RedNIvar

I wonder if they are paying to preferential treatment inside the Cambodian prison. I hope the Cambodians treat these arrogant idiots like they would any other inmate. This serves as a lesson to them. "No one is untouchable".

If you are ever dumb enough to break Thai traffic laws, it is always better to be a 16 year old Thai girl than a 60 year old German man.If you're out drinking never drive. A Cab ride cost as much as another beer...... be smart.

A single mistake DID NOT cause this. Its more likely that it was something a whole lot more complicated than that.

You can try and sugar coat it anyway you like.

In my opinion, based on what is out there now, the main causes/results of this tragic incident are:

1. Speed of the 17-year old girls car

2. The Van making an unsafe lane change

3. The lack of use of seat belts by the van passengers.

4. Possible lack of driving experience by the 17-year old.

Not in any particular order.

I say possible because I have no idea how much experience she has driving or if she has a US driver's license .. where she supposedly has spent time and where it would be legal, in some states, for her to drive a vehicle without a DL if accompanied by an adult.

I also don't find her not having a DL having anything to do with the accident unless we want to also agree with the mentality that if "Farang no come Thailand, no have accident, Farang guilty" --- Many Thai's and Farangs drive without valid Thailand or International DL and this should not make them automatically liable for an accident in my opinion. Driving illegally (red plate at night, no DL, illegal equipment ...) should not make you automatically at fault. I would venture to estimate that an 18 year old who followed all the rules and who legally obtains a drivings license in Thailand probably has less experience driving that this girl when they first venture out on the roads.

Two wrongs don't make a right. Just because there are some parties that are on the road without a valid driving license, does not make it right for anyone to drive without a license. That is just absurd reasoning. I do not want to speculate, but the way I see it the main cause of the accident is,

1. An underage driver was illegally driving on the road.

If she had respected and followed the law, that accident would not have happened at that particular time. She broke the law (fact) and as a result of this (directly or indirectly) 9 people died. Everything else is a moot point. She comes from a highly respected family with members holding/have held various high level positions. She needs to live up to this status by respecting the law.

She had no business being behind the wheel of a car. Experience does not matter, as it is against the law. People died because she blatantly broke the law. It's just that simple. IMHO

I think we should take a step back - this girl is 18 years old.

How do you extract a powerful person from this situation ?

Say she is 16 years old - making her unaccountable for her actions.

Yes her father is big, and yes they censored everything even though that first pic of her' bb'ing still leaked. She is not 16, it even seems that obvious when you see her leaning with her miniskirt on the BB. Remember how even a few initial reports said the driver was 18? And yes the comments on her twitter are true and have been spotting/read by many people. Too bad so many people here are able to live outside the law. 400b fine for 8 deaths ehhh

How did she age 2 years in the last couple of days? Everything I have read had led me to believe that she is 16. You now vehemently point out that she is 18. Is this fact or your opinion? Why has no one else come out and cleared the air on her age?

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/429603-driver-of-sedan-in-bangkok-horror-road-accident-was-a-16-year-old-girl/

Bottom line, she was 16 years old and had no business being behind the wheel of a car. If she had followed the law and had not driven, this tragedy would not have happened at the very point of time. The overloading of passengers and/or NGV tank type is irrelevant to this point.

If she is a minor, then the owner of the car should be held responsible for handing the vehicle to a minor. IMHO.

It seems many are questioning the low scores that both Samak and Somchai's administration received. Appalling!

He should take a page out of Malaysia and Singapore's book on it's war on drugs. You have to play hardball. Drugs are never going away, but the fear of the death penalty would most likely scare a lot of people to stick with alcohol.

18 months old!!!!!! This is one real sick puppy. If ever there was a case for genital removal, this would be it. Dratsab.

What a waste of precious lives. According to the story, most deaths came after the rescue crew showed up. They failed to secure the area and provide proper hazard signals(flares, warning lights, etc) to oncoming vehicles.

RIP to the dead.

I honestly believe that about 1 to 2 million of these so called tourist are repeat fliers (coming in/out of Thailand on business, visa runs, etc).Our company has a site both in Malaysia and Thailand, and at any one time we have about 20 to 30 Malaysians here that do not stay the weekend and keep flying in and out of Bangkok. There are many other companies that are doing the same.

Given these type of "tourist" fly in and out of Bangkok on average of 4 times a year, up to 8 million of the 15.8million tourist are not really tourist but more of business travelers. Yes their companies spend money of hotels and their per diem, but they do do not spend all that much money shopping or visiting the "touristy" sites. Money is spent however on booze and drive shaft service.

What would be an interesting statistic is the number of first time visitors to Thailand year on year? A large number of visitors in my opinion have been to Thailand before and love certain aspects of the country (people or otherwise), and keep coming back. This would probably be everyone on TV, myself included.

So where is the Thai version of Robin Hood when you need him?

Some would say he is now in the forest of Montenegro.....

All the model taxpayers in Thailand are foreigners. Locals snake their way out of paying taxes anyway possible (under declare income, LTF, etc). I, on the other hand have been paying more than 30% of my income to the taxes religiously for more than 12 years. WHERE THE <deleted> IS MY MEDAL!!!!

What a joke, compulsory helmet zones!!!!! When a helmet is actually worn, it's one made of plastic. If the government is really serious about the issue, make it compulsory to wear helmets all the time by everyone on the bike. Setup a minimum standard for helmet quality, and educate Thai's that a motorbike was designed for a capacity of 2 max. Not an entire family of 5.

Victor Bout was also claiming his charges were politically motivated. The Thai courts managed to see through that charade. There is going to be pressure to reciprocate. And the US Ambassador thought nothing about asking Abhisit to help make the Thai courts see the light. That request will be returned.

Victor Bout never ran a country nor was he over thrown by the military. Neither does he have a government that keeps blaming him for every little thing that goes wrong, from the increasing price of sugar to the latest floods. The other difference is that was interpol and other countries who deemed the charges against Taksin as being politically motivated. Victor's political song was sung solo.

I don't know, lets wait and see how this plays out. It will be interesting.

I believe (I might be wrong), that the rest of the world are treating Taksin's arrest warrant as being politically motivated. This is why Interpol has taken a step back and not involved itself (again, I might be wrong). Having said this, how many on the run political refugees has Thailand sent back to the US? Why would they expect US to scratch their backs.

I think the chances of him being extradited back is about slim to none. Call him what you will, but he is not dumb and has proven time and time again how cunning and shrewed he can be.

IMHO

Foreign manufacturers ripping off Thai brands - BAD

Thai manufacturers ripping off Foreign brands - Mai Pen Rai

Thai's have been ripping off and plagiarizing from foreign brand for years. Copyright is just another word here that means nothing. That is unless the Thai's are on the receiving end. If you are serious about copyright infringements, stop all the copyright violations at Pantip, MBK, JJ and basically everywhere else in Thailand.

If not stop ranting like a spoilt brat.

Have not compared the prices at the Mall Bangkapi with other shopping centers. I do however know for a fact that the tattoo parlors beside the Mall Bangkapi at the Tawana Market is a lot cheaper than most other places.

This tax increase will mostly hit foreigners, most of whom do not consume tax free moonshine. Also most of whom take a cab instead of driving drunk. I think the government is trying to recover the income loss from reduced tourist visiting the country by taxing the foreigners that are already here.

A typical Thai BS move.

obviously you did not read the post. PTTEP had nothing to do with it... Or maybe you are just into bashing Thai companies...

If it is so clearly not PTTEP's issue as you stated, then why is everyone holding them accountable? Their shortcomings and lack of sensible practice is being questioned. A lot of us relate to this with many local Thai companies, not all, most.

You are either Thai, or the luckiest foreigner here, to have lived in Thailand without ever encountering a shady Thai business man.

I am assuming the problem being addressed here is mostly with the lower income group. I'd like to see how the government is going to go about increasing tax on Thai moonshine. It will be business as usual.

A lot of TV members will probably bitch about the increase in beer price, but will still be thankful that it is still a lot cheaper than Malaysia or Singapore.

The government will be happy as they can supplement the income loss due to reduced travelers into the country, from the increase alcohol tax.

The poor innocent drug dealers that faced genocide under the Taksin regime, can finally get back on their feet and make a decent living once again. People still need their high, and the Drug tax to the local officials has not changed. So it is safe to assume that they stand to gain by this decision.

The government scores a lot of brownie points by trying to make a change.

A good move if you ask me.

Every local Thai drink is filled with sugar. They think its ok because they drink it with a lot of ice. Every Thai meal has sugar in it. Every time I order Phad Thai, I need to insist and then hold on to the sugar bowl to ensure no sugar is added in. The only healthy part of Thai food is the raw vegetables. Everything else is either soaked with oil, or sugar rich.

This article is typical of most Thai's I know, their lifestyle changes has brought a reduction in exercise and an increase in fat rich Thai cuisine. Instead of facing up to the facts, it is easier for them to blame the foreign influence.

Wonder if the yanks still have a plane waiting for him?

The transit visas of the crew must have just about run out by now.

Cant help thinking he may not get much of a fair go in the good old US of A after all how many have they still got banged up in Git-mo and other more secret places for waterboarding and other arobic excercises.

Can't compare this with Gitmo. Most of those in Gitmo were involved in violent activities during the Afgan war. I don't agree with what happened there, but if you shoot at somebody, you have to deal with the consequences. Now they are crying their rights are being abused...what about the rights of the people who were shot or bombed by them? Two sides to every story...

As far as Viktor getting a good trial...for sure. He'll have the best lawyer money can buy, as he is a rich guy. The US legal system is fairly good...if you have the cash. And he sure does. It will be a trail for the ages. Maybe as good as OJ Simpson's!

Don't have all the facts, but heard that he was deep in the illegal arms trade at one point in time. Won't be surprised if the CIA was behind some of his dealings. There are many people who will get burnt by him talking. As long as he keeps the money flowing to the Thai's, his extradition case will remain in limbo for quite a while. If he does get sent to the US, I reckon he will find a mysterious and tragic end before seeing the inside of a courtroom.

Try eating its liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.

Need to track this in dppm levels. DPPM (Dead Persons Per Million). I believe this is low, probably way below 100, but this data was not released. I believe this article is meant more of a warning to potential Australians travelers to make sure they take all the proper medical precautions and abide by the laws as how they would in Australia.

Even the Yeti's get to use 3G! I think even Burma will get 3G before Thailand.