Inside Silom Burger King

[Groongthep]

Maybe Seattle is better off, but the number and level of destitute I've seen in LA and SF is far, far worse than I've seen in Thailand.

I'm still not buying it DP25. Don't confuse common panhandlers with homeless. I've spent my fair share of time in LA, SF, NY, Chicago, Houston and many other large US cities too and have yet to see anyone begging who has leprosy. It's a common sight here.

In the developed world the police would immediately call Child Protective Services upon encountering anyone begging with kids. If found to be begging using kids as a tool they would also be arrested for child endangerment. No so in Thailand.

[DP25]

Maybe Seattle is better off, but the number and level of destitute I've seen in LA and SF is far, far worse than I've seen in Thailand.

I'm still not buying it DP25. Don't confuse common panhandlers with homeless. I've spent my fair share of time in LA, SF, NY, Chicago, Houston and many other large US cities too and have yet to see anyone begging who has leprosy. It's a common sight here.

In the developed world the police would immediately call Child Protective Services upon encountering anyone begging with kids. If found to be begging using kids as a tool they would also be arrested for child endangerment. No so in Thailand.

No way. Go to skid row in LA. There are thousands of destitute living on the street in an area of a few square miles. It's ridiculous and on a scale unseen here. Far, far worse. 80,000 people in LA sleeping on the streets every night. Estimated 10,000 of those are under 18. 20,000 thousand in Detroit. 10,000 in SF. Nothing like that here, because there is abundant cheap housing for the poor everywhere.

And my girlfriend worked in the ministry of public health on a leprosy project, that just isn't true that it is a 'common' sight here, new cases of leprosy have been virtually eliminated in Thailand in all but one province, with it only existing in small numbers along the Malaysian border due to the war making treatment difficult.

Those armless people are Cambodian land mine victims, but they are not that common outside of tourist areas. Yeah you do see some Cambodian panhandlers with their kids, but you see that in Europe too with gypsys. And the panhandlers here are not homeless like many in the US, because you can rent a room for virtually nothing. If you could rent a room for 1000 baht a month in the US they would have a place too, but you can't.

And what is this in another post about Thai homeless being kicked out of emergency rooms unlike homeless in the US? Thailand has universal health care, and every Thai has access to free medical care. Tens of millions of Americans are uninsured and would be grateful to have it. And some people in the US are fighting tooth and nail to prevent introduction of "socialized" medicine

[Groongthep]

Thailand has universal health care, and every Thai has access to free medical care. Tens of millions of Americans are uninsured and would be grateful to have it. And some people in the US are fighting tooth and nail to prevent introduction of "socialized" medicine

We can agree to disagree on some of the other points but on this one we are of the same mind. National health care in the US is long overdue.

[Atmos]

And the mine victims aren't even Thai, they are Cambodians.

off topic, but in the interest of facts

after 18mths now living in border provinces Sa Kaeo and Chanthaburi . . . I beg to differ, may not make national news often - last I saw was the one on this thread - six injured by landmine in Chanthaburi province

some info on the local (within Thailand) landmine situation in that thread

The most comprehensive casualty data collection for Thailand, including casualties both killed and injured, remains the Landmine Impact Survey (LIS), which identified at least 3,468 casualties to May 2001 (1,497 people killed and 1,971 injured).[3] From June 1998 to the end of 2009, Landmine Monitor recorded 573 casualties in Thailand: 26 killed, 187 injured, and 360 of unknown status