atsiii

This is so sad.

I think the more salient comparison would be to look at commercial related fatalities. In the U.S. one must have a commercial drivers license, speed limits are enforced, weight limits are enforced, maximum driving limits and mandatory rest periods are enforced, drug testing is mandatory and enforced, etc. None of these things are enforced here in Thailand. One point of speed limits is to provide some chance of driver reaction/control/survival in case of the unexpected (such as a blown tire); weight limits keep vehicles within controllable design criteria; driving time limits maintain driver reaction times and decision making; drug testing is obvious. With these types of controls implemented in some countries and not in others, it might be interesting to compare commercial-related fatalities per 1 Million passenger-kilometers (or something similar). I suspect the worldwide differences would be dramatic.

Accidents do happen; but as a pilot I can say that in aviation, accidents are rarely the result of a single cause. More often than not they are the result of an accumulation of contributing factors. I suspect the same is true with commercial-related driving accidents.

50%? What drugs? Are they talking about that awful Ibuprofen they claim killed the Canadian girls in Phi Phi? Or perhaps Viagra? Are they considering alcohol a drug?

Or perhaps they just randomly checked people to whom they had recently sold drugs stolen drugs from the evidence room? I always figure when they have big media events of burning or destroying 1 Billion Bt of seized drugs, they are probably destroying sugar and oregano because all the good stuff was already taken for police resale. That's why destroying it is so good, because then you don't have to account for it and it can be sold.

*Deleted quote edited out*

In my mind, what potentially makes this the same old story is the speed involved. All these vans are usually driving at unsafe, breakneck speeds, which is why, when someone/something pulls in front of them, they are unable to stop in a safe distance--or even maintain control of the vehicle. The van swearved around the truck and then careened across the medium before crashing into the other van that was traveling in the opposite direction. It's hard to imagine that this would occur if the van had been driving at a safe speed. Speed Kills.

555... yes, a great success. And it was just one of many government success stories this holiday season! The Thai Anti-Space Alien Program (TASAP) was a complete success as not one space alien was reported in Thailand during the entire holiday! And the Save Thailand's Dams and Bridges group proudly announced that no bridge or dams collapsed during this Songkran! For more unbelievably good new, check out the TAT website!

555... what a load of it.

"Many of the victims - 39 - were underage, according to Education Ministry data linking road trauma statistics over the Songkran holiday to students. An inspector-general, Supphakorn Wongprat, said 30,027 minors had been fined or prosecuted among more than 110,000 offenders."

Can this be true? 39 of the 210 killed were underage, or almost 20%, which I assume would include passengers. But then it says 30,027 underage were fined out of 110,000 total, which is almost 30%. You can't be fined for being a passenger, so does this mean 30,027 underage youth were driving without a license? If so, does it suggest that 30% of the people on the roads were/are unlicensed underage drivers?

Thank you; I've just been reading the posts in that link! When you say "continuously," would that likely include applying for a second 2-entry Visa immediately after having completed 6-months in Thailand under my first 2-entry Visa? Or would it relate more to applying for a third or fourth or fifth Visa?

My problem is the USA: suddenly the K-1 Visa application processing time at the Texas Service Center (where all I-129F's are to be sent) jumped from 5 to 8 months to 18+ months! So while we thought we would be getting our K-1 Visa about the time that my 2-entry was running out, and then we would head to the U.S. for some months, now it seems like we may not get a K-1 for another year! So how do we stay together while my country tries to get its head out of its ass? If I can't get tourist Visa's until the K-1 arrives, do we just marry in a civil ceremony here and then apply for an extension based on marriage until we can get a K-3?

My current 2-entry tourist visa, which I picked up in the U.S., is running out on 3/27. Things are not working out as hoped, so I need to get a new 2-entry tourist Visa. I read in this forum that I can no longer get a 2-entry Visa in Cambodia; but then I read that I can still get one in Laos. I don't understand the difference since it's the same new government, new rules. At any rate, where is the nearest, cheapest place I can fly to go get a new 2-entry tourist Visa? And what, besides my passport and money, will I need to obtain one?

Thanks in advance!!

Good thoughts, all. Thank you!!

Thank you; got it! I appreciate the clarification. So what's the cheapest BKK round trip air visit? Kuala Lumpur? Phnom Penh?

Yea, the botched "criminal" acts (it was not terrorism) had no affect on tourism; nor did the Lebonese with a shop-house full of explosives; nor did the floods; nor the red-shirt demonstrations; nor the yellow-shirt demonstrations and airport closures; nor the coup; nor the international financial meltdown; etc. Nothing affects Thai tourism; just ask TAT. After all, they are paid to increase tourism, and so that's what the numbers show they are doing. Any questions?

Oh... and too bad about the Russian Tour Company and Aussie Airline going bankrupt and stranding hundreds; just isolated bad management in TAT's days of wine and roses.

The Thailand 6-month two-entry tourist visa in my USA Passport is winding down, and after all extensions and six months in country, it runs out on March 27. I need to stay around a bit longer, so my plan was to leave on or before 3/27, then re-enter on a normal 30-day Visa waiver. But today when I was purchasing my last 30-day extensionat at the Laem Ngop Immigration Office, I was told that if I just make a Cambodian Visa run on or before 3/27, I will get only 15 days upon re-entry. They seemed to indicate that if I wanted the full 30-day visa waiver entry (which I thought was the default), I needed to fly out of BKK and then fly back into BKK. Can this be right?

Were they just trying to tell me that I couldn't just walk over and back the same day, and that I needed to stay in Cambodia for some period in order to get 30-days? Or must you actually fly out of BKK and then return to get a full 30-day visa waiver?

Thanks in advance!

Yea, Russian Tour company goes bankrupt and stands hundreds of tourists; Aussie Airline goes bankrupt and strands hundreds of tourists: it's a good thing that the TAT assures everyone that tourism in Thailand is going great and numbers are increasing--or one might just be a bit worried!

I must agree with most of the posters here. Now dirty cops can really threaten you: if you don't pay up, they will plant drugs on you (or your kid!), frame you, and see to it that you or you're kid are a dead man. Even if they are discovered later, it won't help you because you are DEAD.

Just think of how much more efficient everything will be: you won't have to use the lese majeste laws to put your political opponent behind bars, now you can frame them and have them killed in 60 days!!

555... I just heard about this "sign tax" yesterday and thought the same thing: is this for real? Based on your post, I guess it is! I too would be curious to know on what the tax is based: Number of words? Size of sign? What? Beverage needs of the local police? It seems like if you pay for the appropriate licenses, you should be able to advertise your business.

I don't understand the connect? A child drowns, and so:

"The lifeguards are doing their best to prevent further accidents, I asked our workers to pick up sharp items from under the water and to remove sharp shells from the rocks.” he said.

"is “completely safe” from attack"

If generalities are generally wrong, what does that make of "absolutes?"

My wife thinks they are not dealers but gamblers that lost their shirts--literally!!

I was recently able to wire money from my US bank to K-bank using just the Swift code, my name, account number and the Branch name where my K-bank account was located. Good luck!

555... and god help (little 'g' on purpose) the nude farang plankers who have Buddhist tattoos!!

REMEMBER: since Thailand's internet computer crime reach is now international, if you post a link to a nude planking photo on your blog while you are living at your home in another country, you can and will be arrested in Thailand for the "crime" when next you visit for cheap medical treatment!! So beware nude plankers!!

I have to agree... how do you smell alcohol if he poured gas all over himself? The tourist probably was drunk, as he no doubt got himself fortified with the courage to go back and demand his passport. It sounds like the "operator" did have his passport, and either put it back on his person after he and the tuk-tuk drivers "subdued" him... or he just handed it to the police and said that it was dropped during the fight.

The tourist is put into solitary for being drunk and disorderly like everyone else in Patpong... why solitary? And if his clothes really were soaked in gasoline--an inflammable and an irritant--would he not be given overalls or some jail suit to wear? If someone had covered themselves with gas and threatened to burn themselves alive--as the operator claims--would they not be on 24-hour suicide watch? It all sounds pretty strange once again.

My guess is that the tourist threw gas on the motor bikes (not himself) as a threat to get his passport back. A fight ensued... the police came and of course arrested the tourist and nobody else. The operator handed back the passport and said it was dropped during the fight with the "crazy farang" (wink-wink). Which leaves the questions: why was he put in solitary for being drunk and disorderly (like everyone else), and how did he end up dead while in police custody?

Can anyone actually figure out a way to roll up a shirt (no doubt a short sleeved light weight shirt or a t-shirt), or to tear up a shirt into strips so that it's long enough to tie one end around your neck and the other end around a steel bar; and then still be strong enough to support the weight of one's own body? Perhaps it's possible... but I'll bet it's not an easy task. You would of course also need a chair or box or something to stand on that you could kick away once everything was tied; so are there normally chairs or something else like this in solitary confinement cells? Perhaps they should call Dr. Porntip, as this sounds like another crazy suicide like the one where the farang beat himself to death with a baseball bat, or the one where the farang shot himself to death with three bullets to the head (he was a poor shot, apparently!).

...yet another sad loss of life over money.

Did I miss something in the news? Were not the alleged illegal activities performed in 2007 when this man was living in Colorado? I thought that is what I read in Time. Has that changed? It seems an important point to clarify. Was he arrested for something he did in Thailand? Or was he arrested in Thailand for something he did in 2007 while living as a US citizen in Colorado--where what was allegedly done was not in any way illegal? Has this point been documented?

Thanks!