Shaunduhpostman

As has been said and as we all well know, no justice will be served by the Thai system, so in a sense it isn't an outrage.

The only justice is that Wang and Chang are likely only going to be further encouraged by their triumph and continue heedlessly through life and eventually they will get what is coming to them. They'd probably do well to spend more time in Thailand and less in America so that they can continue to buy their way out of trouble. But even here I think they will eventually finish what remains of their nine lives. It'd make a good movie plot.

The disdain is well deserved and I am not America bashing either, having been born and raised there I well know that there is much room for improvement inside and outside of the country when it comes to basic human rights and democracy. And that is a ridiculous understatement.

America is not only not a democracy, it never has been, and it has very arguably been unabashedly fascist. And by fascist I mean a country whose government exists first and foremost to serve industry and uses racism/nationalism as an important tool to accomplish that purpose. We only have to look at the use of slavery and genocide (to secure territory from the Native peoples) in making America what it is today, to see that is a long standing situation where it does not behave as a democracy but a brutal empire that if it doesn't enslave or wholesale murder, sacrifices the poor and middle class as cannon fodder in its imperialist wars. I don't hate America, but I hate what it has done and I don't like it that there seems to be no end in sight to this tack that has been ongoing for 500 years. People have started this and they can end it, but they don't.

The police killings of blacks is the tip of the iceberg. Not to say that black lives do not matter, of course they do, and the lives of the accused and convicted also matter. It is beneath us as human beings to think that it is fine to brutalize and kill people we don't happen to like or don't understand. But to return to my point that the police killings are the the tip of the iceberg, the US government-industrial machine can no longer afford democracy for white people either as the very recent attempts to re-wire the economy will effectively end your democratic rights. There is too much pressure on them from Asia to compete and have what they once had. Their profits are in danger and we will pay. Have a look at the TPP trade deal and see if that doesn't look like that is what is going on: hardcore clamp down and maximum pressure by mult-nationals to suck ever more out of America and the other TPP member nations and its people. They will need a brutal and military police force to ram what is coming down people's throats. The Rise of the Fourth Reich is looking like it is in full force, the increasing police militarization and brutality is the writing to be read on the wall.

So, I can easily see how then that it is an insult to anyone's intelligence to fed be those lines, such as we got here in Thailand after the coup, that the US stands for democracy and doesn't like what it sees, and with the attitude that not only are they supposed to swallow it but be grateful. At the same time however, it doesn't mean that it is OK for all other countries to thumb their noses at doing what is right and good for their own people.

Simply refuse to do business with racists, they are the ones that lose. It's as simple as that. People who don't treat you that way will get your business, Non-Racists 1, Racists 0.

"Oh garsh, golly gee, thanks everyone! If you want me to stay and do one more number, I will... OK, then if you insist!" Like a singer on stage, its written into the sequencing of the show that he will do several more songs, but the singer asks permission as though he might leave making us more appreciative that we actually get to hear three more numbers. It's just a formula. Isn't he cute and so clever!

Glad we didn't switch then, but TOT craps out for months at a time, wish there was an alternative where I live. Called 3BB a few times about getting their service. They are kind enough to actually pick up the phone which is refreshing and tell us they will call back and tell us what they can offer but never get back to us, which probably means they don't offer service to our area or they are just too fat and happy to be bothered neither one of which bodes very well for my future with 3BB as my internet provider I am afraid.

I'm the only farang who is here in this village on a permanent basis, one guy who only ever comes out for a few months a year before going back to England. But even in this good forsaken wasteland in central Isaan, the locals say a foreigner got scammed on a piece of land by local bigshots, was all set to build and then something happened and it became apparent what had happened. Likely not much money as it isn't worth much out here, but just shows you it isn't just in Phuket either. It is just the nature of the situation with the law being what it is here, and to be honest, I don't like the idea of foreigners being allowed to own more than a few properties. I think that should be allowed, two properties, one for a home and another for a business, and upheld by the system, but until then, any land or property you buy is nothing more than a gift.

I agree with many of the posts on this thread, it sounds pretty disgusting, if not uncommon, what happened here. As usual we don't know the whole story I don't think, but it looks like what happened was not fair.

But, I don't see how it is trolling to state the obvious, that foreigners may not own land here, end of story. You are courting trouble in Thailand if you bring in lots of money to a game that is seriously stacked against you and that fact about the state of things is no secret. You can lose more than your money as we read about about time and again and it will happen without anyone even blinking.

This guy got burned because he probably thought he was clever enough to work around it and work around the whole iniquitous den of scamming that is the system down in Phuket. Expensive lesson to learn, I really feel sorry for the guy and I hope his case isn't for nought, that something comes of it that there is some kind of justice for him, at least in his mind and for all those who get taken advantage by the kind of creeps that run Phuket. Choose your girlfriends and the site of your real estate very very wisely otherwise say good bye to your investment. I wouldn't even go there myself, not much you can do investment or business wise here as far as I can see unless you want to run things like some kind of gangster, otherwise they are going to snatch it off you one way or another and many Thais have similar problems, a real pirate's cove the whole country.

Bali.

I would contact DHL back in the US or wherever it is about it. They should at least warn customers in Thailand that it is difficult to receive shipments and perhaps offer support to help people through the hoops. Otherwise they should try and work something out with Thai customs if that is even remotely possible, somehow I doubt it but if they don't fix the situation it seems they may lose a lot of business. I'd try and contact number of people at DHL and see if they are interested to try and solve the problem and I'd mention that I would be using another courier service until I see evidence they have fixed the situation. Essentially the corruption here is going steal their business if they don't deal with it instead of having the customer deal with it, which we are not in a position to do.

Rather ironic to be talking about Nazis who deceived the Social Security folks given that the American government itself lied to its people for decades about all the Nazis imported after the war to work in important positions in intelligence, defense and research under the Project Paper Clip program. Researchers have shown in the last decade or so that the govt. knew that many people brought in to work in positions that were very sensitive were loyal and in some cases ardent Nazis. It has been shown too that govt. staff colluded to re-write these guys' histories to make them seem safe to be bringing to work for the U.S. in the cold war against the Soviet Union.

Ages ago, back in the pre-Thaksin days, North Korean diplomats were always so active on the scene in Thailand it seemed. Many situations in which they were getting caught out in huge drug shipments arranged to go through Thailand etc., there were various kidnappings performed by North Korean diplomats with the cooperation of the Thai police as I recall, perhaps I've gotten it wrong as to the particulars, but it was along those lines. You always got the sense that there was quite a lot of similar thinking, cooperation back then. So, this isn't anything new, is it?

I worked for many years at a major Thai government funded uni, what you describe was par for the course year in and year out. Things took a serious turn for the worse when we, like your institution, got new staff to take over securing work permits. They could not work out how to do the process, tried to ignore the problem and us and hoped we'd just go away. The teachers being proactive spared us problems with immigration and we got re-newed, but lost salary as the university claimed we were no longer legal to receive it. Not only that, the decided to blame us and we spent a year being blamed, accused and finally fired for little to no reason. As much as I dislike Thaksin, the coup governments have installed university administrations who are far more incompetent, disinterested and xenophobic. Thailand loses as well, you cannot attract or hang onto good teaching staff with a situation like that, but I think they have registered their stance on that: they aren't interested.

To reply to rockysdt, schizophrenia is quite different from mild depression yet both are forms of mental illness. Of course you cannot open your retreat doors to someone who is fully schizophrenic.Doubtlessly they'd make a full on mess of your retreat. But If you say that Suan Mok screens people for mental illness you are implying quite clearly that it means that you screen out even those with mild and manageable forms of mental illness. Are they not also, mentally ill as far as psychiatry is concerned? It is not just a pity or a shame that people will fall between wide cracks as you say and not be admitted to a retreat because they are a bit grumpy or excentric and we move on leaving them behind. Its just plain wrong and it isn't very good dharma I don't think.

I do not represent Wat Suan Mokkh but have indicated that mental illness is one of the criteria on the table at enrolment.

I don't know what levels they take regarding such screening.

It is unfair to suggest that those at Suan Mokkh treat anyone unfairly.

One would have to ask them for definitive answers.

In my experience they do not bar those with mild issues or depression unless the attendee volunteers information which is considered to be problematic.

During one year I witnessed an attendee who clearly had issues.

As his behavior turned out to be only mildly disruptive he was allowed to partake, no problem.

My empathy goes out to those who unfairly wear such labels.

OK, however, your initial post wasn't clear, you simply stated that they screen for mental illness, which implies all mental illnesses. Thanks for clarifying. And yes, I am not jumping to any conclusions based on second hand information posted on the internet, but simply responding to what you have said, the op article and a number of articles and trends I've noticed in the media over the last few years that suggest that the western incorporation of "Buddhism" increasingly involves psychiatry muscling in. As I mentioned previously in thread I feel this is nothing short of tragic if it has or ever gains any real traction. I hope some day you see my point about the danger for Buddhism. Enjoy your Sunday, I am going to go and do my sitting practice now! Ta!

At the International Retreat run by Wat Suan Mokkh one of the questions at the compulsory induction interview relates to whether one has a history or diagnosis of mental illness.

Those with a mental illness are not accepted.

Many sufferers may not be in the position to benefit from concentration and awareness practice as their delusional state may maintain fixed or false beliefs even when confronted with facts.

If a sufferer has false or unrealistic beliefs or opinions as a result of their mental state then exposure to any teaching can have a negative result.

Mental illness is a very unfortunate thing.

All this is a pretty slippery slope in terms of the integrity of the Buddhist teachings on offer at Suan Mok.

-A diagnosis of mental illness is ultimately just that, a diagnosis. It has no bearing, necessarily, on whether someone is actually "mentally ill." In addition, new and ever more spurious diagnoses are being invented every year, for example the new one entered into the DMS last year called hyper-creativity. As I understand it, If you compose music, produce paintings or what have you at a rate that might make a professional or family or friends or co-workers uncomfortable you are at risk of being socked with that one and asked to take medication and forever tarred and crippled with the stain of being certified as being among the mentally ill. These diagnoses, and there are plenty of other highly questionable ones, really serve an agenda at the end of the day that is samsaric and not anything to do with dharma, such as serving the state and corporate military complex to have more means at their disposal to control the populace or facilitating family political agendas whereby someone who is an obstacle to another's gain and profit can be taken out of the picture with the stroke of a willing psychiatrist's pen.

-I wonder if Siddhartha Gautama himself would have passed the Suan Mok screening test, particularly during the years before his enlightenment. Did he not exhibit all the signs of depression and deep alienation from his society? So, I think that ought to be born in mind, if you are going to deny people an access to what may end up helping them and those near to them enormously because it might possibly backfire, you may at some point end up doing a profound disservice to us all.

-I think also, it is important, if we are going to call our teachings and retreats and seminars Buddhist, that a foundation in that tradition under pin all aspects of what is on offer.

The statement: "If a sufferer has false or unrealistic beliefs or opinions as a result of their mental state then exposure to any teaching can have a negative result." does not have a basis in the Buddhist tradition. Again, that is a very slippery slope, as what is stop you from just carrying that line of thinking on further and making up your own system and confusing people and your yourselves that you are offering dharma. People with mental illness might inconvenience us or should they haul off and shoot someone it will cause Buddhism to fall into disrepute. That is all about worldy dharma and not real dharma, worldly dharma menaing concern with ill reute, fame and fortune first and foremost. I am sorry but the criteria for admission to the Suan Mok retreat mentioned in based on western psychiatry, not the Dharma and as such has much potential for harm down the road if not nipped in the bud. Psychiatry is all about this is absolutely, solidly and inhereantly real and these other things are not. Buddhism says this very attitude is the very basis of all of our suffering, that we have lost sight of the vast openess and potential of every situation and aspect of our lives that we encounter, that its reality or lack thereof is mere relative and in flux.

There are very few answers.

Much is unknown about mental illness.

Medical intervention is largely focused on minimizing symptoms rather than effecting cures.

Misdiagnosis, in an imprecise field, of course.

All I can draw on is the hell that a parent and my family circle went through for over a decade dealing with severe schizophrenia.

Quite inappropriate for a Buddhist retreat.

Everyone has their own story.

Some will slip through the very wide cracks.

All I can say is that the staff at Wat Suan Mokkh are not trained to competently provide a safe environment for such challenges.

There are many dangers and pitfalls. Far better to concede than place individuals in possible harm.

It has nothing to do with denial of an experience for such folk.

Rather an acknowledgment that those who run the retreat have no knowledge, nor training to allow them to provide a safe and appropriate environment for such individuals.

A psychiatric misdiagnosis can ruin your life forever and might leave you with only one thought: Revenge.

To reply to rockysdt, schizophrenia is quite different from mild depression yet both are forms of mental illness. Of course you cannot open your retreat doors to someone who is fully schizophrenic.Doubtlessly they'd make a full on mess of your retreat. But If you say that Suan Mok screens people for mental illness you are implying quite clearly that it means that you screen out even those with mild and manageable forms of mental illness. Are they not also, mentally ill as far as psychiatry is concerned? It is not just a pity or a shame that people will fall between wide cracks as you say and not be admitted to a retreat because they are a bit grumpy or excentric and we move on leaving them behind. Its just plain wrong and it isn't very good dharma I don't think.

Most of these "innovative" psychiatric labels are in fact only disciplinary instruments to make people fit for a killer-economy.

If my neighbours that take part in this rat race think my music is too loud, they can ask me to tune it down, instead of calling the cops or some psycho-clowns in a white dress.

Psychiatry is becoming more and more arbitrary, as you quite correctly stated.

Then, why do you accept their labels as relevant for meditation?

I don't accept their labels. That's my whole point, I don't think psychiatry has any business evaluating or meddling with dharma and Buddhists need to beware that using their terms and criteria as a crutch is problematic to put extremely euphemistically.

At the International Retreat run by Wat Suan Mokkh one of the questions at the compulsory induction interview relates to whether one has a history or diagnosis of mental illness.

Those with a mental illness are not accepted.

Many sufferers may not be in the position to benefit from concentration and awareness practice as their delusional state may maintain fixed or false beliefs even when confronted with facts.

If a sufferer has false or unrealistic beliefs or opinions as a result of their mental state then exposure to any teaching can have a negative result.

Mental illness is a very unfortunate thing.

All this is a pretty slippery slope in terms of the integrity of the Buddhist teachings on offer at Suan Mok.

-A diagnosis of mental illness is ultimately just that, a diagnosis. It has no bearing, necessarily, on whether someone is actually "mentally ill." In addition, new and ever more spurious diagnoses are being invented every year, for example the new one entered into the DMS last year called hyper-creativity. As I understand it, If you compose music, produce paintings or what have you at a rate that might make a professional or family or friends or co-workers uncomfortable you are at risk of being socked with that one and asked to take medication and forever tarred and crippled with the stain of being certified as being among the mentally ill. These diagnoses, and there are plenty of other highly questionable ones, really serve an agenda at the end of the day that is samsaric and not anything to do with dharma, such as serving the state and corporate military complex to have more means at their disposal to control the populace or facilitating family political agendas whereby someone who is an obstacle to another's gain and profit can be taken out of the picture with the stroke of a willing psychiatrist's pen.

-I wonder if Siddhartha Gautama himself would have passed the Suan Mok screening test, particularly during the years before his enlightenment. Did he not exhibit all the signs of depression and deep alienation from his society? So, I think that ought to be born in mind, if you are going to deny people an access to what may end up helping them and those near to them enormously because it might possibly backfire, you may at some point end up doing a profound disservice to us all.

-I think also, it is important, if we are going to call our teachings and retreats and seminars Buddhist, that a foundation in that tradition under pin all aspects of what is on offer.

The statement: "If a sufferer has false or unrealistic beliefs or opinions as a result of their mental state then exposure to any teaching can have a negative result." does not have a basis in the Buddhist tradition. Again, that is a very slippery slope, as what is stop you from just carrying that line of thinking on further and making up your own system and confusing people and your yourselves that you are offering dharma. People with mental illness might inconvenience us or should they haul off and shoot someone it will cause Buddhism to fall into disrepute. That is all about worldy dharma and not real dharma, worldly dharma menaing concern with ill reute, fame and fortune first and foremost. I am sorry but the criteria for admission to the Suan Mok retreat mentioned in based on western psychiatry, not the Dharma and as such has much potential for harm down the road if not nipped in the bud. Psychiatry is all about this is absolutely, solidly and inhereantly real and these other things are not. Buddhism says this very attitude is the very basis of all of our suffering, that we have lost sight of the vast openess and potential of every situation and aspect of our lives that we encounter, that its reality or lack thereof is mere relative and in flux.

So much wrong with this article, the research cited and the whole notion of western psychiatry evaluating and getting mixed up with Buddhist meditation that I don't know where to begin. But begin I must.

To chip away at this a little bit, Buddhism and psychiatry really are diametrically opposed in terms of how they view what is what, are they not? Western psychiatry subscribes to what Buddhism calls a samsaric view: that self and other are intrinsically and fundamentally real. Buddhism views self and other as not particularly real and thus not ultimately that important. To say to a psychiatrist that you have had experiences via meditation that have lead you to the conclusion that life is no different from a dream and that the key thing for you is to awaken from that dream as opposed to chasing success and happiness while the dream lasts and the shrink will say you're on drugs and crazy to start with anyway. They don't undertsand meditation, they don't care about it they are too busy with their very heavy concerns and they don't have a minute to stop and try and help you with your unique and exquisite conundrum. You are in their way once you start talking about meditation experiences if you go to them they will run you over like a Thai motocy taxi taking a hi-so soap opera star to his dentist appointment and like them without even the slightest notion they have done anything to harm you. Its also very plain there's no need to do what are probably insincere attempts at studies to show that in the view of western psychiatry Buddhist meditation is or could be bad for you or some of you. What rubbish, it's a forgone conclusion and who are they kidding if they say they didn't know that already.

I like what Lama Namkhai Norbu said recently during one of his retreats about talking to people and discussing your meditation experiences. He said it isn't much different than if you ask people, "Well, so, how about my nose? What do you think? Is it too long or is it a rather unque interesting nose?" He pointed out that most people will be annoyed by your question and that most will start criticising and start saying and doing things to spite you. "It is terrible! Really! You better cut your nose off! I think it has grown much too long!" I don't think talking to psychiatry about meditation is any different, you are asking for trouble and I think in probably more than one case that is how the people cited in the article had tragic meditation experiences, not that meditation per se did them in.

So it seems that it really isn't appropriate for psychiatry to start getting involved with evaluating the merits and demerits of Buddhist meditation. I am not going to get started here, because I will never stop but that is really where it all goes wrong, the two are fundamentally at logggerheads. I hope Dr. Farias gets a clue along those lines eventually some day and chooses which way he wants to go, Buddhism or psychiatry, because it isn't really helping anyone in either camp and I hope people will not be put off meditation for fear of bad experiences and the like. I hope nobody reads his book, I know that isn't a nice thing to say but he seems to be developing some harmful ideas about psychiatry and Buddhism. What is the harm in learning to rest in a calm state or cultivating the habit of frequently wishing that your actions could help all beings in the universe? The alternative is what? To think when does my Xanax perscription expire? You can have tragedies from sitting down to eat your breakfast cereal, so I think these guys are making a big noise about very little compared to what potential positive things Buddhist meditation has for most people. People need to choose one of the other, Buddhism or psychiatry, you start mixing it up and you are asking for it as I think the article plainly shows.

Look what happened to Mexico in the 19th century. In perhaps an oversimplified account of things, by allowing the sons of the New England elites to marry their Mexican daughters and buy land, the Anglos bought up much of what is now Texas, buying up enormous ranches. When the Anglo land barons began to feel they no longer wanted the bother of the corrupt Mexican authorities, they lobbied in Washington for support and they got their war against Mexico. Mexico lost and lost half of their territory to the United States. Not that you need to feel particularly sorry for the Mexican oligarchy who may have lost their war, at least in part, because they were hated by their own people, but the whole fiasco shows you that the Thais are right not to allow farangs to snap up land.

No idea why anyone drinks that crap with a plethora of fine import beers available everywhere in LOS...

I wish that were true. The last of the decent import beers disappeared from all the shelves here in Kalasin about a year ago, even then it was only sporadically available and just a few beers Hoegaarden and Leffe. TESCO doesn't even have Singha beer just Chang, Archa and wall of one brand of Lao Khao. Of course you can order many many types of beer to be delivered via Wishbeer but you will pay for that if the govt hasn't stopped them from delivering outside of the selling hours as they said they were going to do.

He really isn't the man for the reform job, power grab is what this looks like. Not that anyone expects much of organized religion, but one can always imagine something better.

Damage is already done. It's not like anyone can erase the information they've gathered over god knows how long. They've gotten their fill so the court is then free to call it all off. Wouldn't be surprised if the NSA could care less and that they won't continue illegally and we find out again 10 years later, and some court decides to prosecute a few fall guys, and the sickening process continues ad nauseum. But Thailand and other countries better get with the program and become democratic countries, or America will put sanctions on them!

Had exactly the same experience at the Savanakhet consulate, groups of Lao jumping the entire queue and inserting themselves as close as possible to the front door. Push and cut right in front of people without batting an eyelid, almost cheerful about it, perfectly entitled to do this in their minds. One Australian guy had a standoff with some of them, did no good, they wouldn't budge, wouldn't reply to his questions about what they thought they were doing. A guy tried to get in ahead of me and I just kept getting back in front of him but he persisted and waited for me to drop my guard and try again and again. It was really hard to not lose it, he finally gave up after twenty minutes and got at the end of the queue. A group of Russians decided to invite other Russians to stand with them near the front. It seemed to a kind of response to the Lao arriving in droves and going right to the front or inserting themselves ahead of others

It was also very similar, though worse expereince in Vientiane around 2009. Some Russians or Israelis, couldn't work it out where they were from exactly, maybe both, punched some Chinese woman out who was cuting in line, totally decked her. Broke her face, busted her jaw or something. Apalling situation. Thai embassy probably just views it as good entertainment, I think there may have even been one guard who did nothing at all if he were there. Then omce they open the gate it is an all out stampede running pell mell towards the visa window, people fell down, were pushed, it is a crime against humanity that consulate. I will never ever go there again and I am sure that was their whole idea.

No danger of the army or police raiding a TV station in the US - we have our freedom of speech. There are media who hate Obama, and others who praise him, yet both can co-exist

Hence I'm confused why some TVF posters applaud this action here. Perhaps they have gone native (Bangkok style) and forgotten their civics training.

And what need would there be anyway? The American media is so awash in globalist corporate spin and propaganda and along with the education system so successful at socially engineering most people to ridicule anything else as conspiracy theory or liberal hot air, that it renders a police seizure of broadcasting station totally unnecessary. You can even have alternative media, they are powerless to have much impact in the long run, lost in the din of Hollywood movies, Fox News hollering at the top of their lungs etc.

ํYou certainly will not get another 90 day entry from your visa.

A re-entry permit would do not good because it would only be valid to your current permitted to stay date.

You could try to get another single entry non-ed visa in Vientiane. They do mention internship on the website in their required documents for a ED visa. http://vientiane.thaiembassy.org/vientiane/en/consular/consular_check/ But you should contact them to confirm what they want.

If not then a tourist visa is your best option.

It is is crazy I'm getting told wrong information by the immigration officers themselves actually..

I think tourist visa will be the best option, I have no prior tourist visas so I should be alright.

From Bangkok, which easy and cheap way do you recommend to get a tourist visa for at least 90 days?

Sorry to hear you are having problems OP. Yes, it is crazy, but it is their modus operandi. Wrong, unclear, or incomplete information is more the rule than the exception with Thai Immigration and consulates abroad.

Teach English and tutor students on writing. Even if you go through the trauma of getting legal and start working somewhere, you are not allowed to teach if you catch my drift.