Strange

59 minutes ago, webfact said:

If it is proven that the claims were an offence of defamation and had indeed damaged the image of Thailand there may be a price to pay, said the police spokesman on Wednesday. 

Such little sissies. 

4 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

Have you got any evidence for that? Business has been saying this since forever.  America compares very favorably to most industrialized countries. The World Bank rates the USA eighth for ease of doing business out of all the countries in the world.

Of course, Trump does have a plan for keeping American business competitive. Keeping labor costs down. That's why he's against the minimum wage And against salaried workers earning less than 24K per year being eligible for overtime, And he's selected for his Labor Secretary , a guy who agrees with him 100%.A.  Trump himself has been fighting unionization at one of his hotels in Vegas. The NLRB has ruled that Trump violated Federal Labor Law by refusing to negotiate with a Union selected by the workers there.  

Evidence? You need proof that adding more taxation and bureaucracy negatively impacts business, hell, everything, except for the government itself? 

I know we are doing well compared to other countries, I'm not arguing that, but that argument has zero relevance to improving the state of things currently in the United States. 

Unions suck for business. They are like little mafias. Also, "Trump" didn't violate Federal Labor Law - "Trump Ruffin LLC" did. 

You can't raise minimum wage to $15 an hour. Thats just crazy-speak. Individual states can raise their minimum wage over the federal minimum as they see fit. 

On this subject we are debating, Trump Vs HRC, Hands down trumps got it. 

Built and been involved with a couple houses here. 

Pour the columns one day, start removing the forms the next morning. Even in the states we did the same thing. Pour today, strip tomorrow, unless its a VERY thick pour, like 3-4-5 foot thick. 

You are surely to get people getting all technical telling you your house will fall down if you don't wait 3 days 12 hours and 23 minutes. 

That concrete will be hard in a couple hours, and in 16-20 hours at about 20 cm thick it will be plenty hard and probably hot to the touch as well. At this point in your build its not load bearing, but needs to stay moist, so your guys should have wet burlap wrapping on the columns or at least have a guy with a hose spraying it every hour or 2. 

Again, its not load bearing right now, so no problem. Even if they bump the columns with the prefab concrete panels it will be fine. 

1 hour ago, Berkshire said:

The US economy is not a "disaster" as many on the right claim it is.  But yes, we have winners and losers.  Having said that, one should recognize that there are changes occurring which have been ongoing for some time.  Yes, some globalization, but technological advances as well.  The US does not have a comparative advantage in producing any number of products, which is why they migrated overseas.  If you bring these jobs back, it's guaranteed that prices would rise for consumers.  I'm not saying that things are perfect, but the free market tends to make decisions better than any government.  Or do you think that government should decide for private industry?

If its too expensive for them to operate in the USA and maintain profit margins, we should try and free up these businesses from bureaucracy and taxation (to a point, don't get all extreme) so that these businesses can operate here. This same logic applies to all the small businesses so they can develop, innovate, stay ahead, invest in themselves, etc... 

HRC wanted to punish business more, Trump less. You can look at it any way you want, but adding bureaucracy and taxation will not ever improve anything. 

2 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

Do you actually have any real knowledge of business taxation in the US as compared to the rest of the world.  And what is this nonsense about companies being pushed out of business? Companies always go out of business. And other companies are created. The US economy is actually growing quite well. In fact, out of all the countries in the OECD, I think the USA is now doing the best in growth except for a few small and still developing nations. That's very impressive considering the size of the U.S. economy.

Ah ok then yeah makes sense now. Lets just continue to roll on like we are doing then. Lets add more tax on those businesses too.  Yep good plan. Oh, also, lets go ahead and fiddle with americans tax rates also, since we are doing so well. Lets jumble the numbers around confusingly so that some small portion of people get like an extra $800 in their return. Sounds great, since we are doing so well. 

Oh, yeah, hey, Obamacare, yeah thats doing great too, more expensive? No problem. We are doing so well, Americans won't mind, you know, we have all those "statistics" telling us how well we are doing. 

Yep, doing so well. Whew! 

4 minutes ago, Berkshire said:

 

You seem to have a much better understanding of how the US economy works than the typical Trump supporter.  Although I'm not a huge fan of unions (having been in management and having to deal with unions), there's no question that unions have increased wages in America.  The decline in unions in America does coincide with the overall decrease in manufacturing in America and wages in general (blue collar wages in particular).  It will be interesting to see what Trump and a Republican Congress decides to do in this regard.  The GOP is traditionally anti-union, so it's pretty comical that any member of a union would support Trump.  Which goes to show you how uninformed people tend to vote against their own self interest. 

On the other hand, well could just keep the status quo and do nothing, let jobs, companies, etc... Just leave because there is 'nothing we can do' apparently. 

But yeah I'm just uninformed and gullible. Lets just let them leave, tax the shiiiiiiit out of them, squeeze business even more, push more jobs and companies either out of the country or out of business completely. 

Cause that is working so well right now, things are so great & stuff. 

3 hours ago, webfact said:

get rid of regulatory barriers, and have American leadership through innovation."

Sounds a hell of a lot better than having American leadership that completely stale, complacent, patronizing, and out of touch. Cant see anything wrong with that, and even if Gates is simply being a billionaire kiss-ass, thats good too. 

1 minute ago, ilostmypassword said:

Really? A loaded question? And after the election, when he claimed that millions of illegal votes were cast for Hillary Clinton and that he really won the popular vote. And he said this after he had won! Even in victory he couldn't accept the results.  But you seriously maintain that had he lost, he would been a good sport about it and accepted the results?  What utter unbelievable nonsense!

Yes, really, a loaded question. You answer yes, and you admit the possibility of defeat, you answer no, or "Ill keep you in suspense" and you don't admit the possibility of defeat, but you get people like yourself that think he's a domestic terrorist or something. 

I think that if he had lost, he (or his crew by proxy) probably would be doing the same shit Jill Stein & Co, CIA, FBI, Obama, HRC, MSM, and Democrats as a whole are doing now, but with a lot more cash behind it, and some tweets.  But there wouldn't be riots and people crying about it. 

If you are asking me if I think he would have accepted? Yeah I think he would have. I don't take these things as LITERAL when they are said, but you guys do, and can't seem to understand that. 

3 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

Trump who refused to say whether he would accept the results of the election if he lost.

Dont know why people keep hanging on this statement. 

During the campaign, every poll and every media outlet had HRC winning. Trump campaigning, rallying, etc.... So many people thought HRC was gonna win. TVF the same. Basically the world, the same. 

The media, during all this, kept on poking the fire asking him if he would accept defeat, because everyone thought he was going to lose. 

Why, the shit, would you accept defeat before the game is even finished. "If I lose, yes, I will bla bla bla" They even cornered the guy on the final debate with the stupid question. 

Personally when someone is trying to corner me and force me to answer a question, I'm not gonna answer it because its baited. Straight up loaded question. 

17 minutes ago, Andaman Al said:

What a pity the USA was not full of good Americans getting behind President Obama when he commenced office. What is a 'good American'? A white heterosexual right wing conservative?

No, just slightly conservative would be good. 

17 minutes ago, Andaman Al said:

Keep the Blacks down?

Do you keep all these meaningless one-liners in a folder somewhere? I mean really, whats that got to do what anything. 

19 minutes ago, Andaman Al said:

Chaos that would have been caused by Trump supporters and Republicans.

"Would have" meaning pure speculation. Historically, conservatives don't get on the streets and cry, moan, destroy stuff, get in peoples faces, assault people, and generally be a nuisance. I think even you can agree with that. Yeah we might bitch and complain, but chaos is not what "would have" happened.

12 hours ago, webfact said:

they may scare the living hell out of other motorists and cause an accident.

12 hours ago, webfact said:

mental harm to other motorists.

There is another thread on here about "What is a 'nanny state'"

This is a 'nanny state' example. 

3 minutes ago, chiang mai said:

Can we get this thread back on track, I'm also curious to learn what current prices are.

Surin Province 5 years ago, bought 2 Chanotes of 1 ngnaan each, or 1/2 Rai, with power, water, and internet available right on a concrete street that was undeveloped for 350K, and it didn't need any fill soil. I still added 600cm though. 

Now, the same area, you can not find 1 ngnaan for less than 500-600K and thats usually gonna need power brought in, a well drilled, probably at least a meter or more of soil. 

And Thais were buying it. I could not build a house for myself of anything less than 1/2 rai, so at the current price its about a million baht per 1/2 rai. Thats $30k. Too rich for my blood as a florida guy when you can't own it and its still in a 3rd world country, and in a semi-rural area of a 3rd world country to boot. 

Nobody is buying right now though. Lots of stuff for sale at this price and just sitting. Thais don't care, they will sit on it for 20 years before marking the price down. 

1 hour ago, robblok said:

You only fight when you got a chance or if your actions really help.

Damn man I can think of 1000's of situations where I would rather fight an un-winnable war and die, than to lay down & "Live". Im no hero or anything, but history is a bitch & its proven time and time again how bad shit can get. 

There is also a personal responsibility of the people to protect themselves, and countries have allies for a reason. 

I know what you are saying but I don't really agree. This statement it way too simple and sheltered. 

"Vanity Fair"

9 minutes ago, joeyg said:

Trying to think of a war that was fought for a good reason other than enriching the MIC or other "fat cats."

Can't.

World War 2? Or was that a big conspiracy theory to enrich the MIC?

2 hours ago, louse1953 said:

5555,best laugh of the morning.Teach men and women to kill and abuse others.Usually men learn this quickly and abuse their fellow female recruits.If that is areal man,well i must just be an ordinary man.I think sport teaches us all the disipline you need,especially team sport.

Just saw this gem ^

Can I ask what country you are from? Curious to see what cultural motivations would drive a person to think like this. 

1 minute ago, scorecard said:

 

This thread is about Thailand, does Thailand have anything similar to the GI bill, is there any regulation or serious focus on Thai conscripts gaining a trade etc?

I don't know what the Thailand Army has other than massive corruption & nepotism. 

I was trying to get feedback from Rob on why he feels the way he does. 

45 minutes ago, bprhodes said:

My son, age 22, who is half thai but has lived his entire life in the USA, traveled to Thailand on his Thai passport, stayed 3 weeks, got his Thai ID card while here, and bought land.  No problem with military.  I asked my Thai lawyer before he traveled and my lawyer said that the immigration and armed services draft people do not communicate with each other - so no problem at all.

Excellent post with factual information, and lawyer information as well. 

Im quoting you to keep it fresh in the thread. 

Just now, Tony125 said:

It makes sense if he doesn't want to be drafted into the Thai Army.

The question is if being drafted into the Thai army is a legitimate concern or not. 

IMO its not. 

But yes you guys are right. 

1 minute ago, phetphet said:

Even if he pays the family, and only does a little time, he would be best to get out of Samui pretty quick. Or spend his days looking over his shoulder. Compensation may not be enough to satisfy some people.

He would be best to get out of Thailand completely, if he isn't blacklisted from the country first. 

Stuff like this is serious business. As soon as I got passport in hand id get the hell out. Plenty of other 'cheap' places to live. 

Just now, evadgib said:

None of which apply re an intended 3 week holiday!

Fair enough, doesn't even need a visa either, just a 30 day exempt stamp. 

But who knows, maybe he will want to stay longer once he gets here. 

Imho Id come in on the Thai PP and would not worry one single bit about the army. He may be Thai, but Thailand doesn't even know who he is really. I just don't see any reason not to use the Thai PP

4 minutes ago, evadgib said:

Back on Topic; If the OP enters on his EU ppt I can't see a problem.

Except for visas, reporting, cash in thai bank, visa runs, tourist visas, etc... depending on how/why he chooses to come in with the EU passport. 

I mean the fella has a Thai Passport. He's Thai. Makes no sense to come in on another passport. 

It sucks but the story is entirely one sided. 

I just want to know HOW he hit the motorbike. Did it pull out in front of him? Driving the wrong way with head lights off? I mean in the picture FRONT of the motorbike is up under the front of the truck.

He will be strung up by the nuts for drinking and killing 2 thais as a foreigner, unless he can pay off the families, and they are surely gonna look at his foreigner self and that new white truck before coming up with a number. He won't do much jail time, as it does not 'benefit' the families for him to rot in prison and pay them nothing. Ill bet he's shittin bricks right now. 

He should not have been drinking thats for sure, as another poster said, seems to be a bit of a tit as well, but dang, that crowd was looking to lynch the sucker. 

As another poster said as well, this kinda thing is what worries me about driving here. Idiots galore and lynch mobs ready to string you up because "This is Tai-lan" 

Some people say "As a forgnier you are always wrong" and thats not necessarily true, but as a Foreigner you are MORE WRONG than a Thai. 

20 minutes ago, webfact said:

Police said that sperm taken from the victim had been tested and they would be able to say today the nationality of the man who it belonged to.

Can this actually be done? 

And:

Nice little gem they are leaving for themselves regardless. So aggravating that it always seems to be more important to prove that it was not a Thai, rather than focus on what happened regardless of nationality. 

15 minutes ago, Silurian said:

Huh, sounds like some Comrade Donald's campaign speeches. Some grains of truth, some spin, some conjecture...

Lawd, if I could only post some of HRC's real gems. 

Campaign speeches are one thing.

"Russia helped Trump win the White House" is entirely another.