friendphil

I crossed around 3pm on Friday coming into Thailand from Laos, no problems whatsoever.

It sounds like it is not the same for all people.

Are you Lao, Thai, farang or ??? thanks.

Until they start going after the owners with big lawsuits, nothing is going to change.

Good point but nothing will happen because its likely the bus company owners are friends or relatives of influential people. The company owner may himself be an influential person.

Nothing changes in Thailand.

Yes. And, it's my understanding that many (most?) of the buses are government owned and operated. So, it would not be correct for them to go after themselves, now, would it?

I worked at a school that withheld tax, and gave me a receipt each month.. I then took to the provincial or municipal tax office and applied for a refund, since I hadn't made more than xx amount (i don't know how much i'd have to make to have owed taxes).

Perhaps you could go to the tax office with pay stubs and get some kind of document to show work permit people, as to whether you've paid or not needed to pay.

And... you are thinking about this on the 18th and have until the end of the month? Heck, that's not urgent! By my standards you're way ahead of the ball game.... I'm normally thinking about something like this while I'm on my way to the work permit office!

Anyway.... good luck!

The penalty appears to be 2,000 baht for smoking in areas that are posted no smoking. The penalty for not wearing a helmet: 200 baht.

Is 200 baht a serious hit for something much more hazardous and potentially deadly? Or is it easy tea money for the police?

Wanna cut traffic fatalities? Thailand better get serious. I don't think there is the consciousness or the desire to do so.

Good.idea....

I do not understand why people keep hiring these jet skis ....

TAT...Tourist.Authority.of.Thailand...needs.to.make.a.little.(or.not.so.little!).booklet.for.tourists:"Be.Careful.in.Thailand!"

Of.course,it.would.scare.people.off...There.are.getting.to.be.just.too.many.things.to.be.on.guard.for.here.

AND,of.course,TAT.could.and.would.never.do.such.a.thing.....

Thus,no.warning.for.tourists.about.jet-ski.rentals....Who.is.going.to.warn.them?

(please.excuse.my.keyboard,which.is.lacking.a.space.key.thus.the.excessive.use.of.periods.(period))

No excuse for it, he should of done something then

I guess that saysit all.....Very astute assessment of the situation....almost as good as the news post itself!

No excuse for it, he should of done something then

I.guess.that.says.it.all.....Very.astute.assesssment.of.the.situation....almost.as.good.as.the.story!...

Note that the ministry of science couldn't actually come up with a plan of their own it is a Japanese funded and developed scheme

To think if brains were dynamite the collective power of this puppet government wouldn't be enough to blow Yinglucks nose

WELL....It's Japanese dollars (whoops! I guess where I come from is showing!)....rather, it's Japanese baht that is at greatest risk here. What do Thais have to lose in a flood other than people?

(When I asked a friend about the lack of reporting on the numbers of human casualties in the flood two years ago,she replied, "Not important." So....what is?)

Applies to single men over 50 to.

CAn you expand on that or cite some reference?

He is most likely getting Social security from the US which is now little over 45,000 thb a month. He could go for the marriage extension.

That.is.simply.not.accurate....

(excuse.my.,keyboard,please...my.space.key.is.not.working)

SS.varies,depending.on.how.much.money.a.person.made.in.his.working.life.in.the.U.S.and.how.much.therefore,he(or.she)paid.into.SocialSecurity.

I.get.significantly.less,and.have.had.to.do.visa.runs.about.every.five.months:a.three.month.visa.then.a.two-month.extension(the.visa.a.non.O.and.the.extension.allowed.is.two.months.if.married.to.a.Thai.woman)....

If.someone.knows.a.better.alternative.I'd.like.to.know.about.it!

And.if.someone.can.prove.me.wrong.and.i'm.supposed.to.be.getting.about.45,000.baht.a.month,I'd.really.like.to.know.about.that!

Another superlative job of reporting. (I am kidding) If the police didn't get what they wanted, they sure came close to it!

I've seen it in both the Thai schools where I've taught. And I agree (not with the poster, sorry) that it is not a big deal. That's my opinion. I often think of a couple things when I see cultural differences here in Thailand from what I am accustomed to back home: 1) "community standards" 2) "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

It's just frustrating to try to change much here. Be glad if the students learn something, that's how I look at it. In fact, I am glad if a few of the students learn something.

I've come to admire their neat penmanship (tho' certainly not all students have that!). And if you want them to take notes on what you say rather than what you write on the board..... well, you'd best write that on the board too!

If school kids pay their bus fee every trip on disembarking, you can bet your ass not a single kid will remain behind on reaching the destination.

you stay thailand long time..... :-)

Nah, just landed yesterday. Haven't read the TAT brochures yet.

With over 6,000 posts, I'd guess "Dirty old man" has been in Thailand for more than a week or two. That is a good point, also, the suggestion of paying when disembarking. But, do three year olds normally pack the change and pay their bus driver?

When busing kids under a certain age, they should be required to get a receipt from a teacher or other responsible person, showing that the kids have all been delivered and received on each trip. It's not like they are delivering pizza, which the delivery boys are NOT going to leave sitting in the box unpaid-for.

Rest in Peace, little one.

This is so tragic, and one can only hope that politicians can turn their attention towards safety long enough to put some safety standard requirements in place for vehicles busing children, and for children in vehicles in general.

Also, I commend BuddhistVirus for -- " Rest in Peace, little one." -- that is, for spelling out this sentiment, rather than using the customary abbreviation. That "RIP" always seems a rather cursory, shallow way to express sympathy.

I echo the sentiments of the above poster, Rest in Peace, little one. And I hope the loss of your life will not have been in vain, but can somehow serve some purpose in preventing this from happening again.

sounds intresting.............

I should say so!

I feel for this guy, though his actions clearly deserve him no praise.... he clearly has a pyschological problem that has been unadressed by the justice system in all these years.

I've bought the dory and panga a few times from macro for making a pot of fish soup, being an ex commercial deep sea fisherman I think in my opinion these two fish are not even closely comparable in taste to haddock or cod mainly found around UK waters but just about acceptable for making a pot of fish soup,,

just a mention though, I've picked up those sole (flatfish) that makro sell on their ice counter cant remember the thai name but I've found those to be tasty and reasonably priced too

Nice to hear someone who's been a fisherman check in on this. Thanks for a decent post, and I'll head to Macro and check out their fish.

But what would indicate that there was a need to search the road banks 50 -100 meters away from the body?

If the police suspected that the body had been "dumped" from a moving vehicle it would be likely that any belongings in pockets or held by the person before leaving the vehicle would have been scattered along the road either side of the discovered body. This would apply if the person had been dead or alive before hitting the tarmac.

I know from direct experience that wallet and mobile phone "scatter" 50 feet from where I came to rest after a motorbike crash, searching immediately at the time of discovery and in full daylight is wise.

But if it's not full daylight?

Talk about not saying a lot in a little space, and bringing up a lot of possible comments and questions. I'll sum it up with: "Could you say more, please?"

One comment: I would think offering medical insurance to foreigners would be an obvious way to make money and make Thailand more tourist-friendly at the same time. As for those coming here as "medical tourists", I'd think they would be at the bottom of the list as far as needing medical insurance.

Re: "therefore obviating the need for cross-border medical traffic"---- sure, give that about twenty years or so to bring the healthcare systems of poor neighbors up to par.

I just carry my old, expired driver's license from the homeland. When asked to see it, I've been "okayed" and can go my way. I'd best knock on wood now!

If it's a long trip, I'll have my passport too. Sometimes carry a copy, and I think copying the front and visa pages is and having them handy is a good idea... better than my expired license! Maybe I'll do that.

Yes, yes. Any friends coming this way ought to be warned by any of us living here of the road hazards.

I would add to the list, beware of rental motorcycles and the helmets that come with them. Any rental bike I've seen was a death trap--- poorly maintained and you're lucky if it goes, but even luckier if it stops.

Thaivisa.com, let's get it together! Your email subject line reads"

"FLASH: Abhisit stripped of his military rank;"

According to the actual story posted in the forum, the headline reads:

"Sukampol Approves Decision To Strip Abhisit Of Military Rank"

So, I would gather that there is a move to do so, but it has not actually happened yet. Correct? Or not correct? Or somewhere in the middle? Or none of the above?

I am acquainted with the working hours of (mostly women) workers at the food court of a large department store, where they normally have two days (or less) off per month, and typically begin work about 7 a.m., one going home early in the day (4 or 5 p.m.) the other working until 8 or 9 p.m. until closing and clean-up. That's a lot of work, and for wages well below the suggested 300 baht per day minimum wage. So, that's a 6 1/2 day work week on average, with an average 60 hour work week. Sounds like more than the Bangkok women are working, and probably very typical in many parts of Thailand. I guess they don't need to earn much because they have so little time to spend anything.

I saw some tv news footage today of the cops having some Thai in standard t-shirt garb jump down into the drainage pipes and pull out a couple of large white plastic bags with Thai script on them.... Anyone know if that was the same story? I wouldn't call that "a pond".... but who knows?