Arab problem sorted on soi 17 tonight ....

[thaiworthy]

[bobsaigon3]

Just getting that blank white box again. Is there a link? Thanks.

[travelerjim]

http://pattayaone.news/en/foreign-biker ... -problems/

[Undaunted]

This is not an issue about Muslims...I have spent time in both Indonesia and Malaysia....this is about Arabs, there is something in their cultire that puts them at odds with others...as a race they look hideous the woman do us a favor covering their faces..and most of the men are just plain ugly.

[bobsaigon3]

My point was: when these young Arabs (Muslims) go abroad they tend to behave decently when in other Muslim countries, but not so decently when in the countries of non-believers such as Buddhists (eg. Thailand) or Christians (eg. Ethiopia), partly because the non-believers sell themselves for sex.

On a tangent: I was informed once in Saudi Arabia that men who eat pork do not care if their sisters have pre-marital sex. Must be true. I eat pork and I considered my sisters' sex lives to be none of my business.

[Gaybutton]

Just getting that blank white box again. Is there a link?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IonWCKOzZwk

[Undaunted]

My point was: when these young Arabs (Muslims) go abroad they tend to behave decently when in other Muslim countries.

They have no choice but to behave themselves when in other Muslim counties...their asshole behavior would not be tolerated.

[Gaybutton]

The Pattaya One article posted by Travelerjim contains a strange contradiction. The article says the police told the motorbikers they are only there to warn them. Yet one of the photos shows motorbikes being loaded into a pickup truck.

It's hard to tell whether those motorbikes are police confiscations or whether a rental agent was picking up the motorbikes.

I'm glad those inconsiderate people have been stopped - at least for the time being. Why do I have a feeling that as soon as they think the coast is clear and the police won't be coming back, it will be imbecile behavior as usual?

I wish the police had hauled every one of them to the police station and fined them - heavily. That word would spread fast and maybe they would all think twice before driving like idiots whenever they come to Pattaya. Maybe the police were worried doing that might drive them away as tourists. Maybe I'm wrong, but the way I see it, does Thailand, or anywhere else for that matter, really need tourists who behave like that?

[Oliver]

The Arabs whom posters are accusing of this behaviour are hardly typical of their race and culture. They come from the Gulf States which are wealthy, authoritarian and, remember, pro-American; they are no use to those of us in the movement for human rights in Palestine for a good reason- their wealth makes them more sympathetic to the rapacious Israelis stealing land by the day and in Jun's word "crushing" the indigenous population.
The Arabs whom I count as my friends (a few) and my comrades (millions) are brave, dignified and warm, as I've found over the past fifteen years when I've spent so much time in Palestine. And , by the way, the fact that I'm gay matters not one jot, just to "crush" (there's Jun's word again) another stereotype which is about , no doubt, to be repeated.
We have many Arab tourists here in London...areas just off Oxford Street are dominated by them. Not just from the Gulf States but Lebanese and wealthy Saudis too. No problem. I don't recognise any truth in Undaunted's sweeping statement. Ethiopia? I need an explanation of that one.
I feel sad for those who cannot appreciate the art, culture and science that Arab and Persian civilisations gave us; indeed, the Renaissance was largely the result of their preservation of Classical culture when our ancestors had abandoned it.
Complain about a social and legal issue as much as you like but try to avoid make sweeping statements based on very limited experience of an entire culture. And don't suggest that a group -twenty? thirty? fifty?- from one very particular state, represent a race, or a culture.

[fountainhall]

I feel sad for those who cannot appreciate the art, culture and science that Arab and Persian civilisations gave us; indeed, the Renaissance was largely the result of their preservation of Classical culture when our ancestors had abandoned it

I know nothing about the goings on in Pattaya. But if there was motorbike racing destroying my sleep most nights, I would be livid!

I entirely agree with you about the legacy of the Arab and Persian civilisations and your comment about the Renaissance. I remember visiting the Mezquita in Cordoba, an exquisite double-arched Mosque. After the Christians reconquered that part of Spain, several Kings gave permission for its centre to be gutted and a Cathedral and a host of chapels to take its place. When King Charles V visited it, he turned on his ministers. " You have taken something unique in all the world and destroyed it to build something you can find in any city."

I will be spending 12 days in Iran in October and am looking forward immensely to seeing the stunning art and architecture of that country.