spidermike007

So in other words normal conditions for this time of year!

Yes, the only professions in the west where you can get paid $300,000 per year, or more, and be strike out more than half the time, are meteorology, and baseball. Here, I do not think they are paid such huge sums, but they still strike out more than half the time! Exactly. It is summer time. It is hot. Big, big surprise.

Once again Thailand is being questioned over it's track record , there is systematic failure from departmental heads down , there is no skills in administration , delegation of duties failure and lack of policing, this applies to most government departments , they seem to waffle through the maze of antiquated rules, there seems to be a denial syndrome emitting from the ruling party on anything that resembles a UN fact, it is time Thailand stood up and started being counted, however the leaders of the country over time have discouraged any participation of world standards by the sub - education system, the root of all problems in Thailand.

Absolutely correct. All of it. There seems to be little or no proactive policies on the part of this "government". Little in the way of vision. No coherent policies. Not much creativity. Really very little governing of any sort. The country is rudderless. The inability of the Thai Govt. to come to the aid of oppressed neighbors is really quite sad. I suppose they do not want to disrupt the Burmese gas supplies? We would not want to upset the pig generals over there, who still exert as much control as they did 5 years ago. Somehow, they got the western media to buy into this reform nonsense. I am told the Chinese exerted tremendous pressure on the west, to ease the sanctions, so that they could get cheaper supplies for their thousands of mines, factories, and other operations. The Chinese have basically taken over Burma.

what a croc of <deleted>. I was taught this rhyme as a child and i am a decade younger than clarkson at least.

its lovely that we are phasing words like chink and nigger out of use, but those that grew up with these terms in common parlance should not be castigated for the occasional slip.

Bullshi*. Absolute rubbish. That is like saying my father lynched people, so it is ok for me to do it too. Or my mother was nasty to the maid, so I have always done that too. That completely eliminates any possibility of growth or improvement of ones self. Just because you were surrounded by ignorance in your youth makes it ok to be ignorant now?

Are there any n****** here tonight? Could you turn on the house lights, please, and could the waiters and waitresses just stop serving, just for a second? And turn off this spot. Now what did he say? "Are there any n****** here tonight?" I know there's one n*****, because I see him back there working. Let's see, there's two n******. And between those two n****** sits a ky**. And there's another ky** that's two ky*** and three n******. And there's a sp**. Right? Hmm? There's another sp**. Ooh, there's a w**; there's a p*****; and, oh, a couple of greaseballs. And there's three lace-curtain Irish mi***. And there's one, hip, thick, hunky, funky, boogie. Boogie boogie. Mm-hmm. I got three ky**** here, do I hear five ky****? I got five ky***, do I hear six sp****, I got six sp****, do I hear seven n******? I got seven ******. Sold American. I pass with seven n******, six sp***, five micks, four ky***, three gu*****, and one w***. Well, I was just trying to make a point, and that is that it's the suppression of the word that gives it the power, the violence, the viciousness. Dig: if President Kennedy would just go on television, and say, "I would like to introduce you to all the n****** in my cabinet," and if he'd just say "n***** , n*****, n*****, n*****, n*****" to every n***** he saw, "boogie, boogie, boogie, boogie,boogie," "n*****,n*****n*****, n*****, n*****." 'til n***** didn't mean anything anymore, then you could never make some six-year-old black kid cry because somebody called him a n***** at school.

Lenny Bruce

Words only hurt if you let them.

I believe Bruce was trying to make a point. That is a bit more than this simple minded man was trying to do. Everyone knew Bruce was brilliant, and did not have a racist bone in his body. He was educating the masses. Do you really think that was the intention of this fool? Come on. You can do better than this.

Most of the people I know in the west have zero financial management skills. Not sure if this is a Thai thing, as they make it out to be.

This absolute baffoon was born in the wrong place, at the wrong time. He obviously should have been born during the 10th century, where he could have led his troops into a Norman village, and raped and pillaged to his hearts content. He is unintelligent, misguided, unwise, foolish, and does not have a creative bone in his body. He should spend all his time trying to rehabilitate his son's reputation. Not trying to lead this country. We do not need him. He is not wanted. He should go back to his family, and continue to concentrate on billing the public of millions of dollars. That is what he excels at. Stick with what you are good at. You are not a good leader Mr. Suthep.

How about for a Toyota Vios? Anybody done this? I hear it can lead to valve problems due to the lack of lubrication? Is this true? Seriously considering it. Should it be a with the multiple injector system? Cost estimates? thanks.

Heavens to Betsy, the "N" word! Some people are just too sensitive. I was called a convict the other day.

I believe you are missing the point here, and making light of something real. The N word is equivalent to kike, krout, spic, wetback, and any of a number of slanderous terms used to denigrate people who are not as white as you may be. It is offensive. It is disrespectful. What is so hard about seeing why public figures should not behave like this? Is that so difficult to see? He should be taken off the air, and never allowed to be on the air again, for the rest of his life. The public forum has no room for men of his level of ignorance, and stupidity. Did he not know he was being taped? A public figure has to assume he is always being taped. Their behavior has to be to a higher standard. Plain and simple. The guy is a creton. He is an insect. His lack of respect for people darker than him is childish, churlish, pathetic, and irresponsible. Get rid of this vermin.

Sorry 15 days jail for selling unripe fruit??? I see priorities out of kilter.

Sent from my GT-P5110 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Once again, the signs of a COMPLETELY dysfunctional legal and judicial system. I do not even think they know how badly they perform. I think they have no perspective. I would encourage every judge in Thailand to spend some time visiting first world courts, to see how an adult legal system functions. The court system here is fairly close to a monkey court. Murderers walk free, rapists get off with 500 baht fines, sons of rich men kill police and pedestrians with their cars, and walk free, and a durian merchant gets sent to jail for 15 days for selling unripe fruit? I am fully in support of some sort of consumer protection system. I think it would benefit the country greatly, as there is presently no real place for thais or farengs to complain about injustices being perpetrated on them. But, one needs to build a system like that, and not just impose your version of it randomly. This judge is a super freak. Unripe fruit has been sold worldwide since the beginning of time. It is up to the buyer to check things like this. Does this buyer not know how to determine if they were good durians, or not? I would suggest the judge got paid.

It takes dignity and integrity to resign at a time of crisis and criticism.

Something that this regime is devoid of.

But then again I doubt the S Korean government are anywhere near as corrupt as this government and money is a good motivator.

Had he been in a position of having such a ****d up country where corruption and theft of public money goes totally unchecked and a government can easily keep all its support while doing so... Then maybe the S Korean government may also be tempted... but unfortunately for them they have a proper country with a proper system and are light years ahead of the Thai's who would not know what dignity and integrity was if is punched them in the mouth.

Good point about the dignity aspect. Something this PM does not seem to embody. But, you know the country is in a difficult position when the opponent is Suthep. Talk about a shill, an incompetent, an empty suit, and a phony with bad intentions. So, what is the alternative at this point? I would suggest a reform of the entire political infrastructure and system from the ground up. And appointments of ministers based on qualifications, not who you know, or what your family name is. Yes, taking responsibility for ones actions, or inactions, is a very foreign, and alien concept here in the LOS. Face tends to allow them to get away with a lot, and not look within. It is the behavior of cowards to not look within for solutions.

Can you show me where his black players make less money than white players or have suffered some type of loss by the color of their skin?

He did win an ugly, protracted case brought against him by NBA great, and longtime Clippers GM, Elgin Baylor, for unfair termination and discrimination.

quotes:

Baylor also claimed that his salary had been frozen at $350,000 a year since 2003 while the Caucasian head coach was given a four-year, $22-million contract.

That coach was Mike Dunleavy, who became the teams general manager when Baylor left. Dunleavy, too, became embroiled in litigation with the Clippers to collect the remainder of the money owed on the contract after the team fired him in 2010. The Clippers accused Dunleavy of defrauding the team; an arbitrator awarded the former coach and general manager $13 million in 2011.

Mr. Sterling has also paid a lot of fines related to his treatment of minorities in the properties he rents.

In 2009, Sterling paid a $2.725 million settlement in a lawsuit brought by the Justice Department accusing him of systematically driving African-Americans, Latinos and families with children out of apartment buildings he owned.

They don't call him Slum-Lord Billionaire for nothing.

Vortex of Outrage Has Long Trailed Clippers Owner

Donald Sterling Has a Public Record of Bad Behavior

LOS ANGELES When Kim Hughes, then an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers, was found to have prostate cancer on the eve of training camp in 2004, he learned what it was like to work in Donald Sterlings world.

Hughes wanted to postpone surgery. The disease ran in the family, usually slowly. But after Coach Mike Dunleavy encouraged Hughes to get another opinion, the second doctor urged Hughes to have surgery quickly. When Hughes contacted the Clippers about his health insurance coverage, he was told the surgery was not covered. If they made an exception for him, they would have to do so for everyone.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-elgin-baylor-donald-sterling-20140426,0,877251.story

Thank you. Yes, it is true. I do hate bigots. Even when that crap it uttered in the privacy of ones home. Yes, I do hold him to a high standard. And I think NBA owners should be held to a higher standard than most others. This is consistent behavior, and not a one off event. He needs to go. Plain and simple.

The victim was a Thai, your wife is presumably a Thai. If she isn't going to help, why should you?

In Saudi, we were told to run away if we saw someone injured, as if they died it would be our fault ( it's complicated ).

What you could have done would have been to insist your wife called the police, in case no one else did.

Totally agree with you on that one, If you offer any assistance in Saudi then you are liable under Sharia law, walk the other way....fast

Can I ask Sheryl though....and I know you offer excellent advice many times Sheryl......you mention if the op had a car then you could ferry them to hospital, but is it not against medical practice to move an injured person? just inquiring, not criticising,

Regards

But we are not talking about one of the most primitive, insensitive, and callous nations on earth. We are not talking about Saudi here, where a 10th century sharia law is applied to everything. We are talking about a country that is at least making an attempt to live in the 21st century. You have got to give Thailand at least that much credit. I would have insisted that my girlfriend inquire to see if there was anything we could do to help. Just because the Thais are callous about another persons injury and misfortune, does not mean I have to live like that. I am always trying to influence my Thai girlfriend to adopt positive qualities from the west. She seems to appreciate it. She wants to improve as a person too. So, sometimes you have to say this is wrong. And stand your ground.

Terry you know the police are partially to blame. They throw themselves in front of traffic to get cars to stop and even try to grab on to motorcycles to make them stop. Im not saying this man is not at fault because he is. But police should have a better system to get drivers than standing at a checkpoint waiting to grab you.

A few years ago I had a motobike accident in Pattaya when a "policeman" rushed out of nowhere and tried to stop me. He grabbed my arm and it took me down and him with me. Broke the bike up a little but nothing major, but it did cut me up a bit. He hurt his ankle or foot. I went toe to toe in his face SCREAMING at him and pushing him until he backed down and let me go. I had a farang meltdown on him, and I'm a pretty stocky big guy, not an older easy to pick on type. I think the whole episode, going down with me and my total freak out, startled him. Whatever the case, that was one stop that didn't go the way he though it was going to. I've had a couple of run ins with real idiot police in Pattaya, almost always the same thing with them jetting out in front of you and trying to stop you on a bike at 3am on some side soi. No thanks. I suppose I am partly to blame by being out at 3 - 4 am, but what is Pattaya for if you can't be out that late?

Driving a car, have not had any real issues yet. Just normal stops, always polite and send me on my way. The way it should be. It's only on a bike and in Pattaya where I've had a few real problems.

Sounds like you have run into some very, very intelligent policemen. Grabbing the driver of a motorbikes arm is a smart move. He should be commended for that. Perhaps given an award for creativity, or problem solving. Wow. Boggles the mind. I always say the expression should not be "Amazing Thailand". It should be "Inexplicable Thailand".

He is a fabulously ignorant man, and no doubt the village idiot, who happened to be in the right place at the right time, and made some courageous decisions to get where he is. Nothing he has ever said betrays an exceptional amount of intelligence. Quite the opposite. Granted he is a billionaire, and usually that takes a lot of intelligence. But, in his case who knows? The reality is that the league is populated by a lot of very, very talented black men. I believe over 70%. The league is supported by alot of hard working black fans, amongst others. And most owners seem to have an open mind about race, or at the very least are smart enough to not utter statements as ignorant as some of the things this creep has said. And the black population of the US has been through a lot of crap in their lifetimes. They simply do not deserve this. It is now 2014, and there is simply no room for this kind of behavior. Yes, it was a private conversation, but in my opinion that does not matter, because it shows the level of ignorance this man has, and the level of hatred and disrespect he has towards his players and fans. That is the real point here. A league like the NBA has to maintain an open mind to survive and prosper, and there is no room for owners as pathetic and lowly as Sterling. He is a pig. Get him out. I applaud Adam Silver for taking a courageous approach to this. I do not think Stern would have done it. He did not prosecute Kobe for the anal rape case. Nor did he go after Sterling when Baylor sued him for racist behavior years ago. Something needs to be done. He has been a boil on the face of the NBA for a long time. I love the idea of using these circumstances to finally get him the hell out of the league. I also love how disgraced the man has become. He deeply deserves that disgrace he has worked so hard to earn!

I have heard they are extorting as much as 40,000 baht for being over 0.05 in Pattaya. Happens towards the end of the month, when the hefty monthly payments on the massive police villas are due. Is this true? Sounds like an incredibly amount. I was told this by an ex-pat who lives in Pattaya, and has friends who have been nabbed. I guess this would act as a bit of a deterrent.

I have always considered John Paul II to be a saint. I may not have agreed with some of his policies, but he certainly had his heart in the right place, and was a great man. He was a pope of the people, similar to Francis. The Church was blessed to have him as pope. He benefitted millions, and had some great policies, and initiatives. He was kind, generous, charming, and rallied millions behind the church. I am not a religious person, but always appreciated his character. I consider him to be the greatest pope in my lifetime. As far as John XXII goes, well that is entirely another story. I would argue that several other popes are far more deserving of beautification. He was very controversial, and not always for the right reasons. But, I do not know enough about him. John Paul II on the other hand was a beautiful soul.

Just another example of a terribly weak judiciary. Why is nearly every judge in Thailand a 99 pound weakling? Are they all scared little kids? Why the inability to hand out justice. Or is that justice reserved for those who do not have the money to pay for a good lawyer? What on earth is the story here? Can freedom always be bought with some cash? Is the judiciary intentionally weak and cowardly? I have never seen anything like this anywhere else in the world. Have you?

Do you ever watch the news on television ?

Agree, bad news sells.

It's only negative if you choose to read the negative stuff.

Pick and choose well. Lots of really good stories and great people here.

I agree totally. We all need a place to vent. I have seen a lot of positive comments and posts. But, since we have no political or legal rights here, we all need a place to vent. So, do not take it too seriously. Some of it is in jest. Some of it is more earnest. Just participate, have some fun, and learn something.

Has this political "genius" ever come up with ANY solutions? Anything creative, dynamic, or workable? No. Of course the commander backs his efforts to solve the problems. But, how is he going to do it? What is he going to offer? He says he does not want elections. Because he knows his party has little chance of victory. So, other than deposing his opponent, how is he going to solve this? More hyperbole from a man who proved himself to be grossly incompetent, and incapable during his years as a PM.

Is it safe to presume MAS is nearly out of business by now? Their losses were averaging $500,000,000 per year before this fiasco. And now? Is it not a state owned enterprise? Is he not the leader of the ruling party? Do I need to say anymore? It is the remark of a scared child. He is tired of taking criticism for the poor handling of this tragedy, and that govt. does not take criticism well. Their treatment of Anwar is despicable. What could we have expected from these guys? Anything bordering on correct behavior?

Imagine. The US actually standing behind it's so called democratic ideals, and committing an act of courage. Let us not piss off the real leaders. They do not like Anwar, so I should not visit him. This man child, who is the leader of the free world never has to worry about committing an act of courage, or demonstrating moral power. He does not have it in his willowy little body, nor his flaccid mind. And I say this as an american who voted for him. But, only the first time. He quickly showed me who he really was. He should be visiting Anwar to demonstrate the tremendous bias, and lack of judgment the govt. made when they went after him and arrested him on trumped up charges. That would be the right thing to do. But, imagine this tiny man doing the right thing? I cannot.

Imagine Obama visiting a leader of a nearby country, overthrown in a coup, who's party still runs the country, but may be overthrown by a minority party in a judicial coup. You would be crying a river about it.

Best to just delete ideas and viewpoints that you do not want to hear ... you who bleat about "timy men" perhaps the mods can help you?

What on earth are you carrying on about? Are you actually apologizing for the blundering Barry? And why would I want to delete contrary ideas? I love contrary ideas. It is most of my liberal friends who hate them. I am a lifetime liberal, who has recently discovered the wonders of an open mind, and independent thinking. So, I am not towing the party line. Who gives a crap? Certainly not I.

The fact that these farmers are having to file lawsuits against the government just to collect the money they have already earned, and not been paid for, is a travesty. It means the Yingbat has lost their votes forever. Any why? Because she did not govern properly, and make provisions for the payments before she made the promises? What level of incompetence is requires to do something like this? What was the point exactly? What did this accomplish? What an exceptional lack of talent and ability she is demonstrating on a daily basis. Of course, with guys as simpleminded as Suthep trying to take her place, Thailand is left without a viable solution to this current mess. But, what she has done is beyond the pale.