BusyB

There's a whole debate about drugs etc. But ya sure gotta be a moron to get involved in dealing/importing/exporting in Thailand - or anywhere else in SEA. They don't do lenient here. They hang people for smaller quantities in Singapore..

Trafficked? Then blackmailed? Maybe the shooter was her trafficker? Strikes me that prices in India in hotels like that aren't going to be any better than in Thailand so why do it. I'm also interested in what drove her to Rajahstan of all places. Weird. Hope we see the follow up to this story.

'Fraid not ;D Although there was one scene in that film (which I saw in Pattaya on the wide screen): When the bad guy hops out of his chopper with his gang and they start off up the glen towards the showdown with the other fictitious character, I was catapulted back to late teens Army days in the 70s, when I spent a lot of time spread out like that as part of a section patrolling up the glen. The POV in the film was an unreal experience that really jolted me.

Exactly. What's the beef? Thailand shows that the 'third gender' functions quite well without all the ructions of sticks-in-the-mud who can't adapt to changing times and societies. I can still remember the uproar in the 60s about men wearing long hair. Nothing is permanent, nothing is certain, everything is constantly changing. Those unable to adapt to that (and there's always a ledger of excuses for not adapting) will be miserable, unhappy and resentful until they do. Some saddos sadly never do. Mx. Jesus wept!

Higlander and James Bond are fictitious characters. Like Hannibal Lecter.

Only a matter of time till a drunken dispute over 50 baht results in a corpse or two. Just like the poorest Thais we read about here. Happens all over the world. If this is all true the guy needs to get home and get a job and stop stretching things out like chewing gum until tragedy strikes. If he's not even capable of getting a foothold to start out from back home, then he certainly won't survive in SEA. A sea of tears is all that awaits him here.

4, let's say unsuccessful, males forced into a scavenger community to survive. Sharing a pressure cooker cauldron of a slum apartment in a tropical hot foreign country with no access to social safety nets. Where the only thing they have in common is a desire to drink and smoke weed day in day out. What could possibly go wrong?

Yeah, Johnson also liked to identify with Churchill. The old guy must be spinning in his grave. He was a man of great courage as well as his human flaws. Neither Johnson nor Trump have even a modicum of courage to compensate for their deeply flawed characters. Bullies are always cowards behind the bluster.

Satan is the only consistently honest character in the 'Bible'. Jesus said some cool things but that's about it - the rest of the story is also a complete lie. Sorry, myth.

Of course they'll fall back on public health. Like their hero Ayn Rand. After her ridiculous (and barely readable) book was published, she died penniless in a public hospital living off welfare.

They really are pathetic and disgracefully disgusting. An insult to the profession and the uniform. And the people.

I thought they'd just had a major 'crackdown' on these thugs - top cop speaking to them and all ... Big joke eh?

Fair enough, I always book direct myself. But in view of all this, why would anyone use a booking site? Is it really so much cheaper to risk all the problems - not forgetting how hard refunds can be?

That. Especially if they want to 'longstay' without proof of their entry date. Plus some may be on the lam from Chinese police. Can't think of any other reasons with visa free entry. It's probably a lot cheaper to fly as well rather than be smuggled by crooks.

Why should they? It'll just get them into trouble with his father.

90% of what? Ludicrous.

It wasn't just the council. The police also ignored multiple reports which some of the girls made, in some cases labelling them 'sluts'. Most of them were of course from poor backgrounds with little or very bad parenting. So they didn't count. Sluts. This is what few understand about 'delayed reporting'. Many of the people coming forward 'after decades' have already made reports but were fobbed off or never taken seriously. That is as true for women and girls in current cases, as it is for boys who were abused in 'care' homes in the 60s and 70s, and those who were abused (and continue to be abused by the institutional denial) in various 'religious' institutions. They have a right to finally be heard and a right to justice however hard it may be to deliver. And those who don't understand the nature of the problem should either educate themselves or admit the fact and keep their counsel to themselves rather than become another skirmish in the battle for justice. Unfortunately Messrs Dunning and Krüger tend to hold sway.

At least you admit you don't understand. That's a good starting point. The 'but' is usually followed by a statement confirming exactly the opposite to the initial claim - as in your post. You started with 'I'm not victim shaming' to then say 'but' and point a finger at the victims. It's much better all round just to tell a straight truth and say 'I don't understand'. Then a conversation becomes possible. See my first paragraph. Noone is pointing a finger at Brand, who is running around pretending to be Jesus are they? Overcompensation much? No-one asks 'why on earth would anyone do that to a woman?'. It's all about 'scepticism' of the claims. There's plenty of stuff by renowned therapists and psychiatrists available on the subject - if you're really interested. As an aside I have known a couple of women personally who struggled with this kind of thing. Believe me you never want to know that terror, the guilt and the shame and the fear those people suffer although it wasn't their fault, and how the experience cripples all your relationships. In most cases a lifetime of relationships. I honestly hope you never have to do the work of recovery, which progresses by stages and is rarely if ever complete. It can indeed take decades to work up the strength to finally fight back, and it's a psychological Hamburger Hill, in which all institutions from police to social services are loaded against you. That is gradually changing but not fast enough. The sadder part is how many more die with the secret after a ruined life.

You are victim shaming to tackle your first attempt at diversion. 'But' is always the giveaway word with racists, victim shamers, misogynists and all the rest. You are obviously also happily ignorant of the effects this kind of experience has on girls and women. And men. Many of whom came out decades later in various churches. But they never had to face this kind of foul tasting and frankly quite tedious opprobrium. There is enough information available should you want to enlighten yourself.

The doc should be called 'Christianism'.

Not in Thailand ... SOP here, just look at the Tak Bai disgrace.

More likely seatbelt reticence among Thais. I have a devilofajob getting friends to belt up ... Or maybe the survivors were belted up. Speculation anyway, just wanted to make the point that Thais tend to think seatbelts are decorative and frequently won't even use those that are serviceable.

Yeah it's almost like they're trying to close the file on it. The business class version of a few wais and a 500 baht fine. Reality is she's gonna need physical and psychotherapy for years to get over that.. She's also likely lost a lot of friends she probably heard screaming in the flames for a start ...

There ain't enough gas in all of Saudi Arabia to fuel this type of high intensity lighting.

"However, according to Kelly, Trump remained unfamiliar with Rommel and the broader context of the Third Reich's military history." And half the US electorate wants someone who doesn't even have early year high-school knowledge and understanding of the most infamous parts of history in the western world to be their president. So, so sad.