spidermike007

Everyone knows that people plan trips around the hours of the malls, when the malls are open late millions of additional tourists show up to take advantage of the extended hours. Brilliant stuff.

And they often show the faces of the victims, why wouldn't they show us the faces of the perps, they're the ones who deserve to be out there in the public eye.

Good try but you could not possibly be more off base on this one we disagree from time to time but this one is adamant it's been over 500 mass shootings in the US so far this year. I'm not making this stuff up. There have now been 501 mass shootings in the U.S. this year. Driving the news: A shooting that wounded four people in Denver, Colorado, on Saturday night marked the country's 500th mass shooting in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Hours later, that increased to 501 mass shootings after one person died and five others were wounded in El Paso, Texas, early Sunday. By the numbers: Just five years ago, the country had never experienced 500 mass shootings in one year: 2018: 335 mass shootings 2019: 414 mass shootings 2020: 610 mass shootings 2021: 689 mass shootings 2022: 645 mass shootings Flashback: The 500 mass shootings threshold was crossed in September in the past two years, according to the archive. https://www.axios.com/2023/09/17/mass-shootings-500-united-states-2023

I am in complete disagreement with you on that. Thailand has still not made anywhere near a full recovery, there are so many problems around the world, the economy in China is terrible, many other countries are near recession, and airfares are way up. This high season will not be anything special. Last year I went to Samui during absolute peak season, on a last minute whim. I looked up hotel bookings and was surprised to find a lot of hotels were available and the prices were relatively low. That's never happened before in peak season, where Samui used to enjoy occupancy rates well over 90%. I don't expect it to be that much better this year, than last. The weather is cooling down, and that is a big attraction for a lot of foreigners who want to travel here. Some just don't like the blazing heat, so that is likely the cause of additional foreigners showing up, not a healing economy, and not a booming economy, nor a weak baht. And the secondary factor is that Thailand is no longer attracting that many people from the West, and the vast majority of tourists are now Chinese, Russian, Malaysian, Indian, and Arab, and I don't think very many of them are wealthy. So, the industry continues to hurt.

If riding a motorbike, only do so if you have many years of experience. Especially on the southern islands, where huge numbers of foreigners leave Thailand in a wooden box. Same applies to Bangkok, where a great degree of skill is required. Practice in a track or in rural areas for awhile. Wear the best helmet you can afford. And drive like a grandmother. This applies to ex-pats too. Bring along an international drivers license, or get a Thai DL. This helps you to avoid being fleeced by the local police franchisee. I have been riding bikes for 52 years. Without any serious accidents. A few minor ones over the years. But, I am very careful and very attentive. Riding a bike here is very dangerous. If not the highest, one of the highest fatality rates in the world. And an accident here can be very costly, to your person. Just ask yourself- do I have enough problems already, without a broken skull, or smashed head, or face injury, or lost eye? I have three friends who have been in motorbike accidents on Samui within the last several years. One still cannot walk, or talk or function on her own, from a motorbike accident, where she hit her head on the pavement going only 20 kph. The other one has lost alot of his mental capacity after hitting his head. He insisted for years he would never wear a helmet. Now, he seems 15 years older. The third one is a close friend, who was hit by a sidecar, and nearly lost his leg. 11 operations later, he can walk, but with a limp, and the leg caused him constant problems, many years later. I would advise getting a smaller bike. Maybe a bike like a Honda 150, or better yet, an ADV160. Easy enough to drive, enough power to take some road trips, and good training. After a year or two, begin by taking some shorter trips. Get some training. Learn how to become a good bike rider, how to avoid accidents, how to react, and how to survive. Bangkok traffic is insane, the average driver can be cavalier at best, and it is all about them, and not you, even if you have the kind of experience I have, and many of the guys on this forum have riding a bike.

Older people are perceived as cynics and misanthropes. But, they are simply people who have at last heard the still, sad music of humanity, played by a mediocre rock band howling for fame. Just kidding.

If course we don't. Thailand is not a foreign country. It is a distant planet. That is what some of us love about the place. If I wanted boring, easily predictable, and easily comprehensible, I would have stayed in America.

A reasonable approach would be to allow foreigners to buy up to two rai. This would allow them to build a nice house have some property, and it would have very little impact on the land sales in general in Thailand. It would not allow multinationals to come in and start land banking, but it would give expats a leg up, and it would show a little bit of regard and respect for the expect community, which does not exist right now within the government.

It is very disheartening. Nothing is being done about the killings. The dems are cowed by the progressives, and the Republicans lack any sort of moral compass, and are owned by the NRA, and the orange one, and are stuck in an 18th century mindset. We deserve our guns! We need our guns! You can't take away our guns! Nothing wrong with having a few guns in the house. But, there is something very, very wrong, when an insane 18 year old can easily buy assault rifles and 350 rounds of ammunition and walk right into a school and take out more people than have been mass murdered in many nations combined for decades, in one day. And there is something infinitely more wrong with America when nobody has to guts to do anything about it. The US is a very sick, demented, twisted, confused, and morally bankrupt culture. It is a nation in rapid decline. It is not even a pale shadow of what it used to be. I am infinitely disappointed in my country. They could do so much better.

Very sticky situation indeed. I'll bet the ants had the biggest party of their lifetimes.

The Chinese ships and subs are likely poorly made. Thankfully the Chinese navy is incapable of traveling more than 1,500 km., in ideal conditions. Likely more like 600 km. in war conditions. And they have very few deep sea ports. Their navy is a threat only to their smaller neighbors. Smart decision to let go of the sub fantasy. Thai naval forces have not operated submarines for over 60 years now, while neighboring countries, particularly those with a major dispute at sea with Thailand, such as Vietnam, are all equipped with modern submarines. This government is a whirlpool of conflicting loyalties and interests. It's leader has to manage those interests, and effectively buy the loyalties of the various parts of the armed forces. The submarines are the price he has to pay for the navy supporting him. They will end up unusable and unaffordable, as did the aircraft carrier. There is no strategic justification for the submarines. There is really no military threat to Thailand, none of the countries with which it shares a land border have the capacity for anything other than the occasional cross border firefight. If you look carefully at all the military procurement of recent years, they are all to support ambitions, and thus buy the support of the various rival groups within the armed forces. They simply do not add up to any sort of a coherent modernisation or re-equipment of what remains a largely obsolete, immobile and under trained force, able only to undertake the most mundane of garrison duties, whilst it's bloated leadership occupies itself with playing politics or their own largely unregulated business ventures. The government however (or more realistically those to whom it reports) must rely upon the military to keep it in power. It was put into power for one core function; to prevent the nascent political, social and economic liberalisation of Thai society which arose with the arrival of new technologies and communications, which have allowed a (younger) population which has long been kept ill educated and dependent for any advancement on its elders and sponsors, to communicate, educate themselves and develop business independent of those elders and sponsors. The Covid crisis was in a dimension beyond that, and it's timid, chaotic "rabbit in the headlights" response to the challenges it brought were simply because it did not know how to react, other than to use some of the opportunities to exercise power, in pursuit of that core function, which the social and political restrictions they argue the disease has necessitated, and granted them.

FDA approval requires a fee of $2,000,000 in the US. How much does it cost here? It is a racket.

What, no time to visit the lakefront mansion in Switzerland?

Good info. You are likely right. Just look at what Clinton achieved with the economy, and the utter wreckage Bush Jr. later brought on. Trump was a disaster. He was likely the 44th worst president ever. Where will Sretta rank? Only time with tell. He is very unimpressive so far. Despite the $800,000,000 smile. Perhaps condo sales do not translate to running a country? After 9 dismal years under Cha Cha, they really needed a dynamic leader, I do not think they have one.

Thailand keeps droning on and on and on, about how they want wealthy tourists. Again, what sacrifices are you willing to make? Rich tourists like to spend money when they travel. And they cannot do that here, as they do not like getting taken for a ride. Most wealthy people are smart with their money. Thailand could be making a fortune on a 25% luxury tax, instead of the 100% of more, which discourages most people from buying. How many people do you see in the luxury stores here? They are almost always completely empty. Inane. Beyond inane. Is Thailand making any effort, on any level to address the issues that were present, pre-Covid? Traffic and public safety, air quality, road congestion, luxury taxes, wine taxes, jet ski scams? I could go on all day. My guess is nothing is being done to address anything, and every issue they currently face is being blamed on Covid. Now, they have a real scapegoat, and looking within for the source of any of the problems is less likely than ever. Prices are up, inflation continues its march, and income for many Thais who are not successful entrepreneurs, or government workers, is down. Tourism will not recover anytime soon. The quality of tourists continues to drop, the average spend is down, and occupancy rates are low. In addition, exports are down, and we have not even seen a real recession hit yet overseas. Nor has the market correction come yet. So, there is still alot of headwind that Thailand faces. The fact is Thailand could be doing a dozen different things to make itself more attractive to both tourism and investment. But, all the things it could do, to make itself a better version of its current self, would require sacrifice and vision. Not something this army led govt. nor Sretta and the PT seem capable of. Major tax breaks, drastic lowering of luxury and wine taxes, allowing ownership of land and homes by foreigners, relaxation of inane visa laws, ridding the administration of xenophobic ministers, beginning a program of hiring based on merit, improving traffic safety, paying attention to the air and the environment. The list goes on and on and on. Will any of this happen? One can hope. But, it is unlikely as this administration is likely to be another in a continuing chain of backward thinking, non progressives.

The theft of the election from Pita was an abomination that will not be forgotten for many many years to come. It brought tremendous shame on Pheu Thai and Thaksin, it was a boil on the face of Thailand and we all know who was behind it.

Any sort of reform with regard to the RTP is a good thing, much change is needed, much improvement is needed, to reign these guys in, on their lifelong pursuit of the Golden calf. So hopefully this is just one tiny little baby step. Or it could just be a lot of hot air.

War can be an extremely expensive and very, very long-term prospect. A nation had better really know what they're doing when they declare war, mobilize their forces and commit on the level that Israel has now committed. There's no way to know what the end game is or if there is even an end game.

I'm so glad I don't have thin skin, otherwise I guess I'd be offended on a daily basis by nitwits, that post things that they haven't taken a single second to consider, before it's committed to the page.

A pee up in a Brewery. Been a long time since I attended one of those. Point taken though, I think sometimes they simply like to make things unnecessarily complicated, and the big question is why? The answer is likely because they can.

Netizens demand action. Has a more hilarious phrase ever been invented? And are netizens more, or less sensitive than normal people? Perhaps they are in greater need of "safe spaces", and that is why they stay home all day on their computers? They sure are warriors behind their keyboards. How about in real life?

I love this forum. Some of these replies really make my day. Honestly.

While there are boring simpletons here, your statement tends to generalize as much as the original posters statement. I've met a lot of rather boring and lifeless drunks here, but I've also met a lot of very accomplished, interesting, colorful, fun, great foreign friends here who I love hanging out with. There's generally a mixture, unfortunately the the dregs tend to get more press and more attention. But there are some very substantial foreigners living here, you just have to be fortunate enough to meet them, and befriend them. You will not meet them in the bars.

I guess we are not supposed to ask Thailand to stop exploiting Burmese and Cambodian workers, and I guess we're not supposed to ask Thai officials to stop kidnapping and trafficking neighboring people into slavery in the sex and fishing industry. I think those questions are off limits.

They are above the law, and we all know the very, very sad reason why.