Adeeos

About 2 years ago,, I was riding my scooter to the Tesco on Soi 71 off of Sukhumvit Rd, there were NO lights, anything to indicate a legal stop, only 2 lanes, 1 blocked by cars, down to 1 lane,, So I slowed way down, almost a walking pace while proceeding thru, The cops literally jumped out from between 2 of the cars parked, blocking the far left lane, and grabbed my arm nearly pulling me off the scooter,, They immedietly shoved a, "breath machine" into my face, insisting I blow,, I'd had NOTHING to drink, but when I looked at it, it appeared to be something like a simple calculator with a plastic tube taped on the top, Honestly, (which means after blowing into it, they could've typed ANY number into it they wanted) I refused each time they insisted I blew into it,, saying,  "I will blow at the station",,  After several of these back and forth, they cuffed me, took me in, hung out in a cell, for about an hour,, I assumed waiting to blow into the "official" machine there,,,  I called my girlfriend, she spoke with them on the phone,, then told me they will let you go in the morning,, Shortly after, a friend I'd called came to pick me up, had already paid the BT10,000 fine they insisted on, (He thought he was helping me out of course),,, I told them "NO, I want to blow here!" They refused to allow me to blow, and would NOT refund the 10,000 Baht "fine",, they said I had to sign a receipt for the fine,, reading it I realized it was a computer print out, with my name at the top, and a breath alcohol level of .01,, The copper said with a smile, "You seem ok guy, so I only give you .01",,, So SOMEONE else there, had blown FOR me, I refused to sign it and demanded they return the fine if they wouldn't allow me to blow legally,,, They then claimed, "If you don't sign, you will stay here, and go to the court in the morning" So better you didn't blow, as they have NO evidence as to wether you'd been drinking or not,, But that doesn't mean they still won't stitch you up in court,, I'd wait them out, IF they're bent, they'll most likely get tired of screwing with you, and release you,, OR do what they did to me,, create a blow machine result with your name on it,, and want a "fine",,, 

9 minutes ago, Cory1848 said:

 

What's offensive is that they are heads only -- many Thais find images/representations of the Buddha showing only part of the body to be offensive. Take it as you will, but it's an issue people should be aware of, and I find it remarkably daft of the Thai woman in this story to think she could plant all those heads on the wall without raising serious eyebrows among the neighbors. I have two beautiful alabaster Buddha heads that I consider works of art, but my Thai girlfriend won't allow them in her house, even buried in a closet, so I keep them elsewhere. On another occasion, I took a picture of a Thai person inside a temple but accidentally, in framing the photo, lopped the head off the large Buddha at the altar; the Thai was horrified and told me to delete the photo immediately.

I can understand that,,, But if this is so,,, Who/what company supplied them knowing this? Did this couple go someplace and specifically order only heads? If so, why would the supplier not mention this fact, and refuse to supply them?.. Honestly curious..

Yes,, aren't these people aware that ONLY thieving, corrupt, Thai government officials, police, Or embezzeling, begging, Tiger carcass selling Buddhist temples are allowed to display how, "Buddhist" they are???? 

"Staff there had tied it on but clearly not well enough"  Not even close to accurate,, They DID tie it on, "well enough" obviously, as it broke at where it was tied,, what they DIDN'T do is tie it off, either over the roof, (the owner was probably worried about scuffs in the paint),,, Out the back of the bed, laying on the gate, or tie it down the side, length of the truck, as in hanging it below the door mirror, or laying it on the door mirror on the passenger side, (Also could scuff the paint)... ALL involved, the staff, and the vehicle owner HAD to have known it was unsafe, sticking out the side,, but as usual, they didn't give 2 sh*t's about anyone else being endangered,,, A quick viewing of the CCTV at the supply house will tell wether they tied it off like that, or it shifted, But I think it's pretty clear....

Delete please

Another poster mentioned about them in the Nana area,, I saw it myself,, fairly short lived it seemed,, They had a bar under Raja,, and you'd see their, "Property of the Outlaws" stickers pasted throughout several of the go-go's in Nana Plaza,, then seemed that all of the sudden, they, the bar, and the, "property of" stickers sorta dissapeared,, They were commonly seen in the Plaza,, Once I was outside of a bar on an upper floor, having a beer with a friend, and several of them came out to the same area,, A Farlang member, was REALLY going off on a Thai member, like 4' from us,, yelling etc,,, We decided to mind our own business, finish our beers, and bail ASAP,, At one point, the guy doing the yelling, got in my face and started in about, "YOU wanna be part of this conversation?" as if I were purposely listening in, (we were there long before them),, Another, "Senior" member jumped right in, appologuised, bought us a drink, and basically told the other guy to, "take this shit else-where",, Some time later, I met what turned out to be the "manager" of the bar under Raja while doing pool cue work for him,, No colors on,, Actually nice enough guy,, Aussie I think, invited me to the bar,, bought me drinks, etc,, Not someplace I'd frequent, but I delivered his cue there,, About a week after meeting him, I was walking past the bar, and noticed it looked, "odd", Some guy I'd meet when delivering the cue, waved me in,, so I stepped in the bar to say hi, and found out he'd died in a bike accident coming back from Pattaya they said, and they were having a wake or similar, I left, never went near it again,, not too long after that, the bar closed up,,, And the stickers, and seeing them in Nana area, was no more,,, It all seemed to happen all within a week or so, His accident, no more stickers, and not seeing them around,, I also assumed someone BIB, local higher-ups, or similar had finally had enough,, and sent them packing,, I knew, "of them" long before that, from here in the States, my local area,, and knew enough to try and avoid, 

Delete please.

9 hours ago, DieterWiehe said:

The Mother should also  get thrashed four times across the buttocks with a stick for not checking whether her Son did his Homework 

You're insane,,,, maybe you should be thrashed similarly for not reading correctly,, It doesn't state he didn't DO his homework, it clearly states he was BEATEN for, "forgetting his homework",,, Either way, I tend to believe a child doesn't need to be BEATEN and BRUISED for either, "offense"

I remember awhile back, didn't the CEO? of Swampy blame several mantainance issues on, "bad spirits",,, and claimed some new spirit houses needed to be build at the airport to appease them... 

Private jets leaving, "under the radar" isn't an issue at all,, It's who was ON them,,, so a private jet logs a legit flight plan, people get on it, luggage gets loaded, The question is exactly WHO was on it?... with only a few paid-off Somchias, anything, anyone could've easily been loaded onto a legit flight, with only a few in the know.... She could've easily been escorted thru an airport employees security check point, boarded a private jet, in a private hanger, prior to it even being dragged out on the tarmac..... They act like NOTHING goes in or out of the airports that's, "illegal" pppffffttt,,, 5555555

"Absolute power means I can do whatever"... I don't know the extent of the law,, But wouldn't that statement border on, Lese Majeste laws??  Seems to me,, a person making that statement seems to think that they are above the monarchy doesn't it? I'm quite sure it would be interpreted that way for mere, "mortal" beings

13 hours ago, londonthai said:

one day he is going to be in prison

Naaaa,,, He'll book a tik with the Thaskin/Yinluck tour service... And live happily with all his legally gained billions from his years of honest government service... lol

"Absolute power, corrupts absolutely"

I'm quite sure,, many of these falls are from substandard railing heights,, If you make it a point to look at them, when passing places,, they are way too low for an average sized adult, People from countries that have a standard, safe height, don't think about it... As mentioned before, it's so much, "easier" for the authorities in charge, to list them as suicides, as I'd doubt that ALL the buildings with substandard railing heights want to deal with negligence/improper building specs claims from the families of the victims,,,,  I lived in a smaller condo in Phra Khanong area, an older building that was refurbished into a modern looking place,, I couldn't believe it when the management sent in a crew to extend the height of all the balcony railings, and the building only had 6 floors, in a very non-tourist area... I asked the office who complained,, they claimed it was a safety issue, and no one had complained... I had much more respect for the building management after that.. 

I've never been able to grasp the Thai concept of, "losing face" over something they've done, and are caught red handed at, and it's reported/made public, or brought to their attention, Whereas they WILL offer a bald faced lie at any time, anywhere, to anyone, with zero thoughts/worries of, "losing face",,, I guess it all comes down to "You caused me to lose face" accusation is a very convienient excuse for actually getting caught at something?,,,, Lololololol

14 hours ago, tracker1 said:

Can someone explain why E cigarets are bad to the point of being illegal or has it got something to do with the Government owned tobacco farms

My guess is?,,, the powers at be, haven't exactly figured out how they'll be able to skim their cut,, so until then,, make them illegal, with heavy PRISON time, to be able to extract the maximum amount out of users in the way of, "fines" and "fees" to avoid the INSANE prison time.. Once they've figured out how to get their cut, and get a close family member, or even themselves heavily into the business,, they'll determine that they ARE in fact safer,, and therefore no longer illegal,,, But before that day comes,, they'll of course hem and haw around about it, so they can tease thicker brown envelopes from the Thai tabacoo companies, to KEEP them illegal,,, IMHO anyway,,,, 

1 hour ago, stephenterry said:

One of my off-street bar/restaurant in CM yesterday, told us to sit in the back lounge between 2-5pm as the police are cracking down (on management) if customers sit at the front tables next to the Soi and have beer bottles on the table - as an advert. What a way to treat tourists  - it's an inability to accept that  tourist income is an essential part of the economy.

This is ABSOLUTELY INSANE!,,, So a customer is, "advertising" by simply having a beer on an outdoor patio?,,, what about the beer bar type setups ALL up and down Nana soi 4, where you sit IN the bar, but along a bar rail, viewing the street?,,,, Lolololol,,,, UNbelievable ,,, truly,,, lololololol,, sounds like the bar management are only trying to save their customers from a, "fine",,, (to their credit)

3 hours ago, sanemax said:

  No, I do not propose Sharia law

Many Countries have measures to stop the consumption of alcohol

Bans on advertising , bans on promotions and public awareness campaigns to stop people drinking excessively

    There is no rift in the street

It will not stop people from drinking, that wasnt the aim. 

It will stop people being encouraged to drink

A Good measure , IMO

I think you're missing the insanely hypocritical nature of this post,, 

4 hours ago, Ruffian Dick said:

Never heard tourists described that way, but it's very accurate.

I think he means specifically the Chinese tourist's,, that travel in larger groups, and generally follow some one holding a flag,,,, 

What are the odds that like other systems in Thailand, CCTV, etc, where the bid for installation was won by a family member of a person on the board that awards the bid? And more than 1/2 of the sirens/CCTV cams, are simply "dummies" Of COURSE they were billed for each and every one being a working unit? hhhmmmm,,,, I wonder?

Weeell as an alternative option, they might learn to treat tourist's as the guest's they are,, limit the possibilities of them getting ripped off by the numerous scammers, taxis, etc,,,, Quit making those that actually live here as expats, jump through hoops to stay legally,,, It's insane to require someone that's lived in the same place for 5-10+ years, to STILL report in every 90 days,,,, And investigate, "suspicious" Farlang deaths more than 5 minutes before declaring them suicides,,,, Just a thought,,,,, 

Go to any 7-11,, (maybe others like Family Mart, I don't know), Tell them say,,, "$300Baht DTAC online",,, they'll punch some keys on the register,, you then,, input your DTAC number into the keypad on the counter,,, "0835411XXX", then hit, "enter",,,,They'll punch some more keys on the register,, then you'll get an immediate SMS from DTAC, saying you've added $300Baht,,, MUCH easier than the scratch-off, punch tons of numbers into your phone,, etc,,,, 

1 hour ago, seancbk said:

 

20,000 Baht, not $20,000  

Although it can be in any currency so you could carry US$ 600 or you could carry travelers cheques to that value.

It's hardly a lot of cash.

We're on a website, that is for, and about expats living in Thailand,, I didn't feel the need to either change my keyboard to Thai, or figure out the correct combination of keys, or the need to specifically spell out the word Baht.. I assumed most here would be able to know exactly what I meant, No, it's not a lot of money,, but as several have stated,, I myself, would rather travel with a smaller amount, and draw out in Thai Baht, the funds I need AFTER I arrive... 

2 minutes ago, doctormann said:

 

There are no ATMs before Immigration so no possibility of finding one before you are admitted - and that is the problem!

From the OP description,, it sounded like the IO was almost willing to let him take care of it, but just didn't trust him to return,, simplest is to have a friend bring the $,, unless it's impossible for someone in detention to have any outside contact... 

2 minutes ago, Essecola said:

People should know by know they arent gonna be allowed to go to an ATM to get more cash if they dont already have it in hand in these situations

???? So you're require to TRAVEL with $20k+