Don't mention the war?

[jwest10]

21 hours ago, BritManToo said:

'not my country, not my business'.

I think the Thais are very sensible about world affairs.

Yes tbf some do know what is going on in the world but not much and ask the students and you will get a blank look and yes so many just know what is happening in Thailand, if any.
Oh and this current pandemic!!
A bit harsh perhaps?

[Will B Good]

2 minutes ago, In Full Agreement said:

 

I find the same to be true when I've asked Thais if they can identify Thailand on a world map.

 

 

Made the serious mistake of asking the wife that..........she is intelligent, but uneducated having been made to leave school at 11 years old........I suffered for weeks.

[BritManToo]

51 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

Made the serious mistake of asking the wife that..........she is intelligent, but uneducated having been made to leave school at 11 years old........I suffered for weeks.

Mine too, but I sent her to weekend school, it's free.

She graduated high school then went to university, but dropped out after her second year.

 

Back to the OP,

Why even worry about what's happening the other side of the world?

You can't do anything about it, even if you wanted, so you end up worrying over nothing, which IMHO is pointless.

[IanDelMar]

23 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Spot on. I asked a good number of Thais over the years to find Thailand on a world map. Guess what, most failed!

Since the advent of gps navigation systems I've found map reading skills have all but disappeared. Being old school myself and an ex boy scout I love maps. Maps have become superfluous for most people now. 

[Saanim]

9 hours ago, Walker88 said:

I have seen these silly statements about Nuland ever since putin taped and released a phone call between Vicky and Geoff.

And not to forget his silly statements about Hunter's laptop...

[jerrymahoney]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Why even worry about what's happening the other side of the world?

You can't do anything about it, even if you wanted, so yand after that I leave the worrying to others whoise job it is to worry.ou end up worrying over nothing, which IMHO is pointless.

What I can do and did was to make a contribution to the American Red Cross -- and after that I leave the worrying to persons whose job it is to worry. 

 

BTW my favorite line so far is from the late former US Secretary of State Madeline Albright who wrote just after her meeting with V. Putin 20+  years ago:

 

"Sitting across a small table from him in the Kremlin, I was immediately struck by the contrast between Mr. Putin and his bombastic predecessor, Boris Yeltsin," recalled Albright. 

 

"Flying home, I recorded my impressions.

 

'Putin is small and pale,' I wrote, 'so cold as to be almost reptilian.'"

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/albright-described-putin-as-almost-reptilian-in-final-op-ed-2022-3

 

 

 

 

[Moonlover]

On 3/26/2022 at 10:29 AM, BritManToo said:

'not my country, not my business'.

I think the Thais are very sensible about world affairs.

That's my attitude as well. If it doesn't affect me and mine, and it doesn't, I only take a passing interest.

[IanDelMar]

9 hours ago, Walker88 said:

Some foreigners want to live in Thailand. Some Thais prefer to live in Western nations. No absolutes.

A somewhat pedantic response but distinction has to be made here. Foreigners in Thailand are mostly here through choice. Even digital nomads choose to work in Thailand because they think it's a nicer place to live. On the other hand most Thais (also Filipinos, Vietnamese etc) who manage to live in the west do so for the purpose of employment and can't wait to get back home.

 

Having said that I do like the Thai girlfriend quip about farangs who want to live in Thailand rather than Australia. I think she's spot on.

[Lacessit]

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

 

Back to the OP,

Why even worry about what's happening the other side of the world?

You can't do anything about it, even if you wanted, so you end up worrying over nothing, which IMHO is pointless.

True enough, I can't do anything about it. I also find myself unable to stomach the actions of a murderous thief without comment.

It was Edmund Burke who said " The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing".

If you think what is happening at the other side of the world does not affect you, I suggest you take a look at your next gasoline bill. I filled up my car today, 800 baht. Two months ago, it was about 550 baht.

You can't escape by riding a bicycle, fuel costs flow on to everything you buy.

[toofarnorth]

22 hours ago, ColeBOzbourne said:

My GF highly insults me once in a while when she says she thinks the USA and England are two names for the same country. Then she asks me again where I'm from.

Reminds me of Immigration.  Form ' Where you flom ?'   Answer UK , oops no , Great Britain , no ,how about England ? Yep that was ok/uk. Then ' Write here signature , no not that your full name '.

[Mavideol]

17 hours ago, Saanim said:

In the civilised regimes with democratically elected leaders there are ways how to exchange their leaders, other than to assassinate...

and since when is Russia a democracy with a democratically elected leader.. as for civilized???? better not comment...... this guy (Vlad) only knows one way of dealing with any and all potential  opponents either life in jail or poisoning

[thaibeachlovers]

6 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Three reasons:

 

Reports from independent media such as the Australian ABC. It doesn't have the axes to grind that Murdoch's News Corp or Fairfax does, so can be regarded as impartial.

 

I don't think images of destroyed Russian tanks can be photoshopped, and there does seem to be an awful lot of them.

 

If the war was going well for Russia, don't you think the Kremlin and Putin would be crowing about it?

and where does ABC get it's information from? I doubt it's from the front line, so depends on reports from which side?

Only a fool would crow about winning a war till it's actually over. Remember G W Bush and his ludicrous statement writ large on the aircraft carrier after the initial phase of the Iraq war? How did it work out for him?

 

Whatever, so long as Russia has air supremacy and lots of missiles it doesn't look good for the Ukraine, IMO. Let me know when Ukraine lands a missile on or bombs the Kremlin.

[thaibeachlovers]

2 hours ago, Lacessit said:

True enough, I can't do anything about it. I also find myself unable to stomach the actions of a murderous thief without comment.

It was Edmund Burke who said " The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing".

If you think what is happening at the other side of the world does not affect you, I suggest you take a look at your next gasoline bill. I filled up my car today, 800 baht. Two months ago, it was about 550 baht.

You can't escape by riding a bicycle, fuel costs flow on to everything you buy.

There is a saying about worrying about things that we can't change.

IMO it's just an excuse to put up oil prices. The Ukraine is a very long way from where NZ gets it's petrol.

[thaibeachlovers]

2 hours ago, IanDelMar said:

A somewhat pedantic response but distinction has to be made here. Foreigners in Thailand are mostly here through choice. Even digital nomads choose to work in Thailand because they think it's a nicer place to live. On the other hand most Thais (also Filipinos, Vietnamese etc) who manage to live in the west do so for the purpose of employment and can't wait to get back home.

 

Having said that I do like the Thai girlfriend quip about farangs who want to live in Thailand rather than Australia. I think she's spot on.

Whenever I left Thailand for work I was planning my next holiday there. Could hardly wait for flight date.

[thaibeachlovers]

5 hours ago, jwest10 said:

Yes tbf some do know what is going on in the world but not much and ask the students and you will get a blank look and yes so many just know what is happening in Thailand, if any.
Oh and this current pandemic!!
A bit harsh perhaps?

Wouldn't that apply to many in any country?

[IanDelMar]

31 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Whatever, so long as Russia has air supremacy and lots of missiles it doesn't look good for the Ukraine, IMO. Let me know when Ukraine lands a missile on or bombs the Kremlin.

Any expert on war or military affairs will tell you that dropping bombs and launching missiles is the easy bit. The hard bit is to win hearts and minds. Putin is nowhere near to doing so right now or any time soon if ever. In fact it could be something he bitterly regrets ever doing.

[thaibeachlovers]

28 minutes ago, IanDelMar said:

Any expert on war or military affairs will tell you that dropping bombs and launching missiles is the easy bit. The hard bit is to win hearts and minds. Putin is nowhere near to doing so right now or any time soon if ever. In fact it could be something he bitterly regrets ever doing.

If he only wants the Donbas region ( where they want to be part of Russia ) and a guarantee of no participation in NATO, I doubt Putin gives much thought to Ukrainian hearts and minds. Did he care in Chechnya?

[Lacessit]

6 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

If he only wants the Donbas region ( where they want to be part of Russia ) and a guarantee of no participation in NATO, I doubt Putin gives much thought to Ukrainian hearts and minds. Did he care in Chechnya?

If only that were true, Putin has repeatedly said he wants the USSR restored to its former glory (sic). That would include the Baltic states, maybe even the Eastern European bloc of Poland, Hungary, Romania etc.

As Neville Chamberlain found out, peace on the terms of a dictator is no peace at all.

Putin doesn't care about anyone but himself. A guy that separates himself from his most senior advisers with a 20 metre table is not going to have empathy for anybody. All the hallmarks of a psychopath.

As ordinary Russians are finding out, the hearts and minds of Ukrainians are focused on how many invaders they can kill or capture.

If, as the Russians claim, the Ukrainians were actually Nazis, they would not bother with taking prisoners.

 

[ozimoron]

Editor's Note:

Six years after Russia illegally annexed Crimea, Ukraine lacks the leverage to restore sovereignty over the region, but the West should not accept it since doing so would only encourage Russia to believe it can get away with annexing territory from other countries, argues Steven Pifer.

 

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2020/03/17/crimea-six-years-after-illegal-annexation/

 

Following the adoption of the state strategy, Ukraine convened the Crimean Platform, a major diplomatic push to keep Crimea on the international agenda. Its inaugural session in August was attended by 46 country and international organization representatives.

“We do not and will not recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by Russia,” European Council President Charles Michel told the meeting.

 

https://www.politico.eu/article/crimea-peninsula-relation-russia-ukraine/

 

The structures of the Crimean Tatars’ self-organized community are shattered. Dozens disappeared; more than a hundred Crimean Tatars are serving long prison sentences; as many as 60,000 of the small population of 250,000, have been driven from their homeland.

 

Only with an end to Putin’s regime can the legacy of Stalinism and the Russian empire, now being expressed in its most aggressive form, start to be overcome.

 

https://www.justsecurity.org/80726/from-chechnya-to-crimea-putin-saw-green-light-for-his-assault-on-the-world-order/

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

 

Whatever, so long as Russia has air supremacy and lots of missiles it doesn't look good for the Ukraine, IMO. Let me know when Ukraine lands a missile on or bombs the Kremlin.

Russia does not have air supremacy. If it did, the ground troops would not be bogged down.

I agree it doesn't look good for Ukraine. It looks even worse for Russia, now an international pariah with frozen and sequestered assets. IMO Putin never thought the US and Europe would unify so quickly and effectively.

It's a repeat of Afghanistan, a prolonged insurgency. That cost 90,000 Russian lives over 10 years, Ukrainians are well on track to do that in less than a year. They are also getting better weapons from the West.

History shows the fall of the Soviet Union was catalysed by the military failure in Afghanistan, this one is looking even worse.

Ukraine does not need to give a psychopath an excuse to use nuclear weapons by bombing the Kremlin, they can just grind the Russians down with Western help on their home turf.

 

?

[thaibeachlovers]

22 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Russia does not have air supremacy. If it did, the ground troops would not be bogged down.

I agree it doesn't look good for Ukraine. It looks even worse for Russia, now an international pariah with frozen and sequestered assets. IMO Putin never thought the US and Europe would unify so quickly and effectively.

It's a repeat of Afghanistan, a prolonged insurgency. That cost 90,000 Russian lives over 10 years, Ukrainians are well on track to do that in less than a year. They are also getting better weapons from the West.

History shows the fall of the Soviet Union was catalysed by the military failure in Afghanistan, this one is looking even worse.

Ukraine does not need to give a psychopath an excuse to use nuclear weapons by bombing the Kremlin, they can just grind the Russians down with Western help on their home turf.

 

?

Again, if they stop at Dondas region, which is far as I know a pro Russian area, how can they be "grinding" Russia down.

I know many want to believe that Russia is a basket case, but history has a habit of proving wants and desires wrong.

Putin hasn't survived this long by being stupid.

[ozimoron]

4 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Again, if they stop at Dondas region, which is far as I know a pro Russian area, how can they be "grinding" Russia down.

I know many want to believe that Russia is a basket case, but history has a habit of proving wants and desires wrong.

Putin hasn't survived this long by being stupid.

They won't. Ukraine has said that they will never surrender either Crimea or Donbas. The west is certainly not going to tell them to do so. What do you think they will do with all their new weapons?

[spidermike007]

Who cares about offending Russia? They were a relatively irrelevant state before the invasion. Now? Whatever status or credibility they had, has disappeared entirely. If Putin had anyone outside of Russia who liked him before, well now?

 

They are a pariah state, with an economy smaller than Canada, yet the largest nation in the world, by land mass. An average income of $10,000, which barely makes them a developed nation. Other than their nuclear weapons, oil, gas and fertilizer, they are re-defining the concept of relevance. 

 

The real question is, why have they been allowed to get away with so much mischief, up until now? 

 

Russia’s military spending is only one tenth that of the United States, it has fewer military personnel than India, and the smoke-billowing flagship of the Russian navy has to be followed everywhere by a tug in case it breaks down. And yet, this all seems to be plenty for a country that is very good at commanding global influence on the cheap. Crimea was seized without firing a shot. The Syria intervention required only about 50 aircraft and cost only $500 million — exactly the same amount the U.S. spent on training Syrian rebels. 

 

https://nationalpost.com/news/world/why-russia-a-country-with-less-money-than-canada-and-fewer-people-than-nigeria-runs-the-world-now

 

[Lacessit]

2 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Again, if they stop at Dondas region, which is far as I know a pro Russian area, how can they be "grinding" Russia down.

I know many want to believe that Russia is a basket case, but history has a habit of proving wants and desires wrong.

Putin hasn't survived this long by being stupid.

I'm not sure the pro-Russian separatists in the Donbas are a majority. Again, history shows the Donbas was actually fully Ukrainian until Stalin instituted mass starvation there, then transferred Russians in.

Any country that has to offer a 20% interest rates on bank deposits to keep them from flying out the door is a basket case, compare that with what you get in unzed.

If Putin isn't stupid, he has made major mistakes. There's any number of retired US military on YouTube who are talking about this war as providing a case study for years to come in terms of military failures.

Putin is KGB, he is not a military man. Like Hussein, he probably thought he was.

 

[jts-khorat]

Quote

There seems to be a cone of silence in Thai media about the Ukraine invasion.

And why would you read very much about it in Thailand? Here in the German press, news about Thailand is also quite limited, as I imagine you would read very little about Germany in an American newspaper... it is simply a very far away place without very much significance.

 

And of course you read about the Russian tourists stuck in Thailand: this is a local matter.

[Saanim]

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

Putin has repeatedly said he wants the USSR restored

Could you please provide the repeated links? I cannot find any on Google, perhaps Google is not my friend?

 

[Lacessit]

52 minutes ago, Saanim said:

Could you please provide the repeated links? I cannot find any on Google, perhaps Google is not my friend?

 

You can't be using the right keywords, this popped upon my first try:

 

https://www.history.com/news/vladimir-putin-russia-power

[Walker88]

8 hours ago, Saanim said:

And not to forget his silly statements about Hunter's laptop...

Why bring a shovel down the rabbit hole? You'll never get out.

 

This may come as a shock to your system:  All that 'research' you do on the internet is nothing more than confirmation bias, and when your original opinion is fiction, you merely add falsehood to fiction to abject idiocy......and that shovel you carry just gets you into a deeper hole.

 

Not that you believe all of these, but.....Bill Gates isn't injecting microchips into those getting vaxxed....real children were slaughtered at Sandy Hook (Alex Jones is a performance artist and liar)....there are no chemtrails....at Bilderberg they don't roast babies in gold leaf and eat them (Alex Jones again)......Jade Helm wasn't a prelude to a Globalist takeover of the US.......the Rothschilds don't run the world and their once great fortune is so widely dispersed as to make them just wealthy, not BezosRich.....there is no rogue planet Nibiru......Queen Elizabeth is not a 10' Lizard Person......there are no FEMA Camps and no Black Helicopters are coming to take you away.....the agency didn't run drugs out of Afghanistan.......there never was a basement at Comet Pizza........Vicky Nuland is about as powerful as Pee Wee Herman......Oh, and the election wasn't 'stolen'.

 

Of course, if living in an alternate Universe of absurdity gives you joy, knock yourself silly.

 

 

[itsari]

Please don't take notice of the Australian media . That's just one guy that gave up his Australian citizenship to make more money in the US.

The Thai Government is sitting on the fence just like the Chinese Communist Party .

Plus they have a large export of goods to Russia .

The Thais have a problem with sorting out who is going to be the winner in a war situation

 

 

[billd766]

23 hours ago, Saanim said:

In the civilised regimes with democratically elected leaders there are ways how to exchange their leaders, other than to assassinate...

Do you really think that Putin is running a civilised regime as a democratically elected leader?