"The only problem with that is there are millions of loose dogs in Thailand, most of them without real owners, and the ones who are owned, also tend to run free." Actually most farang who don't socialize closely with the Thai community really don't have a clue. Speaking as something who lives in a Thai village in Northern Thailand, there are millions of loose dogs in Thailand, most of them have real owners who let them run and virtual every Thai in your normal village are perfectly Ok with that. People like me who keep all of their dogs (I've had upwards of 10) behind a fence, although not a rarity, are a minority. "Putting leash laws into action would help, but without microchips there's no way to tell who owns them." They might actually pass laws in big cities requiring leashes and microchips as the "leaders" of those communities tend to love to be viewed as Westernized, but reality is that leashes and keeping dogs fenced would be unenforceable and requiring microchips would be an economic hardship on most rural Thais and again unenforceable. What farangs who think this is a solution don't understand is how thin policing is in you average rural Thai community, and if police are available, farangs don't grasp what the priorities of those police are. I can tell you what their priorities are not, and that is engaging in the petty nanny-state type of enforcement that so many farangs seem to love so much. One of my reasons for leaving the West was to get away from the Nanny-state. I can deal with dogs running free, and in my neighborhood I can tell you who the dogs belong to and which dogs are truly feral as most of the dogs I own were Buddhist temple drop-offs or the pups of actual feral bitches. If Thailand really wanted to address its dog problem they would put significant funds behind making free spay & neuter clinic available in every Tambon and Moobaan. But in Thailand today, if your Moobaan has a yearly rabids vaccination drive then they are way ahead of the curve. It is not a priority to the Thai government. Thai dog culture is part of Thai society. Most Western Farangs can't grasp that especially if they choose not to tightly integrate into Thai society. So they get on their favorite Farang Forum and howl at the moon about "Thailand’s Dog Problem. 🌙 🐕 <hong hong hong>
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