rotary

AMK station is an above ground station, and from what I recall didn't have safety barriers on the platforms at that stage. However given that this station has been in operation for over 20 years, it can hardly be described as unsafe. It is indeed a tragi accident, but just because something happened doesn't mean that negligence has to be found elsewhere.

I wonder how this case would have been dealt with in Thailand? I wouldn't think a 88 Million Baht compensation would have been forthcoming.

Not sure about today but I believe many years ago a large settlement like that was against Thai law. For some reason I am thinking maximum judgement was around $20,000 for things like this in Thailand about 25 years ago anyway.

another idea that wont see the light of day,...........

Yes how many of these are the ones reclaimed for broken contract payment agreements .???( government scheme). What GMAC said was true, I have seen here a Nissan March 1 year old same price than a new one, Why is this cause certain models there is a 3 month ORDER wait list. Taxing the second hand car will be as GMAC stated dearer than a new one.

Many years ago I looked for a second hand motorbike for the wife to do errands on. Lets say a new bike was B35,000. The same should would have a used bike with 20,000 kms on it needing new tires for say B30,000. I asked the owner how this can be and she told me used bike low down payment so Thais can buy more easy. Thats the way they sell the used bikes at almost new prices.

Thats why I do not like LPG for cooking and if you must have LPG better to have the bottle out side with a hose through the wall. Still not 100% fail safe but better. Stick with electric is a good idea. If your wiring is to a high spec anyway.

Where does money come from? The US Federal Reserve

You mean all the dollars that Obama printed with no backing cause he is stimulating the world economy?

Every story written in English that touches on incarceration in Thailand has to include the words, "the notorious Bangkok Hilton". This is even though the journalist either does not know or fails to differentiate between Bangkok's prisons thus demonstrating they don't know what they are on about.

I miss the days when news articles left out all the adjectives. The lone gunman who robbed the bank on 5th street at 9 am this morning has turned into that dastardly villain with green hair and a pony tail, a tattoo of Hitler smoking a cigar on his forehead, that robbed the red brick financial institution at 5th street and vine intersection across from Bobs Supermarket. The event happened this morning around 9am before noon just after the light but cool rain.

That's clear (and scary) now Peter.

Is it your own place or a rental? (do you fix it properly or leave alone as it's working)

Do you have any form of earth leakage protection (Safe-T-Cut)?

It's my/our own place, we took it over in April 2013 from a village developer. I'm not going to fix it myself nor leave it alone as it is but committing the developer to scrutinize the entire electric installation and to remidiate problems, requiring an installation according to state-of-art. I'm determined to file a lawsuit if necessary, therefore it's necessary to know and to refer to relevant statutory basis.When this country is producing and exporting electric devices and appliances then they must certainly follow international safety standards and have their products produced accordingly.

No Crossy, there is no Safety-Cut installed.

Edit: Sorry, I had to revise the Date "April 07" to now "April 2013"

Good luck on that law suit..........you will need it.

I think the MacDonald's franchise in Thailand is held by one large company for the entire country. I believe that most other fast food enterprises are the same. It is not like the west where you can obtain a franchise as a person. Lots of critics here but staying out of business is Thailand is a good idea. Lots of competition from both Thai and other farangs willing to work for small profit margins. I have owned my own business in Thailand for many years. In the end not worth the problems to make small profits.

Key question in job interview in Thailand. "What salary do you expect?"

About 1990 I got a call from a company in Bkk for an interview. First question "What salary do you expect". I gave a fairly reasonable amount as a answer. That was the end of the interview. No more questions. ha ha.

I worked in Thailand for around 15 years, always had a good job,but in the end looking back I made about 1/2 the salary I could have made if I was working outside Thailand. I was not teaching English now but rather a professional type job. In most cases, not all of course, you are better off working outside Thailand and spending time when possible in Thailand. Just my opinion now considering my past work history and salary. You results may be different. ha ha

it was always smoke and mirrors anyway. How can so many consumers keep borrowing indefinitely for consumer goods like cars on such conservative salaries?

We all knew that but we saw it before with '97 and the crash that left the Japanese Hopewell Railway in BKK as a testament to over-borrowing on a doomed project.

Be interesting to see how this year pans out. I think we'll be looking at £1 to 70 baht when the troubles kick of big time.

Never invest more than you can afford to lose in Thailand.

Great points but I thought HOPELESS eh Hopewell was out of Hong Kong?

Hooray, keep up the good work Suthep

---------------------------

I happen to agree but you need to understand that a prolonged political crises will also affect the inflation rate in Thailand.

You may get more Baht each time you change your dollars or your pounds, but the goods you buy with that effectively weaker Baht will also be more expensive.

That point often doesn't get through to those who cheer the higher exchange rates.

It will especially affect first those products that have some foreign component or are imported into Thailand ... the kind that Farangs buy.

Such things as Cheese or Hot Dogs or Sausages imported from your home country.

Basic economics 101.

The biggest expense...price of poontang...will go down. At least for those who know how to bargain, as it will be a buyer's market. Buyers will also have the pick of the litter.

What about watermelon to go with the Poontang. ha ha.. We always said Poontang and watermelon

it was always smoke and mirrors anyway. How can so many consumers keep borrowing indefinitely for consumer goods like cars on such conservative salaries?

It is not just Thailand on this, look at the USA and many others. Credit is a bad thing in many cases especially when low down payments are part of the deal.

I like the dash cam idea. Where do you buy them and whats the cost?

Gosh taking cues from the USA to become a nanny state. Terrible.

True Vision is high for their program content it appears.

I use a insurance broker Sime Derby I believe it is. They come back with several quotes with different prices but terms on policy are different also. Never use the insurance company that starts with "V". We had a vehicle stolen many years ago and even after taking them to court twice and winning they never paid. They are great on repairs but no payers on theft.

I have noticed you were asking about car insurance but most of the replies were in regard to bike insurance. I have owned two cars during my time in Thailand and bought both of them new from a dealer. In most cases the dealer will pay for the first year for you as part of the sales deal.

This will be what they refer to as Class One Insurance which can only be obtained for vehicles up to five years old. It covers everything resulting from an accident; medical for you and the other people involved, total repair cost with no deductible and an agent will respond to the crash scene while you are still there. The insurance adjuster will keep the police out of it in many cases and make arrangements for any injuries to be handled as well as for the repair of you car with no out of pocket expense for you. Over the years I have had several crashes and none of them cost me anything. I have taken out three motorcycles sending the riders to the hospital and never had to pay anything or deal with the police except for one occasion where the police arrived ahead of the Insurance man and in that case I still did not have to pay anything or even get a ticket.

This is one of the reasons I traded my old car in for a new one, it was in it's forth year and I wanted to keep the Class One Insurance so I traded it in.

You can get 1st class on a vehicle more than 5 years old but not all insurance firms offer it. AXA does but my pick worth maybe B250,000 they only value at B150,000 but cost is B7,500 a year.

It seems we have several countries trying to be #1 in road deaths, Saudi claims they are #1, several others claim they are #1. I guess that is alright as the countries are trying to show their people how high their death rate is from driving but I wonder who is really #1?

My Thai wife is not perfect but would I consider trading her in for western wife after 14 years..................not a chance in hell.

If CNN says it, Do Not believe it.

Be careful or Thailand will become like America. The land of the "not" free.

I have a friend who is trying to export his teak trees but has no idea how to go about it.

Carefully........I bet there are many traps to get caught in trying to export

A few statements:

(1)There are worse things to happen than being educated in Thailand.

(2)Lets see where was the USA in the 60 country study they just finished a few days ago.....35 I think it out of 60 countries.

(3)There are several independent web sites that rate university's world wide. Many Thai university's are in the top 25% of the 10,000 that are rated and they do not charge $25,000 a year. Several of these hold classes mostly in English also.

(4)A bit of home schooling helps and several web sites such as BRAINPOP for about $100 a year are very good tool.

Leave things as they are. Do not start showing your deck of cards. Why in the world would you want to tell her about your

financial position.

most thai people have

invisible blinders

aka narrow /single minded

with a very short fuse to blow at any time (to stab or kill you)

These could also be useful so people would not see the plastic sacks they throw down all the time on the ground.