2007 Ron Paul Forum alumni "Elwar" is in big trouble - Help is needed

My curiosity in watching this discussion is with the idea that any politician like Trump or even Rand is even going to start or risk an international relations issue for one person who made his own decisions. What are they supposed to do? threaten sanctions? Represent the U.S. in a conflict to protect this one unfortunate gentleman? At some point reality comes into play.
Rand spoke out for Asia Bibi who was not even an American, he could certainly ask that leniency be shown in this case as a favor to the US.
Bullying would be a bad idea but you can't go wrong in asking nicely.
 
Sometimes all it takes is a phone call from an "elected official" to grease the skids.

I'm trying to be positive. But after taking in all the factors in this it is pretty hard. Let's say they are convinced to leave him be, from what the article says he is smack dab in the middle of sea-lane traffic and going to get smacked someday. Anyone else catch this? No matter what the politics are, this alone would make me question my own wisdom. If you are parked in the middle of a freeway you are indeed going to get hit someday.
 
I'm trying to be positive. But after taking in all the factors in this it is pretty hard. Let's say they are convinced to leave him be, from what the article says he is smack dab in the middle of sea-lane traffic and going to get smacked someday. Anyone else catch this? No matter what the politics are, this alone would make me question my own wisdom. If you are parked in the middle of a freeway you are indeed going to get hit someday.

Oh, don't misunderstand me...they are not going to give him back his seastead platform anytime soon, or let him set up another.

I tried to warn him, with very specific reasons why this would not work out, from my view as an "expert" in the field.

I just hope the poor guy doesn't get thrown in a Thailand prison for the rest of his life...that's why I made this thread.

See, lots of other countries around the world have not lost their collective minds and take a pretty dim view of foreigners just waltzing in whenever they want and doing whatever they please.
 
I'm trying to be positive. But after taking in all the factors in this it is pretty hard. Let's say they are convinced to leave him be, from what the article says he is smack dab in the middle of sea-lane traffic and going to get smacked someday. Anyone else catch this? No matter what the politics are, this alone would make me question my own wisdom. If you are parked in the middle of a freeway you are indeed going to get hit someday.

And that was also what I was trying to warn him about...was it lighted and sounding proper sound signals in restricted visibility?

Did it have the required AIS transponder?

EPIRBs? Flares? Liferafts? VDRs?

What about waste? Was it MARPOL compliant?

The list of regulations and fatwas he may have run afoul of is almost endless.
 
Oh, don't misunderstand me...they are not going to give him back his seastead platform anytime soon, or let him set up another.

I tried to warn him, with very specific reasons why this would not work out, from my view as an "expert" in the field.

I just hope the poor guy doesn't get thrown in a Thailand prison for the rest of his life...that's why I made this thread.

See, lots of other countries around the world have not lost their collective minds and take a pretty dim view of foreigners just waltzing in whenever they want and doing whatever they please.

I agree... Losing the platform is plenty enough. I would never like to see it go to imprisonment for it.
 
And that was also what I was trying to warn him about...was it lighted and sounding proper sound signals in restricted visibility?

Did it have the required AIS transponder?

EPIRBs? Flares? Liferafts? VDRs?

What about waste? Was it MARPOL compliant?

The list of regulations and fatwas he may have run afoul of is almost endless.

I understand some of those regulations. And as much as I hate regulations some of those are actually for your own safety and self welfare. Never go out in the sticks without matches.
 
I understand some of those regulations. And as much as I hate regulations some of those are actually for your own safety and self welfare. Never go out in the sticks without matches.

Yeah, that's a good discussion for another thread, because there are many variables to that statement.

For the purposes of this thread, all that matters is that there are such regulations and brother Elwar has gotten himself in hot water by ignoring them.
 
I understand some of those regulations. And as much as I hate regulations some of those are actually for your own safety and self welfare. Never go out in the sticks without matches.
And some regulations are for the safety and welfare of others too, don't drive on the wrong side of the freeway is a good example.
 
They could want to take an extremely firm position on this incident to discourage anyone else from wanting to do the same.
 
I just hope the poor guy doesn't get thrown in a Thailand prison for the rest of his life...that's why I made this thread.

See, lots of other countries around the world have not lost their collective minds and take a pretty dim view of foreigners just waltzing in whenever they want and doing whatever they please.

So, if he did get thrown in a Thai prison for the rest of his life as punishment for this victimless crime, that would indicate to you that Thailand had not lost its mind, while a country that would refrain from imprisoning him for this victimless crime has lost its mind?
 
See, lots of other countries around the world have not lost their collective minds and take a pretty dim view of foreigners just waltzing in whenever they want and doing whatever they please.

Imagine the horror, it would be just anarchy!
 
I hope Elwar has escaped .

From a few days ago: https://www.azcentral.com/story/new...ill-running-from-thai-authorities/3643212002/

U.S. bitcoin trader and girlfriend still on the run after Thai authorities dismantle ocean platform home

A U.S. bitcoin trader who was living on a "seastead" platform off the coast of Thailand is still on the run since being forced to flee more than two weeks ago.

Chad Elwartowski, a Michigan native, and his girlfriend, who is Thai and goes by the English name Nadia Summergirl, had been on the vanguard of the "seastead" movement, which seeks to build platforms in the open ocean away from any country's rules and regulations.

"Nadia and I live in fear daily," Elwartowski told The Arizona Republic in an email interview. "We are still safe but we are in hiding. The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok has been very helpful and are providing assistance."

A U.S. State Department spokesperson would not confirm that the embassy was involved.

"We are aware of this case," the spokesperson said. "Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment."

Elwartowski, whose cousin, Charlotte Shaff, owns a Phoenix-area PR firm and helped publicize his case, said he believes the platform on which he and Summergirl had been living has been seized as evidence by Thai authorities and that the underlying support structure for it had been dismantled.

"All of mine and Nadia's possessions are on board," he said.

In a Facebook post over the weekend, Elwartowski said he and Summergirl have been "avoiding social media to avoid making any mistakes that may reveal our location."

He went to to say that, "when this all started I was quite disheartened. I never wanted an ordinary life, I wanted to be different, to be extraordinary. But when the response to my extraordinary life was a death sentence I felt that perhaps there was no place in this world for thinking differently, perhaps I should resign myself to an ordinary life and just go with the flow. Give up on freedom.

"But the outpouring of support that Nadia and I have received this past couple of weeks has been amazing. People from all walks of life, from all over the world have done some incredible things to help us … For that I am both grateful and humbled."

He concluded his post on a hopeful note:

"We will live," he said. "And we will continue to be extraordinary."
 
So, if he did get thrown in a Thai prison for the rest of his life as punishment for this victimless crime, that would indicate to you that Thailand had not lost its mind, while a country that would refrain from imprisoning him for this victimless crime has lost its mind?

Punishment befitting of the crime.

One man trespassing into a foreign country's waters is different than an organized invasion of hundreds of thousands or millions of people.

You see, that's called real world common sense, looking at two different situations and realizing, that while there there may be similarities, the differences are greater and would warrant a different response.
 
"Nadia and I live in fear daily," Elwartowski told The Arizona Republic in an email interview. "We are still safe but we are in hiding. The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok has been very helpful and are providing assistance."

Now, if I wanted to be petty and small and a real shitlord, I could say at this point, like my many leftarian and ana-cap detractors like to do when "catching" me in a contradiction or a lapse in absolute philosophical purity, "well well well, look who has coming crawling back to The State and government to save their ass".

But I don't mean that, and I'm only using it to illustrate a point.

I want Elwar to escape this mess unscathed.

I want him to continue to experiment with ways in which live freely on personal level.
 
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