spidermike007

Trump is looking more ridiculous by the day. He has absolutely no idea how to handle this one. His typical deflection and fake news narrative is not working this time. His buddy MBS has been outed as a gangster and has embarrassed him, as Trumps constant defense of the House of Saud has emboldened this thug. Thankfully the world now knows who and what MBS is. Egg on the face all around. 

Usually a fight does not end in beheading or dismemberment. Where is the body, if it was only a "fight" as the corrupt, dishonest, dangerous and vile Saudis say?

16 minutes ago, Vacuum said:

Why is this? Different tarmac, more blind curves, enormous potholes in the roads or what?

Many reasons. Alot of tourists visiting and harboring the illusion that driving a scooter for the first time on a tropical island would be a cool thing to do. Incredibly aggressive and careless local drivers. Mini van drivers and jeep safari drivers that are certifiably insane. Police who are as apathetic and incompetent as they could possibly be.

I could go on and on and on. The number of bike riders who die or get seriously injured on Samui is astonishing. Ask any nurse who works at any of the private hospitals there. It is quite an industry. 

4 hours ago, Morch said:

 

"The fact is without oil the Saudis would be one of the most irrelevant nations on earth. Only because of their oil is their nonsense tolerated."

 

Not expecting much of a coherent, or reasoned response, but pray tell - what makes a nation "relevant", and who gets to judge this? The latter part of your comment seems to exactly point to SA's "relevance".

 

 

 

"They have been doing this sort of thing for a century or more."

 

Not to question the historical knowledge exemplified by this comment - but could you possibly support it with something resembling fact? 

There is alot of evidence pointing toward alot of misbehavior on the part of the Saudis for a long time now. Both internally and externally.

Relevance can mean alot of things. It starts with a culture which has something to contribute to the world, artistically, socially, through drama, the arts, dance, science, medicine and such. What has Saudi contributed lately?

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/03/saudi-arabia-in-ten-brutal-facts/

They continue to maintain a zero tolerance policy. The reformer is not any such thing. A gangster is more like it. 

The rights group Prisoners of Conscience, which is an independent non-governmental organization advocating human rights in Saudi Arabia, announced in a post on its official Twitter page last month that Saudi authorities were reportedly keeping more than 2,500 anti-regime activists behind bars as part of a widening crackdown led by bin Salman against Muslim preachers.

https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/10/09/576543/Saudi-Arabia--jamal-khashoggi-Recep-TayyipErdogan-Istanbul

This time, they appointed the most incompetent man, they could possibly find, anywhere in the nation, to head the immigration. Congrats to Little P. He exceeded even his own typical level of incompetence this time.

It is obvious the foreigners had no driving skill whatsoever. Sure the guy stopped hard. Who knows what was in front of him? The bottom line, is that they are two of many tens of thousands who come to Samui (sure looks like the Ring Road) and get in accidents. Looked pretty minor. Thousands have never made it home, unless you call an arrival in a wooden box a return home. 

Samui remains the most dangerous place on earth to drive a motorbike, bar none. Signs should be posted, and basic competency tests should be given for anyone wanting to ride a motorbike. And embassies should warn their citizens not to rent motorbikes, on Samui, or Phuket, unless the riders are very experienced.

14 hours ago, Naam said:

don't hold your breath. none of your wishes are realistic. and  so are your personal assumptions pertaining to "nation of violence and hatred". it just documents that you possess a wealth of no idea about the country and wahhabism.

 

however, i fully agree with your assessment that Mohamad bin Salman is a thug.

Are you suggestinf that Wahhabism is a teaching of tolerance, love, compassion and forgiveness? And Sharia? Also the same level of beauty and love? Just what are you saying?

When was the last time you saw a Thai man fight with another Thai man without his buddies or a weapon? Barely ever happens. Big men when armed or with five others. 

One wonders if the biggest joke will accelerate this kind of foolish nonsense. It reeks of a fascist mentality. So typical of anything Little P. touches. 

5 hours ago, pegman said:

Now that the Saudis look like they are going to admit to the murder the King needs to let MBS loose. Extradite him to the World Criminal Court or to Turkey to face charges. 

When was the last time a royal family sacrificed an offspring because it was the right thing to do?

Or even a super wealthy family? They always have others do the dirty work for them, and as is the case with the Red Bull worm, and never, ever take responsibility for the actions of their putrid children.

He is unchanged. He is still the same nasty piece of work he was before the hearings!

The biggest joke was promoted from a high ranking collection officer, to a high ranking immigration officer. Without any experience in the latter. Rather typical of this administration, where talent and merit are never, ever a consideration for an appointment. Way to go little P. Moving Thailand backwards at a breath taking and staggering pace.

6 minutes ago, underlordcthulhu said:

Come again? Hmmm?

http://www.accessonline.com/articles/donald-trump-puts-jennifer-hudson-family-up-for-free-in-chicago-hotel-66176/

One would have to make some effort to define that are charity. Also, it does appear to be a publicity stunt, thought up by a good PR firm. The world knows Trump needs some good PR, at this stage of the game. His name is mud, worldwide, he is losing one franchising and merchandising deal after another, and his hotels are taking a real hit. At the moment, units in his buildings are barely salable or rentable, as few want to be associated with the name.

I think perhaps a few decades from now, they will have tourism classes at university, where they will discuss how Thailand lost the golden egg of Western tourism. Those tourists, unlike most Chinese tourists, spent anywhere from $100 a day, to over $2,000 a day. They brought real money into the country, and in exchange, were treated with utter and complete disregard, scammed, disrespected, and abused. Eventually, most said no more. Thailand thought the country was something very special, and that nobody would ever say no, or find alternative places to visit. The fact is that there are countless other spots, many in this region, that offer better service, more expertise in food and beverage (especially wine service and selection at fair prices, which rich tourists demand), reasonable import duties to sustain a luxury goods market, better training, and far better english skills. Thailand simply lost sight of the big picture, and had very little vision, with regard to big spending tourists, who need to be catered to, instead of scorned.

So, what happened? The Western tourists started to decline in number, and the genius minds at the TAT decided it was time to "lure" the Chinese. They came. They came in droves. But, they did not spend much money. Hotels, restaurants, gift shops, jewelers, galleries, spas, massage shops, bars, and countless other businesses suffered, and will continue to suffer from this extreme myopia, on the part of the officials in charge of tourism. Oh well. Can't say they were not warned. Zero baht tourists are perhaps the majority who visit Thailand now. Sure, they spend some money in restaurants, and in 7/11. But, that is about it, for some of the super low budget Chinese tours. Not many rich Chinese are not visiting Thailand, for a dozen good reasons. They have too many other options.

There are countless things the government could be doing, if they wanted to attract the high quality tourists. The very first thing would be to repeal the anti faring wine bill, that was passed by a few very corrupt senators way back when, to protect an anemic local wine industry. They are losing billions of dollars a year in revenue, that would be had from a 100% wine duty, instead of over 300%. The five star hotels would have major wine events, and the entire industry would flourish here. 

I was recently with a group of friends, and we wanted to order a bottle of wine, at of one of those high end restaurants in the EmQuartier complex. It was Bella Rocca Restaurant. I asked about a 2011 Chianti they had on the list. I was told they were out of stock. I asked about a Barbaresco, at 2,600 baht. Again, out of stock. How about this Nebbiolo? Do you have the 2010, as stated on the list? No, we only have the 2015. OK, what is that wine like? Is it drinking well now? I do not know. Is there anyone here that is familiar with this wine list? No. Sorry sir. Wait a minute. You have 100 bottles on this list, ranging from 1200 baht to 10,000 baht per bottle, and NOBODY who works here knows anything about the wine? Are you serious? We all just looked at each other, and got up and walked out. We realized the restaurant was a pretender. And more than likely the food was marginal at best. It was all dressed up to look like a very nice Italian restaurant. But, it appeared to be only window dressing. High end tourists have little patience for that lack of quality and lack of service. 

No doubt the wine duty was about a small lobby, that paid a senator to pass anti fareng wine legislation, to promote a handful of very inferior domestic wineries. A myopic policy, that staggers the imagination. To think of the hundreds of billions of baht the country is losing every year. If the duty was only 100%, the wine industry here would explode. It would benefit tourism, but attracting a far higher level of tourist, the hotel industry, restaurants, and the people, and ex-pats, who could choose from good wine, at fair prices. As it stands now, a decent bottle here costs in excess of 1,000 baht. And at the restaurants, the prices of good wine is downright silly. I have seen house wines, that cost 1,500 baht, that are available in Los Angeles for $4. Good wines that I pay $30-40 for in LA, cost 6,000 baht here, if you can find them. And who is going to pay that kind of money for a wine that is 80% less overseas? It is a bit like an ignorant hi-so guy paying 15,000,000 baht for a Porsche 911 here, that cost $120,000 in the US. 

But again, the lack of vision, combined with a naive, surly, silly, churlish, and ignorant sense of nationalism, bites the country in the butt. And again, who is the loser? The Thai people. 

The entire country is suffering from a declining tourism industry. And that will not change. It is a permanent declining trend. For a hundred valid reasons. 

What has the biggest joke ever done to benefit the people of Thailand? What has he ever done to benefit ex-pats? What does he know about immigration, and what qualifies him for this important position?

What has he ever done to prove he is not another corrupt policeman? Not much in my opinion. The world knows how corrupt the Dark Tao investigation was. And his complicity suggests he is bought and paid for.