Globally we are entering a very fragile state: is Asia ready?

[BritManToo]

3 hours ago, naka dia said:

When American bombs hit civilians we all find out about it and the responsible people will be held accountable.

 

And to those of you who "dont care about Russians and Ukrainians killing eachother" - If you would have been around 80 years ago with that same attitude and it would have gone your way, you might still live in a Nazi-run world with Nazi Germany in charge.

1. You're joking right?

2. I invoke Godwin's Law ....... you lose.

[kimamey]

On 4/5/2022 at 7:36 AM, wombat said:

We're the Arab countries not Sovereign States or was that somehow different because it was all about the oil?

If you take Iraq as an example it had used chemical weapons and committed human rights abuses over many years although those had been ignored for some time. In Afghanistan girls and women gained significant rights after the Taliban were removed but then they were abandoned. 

 

Ok may well be a significant issue in some cases but its quite difficult to live without it. The anti war demos we saw over Iraq, Afghanistan ect probably couldn't have happened without it. 

 

These things are never clear cut but I don't think we should just allow the killing, torturing, rape etc of innocent men, women and children because of something the West did that we don't agree with 20, 30, 50, 100, 200 years ago. 

[BritManToo]

8 minutes ago, kimamey said:

If you take Iraq as an example

I'm a white English guy, why would I care what happens to someone in Iraq?

Not my country, not my religion, not my race.

[StayinThailand2much]

2 hours ago, timkeen08 said:

There are many States in America that have North Atlantic coastlines, look at a map first before you try to belittle the USA (...)

I did nothing like that. The only thing I did, was commenting on the passage, saying that 'Thailand does not want to upset its NATO allies' . Obviously, Thailand is not a NATO member, does not border NATO members, and is not allied with NATO as an organisation. And while Thailand is allied to the U.S. (which happens to be a NATO member), these U.S.-Thai relations have, reportedly, been strained for years. (And no, I don't blame the U.S.)

 

 

[candide]

17 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Why do you feel it's important to do things like that?

Always amazed about what some people consider are important freedoms.

While totally missing what's really important in day to day living.

What are these day to day freedoms that Chinese people are enjoying while British people are not? Can you give a few examples?

[BritManToo]

9 minutes ago, candide said:

What are these day to day freedoms that Chinese people are enjoying while British people are not? Can you give a few examples?

First tell me when you were last in China?

  

[placeholder]

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

1. You're joking right?

2. I invoke Godwin's Law ....... you lose.

Are you an official thaivisa.com referee?

[candide]

18 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

First tell me when you were last in China?

  

Pre-Covid I've been spending around one month a year there, during around 10 years

[placeholder]

21 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

The right to setup roadside stalls, sell street food, build homes on land they own.

Marry/live with a woman without giving her their home/savings/pension.

The right to not be shot by a policeman at random (mainly a problem in the USA).

 

The only restriction on my freedom (I found) in China was I had to show my passport to buy a rail ticket.

  

Does the phrase "big brother" mean anything to you?

China's 'social credit' system ranks citizens and punishes them with throttled internet speeds and flight bans if the Communist Party deems them untrustworthy

China has been rolling out a system that ranks its citizens based on their "social credit."
People can be punished if they drive badly, buy too many video games, or steal.
It's not a unified, nationwide system, but China plans on eventually making it mandatory for everyone.

https://www.businessinsider.com/china-social-credit-system-punishments-and-rewards-explained-2018-4

 

And you know that police brutality is not a problem in China because the Chinese media is free to report on it?

 

China: Torture and forced confessions rampant amid systematic trampling of lawyers’ rights

China’s criminal justice system is still heavily reliant on forced confessions obtained through torture and ill-treatment, with lawyers who persist in raising claims of abuse often threatened, harassed, or even detained and tortured themselves, Amnesty International said in a new report released today.

The report, No End in Sight, documents how criminal justice reforms hailed as human rights advances by the Chinese government have in reality done little to change the deep-rooted practice of torturing suspects to extract forced confessions. Attempts by defence lawyers to raise or investigate torture claims continue to be systematically thwarted by police, prosecutors and the courts.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/11/china-torture-forced-confession/

 

 

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/11/china-torture-forced-confession/

 

Beijing city authorities reject calls to let roadside stalls return, saying they are ‘unsuitable’ for city

• Premier Li Keqiang had touted the ‘vendor economy’ as a way of helping the post-coronavirus recovery, but municipal authorities say this does not fit their plans
• Editorial in local party mouthpiece says allowing ‘unhygienic and uncivilised’ features of urban life would undermine efforts to improve the capital

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3087932/beijing-city-authorities-rejects-calls-allow-roadside-stalls

[Walker88]

There are no two sides to this issue, other than right and wrong.

 

A country was at peace, going about daily life just like folks in New York, London, or Bangkok. The country represented no threat to anyone.

 

Then, because a psychopath suffering from Napoleon Complex and SDS, decided he wanted to rebuild the USSR, he launched an unprovoked and horrific attack aimed squarely at causing terror---striking schools and hospitals, destroying food storage facilities, and engaging in rape and summary execution. The war crimes are the worst Europe has seen since Srebanica, and before that the Concentration Camps of Nazi Germany.

 

To side with russia, or to try to suggest some sort of moral equivalency, is bogus, immoral and at best, willfully ignorant. To anyone suggesting such things, may the same hell be unleashed on you, your life and your loved ones. See how you like it.

 

In 1992 Ukraine gave up the nukes stationed on its soil in exchange for a non-aggression pact from russia. Ukraine abided by that agreement 100%. It is only because little vlad the psychopath felt he should be Nicolas II reborn that he launched his invasion.

 

That putin supposedly felt fear because NATO was expanding is his own fault. Nations such as Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Hungary, the former Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania asked to join NATO is because they suffered under the heel of the former USSR that putin is hellbent on rebuilding. These nations also saw the slaughter putin carried out in Chechnya, Georgia and Syria, so they wisely sought safety under the umbrella of NATO. It is no surprise that even Sweden and Finland are asking about joining NATO after the Ukraine invasion.

 

The world was pulling out of the Covid Recession, but all of that is under threat now because of putin. Rising fossil fuel prices and higher prices for grains (Ukraine previously produced 14% of the world's wheat). This is going to lead to inflation across the globe. Of course, I suspect the ones trying to pretend there is some moral equivalency in this war will find a way to blame Biden or their own leader.

[metisdead]

Some incomprehensible posts, inflammatory posts and the replies have been removed.

[placeholder]

41 minutes ago, Mr Derek said:

Unbelievably naive and misinformed. You don't even mention the Donbass which is what this war is all about.

 

Hell need not be unleashed on anyone. Ukraine simply had to do the decent thing - let the Donbass, which is majority-Russian, have a referendum as to whether to stay part of Ukraine or become independent. Any decent human being would agree with that in principle, right? But Ukraine wouldn't. Instead, they have waged a brutal civil war of oppression against the Russians in Donbass for the last eight years. You should read up about it. If you believe in democracy, you should believe in the right of the majority-Russians in the Donbass to choose their own status and not be forced to be a part of another country which is oppressing them.

 

So do you believe in democracy or not?  Everyone who is supporting Ukraine on the assumption that they are innocent victims needs to answer that question. If yes, then you must also believe Ukraine is in the wrong and the primary cause for this war. If no, then you are aligned with a fascist country with arbitrary borders that has got itself into this mess through nothing other than nationalist pride.

By your logic, the South should have been allowed to vote on whether to secede from the US.

And it's dubious that the majority of residents of Donbass and Luhansk even consider themselves to be primarily Russian

https://theconversation.com/most-people-in-separatist-held-areas-of-donbas-prefer-reintegration-with-ukraine-new-survey-124849

And your claim that the Ukrainians have been waging a brutal war of suppression against ethnic Russians in these regions is false. Basically, Russian disinformation.

https://theconversation.com/putins-claims-that-ukraine-is-committing-genocide-are-baseless-but-not-unprecedented-177511

 

And given the respective levels of freedom in Russia and Ukraine before the Russian invasion, your characterization of Ukraine as fascist is ludicrous.

 

 

 

[placeholder]

1 hour ago, Mr Derek said:

Unbelievably naive and misinformed. You don't even mention the Donbass which is what this war is all about.

 

Hell need not be unleashed on anyone. Ukraine simply had to do the decent thing - let the Donbass, which is majority-Russian, have a referendum as to whether to stay part of Ukraine or become independent. Any decent human being would agree with that in principle, right? But Ukraine wouldn't. Instead, they have waged a brutal civil war of oppression against the Russians in Donbass for the last eight years. You should read up about it. If you believe in democracy, you should believe in the right of the majority-Russians in the Donbass to choose their own status and not be forced to be a part of another country which is oppressing them.

 

So do you believe in democracy or not?  Everyone who is supporting Ukraine on the assumption that they are innocent victims needs to answer that question. If yes, then you must also believe Ukraine is in the wrong and the primary cause for this war. If no, then you are aligned with a fascist country with arbitrary borders that has got itself into this mess through nothing other than nationalist pride.

It might be useful to know where comments like this are coming from. There's an extreme right wing movement worldwide, that might be best described as ethno-fascist. They believe that the major threats to civilization are multiculturalism and democracy. So for them, a strong man like Putin, who is cast as defending European civilization

 

1 hour ago, Mr Derek said:

Unbelievably naive and misinformed. You don't even mention the Donbass which is what this war is all about.

 

Hell need not be unleashed on anyone. Ukraine simply had to do the decent thing - let the Donbass, which is majority-Russian, have a referendum as to whether to stay part of Ukraine or become independent. Any decent human being would agree with that in principle, right? But Ukraine wouldn't. Instead, they have waged a brutal civil war of oppression against the Russians in Donbass for the last eight years. You should read up about it. If you believe in democracy, you should believe in the right of the majority-Russians in the Donbass to choose their own status and not be forced to be a part of another country which is oppressing them.

 

So do you believe in democracy or not?  Everyone who is supporting Ukraine on the assumption that they are innocent victims needs to answer that question. If yes, then you must also believe Ukraine is in the wrong and the primary cause for this war. If no, then you are aligned with a fascist country with arbitrary borders that has got itself into this mess through nothing other than nationalist pride.

Another thing that makes your comments particularly ludicrous is the Russian insistence on dominating regions which are clearly not ethnically Russian. Its brutal suppression of Chechens fighting for independence comes to mind. As does its recent assistance to the pro-Russian govt of Kazakhstan in suppressing a popular revolt. 

[1FinickyOne]

On 4/5/2022 at 5:46 AM, Tom H said:

„..few months fragile?…“

Think again! It will be a Decade!

 

A decade? Who wants to see what this world looks like in a decade? People's brains are shrinking... it is cold and rainy in hot season, ok a blessing there until you can buy beachfront land in Ayuthaya... Miami, NYC, Bkk - reduced to photos and memories...

 

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot... 

[1FinickyOne]

8 hours ago, naka dia said:

I can't believe the amount of stupid comments here.

new member? 

 

Welcome - 

[timkeen08]

3 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

I did nothing like that. The only thing I did, was commenting on the passage, saying that 'Thailand does not want to upset its NATO allies' . Obviously, Thailand is not a NATO member, does not border NATO members, and is not allied with NATO as an organisation. And while Thailand is allied to the U.S. (which happens to be a NATO member), these U.S.-Thai relations have, reportedly, been strained for years. (And no, I don't blame the U.S.)

 

 

I disagree and I will leave it at that.  My opinion.

[1FinickyOne]

20 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Always amazed about what some people consider are important freedoms.

While totally missing what's really important in day to day living.

more like this you mean?

 

Baby you can drive my car
Yes I'm gonna be a star
Baby you can drive my car
And maybe I'll love you

I told the girl that my prospects were good
She said baby, "It's understood
Working for peanuts is all very fine
But I can show you a better time"

[placeholder]

20 minutes ago, 1FinickyOne said:

new member? 

 

Welcome - 

Perhaps I'm taking too much credit here, but I like to think I have contributed at least somewhat to his grounds for disbelief.

[naka dia]

1 hour ago, Mr Derek said:

Unbelievably naive and misinformed. You don't even mention the Donbass which is what this war is all about.

 

Hell need not be unleashed on anyone. Ukraine simply had to do the decent thing - let the Donbass, which is majority-Russian, have a referendum as to whether to stay part of Ukraine or become independent. Any decent human being would agree with that in principle, right? But Ukraine wouldn't. Instead, they have waged a brutal civil war of oppression against the Russians in Donbass for the last eight years. You should read up about it. If you believe in democracy, you should believe in the right of the majority-Russians in the Donbass to choose their own status and not be forced to be a part of another country which is oppressing them.

 

So do you believe in democracy or not?  Everyone who is supporting Ukraine on the assumption that they are innocent victims needs to answer that question. If yes, then you must also believe Ukraine is in the wrong and the primary cause for this war. If no, then you are aligned with a fascist country with arbitrary borders that has got itself into this mess through nothing other than nationalist pride.

sorry to that I have to tell you that it's you who is just a victim to Putins propaganda. What really happened is this:

 

Putin installed a puppet president in Ukraine which pretended to lean towards the west, and after he won the election he was anti west and pro Russia. The Ukrainians didnt accept this because they wanted to be a free democratic country and not a brutal dictatorship like Russia. So they got rid of this Russian Puppet government in 2014. 

 

As a reaction to this, Putin got mad and stent his "men in black" into Donbas. Prior to 2014 Russians and Ukrainians lived in peace with each other, there was no hate or crime against one another in Donbas. But Putin's men in back changed this. They started killing Russians and blaming it on the Ukrainians. The entire reason for the fighting is Putins plan to spread hate and chaos in the region. 

 

I have been to Donbas many times and I have friends there, Russian and Ukrainian. They have been living through hell the past 8 years - because of Putin and no one else! All his stories of killed Russian children - nobody ever found proof of that. 

 

What happens in Ukraine is proof that anything Putin or Russian media pretend - the actual opposite is the truth, and it has been like this for years. They kill opponents or Putin and blame it on the west. They kill civilians in Ukraine and blame it on Ukraine, they kill Russian people in Donbas and blame it on Ukraine - and so on...

 

[John Drake]

On 4/5/2022 at 4:00 PM, Lacessit said:

Perhaps you should be telling Australia that, it is in the process of signing a very large trade agreement with India, and also is the venue of choice for many young Indians seeking tertiary qualifications.

AFAIK India is still a democracy, it sides with Russia because the majority of its military hardware is sourced from there. Although given the performance of Russian equipment in Ukraine, it should be having second thoughts.

A democracy? Sort of. But well on the way to becoming an authoritarian government that rules through force and the manipulation of the machinery of democracy.  One of the things the US can do to force India's hand is remove American support for India becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council, which India absolutely craves.  

Quote

Under Modi, dissent has been systematically and successfully crushed through an authoritarian mix of draconian legislation and state machinery. Activists and critics are regularly jailed under terrorism laws, civil society groups have been hounded and shut down and protests are repeatedly met with force.  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/19/the-strongman-blinks-why-narendra-modi-has-backed-down-to-farmers

 

[TropicalGuy]

On 4/5/2022 at 6:28 AM, zzaa09 said:

And if such similar references are repeated often and loud enough it will become true and real. 

Nothing to be said towards the legitimate instigators of all our woes. 

 

????????

Poor Post Talking in Riddles yet gets multiple likes & no negative emoji ? Can anyone explain this ? Or are standards here dropping with apparent new members ?

” ….true & real” requires FACT not being “ repeated”. 
What “ similar references”?

What “ instigators” ? 

“….. all or woes” ? Seriously? No element of personal responsibility?

[ozimoron]

3 hours ago, Mr Derek said:

Unbelievably naive and misinformed. You don't even mention the Donbass which is what this war is all about.

 

Hell need not be unleashed on anyone. Ukraine simply had to do the decent thing - let the Donbass, which is majority-Russian, have a referendum as to whether to stay part of Ukraine or become independent. Any decent human being would agree with that in principle, right? But Ukraine wouldn't. Instead, they have waged a brutal civil war of oppression against the Russians in Donbass for the last eight years. You should read up about it. If you believe in democracy, you should believe in the right of the majority-Russians in the Donbass to choose their own status and not be forced to be a part of another country which is oppressing them.

 

So do you believe in democracy or not?  Everyone who is supporting Ukraine on the assumption that they are innocent victims needs to answer that question. If yes, then you must also believe Ukraine is in the wrong and the primary cause for this war. If no, then you are aligned with a fascist country with arbitrary borders that has got itself into this mess through nothing other than nationalist pride.

It can't be about the Donbass because the Russians have exclusively held that since 2014. There has been no brutal war against the Donbass because the Russians have controlled it. If Russia had a problem with Ukraine they could have raised in in the UN General Assembly or the ICC instead of going to war. If they did raise in in the UN it obviously fell on deaf ears as not being true. There was no justification for a general invasion of Ukraine over the Donbass and certainly none for commission of major war crimes.

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, John Drake said:

A democracy? Sort of. But well on the way to becoming an authoritarian government that rules through force and the manipulation of the machinery of democracy.  One of the things the US can do to force India's hand is remove American support for India becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council, which India absolutely craves.  

 

Manipulation of the machinery of democracy is done in most of them. Check out Australia's use of taxpayer money to fund a Liberal advertising campaign, or the pork-barrelling of electorates in marginal seats.

If you have other versions, I'm listening.

[jacko45k]

22 hours ago, candide said:

What are these day to day freedoms that Chinese people are enjoying while British people are not? Can you give a few examples?

Freedom from Immigration?

Probably freedom from 'woke' too!

[candide]

1 hour ago, jacko45k said:

Freedom from Immigration?

Probably freedom from 'woke' too!

No woke in Thibet and Xinjiang.....

[Cracker2000]

"but also many innocent Russian citizens too."

 

While i applaud those Russian citizens standing up to Putin's lies and being arrested for it, i cant help be remember the quote by the French Philippines and diplomate Joseph de Maistre (1811)

"Every country has the government it deserves."

If you turn to other cheek to evil, dont be surprised when you get stabbed in the back

 

[placeholder]

23 minutes ago, Cracker2000 said:

"but also many innocent Russian citizens too."

 

While i applaud those Russian citizens standing up to Putin's lies and being arrested for it, i cant help be remember the quote by the French Philippines and diplomate Joseph de Maistre (1811)

"Every country has the government it deserves."

If you turn to other cheek to evil, dont be surprised when you get stabbed in the back

 

That de Maistre fellow sounds like a right smug b@$+ard.