a good thing. Problem is that the rest of the people that matter in Thailand are as corrupt as he is. We all know why the rest are not prosecuted. Rotten corrupt judiciary on the leesh of the powers that matter.

No matter if you hate or love Thaksin you got to admit that he is singled out for threatening the powers that rule Thailand: business elite, army and the power that can not be talked about on TV (Nineteen Eigthy-Four).

Politics is much more fun if you look at it with a distance, its just a great game, don't take it serious, its so insignificant.

MBL

Perhaps, before you arrive, you will be able to learn one of the languages in common use round here.....

Hey Rick, how many languages you speak besides English? I speak three other languages. But that doesn't matter at all, don't expect all people to speak or write English Rick.

Clearly SBK has never been to Europe, quite typical to think of Europe as a country and not of a continent with many different countries with very different cultures. Even in my small country of 16 million along the north sea there are many different regions and cultures. People from some regions I can hardly understand, to them I am a from the western part of the country, not from their region and thus a stranger; speak different, act different, dress different etc..

But broader I do identify strongly with white people coz in the end they are the most like me compared to all other people on this planet. And no nothing racist about that, just a fact most white people share but are afraid to speak out (or even admit to themselves) out of fear of being accused of racism.

Perhaps SBK its an idea to travel a bit in Europe, not a 'see all in 30 day bustrip', but a true extended travel. You seem to be unemployed so just do it! Enjoy the exploration and eye opener ;-)

He had refused to pay his bill of 600 Baht in Candyshop and was very drunk (and a bit combative as well). The Manager decided to let him off the bill but wanted him removed from the establishment. He eventually left himself with a bit of help from two Thai Volunteers with me and another Foreign Assistant there as back-up.

Thats all.

If you would take your work serious, like a professional, you would never ever talk on a public forum about individual cases, its called work ethics, which you clearly lack, shame on you.

That war is almost 65 years behind us, what the problem with a swastika or a photo of Hitler? Get over it. If its perfectly ok to show a pic of the imperialist Churchill or madman Bush jr to me its perfectly ok to show a pic of Adolf.

Box-thinking, disgusting.

Is that the fascist nazi Hitler that killed millions of inocent women and children just because they were jewish that your referring to?

You lost the war! so you get over it!

I aint German, nor Austrian nor Latvian, nor Croatian, nor Italian, nor Romanian, nor Slovakian, nor Hungarian, nor Vichy French etc.. and I didn't lose any war.

You suffer from box-thinking.

Hitler is just one in a long line of historical figueres that did bad and good things, some more of the first and some more of the last. Its quite pathetic to get worked up about those people. If the winner would have lost and the loosers would have won you would be nagging about the 'new' loosers. Silly.

That war is almost 65 years behind us, what the problem with a swastika or a photo of Hitler? Get over it. If its perfectly ok to show a pic of the imperialist Churchill or madman Bush jr to me its perfectly ok to show a pic of Adolf.

Box-thinking, disgusting.

Starting tonight I shall be taking photos around town to show how lively it still is.

Can you go into that gogo bar on the right handside as you get into Walking Street where the girls dress as 1950s air hostess, and take a picture of the girl in a red outfit who hands out the Sambuca and Tequila ... The prettiest girl in all of Pattaya

PS Ive never seen anywhere in LOS as quiet as what Pattaya was last month, maybe itll pick up soon with the summer holiday season only 1 week away.

Ofcourse it will pick up for the summer holiday season, not the same numbers as last year, that would be quite weird being in the middle of the almost global recession. But loads of tourists will visit Thailand (and Pattaya), same as will happen in december and january. Sure, less tourists will arrive, and perhaps Pattaya will be harder hit being a prime destination for manual labourers (plumbers, constructionworkers etc..) that seem to be the dominant factor in Pattaya these last years, since they are quite hard hit by the recession.

No matter what, Pattaya will be up and running soon enough, tourism will become much much much more important for Thailand in the years to come. I predict tourist numbers will double in about a decade and a half, minor troubles like a bit of civil unrest, nature wrecking havoc (tsunami) and bit of economic hardship mean absolutely nothing in the long term (being in Thailand long term is 3/5 years :-)

All is fine in Thailand.

Things will be fine again soon enough in Pattaya. That is when the world economy is up and running again.

Pattaya being less crowded is nothing more then a temporary dip which has nothing to do with the airport closure last year, nor with farangs being 'targeted' by Thais, nor with some minor unrest between people wearing yellow and people wearing red shirts, even that tsunami some years ago didn't mean anything really (not even in Phuket after 2/3 years), the single reason is the state of the world economy. In one or two years the crowds will have returned.

Such a fuss about nothing.

I got married about 1 and a half years ago to a Thai lady, My house is owned by my company,

She noticed on my blue book for my house that the name in it was the German builders Thai wife's name was in the blue book, so she went to the Amphur office to change it for me, but unbeknown to me as i was signing the documents in Thai.

she was actually putting the house book in here name and not my company as i thought. now she has the house in her name she has made all efforts to split us up and tells me now that the house is hers and i cant have it back. I went to a Thai lawyer and he tells me that the chanute is still my company's name so i own the land but she owns the building now.

The lawyer tells me i can knock the house down as her house is on my company's land, that really is not going to help me as i need to sell it to try and retrieve some of the money she has creamed out of me, with all her stories, i don't want to bore you with all them stories and lies. but basically what can i do, if anything to get my house back, please can i have constructive and correct info, as i really don't need to be told what a " Stupid Farang " I am. Im distressed enough as it is.

So you married a person you can't trust, quite stupid. Life is about learning, some learn from mistakes they make others learn from mistakes others make. You should have known better.

Do not marry

Do not buy a house

Do not buy land

Do not trust people 100%

Four simple rules that have to be mandatory when living in Thailand (any third world country) that would have kept you out of troubles.

You are so far off base so as to be totally ludicrous. Other more fitting adjectives spring to mind, but why lower myself.

I am amazed you are tolerated anywhere in whatever illiterate society you choose to live in.

You insult us with your sheer ignorance, and endanger innocent lives to wit.

BR>Jack

Pity he got cought. Coke aint bad, its a wonderful substance the same as alcohol, sigarettes, coffee and other stimuli are.

Jack, your words reveal you aint among the brightest in town. Your forgiven, its a bit too ambitious to expect all people to be able to control themself. But why should a weak person that has a tendency to be an addict (to fat, candies, chocolate, sigarettes, coke, weed, alcohol etc..) be able to prevent me from having my occasional fun. Jack, life is also about being able to control your urges, I like a very occasional sniff. Coke aint bad, its some people that can't cope with freedom.

Also check out rankings.........Thailand is worse than Cambodia when the measure of broader (i.e., peace). And you can read about the methodology.

Yeah I'm sure it is if you leave out that little bit about the 1 million+ people were wiped-out in the Killing Fields!

Quite a stupid argument, its the same as calling Germany violent due to WW2 or to call Rome a violent city because of the Colosseum. Please be a bit more constructive Jonny or do you post because you want to see your avatar?

The following site http://www.nationmaster.com is very usefull for anyone interested in statistics on a wide range of topics about many countries. Its easy to navigate.

Some examples, just look in the top ten for Thailand and gone is the myth Thailand is save.

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_gun_...per-100-000-pop

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_...ders-per-capita

See yourself.

MBL

This is about Thai culture I guess, and it is the Thai way to never complain or highlight mistakes. So we best say nothing and let the wrong doing continue. That way nothing ever improves but we are all happy, or at least seem happy, and can keep smiling.

As long as we do not mention things they do not excist, its a golden rule. But its a shame so many forums (not TV because TV is very liberal, all is possible here, praise TV!) actively discourage any open discussions on anything remotely 'sentsitive'. Seems the meaning of discussion is a hard one; 'The purpose of the Discussion is to interpret your results, that is, to explain, analyze, and compare them'.

For some the power to end discusions is a gift from god which they like too much.

Now, end of this discussion before god calls me back.

A post and replies to it that made derogatory comments about Thai's deleted.

Am I right in thinking that yesterday a member posted about a very traumatic recent event within his Thai family? That post has gone. Are we now not permitted to discuss any of the harsh reality's of Thailand at all? If we don't talk about it on TV then we can assume it doesn't happen, and maintain the LOS romanticized image. Is this the way it is going? I just can't imagine this happening in a forum in any of our home country's. He didn't include names or even places. I guess this forum truly is virtual Thailand.

Aiai, you came to understand the harsh reality of a forum; its not a democracy. Perhaps the way many forums are run sheds a light into the future of our democratic system as a whole. Now lets see how long this post is allowed to stay, for sure I breached a forum rule here: criticism on policies is not allowed.

MBL

Absihit is a puppet in the hands of the military, the monarchy and the Chinese Thai business elite. He has achieved nothing whatsoever in the months since he was ejected into holding power, he is a weak leader that can not make decisions on his own. Having a nice face saved him untill now from the severe criticism he should be getting for not having any policies whatsoever and for allowing the stalemate to continue and for not understanding the root-causes of the dissent among the (rural) poor in his country. Absihits unability or unwillingness to try to understand the majority of teh Thai population disqualified him before he began.

He is not the Statesman Thailand needs desperately to prevent this country sliding into mediocracy compared to all its neighbours except Myanmar.

In a few years the Thai national motto will be: 'sauve qui peut'.

I consider it extremely interesting and I feel priviledged to be allowed to see a nation destruct itself (talking about Thailand here, not the USA).

Looking after family and making sure toothless chewing granny doesn't end up in a cr@ppy nursing home p1ssing the bed and been left to lie to in it while her savings are been chewed through by the council/government.

This is different compared to the UK and therfore part of Thai culture. Looking after all the family first!

Hahaha, I never knew that was the norm in homes for the elderly in Europe, and ofcourse it isn't. In Europe older people do not want to depend on their children, this becuase they know they will be a burden. In Asia the same applies, older people with money live by themself, only there you find many more poor old people that can't afford to live independent so they have to stay with a child, and more often then not that child really doesn't like the burden of his old parents.

Looking after old and dependent family is not a choice, its a hated necessety in all cultures.

A general point. Few Thai people know anything about Buddhism, their 'religion' is 85% animism (spirits, ghosts, luck, bad omens etc..) and at the most 15% is about Buddhism. Most Thai people have no clue about the teachings of Siddhārtha Gautama. Buddha teaches to be kind to fellow humans and see how Thais treat fellow Thais; with deep mistrust, beating the light out of the eyes if they can. Same with being kind to animals, they aint particulary animalfriendly or are they ;-)

Ah well, the same applies for every religion, it all is a load of crap that keeps people content with the shitty state their life is in (acceptance is key).

Anyone know an inexpensive PI in the Khorat area who could nip out and see if a certain someone is where they say they are?

Cheers

If your intuition tells you can't trust someone you know the answers already.

I just saved you a couple of thousand Baht, please pm me where to collect the money when I visit Thailand in some years (the world is big, don't waste all your precious time in a country where they despise us).

I would like to see this documentary, does anyone know if its streamed for example and if so where to find it?

Thanks in advance,

Thanks for your pro Iran stance. I admire your washed brain. Do you really think that your government represents the Iranian people? To the world your country looks like Nazi Germany circa 1935 bent on development of a nuke. Your President has already threatened the USA. Your people we see on TV carrying signs saying "Death to America" do not get unnoticed by the American people . Your country and the rest of the M world who are trying to rule the world are in for a nasty awakening. you are warned.

My government? Sorry I aint Iranian. But I take it as a compliment you think I am. As for Iran being a treat to the USA (perhaps your from that country?), don't make me laugh, no country is treatening the USA. Some smart countries (North Korea and soon Iran) found out that you need a nuke to contain aggression from the USA. If S. Hussein had had a nuke the middle east would have been less of a mess (and Iraq would have continued to be a beacon of secularism in the region).

The world wants the USA to stop thinking that they are the worlds greatest, and the world wants the USA to start behaving as a normal civilised nation without the arrogance that country is known for.

Darn the USA even managed to hijack this topic, funny how that country always comes into discussions they should stay out of.

Now back to the topic please; the comparison between Iran and Thailand.

Its interesting to see what is happening in Iran now and how it compares and contrasts with Thailand.

It contrasts about 1000% more than it compares.

- Iran is a facist theocracy. Thailand is neither facist nor a theocracy.

- Iran has hundreds of thousands of heroin addicts, and a reported 4M regular opiate users, almost 3% of the population (highest in the world according to the UN). Thailand has a drug problem like any other country, but nothing anywhere near these levels.

- The Iranian government is an enemy of the US. Thailand is a staunch ally.

- Iran is a destabilizing force in its region. Thailand is a stabilizing force in its region.

- Iran provides most of the funding and arms support for Hezbollah and other militant factions present in other countries, which are responsible for much of the regional instability. Thailand does no such thing.

- Iran prohibits all religions except Islam and the government actively persecutes non-Muslims. Though majority Buddhist, Thai law permits freedom of religion and Thailand has had a rich history of religious tolerance, including Hindus, Sikhs, Catholics, Jews and Muslims (current southern strife aside).

- Iran uses force of religion and force of the police and military to prevent government change. Thailand does neither.

- The Ayatollah of Iran is revered by a small minority, and reviled by the vast majority. The King of Thailand is highly revered by all.

The list of contrasts goes on ad infinitum. In short, Iran and Thailand are much closer to complete opposites and nowhere near parallels.

This is a topic is search of meaning and substance, IMHO.

Spee, everything you wrote is very simplistic. Can I ask from which country you are (i can guess it already).

Just one point I want to mention here. Iran has freedom of religion, except for the Bahai. Jews and Christians are free to worship (within certain limits, granted) their God.

Spee please fight the attempts to brainwash you! Read 1948 from George Orwell, its might give you some clues how to do ;-)

The main difference

- In Thailand a majority of the populace is pro-opposition

- In Iran a majority of the populace is pro-government

- In Thailand the minority stole the vote of the majority

- In Iran the minority is trying to steal the vote of the majority

- In Thailand the majority poor are pro-opposition

- In Iran the majority poor are pro-government

- In Thailand the military/ monarchy / elite supports the minority because it forms their powerbase

- In Thailand the military/ clergy in the end will always support the majority (=poor) beacause its their powerbase

It would be nice if the media would cover the current events in Iran for its true merits; a small progressive student and wordly minority tries to establish a more progressive and little bit less stringent form of theocracy than the very traditional majority in Iran wants.

I wonder why they feel the need to target one country.........why not target all countries? Seems like over the past few years they have selectively targeted, in order, Russians, Chinese, and now Indians.

Notice a trend here...poor...poorer...poorest...

Hahhaha good old Jonny again;-) Travel a bit Jonny and you might change your views about those countries, but I doubt you will see anything through your eyes, seems you understand everything ;-)

Everyone's situation is different...I suspect you are going for a non-immigrant B, with a one-year extension (based on investment or business). Maybe you are also throwing-in the hassle/paperwork of getting a wp to go along with all this.

For me, it's just a 1 page application, a few pages of documentation, couple photos, and US$ 175 for a 1 year non-imm O multi-entry (90-days in and out) that can be stretched to a 15 month stay

[Of course, this is done every 15 months in my country or origin.]

No, I'm talking about the annual extension of Non-O (marriage). You're still a visa runner. I haven't been out of the country for years.

I guess I wasn't clear...what I meant to convey is what you say...anything involving annual extensions of stay (other than a retirement extension) requires heaps of paperwork (like you say). Probably the same in most countries if you are not a citizen or permanent legal resident.

Nope. We lived in Europe for several years. One simple visit to the local commune where my Thai wife immediately got both residence and work permits valid for 5 years, to be renewed by a similar simple meeting. Documents required: our passports.

Well the conclusion is that Thailand is way smarter then us Europeans, see what kind of foreigners we have in Europe, even worse people then the foreigners residing in Thailand.

I ate 5 kg of durian today and 4 large Singha beers and feel a bit flush - is it true about people dying after eating a alot?

How much can/do you eat?

You ate 5 kilos of food???? Thats totally disgusting!!!!! May I ask your lenght and weight?