rkidlad

The seal is broken now. The only way they can get the genie back in the bottle is if there’s another massacre. But that can’t happen for several reasons; social media is far too prevalent and the internet doesn’t forget. And the world couldn’t be seen to be doing nothing if it happened here. This is Thailand not China. China can get away with it ‘cos they’re too big and most people sadly don’t see the bigger picture. As for Thailand, they’d be just the right size to use to made an example of. 
 

Looking at what’s happening with Thaksin’s party it does look like deals are being made. Institutions have realized they’re not as infallible as they thought they were and will have to begrudgingly make concessions. I feel this is just insulting the intelligence and simply won’t work. 

18 minutes ago, Onrai said:

I agree with you completely. The article does nothing to promote Thailand and reflects poorly on the country.

Yes people will read it get a negative impression of Thailand.

I was trying to point out that libel, slander, defamation is common in other countries and is often prosecuted. It seems  unfair to report as if it is somehow worse here than elsewhere. How about an up lifting success story about how Thailand has succeeded in controlling Covid where other countries have failed? That would be a more interesting and constructive story. It is disheartening that even the NYT has to focus on the negative rather than the positive. 

As for Thailand, their defamation laws are some of the worst in the world. In the West, if you can prove what you said is true, there’s no case. That’s not the same here. The truth isn’t an excuse. 

14 minutes ago, Cod Face said:

Jumping on the bandwagon of unfounded speculation, eh, colinneil?   The parents involved have been quoted in the Bangkok Post as saying, specifically, that they do not want money from the school. They want the situation regarding the safety of their children rectified, that's all.  Maybe you've seen a quote somewhere indicating that they do want money, where would that be?

Welcome, Cod Face.

I like your style of writing. Seems eerily similar to a style I've seen before. 

11 minutes ago, Onrai said:

The international spin on this incident is that Thailand has Draconian defamation laws. There is just so much inherent hypocrisy and enthnocenthric bias in this reporting. President Trump is involved in multiple libel lawsuits.  So, yes it happens all the time in the USA. Posting a bad review is one thing but this guy clearly stepped over the line, used multiple emails to post negative reviews. Trip Advisor and Google and every other social media company have rules to prevent exactly this kind of abuse. ThaiVisa Forum has rules about “flaming”. Clearly the media skewed the story to make it more salacious instead of presenting a clear unbias facts.

He posted 4 reviews of which 3 were published. 
 

This has nothing to do with Donald Trump.

It doesn’t matter who you think is right or wrong. People will read headlines like the ones I posted, and they will be put off from coming to Thailand. No one wants to go to jail for a negative review. People in the West will find the whole notion of being arrested for bad reviews as abhorrent. Genuine reviews or not. 

5 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

Not at all, my post was just clarifying that it was not a Thai hotel owner for others to understand, e.g. TVF did not mention that and hence the reason for the Thai bashing, not that you had anything to do with.

 

Just clearing the air as post can sometimes be misread.

The hotel lodged the charge. 

46 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

As @impulse pointed out in a post above, the hotel is owned by a foreigner and not a Thai national.

 

TVF didn't mention that and looks like TVF members were quick off the mark to go the Thai's.............I think sometimes we have to research a little before leaving out the finer details, suffice to say it's not the Thai's fault for the actions of this owner and the customer, just two stubborn people not seeing eye to eye in the LOS which has smeared it's reputation somewhat, perhaps Thai's should start sueing them and the newspapers for not reporting the full story, e.g. foreign owner of a Thai hotel suing American expat/tourist on a Thai island. 

 

Wesley Barnes stayed at Sea View Koh Chang in late June and said he had a disagreement with a foreign restaurant manager over a corkage fee for a bottle of gin he brought to dinner.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-01/american-arrested-in-thailand-over-bad-review-of-hotel/12716776

Did I state the person who made the complaint is Thai? 

What the hell is going on?

On 9/29/2020 at 5:58 PM, snoop1130 said:

I always love and have goodwill toward children."

No, you don't. You're just a nasty piece of work who doesn't understand children because your brain hasn't formed into adulthood and you're not qualified to be in your position. 

For anyone who has older siblings, you'll probably know what it's like to have older kids taking care of you while your parents are not home. How older siblings might resort to hitting their younger siblings because they have no idea what they're doing. This is why we entrust schools, etc, to employ people who understand children and how to deal with them.

3 hours ago, Kerryd said:

555555555555555
Yeah, the same people who could have left anytime over the last 6 months but didn't because the gov't kept extending the amnesty. They have NO intent, or plans, to leave so long as they can continue to stay here without having to meet any visa requirements.

It would have made sense to consider and decide on an extension well before the end of the current one though, instead of waiting until the day before it expires. I can imagine that the 31 Oct date will be extended until 30 Nov now, but they won't discuss it or come to a decision and make the announcement until 29 Nov (late in the afternoon), instead of doing is say, on the 13th or 16th of the month.

Why's it so funny? Should immigration (or any law enforcement) be encouraging good beahviour or not? Isn't a fundamental of good law enforcement the prevention of crimes? 

The government gave an amnesty. You can stay in the country for x amount of time to sort your stuff out and then you have to go. Fair enough. So do that. Set a deadline and stick to it. If you want to extend the deadline date, then make sure you give notice - otherwise what's the point in extending it? 

Immigration gave warnings of arrests and detainment for people who would go on overstay after the 26th. They were clearly very serious as they made threats and we saw pictures of them with SWAT-looking police. That gave me the impression that overstay, etc, was completely non-negotiable. 

So, back to my first point. Do immigration want people following the rules and getting their stuff together, or do they not care and and prefer to act in a regressive manner? People who couldn't leave went to their embassies and got letters proving they couldn't leave. They were granted a 30-day extension. They followed the rules. People who couldn't be bothered or guessed the amnesty would be extended didn't bother and spent zero time, energy or money.

Now, do you think people will be more or less likely to think the amnesty will be extended again, so they won't bother doing anything and could well be on overstay this time? I'm guessing more people will assume it will be extended again. And if that's the case, immigration will have a s*** load of overstayers on their hands (you know, the one thing they so clearly didn't want) if the amnesty officially ends the end of October.

People who paid the money, but who've already booked a ticket to leave come the end of October have effectively paid money 'cos they followed the rules. People who didn't have paid nothing and have effectively been rewarded for not following the rules.

Refunding 1900 baht to people who can prove they're going by the end of October is a nice gesture that will encourage people to follow the rules. But hey, maybe I'm an idealist. Are immigration serious about deterring bad behaviour or not? You can't have your cake and eat it. 

1 minute ago, FritsSikkink said:

Sure, haven't had enough for free yet.

With that sorta mentality, the ones who didn't pay should be whipped!

Villa Supermarket have a few good big bottles and boxes. 'Laughing Bird' (which I did once see in Tesco) is about 570 baht for a 1.5 litre bottle. They have another Chilean one called 'Sol De Mayo' that's 100 baht more for the same size and is probably slightly nicer. And last but not least for a man who resents paying Thai prices for wine, they have a boxed wine called 'La Vida' from Chile (think it's locally made). It's 800 baht for 3 litres but actually tastes fine. The only problem is it's only 10% alcohol, so it will take you a couple more glasses 'til you reach that sweet release of passing out. 

8 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

Both

Any school who employs an unsuitable person to take care of kids is mostly all to blame.

An educational institute like a school is duty-bound to ensure the safety and well-being of their kids to the absolute best of their ability. The onus is on the school to be professional and check thoroughly when employing staff - the potential candidate could just be anyone looking for a job. That's why there's a process. 

If a school does all the right checks, etc, and the teacher abuses their position, it's just one of those things that can unfortunately happen. If the school doesn't check, that's all on the school. 

There's no obligation for bad people to be good. Only the deterrent of the law or the fact they're shunned 'cos of their behaviour and reputation. There is 100% an obligation for any institution taking care of kids to be professional and rigorous. 

13 minutes ago, rudi49jr said:

What is the minister going to do about all those other (hundreds? or even thousands?) abusive teachers, and not only in kindergarten. 

Probably go after foreign teachers who don't have work permits, etc. Take the focus off the abysmal state of education and discipline by teachers in schools by going after the low-hanging fruit that is foreigners. 

There seems to be a hell of a lot of emphasis on the foreign teacher. My mate who is a teacher (not at any of these schools) has been told to make sure all foreign teachers at his school have their paperwork in order. As for the Thai teachers and staff, nothing. 

What's the line we often hear in movies? "If you bring a gun, you better be ready to pull the trigger". Isn't that supposed to mean that taking a gun somewhere isn't a game. People will assume you mean business, so be ready to use it.

Can I assume that the police here have given him seven days as they think he wasn't really being serious and was just bluffing? Good to know the police take gun crime seriously.