spidermike007

I was on that ferry yesterday morning, and already you could see some weather coming in from the east. Looks like Samui is going to take a direct hit, and could see as much as 8" of rain from this storm. 

I recommend he wait until December to decide. Long after the elections are finished! He is not wanted. He is not needed. He is not liked, he is not popular, and he is not effective. The last thing in the world Thailand needs right now, is more of this guy. Get out. Get out now.

Very, very small men have a hard time taking responsibility for anything. Always deflecting. Always passing on the blame. Khomsan Suwanampha is no exception. Granted, there were probably a few tourists that had barely ever ridden a motorbike before, that did not survive the holiday. But, to make a sweeping statement like this is beyond ignorant. Unfortunately alot it comes down to the incredibly weak practice of face. Want to know how I feel about the atrocious practice of face?

Face is no doubt, the greatest form of weakness, a human can engage in. Many will say it is societal, cultural, etc. No matter. It is the absolute and complete lack of the ability to introspect, and look within for the source of any problem, shortcoming, conflict, or issue. It is the polar opposite of spirituality, and therefore an absolute scourge on Buddha, and all of the precepts he taught. By practicing face, you are denying your spiritual heritage. You are refusing to man up. To take responsibility for your actions. If a man or a woman cannot, and will not take responsibility for their actions, the problems they create, the mistakes they make, and the issues they involve themselves in, what are they? Are they still an adult? Are they a complete individual, if they allow themselves to be limited by such infinitely small social convention? 

Who cares what people think of you? For those of us with high self esteem, it just does not matter. Sure, close friends and family. But strangers on the street? Who gives a rat's butt about this? It means nothing what they think, nor what they say about you. They count for nothing. They are just people, and people you do not know, nor will ever see again. Face is rife with self doubt, and by subscribing to this weakness, and man or woman is made a far lesser person. For those of us with high self esteem, we know who we are. What others think, what society thinks, what a guy or gal thinks, means less than zero.

Real men or women, simply own a situation, and take responsibility for their errors or mistakes. Small men, social deviants, or emotional adolescents deflect, obfuscate, attempt to confuse, and do everything in their power to deny that they made a mistake, or that they are responsible in any way, or on any level. They make up narratives about fake news, or alternative facts. Anything to avoid looking within, for the source of the problem. Anything.

The real issue here, is why the lack of traffic safety? 

The primary reason is the toy police force. Nobody, and I mean nobody takes these guys seriously. There is absolutely nothing in the way of a deterrent here, and both the local governments, the central government (weak Little P.) and the police do not take traffic safety seriously. Not even one iota. The safety of the public means less than zero to the small men in charge here. Nothing. They show that on a daily basis. They will not do a thing. Why? They do not care about the people one iota. Not the common people. Not the average pleb. No way. Never have cared, and may never care in the future. It is all about protecting the elite, the super wealthy, those that are connected, and those in power. The rest of the population? They do not matter. The ex-pat community does not matter. And the police will not get involved unless an accident has already occurred. There is no prevention. None. The idea of getting the police more involved, is an interesting one, and it would be an effective one. But, the issue is money. They are grossly underpaid, and until the government steps up, and spends the trillion baht on updating the police equipment, and paying each cop a living wage, it is not going to happen. Until then, they will just work the franchise. 

The only way to survive here on the road, is to be patient, have eyes in the back of your head, drive with caution, and always, and I mean always watch out of the other guy. Chances are, he does not have much driving skill, nor patience, nor reason, nor common sense. You cannot be too careful on the road here. Especially considering that the toy police offer no traffic safety, nor enforcement of the law. All the checkpoints do is clog traffic on the highways, and put alot of cash into the pockets of the toy police. It is all about catching people performing moving violations. That is what causes most accidents. And herein lies the deterrent. As long as everyone is allowed to get away with extremely reckless driving, entering the highway in front of an oncoming vehicle that is only 100 meters away, going 100kph, cutting in front of vehicles within one meter at high speeds, swerving like crazy idiots all over the highway, trucks and 40 year old cars occupying the fast lane doing 40kph, when other vehicles are approaching doing 120kph, drunk driving, etc, accidents, major injuries and deaths will continue to happen, and no amount of rhetoric and platitudes by the fabulously incompetent and insincere authorities are going to make any difference. The police are not here to protect you. They do not care one iota about your well being, your safety, or traffic safety. Expect that. Do not employ them, unless absolutely necessary. 

If driving, especially on a motorbike, treat the activity as an act of war, in a sense that you may be mowed down or killed at any moment. 

Maintain eyes in the back of your head. Watch everyone. Expect craziness, insanity, lack of reason, and a complete lack of courtesy and respect on the roads, at all times. 

Expect cars and trucks to be coming at you in the wrong lane. Expect people to overtake you with the slimmest of margins. Expect trucks to be driving very slowly in the fast lane of a highway. 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. Wear the best helmet you can afford. And drive like a grandmother. This applies to ex-pats too. Bring along an international drivers license. This helps you to avoid being fleeced by the local police franchisee.

My wife's family does not like me. I cannot handle that. Any sort of rejection just sets me off. Everyone has to love me, or else I cannot handle the situation. I have no self esteem, and when any outside factor makes me feel like less of a man than I already am, I just lose it. This time, granted I went over the top. Sorry if I hurt anyone. Oh, wait a minute, I killed off my whole family? And myself? I did not realize it was that bad, as I was outside of myself, and now I guess I am dead too.

Too bad they did not realize what a loon this guy was, in advance, so he could have been institutionalized. Oh that is right, they really do not consider mental illness to be a disease here, do they? I feel bad for this family, as they did not deserve this. His mother and father are the people to be held responsible for this, for not being functional parents. And Thai society to some extent for making this half man feel somehow special, when in reality he was nothing at all, just a mass murderer. A man is supposed to protect his children, not murder them. What can one say?

Interesting post, and one could spend quite some time on the prognostications. I would put it quite simply. If they are able to oust the army, and get rid of incompetents like Prayuth, and find capable leaders who are able to at least marginally consider the interests of the people, things could improve. If not, the gross mismanagement, hyperbolic nationalism, total lack of vision, and extreme myopia will continue. And that is not going to be good for the nation, the people, or the ex-pats living here.

I seriously doubt Trump will run again. First of all, I think he despises the job. He has no idea it would be this hard. And though he would never admit it, he was so woefully unprepared for the task, I think even he knows that, at this point in time. Second, I think he hates all of the scrutiny, and the inability to get away with things, that he enjoyed in his former life as a civilian. 

I also think Mueller is going to come out with some seriously damaging stuff in the next couple of months. So, he is a lame duck at this point. He may even end up resigning before the election. If he did decide to run, Brittany Spears, Rosie O'Donnell, Justin Bieber, or any good democratic candidate, could beat him, though I do not think Warren would be a good choice. 

On 12/31/2018 at 9:39 AM, Eric Loh said:

Any more delay may actually worked against Prayut. Most polls have seen his popularity dropping like a millstone. Meanwhile Sudarat and Thanathorn have risen in popularity. The rap song against dictatorship is now seen by 41 M while Prayut counter rap song has stagnated at 4.2 M. He may not delay but he will up his plan to rig the election. 

I think there is little doubt, that at this point in time, the Army and Prayuth are utterly despised by the vast majority of the Thai population. If he tries to rig the election, there may be quite a revolt by the population. They just need to get out now. It is beyond their comprehension to know this. But, they are not liked, not wanted, and not needed. They are an impediment to the well being of the average Thai, and an enormous problem for ex-pats, with their silly, inane, nonsensical, alternative fact based nationalism. 

Get out. Get out now, Mr. Prayuth. You are not liked, few approve of you, and you are incompetent beyond description. 

22 hours ago, JLCrab said:

I have lived here now for 15 years and never felt unwelcome living in the hinterlands. I guess my rose-colored glasses must be working real good. Then again maybe I don't get the feeling that I am unwelcome because I don't walk around letting all the Thai folk know that I feel unwelcome.

I was referring to the government, if you read the post. The people are lovely, and I feel totally welcome by the vast majority of the population, especially in the less populated, rural areas. 

30 minutes ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

...and incredibly tiny hands. 

And very tiny hands on a man who is nearly 6'3" tall, can lead to very embarrassing situations. How does one make up for that deficit? Bluster and much bragadacchio. 

The vigorous retraining part means, do not be racist. Do not be callous to foreigners. They are not necessarily bad people, and they are not beneath us, less than us, inferior to us, or dumb. They are real people, and they are potential customers. So, let us not discriminate against them, and let us be decent human beings.

After all we are the stickhouse. We do not want to be known as sticking it to foreigners. That may result in bad press, much the same as the viral videos and images of that ridiculous sign.

The only way to survive here on the road, is to be patient, have eyes in the back of your head, drive with caution, and always, and I mean always watch out of the other guy. Chances are, he does not have much driving skill, nor patience, nor reason, nor common sense. You cannot be too careful on the road here. Especially considering that the toy police offer no traffic safety, nor enforcement of the law. 

All the checkpoints do is clog traffic on the highways, and put alot of cash into the pockets of the toy police. It is all about catching people performing moving violations. That is what causes most accidents. And herein lies the deterrent. As long as everyone is allowed to get away with extremely reckless driving, entering the highway in front of an oncoming vehicle that is only 100 meters away, going 100kph, cutting in front of vehicles within one meter at high speeds, swerving like crazy idiots all over the highway, trucks and 40 year old cars occupying the fast lane doing 40kph, when other vehicles are approaching doing 120kph, drunk driving, etc, accidents, major injuries and deaths will continue to happen, and no amount of rhetoric and platitudes by the fabulously incompetent and insincere authorities are going to make any difference. 

The police only show up after the accident takes place. There is nothing in the way of traffic safety on the roads, or on the highways. Those traffic stops are all about weapons, drugs and handouts. Nothing to do with safety. I suppose there is no money in traffic safety. However, if they levied real fines for speeding over 120kph, for reckless driving, making severely quick lane changes, etc, there would be some money to be made, and the highways would be safer. 

Just a few days ago, I was driving along at about 110kph, on a good, straight stretch of highway. A safe speed. And some joker cuts in front of me with his pickup truck. Within two meters in front of me, then slams on his brakes. I guess he never stopped to look at the lane he was cutting into to see that there was no room for him! I slammed on my brakes to avoid the numnut, and barely missed him. Would have been a horrific crash. Why? What was the point of him changing lanes? Why didn't he look first? Who changes lanes without looking first, when they are doing over 100 kph? Why so little regard for his wife, and for others? Where does that mentality come from? Why do Thais seem so polite, yet when they get into a car, everything they have ever learned in life goes right out the window? Why so little in the way of common sense, reason, and the ability to be careful and maintain some vision? Why such idiocy? The apparent lack of skill and peripheral awareness on the road here is very scary.

Sorry to inform you Salman, but when your son runs amok, plays the gangster, has people dismembered in one of your own consulates, then you guys make a really sloppy effort to cover it up, your nation is caught out in the cold, busted, and the severe humiliation your nation has faced is not going to go away. We all know you favor the gangland son, but best if you replace him, and get a fresh start. Believe me when I tell you, the last thing the world needs is another murderous despot leader. We know who MBS is now. Everyone knows. The planet knows who your son is. And it is not good.

33 minutes ago, Ctkong said:

They have their own tuft laws. Each provincial strongman ( mafia warlord?) follow their own interpretation of the national laws. Similar to the period when the southern provinces of China defy the orders from Beijing. 

I think you are right. I hear there are about five families that control Samui. Also five gangland families on Dark Tao. Samui seems to be pretty well run. The taxis probably pay tribute to the local families. The government has no control at all. None. Dark Tao is completely out of control. 

Did anyone ever doubt this would be the "verdict"? Prayuth was installed to protect the elite, those in power, the army, the super wealthy, and those that are connected. There was a zero percent chance of them finding him guilty. And the guilt goes far beyond the watches.

Now, since those in power never face any charges while in power, one hopes when they are removed from power in a couple of months (one has to remain ever hopeful), that the new administration will charge the top guys, and put them away. One can only hope.