spidermike007

They are countless. Just a start. This one is outdated, but useful. https://irp.fas.org/world/para/docs/rusorg3.htm https://ocindex.net/country/russia Bratva. Red Mafia. Vory v zakone. Going by many names and possessing a criminal resume that includes just about every illegal activity in existence, Russian organized crime (ROC) is composed of several transnational criminal organizations operating worldwide. Contrary to popular belief, the Red Mafia is not one cohesive organization, but rather an umbrella term for a loose network of autonomous criminal groups. What these disparate groups share, besides their Soviet roots, is a passion for any and every remotely profitable criminal activity. ROC is, if nothing else, resourceful, having a hand in everything from human trafficking to fraud. Unlike other international criminals groups—such as La Cosa Nostra (which specializes in protection extortion) or the Mexican cartels (drug trafficking)—ROC is involved in almost every criminal activity. Name a crime, and the ROC circuit is bound to have it in its extensive repertoire: money laundering, kidnapping, prostitution, fraud, drug trafficking, human trafficking, weapons smuggling, extortion, auto theft, counterfeiting and, of course, murder. https://web.stanford.edu/group/sias/cgi-bin/smunc/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Russia-BG-Final.pdf In Russia, a country already suffering from political and economic disaster, it is reported that an estimated 80 percent of the private enterprises and commercial banks are forced to pay a tribute of 10 to 25 percent of their profits to organized crime. They use the banks to launder money and avoid paying taxes desperately needed by the government to pay salaries and debts. All too often we hear of government and military personnel in Russia not being paid for months. To further cripple the economy, these crime groups dominate economic sectors, such as petroleum distribution, pharmaceuticals and consumer products distribution. According to Interior Minister Anatoly Kulikov, ROC controls 40% of Russia's gross national product. As long as money is not being paid into the government, money will not be paid out to workers in the form of salary and pension entitlements. https://www.globalinvestigativegroup.com/roc-and-trafficking

My guess is that a few Jewish students or professors heard some language that was unkind and perhaps threatening and blew it up into this huge thing that the media just latched on to, and now they're calling protesters terrorists. I don't see anyone's strapping IEDs to their chest and walking into buildings and blowing them up. Also it's extremely unpopular to criticize Israel, they are the largest lobby in the US, and I can tell you as a Jew, for decades I've been criticized for not falling in step with all of Israeli policy. Now the extremist within the Orthodox community are behind Netanyahu. So, who's the terrorist in this picture?

I think the students have a constitutional right to protest and the schools have an obligation to provide a space where they can do so. Obviously, the students do not have a right to occupy buildings and obstruct the ability of the schools to provide an education. I think university presidents are completely overreacting from the Republican outrage machine, which they will never be able to appease. I’d like to see university leaders sit down with student representatives and work out a deal rather than send in law enforcement. I think reasonable concessions can be made to appease all sides. I don’t think anyone was in danger. Yes, there were some outside Nazi groups that showed up, but I am tired of everything anti Israel being construed as antisemitic. I can hate Bibi and the genocide he’s committing in Gaza without hating Jews. It’s baffling.

With this intense heat and the worst air quality I've seen in the past 15 years, there are going to be many who will be rejoicing over storms wind and rain, which should clean things up very nicely, at least for the time being. Bring it on!

I would expect to see a lot more of this in the future, some investigations have revealed that there are over 5,000 organized criminal gangs operating within Russia, and they also operate within 50 different countries. Thailand is inviting them in freely, and does not have a clue about screening career criminals, it would appear. So, it's only a matter of time before there are more Russian Bratva here, with alot of related violence, and more Vors running around creating problems for many.

Real men take responsibility for their actions and are willing to admit their shortcomings. Tiny men take offense from the smallest things, cannot handle criticism, and their arrogance prevents them from seeing the need to change and improve. This unbelievably dumb behavior on the part of the Thai officials is not beneficial for the nation, trying to suppress this type of information is a form of Bolshevik or Stalinist policy, and the news that will get out as a result of this kind of thing will be likely far worse than the impact a negative video could have on the nation. Nobody likes a government that engages in overreach and suppression. So, the question is does Thailand consider it to be a free and open society, or does Thailand want to emulate China and North Korea? is this further proof that Thailand is anything but a democracy?

The ticker symbol is TGCB on the pink sheet. Tego Cyber.

TEGO. A cyber security company. They have a great platform. Stock was as high as $1. At $.016 at the moment. Some mamafement issues, and taking longer to market the product than they thought. I see it going well past $1, could go much higher if management gets a Nasdaq listing, or if they get bought out by a large company in their field. I like higher risk, higher yield investments.

That could be. In general I find the government here to be quite xenophobic. But, not the people. Just the fools who run the place.

Thanks, I appreciate that. I'm actually not a pessimistic guy but I guess I use this forum to vent a bit! I do believe that 20 years ago there were alot more high-end tourists. I personally know some very wealthy people who came here and said they would never return. The primary reasons? 1. It was too difficult to get around. No private helicopter service and very few private planes and jets available. No high speed trains, and the highways are too clogged and dangerous. 2. The wife couldn't shop because luxury goods were too overpriced. 3. They couldn't get their favorite bottles of wine with dinner and if they could find them they were five times what they were used to paying at home. They said that was enough reason to never come back. And the authorities have done nothing to improve the experience for this type of tourist.

Seeing him locked up would be a lot of fun and very gratifying, but seeing some members of his family locked up, the subordinate crime sons, would be even more fun.

Top ranked RTP. Guilty until proven innocent!

As if these goons do not already siphon enough of the annual budget. And what do the people get in return? Where are the regional threats? Why such an inordinate level of power? If anything, the Armed Forces here need to be denied access to more funds.

Well, that is what his well oiled PR machine wants you to believe. I recall constant press conferences, an obsessive hogging of the limelight, and alot of highly ignorant statements coming from this goon. It continued as deputy police chief. That is just who he is.

The government's tourism goals include 80 million tourists by 2027. Wow. At 40 million over crowding, misbehavior of low end tourists, and a myriad of other problems are seemingly beyond control. Double that? Yikes. The quality of life would diminish for everyone. And how do you expand an airport like Swampy? It is already enormous. The walk to and from the gates feels like 2 km. or longer. Quantity over quality. A hallmark of an inept administration without any vision. PM Srettha in a nutshell.

It would be such a beautiful thing to witness this goon being locked up, because he could not control himself. He believes himself to be above any and all laws. This is a "witch hunt", after all. Hoping and dreaming of this fantasy.

People just don't realize the kind of money involved, for the top clowns in the RTP pyramid scheme, like Torsak and the Joke. It would sure be nice to see some of them convicted. It would demonstrate a true step forward. As the wife of a crook, she should pay a heavy price for his crimes. Same applies to their kids. They benefitted from the ill gotten wealth. At a minimum they should be subject to great humiliation and outed.

These increasing events are an indication of the lower end tourists Thailand is now attracting. There are many reasons for this, which we have gone over, time and again. Violence is rarely ever called for, especially over small sums is money. What a creep.

Well one never knows with this guy, he was chief of immigration until he got canned for making frequent and ridiculous remarks about foreigners, and was exiled for years. He mysteriously reappeared as the deputy National Police Chief, was able to develop a reputation as Mr. Clean (which I believe to be totally fake), and now he's being accused of being anything but clean. I guess since they're used to promoting guys that should have remained in exile, in the convoluted and nonsensical world of Thai politics, the only place for him to go at this point, is to become the next PM.

Everyone seems to be commenting on the photo but who cares? The story itself is pretty bizarre and if it's true, oh the tangled webs that we weave. This one is pretty out there. Talk about a twisted and perverted scenario.

I was recently in the US and I needed an international driver's license for a trip to Europe in the near future, and it was as simple as walking into AAA and asking for it. However, as we know things are often not quite that simple here.

A lot of Thais seem to be considerably less sophisticated when it comes to customer service and warranties than in a lot of other countries. When I return something to a store or demand customer satisfaction Thais are often quite surprised that I would make the effort, and they're also often quite surprised when I get a positive result. You don't get anything in this world unless you ask for it.

I have, he's a very good writer, unfortunately it's fiction though it's probably closer to reality than one would presume. I would really like to see a true expose, but then again since there's no investigative journalism being done in Thailand, that's not going to happen.

I think polling would show that the level of confidence in the integrity of the Supreme Court is probably on par with the integrity of Congress, and the approval rating of Congress. Way down there in the low teens.

And those are the legal business interests, we really don't know the extent of the illegal business interests that these generals are involved in. Drug running, human trafficking, prostitution, gambling, etc. The list likely goes on and on. The Thai army is not exactly a paragon of integrity, and there is no question about the fact that they're not sufficiently policed!