Davedub

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.

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)

Obvious troll post. Do not feed!

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.

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...

Not limited to Thailand - there is a fundamental issue with educational performance monitoring

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.

That's an interesting solution - what kind of fog machine would be used?

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.

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 ???? )

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.

What is the FQ?

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.

It's always nice to hear the the BIB are out there arresting people for having purple pee, it sure makes the world a safer place. Such a great use of taxpayer's money too, I can't think of a better way to spend people's hard earned tax dollars. Recreational drug use nationwide will immediately stop now this has happened, obviously. This is important work those boys are doing, they're really making a difference out there.

Yep - I'd say this falls under the category of "not doing any harm to anyone else, therefore nobody else's business". I see no good reason why this guy should not have the freedom to make this personal choice.

Harm to health Nobody is claiming it's safe, but vaping is estimated to be up to 95% less harmful than cigarettes* and there is evidence that it can help in giving up nicotine entirely**. Nicotine addicts deserve the right to make informed decisions for themselves. * "[this] estimate is based on comprehensive, independent reviews of the scientific evidence by both Public Health England (the English Government Public Health agency) and the Tobacco Advisory Committee of the UK Royal College of Physicians" src: https://www.athra.org.au/blog/2019/12/23/vaping-is-95-safer-than-smoking-fact-or-factoid/ ** "While the science is evolving, evidence suggests that vaping nicotine (using e-cigarettes), can help adults quit smoking." src: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/smoking-tobacco/vaping/quit-smoking.html Protecting children Oh yeah, that's right - Thailand's stance on vaping is about protecting the kids. So why is the same logic not applied to cigarettes, booze and dope? Popcorn lung Diacetyl was found to cause a rare lung condition in workers exposed to high concentrations of the stuff in popcorn factories. It is found in normal cigarettes at level hundreds of times higher than any vape liquid***. Despite this, no smoker has ever been reported to have a case of popcorn lung. Given that vape juice contains many hundreds of time less diacetyl than cigarettes, there is pretty much zero chance of a vaper suffering from popcorn lung. The fears around popcorn lung and vaping are simply not based in reality. *** "[Diacetyl] been detected in some e-liquid flavourings in the past, but at levels hundreds of times lower than in cigarette smoke. Even at these levels, smoking is not a major risk factor for this rare disease." Src: https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2018/02/20/clearing-up-some-myths-around-e-cigarettes/ High levels of nicotine Another Thai government minister recently went on record claiming that vape products contain up to 60 times the amount of nicotine compared to cigarettes. If this is true (I honestly don't know), then surely the smart solution would be to regulate the industry rather than forcing it underground where unregulated, contaminated vape juice can be found everywhere? Thailand's stance on vaping ONLY makes sense when you follow the money. Cigarettes raise huge amounts of tax revenue and that is their only concern. Let's get this straight - these people are prioritising the tobacco monopoly's profits over people's health and their right to make informed decisions about their own health for themselves. They are sacrificing people's lives for profit - this is extreme avarice at it's ugliest.

Meth is nasty stuff and the harm it causes needs to be curbed for sure. However, prohibition has been shown time and again not to work. Without fail, history has taught us that prohibition simply funnels vast sums of money to criminal organisations like the mafia and the drug cartels of S. America - without any discernable effect on the supply of drugs. In the 50+ years since Nixon announced his 'war on drugs', drug harm has increased exponentially - fact. Anybody who is sound of mind has no interest in making a mess of themselves and their lives. People find themselves in a drug-induced mess for one of two reasons; they either didn't know what they were getting themselves into (lack of education) or they could see no other way to numb their pain (lack of mental healthcare). Education and mental healthcare are only the proven ways forwards for reducing drug harm - fact. Stiffer penalties for end users will cause more harm than good, for certain; wrecking families, depriving households of breadwinners, filling up already overcrowded jails all whilst giving yet more opportunity for police corruption. Are they seriously proposing this as some sort of magic bullet to the ever growing meth abuse problem? Dinosaurs do what dinosaurs do I guess - a predilection for spouting ill-considered, discompassionate, reactive nonsense coupled with having no handle on the reality people actually live with is their nature, as is borne out by announcements like this.

I'm of the opinion that many of the issues with tea money for minor civil servants is rooted in a deeper problem; that of excessively overcomplicated procedures and bureaucracy that, if actually followed to the letter are completely unworkable. For example, when I first started a business here back in 2008, immigration procedures required that I go to a Thai embassy somewhere like Kuala Lumpur with my work permit to get my one year B visa. The problem was that the labour department's regulations prohibited my taking my work permit out of the country! Although this particular situation has subsequently been addressed, it is a good example of the overcomplicated, pointless bureaucratic chaos that passes for 'correct procedure' here. When civil servants take tea money they are often helping someone get a needless, pointless bit of paper that is required for them to run a business or to just lead a normal life. It's easy to see why such practices continue; either unworkable, needlessly complicated regulations are followed to the letter and the entire country grinds to a halt, or civil servants make concessions at their own risk and somewhat understandably ask for recompense for doing so.

Fourteen years here and I can say it's definitely getting worse. I've been extorted twice for bogus traffic offences in BKK recently. But the real point is that everyone, Thai or Farang is potential prey to corrupt police - we don't need to commit a crime to get shaken down. I hear that police wages are not very high and that they have to buy their own uniforms, vehicles etc. If this is true then real, effective reform will require paying them a fair wage, monitoring far more closely for 'unusual wealth' and sending any police convicted of corruption straight to prison for a very long time.

Thailand - the only country on Earth where weed is legal but a vape can land you in trouble! An unfathomable contradiction, even by Thailand's standards (until you follow the money). If it were not for the needless damage to tourism and Thailand's image in general, the frightening reality of police shakedowns and the inexcusable violation of people's basic rights to make decisions for themselves, this situation would be hilarious.

Stood her ground? Having been shaken down in BKK for completely false 'traffic offences' twice recently, I can attest that when you're being intimidated by corrupt police you have one thought - how do I get out of this situation as quickly as possible? The feeling of powerlessness is deeply unsettling. Standing my ground against someone who has so much power over me and has already made it abundantly clear they have no respect for the law did not feel like a wise move.

Poor / desperate / naive / coerced - take your pick or mix and match. I remain thankful that I am fortunate enough not to be in a position where taking such a huge risk actually seems like my best or only option - clearly for some it actually does.

Resisting the urge to judge the Asian concept of saving face as an archaic, emotionally immature impedence to truth and justice becomes more challenging by the day

So weed is decriminalised, but vaping nicotine is banned. I wonder where weed vapes fall on this interesting legal continuum? "It's ok officer, I have ganja in my vaporiser, not nicotine" - what a world where this phrase might actually be effecive! https://fatbuddhaglass.com/blogs/fat-buddha-blog/how-to-choose-a-weed-vape-pen

I can confirm; my ex's son had over four years overstay when I helped him check in for a flight to Australia a few years ago - there were no problems at all.