The week that was in Thailand news: Of sentences and lots and lots of words

 

 

Much is spoken and written about the sentences handed out to all and sundry for their misdemeanors in Thailand. We can dismiss the inane ramblings of those that believe all crimes will result in a 500 baht fine and the proverbial "slap on the wrist". 

 

Some even claim such drivel when it comes to serious assault believing that murderers are allowed to walk free because daddy is a general or mummy runs the som tam stall at the policeman's ball.

 

Experience shows that the xenophobic nutters of Thaivisa who claim that the locals receive preferential treatment while misguided foreigners languish for decades in irons, is equally nonsensical. 

 

And it is certainly not worth getting even hotter under your Thai collar when the media announce that relatively minor offences could mean time in clink. Believe me, no one is going to jail for smoking on the beach or vaping in Sukhumvit. 

 

Sure, there are cases where neither justice nor time inside is served - but have not Red Bull Boss and Pheu Thai Thaksin had to serve sentences of sorts for their alleged crimes? I know if you barred Rooster from living in Thailand I'd probably go cock-a-doodle crazy. 

 

The case of the poor man's Banksies in Chiang Mai became somewhat of a cause celebre encapsulating many of the above themes. Liverpudlian Lee and Barmy Brittney from Canada bit off a little more than they could chew when they sprayed that wall.

 

Of course it's a refurbished structure, hardly ancient, but the Thais weren't having that. Their sense of face meant that someone had to pay for this. Seven and ten year sentences were mentioned but ultimately both were released on hefty bail. 

 

They could gamble on getting their bail back and, say, a 10,000 baht fine, but everyone knows that will take time and I think the authorities expect the miscreants to skip back from whence they came with a few contrite wais at immigration.

 

I am going to Liverpool next week and if Lee Furlong lives anywhere near my Aintree destination I would respectfully ask him to leave my hubcaps alone. 

 

It has been forty years almost to the day since Rooster went to watch my beloved Tottenham Hotspur play the then best team in the land at Anfield. We had just signed our Argentinian stars Ardiles and Villa and went with hope in our own hearts. 

 

The result was a seven nil drubbing. When my sister and me emerged - shell-shocked and splattered in spittle and cans - from the ground, we found our car had been stolen. Not to worry, we got it back on the Monday minus the gear stick. We were unknowing Londoners but we really should have paid the boys outside the "50p to look after yer car, like, mister". 

 

My problem is I have never liked insurance.....

 

I later found out that more cars were stolen on a football afternoon in Liverpool than a year in the whole of Thailand. This has crept up in recent times as lucrative markets have been created for motor vehicles stolen in Thailand that are spirited across the border to buyers in Laos and Cambodia.

 

Thankfully some serious sentences were handed down to the gang of thugs involved in the murder of innocent Theerapong Thitithan, just 24, in Cha-Am. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time as the gang came looking for someone else and took out their fury on him with a screwdriver to the temple. 

 

Theerapong's mother can cremate him now safe in the knowledge that thirteen men will do many years to life for her son's murder. It is justice of sorts and similar to that of the youths with police connections who were jailed at the back end of last year for the murder of the handicapped bread seller in Lat Prao. 

 

The connected do go down and the slap on the wrist is really just a myth or reserved for taxi drivers having a tug in their cabs or monks who dip into one another's collecting bowls. 

 

Travelling in Asia years ago it was always clear that dabbling in drugs was perilous. How I remember seeing that noose picture at the Thai/Malaysian border that asked the question: "Have your bags been out of your sight?" Mine had, and though my behavior looked suspicious, I left the queue and checked that no one had planted anything on me.

 

I didn't want to be one of those people you saw in the "Bangkok Hilton" films and documentaries of the time who protested their innocence. Thailand's jails have always been filled with many local and some foreign drug dealers, agents and mules. They have to compete for floor space with the Nigerians these days.....

 

Like in most countries the "War on Drugs" has been hopelessly unwinnable in Thailand yet it continues much as it did when insurgents used the trade to fund their own battles against the state. Only the substances and the methods employed change. Thailand, and many other countries, would do themselves a massive favor by adopting the forward thinking Portuguese model and essentially legalizing everything.  

 

The "Reefer Madness" brigade are always shocked by this opinion but the fact remains that the authorities under the guise of Thaksin saw 2,500 people off the Thai premises in extra judicial killings and it did not make a blind bit of difference. Except to their grieving and desperate families.

 

The belated moves to bring marijuana into the medical fold continued apace this week. If used sensibly it is a very pleasant herb for recreational purposes and hopefully one day the whole world will accept that too. But there are still idiots about who even deny the proven-beyond-all-reasonable-doubt benefits for people undergoing cancer treatment and experiencing the pressures of stress.

 

One such loony in a white coat is Thira Woratanarat who gets Rooster's "Cock of the Month" award for his comment on the issue:

 

"If marijuana is abused there could be an increase in road accidents and sexual crime".

 

Thira has clearly not had chemo - or much of a life. 

 

Award for the most ridiculous click-baiting headline of the week - true substance abuse - went to the story that screamed: "Thailand tells black people - don't come here". This particular trash came from Nigel Roberts at Newsone.com and really does a disservice to the legitimate stories and complaints regarding overt racial profiling in the kingdom. 

 

We all know why they do it; the chance of arrests go up when raiding places like upper Sukhumvit in Bangkok and Walking Street in Pattaya. But the brazenness of the rozzers in stopping the black and ignoring the white can be quite shocking especially for newbies. 

 

Thailand has never been what modern parlance refers to as PC and with their myriad terms for all sorts of racial groups few would deny, as my mother used to say, that they don't call "a spade a spade". 

 

The term "dam" or black is bandied about quite scandalously in media headlines as is the word "khaek" (which incidentally also means "guest") that is spat out by many when referring to virtually anyone west of Calcutta and East of Istanbul. 

 

Though they add white as in "khaek khao" to the presumably better lighter skinned ones who have managed to stay out of the sun in the Middle East.

 

By comparison most white westerners get off scot-free with the ubiquitous "farang" that has few if any racial overtones. And no, I am not going to get into a discussion on that old and by now tepid chestnut. 

 

Indeed many Westerners, who have fallen foul of the law,been found smelly in locked bedrooms, hanging from the banisters or in pieces after tumbling down to condo car parks (all staples of Thaivisa), are given amusing generic names in both life and death. 

 

The "phoodee angrit" or "gentlemen" refer to the British, Germans hail from the land of beer, the French from the nation of perfume etc etc... Classically one Thai headline went a bit awry last year when a Swiss was referred to as coming from "the land of windmills".

 

Australians are simply "kangaroos" but seeing as they are invariable confused with Austrians in the Thai media it matters not. Just as anyone from Iceland comes from the Land of the Leprechauns thanks to standard Thai pronunciation.

 

Koreans come from the "land of kimchi" and Japanese "raw fish" while sometimes you see Americans hailing from the land of "lung Sam" and boring Canadians are just...well, Canadians. At least they have legal weed to keep them smiling.

 

People from Thailand's bordering countries are usually referred to as "pheuan baan" or neighbors implying friendship. Not surprisingly with 1767 still fresh in the memory after the sacking of Ayuthaya the Burmese are called Burmese in headlines without even the courtesy of using the modern name Myanmar.

 

On the face of it all this could all be seen as racialism but I prefer to make light of it rather like my Thai friend who thought that stereotype was a kind of hi-fi. 

 

In political news this week Rooster saw that former PM Banharn Silapa-acha's daughter may head up the Chart Thai Pattana party, whatever they stand for. Her less than honorable pater came in for flak in the 1990s when it was suggested that he did not have a degree and therefore could not be an MP let alone a PM.

 

The unabashed Suphanburi-ite shame-facedly told reporters that he DID have a degree - in French no less. When one of the hacks tested this premise with the question: "Comment allez-vous?" Banharn replied:

 

"Arai wa?" 

 

Undoubtedly he  thought that Gallic was something Thais fried in a wok.

 

With the country now careening head first towards the General Election next year we can only hope that some of those - like Ms Silapa-acha - are not actually generals. 

 

As regular readers of this column will know Rooster has been on his yearly sojourn in the UK principally to attend the World Scrabble Championships in Torquay in southern England. For me the week has been less about "sentences" and more about lots and lots of weird words that have been allowed entry into the international Collins lexicon. 

 

The delightful Indian summer of my first week back in London has now been replaced with more familiar "bracing" weather as my fellow Brits like to term it. In contrast my performance in the championships in which I represented Thailand started decidedly "showery" then had a "balmy" period that saw me register 12 wins in a run of 14 games. 

 

Then the wheels came off the Thai/UK juggernaut. When I reached table one matched with the best player that ever lived - Nigel Richards of New Zealand - and other top grand masters Rooster had his feathers well and truly clipped.

 

Thankfully a late four game win streak enabled me to secure 20th place. My charming and talented compatriot Puttapong did slightly better but failed to make the playoffs too. 

 

Still, it is not everyone who gets to represent the country that they love in the game that they adore at the very top echelons. I shall take that with me back to Bangkok along with second prize...

 

A suitcase full of Lidl's cheddar. 

 

Rooster

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2018-10-27

 

12 hours ago, rooster59 said:

I am going to Liverpool next week and if Lee Furlong lives anywhere near my Aintree destination I would respectfully ask him to leave my hubcaps alone. 

I haven't seen a car with hub caps for many years.   Does anyone buy them anymore?

 

Rooster is a genius,with his column's he has invented the worlds first non tablet form of a cure for insomnia. 

Actually one of my coworkers got arrested for vaping in asoke, they didn’t put him in jail in the end but still threatened to do so

'By comparison most white westerners get off scot-free with the ubiquitous "farang" that has few if any racial overtones. And no, I am not going to get into a discussion on that old and by now tepid chestnut.'

 

better not discuss it. many westerners living in Thailand have been called 'bird s#it" or 'dumb buffalow' at some stage. one of my thai staff called one of my customers such a name which he overheard resulting of the loss of that customer.  I used to ride around my girls village with our son to those retorts. I would reply with 'back monkey'  or 'black dog'.  I considered it all a bit of a laugh  but it leaves you wondering where young children learn this sort of behavior.

2 hours ago, marko kok prong said:

Rooster is a genius,with his column's he has invented the worlds first non tablet form of a cure for insomnia. 

Your comment has been noted, along with your punctuation. 

 

Rooster

"The unabashed Suphanburi-ite shame-facedly told reporters that he DID have a degree - in French no less. When one of the hacks tested this premise with the question: "Comment allez-vous?" Banharn replied:    "Arai wa?" "

Oh Yesss,..I remember Banharn, This story made my day !!!

As far as i know, My wife and I rode on a highway like road in Suphanburi that Banharn had build specially to go to his house !!! (with taxpayers money)...

Rooster is a genius,with his column's he has invented the worlds first non tablet form of a cure for insomnia. 

3 spelling mistakes in 21 words. Now that’s what I call genius NOT!


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

2 hours ago, Nobbie49 said:

3 spelling mistakes in 21 words. Now that’s what I call genius NOT!


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

The mistakes are punctuation and the use (or not) of a comma, not spelling. You can claim the title as well.

It's nice to see an OP introducing a post of pragmatism. Keep it going, Rooster.

I love the way he puts the boot into the cretins on here... Long may Rooster rule this roost. 

17 hours ago, Scott said:

I haven't seen a car with hub caps for many years.   Does anyone buy them anymore?

 

I think that they are called Wheel Trims now ? Still, they are Probably non existent any more either. 

18 hours ago, Scott said:

I haven't seen a car with hub caps for many years.   Does anyone buy them anymore?

 

I think it's just plain ole' inflation; nowadays everyone has (insert more expensive)alloy wheels, and instead of just hub caps, they just take 'em rims ????

I’m glad no one reported you for calling the Chula Asst professor a “looney” after he stated that moronic sentence “If marijuana is abused there could be an increase in road accidents and sexual crime".

I called him a moron and it was reported and deleted. Hmmmm

9 hours ago, jabis said:

I think it's just plain ole' inflation; nowadays everyone has (insert more expensive)alloy wheels, and instead of just hub caps, they just take 'em rims ????

Every bit of gear on a car deducts from the bottom line. For example, space-saver tyres cost far less than a full-sized spare.

Take hub caps. Let's say they cost $5 each. Not much, but if the vehicle manufacturer is selling 1 million cars a year, it becomes serious money.

Alloy wheels do squat in terms of performance. They are just there to look good, what's referred to as fruit salad by dealerships.

Hmmm...

On 10/28/2018 at 4:22 PM, off road pat said:

"The unabashed Suphanburi-ite shame-facedly told reporters that he DID have a degree - in French no less. When one of the hacks tested this premise with the question: "Comment allez-vous?" Banharn replied:    "Arai wa?" "

Oh Yesss,..I remember Banharn, This story made my day !!!

As far as i know, My wife and I rode on a highway like road in Suphanburi that Banharn had build specially to go to his house !!! (with taxpayers money)...

They use to say the best road in Thailand was the Bangkok -Suphn road, so he could home quickly at the weekends from a week in Bangkok.

I read somewhere that he changed his birthday to a more auspice date.

When he and Chowalit where PM's, it was when Thailand had to call in the world Bank and the IMF.

He was bent as a six bob watch, but still, a bit of a character, some one like him in next years election would liven the job up a bit 

 

On 10/29/2018 at 12:10 AM, jabis said:

I think it's just plain ole' inflation; nowadays everyone has (insert more expensive)alloy wheels, and instead of just hub caps, they just take 'em rims ????

Yes JFYI, ... and I learnt it in the the great 2011 floods I can tell you that if you have Drum Breaks, and then have to drive through deepish water, the Hub caps will collect, and keep the water in the wheel, and hence in the drum Breaks, hence they will not work for quite some time.

 

So that is why inn flood prone areas, you might notice that all of the Older Mity X 's Etc, will have no hub caps on the back wheels, ... where their drum breaks are.