spidermike007

Koreans, like the Chinese have very good reason to hate the Japanese. They were subjected to two or three generations worth of brutality, rape, subjugation and humiliation. Those kind of scars don't heal easily especially when your grandparents are telling you about the horrors. The Thais are completely different story, what have the Thais ever done to the Koreans? And if they suspected them coming there to work illegally, I suppose that's a different story. However it's much the same as in the US, these countries desperately need laborers, if not legal than illegal.

Well that was certainly not very helpful, and FYI there are not very many websites out there that offer accurate information about the expat population in Thailand. I've been searching for this information for years thank you very much.

How can you even equate a bottle of water from 7-11, with free water at a restaurant? It's no skin off the restaurants back, it means absolutely nothing to them, it doesn't cost them one satang.

I wonder if the restaurant made a big deal about it, or was it just patrons who witnessed it and were offended by a lowly delivery man getting water from their machine. Either way it's very offensive behavior, and rather pathetic. Can you imagine driving around a motorbike in this heat all day? Who wouldn't be thirsty, and why aren't the restaurants offering their delivery men water?

I wonder how many of these fires were caused by sugar growers burning their crops and causing adjacent forests to catch on fire. It's tinder dry in some areas and it wouldn't take much.

I meant they attempted to imprison Rainsy. He was charged with fake crimes, much like Pita was here.

Very few places in the world would this be an issue or a topic of discussion, but Thailand's class structure continues to rear its ugly head. Had it been a wealthy person walking in off the street this never would have been an issue, but a lowly delivery driver. God forbid he takes some water, it's not like he was stealing soda, he just took some water. How is this an issue? How is this a news story?

One can only hope the Burmese government goes down in flames the people take out the generals in a most brutal and nasty fashion and somehow their multi-billion dollar fortunes are recovered. Power to the Burmese people and their youth, may they prevail against their heinous army and administration.

Anybody who deliberately moves to Russia has to have their head examined by a very competence psychiatrist. My family left that God forsaken land of Russia several generations ago, and when I asked my last remaining relative about the old country all she could say it was was that it was the worst hell on earth, and that they were thrilled to have escaped.

If anyone on this forum recalls, there was quite an effort to bring him down when he was immigration chief many years back. He has a tendency to piss people off and it has nothing to do with his fake reputation of being a good cop or a clean cop. It's more likely his extreme pathological desire to hog the spotlight and get publicity. It would appear that his desire for fame is so intense he would do nearly anything to achieve it. Perhaps he should have gone into acting, rather than policing. But that might have been over his head because it would have required some talent.

I've often wondered about how many expats live in Thailand and it's very difficult to get these numbers. Do you have an accurate source for that 300,000, or is that an estimate?

You have to realize that all of the leadership are super rich, and if they are aware of the issues facing the economy, and if they care, they're certainly not affected personally. Their biggest challenges are trying to decide between an 1982 Lafite and an 1955 Margaux with dinner tonight.

Thailand has a finance minister but it happens to also be the PM. It's very difficult to move on from the army years when the army is still essentially in control. The PT capitulated and allow the toxic army to be part of the administration and none of us have any idea how much control they're exerting. One can only guess it is quite significant so the army days are not over, they continue. This is the 10th year of army rule.

If this is the case, it is best to simply boycott South Korea entirely. It is not like they offer entirely unique sights. You don't want us? OK. No problem. See ya.

All it takes is a very sharp pencil, jammed into one of the bullies, just one time. He would never be bullied again. Submission is the worst kind of behavior, and the creeps will never stop.

As Deputy National police chief, we refuse to believe you are not corrupt. Where have you been hiding your fortune? You are guilty. We hope you get locked up, though we know that is unlikely.

Only extreme insecurity, a total lack of vision, and zero confidence, drives small minded people to use cowardly defamation laws. Such pathetic behavior. Amazing that the courts allow this infantile law and behavior to be acknowledged. It says alot about the legal system and the judges.

When Prayuth the numskull shut down the economy due to covid, and absolutely gutted tourism, and nearly killed the industry, I said it was going to take many years for the Thai economy to recover. My friends were laughing and saying no, no, no, it'll happen quickly. I said no I don't think so. I think we're still seeing the aftermath of the absolute slaughter of the Thai economy by Prayuth, the army, and his idiotic cronies and this could take some time. The tourism numbers are not quite as high as they say they are, and the quality of tourists has dropped dramatically. Of course there are other factors, the economy is slowing down worldwide, and we may yet see a rather significant recession or correction. But the army destruction and decimation did not help, and having a completely incompetent cabinet in place right now does not help either. Think about it Sretta is not only PM, but he's also been appointed finance minister. How on earth do they think a guy like him could run the economy? And isn't the economy important enough to warrant somebody who concentrates solely on running the economy? And why is the tourism minister also the sports minister? Does anybody have answers to any of these questions?

Hun Sen definitely had Chea Vichea assassinated. Looks like he is still up to his killing ways. Once a serial killer, always a serial killer, goes the old adage. A supporter of Cambodia’s Candlelight Party was shot dead in Tbong Khmum province over the weekend, the latest in a series of attacks on the opposition in a year of local elections and campaigning for 2023 parliamentary voting, his wife and supporters said Monday. Candlelight Party’s vice-chairman Thach Setha told RFA that he could not yet conclude whether the killing Sunday of Po Hin Lean, a 49-year-old father of three, was a political assassination. He urged authorities in the province’s Ou Reang Ov district to conduct a prompt investigation. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/opposition-death-10172022181913.html Speaking at a graduation ceremony for students at a university in Phnom Penh on October 17. Hun Sun said he would “eliminate the three generations of the ideology of the contemptible traitor [Sam Rainsy]...but I will not kill you." Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia since 1985, was responding to recent remarks by Sam Rainsy criticizing the strongman’s plans to appoint his son, Hun Manet, as his replacement. “I believe there will be strong opposition to Hun Sen's transfer of power to his dynasty. We want a succession of young Cambodians who are capable and accomplished, but we do not want a succession of clans in a family that is above everyone else and that has the right to rule Cambodia forever, ” Sam Rainsy said in a video

Say it ain't so! They have multi billion dollar sewer and waste treatment facilities, built by the top engineers in the world. At least they should.

Was that an attempt at satire? One cannot use the terms wholesome and RTP in the same sentence. That is just not right.

I cannot help but think that most of these officers who are in heavy debt, are very uncreative franchisees. They have a license to mint money. What gives? Perhaps gambling debts?

That is quite a horrific video, when you consider it represents two lives being snuffed out in an instant. Likely by a woman who was either drunk out of her mind, very messed up on some heavy drugs, or playing with her phone. She deserves a decade or longer in prison, but like you say, money speaks very loudly here, especially with the super corrupt RPT. Many years ago, my sister in law, was involved with a rather dodgy Brit, while living on Samui. When she finally ditched him, he was livid, and just could not handle it. He ended up coming one night, at 3:30am, and burned down her bungalow, which was made of wood and thatch. It went up like a bomb. Fortunately, neither she, nor her roommate were there at the time, or they would have either died, or ended up with major 3rd degree burns all over their bodies, which I believe was his intention. In most countries, this would be treated as attempted murder, correct? The police were able to find a video of him racing away from the scene, at around 3:35am, as there was a CCTV camera in front of the police station, only a few hundred meters away from her bungalow. They took him in, and told him he would have to leave Thailand, and could never return. Not sure what exchanged hands, for him to not have been arrested. He was also told he would have to pay my sister in law 120,000 baht for the destruction of her gold, cash, and possessions. Same for her friend. He did pay. We know that for a fact, as we were friendly with a couple of his friends. When she went to the police station to collect, she was told that he never paid, and he was already back in the UK. But, that they had advocated for her, and made sure he could never come back to Thailand! When she pushed, and told them that she knew for a fact that he had paid them, she was told that her life was now in danger, and that she needed to back down, and go away, or her safety could not be guaranteed. The real problem is, you cannot report these guys. Not to the higher ups, not to the provincial authorities, and certainly not to the army. They are all corrupt beyond imagination. And the level of corruption simply escalates, the further up the food chain you go. They are not expected to be honest, and they are not expected to engage in law enforcement, traffic or public safety, on any level. It is an irrevocably broken and dysfunctional system. Anything hyperbole to the contrary, is just a smoke screen, intended to deceive the naive amongst us. So, for any of you out there who still think the biggest joke was innocent, you are naive. And his PR obviously worked.

I can see the basis for the friendship. Both are morally bankrupt. Both are money grubbers. Both would do anything to acquire more of a fortune. Both are highly compromised, and both are despised by many. And both are very bizarre looking men. Like something out of a comic book, but not the least but funny.

Logic and Trump are like oil and water. He speaks from anger, disillusionment, bitterness, hatred, a pathological need for vengeance, jealousy and pettiness. Logic, reason and intelligence are not part of his game. He is a very dangerous man.