wensiensheng

I believe that it is illegal to smoke weed in public. Routinely ignored by all and sundry alike, to the extent that you don’t even know it’s illegal

Personally, I’d rather have both laws enforced. And actually, I’d have no problem with all laws being enforced uniformly and consistently nationally. I’d lose some personal freedoms, but maybe life would be safer for everybody

I think it has to be pointed out that the attackers have brought a court case, which I guess is their legal right. It hasn’t gone to court yet, so there is no miscarriage of justice. Reading about the evidence, it seems quite likely that the case will be dismissed and justice done. I mean, you only have to look at the USA to know that frivolous litigation is brought all the time in the hope of making a buck or getting out of trouble by filing a counter suit

The issue is the likelihood that middle class Thais will become poor Thai’s due to gambling losses. The average rural farmer already tend to lose their money playing cards or on illegal lotteries, so may not be affected by casinos. But middle class Thais will have another avenue to becoming poor.

Agree. What do people mired in debt due to gambling do? Turn to crime is often the answer.

Might be true, might not. But in reality it’s just an unsubstantiated rumour not backed up by fact

Not sure if you read the article or not. You know, the bit which describes what actually happened, rather than your surmising what didn’t happen.

Not sure why so much emphasis on it being Israelis. The dispute was between local ladies and wannabe ladies. Two tourists tried to help out and got clattered for their sins. it’s nice to try and help people, but the height of stupidity in Thailand. Not only are you likely to come off worst, but also you’ll be in a headline that implies blame on your part.

The longer it stays in limbo the better.

“This successful interception is part of a broader effort by the government to tackle wildlife trafficking, in line with directives from Dr. Chalermchai Sri-on, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment. The ministry has been cracking down on all forms of illegal wildlife trade, including illegal pet breeding, online commerce, cross-border trafficking, and smuggling.” strange. The article says it was as a result of a tip off by air Asia staff. Nothing to do with any government bs at all.

New elections for what? You do know what happened last time don’t you?

“This plan supports tourism while keeping order,” Prasertexplained. “ So tourists in tourist areas get booze, locals in local areas get kept in order? How about this for an idea. Practicing Buddhists who take their faith seriously, make a choice not to drink alcohol on religious days. People of other faiths, no faith or less serious Buddhists get to drink alcohol. Forcing the terms of a faith on everyone is bound to cause controversy.

You are not wrong. The south of the country probably wonders why Buddhist rules apply to them though.

There’s no need to highlight Thai road dangers. We all see them graphically everyday. Although in this case the danger appears to have come from the quad bike rider himself. No other vehicle involved.

Of course. How else could so many people get visa extensions without the required money in the bank? Local immigration officials leeway and a payment of cash under the table is the answer

“To bolster this effort, the immigration office now conducts bi-monthly meetings with consular officials, ensuring that all new arrivals have no active arrest warrants, appear on no blacklists, and possess sufficient funds and a defined itinerary.” How does the monthly meeting ensure what is stated? Do the consular officials hand over a list of new arrivals that do have active arrest warrants, do appear on blacklists, don’t have sufficient funds and don’t have a defined itinerary? Sorry, I find that very unlikely.

You certainly type a good game.

Easy to think that he doesn’t want to give details of the incident to the police because it was a friend or girlfriend who did the stabbing. Not so easy to understand why he didn’t want medical treatment….unless he had no money to pay?

Hmm, revenue for Government, I can certainly see that. Jobs for Thai people? Well yes, just as when a new hotel opens, jobs are created, but it’s not like casinos are going to be built by the dozens, so the number of new jobs in comparison to the size of the workforce will be minuscule. On the other hand, the scope for corruption and graft is immense. Thailand stands a chance of becoming a worldwide hub for money laundering because the track record of the country for enforcing meaningful regulation is very poor. And that revenue created for the government, that comes from the customers of the casinos. Nobody cares if high roller Chinese lose a packet at a casino, but how about gambling addicts like Thai people? The potential for destruction of middle class wealth is huge. i’m not saying that casinos are all bad. Singapore, Macao and Las Vegas ( although the latter has experienced a period of time when the mob were involved) have shown that they can work well within a community. Equally, the risks involved with casinos when not properly regulated are amply demonstrated elsewhere.

Seems to me that it is all about legalizing casinos. Everything else is just camouflage to distract from single controversial fact.

There is all that for sure. But Thais don’t help themselves. The wealth destruction from gambling is just incredible. It’s progressed from “just” cock fights, lottery’s and cards to illegal online slots. The amount of money lost is just staggering to me. And then there is drugs and alcohol.🤦‍♂️

They do realize that everyone is going to ignore these rules, just like they ignore the current ones, don’t they? I mean, sure, the cops will police selected parts of it so as to receive back handlers, but outside of that, do as you will. The recent legalization of weed says it all. No smoking weed in public? How has that gone?

No I mean China’s orbit. It’s obvious that legally Thailand is recognized as an independent country, as opposed to, say, Taiwan. Claiming that Thailand is a 35th province of China is like claiming the UK is a State of the USA. It’s not, it is simply in its orbit and mostly follows what the super power country wants.

Blah blah blah. I can just picture Rubio being asked “ shall we send the strongly condemn letter?”

I don’t think Thailand really cares about what Human Rights groups around the world think. And of course they are sucking up to China in preference to the USA. Why wouldn’t they? They obviously think China will be a stable and advantageous ally in many different ways and we all know how the USA treats its allies. It’s a no brainer that Thailand would prefer to be in China’s orbit.