Nothing to do with the specific examples he chose, obviously in order to put a positive spin on it; his central point was that in Singapore every citizen is a police officer. If you don't mind living in a place where that is true, feel free.

My point - also nothing to do with those examples - is that perhaps in Singapore such intimate penetration of the authorities into the lives of ordinary people will never turn into anything (more) sinister, but if the same scenario were to develop in any country where I've lived I am sure the long-term result would not be something I nor most here would consider pleasant.

Looks like there won't be too much hassle verifying the ID card & the carrier,

here's some examples of 'baat tam road ID'

I completely agree that most of your encounters with police in Thailand will be no problem.

My point is simply to caution those that think citizens have rights here as we're used to back home could easily find that an attitude of confrontation will create or escalate a problem, and in the end they don't really have recourse. As guests here most of us have even fewer rights or resources if the cops want to exert their authority, in the end they can do so at will.

Most of the time they will bend over backwards to be reasonable and show the guest that Thailand is a civilized and friendly country. But there are also individuals and situations where you could get yourself into some very serious trouble, and standing up for your "rights" will not be the strategic tactic it might be back home.

Or in China, where ordinary citizens scream at the police and the police do nothing to stop the abuse being hurled at them. Well as long as it's just language being exchanged of course. Anything more and the consequences as we all have heard can be quite serious.