Captain_Bob

Right, all the fishermen who's life depends on, er, um, fishing will just stop earning money for 3 months. Good luck with that.

He was sort of a national "hero" for some back in 2014, but since then has overwhelmingly demonstrated Thai-style broken bullshit promises, driving Thailand pitifully backward not forward ("ban nok" Thainess) combined with increasingly Thaksin-esque delusional ego-driven corrupt scheming with more lies to cling to power indefinitely. พอแล้ว! ออกไป เลย!!! / PAW LAEW! OHK PAI LOEI! (GTFO!)

False numbers... The PM2.5 AQI levels have never dropped below 50 in weeks, more like 100-200 the past week. Worst mid-February air I've witnessed in 15 years here. "Chiang Mai braced for more" - Well no shit, of course this is just the start, same as every year. Feb/Mar/Apr crappy air. May as well change the dates for such "news" to any other year - same thing repeat repeat....

Have watched many of my Thai wife's family and friends die, mostly from liver or stomach cancer, then a funeral party, monks chanting, procession, cremation. Thai's have a very different way of dealing with death compared to most western countries. I watched my wife tell her mother she was going to die soon from advanced stage terminal cancer and saw her go through the stages of panic, sadness, acceptance, and eventual peaceful departure with all the family at her side. Everyone dies - you/me/they have that time. Thais just don't sugar coat it much.

Typical wording "overturn perceptions of the country". Only the perception/image or other loss of face matters, not the actual true safety and responsibility on Thai roads. Social media increasingly reveals just how bad it is, but Thailand mentality just reacts *after* something goes publicly wrong via someone's "smart"phone images show up on Facebook or Instagram. Value of human life remains cheap, while perception/face-loss earns a few knee-jerk reactions, then again quietly forgotten. Damn, think I'm turning into one of those thaivisa whingers