15 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

A UK Channel 4 documentary has revealed how criminal gangs in Thailand recruit young ‘dumb’ Britons to smuggle cannabis and other drugs into the UK

Sadly, there's a steady supply of those dumb expendables available.

4 hours ago, Tiger1980 said:

They still have the 11 plus exam in Kent and Lincolnshire as well as the odd school throughout the country. It’s to give those children who want to succeed in life the opportunity.

I'd disagree with that. I failed the 11+ but consider that I've done fairly well in life through my own hard work. Exam results do not necessarily indicate one's intelligence or work ethic or common sense. I was academically hopeless, but in my chosen profession, I achieved a level of seniority and respect.

But back to the subject in hand - these pathetic youngsters will know what they are risking, unless they either can't even read or don't visit social media. No sympathy for them at all and the very title of this thread goes to implicate all we Brits who visit Thailand! To that I do object! 🤬

I'm sure the government could devise a questionnaire whereby if you fail, you're denied a passport.

For example:

1. Standing in line for check-in for the flight back to Blighty, a very nice man in front explains he's over the luggage allowance and could he include his suitcase with your luggage:

   a. Of course, you're a decent sort.

   b.Accept if his case doesn't put you over the weight limit.

   c. Ask him what he has inside the case. When he says packets of 'Care' talcum powder for his family, gladly accept.

   d. Decline politely but firmly. Who knows? He may have packed 10 jars of fermented fish in his case

2. You're offered a free holiday to Thailand by a couple you meet in a pub one night.

   a. Great! Drinks all round. When's the flight?

   b. Thank the couple but decline, explaining you're allergic to somtam and Leo beer.

   c. Gladly accept, it's nice to know there are kind folks in this world.

   d. Fantastic!! now you have the chance to be an influencer performing daring stunts like hanging upside down from a tuk tuk whilst describing Pattaya beach road.

1 minute ago, bannork said:

I'm sure the government could devise a questionnaire whereby if you fail, you're denied a passport.

For example:

1. Standing in line for check-in for the flight back to Blighty, a very nice man in front explains he's over the luggage allowance and could he include his suitcase with your luggage:

   a. Of course, you're a decent sort.

   b.Accept if his case doesn't put you over the weight limit.

   c. Ask him what he has inside the case. When he says packets of 'Care' talcum powder for his family, gladly accept.

   d. Decline politely but firmly. Who knows? He may have packed 10 jars of fermented fish in his case

2. You're offered a free holiday to Thailand by a couple you meet in a pub one night.

   a. Great! Drinks all round. When's the flight?

   b. Thank the couple but decline, explaining you're allergic to somtam and Leo beer.

   c. Gladly accept, it's nice to know there are kind folks in this world.

   d. Fantastic!! now you have the chance to be an influencer performing daring stunts like hanging upside down from a tuk tuk whilst describing Pattaya beach road.

Very good

The ultimate 'multiple choice' exam................

28 kilos ! 17 kilos! Of weed?

I don't care what country you come from that's multiple pieces of luggage and you look the damn fool idiot, one young traveler and a bunch of luggage.

16 hours ago, 1happykamper said:

I'm not at all "simple".... unlike you, I'm also not clueless....

"In the 1960s UK, the pass rate for the 11-plus exam hovered around 20% to 25%, meaning the failure rate was a staggering 75% to 80%. Those who passed gained entry to prestigious grammar schools, while the vast majority who "failed" were sent to secondary moderns.."

Try to be kinder.

That was the point of the 11 plus exam. Sort the wheat from the chaff.

And, yes, I passed and had a very good grammar school education.

10 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

Thai customs notice the drugs , rather than make an arrest , they just inform the arriving County and let them deal with it

That does not make much economic sense. Would they not be better off to confiscate it before it leaves the country so they can benefit from putting it back into domestic circulation? Unless of course they have already been compensated not to do that.

21 hours ago, wavodavo said:

but you have to wonder when a young lad or a single mother tells there parents that they are going on an all expenses paid trip to thailand that the alarm bells should start ringing

Or they simply say, 'bring me something back'......

1 hour ago, BilllyGOAT said:

That does not make much economic sense. Would they not be better off to confiscate it before it leaves the country so they can benefit from putting it back into domestic circulation? Unless of course they have already been compensated not to do that.

All angles covered then..........................

6 hours ago, emptypockets said:

That was the point of the 11 plus exam. Sort the wheat from the chaff.

And, yes, I passed and had a very good grammar school education.

Obviously manners were not your strong point and you excelled as a pompous.....

Back in 1963, I crossed the border from Morocco into Spanish Ceuta with a fellow American riding a motor scooter. Later, I wanted to knock his head off when he casually informed me that he had a block of hashish taped to his body the entire time. He had not only risked a six-year prison sentence in Spain for himself, but had also jeopardized my freedom without my knowledge or consent. He tried to reassure me by saying that if he were caught, he would tell the police that I knew nothing about the smuggling. Somehow, that wasn’t very reassuring.

44 minutes ago, 1happykamper said:

Obviously manners were not your strong point and you excelled as a pompous.....

I prefer to stick to facts. And the fact is the 11 plus separated the more gifted from the less gifted. Nothing to do with manners or pomposity.

I look down on no-one.

40 minutes ago, oslooskar said:

Back in 1963, I crossed the border from Morocco into Spanish Ceuta with a fellow American riding a motor scooter. Later, I wanted to knock his head off when he casually informed me that he had a block of hashish taped to his body the entire time. He had not only risked a six-year prison sentence in Spain for himself, but had also jeopardized my freedom without my knowledge or consent. He tried to reassure me by saying that if he were caught, he would tell the police that I knew nothing about the smuggling. Somehow, that wasn’t very reassuring.

I trust your grandkids or forgive me! your great grandkids know this story...Nothing like having an edgy grandfather..

15 hours ago, Tiger1980 said:

They still have the 11 plus exam in Kent and Lincolnshire as well as the odd school throughout the country. It’s to give those children who want to succeed in life the opportunity.

The 11 Plus is simply a means to ration access to better education.

On 5/19/2026 at 8:39 AM, Andyfez said:

So it's not the Dumb Brits fault at all......

It's all the fault of these bad bad men.

You're right 😂. A dumb Brit can't be bad 🤣🤣🤣.

18 hours ago, Tiger1980 said:

They still have the 11 plus exam in Kent and Lincolnshire as well as the odd school throughout the country. It’s to give those children who want to succeed in life the opportunity.

Yes you are right to some degree, parents can elect for their children to sit the exam, but it is not compulsory as was the case in the 1960's

But even then I think the level you have choses is too low as it is for a ten year old.

Maybe set the level for people with at lease a few A levels, that is not too high.

On 5/19/2026 at 5:36 AM, Nemises said:

Imagine risking the death penalty because someone promised you “free flights and vibes”

Imagine who they mix with

On 5/19/2026 at 10:14 AM, Celsius said:

Explains why so many Brits in Thailand can't differentiate between a man and a woman.

most of the British government can't define a woman, that may explain things

On 5/20/2026 at 9:20 AM, Chomper Higgot said:

The 11 Plus is simply a means to ration access to better education.

Not exactly It is simply a means to keep the clever kids separated from the thick ones . No point in trying to educate them together it just results in slowing everything down to the level of the thickest and denies the clever ones the chance to shine. The removal of Grammar Schools was a terrible mistake

On 5/20/2026 at 9:01 AM, emptypockets said:

I prefer to stick to facts. And the fact is the 11 plus separated the more gifted from the less gifted. Nothing to do with manners or pomposity.

I look down on no-one.

lol i went to a grammar school and I look down on halfwits why not ?

On 5/20/2026 at 2:02 AM, emptypockets said:

And, yes, I passed and had a very good grammar school education.

me too generally a better class of teachers and students at grammar schools, The local comprehensive near me was like a menagerie , a training ground for borstal ,

3 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

lol i went to a grammar school and I look down on halfwits why not ?

I went to an independent school and look down on grammar school

plebs. 😜

On 5/19/2026 at 10:46 PM, VBF said:

I'd disagree with that. I failed the 11+ but consider that I've done fairly well in life through my own hard work. Exam results do not necessarily indicate one's intelligence or work ethic or common sense. I was academically hopeless, but in my chosen profession, I achieved a level of seniority and respect.

But back to the subject in hand - these pathetic youngsters will know what they are risking, unless they either can't even read or don't visit social media. No sympathy for them at all and the very title of this thread goes to implicate all we Brits who visit Thailand! To that I do object! 🤬

True, a grammar school education does not in itself guarantee success, and neither does the lack of one guarantee failure in life , but generally speaking, statistically the outlook is a little better for those who got one.

Just like university

Just now, Bday Prang said:

True, a grammar school education does not in itself guarantee success, and neither does the lack of one guarantee failure in life , but generally speaking, statistically the outlook is a little better for those who got one.

Just like university

In general perhaps, but there are exceptions - I worked in IT pretty much all my life apart from my first 2 jobs in Electronics.

(Of course, my City & Guilds in TV engineering in 1972 did help a bit in getting my first job!)

However, IT is and has been so fast-moving over that time that any formal qualifications were pretty much irrelevant.

Had I wished to pursue a career in medicine, then that my not have been the case.

Horses for (educational) courses perhaps?

1 minute ago, VocalNeal said:

I went to an independent school and look down on grammar school

plebs. 😜

I can believe you , many of those i knew who failed the 11+ were sent to "independent" schools by their snobby parents in an attempt to mitigate the shame of failing a simple test. They were always told they were special and tended to look down those of us who actually were. The entrance exams for those schools were painfully simple, they had to be or they would have no students

Just now, VBF said:

In general perhaps, but there are exceptions - I worked in IT pretty much all my life apart from my first 2 jobs in Electronics.

IT is and has been so fast-moving over that time that any formal qualifications were pretty much irrelevant.

Had I wished to pursue a career in medicine, the that my not have been the case.

Horses for (educational) courses perhaps?

you are right , when I was at school computers were in their infancy , there was obviously no "IT" and no qualifications. I think the difference showed up more later when grammar school kids got to learn on real computers whilst the comprehensive school kids were using sinclair spectrums

3 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

I can believe you , many of those i knew who failed the 11+ were sent to "independent" schools by their snobby parents in an attempt to mitigate the shame of failing a simple test. They were always told they were special and tended to look down those of us who actually were. The entrance exams for those schools were painfully simple, they had to be or they would have no students

Reading that, I'm GLAD I failed the 11+.

I didn't have snobby parents with delusions of grandeur, but they did impress upon me the need to work for what i wanted!

1 minute ago, VBF said:

Reading that, I'm GLAD I failed the 11+.

I didn't have snobby parents with delusions of grandeur, but they did impress upon me the need to work for what i wanted!

most of them today have no idea about a work ethic just as well considering the "non" degrees" many of them study for ,

1 minute ago, Bday Prang said:

you are right , when I was at school computers were in their infancy , there was obviously no "IT" and no qualifications. I think the difference showed up more later when grammar school kids got to learn on real computers whilst the comprehensive school kids were using sinclair spectrums

By that time, I'd long left the boring world of formal education - well into the "School of Life" though.

The thing is, I'm not sure when that course actually completes!

1 minute ago, Bday Prang said:

most of them today have no idea about a work ethic just as well considering the "non" degrees" many of them study for ,

So true - I watch University Challenge on TV and am amazed by some of the non-subjects some students are studying.

I've always wanted to go on to be announced as "VBF from the real world, reading The Beano" 😂