dunkin2012

Is the Thai Gulf safe? On the map it looks like it could be hit almost directly. I'm not saying it could still cause damage but it's relatively close compared to many other countries that are already on the warning list.

seriously, my condolences to all those affected.

Ok... I will swim tonite.... Near Pattaya... how 'bout that? come and see me how good i can swim dude.

Is the Thai Gulf safe? On the map it looks like it could be hit almost directly. I'm not saying it could still cause damage but it's relatively close compared to many other countries that are already on the warning list.

no way............Thai Gulf won't get this Tsunami ..

And the basis for this statement...?

Sulawesi is on the warning list, 4000 km from the location, expecting 60 cm to 1 meter of water. The southern part of the Gulf is 4500 km from the epicenter. I don't really want to rely on the local Thai authorities when it comes to events like this. I calculated that the first wave might arrive between 10 and 11 tonight.

Trust me .......... there won't be a affect. The wave won't come around Thai Gulf... it's safe enough to take a good swim though.

Is the Thai Gulf safe? On the map it looks like it could be hit almost directly. I'm not saying it could still cause damage but it's relatively close compared to many other countries that are already on the warning list.

no way............Thai Gulf won't get this Tsunami ..

you guys don't panic.... Find out more information from the locals, Japanese then.

Have you seen any of the live TV reports? I can remember feeling this kind of shock when I woke up to see a plane flying into the second World Trade Tower on 9/11... But this will dwarf that and will be comparable to 2004 at least in property damage but it's certain it will also have a large death toll to boot..

Just watched BBC online... it looks horrible enough.. but I foned my GF, she said that everyone in the family are ok. Tokyo is ok too,. The northern part of Japan was seriously hit.... that's all she said.

you guys don't panic.... Find out more information from the locals, Japanese then.

I just called my ex gf, Japanese. She said it ain't too bad the situation in Tokyo....

i ain't see anything 'bout this E.Q. from the nation and Bangkok post now . Or I just missed it.

HSBC story, I bought some golf balls and the clerk accidently charged me 43000bt. She put int he amount too fast and realized it almost immediately. She did a credit for the same amount gave me that receipt and we started over. A few days past and my statement was not removed from my account. I went to the bank and discussed the situation and showed them my receipt. I had to fill out some sort of claim form and they said if the country club did not dispute my claim in 30 days I would be credited the money!!!!!!!!!!! I was appalled raised hell you name it. I did all of the above. The manger said this is all they can do and since I have the receipt I can fight it if the club does not allow the credit. THEY ALREADY ISSUED A CREDIT.

Good news I got my money back had a good relation with the club so not really worried just appalled and gave me fright that if this had happened with a fraudster.

Luckily you could sort it out... Credited to the back then.... She should be more careful when workin' with money..... any mistake can make her lose the job ...

dont steal and cheat on the same scale as Thai. How did you get this information? ... If you ain't like Thailand, you are free to leave then. I ain't mean Thailand is better than Sri Lanka but I live here and I am happy with it for now and then.

Humm! interesting enough leniently in Pattaya?

Trying to operate Flights from Libya to some safe places for Thai workers would be grateful then.

Lets face it,the Banks don't give a toss about Foreigners Money,

if they did,then why not introduce a General Policy of not completing this type of ATM Transaction for say 12 hrs,thus allowing ample time for the Account owner to stop payment,on this type of theft.

Too Simple or what?

And the really sad part of money transfers is: how many times have you been told "Your Money transfer will take 2-3 working days" <deleted>!

Yep.. I agree ... Even make the buffer time 1-2 hours will be able to get back their money..... The procedures of transferring money should be altered.

For my own education please: How does that fraud thing works? How do they "lure you into transferring money"?

They bullshit you by saying that they are from tax revenue department or a credit card company. Accusing you for owing some bucks to them and then they would say there is an alternative way to sort this out by transferring the money to X000000 account. Otherwise,you would have to pay a large amount of fee for that. Sometimes, they make up some other different stories to make you worry. The important thing is they don't know anything 'bout you and they will try to get as much as information from you while you are on the fone with 'em. Every case will end up at an ATM machine mostly BKK and K Banks cos' these guys are more familiar with the machines from these 2 banks. That's all I know. I hope it can be of help though.

I can tell you why this is happenin'? cos' Thai people can go to China without any hassles. It's a piece of cake. Only they can afford to pay the visa fee that is around 1000 baht for a single entry and without any racist interviews conducted. Moreover, there are a number of Chinese ethnics in Thailand(millions). Thai and Chinese have very close relationship long ago. The origin of Thai is from the southern part of China, Somewhere in Yunnan. Geographically and Ethnically, they are blend together. The visa fee for Chinese will be lift off sooner or later. It's the same as Russia, Korea and Mongolia then.

This is total, absolute bullshit!

I was defrauded when using my Kasikorn bank web card just last week - I called them immediately to cancel the transaction.

They told me that nothing could be done!!

They asked me to go and fax them a form detailing the fraud, which I did, and they have done exactly zero about it!

Don't believe these useless lying sacks of dog feces. They do not care if you live or die, or if your money gets stolen, or about anything more complex than a fuc_king turnip.

Just thought I might mention this before some idiot gets on here to applaud the move and decry the cynics as Thailand-hate mongers.

Normally the K webcard is for online shopping and payments. I had two cases and both got resolved within days. Normally when you pay with the webcard online the bank witholds the transfer for at least one day before it can be withdrawn. They send you An email and ask you. When you reply within 72 hours from receiving the email they wont deduct from your account. When it longer than three days you can open an dispute, which I did and faxed them my complaint. I got the money dispursed within a week. It takes about 5 working days for this to happen.

You may look at your online banking account statements and you will see a remark "in progress" or "resolved".

For my safety, I have the system alert from SCB. If there is any suspicious transaction occurred, there'll be a message delivered to my fone. This silly hoax ain't get any cent out of my purse though. I am not quite happy with 'em but I need 'em

They are really suck charges are on every f*ckin' things they can. Last time, i withdrew some bucks in Pnom Pehn they riffed me off by givin' me very poor exchange rate via an ANZ machine. Eventually, I have no choice.. Just use it... dude.

If you ever get involved with trying to get a visa for a Thai to visit another country (other than immediate neibours) for tourist purposes you will realise how cheap and simple it is to get a visa to Thailand.

I.E. Tourist visa to NZ; an inch thich stack of paper a couple of intervies and 3 months later, granted.

To OZ; gave up in disgust and did not go.

These countries are actually protecting the interests of NZ'ers and Aussies by making it tough. How many girls try to get into these countries via false pretenses. i.e. Love and marriage.

NZ: Took me a month over Christmas holidays to get my Filipino gf a visitors visa. Look into limited purpose visas next time - no interview required - but you only get a month.

This 's dam_n discrimination. right? The world without any boundaries would be nice. As Citizens of the world, goin' anywhere is freely to do. (imagination)

I hope they build the train line out to Don Mueng too. It might be faster to go out there and catch the plane to Suv rather than going through Suv immigration.

They ain't spend any cent to the train system for the last 2 decades. If the train is efficient ,we wouldn't see this joke around. Where is this country goin' to be after a 5 years from now? Backwards?

If you ever get involved with trying to get a visa for a Thai to visit another country (other than immediate neibours) for tourist purposes you will realise how cheap and simple it is to get a visa to Thailand.

I.E. Tourist visa to NZ; an inch thich stack of paper a couple of intervies and 3 months later, granted.

To OZ; gave up in disgust and did not go.

China and the US have already been mentioned.

you are right... They treat Thai people bad when askin' for a visa even for a travel purpose. The toughest one is to The States and The EU is quite a hard one though.

Have you considered the rest of the world??

Granted, in rural areas things may be different, but as for most of the bigger cities in Australia:

I rarely even feel welcome, and im a (minority) Aussie citizen

friendliness: rarely, if non existent

More often than not, hostility

I would add to that...you cant be going walking around the streets at night with certain "ethnic" groups of youths roaming around in gangs.

Actually,even if you walk around the streets in the daytime, smiling at someone Thailand style, you will probably get punched in the nose or approached by some tool asking " What the f^ck are smiling at d!ckhead?

Oh, did i forget indifference...errr....luxury in Australia

haha yeah I agree, Australia is getting worse each year, I can't wait to get out and make my permanent move to Thailand, wayyyy better country.

Is this ironic?...humm.... Why many of Thai submitted their papers for residency in Aussie.

In danger of missing their flight? R U jokin'? Playin' with the language? Have they studied about the feasibility? How long would it take to get from S to D and vice versa? I have no doubt that they lost from the last year operation.

well-done. No visa fee for the Chinese. Haha...... So there will be no visa fee for the Thai goin' to China as well I guess cos' this's likely to be reciprocal then.

Gee,,,,,,,,,They are Chinese gangsters. Made Fone calls via IPvoid fone system from China. Don't be a fool transferring money from An ATM without enough reasons.

UPDATE

Governor reports on deaths of 4 guests at local hotel

By Phitsanu Thepthong

Chiang Mai Governor ML Panadda Diskul reports on the deaths of four people in a local hotel

Chiang Mai authorities are still working urgently on the investigation of the deaths of four people at the Downtown Inn Hotel near the Night Bazaar last month it was reported at a press conference. In three separate cases a Thai tourist guide, a New Zealand student and a British couple all died at the same hotel within days of each other.

we all know that the first 24 hours after a suspicious death are crucial for finding out the truth. Meanwhile most direct evidence will be gone.

Chiang Mai Governor M.L. Panadda Diskul reported that samples are being sent to the U.S. and Japan for further investigation, especially in the case of the New Zealand girl, Sarah Carter, originally reported as food poisoning.

The Provincial Public Health Office, the Office of Epidemiology, the Communicable Disease Control and Prevention Center, Maharaj Nakhon Chiang Mai Hospital, the Institute for Forensic Medicine, forensic police and Chiang Mai Provincial Police are all involved in the cases.

Thai authorities said the cause of death in two cases was still not clear; Mrs. Waraporn Yinghasawanont, 47, a Thai tour guide who checked in and stayed at the hotel February 2. After sightseeing tours to Doi Suthep the previous day, she was found dead in the morning of February 3 in front of the bathroom in her hotel room. Doctors reported that she had asthma and Pol. Col. Montri Sampunnanont, the Deputy Chiang Mai Provincial Police Commander told the Chiang Mai Mail that she had been seen with labored breathing and that might be the cause of her death.

When dying of poisoning in one way or another it is not unusual to have trouble breathing is it? (regardless of having asthma)

However, Dr. Paskorn Arkarasewee, the Director of the Office of Epidemiology said the real cause of the death of the guide Mrs. Waraporn had not been determined and that the cause of death of Sarah Carter, the New Zealand tourist, was still unclear.

The docter agrees the cause of death is unclear

A Chiang Mai Muang District Police said that Ms. Sarah Katherine Carter, 23, a student from New Zealand traveled from Phuket to Chiang Mai and checked in to the hotel on February 2 with two friends. On February 3 they were found seriously ill with vomiting and nausea so the hotel staff called an ambulance to take them the hospital for treatment where, on February 6, Sarah Carter died. The other two girls also ill, eventually recovered and returned home.

The three of them poisoned. What do the survivors have to say about this? Have they been questioned?

Dr. Derek Bunnachak of the Medical Faculty of Maharaj Nakhon Chiang Mai Hospital told Chiang Mai Mail that bacteria might be a cause of food poisoning. Dr. Pasakorn of the Epidemiology Office said they were seriously sick, with bad stomachaches and vomiting, and Miss Carter may have gone into shock from this. "This was really a rare case."

He said that it "might" be food poisoning, based on the symptoms. We can all imagine many causes that "might" have caused it, what is the value of this statement ??

He added that the primary diagnosis suspected the E Coli bacteria caused by unclean food. "However, samples were sent for further examination in both the United States and Japan to find the real cause," confirmed Dr. Pasakorn Arkaraseree, Director of the Epidemiology Office.

Provincial Public Health Office Deputy Head Dr. Surasing Wisarutrat said the case will not be concluded until all test results are in. Doctors confirmed that they did not eat seaweed as earlier reports suggested.

The Governor expressed his sadness and concern over the death of the young New Zealand girl, "Thai authorities are looking hard at the case to find the cause and we will inform formally and immediately the family members through the New Zealand Embassy.

what does that mean? "looking hard at the case" ..?

He spoke on behalf of Thai authorities that "We are very much concerned and definitely look after all visitors to Chiang Mai." He has ordered government officials to step up inspection of all food shops, restaurants and hotel services to ensure food cleanliness.

Who jumped to conclusions that food poisoning was the cause? That it was an accidental poisoning of all these people?

Chiang Mai Police then reported that the elderly British couple, Eileen and George Everitt who checked into the hotel on February 9. They were scheduled to check out February 19 but when they did not appear, staff called their room and then entered the locked room with a master key after they had not answered the phone. There they found the couple dead, Eileen Everitt, age 74 on the bed and George Everitt, 78, sitting near the bed.

Police found no evidence of a break in, no signs of illness or vomiting, no drugs or poisonous substances in the room. It is believed the couple died on February 17 or early morning the 18th since they did not appear for breakfast on the 18th. Doctors reported that both couples suffered from severe blockage of the arteries that resulted in a coronary thrombosis.

[chiangmaimail]2011-03-09[/chiangmaimail]

My point is, to which extent is the theory of some psychopath murderer investigated? Clearly, these people have been poisoned, ether on purpose or not on purpose. The investigation seems to be actively looking for an accidental cause of poisoning (food or whatever).

Nowhere I see this case being treated as a potential serial killer case. There could be some employee randomly poisoning something in this hotel. Have they looked at who worked and who was staying in the hotel at the time of the poisoning?

Partly, the hotel belongs to ChiangMai Governor's Family. Who dare to sealed the hotel? This is political sh*t. They can't do much cos' the system is rather rusty. To get things goin' in Thailand, it ain't that easy. i don't know I live here and I am happy with it. *-*

I was a cop, a detective at that, and I've met a fair share of Thai "detectives" in the last few years.Spent hours talking with them.

Simply put, they generally possess a total lack of even rudimentary training and couldn't detect an elephant in a life raft.

So, in many cases, it's not that they are "covering something up," it's that they lack the skills, techniques, experience and facilities to uncover anything. Therefore it is easier to claim it a coincidence than to admit they are stymied, and are clueless as to what to do next.

It's more the old "saving face" thing than mai pen rai.

Without even speaking to any so called detective, i have to agree with you.

I do not think there even is a police academy or detective school, i do not think they have forensic labs, if they do, i doubt its well equipped or even equipped at all(just look at police stations and police vehicles, including bikes)

Autopsy cost money(which again they do not have or do not want to spend) and again may not have properly trained staff, just look at public hospitals, some docs can not even diagnose appendix.

So its no alternative but to declare every death as suicide or accident, unless its so clear, that they simply can not make such a statement, but then the killers are hardly every found,unless police is tipped off

Oh come on.... You've never seen the old skinny lady with the funky red hair do her thang???

if he means Dr.Porntip. She is an expert in Autopsy and well known to all the Thais in this field. She used to work a lot during the boxing day Tsunami hit Puket some years ago. She didn't get along well with one of high command polices. She is viewed as a little RED for PAD,Yellow. They have everything you have at home dude..

Unless you have worked in Coroner's office back home and in Thailand, i really fail to see how you would know what they have.

Also having, does not mean knowing how to use it.

and lastly, perhaps you had forgotten, Australia, USA and few others sent their own forensics to Thailand, because some of the reasons were- locals were not able to identify people and were way too slow , did not have enough equipment and expertise.

I am unsure though on this comments you made and how it is relevant or what you wanted to say "She is viewed as a little RED for PAD,Yellow"

Only I heard on ASTV. They told her off and accused her for being RED..... For the fact, I don't really know. Bro.

I was a cop, a detective at that, and I've met a fair share of Thai "detectives" in the last few years.Spent hours talking with them.

Simply put, they generally possess a total lack of even rudimentary training and couldn't detect an elephant in a life raft.

So, in many cases, it's not that they are "covering something up," it's that they lack the skills, techniques, experience and facilities to uncover anything. Therefore it is easier to claim it a coincidence than to admit they are stymied, and are clueless as to what to do next.

It's more the old "saving face" thing than mai pen rai.

Without even speaking to any so called detective, i have to agree with you.

I do not think there even is a police academy or detective school, i do not think they have forensic labs, if they do, i doubt its well equipped or even equipped at all(just look at police stations and police vehicles, including bikes)

Autopsy cost money(which again they do not have or do not want to spend) and again may not have properly trained staff, just look at public hospitals, some docs can not even diagnose appendix.

So its no alternative but to declare every death as suicide or accident, unless its so clear, that they simply can not make such a statement, but then the killers are hardly every found,unless police is tipped off

Oh come on.... You've never seen the old skinny lady with the funky red hair do her thang???

if he means Dr.Porntip. She is an expert in Autopsy and well known to all the Thais in this field. She used to work a lot during the boxing day Tsunami hit Puket some years ago. She didn't get along well with one of high command polices. She is viewed as a little RED for PAD,Yellow. They have everything you have at home dude..