zaza

Somehow I think she has had previous "on the job" training via a Western NGO of some type. ha ha

How do you judge Intelligence,  By looks or by knowledge, Look at Steven Hawkins, he is English by the way not American.modern technology caught up and freed him from a silent hell. Just because people cannot speak your language  and cannot communicate with you does not make them thick, Also people suffer from Dyslexia me for one does that make me thick, maybe i htink

tomyummer, on 2010-09-12 01:23:08, said:

Well indeed.  Seems like a pretty hi-risk strategy from the hospital.  

As a private company, I don't think it could be a very smart decision to make a war with an "Embassy".  I wonder if instead of trying to negotiate the problem away, the embassy might end up suing the hospital for false billing. I have a feeling that is maybe where it had got to, and the hospital fought back to "gain" face in some way.   This type of extreme reaction in Thailand is, in experience, a reaction to being proved or about to be proved in the wrong.

10,000 medical tourists per year.  It all probably adds up to billions of baht a year to the country when flights, hotels and everything is totted up from the UAE alone.  Of course, Kasit will have to get involved now and dig out his globe to work out where the UAE is.

Thai at Heart, on 2010-09-11 23:41:51, said:

They were trying to get the UAE Embassy into a corner.  Months had gone by without resolve and the hospital took it upon themselves to 'make a move'. A very, very wrong one indeed.  I'd be curious to know who sent the letter from the patient that was published, the hospital or embassy? They also sent a copy of the total invoice (with all UAE outstanding debt) to each patient, which seems to me to be against ethics.  That's like the hospital giving a patient a copy of their insurer's bills which are not related to that patient.  Private company information, no?

The UAE's beef is not about comparing with other private hospitals, it's the fact that the overcharging is due to unexplained items or procedures performed on the invoices. That's where the discrepancies lie, and the hospital's unwillingness to address them.  This is how private hospitals screw you.  They know that patients are normally not the scientists or medically educated as the doctors are, so you would not bother or dare to contest the treatments.  

What the embassy might do as one of the founders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), is to get other member states to officially cut off ties with the hospital, who like other private hospitals such as Bumrungrad, has banked on this Middle East market for some time.

This is also going to have huge repercussions with the TAT as they have been trying to promote Thailand as a medical hub for some time now.  Big black eye.  And they deserve it.

This is going to get even juicier in the coming months as this thing rolls out.

It is unfortunate that the arguments over the community center proposed for the location  have  detracted from a respectful day of memory  of the 9/11 victims. One of my former colleagues died on that day. I don't think he would have cared one way or the other about  the construction of a community center. Considering the fact that several muslims were murdered  on that fateful day (yes, there were muslims working in the building) and that the people proposing the  community center project wish to relocate from their location which is 10 blocks from ground zero because it is over crowded it seems that people's' emotions are being manipulated for political ends..

CDNinKS, on 2010-09-12 14:48:48, said:

Do you hold the world's Catholics accountable for the deeds of the IRA? Do you hold the population of Germany accountable for the actions of the Bader-Meinhoff gang?

Why are you assuming that peaceable Muslims know that a criminal act is about to take place any more than you do? Is there some sort of bush telegraph that tells every innocent Muslim on the planet when a terrorist loon is about to blow himself up?

The only thing that makes sense is that the vast majority of Muslims have no more idea when an atrocity is about to occur than you or I do and thus can do exactly what you or I can do about it - nothing.

tomyummer, on 2010-09-12 21:53:11, said:

The same could indeed be said about Christianity and any Bible-based religion. Try the following, for example (there are plenty more!):


Cursed be he who does the Lords work remissly, cursed he who holds back his sword from blood.   (Jeremiah 48:10)

This is what the Lord of  hosts has to say: 'I will punish what Amalek did to Israel when he barred his way as he was coming up from Egypt.  Go, now, attack Amalek, and deal with him and all that he has under the ban.  Do not spare him, but kill men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and asses.' (1 Samuel 15:2-3)

Then I heard the LORD say to the other men, "Follow him through the city and kill everyone whose forehead is not marked. Show no mercy; have no pity! Kill them all – old and young, girls and women and little children. But do not touch anyone with the mark. Begin your task right here at the Temple." So they began by killing the seventy leaders. "Defile the Temple!" the LORD commanded. "Fill its courtyards with the bodies of those you kill! Go!" So they went throughout the city and did as they were told.   (Ezekiel 9:5-7)

"Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon earth.  I have  come to bring not peace but the sword.  For I have come to set a man  'against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a  daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one's enemies will be  those of his househol".   (Matthew 10:34-36 )

If your own full brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife, or you intimate friend, entices you secretly to serve other gods, whom you and your fathers have not known, gods of any other nations, near at hand or far away, from one end of the earth to the other: do not yield to him or listen to him, nor look with pity upon him, to spare or shield him, but kill him.  Your hand shall be the first raised to slay him; the rest of the people shall join in with you.  You shall stone him to death, because he sought to lead you astray from the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.  And all Israel, hearing of this, shall fear and never do such evil as this in your midst.   (Deuteronomy 13:7-12)

Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the judge or of the priest who represents the LORD your God must be put to death.  Such evil must be purged from Israel.   (Deuteronomy 17:12 )

If your enemy be hungry, give him food to eat, if he be thirsty, give him to drink; For live coals you will heap on his head, and the Lord will vindicate you.   (Proverbs 25:21-22)

One day a man who had an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father got into a fight with one of the Israelite men.  During the fight, this son of an Israelite woman blasphemed the LORD's name.  So the man was brought to Moses for judgment.  His mother's name was Shelomith. She was the daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan.  They put the man in custody until the LORD's will in the matter should become clear.  Then the LORD said to Moses, "Take the blasphemer outside the camp, and tell all those who heard him to lay their hands on his head.  Then let the entire community stone him to death.  Say to the people of Israel: Those who blaspheme God will suffer the consequences of their guilt and be punished.  Anyone who blasphemes the LORD's name must be stoned to death by the whole community of Israel.  Any Israelite or foreigner among you who blasphemes the LORD's name will surely die.   (Leviticus 24:10-16 )

As you approach a town to attack it, first offer its people terms for peace.  If they accept your terms and open the gates to you, then all the people inside will serve you in forced labor.  But if they refuse to make peace and prepare to fight, you must attack the town. When the LORD your God hands it over to you, kill every man in the town.  But you may keep for yourselves all the women, children, livestock, and other plunder. You may enjoy the spoils of your enemies that the LORD your God has given you.  But these instructions apply only to distant towns, not to the towns of nations nearby.  "As for the towns of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as a special possession, destroy every living thing in them.  You must completely destroy the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, just as the LORD your God has commanded you.  This will keep the people of the land from teaching you their detestable customs in the worship of their gods, which would cause you to sin deeply against the LORD your God. (Deuteronomy 20:10-18 )

About the same time I realized that some of the men of Judah had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.  Even worse, half their children spoke in the language of Ashdod or some other people and could not speak the language of Judah at all.  So I confronted them and called down curses on them.  I beat some of them and pulled out their hair.  I made them swear before God that they would not let their children intermarry with the pagan people of the land.  "Wasn't this exactly what led King Solomon of Israel into sin?"  I demanded.  "There was no king from any nation who could compare to him, and God loved him and made him king over all Israel.  But even he was led into sin by his foreign wives.  How could you even think of committing this sinful deed and acting unfaithfully toward God by marrying foreign women?   (Nehemiah 13:23-27 )

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron that in all future generations, his descendants who have physical defects will not qualify to offer food to their God.  No one who has a defect may come near to me, whether he is blind or lame, stunted or deformed, or has a broken foot or hand, or has a humped back or is a dwarf, or has a defective eye, or has oozing sores or scabs on his skin, or has damaged testicles.  Even though he is a descendant of Aaron, his physical defects disqualify him from presenting offerings to the LORD by fire.  Since he has a blemish, he may not offer food to his God.  However, he may eat from the food offered to God, including the holy offerings and the most holy offerings.  Yet because of his physical defect, he must never go behind the inner curtain or come near the altar, for this would desecrate my holy places.  I am the LORD who makes them holy."   (Leviticus 21:16-23)

On six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be sacred to you as the Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord.  Anyone who does work on that day, shall be put to death.  You shall not even light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.   (Exodus 35:2-3 )

Moses stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, "All of you who are on the LORD's side, come over here and join me." And all the Levites came.  He told them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Strap on your swords! Go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other, killing even your brothers, friends, and neighbors."  The Levites obeyed Moses, and about three thousand people died that day.  Then Moses told the Levites, "Today you have been ordained for the service of the LORD, for you obeyed him even though it meant killing your own sons and brothers. Because of this, he will now give you a great blessing."   (Exodus 32:26-29 )

Suppose a man or woman among you, in one of your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, has done evil in the sight of the LORD your God and has violated the covenant by serving other gods or by worshiping the sun, the moon, or any of the forces of heaven, which I have strictly forbidden.  When you hear about it, investigate the matter thoroughly. If it is true that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, then that man or woman must be taken to the gates of the town and stoned to death.   (Deuteronomy 17:2-5)

Look now; I myself am he!  There is no god other than me!  I am the one who kills and gives life; I am the one who wounds and heals; no one delivers from my power!  Now I raise my hand to heaven and declare, "As surely as I live, when I sharpen my flashing sword and begin to carry out justice, I will bring vengeance on my enemies and repay those who hate me.  I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword will devour flesh – the blood of the slaughtered and the captives, and the heads of the enemy leaders."'  "Rejoice with him, O heavens, and let all the angels of God worship him, for he will avenge the blood of his servants.  He will take vengeance on his enemies and cleanse his land and his people."   (Deuteronomy 32:39-43)

orangezeke, on 2010-09-12 18:04:36, said:

I know that translations are freely available, but are not recognized by the hierachy of the faith. I also know that many muslim students are required to learn the koran by rote, in arabic, in muslim countries such as Indonesia and in Thailand. These students spend so much of their time learning this, then find themselves unqualified for employment - becoming fuel for Islamic radicalism. There is a reason muslim radicals target teachers in southern Thailand, they fear that students with a better, religion free, education will abandon their religion, as is common in every part of the world.
My original post was not biased re Islam; that was the subject of discussion. I reject all religion. I m stating that any writing written by more than 20 years ago should be regarded with a respect to the level of knowledge and the prejudices of the time, and that the Koran and Bible hold little relevance today.

In the US, there are fundamentalist Christian terrorists. The most extreme fundamentalists of different religions have lots in common.

You really should read the whole Quran before commenting on it's merits or otherwise. Although a tedious book to read it is not a large book and can be read in less time than it take to read a John Grisham. One the one hand it is not good to cherry pick the bad parts, but on the other is it not acceptable to try to defend those bad parts when you also have not read it.

I wonder if the good Pastor knows that the Koran incorporates parts of the gospels, old testament and even the Torah?  So burning the Koran means burning the gospels?  What type of Christian would do that?  

Similarly, some parts of the Koran have verses that say "thou shalt not kill" or words to that effect, just like the bible.  I also believe that "respect of other religious faiths" is also spelt out in the Koran in one form or another. What type of Muslim would ignore these verses in their holy Koran?  

It appears Islam does not have a monopoly on loonies, terrorists and ignorant bigots.

tomyummer, on 2010-09-12 09:47:04, said:

I think ignorance certifcates should be issued to some of the people posting on this forum, perhaps I could take a wild guess at your nationality

Longtooth, on 2010-09-12 06:18:25, said:

First a disclaimer:  I'm not a Muslim, claim to be an authority of the Qur'an/Koran, hate Muslims (a little intimidated, maybe), nor endorse anything posted below.  Whew.

Now, with a little magic of quick search and credit to http://infidelsareco...mads-own-words/ :


    Qur’an:9:88 –  “The Messenger and those who believe with him, strive hard and fight with their wealth and lives in Allah’s Cause.”

    Qur’an:9:5 - “Fight and kill the disbelievers wherever you find them, take them captive, harass them, lie in wait and ambush them using every stratagem of war.”

    Qur’an:9:112 “The Believers fight in Allah’s Cause, they slay and are slain, kill and are killed.”

    Qur’an:9:29 “Fight those who do not believe until they all surrender, paying the protective tax in submission.”

    Qur’an:8:39 “Fight them until all opposition ends and all submit to Allah.”

    Qur’an:8:39 “So fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief [non-Muslims]) and all submit to the religion of Allah alone (in the whole world).”

    Ishaq:587 “Our onslaught will not be a weak faltering affair. We shall fight as long as we live. We will fight until you turn to Islam, humbly seeking refuge. We will fight not caring whom we meet. We will fight whether we destroy ancient holdings or newly gotten gains. We have mutilated every opponent. We have driven them violently before us at the command of Allah and Islam. We will fight until our religion is established. And we will plunder them, for they must suffer disgrace.”

    Qur’an:8:65 “O Prophet, urge the faithful to fight. If there are twenty among you with determination they will vanquish two hundred; if there are a hundred then they will slaughter a thousand unbelievers, for the infidels are a people devoid of understanding.”

    Qur’an:9:123 “Fight the unbelievers around you, and let them find harshness in you.”

    Ishaq:578 “Crushing the heads of the infidels and splitting their skulls with sharp swords, we continually thrust and cut at the enemy. Blood gushed from their deep wounds as the battle wore them down. We conquered bearing the Prophet’s fluttering war banner. Our cavalry was submerged in rising dust, and our spears quivered, but by us the Prophet gained victory.”

I didn't even get to the part about the 72 Houris (virgins) and 28 young pre-pubescent boys you're given by the Great One.
That just about does it for me!

Longtooth, on 2010-09-12 06:18:25, said:

As with most (all??) religious books and religions, people pick and choose what they want out of it, or interpret certain sections/paragraphs/words how they want.

Along with that, there are so many contradictions within the books that it would be impossible to follow every word anyway.

Both the bible and the koran have very violent passages.  The moderates around the world just choose to ignore those parts.  The religious terrorists around the world choose not to.

CDNinKS, on 2010-09-12 04:55:56, said:

Really? So how do you explain the IRA, ETA, Timothy Mcveigh, the Bader Meinhof gang, the Unabomber?