Expat1

Who cares what he thinks. That country is making itself more irrelevant by the week. Just ignore them. If they start something this time they know no one is going to help them.

If you want justice in Asia then you need to be pragmatic. There is and has been only one type of justice...vigilante.

chlorine based soap... Roooney tunes!

The western media still has a great talent... making the important trivial and the trivial important.

A military coup in America? What for? The military is owned and operated by the same crowd as the govt is now. And that sure as heck is NOT the American citizens. Now if they (the 30%) are saying by this that they feel the govt is no longer a valid govt which has become perverted and subverted by certain groups and that their power is so engrained that nothing short of major violence (which coups can be) is the only viable option then fine. They should just listen to those American forefathers that went before them and opt for outright, knockdown, full bore Revolution. If they really want to effect change without that change simply being a change of face and not be susceptible to the warning of that old Who rock song "meet the new boss..same as the old boss" and we won't get fooled again... well, then a coup is no real option and a waste of everyone's time.

For the uninitiated here, the Thai Police may or may not be the best police in the world, that is an opinion and judgement call however, one thing must be noted is that here in Thailand, as well as in many Asian countries, the "Bamboo Telegraph" is everywhere. I have seen this countless times in decades in Asia that if someone commits a crime and the authorities really want them (and the issue is not political) they are usually able to locate the perps damn quick through the local "telegraph" system and with a high degree of accuracy. If one commits a serious crime it is advised that one high tail it out of the region asap because chances are they will locate you. Considering the US FBI rate of fugitive acquisition is under 30% (depending who one reads, of course) the Thais and other Asia law enforcement do quite ok.

Sorry boys and girls. After working almost 3 decades with Chinese I can emphatically say that none of what is written in the above will eventuate. However, the Chinese do love face enhancing rhetoric, even when hollow.

What's the big noise about. The US trained the first rebels and ISIL which morphed in part to ISIS. There are US generals saying so on video. Why the surprised reaction to a possible defection? all the same crowd it would appear. What is the difference between the Keystone cops and US military planners...not much it seems.

Finally, some pithy commenters. I knew you guys were out there. Good remarks, gentlemen.

This whole concept is too absurd to even consider worthy of discussion.

Well, that is the thing isn't it. Unfortunately, Thai and other Asian women do not have the maturity level that their western sisters usually have by the same age. It can be a bit disconcerting and irksome. It has disrupted many a marriage and relationship with western men who tend to get tired of it over extended time. I had a similar occurrence many years ago when some unknown woman called my house early on Sunday morning to tell my wife I was sleeping with another woman at that moment and if she came over she would take her to where I was. My wife thought about it then told the woman she would ask me if she could go as soon as I got out of the bathroom. My late wife wasn't Asian and only laughed at their immaturity here in Asia. Now my second wife was Asian and the immaturity eventually got to me. C'est la vie.

From a purely technical military viewpoint Iran's military would be one of the best solutions to go in and effectively take out all the IS troops. Since the US, pushed by Israel, has taken the aggressor stand against Iran, Iran has followed a time honored tradition of "si vis pacem, para bellum" as a result and they have a pretty effective machine at the moment backed by Russia, China, et al. Now no one for a minute believes that the US or their friends will let Iran in there to sort IS out but that would be a viable option IMO.

How long is this nonsense going to continue. Just tell them, "who cares" and ignore their BS and move on. Upto 50 million or more died in that war and these are the only ones still whining. Let it go. Were they the special ones? I think not.

"...United States, which is pressing for more such dissidents to be released."

No problem. Make a deal with the US. The US release the thousands they have incarcerated around the world held without trial or due course and Vietnam will release some of theirs. Of course, it will be a bit lopsided with the US having multiples of what Vietnam has but, hey, it's a start. Pari Passu, just point the finger back.

Not too many combat vets here anymore that's obvious. Women in combat. Not if you have any sense. If there were combat vets here they would not even be discussing this as it is not even worth considering.

Now if you are dying to be PC in that nonsensical media run country then fine. Create women's mortar units and the like. The VC and NVA used women's mortar units and rocket units and hounded the bejesus out of us. They could knock a fly off a buffalo's butt on the run. But what women can not do is carry a 200lb+ wounded man very far. Menstruation in the field is of course a lot of fun. The US military knows they have had it all their way the last decade or so fighting low intensity conflicts against weaker foes and the chances are that this will change in the not too distant future and it could develop into a knock down drag out real fight, with no drones usable as the enemy will have the capabilities to electronically incapacitate them , to hit satellites in space, and readily locate and chase down their troops on the ground that are emitting EM signals and hit them. This is all known by the military. The only people that don't understand this, or don't want to, is the media there that want to the public and govt to be so PC.

I feel for the young men in uniform in the future that will have deal with this nonsense and suffer the results.

I recall that incident. In the old days his butt would have had vigilante justice already. He would have been found floating down the klong. Times have surely changed as have the people here it seems.

Huh. Well, ships clear port in the dead of night is nothing new nor uncommon. Believe me no collusion is really necessary. I have seen it done in Spore, Indonesia and Hong Kong in years past. Once one is over the horizon the ocean is a damn big place. Both the Australian and New Zealand navies losing the vessel originally is proof of that. I was under the impression that transponders were now to be put on such vessels by law. Though disconnecting them is obviously not that hard, of course. Still a rather appalling show by all the various maritime authorities and navies involved in this I would say.

Boy, have the Amers changed. What a bunch of powder puffs. If you voice an opinion and you believe that you are correct and can back it up with facts, then stick to it. But now it seems that one must bow to the group think-group speak of the media in that country. "Speak only as we agree and dictate or you will be ostracized, pilloried and reconditioned", so sayeth the TV set. Freedom of speech, huh...yea, ok.

Sorry that is incorrect. Exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is defined as a sea zone prescribed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea over which a state has special rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources, including energy production from water and wind. It stretches from the baseline out to 200 nautical miles (nmi) from its coast. Now in this part of the world with the closeness of the various countries borders certain demarcation has been determined and is enforced. However, the Asians have overfished their own waters dramatically and poaching from neighbors is the order of the day. Now why the Viets would come to Thailand which has overfished it's own waters is a mystery byt there it is. Most poachers go to Indonesia or Burma for decent hauls but the Marine Police and Navies in those countries don't screw around and tend to fire first and take names later.

Sure. Thatcher on the $10.00 note. Mandela on the $20.00 (black vote). Ceasar Chavez (Latins) on the $5.00 and W. on the $100.00 (morons, which must cover rest of the voting public for the Bush's I am guessing).

The vessel owners are very easy to find despite even flags of convenience as are the vessel captains. Anyone with any real time in the Asian maritime industry can guide the authorities but nobody seems concerned. Biz usual it appears.

Some time back Durex, the condom manufacturer, published a study they had done on infidelity of women around the world. Thai women came in second world wide as the least faithful after some African country. You can fill in the blanks yourself.

Outstanding. Good to know. Wish them the best. Cleaning up America's mess. Someone's gotta do it.

I am always underwhelmed about the lack of Asian knowledge exhibited by the people that use this site. They have been trotting people out in front of the crowd for centuries. This is not done for your TV sets. This is all about face and the expected and potential loss of. Since most westerners have no frame of reference to understand the importance and strength attached with face with Asian cultures the misconceptions they come up with are fascinating to see.

A quick story to illustrate this point. Since time immemorial or the 1970's, which ever came first, a standard method to induce a debtor to repay a debt was not at first to resort to violence but to publicly shame the debtor and family into repaying. This took many forms but one of my personal favorites was the lender to pass out flyers and paste posters to local lamp posts with the names of the debtors and their debts. If that had no effect they would stand out front of the person's house at first morning light with a bull horn waking up the neighbourhood and shout out the debtor's name, his address and amount owed and how long the debt was outstanding and how much of a deadbeat they were. The wife and family (assuming husband owed) were humiliated with major face loss in their community, sometimes even to suicide. The reenactments on TV are for the public to take similar note and avoid this fate of major face loss for committing crimes of any type.

Now it does beg the question, is this still as effective as it was in the past for this purpose. Who knows? Though I suspect it still retains reasonable effect.

Go Russia. About time. Lay on those S-400 and 500s, the new drones and a couple improved Akulas offshore. Also hire in your new PMC to do what Blackwater mercs do for the US. Pari passu.