News Forum - Thailand’s Parliament passes Marriage Equality Bill

[Soidog]

9 hours ago, Stevejm said:

It doesn’t all go in one direction though. I see that one state in USA has introduced a law which allows parents of athletes to insist that athletes that seem to be winning too much be subjected to genital inspections and blood tests in case they are actually transgender and cheating but the rule can be applied to any athlete who is considered to be “too good”

https://thehill.com/news/wire/3519065-ohio-bill-would-require-genital-exams-for-student-athletes-if-sex-is-questioned/

I said they would follow the West. I didn’t mean as mad as the US ….. Joking, joking

[Soidog]

9 hours ago, JamesR said:

The things you mentioned are talked about on TV shows etc which the majority of people do not watch, peoples concerns and discussions are much more down to earth and are everyday concerns.

Many of us think for example why are we having tens of thousands of healthy young guys getting on boats and crossing over from a safe country (France) to England and can say "asylum" and are then housed in hotels while many local people who have a problem with housing are not looked after so well. 

And to top it all we pay them for the privilege of being here.

A Thai woman told me about the time she went to the council office in Chelmsford, South East England.

She was trying to get a small rebate on her restaurant business rates, she paid £1200 per month, the council woman on the other side of the desk was rude and said there will be no rebate, you must pay now.

She looked over to the next desk and saw a so called refugee, the woman was crying as she said she needed a better place to stay for her and her four kids, the council woman dealing with her told her it was all OK and she will deal with it now and find a place to stay.

The Thai woman said to the rude woman dealing with her, I suppose when I pay you will just lean over and give the money to that woman there.

If the West is so crap why are hundreds of thousands of people trying to get in, they could of course go to Thailand instead?

The West is great for doing business, education etc and if you are self driven you can be successful.

Many times in Thailand it is about who you know.

Mostly we farangs only go and live in Thailand after we have made our money while in the West and even then not fully committed financially etc to Thailand, well if we have any sense that is. 

I wonder more about what the Thai woman, living and owning her own business in England, thought about the notion of a refugee? Did she even recognise the status of a refugee and understand what that even means. Her own government certainly don’t seem to know what it means. Thailand does host “refugees”, but they are not a signatory of the UM refugee convention. 

[Soidog]

13 hours ago, dbrenn said:

What makes Australia better than Thailand?

Where should you start? Choose a metric or any measure and I’m sure Australia is better. And I’m not talking about some falsified bullsh*t such as unemployment statistics 

[Stevejm]

9 hours ago, JamesR said:

The things you mentioned are talked about on TV shows etc which the majority of people do not watch, peoples concerns and discussions are much more down to earth and are everyday concerns.

Many of us think for example why are we having tens of thousands of healthy young guys getting on boats and crossing over from a safe country (France) to England and can say "asylum" and are then housed in hotels while many local people who have a problem with housing are not looked after so well. 

And to top it all we pay them for the privilege of being here.

A Thai woman told me about the time she went to the council office in Chelmsford, South East England.

She was trying to get a small rebate on her restaurant business rates, she paid £1200 per month, the council woman on the other side of the desk was rude and said there will be no rebate, you must pay now.

She looked over to the next desk and saw a so called refugee, the woman was crying as she said she needed a better place to stay for her and her four kids, the council woman dealing with her told her it was all OK and she will deal with it now and find a place to stay.

The Thai woman said to the rude woman dealing with her, I suppose when I pay you will just lean over and give the money to that woman there.

If the West is so crap why are hundreds of thousands of people trying to get in, they could of course go to Thailand instead?

The West is great for doing business, education etc and if you are self driven you can be successful.

Many times in Thailand it is about who you know.

Mostly we farangs only go and live in Thailand after we have made our money while in the West and even then not fully committed financially etc to Thailand, well if we have any sense that is. 

You mean like the young men who supported western governments in Afghanistan and were left behind to fend for themselves against the Taliban when everyone pulled out. I think most refugees would be quite happy to work if they were allowed to but UK won’t allow refugees to work while their application is being considered. I think refugees have to be considered on their individual merits and many of them aren’t young men. The numbers that you quote are way off but anyway this is way off topic so I won’t say any more. I don’t think anyone has said that the west is crap so I don’t know who you are addressing that comment to.

[dbrenn]

30 minutes ago, Soidog said:

Where should you start? Choose a metric or any measure and I’m sure Australia is better. And I’m not talking about some falsified bullsh*t such as unemployment statistics 

Soooooooo .... why stay in Thailand then? If Australia is so much better.

[Stevejm]

33 minutes ago, Soidog said:

Where should you start? Choose a metric or any measure and I’m sure Australia is better. And I’m not talking about some falsified bullsh*t such as unemployment statistics 

The answer to such a question is subjective anyway and depends on your personal circumstances and preferences

[Soidog]

2 minutes ago, dbrenn said:

Soooooooo .... why stay in Thailand then? If Australia is so much better.

What has that got to do with anything. There’s more to life than just experiencing the very best life has to offer. How else do you get a perspective on life and appreciate one place compared to another? Please don’t tell me you are one of these people who say …. If you don’t like it here why don’t you go home?

[Soidog]

2 minutes ago, Stevejm said:

The answer to such a question is subjective anyway and depends on your personal circumstances and preferences

Exactly! 

[dbrenn]

4 minutes ago, Soidog said:

What has that got to do with anything. There’s more to life than just experiencing the very best life has to offer. How else do you get a perspective on life and appreciate one place compared to another? Please don’t tell me you are one of these people who say …. If you don’t like it here why don’t you go home?

Well it does seem rather contrary when people say that such and such a place is better than the one where they've chosen to live 'in every way', but stay put.

Of course, there are other considerations, which I get, like family ties, etc.

[Stevejm]

1 hour ago, Soidog said:

I wonder more about what the Thai woman, living and owning her own business in England, thought about the notion of a refugee? Did she even recognise the status of a refugee and understand what that even means. Her own government certainly don’t seem to know what it means. Thailand does host “refugees”, but they are not a signatory of the UM refugee convention. 

Thailand isn’t a signatory to the 1951 convention but it does host the UNHCR    Multi Country Office and hosts large numbers of refugees and displaced persons from Myanmar in particular.

Anecdotal quotes from one person in UK who was going to get a “rebate” are meaningless anyway.

https://reporting.unhcr.org/thailand

Edited June 17, 2022 by Stevejm
Typo

[Stevejm]

14 minutes ago, dbrenn said:

Well it does seem rather contrary when people say that such and such a place is better than the one where they've chosen to live 'in every way', but stay put.

Of course, there are other considerations, which I get, like family ties, etc.

There is nothing contrary about it. Circumstances change during the course of your life. I have lived in both Australia and Thailand and wouldn’t complain about either place although nowhere is perfect. You have answered your own comment in the last paragraph anyway so nuff said.

[bvbeyond]

Congratulations to all those who can now officially tie the knot and grow old with the person they love.

[Soidog]

11 hours ago, Stevejm said:

The answer to such a question is subjective anyway and depends on your personal circumstances and preferences

Agreed. Consequently this statement that one place is better than another becomes subjective. If quality of education, freedom of speech, democracy, corruption and a fair chance in life don’t mean much to you as a person. Possibly because you’ve already made your money in Australia or some other Western country and can now relax in the sunshine, then fine. But if you are bringing up a young family and want a better life for them, then many of the above western values then matters. 
 

Personally I’m halfway between these two extremes. I have enough money to retire now if I wanted to. I enjoy the safety and security that having a home in Europe provides for me. I enjoy the freedom of “free” healthcare in the NHS. At the same time I enjoy the more relaxed lifestyle in Thailand. The far better weather. The beautiful beaches. The lovely food and relaxed attitude of the people. Park where you want and ease of getting around on cheap airfares etc etc. 

Consequently I can see the rights and wrongs, the pluses and the minuses with where my home is and my favourite country to visit. 

[JamesR]

5 minutes ago, Soidog said:

Agreed. Consequently this statement that one place is better than another becomes subjective. If quality of education, freedom of speech, democracy, corruption and a fair chance in life don’t mean much to you as a person. Possibly because you’ve already made your money in Australia or some other Western country and can now relax in the sunshine, then fine. But if you are bringing up a young family and want a better life for them, then many of the above western values then matters. 
 

Personally I’m halfway between these two extremes. I have enough money to retire now if I wanted to. I enjoy the safety and security that having a home in Europe provides for me. I enjoy the freedom of “free” healthcare in the NHS. At the same time I enjoy the more relaxed lifestyle in Thailand. The far better weather. The beautiful beaches. The lovely food and relaxed attitude of the people. Park where you want and ease of getting around on cheap airfares etc etc. 

Consequently I can see the rights and wrongs, the pluses and the minuses with where my home is and my favourite country to visit. 

When growing up, being educated, shared opportunities then the UK is obviously the best over Thailand for me unless you are born rich. 

Once we have enough money to live where we like then for me Thailand and the UK are both great, money means freedom and if I need a change then I just go to the airport. 

So I suppose deciding which country is better than another is where a person is in life.

 

[Soidog]

11 hours ago, dbrenn said:

Well it does seem rather contrary when people say that such and such a place is better than the one where they've chosen to live 'in every way', but stay put.

Of course, there are other considerations, which I get, like family ties, etc.

I take your point entirely. However this forum and the subsequent posts tend to look at specific issues. On such issues it can sometimes be obvious that one country is better than another. The problem however is when that debate is assumed to apply to everything about the country. 

If we take corruption as a topic, then it’s clear that Thailand ranks poor compared to many countries where members come from. You would expect negative comments about Thai corruption and claims that Western countries are less corrupt. If we take a topic of warm weather and better climate, then it’s clear that compared to Northern European countries, Thailand is “better”. 
 

If you are someone who holds opinions and wishes to express them, then there is plenty “wrong” with Thailand and there are equally many “wrong” things in the U.K. or U.S.

I don’t believe anyone would stay in a country they are unhappy with, unless of course there are other factors to consider. These could include family issues and financial issues. If such issues means that on balance you stay in Thailand, it doesn’t mean you can’t have a bloody good whine and moan about the things that are clearly wrong with the place. 
 

I love Thailand and I love the U.K.  I’m lucky that I can spend time in both places. If however I had to choose a permanent place at my age, I would choose the U.K.  In 10 years time I would most likely choose Thailand. 

[JamesR]

12 hours ago, Soidog said:

I wonder more about what the Thai woman, living and owning her own business in England, thought about the notion of a refugee? Did she even recognise the status of a refugee and understand what that even means. Her own government certainly don’t seem to know what it means. Thailand does host “refugees”, but they are not a signatory of the UM refugee convention. 

It seems strange some people believe everything a so called refugee says, it is as though they can not tell lies, probably this attitude is due to being brain washed for decades under the rules of political correctness.

They claim to be running away from tyranny, France was a safe haven the the last time I looked. 

I suppose when you take a risk in life, set up a business with all the associated risks and uncertainty for decades and see you hard earned money being given out free then political correctness goes out of the window.

The above things are what she had discussed with me. 

She thought many people in the UK were stupid with respect to free handouts and said the do gooders do not realise these people are laughing at them behind their backs, thanks 'idiots' is what she said the scroungers are saying. 

 

[Benroon]

On 6/16/2022 at 8:52 AM, dbrenn said:

It's a shame to see Thailand bowing to all this poisonous wokist American culture. 

You just knew it would be a short time before the intolerant gestapo came out to play.

I'm probably going to regret asking this but what is 'wokist' about people being able to enjoy their lives with who they want to enjoy it with ?

 

[JamesR]

56 minutes ago, Soidog said:

If we take a topic of warm weather and better climate, then it’s clear that compared to Northern European countries, Thailand is “better”. 

It was 30C in the South East of the UK yesterday and it will be 33C today, far too hot to do anything, I would hate to have to work in this temperature all year round.

It will be down to a glorious 19C on Sunday so I can go for a bike ride etc.

The downside of Thailand is it is too hot, but I get around that by using air-con in the house, car and shops.

All activities are limited to pre 8am, then after 5pm, too hot at other times so hide in air-con. 

Thais tell me on a daily basis, "oh today it is too hot", it is OK for me because I can hide from it, they have to work in it. 

 

[Benroon]

On 6/16/2022 at 9:24 AM, dbrenn said:

I suppose that one of the greatest fallacies in the Western world is that 'progressive' politics has to be a good thing.

All it's led to so far is the disintegration of society, unhappiness, ugliness, loneliness and lack of respect for anything. Yet people still support it.

and yet you haven't got a single shred of evidence to back that up have you.

So same sex marriage erodes respect (of what we can move onto later) - hang on aren't you disrespecting same sex couples ? and given your comments couldn't be uglier I'm guessing your boyfriend has left you correct ? 

[Benroon]

On 6/16/2022 at 10:29 AM, dbrenn said:

You don't think that happens anymore? Western society is more divided than it's ever been.

Change the word 'divided' to 'diverse' and boom the worlds a better place !

Try it - start with smiling ....

[Benroon]

On 6/16/2022 at 11:25 AM, Fanta said:

Football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars. 

The 'football' is a very close call...... carry on

[Benroon]

On 6/16/2022 at 11:29 AM, astro said:

Yeah, I don't like Aussie beer either.

Yep Australia should never EVER be forgiven for creating Fosters, for that crime alone they should be sanctioned out of existence !

[Benroon]

On 6/16/2022 at 11:45 AM, Soidog said:

I personally think it is a good thing, ESPECIALLY if it erodes traditional Thai society. Thai society is stuck in the past and was carefully designed to keep the majority down. The modern social media age and the progressive thinking of the younger Thai generation will slowly shake off the chains of traditional Thai society and the country will prosper.  

Nicely put 

[Stevejm]

18 minutes ago, Benroon said:

You just knew it would be a short time before the intolerant gestapo came out to play.

I'm probably going to regret asking this but what is 'wokist' about people being able to enjoy their lives with who they want to enjoy it with ?

According to the OED w!ke means”alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice”. Wouldn’t most people like to associate themselves with that? Note that the word is blocked as a forbidden word so I used !

Edited June 17, 2022 by Stevejm

[Stevejm]

51 minutes ago, JamesR said:

It seems strange some people believe everything a so called refugee says, it is as though they can not tell lies, probably this attitude is due to being brain washed for decades under the rules of political correctness.

They claim to be running away from tyranny, France was a safe haven the the last time I looked. 

I suppose when you take a risk in life, set up a business with all the associated risks and uncertainty for decades and see you hard earned money being given out free then political correctness goes out of the window.

The above things are what she had discussed with me. 

She thought many people in the UK were stupid with respect to free handouts and said the do gooders do not realise these people are laughing at them behind their backs, thanks 'idiots' is what she said the scroungers are saying. 

I think every refugee has to be judged on their own merits. I think most of them would be happy to work if they are allowed to but UK doesn’t allow them to work pending assessment of their case. I think many of them prefer UK over France because if they can speak a second language it’s more likely to be English. UK has blocked all legal paths for refugees to apply hence the tragedy of channel crossings continues. Anyway this thread is about legalizing same sex marriage in Thailand not refugees so I suggest that we get back on topic

Edited June 17, 2022 by Stevejm