Davedub

The point is that cannabis 'crimes' have no victim - so in fact calling them crimes is ridiculous. Whatever people choose to do in their own homes, whether considered a 'crime' or not, should depend on whether or not it causes harm to others. This was his (very good) point. I question the right of any authority to tell any mentally healthy, well informed individual what they can and cannot eat / drink / smoke in the privacy of their own home. This is far beyond the remit of any government and action needs to be taken to prevent this sort of gross over-reach. It's simply none of their business.

This is my point entirely - the headline reads "The Department of Land Transport has proposed a rule requiring all foreigners to pass a written test, even if they have a valid international driving permit." I have assumed that by "all foreigners" they are including tourists. So I would say that this has everything to do with tourists. As you say, I also can't imagine tourists doing a written driving test just so they can hire a motorbike during a two week holiday.

In other news; Thailand is concerned about reduced tourist arrivals with so many visitors now chosing Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and the Phillipines over Thailand. So making Thailand even less accessible by further increasing the bureacratic burden on visitors doesn't sound like a very good idea at all to me. There's also an underlying arrogance to this move; they're essentially saying they don't trust the standard of driving tests from other countries. Having completed both UK and Thai driving tests for both cars and motorcycles, I am of the opinion that UK driver skill level requirements are far higher. I wonder how long it will take for enterprising Thais to start offering an express 'license service' whereby the necessary paperwork can be obtained with a phone call and 2000 Bhat? Hopefully the authorities will realise the daftness of this move before they 'put yet another nail in the coffin' of their golden goose (20% of GDP). But Thailand is as Thailand does; logic doesn't always seem to be the primary motivator.

Thank you Mike - once again, you saved me the bother of posting! The inconsistency of enforcement is absolutely relevant here - these are the sorts of real world details the 'hang them high' brigade always seem to overlook in their acrimonious judgements. The 'hang them high' brigade have been active on here for years. Borne of a place and time where compassion was seen as weakness I guess.

Alcohol is indeed a dangerous drug. However: Education and the provision of mental healthcare would absolutely reduce the harm caused by alcohol. A scaling up of the enforcement of existing laws for drink driving would also make a huge difference Prohibiton always results in the creation of black markets. Prohibition thus funnels huge sums of money into the hands of criminal enterprises that often have little regard for quality control issues. This often leads to people getting poisoned by unregulated bootleg booze Historically, banning drink (or drugs for that matter) has consistently failed whilst simultaneously leading to the formation of the largest criminal enterprises in human history (e.g. The Mafia, the South American drug cartels) These are the realities of the prohibition theory, as borne out by the last 100 years of history The reality is undeniable. It's time to look at alternative measures. In the words of Einstien: "Repeating the same action over and expecting different results is the definition of madness"

It's refreshing to see a pulling back from the 'solve alcohol related issues by using a broad stroke, heavy handed control' approach. Issues like problem drinking are better dealt with by treating the underlying cause of alcohol abuse - treating mental health issues or eduction on more effective, healthy coping mechanisms for stress being good examples of this. Issues like drink driving are best dealt with by targetting offenders (as opposed to implementing broad stroke reductions in alcohol availablity). Better enforcement of current drink driving laws is the obvious solution. It's good to see progress in what I'd consider the right direction.

All presented as if this will make any difference to drug supplies or reduce overall drug harm. It won't. Drugs won the war on drugs, decades ago. The only result of this bust is that some hapless mule will get the 'lock them up and throw away the key' treatment, that's all. Without condoning what he has done, I am of the opinion that taking such a risk is almost certainly an act of desparation or the result of coercion, blackmail or exploitation. This is a sad situation. I'm not even going to bother banging my usual drum on the subject - suffice to say that education and the provision of mental health care are the answers if the goal is truly to reduce drug harm. See my many previous posts on the subject for further details.

There is one thing that is holding back investment, foriegn businesses and people visiting Thailand in the medium to long term - unecessary bureacracy. Starting with the need to fill out my name, address, passport and phone number multiple times on many types of visa / permit applications and culminating in inch-thich piles of pointless paperwork for anything more substantial. Discovering that single items of documentation require another ten pages of other documents from other government agencies feels like a normal part of many processes. Every application I have to make fills me with dread. In my 17 years in Thailand I have wasted so much of my given time on Earth producing needless paperwork. I mean, where do they keep it all? I am entertaining the theory that Thailand actually has power stations entirely powered by burning the tonnes and tonnes of pointless paperwork they force visitors to produce - it's the only possible good reason I can think of for making us do this stuff! Really though, the bureacratic hurdles presented at every step of any 'official' process in Thailand are, for me, by far and away the worst thing about living in Thailand. Time is the most precious thing any of us possess. To have it wasted on pointless bureacracy should be a crime, regardless of the country.

The dual pricing at hospitals is the big issue for me. When I see the procedure I'm paying for can be profitably performed at a fraction of the price for a Thai it leaves me feeling ripped off and disrespected.

I have been using Google Sheets, Google Docs and Open Office for many years now. I only really use Open Office Calc for quick calculations that I don't intend to keep - i.e. to avoid clogging up my Google Sheets folder. I understand that Microsoft Excel might be the only solution for deep statisical analysis and other 'advanced' functionality - beyond that, I have no idea why anyone would ever pay for Microsoft Office.

I suspect that many travellers will not get this done three days ahead of their arrival. I imagine a certain amount of chaos at Suvarnabhumi with travellers needing to find somewhere to stay for three days on the wrong side of the immigration counters. Or perhaps people will not be able to board at the departing country unless they can show a valid digital arrival card? Either way, I am not convinced this scheme is going to enhance visitor support or ensure a smoother arrival experience in Thailand.

It seems to me that if the OP had paid then his son would be in the position of having seen his father haplessly going along for the sake of getting along. I think the son witnessed an excellent lesson in maintaining boundaries and maintaining self respect. Learning that part of that process is that when you stand up to people they may bad mouth you is also a valuable lesson.

How on earth are people supposed to 'respect authority' with the boys in blue pulling stunts like this? When did handcuffing become standard practice for arresting people for non-violent crimes? Has somebody been watching too many American cop shows on Netflix? It'd be laughable if this act of bullying were not so disrespectful, pointless and utterly disgraceful. Yet more tax payer's money wasted on yet another blow to public confidence in the police. Who will protect the people from the protectors? Police over-reach like this constitutes an abuse of power, pure and simple. I sincerely hope whomever made the decision to make these arrests has their career cut abruptly short, are made to explain themselves in court, are forced to make a public apology and are personally sued for every single penny they have to their name. At a minimum.

Addressing soaring PM2.5 levels with an effective plan and followup action would have far more positive impact if addressing public health concerns were actually the motivation here. I wonder how many people actually believe public health concerns are the real reason for this crackdown?

Well there is the problem right there - mindlessly repeating the same old action, every time expecting different results. Drugs won the war on drugs, decades ago. As proven by the Portugese for many years now, the provision of education and mental healthcare is a far more appropriate, effective and cost effective way of reducing drug harm. No well informed, mentally healthy person deliberately causes themselves harm. But no, like in so many other countries globally, the nature of politics demands that politicians be seen as 'tough on drugs' instead of compassionate and realistic, thus furthering and increasing drug harm and needless suffering whilst continuing the funneling of vast sums of money into the hands of criminal enterprises.