Pops

Don't be a rat !

There are enough of them out there already.

Was this pressed trousers and pressed shirt?

She may have had a different perception had she known the real you and your spelling abilities.

Whits wrong with my spooling ,i tipe fast .

No just an ordinary shirt and cheap trousers and horror of horror flip flops.

Maybe the woman was being sarcastic.

Do you know a Thai that understands how to be "sarcastic" my wife lived in the west 7 years ,even now she sometimes does not realise when i am being sarcastic.

So your wife doesn't understand sarcasm.

The woman was being sarcastic, your wife obviously did not pick up on that, and here you are, with your story of people complimenting you on wearing regular shorts and horror of horror flip flops.

By the way, I know a lot of Thais that can be pretty sarcastic and they're are not even that super well educated nor financially that well off, like your wife.

So maybe, if you did not need your wife to translate for you, you would pick up on some sarcasm among the Thais as well.

Was this pressed trousers and pressed shirt?

She may have had a different perception had she known the real you and your spelling abilities.

Whits wrong with my spooling ,i tipe fast .

No just an ordinary shirt and cheap trousers and horror of horror flip flops.

Maybe the woman was being sarcastic.

Quote:

[People show support by handing over cash to Suthep]

He probably took large parts of their cash already, when the dems. were in power and before that when he was on Taksin's side !!

At least now it is handed over willingly and knowingly, nice gesture !

Whatever it means it is certainly not acceptable to PT ,Yingluck or Thaksin.

They need to keep things the way they are in order to carry on enriching themselves.

And what do you reckon the old elite wants ?

wakey wakey

Below from OP is my favourite

uneducated people are the ones who understand and respect democracy

We give you 500 baht and you vote for us

We give you Chinese tablet and you vote for us

We buy rice from you for more than its worth and you vote for us

Yes, they most certainly do understand and respect democracy

Yeah and the alternative:

You either vote for us or we forcefully overthrow you, with or without help of army, under guidance of an equally corrupt protest leader, is much better of course.

Wakey wakey !!

Problem is, that there is so much going on in Thai politics and society that we do not know nor understand, that it is almost impossible to judge, for us foreigners.

To me it seems that the Thai people can only chose a lesser evil of both parties/groups.

Both have their plusses and minuses, but I do think, the Thais have a better understanding of their country's politics, than most foreigners give them credit for.

quote:

[Abhisit claimed the level of corruption under the Yingluck government had more than doubled - and the problem meant the country lost as much as Bt235 billion per year.]

This probably due to the huge backlog they have compared to the old power in this country who have had the opportunity to rape and pillage Thailand for decades.

The difference between both powers is, just as Abhisit states just, the level of corruption.

So maybe if Yingluck could control the money grabbing a bit all would be OK.

The croc naturally belongs in this environment !

The tourists don't.

Sorry, but this is OUTSIDE of Thailand.

Learn what makes her tick.

Know what makes her unhappy, sad, angry, frustrated etc. and don't do those things to her.

Let her make decisions, and praise her when those decisions prove to be beneficial to you both.

Always treat her as your equal.

Encourage her to achieve what she thinks might be too difficult for her. Applaud her when she succeeds.

Always be there for her when she needs assistance.

Make sure she knows that she is the only person in the world who can satisfy your needs, both emotional, physical and mental.

Almost 15 years now and still going strong.

She must be very happy with you, I bet.

Question is, are you happy in this servant like role as well ?

Sounds like hard work always being this attentive and subservient ?

Can you still be yourself and sometimes even behave human, like moody or stressed ?

But then again, it comes natural to some, so maybe you are one of them.

Maybe all dominant types should just start relationships with non dominant/subservient types only.

That would solve it, i guess ??

Then again, that balance is thrown off by feminism and the dominant demanding behavior that seem to come along with that.

Anyhow, treat your loved ones good and with respect, that will do the trick, i guess.

the 15 years mentioned above says nothing.

It is the quality of these 15 years that counts.

Quote:

For the same reason as Italian Roman catholicism has a greed for money.

Or any other religion for that matter.

Because it is practiced by human beings !!!

It has nothing to do with buddhism/Roman catholicism or any religion/teaching whatsoever.

It's the human beings using these teachings/religions as a tool for material gain and or better lives.

Of course the Thais go to the temple to ask for personal gain, as does the rest of the world in their temples/churches.

Do you really think this only happens here ??

It's more like, if it doesn't help it doesn't hurt either, and some take that further then others.

Is this wrong ???

It is openly encouraged by the same human beings that exploit these teachings/religions so what do common Thais know ?

Greed is not just Thai it is a world wide problem !

Quote:

"Two Omani men were tricked by a Pattaya prostitute, who persuaded them to have swinging sex for free"

Who says she was a prostitute ?

She offered sex for free !!

Should there not be a financial or material reward be required to be able to speak of prostitution ?

Or did the Omani men commit the criminal act of soliciting a prostitute ?

Quote:

"Why do so many foreigners present themselves at immigration looking like they just fell out of a trash can? "

Since when is it mandatory to dress up to go to the immigration office or anywhere else for that matter ?

We have enough rules and regulations regarding do's and don'ts already.

You should ask yourself following question: why are people being judged on their appearance ?

Seen more scumbags in nice suits then in casual (even run down) clothing.

there are lots of things that I could ask myself why about but that wont change the fact that those things actually happen. if you want to give someone in authority some reason to lose respect for you and perhaps make your life a bit more uncomfortable, go for it.

Right, up to me !

Quote:

"Why do so many foreigners present themselves at immigration looking like they just fell out of a trash can? "

Since when is it mandatory to dress up to go to the immigration office or anywhere else for that matter ?

We have enough rules and regulations regarding do's and don'ts already.

You should ask yourself following question: why are people being judged on their appearance ?

Seen more scumbags in nice suits then in casual (even run down) clothing.

Quote:

"A whopping Bt235 billion could be spent on four mass-transit routes, or 2,000 hospitals, or a million teachers instead of being wasted in kickbacks, Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Monday."

It always amazes me that politicians know exactly how much money (in this case 235 billion THB) is being wasted or will be wasted on kick backs but seem unable to do something about it.

If you know the amount of kickbacks you probably also have a clue where it goes !

Even better, you know exactly who handles the budget so just have to follow the payments.

Sounds easy enough, right ?

The democrats know the total budget, they know that 235 billion THB of this budget will be wasted on kickbacks, they know what this amount is based on, they know which departments/politicians handle these budgets and they have insight in who the recipients are !!

Lets get to work then and make a start with rooting out corruption !!

"Corruption today 'unprecedented"

Does he mean "unprecedented" in that his cronies aren't at the receiving end? "The crooks are in control of the government and the economy, but they aren't our crooks".

Well said "jaltsc".

Abhisit talks a mean talk now he is in opposition but did nothing but playing puppet for his cronies when he was PM.

Why did he not root out corruption when he was "in power" ??

Quote:

"Given that we live in a community that is approximately 40% Thai, 25% Vietnamese, 20% Lao and 15% Chinese...;and most signs are written in 4 languages....therefore there must be a huge degree of 'tolerance' of ethnic difference locally"

All ethnic groups you mention are asian and have similar external features.

They probably look pretty similar to the Thai kids in your community, who are probably a mix of these same ethnic groups themselves, without realizing it.

Anyhow, your kids probably look very different from the other kids in your community.

That is where the problem starts.

In western society we have exactly the same problems.

A Thai acquaintance of mine lived in Texas USA for over 30 years and has stories to tell regarding racism and xenophobic behavior, by the locals there, that will make your toes curl.

I have several white European friends that lived in Texas as well and whom encountered no problems at all.

It is not just a Thai thing, xenophobia and racism are worldwide problems.

These problems can only be eradicated with support of parents and the government by teaching our kids well.

Talk talk talk !!

Instead of talking, Thailand should take the bull by the horns and stop talking about fighting corruption, but start fighting corruption.

It they're serious about it of course, which so far they have not shown.

This fighting can only be done publicly in the open.

Just start somewhere where corruption is expected (or probably well known) and make public what one is investigating for all to see.

It doesn't matter what or where one investigates, as long as one starts and reports publicly, so everyone can see and feel that the government is serious about this matter.

Say for instance, start checking all assets of high government officials and everyone related to them (even maids as we have seen in the past) compared to the tax they pay, the income they have and all other financial details going years back.

Report every step of the process with results to the public and actually condemn and punish when wrong-doing is proven.

It will probably not solve corruption but could create 1. trust that the government is serious about tackling corruption and 2. probably create a wave of people that dare to come forward with information they have regarding corruption.

Now, al the talks are just a waste of breath.

Someone once told me always be careful in a fight with a Thai. You are fighting to win, he maybe fighting to kill.

Replace second "he" with they.

"They maybe fighting to kill".

I have never ever seen a Thai fighting someone alone.

They attack only in packs.

And when a foreigner is involved, all Thais present, will jump in.

Seen it happen time and time again.

Disgusting !

Quote:

"At present, cars of seven years and older are now subject to 50 per cent less tax than on new cars."

At present, cars of seven years and older are also subject to an annual check up to determine whether they are still road worthy.

After reading the article, it seems like they should improve the annual check up of cars of seven years and older, problem solved.

Like with many issues in Thailand, it seems like (probably very adequate) rules and regulations are in place regarding older cars already, but everybody wipes their a.. with them.

What it demonstrates is the Thai need for conformity and love of anything militaristic. Just look at a car park attendant here in quasi-military uniform, complete with tin helmet, high ankle boots and of course, the ubiquitous whistle ...

How come the world doesn't fall apart in UK, US or other Western universities where students wear T shirts and jeans, dress as they like and have FAR better education than any Thai university, are more creative than the Thai 'scared to anything in case they make a mistake' mentality, and embrace new concepts instead of staying in the same unthinking mind-set of many Thais?

Shame on you, Nation, for not supporting the Thammasat students in their drive to express some individuality and throw of the shackles of stifled creativity. It's that mentality which has kept Thailand and its thinking 50 years behind Western countries - and that's no exaggeration.

Look at the west where students who cannot afford brand-clothing get picked on or singled out.

School uniforms do take away part of inequality, for sure !

Furthermore the relationship between school uniform and educational quality, what a load of crock !

Look at some of the school uniform mandatory high end prep schools in the U.K., which probably even have a FAR better education system than any T-shirt allowing U.S. university.

I highly doubt whether the type of clothing worn in universities has anything to do with better or worse education.

Quote:

"For many people paying rent seems like a waste of money and foreigners are offered a route to owning property in two ways.

1. They can set up a Thai Company

2. They can sign over the land title deeds to their Thai spouse

Given the two options, and the number of cases where foreigners have been murdered for their property, I can only conclude that option two has to put the foreigner at greater risk. It is plainly obvious that with the foreigner out of the way the Thai spouse is free to liquidate the asset and enjoy the spoils of her ill gotten gains."

One can also argue that option 2 puts the foreigner at lesser risk !!

In option 2 the foreigner does not have to be removed to get to the land title and assets can be freely liquidated and spoils can be enjoyed just by simply getting a divorce.

Stupid article with loads of assumptions anyhow !

quote: "But in a case that has been described as a test of whether the rich and influential in Thailand enjoy more leniency than others, critics say the system is so far coming up short."

You do not have to test this, because the inequality and injustice are so in your face in this particular case, it is shocking.

We have to add though, that in western countries a similar case would probably have exactly the same outcome.

In western countries, the handling of a case like this, very hypocritically, happens behind closed doors under the pretence of decency and moral, with exactly the same outcome.

Abroad they would handle this, with a bit more, what they would call tact.

For anyone thinking that there is equality and justice outside of Thailand, think again.

This is a world wide phenomenon, not just a Thai.