SinCityGr8One

America and Thailand have had a Friendship lasting 181 Years now. Of course there are ups and downs, that's to be expected. Remember this important fact, after Japan's defeat in 1945, with the help of Seri Thai, Thailand was treated as a defeated country by the British and French, although American support mitigated the Allied terms. Thailand was not occupied by the Allies, but it was forced to return the territory it had regained to the British and the French. In the postwar period Thailand had relations with the United States, which it saw as a protector from the communist revolutions in neighboring countries. Time and changing of the course of present events will bring everything back to normal between Thailand and the USA.

How the word Integrity is spelled in the Thai Language: ไม่

Indonesia, it's your Laws and your Penalties are equal and the same to all Law breakers regardless of Nationality. Just get on with it and finish the lot off. I am a strong believer in the Death Penalty as Punishment for Capital Crimes. It is Justice served to those that deserve it. Death to ALL Drug Traffickers.

Yes, I can personally say very reliable when packages are sent via Thai Post EMS. Expensive, however very reliable.

This is the same make and model I have and carry when I travel back to the USA. Yes, I have a CCW and the firearm is 100 % Legal. Also, my Daughter has a CCW and carries a Sig-Sauer 9mm at all times in the USA. It is far better to have one and not need it, then to need one and not have it. I don't have one in the Kingdom, however and neither know the laws regarding firearm ownership here. Private gun ownership is always an interesting topic with differing views and opinions. I read that you live near the Cambo Border. I can understand your concerns, myself having taken trips into the Cambo interior with people that are armed because if the vehicle we are in ever broke down, we would have been easy prey for criminal minded individuals.

Just a matter of time before you see Chinese military based in Thailand to better protect the Junta (not to be confused with Thais people) from both external and internal enemies.

This military alliance goes beyond the Junta's "spat" with the USA. It goes to the heart of what is most dear to the Junta - preservation of its power and wealth no matter the cost. Considering the ideology of the atheistic communist Chinese regime, constitutional monarchies and Buddhism are not any more compatible in such as regime than is democracy. This agreement marks a very sad day for Thailand's future as a free nation. Maybe Thailand now should be called "Chailand."

Stop being so ridiculous!! The Chinese will not have any military presence in Thailand, that is absurd.

It seems to have escaped you that the government is there out of necessity and once their job is complete le: they create the conditions whereby free and fair elections can be held then they will step down and move out of the way.

Do you live in Thailand? don't you think that there are enough ethnic Chinese living in Thailand already - I mean, both Abhisit and the Shinawatra clan are Ethnic Chinese, for Christ sake.

They have their own Chinese temples all over Thailand and are at the heart of business that drives the Thai economy due to their inherent 'good business' acumen.

It is a joyous day for Thailand if the cosy up with the Chinese and kick those no-good Yanks out from poking their nose in where it doesn't belong!!

It is America that tries to dictate what THEY want other countries to be like and not China (excepting Hong Kong to a small degree)!

Before posting again, try to get a better grasp of the situation.

those no good yanks? I take offense to that comment and decided you deserve an Award for that comment.

Lock and Load!

Lock and Load!

Politicians from all Nations are just talking heads. Blah-Blah-Blah regarding a topic or subject and it is soon forgotten, shelved or swept away. It's the Political survival game of doing things, but in the end seldom sees a successful accomplishment in the end. IMHO.

"National Human Rights Commission member Dr Niran Pitakwatchara said the amendment would better prevent police or anti-narcotics agents from abusing their power. For example, the NHRC has received many complaints of police planting drugs on innocent people to extort money from them."

How will it stop that happening, then?

How about installing Video Cams on ALL Officers? The recordings of the Police Intervention will help prove or disprove alleged criminal actions. No Video of alleged crime, No case and all charges are dropped against the Defendant. This is in use in the USA and Police misconduct and charges of Police brutality has dropped dramatically. Something has to be in place to Police the Police. This is a good start. IMHO.

Read this article. hope it answers your question:http://www.automoblog.net/2013/06/06/import-right-hand-drive-car/

It is times like this that bring a little tear of happiness to my eye. This POS killed innocent people for $300. I am sorry he appeared to check out without pain.

I agree with you 100%. Executions in Texas are in a rather Clinical setting, with various chemicals injected to put the condemned to sleep first, then to stop the heart from beating. It's kinda like nighty-night! Texas had the electric chair known as, "Old Sparky" from 1924-1964 and it was used successfully to terminate 361 condemned prisoners lives. It is now on display at the Texas Prison Museum in Huntsville, Texas. I personally believe it should be brought back into use once again. Those that commit Capital or Heinous Crimes don't deserve to die peacefully but rather with some terror in their heart and have the few remaining seconds to reflect on the crime they committed that got them to sit in the "Hot Seat", before the switch is thrown. IMHO.

Anyone remember the news article regarding the questionable Ferrari 456GT from 30 SEP 2007?:

In Thailand, exotic car theft is a pretty common occurrence, and thieves are pretty sophisticated about it, too. First, they make off with the vehicle's important components. Then, after the police seize what's left, the criminals purchase it at auction at about 15% of its value. This is "car laundering," and local officials have caught on to the ruse. Now, rather than auction cars off to the people who stole them to begin with, the government will simply crush what's left behind. Here's an example.

In June, Thai officials seized a Ferrari 456GT that was stripped of its ABS brakes, transmission, wiring systems, and exhaust. In proper condition, the car would be valued somewhere between 30 and 40 million Baht. In its stripped state, it likely would have brought under Bt 5 million at auction. If the original thieves were to re-acquire the car at that low price, and then restore it to working order with its own stolen parts, it could be sold at a tidy profit. So the government decided to make an example of the GT and sell it off as scrap. Enter one heavy excavator, exit one Ferrari 2+2.

It's a shame, really, but Thai authorities are serious about efforts to dissuade car laundering. At the very least, thieves won't be flipping this one for a quick buck...er...Baht

Thank You, The Great State of Texas, for taking the trash out! But, why did ya'll wait 21+ Years to do it?

I travel back to the USA for a 1-2 Month Holiday each year. I have a "TracFone" that I purchased in WAL*MART for $10.00. i keep it at my daughters house there to use when I'm back. The last one broke,so I just went back and bought another $10.00 phone. I can call and send SMS and that's all I care about. i don't need any bells or whistles while I'm there. Check out WAL*MART when you arrive as they have quite the selection.

AK-47's, Shotguns, Men dressed up as Muslim Women, stealing Colgate tooth paste, shampoo and snacks? Sounds to me as if WorkPoint Entertainment was video taping a comedy episode there. Perhaps, Colgate-Palmolive was one of the Sponsors behind the scenes? 12 minutes taken to rob the 7-11 of that stuff? ...........Now a word from one of our Sponsors! IMHO

Too few and stinky toilets, personell can't speak english, too crowded at the check-inn, not enough smoking area's, no "good day sir" or smile, very long qeueu's, crappy dirty taxi's and driversmentality, restaurants can't speak english, restaurants can't speak english, no free wifi, too few seats for the A380 plane's, and airline groundstaff can't speak english

"Too few and stinky toilets".

Plenty of toilets and I've never come across a "stinky" one.

"personell can't speak english".

People that travellers need do speak enough English. Don't you speak Thai?

"too crowded at the check-inn"

Check in earlier.

"not enough smoking area's".

That only be a good thing, but who really cares and is it that important?

" very long qeueu's".

Is there one airport anywhere that doesn't have queues?

"crappy dirty taxi's and driversmentality".

Definitely not the responsibility of the airport.

"restaurants can't speak english".

The airport doesn't run the restaurants? This is not an English speaking country, you know.

"no free wifi".

It's an airport, do your internet stuff before or after you get there, or use your phone for contact.

"too few seats for the A380 plane's".

Which was there first, the airport or the A380s?

"airline groundstaff can't speak english".

All the staff speak enough English to do their job.

Spot On!

Let it go. Just be at the gate at least 1/2 hour ahead of Departure Time for any Airline you fly.

The Missus and I buy apples every week to eat and never had a problem. She does wash and core each apple into slices and places the slices into a bowl of purified water and a pinch of salt to rest for about 2-3 minutes before consuming. Never had a problem. She soaks the same with a pinch of salt for Black Grapes that come from India. No problem with them either. In all actuality, we have never had any problem with any fruit She purchases, perhaps due to the fact She hand selects each piece, except the 3 Kg bags of oranges/tangerines that She purchases, that originate from China. Who knows? Lucky Perhaps?

The so-called London fixings in gold, silver, platinum and palladium are not conspiracies but actual auction markets. The mechanism of the fixings is to find by successive trials the single price for spot (that is, physical for 2-day settlement) at which all orders of buyers and all orders of sellers (primarily bullion dealers and their largest customers) are matched and balanced. The single fixing prices of each metal are used as benchmarks for pricing metals contracts between dealers, mining companies, refineries and fabricators throughout the world.

Gold is fixed twice daily starting at 10:30am and 3pm London time by the five members of the London Gold Market Fixing, who act as brokers for their customers. Silver is fixed daily at noon by the three members of the London Silver Market Fixing.

Platinum and palladium are fixed daily at 9:45am and 2pm by the four fixing members of the London Platinum & Palladium Market.

The price of Gold can be manipulated just like any other commodity behind closed doors. The only one who truly gains is the traders and assayers.

Did everyone forget the LIBOR scandal? It was a series of fraudulent actions connected to the LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) and also the resulting investigation and reaction. The LIBOR is an average interest rate calculated through submissions of interest rates by major banks in London. The scandal arose when it was discovered that banks were falsely inflating or deflating their rates so as to profit from trades, or to give the impression that they were more creditworthy than they were. LIBOR underpins approximately $350 Trillion in derivatives, which will eventually Bankrupt the ENTIRE Global Economy. The LIBOR is now administered by the NYSE Euronext, which took over running the LIBOR in January 2014. However, that only changes the location of the 3 Card Monti game and does not guarantee any increased safety.

If investing in Gold was that Great and Safe, the Voters in Switzerland would have passed their recent referendum overwhelmingly, however they realized the risks involved and trounced down the referendum.

I'll Pass.

allow me to comment on your last paragraph about the swiss referendum:

in my opinion, the referendum was not shot down because holding gold is a good or bad investment. it's rather the stipulations in the referendum, which the voters did not agree, mainly:

1. the referendum stipulated that the snb(swiss national bank) has to hold at least 20% of their assets in gold.

now, for the last few years, the snb had to support the exchange rate of the swiss fr. against the euro, resulting in a massively inflated balance sheet. the snb is now sitting on i don't know how many billions of euros.

if this referendum would have passed, the snb would have to have bought another ca. 1500 tons of gold, more than doubling their current reserves, which are already the 8th highest in the world. according to wikipedia, they would end up then right behind the IMF and become no. 4 on the list worldwide.

2. the real kicker however -again in my own opinion- was the stipulation that all that gold which the national bank then holds, cannot be sold for all eternity. this idea alone plus the fact that such a stipulation is massivley obstructing the freedom of action of the national bank, is, what finally sent it downhill, and rightly so.

Thanks for the follow up Posting regarding the Swiss referendum. I thought I would just end my posting where I did as I did not want to write too much and have any Member dozing half way through reading it. You where Spot on however, on the ramifications that the Swiss would have faced if the measure past. Good Info! Thanks!

Yep, I imagined a boat full of ex-cons and the thought brought me back in time to the 1600's. Hmmmm? Perhaps History might have a chance of repeating itself?

Maybe the Government needs to make cut out's of this happy face and attach elastic bands to it so passer-by's can wear it and have the hap-hap-happiest face this side of the Pacific!

The Question of the Day: Do the Celebrities (really) use them? Over a decade ago, Shane Warne signed on to endorse quit-smoking aid Nicorette. He was supposedly paid a couple of Hundred Thousand Dollars to quit smoking, yet was later busted lighting up. In 2012, Football star Ronaldinho, who was reportedly paid Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars to be the face of Coke, was photographed drinking Pepsi at a press conference. Actress Eva Longoria has recently been endorsing Dine cat food. In a TV ad, she says: “My passion, my cat, my choice.” Unfortunately for Longoria, she later confessed in an Australian newspaper that she does not own a cat.

I always got a laugh when I was flipping through the TV channels and seen an advertisement with a couple of SeXXXy Big Boobed Thai Chicks touting the benefits of SuperMax capsules that will enlarge your Gentleman's Sausage to incredible proportions, that would probably scare away most sane Females. Yeah, sure they'll work! I suggest Truth in Advertising Laws to be enacted in the Kingdom immediately.

The endorsements and information promoted by celebrities towards advertised products are artistic works of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything presented by them as as fact. To clarify matters, all advertisements regarding any product should have a disclaimer at the end that the Celebrity was compensated. IMHO.

Well France has allowed the scum of the world to stand on it's soil and now the scum are spilling French blood on that same soil. Will France do something now?

Stricter gun control laws might a possibility. I understand the police, at least in Paris, are not armed.

Unarmed French police retreat from Islamist attackers - hotair.com

Current firearm policy - France

"In France, the right to private gun ownership is not guaranteed by law" (not to mention law enforcement officials)

How about every non-Immigrant French Man or Woman issued a firearm to carry 24/7 for protection. Gun Control is a steady hand. Better to have one and not use it than need one and not have it.