NoshowJones

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?

For all its woes, Pattaya is a fantastic place. Probably has the best transport system in Thailand, songteaws.

Yes. Pattaya is a fantastic place, but they need to get rid of Friendship Supermarket, they have raised the price of their small steak pies from 48 Baht to 80 Baht. Nothing can justify such greed.

OMG !!!!!!!! I am out of here unless they close Friendship !!!!!!!

Hi Gone, this is only my way of letting people know about Friendship. Don't you think such a big increase in the price of the steak pies is a bit off?

Get your Thai partner to contact your Amphur who will remove them if they are not owned by someone

I will definitely try that - but when you Amphur, what exactly is that? The local council or mayor?

It's the equivalent to a local council. They will have a person/department that deals with stray dogs.

A department in Thailand that gets rid of stray dogs? How many people are employed by them? How many hours do they work per day? Who pays the employees wages? If they are to succeed in their job, there will have to be loads of workers working very long hours. But where would all the money to pay their wages come from?

For all its woes, Pattaya is a fantastic place. Probably has the best transport system in Thailand, songteaws.

Yes. Pattaya is a fantastic place, but they need to get rid of Friendship Supermarket, they have raised the price of their small steak pies from 48 Baht to 80 Baht. Nothing can justify such greed.

I think it's always partly our fault ...by simply being here...if the OP hasn't been there,there would be no accident...TIT...BTW,you should know what I mean...

This is such a bad way of thinking. It is not your fault just for being a foreigner, and if you keep thinking that way, then you will always be taken advantage of, like so many TV'ers and other foreigners I meet here are.

I guess I've phrased if wrong (English is my second language)...what I've meant is that,if there is farang around,he will be probably blamed for things gone wrong and tried to be taken advantage of...

My car got hit ones by drunken motorcyclists while PARKED!...when one of those guys finally crawled out of the ditch and the BIB asked him what happened,he said that the car hit them (!!)...even the BIB laughed...Next day,at the police station the father of the driver asked if we can help him because the bike is damaged and there is 5k bill for the hospital as well...hmmm

I hope you were not stupid enough to give him any money. I hope that anywhere in the world, a drunken driver gets killed, as long as there are no innocent casualties, simply because they are better dead before they kill some innocent person.

I am sorry for you, but pasing a junction with traffic lights in 80kms per hour.... Maybe you should consider to drive little bit more carefully.

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.

Which part of victory monument do the vans for Pattaya leave from? How much do they cost?

"Does anyone know the background or any more information on this tradition?"

Yes - ignorance, poor education, and a culture that allows a small group of people to be believed no matter what dribble they say. I wonder how much dosh the parents also had / have to pay for the monks to cleanse the bad spirits?

Are you sure it was a girl? I have seen this hairstyle on a lot of young Thai boys, or maybe I just thought they were boys.

Preferring foreign passengers who tend to pay tips or is unaware of detours

In other words the taxi drivers are blatantly admitting that if you are a naive foreigner or a new boy in town, it is common policy to rip you off or be given unwittingly a grand tour of Bangkok at your own expense.

Just a bunch of scammers profiting from the vulnerability of foreign visitors and another nail in the coffin for the Thai tourist industry.

Not only should these crooks be fined, but they should also have their licenses revoked.

Bunch of scammers? I don't know where you are from but if there is any place on earth where you get more value for your taxi dollar than bangkok i have yet to see it....couple of bucks to travel in a generally nice a/c taxi in a major city and they are a bunch of scammers??...yeah i can tell those taxi drivers are just rolling in the money....and tourists will stop coming to bangkok as they would rather pay twenty times as much for taxis in their home country?? you don't have to take a taxi if you are convinced you are getting scammed...you can always ride the bus or better yet just walk....

I can count the number of problems i have had with bkk taxi drivers in ten years on one hand.....maybe it's something about some of the passengers attitudes that bring out the "scammer" in them...like not being polite or just generally being a jerk?

In Bangkok a few years ago, I was in a taxi, I knew where I was going, the driver made a left hand turn,for what I believe was a genuine mistake, he then apologised and said "sorry, I will turn back, I said OK, on the opposite side of the road was a big long traffic jam and it was about 2 Kilos before the driver could make a u-turn and go back.

As we sat in the traffic jam for a long time, I asked him to put the meter off and he refused, I had a rough idea of what the fare would be and offered him that amount when we get to my destination, he said no, and gestured to me I should pay what is on the meter. I said no, then got out, gave him nothing, left the door open and walked away. Was I wrong? If I had accepted what the driver wanted, I would have ended up paying maybe about four or five times what the fare should have been.

If they wanted to stop the problem it could be done in a week by banning the operators who extort. Extortion for fake damages = instant ban and confiscation of jet ski. Easy.

It seems they really don't want to stop the problem, maybe there is too much money involved for all parties to close it down?

Every 6 months some new hardline policies are trotted out but nothing changes.

The real losers of course are the tourists who come for a holiday and naively believe they might have some protection against being scammed in such a busy tourist spot

Anywhere in Thailand, whether it's jetskis or anything else, where people in authority are getting their pockets lined, things will never change.

Aw the outrage. the family paid thru the nose to the victims family as they always do in Thailand. Which would have been better a poor Joe from Issan with no money to pay and he gets 10 years but the families get nothing. This way the families recieve something for their loved ones that is more tangiable than a prison sentence that doesn't give the families anything.

If you want the harsh justice of the west then this is not the place for you. My thoughts and best wishes go out to the victims families as nothing will replace their loved ones not even a harsh sentence on a na Authaya

There is harsh jail sentences in Thailand, and not holiday camps like in the UK. But the harsh jail sentences here only apply if you are not very rich.

Thailand must be the HUB of suspended sentences.

What about the policemen convicted of murder, being given the death penalty, then allowed out on bail. Yes, it's true.

I wouldn't be surprised if she drove to the court.

Neither would I.

It is good to see that Thailand protects children and adhere's to the treaty on the rights of the child. Especially regarding youngsters the aim of the law is not to punish, but to correct wrong behaviour.

Let's not forget this isn't murder, as some seem to want to make out of it. It was a very, very tragic accident. And don't forget that driving by minors is not exactly rare in Thailand and it are often the adults who fail to act against it.

Finally a poster that talks like a mature adult. The nasty vendictive, negative posters that want blood and executions should just disappear. It is amazing they have something negative and angry to say about almost every single news article posted on TV. If you want to know whats happening in the world between countires, just listen to the people talk.

Nobody is calling for blood, just justice!! She is 16, she knows the consequences of her actions. When somebody drives a car drunk they dont go out with the intention to kill someone but they understand the risks involved.

Its not murder but it is manslaughter. The sentence is a disgrace and anyone who disagree's needs to seriously question their own mindset! How would you react if the victims were in your family??

Does Thailand really protect children? yes, and no, I have seen adults regularly give up seats to children from about two years old and upwards on the skytrain and buses. I was travelling on a bus for more than 1 hour for a journey of about 40 Kilos, when a man aged about 40 gave up his seat to a 13 year old schoolgirl and stood all that time. As this was up country, it is very probable that that same man and others like him, allows his 10 year old kid to ride motor bikes in amongst traffic in front of policemen. I have just read about the underage girl responsible for the deaths of 9 people on the tollway going practically unpunished, and yes, it was probably due to corruption, and it truly amazes me that when I refer to Thailand as the LOS, land of stupidity, referring to the mentality of most Thai people, I get lots of replies from TV members slagging me off, but I must say that just as many agree with me. Much as I love living here, and have come up against many very nice and helpful Thai people, can feel safe walking around which I cannot do in the UK, it has to be said that Thailand is a third world country with a third world mentality. Let the slagging begin.

in any of the Western countries this guy would be out of a job this evening

not in america

Or the UK.

Ah, another fine specimen from PTP!

In the cesspool of Thai politics it's not exactly the cream that rises to the top.

That can be said about policians anywhere, look at Gordon Brown in the UK.

What a dick. he should be telling them to get of their lazy <deleted> and get a job or two like the rest of the world.

You are a dick He is telling the truth you think it is love.

We need more honest Thais like him.

How could you that known that is the reason they marry Farangs.

Remember he is Thai

Where did I say it was "love"? I've lived here 15 years and have a large family. He's a dick. How long have you been here? Married?

If there's one thing I hate. it's referring to people as dicks, or any other name to do with a persons private parts. Would you call him a dick to his face? I think not.

Is this guy related to the numpty that suggested barter trade with Iran wouldn't fall under the international sanctions?

Me tinks the only people getting dumber in Thailand are the politicians. After all, they are only following in the footsteps of their western brethren, where intelligence has very little to do with getting elected.

Lack of intelligence is in the Thai genes, politicians or rice farmers, it doesn't matter.

I assume Sunai was speaking tongue in cheek, but in any case I wouldn't count on European governments having the money to throw around much longer. Reality is hitting profligate governments where it hurts.

It depends on whether it's a Farang who is working in Thailand or a Farang retiree. Most retirees have drink problems, not them all but most. Thai ladies must ask themselves "Is it worth marrying a drunk retiree for my family and I to be looked after financially"?

Can going to Scotland make you a haggis?

What is the thai law for tinted windows ?

There isn't any Thai law that's to do with driving unless it's for the BIB tea money or involves drugs.

The only losers in all of this are the students. The schools get what they pay for. We pulled TW's daughter out of the 'so called' best private school in our Amphur because of the Filipino English teachers. What a joke and complete waste of our money!

The Filopino teachers are actually very good, I have worked with them, but in another school, myself and the other Farang native speaking teachers, lost our jobs at the end of term and were replaced by Filipinos on half our salary.

I hope this is in line with the Topic as it is about Western food. Small steak pies at Friendship Supermarket in Pattaya have increased in price from 48 Baht to 80 Baht. I am not kidding.

Nothing to do with Bovril

Sorry Joepai, I thought Bovril was Western food, and food could be drunk as well as eaten.

Slightly different account of events here........ http://www.pattayada...-buakhao-condo/

I'm Scottish, I have no idea what alcohol tastes like, but it sure smells revolting.