spidermike007

Are you saying the insurance industry has become cleaner, more honest and now has more integrity than it did 15 years ago? How do you figure? Are you basing that on anything specific, or some studies? I think, if anything they have gotten worse. Like most corporations.

I can't help but think this whole thing was taken out of context. If he was interested in the cheap thrill of having boy suck his tongue, surely he would have done it is private. And I doubt that would be the case. Some things can't be taken at face value. According to a 2014 BBC article, sticking out your tongue can be considered as rude, but in Tibet, it's a way of greeting. It has been a tradition followed by the Tibetan people since the ninth century, when the region was ruled by Lang Drama, who was known for a black tongue, said the outlet. The Institute of East Asian Studies, UC Berkeley, also mentions this in its 2014 piece. The institute said on its website that sticking out one's tongue is a sign of respect or agreement and was often used as a greeting in traditional Tibetan culture.

You make a very good point. If people just said NO, I do not think so, little of these ridiculous price hikes would have occurred.

Just another example of the Thai army sucking the blood of society, and giving nearly nothing back. Why are they tolerated? Such malfeasance, such a poor record of caretaking. Such moral rot and bankruptcy.

Yes. Completely and utterly false. USA Today provided the conventional assessment of those challenges: “Out of the 62 lawsuits filed challenging the presidential election, 61 have failed,” and “decisions have came [sic] from both Democratic-appointed and Republican-appointed judges.” (In fact, most of the judges were elected state judges.) One victory out of 62 cases is about a 1.5% win rate. Looked at differently, as I do in this post, Trump performed slightly better. This post examines all judicial decisions in the cases, not just the cases’ ultimate outcomes. A case might produce an initial decision in a trial court, another set of votes on appeal to a multi-judge intermediate appellate court, and a final set of votes on appeal to the jurisdiction’s multi-judge supreme court—one case, but perhaps over 10 separate judicial votes. By that measure, 14% of judges’ individual decisions or votes—18% in state cases only—were favorable to Trump. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2021/11/30/trumps-judicial-campaign-to-upend-the-2020-election-a-failure-but-not-a-wipe-out/

People who care about life and limb, learn from the mistakes of others. Some are so resistant to change, so dense, so stubborn, so lacking in survival instincts, that they are utterly incapable of learning, progressing, moving forward, or improving as human beings. What can one say?

Computer crime seems to range from posting something this heinous, draconian administration of Prayuth does not like, to online fraud. So, who knows if there was any real crime committed. Sometimes, a crime is a crime. And sometimes, it is blame from a desperado.

I see this all the time. Let us risk life and limb to save 3 minutes. Dumb and dumber. Darwin insisted that some species and some members of those species were more fit for survival than others. It would appear the roads here, and especially motorbike riders, are a perfect example of his theories in action. It takes certain qualities to survive on the roads here. Patience, being very conscious of your surroundings, driving defensively, avoiding excessive speed, especially in town, following basic traffic rules and laws and avoiding being overly stupid, at all times. 70% of the time someone on a motorbike crashes here, it is due to a lack of attention, to the very serious, and very dangerous task at hand. The rest is due to the other person doing something incredibly dumb, like riding on the wrong side of the road, in a bike lane which is flowing in the opposite direction. It really does not get dumber and more ignorant than that. Many Thais are extremely casual about driving, and seem to have little understanding of the dangers involved, and the need to be 100% focused, at all times. Especially on a motorbike.

When I lived on Samui, there were alot of younger, very aggressive Brits living there or visiting, who were itching for a brawl. Had to stay clear of them. Sometimes they would attempt to chat me up, and I politely ignored them. You could spot them from 100 meters away, and it was obvious they were nothing but trouble. Likely even their mothers knew that. Some were fugitives and some were just thugs.

There is only one way forward for you. If you have self esteem, and value the quality of your life, run for the hills. Leave this woman immediately. Leave by tomorrow. If you care about having a good life. We make the choices, and that is not a choice many of us would choose to make. We surround ourselves with quality people, or we don't. It is that simple. And if we don't, we end up surrounded by beasts and animals.

The bottom line is that there is never any upside to engaging a Thai person, much less a group of them, in a fight. If you kick their butt, you lose. If they kick your butt, you lose. No upside to that formula. Best to just keep your cool, show respect, and avoid fights in public. Remember, this is a land of face. Even something as benign as a street race, can mean they end up losing face. Which for well developed, normal people is not a big deal. But for seriously immature men, or boys, it is. These pathetic thugs do not represent Thai people on any level. Many of these kinds of young men barely have any parents at all. And many parents are absentee these days, even if they are home all the time. Parenting is falling off the face of the earth. It is a lost art. Many parents are too obsessed with making their kids their friends, to do the right thing by their kids, and be tough and show them their limits. Most Thai people are not violent. Sure, there are some. Like anywhere. But I find in most situations if I show sincere kindness, humility, and respect, to someone who has taken offense by something I have done, he just backs down, and accepts the apology. A situation can easily be escalated with the wrong attitude. But why? There is no upside for us. Only downside. Only problems. Mind your own business. These are the kinds of problems we just do not need.

One can only hope he is right. I cannot imagine what might take place if Prayuth attempts to steal the office of PM, once again. Those 250 crony senators are beyond toxic, and the Thai people need to figure out a way to get rid of them, no matter what it takes, and by whatever means necessary.

Anyone and everyone has the right to be as meticulous, careful, conscious, and deliberate with their actions and their business, as they please. The real question at the heart of this is, why does it bother you so much? What aspect of it do you find personally offensive, and why? I tend to double check, and sometimes triple check some stuff. Some would call that pedantic, or unnecessary. It saves me a ton of grief. So, what is that? Careful? We should avoid being cautious and deliberate?

No question society as a whole has fallen far. I attribute alot of that to social media, which has become an incredibly corrosive cultural force. However, I do not object to this kind of graffiti. I rather like it.

Well, she did not write anything that is not true. I like some graffiti and street art. I know there is a real aversion to it here, but some of it is amazing. It is a part of contemporary culture, and in my opinion and good part of it.

I was told when I first moved to Thailand, to never, ever enter a Karaoke joint without a group of Thai men. Applies even more if the place is rural. And you cannot just approach a group of young men, and defend a woman, unless you are armed, a 6th degree sensei, prepared to die, be locked up, or get seriously hurt. It is just basic survival instinct. Few like to see a women being hassled, but he had absolutely no idea of the circumstances, and this was 80 levels beyond dumb and naive.

I couldn't disagree more adamantly, which seems to be the theme of our recent exchanges. There is so much evidence to the contrary. Though, I am sure the industry appreciates your faith in them. Even calling it "insurance" is a sick joke. Insurance implies a guarantee, and no matter what we pay, there are never any guarantees. I propose replacing the word "insurance" with the word "maybe?" -- including the question mark -- as in "health maybe?" Maybe they'll pay when we get sick. Maybe they won't randomly hike our monthly premium by 30 percent. Maybe they'll cover our preexisting conditions without gouging us -- that is if they agree to cover us at all. Maybe they won't let our family members die after refusing coverage. Allstate is a great example of intentional insurance fraud, committed against policy holders. https://www.decof.com/documents/the-ten-worst-insurance-companies.pdf

Neither was OJ Simpson, for murder. Or Kenneth Lay. Does not mean much.

Your instincts are correct. This is the qualification period. She is still auditioning. She failed. Get out. Get out now. Don't waste another day. Move on. She has already proved she is unworthy. That is the beauty of taking your time. Time is the great leveler. It shows who she truly is.

How often do we hear about a policeman here who just loses it, and wreaks destruction in his path? Are most of them morally bankrupt? Does the gun give them more swagger than their emotionally undeveloped minds can handle?

I don't like insurance companies either. And one has to bear in mind they operate like a mafia. It is the M.O. of most insurance companies to turn down as many claims as they can, find any excuse not to pay, and put alot of exclusions in the policy. All the more reason to go with a top rated company, and read the fine print.

They have proven over and over again, the Thai taxi mafia is far more powerful than the anemic, weak, pathetic Thai army, the RTP goons, or any other so called law enforcement.

You are not only making a huge generalization, considering they make up a third of the nation's population, but you are missing out on the best of what Thailand has to offer. They are my favorite Thais. Absolutely lovely souls.

Both Bumrungrad and Bangkok Hospital are famous for being very overpriced and running alot of tests and procedures. I only use them on rare occasion.

Trump has been found guilty hundreds of times, in cases where he defrauded people. You can argue it was his company that lost the lawsuit. But, who runs the company, and who decides when to commit the fraud, or crime leading to a lawsuit? https://www.azcentral.com/pages/interactives/trump-lawsuits/ And that does not take into account all the cases he lost as president, when he engaged in illegal actions. At last count, the Institute for Policy Integrity at the New York University School of Law found that the Trump administration has lost 79 of 85 cases involving federal agencies on deregulatory or policy issues — a historically low 7.1% win rate. (Most administrations have a 70% win rate). As The Washington Post noted, more than a few of these are cases we’ve brought on behalf of municipalities and organizations, successfully forcing the Trump administration to reverse course on illegal policymaking. https://democracyforward.org/updates/trump-loses-93-percent-of-cases-we-know-because-we-win/