Comments on: The West loves to sensationalize Bangkok! http://www.tfs2m.com/main/2007/10/16/the-west-loves-to-sensationalize-bangkok/ Insiders take on Thailand - Take 2 Sun, 05 Jul 2009 04:09:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: Thongsuk http://www.tfs2m.com/main/2007/10/16/the-west-loves-to-sensationalize-bangkok/#comment-37512 Thongsuk Wed, 14 Nov 2007 02:12:52 +0000 http://www.tfs2m.com/main/2007/10/16/the-west-loves-to-sensationalize-bangkok/#comment-37512 @ znkw: Sorry, I don't speak Swirly-face. My friends on the bench in Vancouver say your chances of a transfer are slim and none. Enjoy your stay :-) @ znkw: Sorry, I don’t speak Swirly-face.
My friends on the bench in Vancouver say your chances of a transfer are slim and none.
Enjoy your stay :-)
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]]> By: Thongsuk http://www.tfs2m.com/main/2007/10/16/the-west-loves-to-sensationalize-bangkok/#comment-31269 Thongsuk Wed, 24 Oct 2007 07:23:03 +0000 http://www.tfs2m.com/main/2007/10/16/the-west-loves-to-sensationalize-bangkok/#comment-31269 @Combover. We agree on "habeas corpus and fair trial". In any event, if these people were actually to be found guilty in Canadian & UK courts they would get off with wrist-slaps and 12-step programs. Try 'em here? Ok witch yuu ;-? @Combover. We agree on “habeas corpus and fair trial”. In any event, if these people were actually to be found guilty in Canadian & UK courts they would get off with wrist-slaps and 12-step programs.
Try ‘em here? Ok witch yuu ;-?
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]]> By: Combover http://www.tfs2m.com/main/2007/10/16/the-west-loves-to-sensationalize-bangkok/#comment-31248 Combover Wed, 24 Oct 2007 04:54:34 +0000 http://www.tfs2m.com/main/2007/10/16/the-west-loves-to-sensationalize-bangkok/#comment-31248 Another one bites the dust. Maybe... http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1289681,00.html Another one bites the dust. Maybe…

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1289681,00.html
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]]> By: Thongsuk http://www.tfs2m.com/main/2007/10/16/the-west-loves-to-sensationalize-bangkok/#comment-30934 Thongsuk Mon, 22 Oct 2007 07:11:51 +0000 http://www.tfs2m.com/main/2007/10/16/the-west-loves-to-sensationalize-bangkok/#comment-30934 @ Combover: Sure. God help me if I've come off sounding holier than thou. That's not my frame either. I'm very careful about jumping to occlusions about what I see here. I'm no crusader, nor am I making any excuses about why I was in soi 4. Been through that very tourist-glare thing myself. I'd like to think that this (rather than an inability to act) is why the boiling grease is still in the wok and I'm not nursing a sprained wrist and re-gluing the soles of my shoes. @ Combover: Sure. God help me if I’ve come off sounding holier than thou. That’s not my frame either. I’m very careful about jumping to occlusions about what I see here.
I’m no crusader, nor am I making any excuses about why I was in soi 4. Been through that very tourist-glare thing myself.

I’d like to think that this (rather than an inability to act) is why the boiling grease is still in the wok and I’m not nursing a sprained wrist and re-gluing the soles of my shoes.
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]]> By: Combover http://www.tfs2m.com/main/2007/10/16/the-west-loves-to-sensationalize-bangkok/#comment-30928 Combover Mon, 22 Oct 2007 06:36:10 +0000 http://www.tfs2m.com/main/2007/10/16/the-west-loves-to-sensationalize-bangkok/#comment-30928 @thongsuk: This man may have been repellent but we should still be wary of jumping to conclusions. Many a tourist has wrongly assumed men walking with their own half thai kids to be paedophiles. A friend was hassled for bribes by police in the Philippines when they spotted him giving the children of a family friend a few pesos to go and buy ice cream. @thongsuk: This man may have been repellent but we should still be wary of jumping to conclusions. Many a tourist has wrongly assumed men walking with their own half thai kids to be paedophiles. A friend was hassled for bribes by police in the Philippines when they spotted him giving the children of a family friend a few pesos to go and buy ice cream.
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]]> By: Thongsuk http://www.tfs2m.com/main/2007/10/16/the-west-loves-to-sensationalize-bangkok/#comment-30926 Thongsuk Mon, 22 Oct 2007 06:22:56 +0000 http://www.tfs2m.com/main/2007/10/16/the-west-loves-to-sensationalize-bangkok/#comment-30926 Early evening last week, right in the middle of this breaking pedo thing I happened to spot a fat fifty-ish guy lounging in the steps of the little convenience store right next to Big Dogs. Got it? Not particularly drunk that I could see. He was actually sprawled on those steps and he was "interacting" with three little kids who were pulling at his clothes and playing with his hair. He was laughing and tickling them and saying "I no speak Thai." Nobody was giving this a second look. Call me a prude but I think this kind of behavior reflects horribly on the rest of us. Okay? I wanted to beat on him for a while. I don't care that "Well, they could have been . . . blah blah blah " or "He was just . . . . blah blah blah " or " You're just . . . blah blah blah or what ever other relativist shit one could dream up to cover this guys slim-bucket ass: His behavior was patently disgusting. I felt like pouring a wok full of boiling grease on the son-of-a-bitch. Does this mean I am a grumpy expat who really should be on his way home? Or should I just accept this pig as just another thread of Bangkok life's charming tapestry. Early evening last week, right in the middle of this breaking pedo thing I happened to spot a fat fifty-ish guy lounging in the steps of the little convenience store right next to Big Dogs.
Got it?

Not particularly drunk that I could see. He was actually sprawled on those steps and he was “interacting” with three little kids who were pulling at his clothes and playing with his hair.

He was laughing and tickling them and saying “I no speak Thai.”
Nobody was giving this a second look.

Call me a prude but I think this kind of behavior reflects horribly on the rest of us. Okay?

I wanted to beat on him for a while.
I don’t care that “Well, they could have been . . . blah blah blah ” or “He was just . . . . blah blah blah ” or ” You’re just . . . blah blah blah or what ever other relativist shit one could dream up to cover this guys slim-bucket ass: His behavior was patently disgusting.

I felt like pouring a wok full of boiling grease on the son-of-a-bitch.

Does this mean I am a grumpy expat who really should be on his way home? Or should I just accept this pig as just another thread of Bangkok life’s charming tapestry.
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]]> By: Jimmy Cricket http://www.tfs2m.com/main/2007/10/16/the-west-loves-to-sensationalize-bangkok/#comment-30636 Jimmy Cricket Sat, 20 Oct 2007 15:00:06 +0000 http://www.tfs2m.com/main/2007/10/16/the-west-loves-to-sensationalize-bangkok/#comment-30636 Why the eff would you go to Thailand where you committed crimes and your face is all over the world's airports? He will probably do some hard time in a nice prison in Thailand. He should have just taken a flight to Canada and given himself up. He would fare better there than in Thailand. Why the eff would you go to Thailand where you committed crimes and your face is all over the world’s airports?
He will probably do some hard time in a nice prison in Thailand.

He should have just taken a flight to Canada and given himself up.
He would fare better there than in Thailand.
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]]> By: smitty http://www.tfs2m.com/main/2007/10/16/the-west-loves-to-sensationalize-bangkok/#comment-30599 smitty Sat, 20 Oct 2007 08:06:44 +0000 http://www.tfs2m.com/main/2007/10/16/the-west-loves-to-sensationalize-bangkok/#comment-30599 I must say though - this story about this freak is going to get deep if it all comes out. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071019/wl_nm/interpol_paedophile_dc_22;_ylt=AnH6aJzQqmSYG64v5DYbrc8E1vAI Neil was no stranger to Thailand, having once taught in a Bangkok language school, but his hiding place was revealed by a trace on the mobile phone of his 25-year-old Thai boyfriend, identified by transvestites in the seedy beach town of Pattaya. seedy towns, ladyboys, thai boyfriends. sounds like a bkk novel... I must say though - this story about this freak is going to get deep if it all comes out.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071019/wl_nm/interpol_paedophile_dc_22;_ylt=AnH6aJzQqmSYG64v5DYbrc8E1vAI

Neil was no stranger to Thailand, having once taught in a Bangkok language school, but his hiding place was revealed by a trace on the mobile phone of his 25-year-old Thai boyfriend, identified by transvestites in the seedy beach town of Pattaya.

seedy towns, ladyboys, thai boyfriends. sounds like a bkk novel…
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]]> By: Huk http://www.tfs2m.com/main/2007/10/16/the-west-loves-to-sensationalize-bangkok/#comment-30481 Huk Fri, 19 Oct 2007 15:48:13 +0000 http://www.tfs2m.com/main/2007/10/16/the-west-loves-to-sensationalize-bangkok/#comment-30481 Glad they caught the dirty F**KIN Pervert. Now will someone shoot him, sick of p**cks like this giving all an sundry a bad name! Glad they caught the dirty F**KIN Pervert. Now will someone shoot him, sick of p**cks like this giving all an sundry a bad name!
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]]> By: Jack B http://www.tfs2m.com/main/2007/10/16/the-west-loves-to-sensationalize-bangkok/#comment-30462 Jack B Fri, 19 Oct 2007 13:26:19 +0000 http://www.tfs2m.com/main/2007/10/16/the-west-loves-to-sensationalize-bangkok/#comment-30462 Well they caught this guy, in Korat, he ran there because he thought somehow he would be safer. He made it easier to be caught by arriving at Suwannapoom (that's the way I'm spelling it nowadays) Airport where they snap a digifoto of everyone who enters. Dunno how the bust-parameters worked, but that BKK airport shot was all over the media. In some countries, there's a presumption of innocence until proven guilty. Dunno the law in Thailand (other than the quicker you bribe the cop the less you will pay) but this guy already has half the world screaming for his blood and/or his balls and I don't even know if he's formally charged. I'm certainly not defending/justifying/condoning his actions if proven guilty--I'm just pointing out that there's a process of jurisprudence in some countries. Like Canada, where he may be extradited to, then tried. The media doesn't seem interested in any fine legal points. I agree with Smitty about the BBC working Thailand into any dodgy story just for sensationalist ratings-points. Anyone remember John Michael Karr? Turns out he was nothing but some loser who wanted media publicity, and they made him out to be Jack The Ripper reincarnated. Whatever happened to him? No one cares. On to the next horror-case. You can bet there are editors over at the Beeb who whenever they see a case of this nature will look for any link to LOS. "South Korea? No news value. Find me a link to some Southeast Asian country, then we'll write the headline." The ironic thing is, had he stayed in Korea and not been foto'd at Suwannapoom, it just might be that he'd still be on the run. Who knows: if some part of him is attention-seeking (people can and do commit insane acts for publicity, from Tawana Brawley to Susan Smith to Karr), maybe he figured that by returning by Thailand he'd nail more media coverage. I know how crazy that sounds, but we live in times that are more than a little mad. I just returned from the States on business and even minimal exposure to the media there appalls me. And oh yeah: you should have seen the coverage of this particular case...heavily made-up presenters with gigantic blonde hairdos whining and tut-tutting over that horrible, horrible blah blah blah blah blah. Glad to be back in Asia. JtB Well they caught this guy, in Korat, he ran there because he thought somehow he would be safer. He made it easier to be caught by arriving at Suwannapoom (that’s the way I’m spelling it nowadays) Airport where they snap a digifoto of everyone who enters. Dunno how the bust-parameters worked, but that BKK airport shot was all over the media.

In some countries, there’s a presumption of innocence until proven guilty. Dunno the law in Thailand (other than the quicker you bribe the cop the less you will pay) but this guy already has half the world screaming for his blood and/or his balls and I don’t even know if he’s formally charged. I’m certainly not defending/justifying/condoning his actions if proven guilty–I’m just pointing out that there’s a process of jurisprudence in some countries. Like Canada, where he may be extradited to, then tried.

The media doesn’t seem interested in any fine legal points. I agree with Smitty about the BBC working Thailand into any dodgy story just for sensationalist ratings-points. Anyone remember John Michael Karr? Turns out he was nothing but some loser who wanted media publicity, and they made him out to be Jack The Ripper reincarnated. Whatever happened to him? No one cares. On to the next horror-case.

You can bet there are editors over at the Beeb who whenever they see a case of this nature will look for any link to LOS. “South Korea? No news value. Find me a link to some Southeast Asian country, then we’ll write the headline.”

The ironic thing is, had he stayed in Korea and not been foto’d at Suwannapoom, it just might be that he’d still be on the run. Who knows: if some part of him is attention-seeking (people can and do commit insane acts for publicity, from Tawana Brawley to Susan Smith to Karr), maybe he figured that by returning by Thailand he’d nail more media coverage. I know how crazy that sounds, but we live in times that are more than a little mad. I just returned from the States on business and even minimal exposure to the media there appalls me. And oh yeah: you should have seen the coverage of this particular case…heavily made-up presenters with gigantic blonde hairdos whining and tut-tutting over that horrible, horrible blah blah blah blah blah. Glad to be back in Asia.

JtB
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