Teens Buying Chemicals To Throw At Songkran

[Up2U]

This is my first SONKRAN in Thailand, and after all the reports I am dreading it.

I have a 10 year old son who is looking do forward to it.

Guess who will be the "Bad Guys" me and his dad for being cautious.

Such a shame.

Angie

Then be like me - I'll be out with my six-year-old daughter and her nine year-old cousin, walking along Beach Road, Pattaya, all armed with water guns and talcum, getting soaked, soaking others, wishing every happy smiling face a good New Year. (That's on the 19th, 'cos it's Pattaya)

Don't say 'No' or 'Please be careful' - get in there with them and enjoy!

[wolf5370]

Sad I'll miss it this year - in the UK on a contract.

Last year was seen in the back of a pick-up with two water pistols, 15 bottles of water covered in talc-paste, whizzing up and down the roads around the Grand Palace (BKK) - having a riot.

No worries about acid in BKK - throwers would get torn to pieces by the crowds!

Songkran is always dangerous - what was it 700 odd deaths in BKK last year?

[plachon]

Sad I'll miss it this year - in the UK on a contract.

Last year was seen in the back of a pick-up with two water pistols, 15 bottles of water covered in talc-paste, whizzing up and down the roads around the Grand Palace (BKK) - having a riot.

No worries about acid in BKK - throwers would get torn to pieces by the crowds!

Songkran is always dangerous - what was it 700 odd deaths in BKK last year?

Sounds like the old belt may have a few notches in it, Wolf. But 700 is just boasting pal! The whole country saw a mere 500 sawbs last year, and that's 500 too many! So thank your lucky stars you're in UK this year and not at the front line of Songkhran songkhram

If you're still not convinced check out a letter in yesterday's B. Post which showed it was statistically safer to be in Iraq than Thailand, even the South!

[john b good]

As always some interesting comments and opinions, some a bit extreme though.

Having lived and worked in several Muslim country's including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Indonesia, Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan I have drawn the conclusion that there are many (very many in fact) fine Muslims in the world.

And, I count quite a number of them as very good friends.

One must also remember that for the majority, one doesn't have much influence in to which religion that they are born.

I would venture to suggest that if some of the people posting here, had been born as Muslims, Osam bin Laden would look like a choir boy by comparison.

(I am not a Muslim !!)

[dr_Pat_Pong]

As always some interesting comments and opinions, some a bit extreme though.

Having lived and worked in several Muslim country's including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Indonesia, Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan I have drawn the conclusion that there are many (very many in fact) fine Muslims in the world.

And, I count quite a number of them as very good friends.

One must also remember that for the majority, one doesn't have much influence in to which religion that they are born.

I would venture to suggest that if some of the people posting here, had been born as Muslims, Osam bin Laden would look like a choir boy by comparison.

(I am not a Muslim !!)

Bin Laden depicted as a choir boy. That is drawing a long bow I think.

[john b good]

Perhaps you are right (about the long bow) but are you condoning or supportive of the extreme and racist views that have been expressed regarding our Muslim brothers ??

[meemiathai]

As always some interesting comments and opinions, some a bit extreme though.

Having lived and worked in several Muslim country's including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Indonesia, Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan I have drawn the conclusion that there are many (very many in fact) fine Muslims in the world.

And, I count quite a number of them as very good friends.

One must also remember that for the majority, one doesn't have much influence in to which religion that they are born.

I would venture to suggest that if some of the people posting here, had been born as Muslims, Osam bin Laden would look like a choir boy by comparison.

(I am not a Muslim !!)

Honestly, can you tell us how good these people are?

All I can see is these people being supportive to terrorists activities.

And I hear all those ridiculous religious rules.

Actually I wouldn't doubt there are indeed good muslims. But these days, the terrorists have become their representatives. And they are doing nothing????

[john b good]

As always some interesting comments and opinions, some a bit extreme though.

Having lived and worked in several Muslim country's including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Indonesia, Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan I have drawn the conclusion that there are many (very many in fact) fine Muslims in the world.

And, I count quite a number of them as very good friends.

One must also remember that for the majority, one doesn't have much influence in to which religion that they are born.

I would venture to suggest that if some of the people posting here, had been born as Muslims,  Osam bin Laden would look like a choir boy by comparison.

(I am not a Muslim !!)

Honestly, can you tell us how good these people are?

All I can see is these people being supportive to terrorists activities.

And I hear all those ridiculous religious rules.

Actually I wouldn't doubt there are indeed good muslims. But these days, the terrorists have become their representatives. And they are doing nothing????

I agree that there are some bad guys out there however over the past few decades we have seen quite a few individuals (from the other major religions) who have been responsible for as much or more "rape, pillaging and sheer genocide" that it is perhaps being a bit hasty on labelling Muslims as the sole purveyors of deathand terrorism.

On only needs to look over the border in Burma to see some shining examples which incidently. Thailand and other ASEAN member country's prefer to pretty well ignore.

A very large part of the problem in the south is that some prominent members of the current administration (here in the Realm) chose not to recognise or acknowledge that there was a problem in any case.

Only when it was totally out of control and visible to a blind man begging on Sukhumvit and all other country's around the world (many of whom Thailand wants to woo) that any steps were taken to bring the problem under some form of control. And of course the initial efforts were so clumsy that it only inflamed the situation.

[plachon]

As always, any post that mentions the word "Muslim" draws out all the narrow-minded, racist bigots from the woodwork, so rather than try to attack your flawed thinking individually or collectively, I'll recount a little anecdote from a recent holiday to Langkawi Island (note: a predominantly Muslim place).

I was sitting on the beach watching the world go by and spotted a man of Arab appearance about to take off on a parasailing trip round the bay. Up he goes and his progress is followed closely by his wife dressed head to foot in black and just a narrow slit gap in her headress, through which she was videoing hubby in the air. 10 mins later he touches down and gets out of the harness and then rushes up to the Mrs and gives her a great big hug, lifting her off her feet. They embrace passionately for about a minute then he puts her down and they walk up the beach into the sunset holding hands and talking excitedly about? his experience in the air? what they were going to do that night? Who knows, the point is that they were just like any other couple on holiday, in love and were sharing a good time together.

But you know, seeing this couple made me think that as far as I can remember in all the years I've lived in Thailand I don't think I've ever seen a Thai couple embrace as passionately as this couple. Young couples nervously holding hands in the park is about as far as the public displays of romance goes in Thailand it seems. So what does this signify,- Thais (who are predominantly Buddhists), don't love their wives (yes, plural) as much as Arabs (who are predominantly Muslim)? Or that Arab women are more liberated than Thais in showing their emotions in public? No, of course not, only that one shouldn't fall into racist stereotypes about one religion, race or visibly different group of people from ones own.

Similarly, anyone who continues to equate Muslims and terrorism, shows they have the intellectual agility of a sloth, an invertebrate or an unicellular creature going by the initials of GWB.

[chao choo]

Stopping the israeli would go a long way to solving half the worlds problems no doubt.

100% agreed!

i can even say "Stopping the israeli would go a long way to solving MOST OF the worlds problems no doubt."