NoshowJones

Lemon curd, Tate & Lyle's Golden syrup, fish cakes and fish fingers that don't cost an arm and a leg, (there's a joke in there somewhere !), Fisherman's Pies, Ainsley Harriott Shropshire pea cup-a-soup,

Proper pot noodles, like wot they sell in the UK.

MrMuddle, I also wish I could buy lemon curd here in Thailand. You can get Fish fingers at Villa, but like I said, that place is well avoided, their prices are well over the top at times.

A proper breakfast. Nowhere in Asia can do it right that I've found.

Crazy Daves and Canterbury Tales just off Soi Buckiow in Pattaya do a good proper breakfast.

I'm not sure what it's called but there is a fish that I consider better than cod which I always buy from my local thai shop.. it's a pretty big pink fish.. fried with garlic, oyster sauce and stock its amazing.

I'll ask my boyfriend for the thai name for it so I can tell you that at least later

George, Villa supermarkets are best avoided, ie tinned corned beef, not sure of the make 328 Baht, Foodland, John West, same size tin 180 Baht. I do not believe there is better corned beef than John West.

Why was a car licence available to you without testing?

My UK licence was sufficient proof that I could drive and so did not need to do the test

Same here.

I've driven from Nakhon Sawan to Bangkok 3 times in the last 2 months and never went more than 70 KMS per hour mostly in the middle lane (the inside lane most of the time is damaged because of overweight trucks) I agree that 80 KMS is too fast to be going through traffic lights at an intersection even though the speed limilt is not being broken. The OP needs to learn to slow down approaching a green light. This country is full of lunatic drivers.

And you yourself are a big danger going in the middle lane only 70 when the speed limit is 120 in areas and the flow of traffic is 100 - 110

I don't agree with you, the state of the inside lane is so bad at times that to travel on it will be damaging for your car,there are so many overweight trucks on the inside lane that when you signal to overtake, no one, and I mean no one will allow you to pull out. It is also dangerous to drive at 110-110 because of the large majority of lunatic Thai drivers cutting you up. Driving at 70 KMS, is putting me in a lot less danger, and I come first, and if people don't like it, then too bad.

So it's you l had to overtake on the inside eh, tut tut.

Transam, didn't you read my post? A lot of the inside lanes are badly rutted, well they were when I travelled on that highway. If you want to ruin your vehicle. that's up to you. If the inside lane was in the same condition as the other two, and the trucks weren't overweight and can only do about 40 kms, I would be very pleased to stay in the inside lane. My personal safety comes before anyone else's, and if people don't like it then that's just TOO BAD.

I've driven from Nakhon Sawan to Bangkok 3 times in the last 2 months and never went more than 70 KMS per hour mostly in the middle lane (the inside lane most of the time is damaged because of overweight trucks) I agree that 80 KMS is too fast to be going through traffic lights at an intersection even though the speed limilt is not being broken. The OP needs to learn to slow down approaching a green light. This country is full of lunatic drivers.

And you yourself are a big danger going in the middle lane only 70 when the speed limit is 120 in areas and the flow of traffic is 100 - 110

I don't agree with you, the state of the inside lane is so bad at times that to travel on it will be damaging for your car,there are so many overweight trucks on the inside lane that when you signal to overtake, no one, and I mean no one will allow you to pull out. It is also dangerous to drive at 110-110 because of the large majority of lunatic Thai drivers cutting you up. Driving at 70 KMS, is putting me in a lot less danger, and I come first, and if people don't like it, then too bad.

Bookman, be very careful about this, as I've said before, some drivers flee accidents in fear of being beaten up or killed by locals.at the scene.

Just punish the guy who made it ... And all this will be gone ....

Why punish the filmmaker and accept oppression from Arabs? Freedom of expression anyone?

Because Freedom of Speech shouldn't allow hatred of religion or ethnicity....wouldn't you agree that the world would be a happier place if there was less hate of others?

How right you are, Muslims hate Westerners, just think how happy the world would be if we could find a way to remove all Muslims to Muslim countries and make them stay there.

No, it depends on what's in their wallet and how much they need.

Around our immediate area they couldnt careless about helmets, in the city, only seem to care at the end of the month when everyone gets paid and first few days into the month, then they hunt in packs on every intersection and 200 baht usually, after that back to never seeing a BIB.

Got stopped in Chiang Mai once for no seatbelts, that was 200 baht, didnt mind the fine but the hassle to find and go to the Police station and retrieve my licence and pay was a real pain. He wouldnt accept the money directly to him !....very surprised on that occasion.

Just cut off the belts and next time they stop you, just point and say no have. The more intelligent way to deal with it, would be to actually use them. They are there for a purpose.

Yes and that purpose can be to trap you in your vehicle while you BURN to death as happened to a relative of mine or as happened to me, stop you from being thrown clear and stop you being crushed by the engine !

This is very interesting, many years ago, maybe around 1980, there was a page in the Sunday post called the "honest truth". The subject was a doctor who lived close to the Scotland main highway from Scotland to England. Today it is the M74, anyway, this doctor was called to many road accidents of which many were fatal. He said a lot of these fatalities were caused by peoples seatbelts. I just wonder if it is wrong to force people to wear seatbelts. It would seem that wearing seatbelts does cost lifes as well as saving them. Personally, I think people should be given the choice of whether or not they wear seatbelts.

Ok I just remember the old Citroen (DS21 or CX) the magnificent Peugeot 504, the cool 205, 2CV unforgettable, the strong Renault R4.

But, hey, I'm talking about 30/40 years ago cars.

So, you could cut France from my list

The R4 i had came with the optional road condition monitor you lifted up the mats and looked to see if the road was wet or dry.

I have owned three Renault R4s when I was in my Twenties, the most reliable cars I ever had, maybe apart from the twenty year oldToyota Corona I have today, A great reliable car.

A tragic death, and a totally unnecessary death caused by the admitted speed and driving conditions. It goes partly back to the lack of driver training discussed on another thread but at the end of the day it was culpable and reckless driving on the part of the taxi driver. At least this man had the conscience to put his hands up and admit to the accident after fleeing the scene.

I'm so sorry that this young lady has lost her life so needlessly, and I hope that Lauren, ( a fellow Scot ) gets the best medical care and makes a full recovery. It will be a long recovery for this young lady and I hope that she has friends in Bangkok to assist her, over and above the embassy staff.

We should limit the inquest and speculation as it's very likely that friends and family will come across this thread, such a tragic and needless loss.

So sorry Joanna,

As another fellow Scot, I endorse everything you said Blether.

Why remove the movie, let them riot a bit more.Better they kill each other than Westerners.

Another great post, well done, well done Jbrain.

Leave the film and just remove the Muslim nations from the internet - end of problem.

Brilliant post SamSipet, I agree with you wholeheartedly.

So, according to the article, the deplorable standard of driving in Thailand is due to the manufacturers having to sell their vehicles to maintain business. Nothing to do with the laughable driving test, almost non-existent enforcement of licensing laws and the use of overloaded & poorly-loaded vehicles, dangerously "maintained" vehicles then. Certainly nothing to do with police or government here.

Proper testing & licensing would reduce the opportunities for manufacturers to "sell vehicles to inexperienced and less capable people". Proper vehicle identification would make drivers less likely to think they could "get away with it" because their vehicle has no registration plates - it should be a case of "no number plates - no use of the vehicle". Enforcement of lane discipline so that vehicle - especially buses - are encouraged to return to left-hand lane after overtaking. I'm sure we've all followed a bus for km after km with it stuck in the RHS lane with no intention of moving over for faster traffic. Even something as basic as mirrors cause a problem here - bike mirrors are for looking at anything other than the road behind you - or even removed entirely (to reduce drag?? ) - so I'd guess many car mirrors are similarly poorly adjusted and useless. If I can see a driver's eyes in his mirrors, he can see me - sadly, I frequently can't see his eyes.

Returning to UK to drive on holiday is an absolute pleasure compared to here. Those resident in UK say driving lacks courtesy there. If only they could experience the Thai standards of driving courtesy. My wife agrees with me that driving in UK is much less hassle than here - although she's only ever been a passenger there, she's noticed how people are usually polite & cooperative on UK roads. I can drive there for 6 hours and feel fresh as a daisy at the end of it - an hour's drive here has me foaming at the mouth.

I would say the majority of car drivers, about nine out of ten in Scotland, are very ignorant, not necessary dangerous, but ignorant, they drive in bus lanes, do not allow buses to pull out when given a signal in plenty of time, park in bus laybys. I was a HGV and PSV driver for years, and I know bus drivers are no angels, neither was I, but I knew how to deal with ignorant car drivers without risking an accident.

As one who has been actively involved in road safety for over 23 years and has experience of 38 countries I can tell you it is easy to point the finger at the driver. However, someone trained that driver and even more relevant, someone tested that driver and deemed the driver to be safe and competent!

standard and knowledge of driving is far superior to them!

I can appreciate what you're saying, but you are also making the assumption that all drivers here went to driving school, which is just not the case,especially when it comes to motorcycles. Outside of Bangkok, a very significant number of riders don't even have a license.

No Kalbo, that's because most of them are under age, and given the keys by stupid parents, and I am often slagged off on TV because I refer to Thailand as TIT, Land of Stupidity. Anybody still want to tell me I'm wrong?

London also has more sensible road systems without U-turns where vision is blocked by police signs turning them into black spots, flyovers that force traffic to filter into lanes of fast moving traffic, thousands of brain dead motor cyclists and utterly corrupt police.

There is one way that London, in fact the whole of the UK would do well to copy Thailand. They should allow vehicles to do a left turn if it is safe to do so on a red light, it would help to keep the traffic moving as it does in both Thailand and America.

Not every junction allows you to turn left. I, myself and other colleagues have been stopped by the bib after turning left on a red light. The problem is that some junctions you can , and some you cannot, but of course its a secret known only to the locals which ones you can or cannot - as there are very few signs. The same applies to multi lane carriageways where the left lane (only) is allowed to go through a red light - but again not all roads and only local drivers seem to know which you can and which you can't. About 100 metres outside my house there is a police traffic box next to traffic lights. It's generally accepted that you can drive through the red light in the left hand lane - however drivers unfamiliar with this area don't know that and when they stop at the red light (in front of the police box) - there are dozens of drivers honking their horns for him to drive through the red light. What the heck is he supposed to do - if theres no sign to say he can?.

In my opinion red means stop and green means go - end of story! The bib here in Bangkok take great delight in taking fines from drivers for commiting an apparent offence when there are no roadsigns to notify the driver and it's as if the 'driver should have known - 'because all the others do (locals)'.

I agree with you entirely apart from the fact that vehicles should still be allowed to turn left on a red light if it is safe to do so. The problem is TIT, and as you said there is a lack of signposting.

You Want to improve road safety ? Easy , send Thais to driving school , nothing else . Why in other countries everybody have to go to learn and not in Thailand ? I wonder ... Cars are more powerfull than ever , when you don't know what to do or how to react in front of danger , learning how to is a necessity . No need to send a group of export to London for holidays paid by tax payers to understand this. Of course not all Thais are bad drivers ... But the biggest majority, sorry .

We all know that a very high percentage of Thai drivers are really bad, so where would you get good Thai driving instructors? Before someone says use Farangs as they do to teach English, I can't see that happening.

I wonder if you are assuming that all farang would make good driving instructors.

Where I live in Thailand there are numerous farang whose driving behavior would score about 2/10. Just one example, one local bi-lingual school has banned two farang from driving onto the school grounds, because they drive so fast, often yelling on their mobile phone, and with no attempt to watch for little kids in the school yard. The school owner asked both of them several times to drive much more slowly on the school property and to watch for kids. Both responded with abuse.

I certainly do not think all Farangs would make good driving instructors, just as all Farangs don't make good school teachers. But Farangs are taught how to drive properly, but a small majority are idiots.

You Want to improve road safety ? Easy , send Thais to driving school , nothing else . Why in other countries everybody have to go to learn and not in Thailand ? I wonder ... Cars are more powerfull than ever , when you don't know what to do or how to react in front of danger , learning how to is a necessity . No need to send a group of export to London for holidays paid by tax payers to understand this. Of course not all Thais are bad drivers ... But the biggest majority, sorry .

We all know that a very high percentage of Thai drivers are really bad, so where would you get good Thai driving instructors? Before someone says use Farangs as they do to teach English, I can't see that happening.

Would be nice to see traffic rule enforcement that wasn't just about making money for individual police.

How about starting with a severe penalty for drivers who flee the scene of an accident?

Have to be careful here, I may be wrong, but some drivers flee to avoid being attacked by locals near the scene of the accident, also it is well known when there is about four or five Thai guys against one, they are very brave, but not so brave when there is one on one.

It's up to you. The green sh1t doesn't get quite the same mileage as red 91 but it is quite a bit cheaper.

Thanks BSJ, as long as the green stuff doesn't do the engine any harm, I think I will keep on using it.

On any forum or anywhere else people writing 'breaks' instead of 'brakes'. How can English speaking self declared car experts get this wrong ?

I agree entirely with no 4, I'm always telling people that we are not guests in this country.

There is no need to have the money in the bank for 3 months.

It just has to be there on the day you apply.

Although one or two Immigration Offices do not seem to understand this.

Which Immigration Offices do NOT understand this, please?

Different offices at different times, depends on what mood the officer is in.

am in the market to buy a motorbike in the next month or so.

I quite like the look of the Fino but havent yet test riden one. Has anyone got one that would like to comment.

the bike is going to be used for general trips to 7-11 and local markets, bank etc and not long trips- have a car for that.

cheers

Yep. I got one for my Thai girlfriend but she uses my Yamaha Nouvo and I use her Fino. The Yamaha Nouvo is theoretically the best bike in the Yamaha lineup in my opinion. It has large 16 inch diameter wheels and tires for greater stability. It weighs around 30 to 35 pounds more than the Fino, and there are some nice touches all around. For instance, the Nouvo has an automatic choke. It has substantial under the seat storage. The Fino does not. So when it comes to getting a lot of groceries, my girlfriend will use my Nouvo over her Fino. The Nouvo also has two shocks on the rear, the Fino like the Mio and the Honda Click has a single shock absorber so for the big loads the Nouvo is better. And for some reason although the Fino, Mio and Nouvo all share the same 115 cc. engine, my nouvo accelerates faster than her Fino.

Okay.....all that's on paper and on paper I would not personally drive the Fino. But I live in Pattaya where one is not going to go very fast anyway due to traffic and the insane driving of many if not most Thais. Truth is, the way I drive and under these driving conditions I could easily be happy with the Fino. It is by far the best looking motorbike around. Ying and I can sit in a bar together and look out on the Fino as I admire its peerless Italian inspired lines. And for some reason, this particular Fino has better brakes than my Nouvo. It's very quiet and it's extremely agile and smooth. It's a very nice machine and it only costs 40,000 baht. On the other hand Nouvos are now going for around 48,000 baht so it's a steal as well. Going at speeds past 35 miles an hour or so, the Nouvo is going to seem more stable but 35 miles an hour is fast enough to get you somewhere here in Pattaya in a hurry. I'd say it is up to you. The two bikes feel substantually different from each other when you drive them but both drive very well within their respective limitations and both represent as far as I'm concerned the state of the art in motorbike evolutionary development and design. For driving in city environments such as Pattaya both bikes are very superior to machines like the Phantom and 150 cc. Honda discussed at length here let alone bigger bikes like 400's, Honda Steeds or anything similar. Do note that I mentioned driving under conditions similar to what Pattaya offers. If I lived upcountry and found I was driving under different conditions I might well think otherwise.

Try riding one of each, then makeup your own mind.

"insane driving of many if not most Thais"? I rode motorcycles for many years in the USA and now I live in Thailand and ride. I'll take Thai drivers over American drivers any time. Anyone who has ridden in the USA very long has experienced at least once some auto driver trying to kill them. Or maybe in some cases they just think its fun to try to run a motorcycle off the road. Its hard to differentiate between crazy and homocidal.

I have a brand new Fino 115 customised. Can anyone tell me if it is OK to run it on 91 unleaded green fuel? Or do I have to use the more expensive 91 red?