23 hours ago, chickenslegs said:

IIRC It was the deportation of Chinese Uyghur asylum seekers back to China, carried out by the military government.

I am sure you are correct- although I think there were other civil issues of unrest at the time too

19 hours ago, bdenner said:

The Thai judicial system NEVER moves forward until all financial opportunities have been exploited.

Need I list em?

Yes, for the benefit of us who are not as informed as you are, please list them.

Off topic deflection posts about the Koh Tao case have been removed.

Thailand doesn't execute prisoners often - three in the past 20 years compared to 609 in the USA for instance.

I get that the judicial system is wonky here, so the need for caution. At least 202 death row prisoners were later found innocent, so mistakes do happen.

Considering how soon they were captured, it's quite ridiculous that it took such a long time to arrive at a first-instance verdict.

20 hours ago, bdenner said:

The Thai judicial system NEVER moves forward until all financial opportunities have been exploited.

Need I list em?

NO we already know them. 😉

On 6/11/2026 at 9:39 AM, Liverpool Lou said:

"...loads of Thai's over his shoulder watching..."

.... and you, of course.

No, i was standing outside the bar watching them up the road, about 50 yards away.

20 hours ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Well, yes. But every culture in China has putonghua forced down their throats from childhood. I bet it's the same for schoolkids in Xinjiang. Nobody could understand TV if they didn't know Chinese.

Chinese tv programs always have sub titles for the very reason that there are so many dialects and a lot of people don’t understand what is being said. But the simplified characters are the same, no matter the dialect spoken.

17 hours ago, Geoff914 said:

So much for respecting ethnic diversity.

I don’t see what the issue is in teaching kids to read write and speak their national language.

Are kids in Wales taught how to speak English? Closer to home, are kids in Isaan taught how to speak Thai?

Local culture they can get at home, but they also need a good education just in case they want to live somewhere outside the area where they grew up.

49 minutes ago, wensiensheng said:

Chinese tv programs always have sub titles for the very reason that there are so many dialects and a lot of people don’t understand what is being said. But the simplified characters are the same, no matter the dialect spoken.

Exactly. But they don't have Uyghur subs.

12 hours ago, Brettoj said:

Is it any different to many “Christian “ countries that don’t want Muslim immigrants from troubled areas! China ensures their troubled areas are well controlled, which is what a lot of the western demonstrations are about!

1. China, the country with the worst human rights record in the World. Even worse than Israel.

2. China is effectively and Empire, well not effectively, it is an Empire.

3. Christian countries having nothing to do with the subjugation of minority groups in China.

4. You are ok with the Chinese take over of Tibet.

5. You are ok with trashing democratic rights in Hong Kong

6. You are ok with China threatening to invade Taiwan.

7. You are ok with China annexing all of the South China Sea.

17 hours ago, Brettoj said:

Is it any different to many “Christian “ countries that don’t want Muslim immigrants from troubled areas! China ensures their troubled areas are well controlled, which is what a lot of the western demonstrations are about!

I think there is one hell of a difference between the Uyghurs in Xinjiang province and Muslim "Immigrants" to a Christian country. Uyghurs are not immigrants. And they want to leave. Having left for some reason China forced them to return. Shame on Thailand for giving in the Chinese bullying. I think we should all note when push comes to shove whose side Thailand will be on.

12 hours ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Exactly. But they don't have Uyghur subs.

Unless one is viewing the local tv channel. National tv is in the national language with Chinese sub titles for those that don’t understand spoken mandarin.

What is so unusual about that?

In the USA, CBS, ABC, NBC broadcast in English. Spanish speakers in Southern states who don’t speak English listen to local tv stations who broadcast in Spanish.

In Isaan Thai national channels broadcast in Thai. Schools teach children Thai. Is that suppression of local Isaan culture? Or simply good education in case the kids want to work elsewhere in Thailand?

China isn’t perfect but this China bashing for the wrong reasons makes no sense.

If the issue you want to discuss is persecution of Uyghur’s, then the fact that the Chinese national tv is broadcast in Chinese language detracts from some of the real issues that they DO face.

12 hours ago, Geoff914 said:

1. China, the country with the worst human rights record in the World. Even worse than Israel.

2. China is effectively and Empire, well not effectively, it is an Empire.

3. Christian countries having nothing to do with the subjugation of minority groups in China.

4. You are ok with the Chinese take over of Tibet.

5. You are ok with trashing democratic rights in Hong Kong

6. You are ok with China threatening to invade Taiwan.

7. You are ok with China annexing all of the South China Sea.

1. Could you provide proof please. Perhaps some comparisons to Afghanistan, Myanmar, various North African countries, some of the Middle East would be useful.

2. China is not defined as an empire. It is a communist country. Why not get over that and accept it. It is the reality.

3. I’m not sure what you mean

4. Yep, ok with that. Seems that the Chinese exercised the current USA doctrine of might is right, although Tibet was hardly a separate country in and of itself.

5. Yep. Ok with that. In fact I think it’s better than colonial British rule.

6. A complex issue given the history of Taiwan. I don’t see that the Chinese government has much choice other than to threaten. Giving up territory isn’t something that countries do willingly. Note that they haven’t done it. USA on the other hand……well let’s start with Cuba, a distinctly separate country without the complexities of Taiwanese history.

7. China has claims in the South China Sea, as do other countries. How those claims get resolved I don’t know. ATM there is a sort of might is right power play going on but in a softly softly way, at least compared the USA and Russia who have simply invaded countries they want. It’s how the world is right now, in case you missed it, the old rules based order, as imperfect as it was, has been trashed. Personally I don’t have a problem with China exercising what it believes to be legitimate claims versus, say, those of Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei etc. I can’t see that it makes the world a worse place. Unless you think Vietnam is less communist that China, or Philippines less corrupt than China?

   Every time I go to China I have a great time and I’m amazed at the progress being made. Whereas, in my lifetime, the USA legally practiced racial segregation and frankly I am scared to go there. The possibility of being killed in a shooting incident is small, but exponentially greater than in most other countries. So let’s not be too quick to throw stones at a developing country. There is a journey to enlightenment.

Now let the China bashing begin. Let’s see how many have actually been there and how many simply grab a Western fueled narrative that if it’s Chinese, then it’s bad.

On 6/11/2026 at 2:31 AM, impulse said:

I think that's the accepted narrative. But as I recall, there was a lot of unrest in Bangkok related to the coup, so they weren't the only possibility. And it happened soon after the Burmese guys were banged up (rightly or wrongly?) for the Koh Tao murders.

I hope they got it right. But I have little confidence. It would be interesting to see what the hundreds of witnesses said.

The case was very well documented. As per the local papers, the trial involved more than 400 prosecution witnesses, more than 45 defence witnesses, large volumes of documentary evidence and physical evidence. There were 17 people named to be of interest. Only these 2 and a woman were captured. The Thai woman was accused of renting accommodation for suspects, was acquitted in 2024 after the court found the evidence insufficient. 

The convicted terrorists tried to bomb other targets and their lodgings were chock full of lethal bomb making equipment.

The Reuters article from 2016 details that part of the case.

https://www.reuters.com/article/world/bangkok-shrine-bombers-first-targeted-pier-for-chinese-tourists-idUSKCN0VY307/

15 hours ago, wensiensheng said:

1. Could you provide proof please. Perhaps some comparisons to Afghanistan, Myanmar, various North African countries, some of the Middle East would be useful.

2. China is not defined as an empire. It is a communist country. Why not get over that and accept it. It is the reality.

3. I’m not sure what you mean

4. Yep, ok with that. Seems that the Chinese exercised the current USA doctrine of might is right, although Tibet was hardly a separate country in and of itself.

5. Yep. Ok with that. In fact I think it’s better than colonial British rule.

6. A complex issue given the history of Taiwan. I don’t see that the Chinese government has much choice other than to threaten. Giving up territory isn’t something that countries do willingly. Note that they haven’t done it. USA on the other hand……well let’s start with Cuba, a distinctly separate country without the complexities of Taiwanese history.

7. China has claims in the South China Sea, as do other countries. How those claims get resolved I don’t know. ATM there is a sort of might is right power play going on but in a softly softly way, at least compared the USA and Russia who have simply invaded countries they want. It’s how the world is right now, in case you missed it, the old rules based order, as imperfect as it was, has been trashed. Personally I don’t have a problem with China exercising what it believes to be legitimate claims versus, say, those of Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei etc. I can’t see that it makes the world a worse place. Unless you think Vietnam is less communist that China, or Philippines less corrupt than China?

   Every time I go to China I have a great time and I’m amazed at the progress being made. Whereas, in my lifetime, the USA legally practiced racial segregation and frankly I am scared to go there. The possibility of being killed in a shooting incident is small, but exponentially greater than in most other countries. So let’s not be too quick to throw stones at a developing country. There is a journey to enlightenment.

Now let the China bashing begin. Let’s see how many have actually been there and how many simply grab a Western fueled narrative that if it’s Chinese, then it’s bad.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_China https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/east-asia/china/report-china/ https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/624521_CHINA-2024-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf There is three to be going on with.

2. It is an Empire, it used to have an Emperor. It has taken on Tibet since it was an Empire. In my book it is an Empire.

3. Quote "Is it any different to many “Christian “ countries that don’t want Muslim immigrants from troubled areas! China ensures their troubled areas are well controlled, which is what a lot of the western demonstrations are about!" Christian countries having nothing to do with the subjugation of minority groups in China. What don't you understand?

4. "Yep, ok with that. Seems that the Chinese exercised the current USA doctrine of might is right, although Tibet was hardly a separate country in and of itself." I fail to see how US doctrine since 2025 applies to what China did in 1950. Somebody have a secret time machine? errrrr why was Tibet not a separate country?

5. "Yep. Ok with that. In fact I think it’s better than colonial British rule." Why not ask the people of Hong Kong what they think. Oh you can't, the democracy supporters are all in hiding from the Chinese police.

6. You raise the US and Cuba. Not sure what that has to do with Taiwan. Point of interest, I think you will find Taiwan was discovered by Europeans before China discovered it. If anybody "owns" Taiwan it is the indigenous people. Now since you keep raising US comparisons feel free to argue that point.

7. "China has claims in the South China Sea, as do other countries." Well those counties that have territorial waters use established International law. China builds an artificial island, which I believe is sinking back under the sea. But I also believe the nations with territorial water are also doing island building. "Personally I don’t have a problem with China exercising what it believes to be legitimate claims versus, say, those of Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei etc. I can’t see that it makes the world a worse place. Unless you think Vietnam is less communist that China, or Philippines less corrupt than China?" What a strange statement. I think if Norway tried to establish all of the North Sea down to the coast of Kent and Calais serious questions would be asked. Your rant about US human rights abuses is not relevant. You do seem to have a bit of a hatred of the US.