spidermike007

I suspect you are absolutely correct and I suspect that many of those high level culprits are high-ranking police and army officers.

Total nonsense, yes while that does benefit the super toxic defense industry, the economy at large is suffering, consumers are suffering, retail is suffering, consumer confidence is way down, alot of people feel uncertainty and fear, and inflation is up. So, wrong on every count.

I never understood GDP growth, why is it that a 2% increase in retail sales is considered struggling? It's a completely bizarre concept to me. Struggling might be a 10 or 20 or 30% reduction in sales not a 2% increase in sales. This entire article is very misleading and I think the information is false. I think retail sales are way down worldwide and it's being covered up by every authority under the sun.

These are all positive developments, out of control foreigners need to be reprimanded and punished and encouraged to act in a civil manner. There's no place for thugs and the Thai people should not be compelled to tolerate thuggish behavior on the part of foreigners. We owe our hosts a degree of respect and we need to treat them with honor and be thankful for their hospitality, it is that simple. Whether all expats want to take responsibility for their bad behavior, or not.

If you think about it, Israel and Russia are both responsible for the loss of millions of jobs worldwide. The level of uncertainty created by their wars is having a devastating effect on the world economy, and consumer confidence. Both nations need to be stopped.

He behaves like a mobster, because he is a mobster. Always has been. He may not have many people taken out, but he sure destroys alot of lives and businesses.

This guy is tirelessly working his $800 million smile. The meeting continued with Bénédicte Épinay of Comité Colbert, where the Thai premier extended a warm invitation for French luxury brands to explore Thailand’s cultural richness. Sorry, that one will not work. With some of the highest luxury taxes in the region, the market for luxury goods here is very small. I have some advice for Sretta. Make some sacrifices to attract these companies. Lower luxury taxes, to help create a market. They are not coming here because Thailand is the center of the universe, despite your protestations to the contrary.

Wow. I bet he learned alot from your lecture in morality.

Nobody should ever be punished for recreational use of drugs. It is not a deterrent. Frankly, I think it has the opposite effect. Make all drugs legal, keep the prison population down, and allow people to harm themselves to their hearts content. Keep govt. out of people's lives.

We all know this has nothing to do with upholding any law, and everything to do with the cops being cut out of a deal. That is the only thing the organizers did wrong. Never, ever forget the RTP franchisees!

He committed a crime, he lost his mind and beat up a woman, and he deserves time in a slammer. That simple. Lock him up for a while and ban him from Thailand. That change of plans might allow this sicko some perspective. No you cannot stay in an 8,000 baht studio anymore. You have to head back to Bern for stay in a small 2800 euro a month apartment, or move into mom's house. See ya, but I wouldn't want to be ya.

It is blanket statements like that which make you appear really ignorant. I am a centrist democrat, but I know a lot of republicans I have a lot of republican friends and family and I have nothing but love and respect for them. I understand their positions and the last thing in the world I would call them is dumb. They're not dumb, many of them are smart. They may disagree with me and I may disagree with them on politics, but I would never even consider calling my political adversaries dumb. If I did that it would make me look dumb!

That is what juvenile minds do. Trump is not clever enough to formulate a cohesive argument, so he resorts to childish name calling. That's pretty much all the huge bully has.

Denial is a very powerful thing, in the face of truth. It can be over powering. Nearly everything he touches fails. 17 of his businesses have failed in the past few decades. Some at huge losses. Trump Steaks, Trump Shuttle Airline ($120 million in losses between 1988 and 1990), GoTrump, Trump Vodka, Trump Mortgage, Trump University, Trump Ice, The New Jersey Generals, Tour de Trump, Trump Network, Trump Magazine, Trumped!. Many businesses that licensed his name went bankrupt, or went out of business. And he had between four and six major bankruptcies (depending on the source), including the Trump Taj Mahal (which he spent $1.2 billion building, and was $3 billion in debt within a year of opening), Trump's Castle, Trump Place Hotel (which was very successful prior to Trump buying it in 1988, and he managed to put it into $550 million in debt by 1992!), Trump Hotels and Casinos Resorts ($1.8 billion in debt by 2004, bankrupt in 2009) , and Trump Entertainment Resorts. There are likely others. And this does not take into account the 3,600 lawsuits he was involved in as of the time he took office, the vast majority of which were filed by small contractors against his companies for non payment, or total default. Many of these contractors were crushed. It is part of his M.O. Nearly anything with his name on it, and his association with it, fails. And that will be even more so, after he loses the November 3rd election. His name will remain radioactive, the the rest of his life, and the mini empire will continue to dwindle. During the period from 1985 to 1989, three years of which were boom year in NY real estate, he somehow managed to lose $359 million. Between 1990 and 1991 he lost $517 million. And between 1992 and 1995 he again managed to lose $286 million. The real irony of his whole persona, is that he cannot negotiate his way out of a paper bag, much less negotiate a treaty with an adversary, which makes him very dangerous.

I agree about TDS. Trump deceives his supporters.

Yes and move the nation backwards into reefer madness territory. We finally make a little bit of progress and people without knowledge of the matter want to give up that progress, and move it backwards again. I don't think so. Banning alcohol would be considered more logical, as it's infinitely more toxic and damaging to one's health.

Pattaya is not my cup of tea for many different reasons, but I can't argue about it being a great value. It's a very price competitive environment on a lot of levels.

Best to ignore @Dolf. He is an antagonist, looking for a fight. Alot of small folks like that around these days, very frustrated with unfulfilled lives, and looking for a battle. They seem to enjoy leveling accusations at people they know nothing about.

Well the other key takeaways from this are that the Democratic party is broken and they were not able to field a good, younger, more vital candidate. The second takeaway is that Biden stuck with Harris which was a huge mistake, she's a horrific candidate, and that leads us to the third take away, which is that America is a completely broken nation, that seems to want an ignorant, wannabe despot dictator to lead the country, who has successfully hijacked the Republican party, which used to stand for something.

I get out a lot, perhaps I've just simply had the good fortune to meet a higher class of expats then you have. There are some pretty serious guys here who are accomplished, successful, smart, and lead well-balanced lives, but it takes a certain amount of good fortune to encounter them and befriend them. And very few of them are hanging out at the bars on a regular basis.

The very essence of Chinese mediocrity. Looks nice on the outside. Not much inside.

Even 10 or 15 years ago it was much different than now. How things have changed. Alot of those super hotties who were 1500 for all night, these days would get 6000 to 60,000 baht as a high priced escort. The internet is the culprit. It has given them infinitely more options. I never had an issue with paying for sex. I consider alot of bargirls to have more integrity than most Western women. You know what you are paying up front, instead of the endless dates, gifts, prizes and dinners to get to the $million prize. A short time, or a few days could be alot of fun. Alot of the women were a great time. Things have changed and it is harder to find that now. It is when guys decide she is GF material, that the problems often start. A bargirl is good for fun and games, but rarely does she make a great GF, much less a spouse. Unless you are a guy who loves complications and alot of emotional baggage. Some damaged guys love that.

It would appear this thief was burdened with both an inadequate brain and a lack of survival instincts. Hard to muster up much sympathy. Perhaps she should focus on higher voltage lines next time?

Driving passengers in your vehicle is dangerous, and it degrades the nation. It is a very important job, and denying that right to a local could utterly destroy the economy. Glad the "joint task force" is focusing on such important work. They will single handedly help to increase the GDP and employment.

Volkswagen does not count. They are the Fiat of Germany. Always have been. Always will be.