watthong
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On 4/10/2024 at 2:32 PM, pacovl46 said:
The whole article is just unnecessary fear-mongering and the headline is clickbait, if you ask me. The Thais won't have a problem with gay marriage, regardless of wording.
Webfact does what a checkout line tabloid has to do to get readership. Always grab a piece of news by the most sensationalistic angle, regardless whether that angle covers the rule or the exception. With matters regarding gender roles within the LGBTQ group, which is by nature rife with confusion, webfact would add a few potholes here and there to make sure readers have ground to sow their own biases. Case in point:
On 4/9/2024 at 12:00 AM, BangkokReady said:It sounds like their concern is not about whether they can marry or not, but that the wording within the bill doesn't effectively mean: "If two biological females, one of whom now wants to be a man, are married and living with one of the couple's children, they will be legally considered a man and a woman and the legal parents of those children".
Bias One : "one of whom now wants to be a man," - "One of whom," Thanadech has already gone through sex change, ie he has long passed the "wants to be a man" stage. In his mind he is now a man (whether the laws agree is another matter.) There's no mention of his girlfriend, the one whose child they are raising together, "now wants to be a man" either.
Bias Two: (they, the couple, are concerned) the bill doesn't effectively mean: they will be legally considered a man and a woman and the legal parents of those children."
This is what Thanadech is quoted as saying in the article"“I want the equal marriage law to be passed. It will make my family complete like any other family of men and women.” Though something might be lost in the translation, "family of men and women" in this context should be understood as "straight family." Thanadech wants equal rights for his family as those of a straight family. No where did he said that there must be a man and a woman to "make my family complete."
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On 4/14/2024 at 9:42 AM, eumenades said:
Incidentally, sales of Orwell's 1984 skyrocketed in Russia, post-prohibition, and many are saying it could contribute to Putin's downfall. Here's hoping!
In the few local malls that I frequent, now and then they would have on the ground floor a mini-book fair (selling discounted books plus a few tables of stationary and knicknack) just to stir the popular reading interest up I guess. In the (translated from) foreign-language corner, you can find a lot of history books, and among these Hitler/Mein Kampf feature prominently, as if this is the latest trend... Even though this book fair does move around from mall to mall, its stock remains more or less the same. So what can we be hoping- or dispairing rather - from this?
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5 hours ago, eumenades said:
I spend a lot of time explaining world history to my wife, but i sometimes think it just does not interest her. And so, I turn to the historical movies.
World history interests my Thai partner mightily... However, when it comes to watching "historical movies" - most of these depicting wars - there's still a lot of hitting the pause button to explain things to him. Thais have no idea whatsoever what living in war time might entail (curfew, food ration, checkpoints, bomb raid bunkers, etc.) And so I turn to the shark-attack movies...
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21 hours ago, JensenZ said:You have no idea about food courts. Food courts are places where people who shop in busy shopping malls go to pick up a low-cost meal on their shopping trips. It's about convenience. The Thai customers (at Big C Extra) outnumber expats and tourists by a large percentage.
The OP is trolling here to wind up expats. He's the "Cheap Charlie". There are other restaurants there for higher-priced restaurant meals - Fuji, MK, Santa Fe Steakhouse, Black Canyons, along with KFC and Subway. There is no need to eat at the food court. Fuji and MK sell good quality food, but his bill will be closer to 1000 baht (for 2).
"It's about convenience...." and more. In Asia food courts are regarded as something of an institution though most of the time privately owned. I always considered them as the equivalent of a village square for us urban-dwellers. A place to "people watch" your own community. You can pretty much tell how well or how badly they are doing by observing a slice of their daily lives.
For rootless foreigners who have no respect or awareness of social customs to barge in and complaint about how the locals live, what they eat/how they spend money, how long "old people enjoying free air-conditioning for the price of one coffee," etc. such behavior is simply uncouth, uncalled for and uneducated.
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2 hours ago, herfiehandbag said:
I buy second hand books off the internet and have them shipped to Thailand. But I must confess I am the only falang I know who does so!
You're not alone. Same here: I have to ship over loads of second hand books also. Heavy shipping charges, but I don't read books on tablets. There's nothing like the feel of a good paperback in one's hands, or a slab of a coffeetable book that weighs 8lbs.
Btw, if you're in BKK check out my Dasa Books recommendation earlier.
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11 minutes ago, mfd101 said:Yes, I have noticed that over the last 2 or 3 years.
My recommendation is Dasa Books (used books) near Prom Pong BTS. Impressive inventory even carries Spanish books. Friendly prices. They update their inventory database daily on their website. The idea is you call them ahead of time f you see something you want, then ask them to hold it for you. If that works (I have never tried) it would be great for out of town visitors. Oh, they also buy back books.
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44 minutes ago, mfd101 said:I always visit one or other of the Kinokuniyas when I'm in BKK and there are always Thais browsing there. But that's scarcely representative of the broader Thai population.
I'm sure some of the university educated Thais would love to have access to English books too - places to browse, affordable prices - but here is the reality on the ground:
The one Kinokuniyas in Siam square has reduced its English-language stock considerably, making room for, you guess right, Chinese-language materials. I no longer go there.
Asia Books are now mostly children toy/stationary stores.
The Annual BKK Book Fair (see photo) as far as English-language books go, have 99 per cent junk, the kind you'll find in US charity shops.
(And yes, I have to ship over loads of second hand books also. Heavy shipping charges, but I don't read books on tablets. There's nothing like the feel of a good paperback in one's hands.)
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On 4/8/2024 at 3:55 PM, brianthainess said:
Well it only my personal opinion but we we'll wait an see, I just have have a feeling that staying here on a marriage visa/extension will not be allowed, I hope it is for all those involved, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
I guess up till now, at your tender old age, you never been taught to keep your gloomy outlook regarding other people's business to yourself? While nobody asks you to "hold your breath" for their own affair?
"I hope it is for all those involved" yeah sure we really really believe you meant well-wishes (while predicting gloom and doom on us, "a marriage visa/extension will not be allowed") Oh yes, we have to "wait and see..."
However for the likes of you who have neither say nor stake in gay marriage, you don't have to "wait and see..." So get off the line now and scoot. We don't need another busybody hypocrite like you. Go bark up another tree.
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11 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:
If you would have written equally, I wouldn't agree, but ok, I accept your argument.
But when you write "better" than you are just plain wrong. How can two men or two women be better parents than one woman and one man?
And please stay with the same situation, like all are non-alcoholics and similar conditions. There are always some parents which are better than others.
Couldn't win the big argument, therefore had to settle on the small one...
That spells "pettiness."
Then adding a drag-queen Trumper image to support your "small one..."
That spells "desperation."
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1 hour ago, cdemundo said:
f I go on 17th, 18th or 19th I will have to cancel work appointments and I would rather not do that.
Unfortunately, as far as Immigration is concerned. You still have (those) 3 days to do it, if you rather not then the fines are on you. You can't blame it oh holidays or your personal affair. I personally have witnessed one stubborn farang lady triy to bargain on same scenario to no avail. They shooed her away after making her pay, and didn't bother to even print her a fine receipt.
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3 hours ago, redwood1 said:
Old guys sitting around a food court chatting with other old guys, soaking in free air-con while nursing a single coffee for hours.......
So what if they do?
Unbesknown to your tunnel-visioned farangs, food court is a way of life in the East. It serves a communal purpose and yes, old people are more revered here than in the West.
FYI, by Thai laws the supermarkets such as BigC, Lotus are required to open year round to serve the general populace. MY local Lotus foodcourt for its post covid-reopening had all the (basic) dishes prized at 25 baht and they did that for 3 months straight. Where do you get that in your lovely West?
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On 4/8/2024 at 9:52 AM, OneMoreFarang said:
Same sex couples are not the same as father and mother = parents.
Why don't we keep the definition of existing words?
Call them a gay couple or a female couple or whatever. They can't be both parents of the same child.
Says who?
Merriam and Webster definition of "parents"
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a: one that begets or brings forth offspring
just became parents of twins
b: a person who brings up and cares for another
foster parents
Nowhere does it mention "father and mother" or "the same child."
Main point is that gays can do both a) and b ) equally well, if not better.
If you want to live by your own standard, fine. Just don't apply it onto others.
Thank you very much.
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53 minutes ago, bbko said:Old guys on a pension want to sit in a clean air conditioned place to chat with others? They don't bother me, I just won't sit near them.
Why adding " just won't sit near them" if "They don't bother me"?
Because they are "Old guys on a pension"?
What do you have against these folks? Their age or their class?
Old guys on a pension, like me, tend to dress nicely (read cleanly,) and mind our own business. Like most customers who eat there actually. And unlike the other kind of farangs: gruffy-looking, sweaty, red-faced ones in shorts and pony tail, running around barking orders in their own language to those behind the counter.
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4 hours ago, Yellowtail said:
Can you provide a few anecdotal examples of the discrimination gays suffer on a regular basis?
It's sad, Mr ("Can you provide proof/annecdote/hearsay examples of...") One -and- One- Question- Only to hear the sound of one hand clapping...
Where's your pal, the one that you sent thumb up emojis to after each and every of his posts? Haven't heard a single beep from him since he got called out recently. You used to kiss the ground he walked on, IIRC.
But don't feel abandoned, we do enjoy your company here, as comic relief.
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On 4/8/2024 at 4:51 PM, RobU said:
All of the balanced gay men I know despise gay activists and are extremely dubious of the gay pride movement they just want to get on with life.
The war against discrimination has been won but charitable organisations like Stonewall need to keep pushing because they would lose income and eventually fade away because they are no longer necessary. Charity bosses make big money
Fact check 1st sentence: How many of those "balanced gay men I know"? Half a million? Or a couple of millions?
Fact check 2nd sentence: "The war against discrimination has been won." By whom? Against which discrimination. If it's discrimination against gays, no it definitely has not.
Broad, sweeping statements with unfounded facts are called "propaganda."
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14 hours ago, pacovl46 said:
Discrimination??? Thailand is pretty much THE most LGBT friendly country in the world!
Thailand also prides itself as the land of Smiles, but you need to look closer. ..
Anyway what webfact posted is a very brief article, however true to form is chokeful of loose-ends and choppy statements so that opinions could be easily misconstrued (or maybe that's the intention - as often the case with this news outlet)- and spun away.
Right at the top, "Fears of discrimination in Thailand" is a misleading title.
Sweating out the details, tweaking the blueprint of a bill about marriage equality is the opposite of fears. Had there been fears this bill would not have gotten to where it is today. But stoking "Fears" is irresistible, it "sells newspapers" you see...
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1 hour ago, Jingthing said:
April 15 approaches though of course the deadline is later for expats
Oh, I didn't know that. So this is what google gave me:
"Expats living and working in another country as a US citizen are required to file US tax returns and pay any taxes due by April 15, 2024, unless an extension applies.2 The standard deadline for Americans living in the US filing a US tax return is April 15, 2024.13 Expats are granted an automatic two-month extension for filing their US tax returns, which extends the US tax filing deadline for expats to June 17, 2024. They may also request additional extensions if needed.3"
Thanks JT or tips re taxacct. Never used them before but will give it a try this year. Do they also do state return? Anyway, will give you an update in due course.
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4 hours ago, Yellowtail said:
Now, if I don't want a man with an erection popping out from under his miniskirt in my teenage daughter's locker room, I'm some kind of hater.
Granpa is loosing his marbles...No self-respecting gays would wear miniskirt and have an erection in a women's locker room. It's an impossible feat!
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16 hours ago, TroubleandGrumpy said:
But I hope the Thailand Govt does not fsll into the same traps as the Western Govts did and cave into their constant demands for 'more and more equality'
For all the inane ranting and tired homophobic vitriols that followed, you showed your root too early, mate. Right at the start: to declare that "Western Govts" - notice the plurals, that mean the Western world - would fall for the "same traps and cave into" shows a deluded mind, yours that is. In the old days we would say you suffer from "delusions de grandeur" roughly translated as delusion stemming from self-aggrandization ...
You think you're so smart, ain't that right? More than all Western Govts combined, you can see the "traps" and they couldn't? Oh yeah, who do you think you're fooling? With the dosage of pseudo-intellectual jargon copiously "seasoning" your speech - one tasty morsel: Princess Bitchface Syndrome 2.0, published by Penguin Books Australia? Are you serious? Your state of mind is brazenly juvenile, as plain to see as dog turd on while gravel. Stinks to high heavens mate, but I figure your nose is so deep in it you can't even tell.
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On 4/6/2024 at 3:21 PM, RichardColeman said:The problem is that people tarnish all people as homophobic as they do not agree with gay marriage - that is the problem in society
This myth usually touted by homophobes, I repeat, usually, and especially those who loudly claim they are not - so let's debunk it once and for all:
1) who are those people ("people who tarnish all people as homophobic as they do not agree with gay marriage")? I'm sure there are that kind of people but I for once, as a gay person "do not tarnish all people as homophobic as they do not agree with gay marriage."
2) Homophobes do not agree with gay marriage, you can bet your life on that, but that's not the only thing that get them "tarnished" as homophobic. So let's make that clear, people don't get tarnished as homophobic because they don't agree with gay marriage, they get tarnished as homophobic because of their stance against gays, one of the myriad application of that stance is their opposition to gay marriage.
If you can not make out those nuances for example: << do not agree vs, opposition>>, or just want to whitewash them with your broad-stroke ("people tarnish all people") argument, then I think you have an agenda...Right, granpa?-
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On 4/6/2024 at 3:21 PM, RichardColeman said:
I see marriage as it is in the bible, man and woman, etc - though I am not a religious person or religiously brainwashed -
This construct of argument, the second half of the sentence punches right back to the first half, "I'm not religiously brainwashed" but "I see marriage as it is in the bible..." is the de facto tactic often used by homophobic bigots, as in "I don't hate gays, I just hate that they have the same rights I do".
Here another tactic, creating their own myth about those they want to criticize or put down, but too coward to do so outright:
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On 4/2/2024 at 6:48 PM, KhunLA said:
Yea, Yanks don't, or didn't 24 yrs ago, put an egg on a burger, and I've never seen it even offered, anywhere in USA. I still would never, and I thought it was an Aussie thing.
So right, so soo right! FatBurger was one facet of LA in its twilight glory (in the 70s, say about half a century ago...) Wolfing down one with everything piled up high (including one EGG over easy, the cook makes sure the yolk still runny) before going up La Cienega and hunkering down inside Tower Records on Sunset on a Friday night. A whole enchilada of SoCal experience to be had for the cost of one FatBurger, as my salary of part-time pumping gas in UCLA/Westwood Village could only afford that much fun to be had.
Last time I check California was already part of the United States during that era. I guess your "KhunLA" moniker is a misnomer, and I meant that DIS-respectfully.
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5 hours ago, Jingthing said:
We don't know yet how marriage equality will apply to immigration law but obviously if it does pass through to immigration law it would mean you could get a marriage visa based on marriage to a Thai of any gender.
Back in my stateside days, I used to work in Immigration related field (for third party doing contracted work off INS, as US Immigration was known back then) and run into quite a bit of Anna Nicole Smith scenario, ie young girls marrying rich old geyzers. Whenever we see a 20 plus year gap between the ages of the couple, us file clerks would quickly leaf through to page XX of the green card application, and sure enough we would see serious amount of income and assets from the part of the groom.
Will that be any reason to deny? No such thing, INS don't rule out the possibility that these two are getting married for love/companionship - among other things -that constitute marriage between 2 PEOPLE. All the conundrum that surrounds the legitimacy of a straight couple would also happen EQUALLY to a gay couple when they apply for a marriage license. The question of which SEX either party belongs to will not be relevant in whether the marriage is going to be "genuine" (for love or money or companionship or a combination thereof). To put it bluntly, if a bar girl can marry for love, so can a ladyboy or any other gender-arrangement thereof.
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11 hours ago, JoseThailand said:
What about foreigners marrying ladyboys? Can they get a marriage visa?
see below
Fears of discrimination in Thailand despite looming same sex marriage bill
in Thailand News
Posted
Probably webfact is sending out their own in-house "activists." Personally. I won't have this kind of "activists" working on my gay cause. "Parents," definitely, but "mother and father" as a same sex couple? No way Jose. Are you kidding? Us gays have gone too far in our quest for equality to settle for this parental gender-divider. Such nonsense. Two mothers or two fathers can't do the job? Says who, considering the most commonly heard complaint from straight unions since millennium has been about mothers doing most of the child rearing chores.
Nevertheless, the takeaway from outsiders looking in has taken on this twisted interpretation of the term "equal marriage" - embellishing with their own bias such as "one of whom wants to be a man"
FYI, bias = "A preference or an inclination, especially one that inhibits impartial judgment." Or let me elaborate on that: the tendency to (mis)interpret other people's words, action or intention, based on one's personal preference or inclination.
Thanadech is not asking legislation to legalize his desire "to be a man." He's asking for equal marriage (same sex marriage being equally legal as straight marriage). Which means by doing that he has implicitly conceded that in the eye of the laws, he and his girlfriend are still of the same sex ie woman and woman. Not man and woman.
But if you still insist on applying the "man and woman" paradigm onto an "equal marriage" bill that us gay are hoping for, then you''re not only out of place, you're out of touch (and your bias is showing!)