I love turtles.

:thumbsup

Everybody in Thailand loving the royals is bullshit, 50% love them and the other 50% hate them. That's why they have these political clashes and street riots and power changes all the time. Each side is accusing the other side of corruption. And I agree with the "authoritarian follower" statement. The same people who approve this Thailand verdict whine about .xxx domains potentially leading to authoritarian control of the online porn biz.

If we don't tolerate people going to jail for something as minor as translating and publishing a book in our own country we shouldn't approve it happening in other countries.

their country, their law. :2 cents:

You seriously don't understand the difference between Thai politics and Thais loving their King?

I know your business involves shit, but your posts shouldn't always be so full of it.

of course all thais love the king, because if they didnt they would also get jail sentences, and if the newpapers reported it they would too

Yes, many (if not most) of them are incredibly xenophobic.

I wouldn't say it's lawless. Just different laws. You get away with things you shouldn't and get fucked up for things you shouldn't.

Cambodia was lawless 10-15 years ago. When you can buy hand grenades at the local market, it's lawless. But that is part of the attraction to the place.


The King himself has said he is not above being criticized, however, this law is often abused and used as a political weapon. Many who break this law do get a royal pardon by the King himself, as his gives them every year for his birthday.

But in terms of real freedom of speech, there is none in Thailand. Libel laws are incredibly strict here and you can get sued just for writing a bad review about a restaurant, even if every word of what you say is true. All the media outlets have lawyers on staff to vet every story they release, and many of them still get sued often.


Yea, it's always "respect their culture" but in reality, I don't even think most of the Thais know anything about their true culture. It's usually about greed, power, money, and superstition. Just like anywhere else in the world. Culture has little to do with it. Only foreigners say such things.


Doesn't apply. Thais can do pretty much anything, but we can't. And when something goes wrong, it's our fault. Goes back to them being xenophobic and uneducated.



Bah. Most of them don't have a clue about anything he has done other than he has "helped the people" before. Ask any Thai 10 specific things he has done, not one will be able to tell you off the top of their head. They love their king and believe in Buddha for the same reasons westerners believe in Jesus and fear God. It's handed down from parents to kids and force fed to them all their lives.

That said, he has done some really amazing things for Thailand and is worthy of their respect. I'm just stating that most Thais don't know why they should respect/love him, other than that's all they know to do. Just as most can not tell you what Buddhist principles are, however they spend their lives as Buddhists.


Never heard that one but I believe it. Had the taxi driver ripped it in two, nothing would have probably come of it.

Having said all of that, I still choose this twisted place over the USA right now. :pimp As bad as it may sound when you read some of the bad things, the good FAR outweigh the bad.

Great post DWB you are correct on so many levels.

Yes. A crisp 100 baht note (about $3 US) can get you out of most traffic violations that would cost you about 50 times more money plus court and traffic school in the US. Although I guess that can explain the crazy drivers. Nothing like taxi drives with a driver after he's been hitting the yaba!


I've lived in Thailand for almost 10 years but haven't heard of that, but then can't say I'm really surprised.

Agreed.

That sounds like famous last words a foreigner would say before being thrown out of a high rise with hands tied behind his back and plastic bag over his head - an act which Thai police would rule a suicide. More foreigners nationals get murdered in Thailand than in the rest of world combined. Only 0.4% of all British citizens traveling abroad travel to Thailand, but 60% of all British citizens murdered abroad are murdered in Thailand. It's no different for other countries.

Yeah I knew something wasn't right when I was typing my post but I still felt like posting it so it looks I'm know stuff :1orglaugh

But you're right. :winkwink:

Where did you get this information from? Well I can only say Thailand does tend to bring in some of the lowest life sex tourists and fat/old bastards from other countries. Maybe they deserved what they got. As long as you respect the king, respect Buddha, and don't go out of your way to be an asshole to people then you shouldn't have any problems here. On the contrary I know many here that live an extremely comfortable lifestyle on incomes where they'd barely be scraping by in the west.

they will probably whip him until he die? and a little bit after...