geomark

73 ms·

661.
Thailand to prosecute 14 year old for lese majeste(prachatai.com)
1 points by geomark 9y ago|1 comments
662.
by geomark 9y ago
Indeed. I have lived in Thailand many years and the terribly dangerous driving habits are one of the very few things that make me wonder if I should move somewhere else. I drive quite a bit outside Bangkok and see very rude and dangerous be
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by geomark 9y ago
Outstanding comment. Thank you.
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by geomark 9y ago
One of the things that still seems strange to me after living in Thailand many years is that life under a military dictatorship is so much better than in a "democracy" (evil quotes because the US doesn't seem like a real de
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by geomark 9y ago
Investigative journalists publish reports every year or so. You can probably find more recent ones, but here's one from three years ago[1]. Many of the big supermarket chains are the end points for the slave-produced seafood products,
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by geomark 9y ago
Generally I agree. But that doesn't mean the US gov should be friendly with a military dictator, ala Trump's invitation for Thailand's military dictator Prayuth to visit[1]. Although arms sales to Thailand were initially put
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by geomark 9y ago
It's been more than 3 years since the military staged a coup and has been ruthlessly suppressing dissent using the lese majesty laws and other laws they enacted that make it illegal to protest against the government. Tourist arrivals j
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by geomark 9y ago
It's really horrendous what is going on in Thailand with the military dictatorship using the lese majeste laws to suppress any dissent. Many, many people are serving long prison terms for it. Even insulting the king's dog can draw
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by geomark 9y ago
True. Many have never had any contact with the US or a US institution yet if the IRS ever learns of their existence they receive notice of overdue taxes.
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by geomark 9y ago
And then there's FATCA which makes you unwanted by banks in many countries. Try cashing a paycheck, paying rent, doing anything while being unbanked in a developed country. US people who don't travel much or live abroad have no id
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by geomark 9y ago
I acknowledge your distinction between civil disobedience and profiteering. But a further nuance is that effective civil disobedience may in some cases require a for-profit activity in order for it to become significant. In this case I am m
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by geomark 9y ago
That are a vast number of laws that are designed to enrich one party at the expense of another. They are nearly always portrayed by the captured regulators as being for the safety of the citizenry when actually they are primarily for the pu
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by geomark 9y ago
"...tracking how many sales or users exist in databases by watching sequential IDs..." Seems like a great application of the German tank problem [1] that was mentioned on HN the other day. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org&#
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by geomark 9y ago
In the cases I know of, including my own, one parent is a native Thai speaker, the other native English, kids went to international school. Instruction in the schools is in English, with a few classes per week of Thai language studies. The
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by geomark 9y ago
I did not grow up bilingual so I was pretty impressed when I saw my kid effortlessly switching between English and Thai. I would tell him something in English and he would immediately turned to his mother to tell her what I had said in Thai
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by geomark 9y ago
Agree. My kid started watching toy unboxing videos by American kids on an iPad at a very early age. The recommender system kept new ones in front of him. Even though we don't live in an English speaking country he chose English as his
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by geomark 9y ago
An eye opener for me as well. But lately my kid has been watching some really dumb channels, like the one where American teenagers build toilet paper forts at Costco. I'm not happy that he thinks that is cool, or that he thinks the guy
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by geomark 9y ago
I agree that this is often the case. But it is also true that when you know more than one language well you often find that words in one language are more expressive than in the other. So it becomes convenient to mix the languages in conver
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by geomark 9y ago
A bit OT but the idea of no accent is kind of funny. My kid goes to an international school in Thailand. I hear my kid's classmates speak English with Australian, British, Canadian and northeastern American accents plus an accent we ca
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by geomark 9y ago
This was thought provoking for me since I am raising a child in Thailand and there seem to be many parallels. Surprising to me is that despite being surrounded by the local language my child has chosen English as his first language. It seem
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by geomark 9y ago
"Hand Made" has already been a thing for a while. "Made by Humans" sounds like a good rebranding.
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by geomark 9y ago
Some interesting parallels with Thailand. Like with the use of language. I'm pretty fluent in Thai and older than many of the people I meet but they still refer to me as คุณ which means "you" when you are speaking to a peer w
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by geomark 9y ago
Expat American here now living in Thailand for many years and have been treated numerous time to the outstanding medical care at both private and public hospitals here. Question: As far as you know, do the private hospitals here in Thailand
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by geomark 9y ago
Indeed. But then I end up looking at things I would never have searched for. Today I was looking for a UV sensor module and searched for "8511", a portion of the part number for a commong one. First 4 results were UV sensors. Next
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by geomark 9y ago
I always feel like the guy in this meme when someone suggests I should interview for some hot new opportunity http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/i-know-mor...
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by geomark 9y ago
My wife had surgery at Bumrungrad, one of the well known private hospitals - excellent in every respect. I had surgery at Siriraj, a public hospital - tired looking buildings and not luxurious like Bumrungrad but excellent care and results.
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by geomark 9y ago
"Thais and foreigners on long-term visas get free universal health care at government hospitals(!), some of which are pretty good" That's interesting. What type of long-term visas qualify foreigners for universal health care?
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by geomark 9y ago
This is what drives me crazy about US health care. Where I currently live the estimated costs are given to you in advance, even advertised on the websites of hospitals and clinics. But back in the US where I used to live it is just like you
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by geomark 9y ago
Asia is a big place and I don't know much about other Asian countries. But Thailand works very well for me. It's not for everyone, for sure.
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by geomark 9y ago
Thailand. They don't give permanent residency here anyway. The laws on the books make it sound as if they do but in reality they don't. So you have to find another way to stay long term. For young people they make it difficult unl

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