Sydebolle

Visiting in-laws?

Point taken yet I just fell off my office chair when I read "there is no insurance coverage to rely on.” I had 17 minor accidents by third parties who hit my car; bikes, cars, pick-ups and a truck. And, guess what, only two had insurance, five made a runner (got all of 'em thanks to a dash camera) and the remaining ten tried all possible hat tricks to get off the hook. No insurance coverage to rely on - made my day, thank you for that!

Does SHE know who stands to her left?

If the passport copy is insufficient, then just leave the package and FedEx will return to sender

Start with cleaning up this over-bureaucratic pain of immigration please

Less systems, less working groups, less forms, less paragraphs, well TM1-TM9999 ......... would be the answer. Look at Singapore, look at Europe - they managed immigration issues without all those police generals, police lieutenants and what-else-you-may-have. Completely overloaded bureaucracy ...........

"Lax Law Enforcement Cited for Alarming Road Fatalities in Thailand" Wrong headline - should read "Absent Law Enforcement" - and in other places, where "Lax Law Enforcement" is applied, it usually gets bent more often than not with some contributions to the "look the other side fund". You're welcome!

She thinks (and is mostly right) that she marries an ATM. The social values of a Thai compared to a Caucasian is mostly diametral but the Caucasian does not realize this most of the time and if so, it is too late. Many of these girls got bonked as teenagers on the social behest of the grannies and uncles to marry (not legally but just traditionally with lots of Sinsot/Dowry) and then carry on and produce offsprings. Testosterone-loaded boys hammer to no end until "Bingo" and she's pregnant. Boy makes a runner, is legally not bound and is not taken to the cleaner for child support as he is busy impregnating the next sweetheart in another village and has no money to start with. In addition the loss of face of the pregnant girl's family is not to be overlooked as well. That explains, why each and every department store must be having tens of thousands of cashiers on the payroll and, my boy, those paychecks are fantastic as they result in gold necklaces the size of a huge motorbike chain, the brother gets a motorbike and daddy if not uncle roams the village in a pick-up. Mama sees some gold as well and everything seems to be restored. The cold truth is, that the girl plies the trade of "les belles de nuit" which she shares with hundred thousand other girls. Irregular payments to the village for the offsprings upkeepinig, frequent hair dressing, lots of alcohol and other pops, gambling and the notorious boyfriend-cum-motorbike-delivery-boy ensure, that the bottomless pit stays bottomless. Comes along Khun Farang from faraway lands, funny language and funny food, but who cares. Off she goes to farangland, no sanook, but far away from all the misery and all those people leeching off whatever they can. The farang usually has a story of his own being divorced with some kids in the ex's custody and life is miserable as well. Ideal fertile ground for such relations. It usually works though only, if the farang does not have too high expectations or is not the sharpest tool in the box. In most cases it does not work in the long run. He met the girl in a bar and fears that whoever spills bigger banknotes will take over the bounty. She, on the other hand, does not trust Khun Farang either as he paid/pays for her. If he finds a better deal - not essentially financial alone - then she's past history. Vicious circle indeed; and if he's a tourist living outside Asia, then he will learn pretty soon, that you can take a Thai out of Thailand but you cannot take Thailand out of a Thai. You're welcome!

Read the finer details - if you can. There is a distinct difference between Jews and Israel and my lines were addressing the official Israel and its government. Nothing to do with my Israeli and Jewish friends so stop throwing manure at random if you don't know the difference

Yeah, the Alien Business Law - a ridiculous listing of professions which may, by all means, not performed by non-Thais. Ice carving, hair dressing, massage and other such stuff ......... Of interest is i.e. tourism; I've come across the most terrible tour guides - only interested in the 30% - 50% commission from sellers of overpriced stuff, poor command of the visitors language and almost zero clue of their cultural background. But the semi-divine have the licenses and hence cultural, historical or architectural elements of tour programmes are seriously short-changed in many cases. Only once Thailand understands, that everybody is same in front of the laws and regulations of the country, only then Thailand might be considered a valuable member of the business community of the 21st century. If you cannot beat them, then join them. Do away with all those governmental quotas and stop hammering it into the brains of Thais, that Thais and non-Thais are completely different. Everything else is backtracking in the long run

Prostitution, drugs and absolute ignorance towards the law - welcome to Thailand. The first thing to do when a new law is published - try to find out how to circumvent it or who is there to bribe. As long as there is very little to no law enforcement ..........

Reality draws a completely different picture to your statement - regretfully. Innocent people are killed on a genocide level and this is a Palestine statement and not a splinter group like Hamas alone!

Varawut Silpa-archa might be very, very well advised to put his foot down. Get externally appointed fact checking and arrest the culprits. Same to those in charge of "screening". Once all identified, book them and throw away the keys. How sickening is that, what is going on in those people's minds?

Book him into a psychiatric facility and throw away the keys - everything else might result in a disaster and you do not want to take that risk.

It's called a lawyer working in a law office ........... and is a matter of common sense - me thinks!