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Davedub

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  1. A bit of perspective here; this is a minisule amount of coke in comparison to all the other shipments that did get through. This bust will have zero effect on the availability or cost of cocaine in Thailand. It's absurd to think this bust willl make any difference to anyone or anything (except the hapless mule - he's the only person who's life will actually be significantly affected by this bust). At the risk of banging the same old drum again and again, the solution to drug harm involves education and mental health care. No well informed, healthy person causes themselves harm on purpose. Criminalising drugs has been shown for decades now to not only be ineffective, but to also put enormous amounts of wealth into the hands of criminals. The evidence? Take a look at the rise of the Mafia when the US criminalised alcohol. Take a look at the vast wealth of the South American drug cartels. Take a look at the lowest rates of addiction in Europe; Portugal, where they sucessfully adopted a policy similar to what I'm describing here years ago. Bottom line: The war on drugs has failed. Prohibition is doomed to fail. The anti-drug campaigns of recent decades have merely served to create a political environment whereby politicians would be comitting political suicide if they were to publicly acknowledge the irrefutable facts around the issue. Having seen first hand the effect of drug harm on people close to me in the past, it's frustrating - depressing even - to see the same old tropes, messages and attitudes being spun in news pieces like this.
  2. Absolutely. This country is crippled by the practice of saving face. Factor in the unfathomable amount of pointless bureacracy and the ways in which promotions get awarded and the solutions to the vast majority of Thailand's problems become very apparent.
  3. If the complaints from the public are regarding the smell from use in public, surely banning its use in public would be a better response than banning it outright and depriving millions of adults their personal choice to use? I understand people complaining about the smell and second hand smoke, this is totally fair comment - I'm not a fan of sitting in clouds of other people's exhaled smoke either! But to wreck 1000s of small businesses because of the smoking in public issue? This makes no sense.
  4. Flash are a nightmare at the moment on Koh Phangan - marking as delivered when they have not been delivered and losing packages (twice so far this month)
  5. Obvious troll post. Do not feed!
  6. For sure. The irony is that Thailand would be so much more advanced if they didn't waste so much time and energy on pointless bureacracy and instead employed people to do something that was actually useful and of benefit to the Thai people.
  7. This will obviously create a flourishing new market for doctors to write prescriptions, nothing more. Cannabis consumption with neither rise nor fall. There will just be paperwork to get first. Gotta love Thailand and its never ending need for piles of paperwork - the oh-so-important signature, stamp and fee seems required for anything and everything. It would be hilarous if it were not such a waste of time and money. Do the powers that be really think creating bureacratic hurdles will benefit anyone except the people who will be paid to create yet more piles of pointless paper? I have a theory - perhaps all this pointless paper we are all forced to endlessly generate ends up going to the power stations where it is burned to produce electricity? It's way cheaper than coal or oil, burns cleaner and they have an endless supply of the stuff! Perhaps this is the real reason why the regulations and their enforcement is in a constant state of flux - they're just managing the supply of fuel...
  8. Not limited to Thailand - there is a fundamental issue with educational performance monitoring
  9. I stopped paying up front for items on Lazada after a 15,000 Baht printer order was cancelled by the vendor and my refund was automatically transferred to my 'Lazada Wallet'. The problem I found out later was that the money Lazada were holding for me apparently 'expired' after a period of time - which basicallly translates to Lazada taking my 15,000 Baht and giving me nothing in return. It's apparently all in the terms and conditions, all legal - they can just take your money and give you nothing in return after they have held your money for a specified amount of time. Were it not for the convenience of Lazada COD I'd have never used them again.
  10. That's an interesting solution - what kind of fog machine would be used?
  11. This is all true for water or any liquid with the exact same density of water. However, an ounce of liquid with, say, half the denisty of water will have twice the actual volume. The reverse is also true; an ounce of mercury will have a volume of way, way less than 28.35ml. Using ounces as a measure of volume for a liquid will always be inacccurate because doing so fails to take into account the fact different liquids have different densities. However, in practical terms, most liquids commonly 'measured' in ounces (alcholic drinks, milk) have a density quite close to that of water, so although slightly inaccurate it works ok.
  12. The Americanism I find really unfathomable is the use of a weight measure (ounces) to quantify volume of liquid. Perhaps in metric countries we could follow their lead: 'May I have a half kilo of beer please!?' Oh, and 'entree' - the French word for starter. How on earth did a word that actually sounds like 'entry' end up being the American word for the main course? Is it because TV dinners are often eaten on-a-tray'? But the biggest contradiction has to be the simplification of the English language (dropping the 'u' from colour and favourite, replacing all known collective nouns with the word 'bunch') juxtaposed with the continued use of the uncessarily complicated imperial measurement system and the use of confusing, jumbled up date formats. As our cousins over the pond might say 'go figure!' (Not bashing Americans here, us Brits hold onto plenty of inexplicable cultural traits too ???? )
  13. Having lived here full time since 2008, I'm of the opinion that at least part of the root cause is the unworkability of the bureaucratic procedures here. It's well known that any sort of transaction or interaction with government departments involves reams of unreasonable, unecessary and sometimes even unobtainable supporting paperwork. I'm talking about low-level stuff; restaurant permits, alcohol licenses, vehicle registration documents - the paperwork that everyday folk need to get on with their lives. The requirements change from region to region and from year to year and are always open to interpretation by the 'competent official'. So it's hardly surprising that a culture of brown envelopes exists - at a low level it provides a means for everyday folk to minimise the impact of bureaucracy on their ability to earn a living. The govt officals who help people 'navigate' the bureaucratic mess are oftentimes doing them a favour - and taking a risk in doing so. It's hardly surprising they want a little tea money in return. IMHO, the case described in the OP is a knock on consequence of this aspect of Thai society - tea money is seen as an essential part of life here - because, due to the inefficiencies and inconsistencies of the bureacratic system, it IS an essential part of life here. Instances of escalation to multimillion Baht judge bribes are inevitable under such conditions.
  14. The problem with these constant rules changes is that tourists looking for a convenient, hassle free break from their everyday lives are put off coming to Thailand because of all the research that needs doing on issues like this, only to find it all changes suddenly and without warning shortly before their departure. The Thai tourist sector would certainly benefit if people could book their holidays a year in advance without any uncertainty surrounding visa duration and entry requirements.
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