spidermike007

A man is only on a short leash because he allows it to happen, so you're right it is only for the wimps of this world who are unwilling to take control of their own lives, and establish a firm agenda early on.

I cannot be personally responsible for "per capita America", however I can choose my to lead my own life in a specific manner, and we are all responsible for our own actions. Personally I take a lot of actions that I believe positively impact the environment, what else can we do? And FYI, I have no shame, so it's not possible for me to be ashamed of criticizing the Thais for their astonishing indifference towards the environment.

Hard to find anyone under 30 these days.

Prolonged drought? Where? Excuses? Yes, likely.

And now they have invited in the Bratva, and the Chinese Triads by opening up the country to any and all. Quantity over quality only works if you are selling $2 items at a swap meet. Dumb and dumber.

We don't have to concern ourselves with what most activists are doing. Most "activists" these days are merely netizens. Getting up off your bum and actually doing something is far different than moaning, groaning and criticizing on social media. For me, that amounts to next to zero, in terms of courage. Being outraged is simply participating in victim culture, and weak PC nonsense, which is degrading society and preformed mostly by weaklings. Everything sparks debate these days, everything seems to offend the snowflakes, everything seems to cause "netizen outrage". Who cares, it means nothing, it is less than zero. Outrage is simply a manifestation of weak victim culture.

Is there a less effective and more corrupt body than the Election Commission in Thailand?

Of course there's nothing wrong with cash, I happen to love cash. I'm talking about compelling people to pay hundreds of thousands, or millions of baht to qualify for a job that they are perfectly capable of performing. This has nothing to do with cash, this has to do with utter and complete depravity and moral bankruptcy.

That is one whopper of a bank transfer, one wonders how something like that could remain hidden.

Even if he believes, like the vast majority of sensible people, that Trump not only lost the election, but lost it by 7 million popular votes, which was quite decisive, he would not say so, he's unwilling to say so out of fealty to his master, and this is just one of the reasons why he is completely unfit for the office of Vice President.

Well more outrage is needed when it comes to environmental devastation, and this does not just relate to Thailand. Very few Thais that I've known seem to have been particularly concerned about the environment, the land, the sea nor the air. So the Thais have a few things to learn about this kind of nonsense too. But anytime someone can be shamed over their foul behavior, it's a good thing.

He sounds like a rather pathetic and highly emasculated man, who does not have much control over his own life, nor emotions. Things aren't working out so just move on, do you understand any of that? Or is that too complicated a concept for you?

It really makes you wonder whether or not these boat captains have ever had any safety training, and how much attention they pay to nearby swimmers and divers. What's really surprising is that this doesn't happen more often considering the incredibly LAX safety standards here.

There's nothing alleged about corruption when it comes to Thaksin and his family, they always have been corrupt, and they always will be corrupt, and if they're accused of corruption, it happened. They are guilty until proven innocent.

No. I don't like health insurance companies. I consider them to be a mafia and I stopped my plan about 10 years ago after it was consistently going up 20% per year, enough is enough, not a single claim and still insane increases. I self-insure and healthcare costs are reasonable enough in Thailand that I'm not worried about it. Had minor heart issues lately and paid out of pocket. If something very serious happens like cancer I will try something extreme like fasting. I would never do chemo, and if fasting doesn't work I'm okay. I've had a good life. An anecdote about the US health care mafia. A good friend of mine got in a bad motorcycle accident some time ago. He almost lost his leg. He got his first of 11 operations at Bangkok Hospital Samui. It costs him over a million baht. They wanted to do a second procedure. They quoted him 1,400,000 baht. He decided to transfer to Bangkok. He was quoted 460,000 baht for the same procedure, at a top private hospital there. The surgeon told him that he worked at a public hospital too, and could do the same operation there, for alot less money. He told him he would get him a quote. In the interim, my friend called a good friend of his, in San Diego, who is an orthopedic surgeon. Since my friend is a retired chiropractor, he knew all the terminology, and explained what he needed, and asked for the best price. His friend called him back the next day, and quoted him $960,000, with cash discounts! The local surgeon here got back to him, and told him he could do it for 46,000 baht. He transferred, and they did all the rest of his procedures. So, 1,400,000 at Bangkok Hospital, 460,000 at Vejthani Hospital, and 46,000 at the public hospital, with an excellent surgeon. vs. 32,000,000 baht in the US. Again, no complaints from this peanut gallery.

There is a huge difference between a legal and transparent payment, and something that's paid entirely off the books in cash, is not only illegal but downright corrupt, and extremely corrosive to society.

Using the word morals and Trump in the same sentence is highly amusing.

Trump deceives his supporters.

And absolutely brilliant orator who can hold a train of thought for a moments at a time, a man of such dignity and grace, compared to the scam artist, convicted felon huckster. And very highly regarded around the world, instead of Huge Don, who is held in great contempt.

And you can only believe and embrace that nonsense due the hypnotic spell of the Shaman huckster. Truth does not support lies.

Yes, we are all communist, Marxist, insane, extreme, and traitors. And even more unbelievable we like to drink the blood of babies in the basements of pizza parlors in New York.

Some people just don't understand how powerful words are, there's no question that when Trump utters absolute foolishness and incites his devotees toward madness, that all kinds of problems are going to take place. There's no question that this goombah was complicit, there's no question that he incited his followers, there is no question that he has blood on his hands. Lock him up.

Just imagine the potential downfall of Thai society if they don't fix this problem, can you even conceive of the kind of problems Thailand could face if more Laos people worked here? Wow, such a horror. They're eating the dogs, they're eating the cats, they're taking your pets. Those damn immigrants.

Considering the fact that I do not have a fortune, I will stay. There are many issues to consider. Going back to the US is not an option. I would not want to live there now, unless I was being paid over a million dollars a year, and then I would only do it for 3 years, and then leave. For me, it is about quality of life, and my level of fulfillment on a daily basis, which I seem to have here in abundance. A big factor here, is the relatively light hearted attitude of the people. You just do not find that in the US, where most seem bitter, disenchanted, unfulfilled, and heavy hearted. This is an entirely subjective topic, of course. But some of us live very good lives here. Some of us have been fortunate enough to find an outstanding woman, who is delightful to be around, on a daily basis, always has our back, and is fun, smart, and lovely. For me, that likelihood of finding that back in the US, would be very low. So, that is a big factor for me. The second factor is just the quality of life. Sure, I miss alot of the culture back home. The theatre, independent film (which I can download here with no issues at all, and a super fast 1 gbps fiber optic connection, at under 700 baht per month!), stand up comedy, live jazz, etc. But I have a lovely home that I rent, for about 10% of what I would pay in California, I live very well on an income which is not huge, have access to great health care, at a tiny fraction of what it costs in the US, and do not have to put up with alot of the aggravation that I had to when I lived back there. Frankly I have given it some thought, and I really don't think that I have a realistic alternative to Thailand.

The authorities should probe their own recruitment methods and why money is required to purchase a promotion and merit is never a consideration. Then they should prove the administrator and do the same. Then they should probe customs, immigration, all tambon, state and federal recruitment. It is all the same. Filthy from top to bottom. No promotions without payment. Corruption, at all levels. A completely broken system. Of course this is just a silly dream, everybody's making so much money with this bizarre patronage system, when hundreds of thousands of baht are being paid for a low position and millions are being paid for a high position. The fortunes that are being made and the illegal and illicit funds that are being collected are astonishing and shameful.