bushman1666

I been driving here for 20 years without a scrash.

Wish I could say the same, unfortunately I have been the victim of Thai stupidity on the roads several times.

I could count the apologies received on one hand though.

What is it with their indiscipline, arrogance and lack of manners on the roads?

Easy ... no discipline ...too much arrogance thinking they are the best ... worse drivers ever and of course no regulation

Ditto. Why do nice polite people like the Thai's grow horns and a tail when they get into (or onto) a vehicle? They turn into arrogant road hogs who have to get in front at ANY cost. No concept of road craft or manors what so ever. 200 baht and Buddha will sort everything out.

RIP to the latest unfortunates of the madness that passes for driving here. We all know we'll be having this conversation again and again on this forum. Until the law gets stick and is enforced, as it is in our home nations, nothing will change.

How did he manage to get a ticket?

When you've got a couple of billion dollars of ill gotten gains sitting in your off-shore tax haven bank account you can get tickets for any bloody game you want! Money speaks.

How many times have you seen a vehicle displaying a "Learner Driver" plate in Thailand? Where would I buy a copy of the Thai Highway Code? The driving mentality here to get in front of the car in front at ANY cost. Normally then to slow and turn off the road. Flash your lights to force your way through and Buddha will sort everything out. In most other countries that would provoke road-rage! Not here where it would perceived as disrespectful to admonish someone for bad driving, particularly if he/she has a better can than you. Road craft is not taught here, a driving licence is not important as being caught without one is sorted out with 200 baht bribe. Combine this normal bad mannered driving with copious amounts of alcohol and the holiday spirit and this is the result. Year after year over every holiday, Songkran, New Year and Loy Kratong. I love Thailand and rarely diss the place but is something they need to look at and quickly.

"In my opnion any man that does this should have a tatoo across his forehead that reads "I am a child rapest"."

Yeah, and for the rest of his days he can have people point out to him, "They spelt it wrong!"

Hahahahahaha

21 Years in a Thai prison. That will give him time to reflect. Then if he gets sent to a UK prison to finish his sentence that won't be a picnic for a kiddie fiddler. Deserves what he gets as does that scum bag mother!

Thailand roads are not safe.

I repeat for the white people looking to visit here - Thailand roads are not safe.

Every single road in the Kingdom is crazy dangerous. I risk my life driving my car 15 minutes to Macro. At least 10 speeding pickup trucks, buses, or 10-wheelers fly past me on every trip (at 130-150km+).

Thailand roads are not safe.

Agreed! I spent the last 2 years behind the wheel while living outside of Bangkok and I eventually lost count of the near death experiences I narrowly escaped. Most of the time it was the commercial vehicles (buses, trucks, and vans) I had to watch out for as the majority of the drivers operate their vehicles like they were in Formula One.

Yes, driving in Thailand is a very dangerous business. I've been driving here for 5 years on a motor bike, cycle and car. Even the shortest drive to town or where ever, I usually encounter at least one near death experience. The only thing I wonder at is that there are not more fatal accidents. The mentality here is that they must get in front of you at ANY cost! Then they normally slam on the breaks and turn off the road!

This is yet another tragic incident where 5 young live have been cut short by some f&@kwit not having the brains to read the road ahead. My sincere condolences to all the families of the victims. All of them in their 20's with their whole live ahead of them. RIP

The no-shu

Good to see the Thai protest spirit evolving somewhat....

Yup - the 'no-shirts' have fnally arrived

They have my full support.

That's the sort of protest that raise my interest, keep up the good work madam!

Phuket is so wonderful nowadays ..... road accidents , murders , jet ski scams etc ...... I really should think to go there for my next holidays ....

I've never been to Phuket, and never had a desire to visit. This is obviously a targeted killing, so no threat to visitors (unless caught in the crossfire) but it just seems like a sleazy place to me.

Phuket aka Hades. Never been there (despite my wife repeated requests to pay the place a visit) and have no desire to go there. Far too many Farhangs and crooks there. Better go to Koh Chiang before the spoil that paradise island.

How about if the kept two airports and completed the partially built rail link to DMK? Best of both worlds!

Thank you IATA for your insight, are you suggesting the same applies to London, New York, Paris, Los Angeles, Madrid, Brussels, Moscow, Chicago and what about all the hype behind IATA endorsing Haneda ? If Heathrow was the only London airport would Ryanair or Easyjet exist ????? Airlines and airports meet at a price point that works and if there is passenger demand then what is wrong with more options ?

Strange, I had not heard that Gatwick or Stanstead had been flooded

Flooded with snow.

Remember X-mas 2010?

Yes, I got caught up in all that snow!

Most beermakers in Thailand uses rice instead of barley to ferment and make the beer. Whatabout this one?Tiger

But that isn't a problem, you can make nice beer adding some % of rice to the malt.

It can be done to make a light colored pils type beer.

The problem is, they work dirty, substandard without knowledge and use too much rice which they ferment with enzymes. Well and don't let it age properly.

It is not 1 problem they have it is a 100 different problems.

Hey who cares if it's made of rice or what ever. if it's beer pass it over here.

Well said that man. I enjoy the odd Leo or three and don't really care what's made of. But I do miss British bitters. When all is said and done there's not much to choose between any lager beer. Now if Boddingtons or Timothy Taylor or Breakspear had announced they were setting up shop here then I'd get excited!

Not dense just totally lacking a sense of humor. Check this link out see if we can discover your lighter side!

So I didn't get your in joke based on some comedy video not shown before, so I have no sense of humor. Okie dokie.

Monty Python not shown before! What planet have you been living on? Anyway, we're getting off topic here. Apologies I didn't mean to offend; but check out the Dead Parrot sketch:

And don't forget that Arabs comprise the largest subcomponent of the Semitic race.

See my last point. This is getting silly. Antisemitism refers ONLY to Jews. That is a fact. Look at any dictionary.

"Is this the 5 minute argument or the full half hour?"

I'm too dense to get your joke. Some points aren't debatable as there is no credible opposing argument. Suggesting the meaning of antisemitism refers to all semites is such a specious assertion. It's like arguing that water isn't a liquid.

Not dense just totally lacking a sense of humor. Check this link out see if we can discover your lighter side!

And don't forget that Arabs comprise the largest subcomponent of the Semitic race.

See my last point. This is getting silly. Antisemitism refers ONLY to Jews. That is a fact. Look at any dictionary.

"Is this the 5 minute argument or the full half hour?"

The last world war ended 66 years ago, most of the comments seem to be from people who not only had no part nor had a close family member who had a part in the war?

Even worse making light of such an atrocity.. I dare sat that nearly EVERYONE had someone in their family history that had some involvement in the war regardless..

I'm 51, my father was a commando in the 9th Army. He was a trainee account living and working in London when he was conscripted into the army at 19 years of age. He survived the war (Obviously or I wouldn't be here to write this) but like so many of his generation it left scars. He had a breakdown. Today that would be called Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Then it was pull yourself together man. I expect there are many expat in Thailand most of whom will be my age and upwards who's parents and close relatives were directly involves in WWII. I now have a young daughter, she will be taught world history and geography by me so she will understand the way the world is now and how it came to be.

Further making my point is that you missed the point that any WESTERNER you may have encountered (however many that may actually be) would not know the difference between Taiwan and Thailand... If you're running in those circles then that's the impression you'll get however I've had experience with a wide cross section of older and younger Thai's both educated and not so, which far out number the expats of Western countries here and I can say without equivocation they are very sheltered about the world outside of Thailand and most have told me that never even studied ANY world history during their education..

You can keep arguing your point but by doing so you're actually reinforcing mine instead..

you also missed the point that a few thai you may have encountered do not know history of WWII in the west, it doesn't mean "all" thais has no idea on the issue. If you're running in those circles then that's the impression you'll get . see?

my argument will only reinforcing the bad/weak part of your never support it.

and i am not going to justify or even comparing your experience with what you think it is already wide cross section of thais to my experience with foreigners i meet in southeast asia, america and japan. b/c you know what you know, but again what you know doesn't say that it is going to be the absolute right info for all. i was in thailand for almost 2 decades, and yes i know that they have world history in school classes. i also know that their side of thai history is way way over saturated.

but hey ,they also tell student how flipflop they were during WWII. if you are in thailand long enough you might know how teacher and students laugh at their own history during WWII. that was exactly Thais that i know. they never take anything serious, as so the nazi kids, i guess!

i do partly blame it on the school and education, but for sure i know not all of them act the way the kids did. not even majority of them do.

Ok you're right I can't compete with such wit and extensive knowledge?

I like a clear, concise blog

This is typical a result of Thai narsistic attitude: ZERO knowledge and interest what happended outside ot Thailand.

LOL, Thais are narsistic (narcissistic) because they don't have interest in what you have interest in? Or for that matter a war that had little effect on Thais compared to much of the rest of the world.

A war that had little effect on Thais?????? Apart from being completely wrong, you are in essence saying its ok to parade around portraying people responsible for the greatest atrocities of the 20th century as long as we were not directly involved. Education is supposed to teach, regardless of whether it is in the classroom or at the school carnival. What exactly were the Thai teachers attempting to teach in this particular exercise?

Thai's have little or no knowledge of what happens outside of Thailand and to be blunt no interest. I have asked many Thia's what they know about Cambodia and I have never met one who has even heard of Pol Pot. As far as I can see world history is not taught in state schools here.

So what?

Remember, these were just kids with costumes and plastic machine guns right?

Just like western kids might dress like ninjas or samurais.

would it be different if they dressed as Japanese suicide pilots? or Napoleontic armymen? Or American bomber pilots?

Whose history matters most?

This nazi-stigma and the perpetuation of guild-feelings is not part of Thai history and very rightly so. That's why perhaps only the expat parents at school took offence.

The past is the past in Thailand (that's why their historians suck) and perhaps we should learn from that.

It's been 3 generations since the Nazis, isn't it time to get over it??

Three generations since the Nazis, two generations since the Chinese Cultural revolution one generation since Pol Pot, half a generation since the Balkans conflict and Rewander.

LEST WE FORGET.

i'm sick of reading this, i'm a 1960 generation, now we have 2011.

get over it.

You sad ignorant fool. Many brave men gave their lives so an ignoramus like you has the right to utter such inane, unthinking tripe. Had it not been for their actions I doubt you'd have the freedom to chose to live in Thailand or anywhere else for that matter. Perhaps you should consider taking night classes in history.

Why would Thai's need to succeed at anything above basic levels if the country itself does not need any brains...

Taksin thinks for them - and the chinese/Thais run the businesses and control the Gov

Thats exactly how they want it to be... They dont want anyone to threaten that!

Yeah! And if they get too well educated then where will all the bar girls come from?

Even serious topics can degenerate (morph) themselves into strings involving bar girls!!! No holding them back, clearly .

Many a true word spoken in jest.

The mafia/politicians/police/senior governmental persons that own and control the bars and clubs of Pattaya, Phuket, Bangkok need a constant supply of ill educated young women lacking any aspirations to feed the insatiable appetite of the cash-rich sex tourists from all over the world.

There, I morphed that back to a serious subject even with bar girls in there!

Why would Thai's need to succeed at anything above basic levels if the country itself does not need any brains...

Taksin thinks for them - and the chinese/Thais run the businesses and control the Gov

Thats exactly how they want it to be... They dont want anyone to threaten that!

Yeah! And if they get too well educated then where will all the bar girls come from?

Is it only me who finds the likeness between PISA and pisser amusing?

OK, so just me then!

Just think, they will throw it straight into the incinerator - what a waste!!!

Nah.. they're going to store it somewhere til it's forgotten and then sell it off again.

Why waste the resources taken from the competition?

Let's hope they'll sell it, so at least they do some good too.

Now I'm disappointed to see you're not taking this seriously. As we all know drugs are very bad. Oh what the hell, roll me a phat one!!!! Bet it's good stuff too! Bonanza time for the BiB!