bikerider21

Always better to negotiate and/or confirm the price in advance so that there are no surprises after the fact.

If you do not practice that and complain you need your mommy.

Don't think so. Something like a bike wash you know the price range and you're never going to ask the price, it seems petty. Obviously they can't charge you 1000 Baht because you would never pay it and if an argument ensued, you'd call the bobbies and they'd back you to the hilt.

I'd never ask the price of such a trivial item when I'm a viewed as a rich falang. (If pushed, I'd get my Thai wife to do it)

Cleaning a motor scooter is pretty easy. There are large, smoothly curving panels covering most of the bike, making cleaning a 10-minute job.

An off-road 200cc motorcycle has lots of nooks and crannies that need to be accessed to clean it properly, making it a far more difficult job...To do a proper job takes 30+ minutes or more. Cleaning a scooter is easy. Cleaning a motorcycle is a pain in the butt, in fact, that you were willing to pay someone else to do it. And, when you saw the rather low price being charged, didn't hesitate to try to get you motorcycle cleaned.

I certainly wouldn't consider the cleaners were trying to cheat you. On the other hand...

You're right but I pay 100 Baht to have my big bike cleaned (with lots more nooks and crannies) along Canal road and they are very happy and smiling with that and I always feel like I should pay more. However, a friend of mine who is an avid traveler thinks that over tipping just encourages what we are talking about. Not to say I never tip, I do and was not really arguing the cost of 150 Baht. It's just better when I give the tip and they don't take it for themselves.

Let's just say you WERE cheated. $3 USD plus the principle is something that is not good (especially considering the percentage of the mark-up).

HOWEVER, you saved someone from not getting ripped off........and in Karma terms.....that is worth way more.

The money is irrelevant as you must agree. It's only the principle. I remember in the UK when they changed from gallons to litres. On holiday, I saw a good price for petrol so decided to pull in an fill up my jag, both tanks, 10 gallons a piece.

The bill came to more than I usually paid so I rechecked the sign. Underneath the big price sign they had written in small letters "For 4 Litres". As there are 4.5 litres in a UK gallon, this was a form of cheating which I reported, as did many others. I received a letter about 6 months later saying that the garage owner had been prosecuted for fraud. Of course I didn't get the money back but just a kind of satisfaction knowing there was some justice left in the world.

200cc off road bike???

Maybe its just not worthy to be on the road

You're probably right. It cost only 49,000 Baht (new) and doesn't even have a oil filter or petrol gauge. Most of the screws that fell out during my first trip, leaving me without a back brake on the summit of Doi Int-anon have been replaced. The front brake squealing has been nearly cured as well as the strong brake smell due to the brakes sticking. This has helped with the power, which suddenly doubled and most of the engine knocking has gone away.

It's not me who decides which motorbikes are worthy to be on the road. I'm not sure it would qualify to be on European roads though.

As for me, it's not my main bike and it was bought to be a bit of fun (which it is). Gone are the days when I jump through burning hoops and do wheelies in front of police check points.

Don't know what that's got to do with having the bike cleaned though.

200cc off road bike???

Chinese

I don't think that the terms "legal" and "farang ripoff" are mutually exclusive terms.

No question that pricing here is completely flexible and understood by most to be just that. Always better to negotiate and/or confirm the price in advance so that there are no surprises after the fact.

Should have asked I know but that's how surprises work. One of the great things about Thailand is that you hardly ever need to ask the price for anything. That's why it's annoying when you do feel you've been cheated.

It's blocked because of articles perceived by the ruling military junta to be critical of Thailand.

If you want to access the website, google "VPN".

Thanks for sensible answer.

No, just wondered why and also how many more foreign newspapers are censored.

Decided to have lunch near to Pantip Plaza and saw a sign saying motorbikes cleaned for 45 Baht so left my bike there, a kind of off road 200cc bike, not very dirty. On picking up the bike, they demanded 150 Baht which I paid after I pointed out the signs to them. Apparently, the signs say small bikes (in Thai). However, there was no sign saying I should pay 150 Baht and they didn't tell me before I left my bike there. My bike wasn't 3 times bigger or 3 times harder to clean.

I usually get my much bigger bike cleaned for 100 Baht.

Was this legal of just another Falang Ripoff?

Why is the UK Daily Mail newspaper blocked in Thailand?

www.dailymail.co.uk

@CBBakeryCM

Twitter Crusty Bread Bakery Chiang Mai

Thanks for shaved pubes, not many flees there!

This is not good news,I hope the Government has a plan,a plan of

action,and does not wait until the taps run dry before trying to fix

the problem,as usually happens.

They also must put the needs of households and factories before

that of the farmers.who have been told not to grow crops,due to the

coming water shortage,but will they listen,no,then they will cry

to the government the crops are dead and demand compensation!

regards Worgeordie

I don't understand why educated highly paid officials wait until the sylo is empty before raising the alarm. Surely their job is to control the supply and demand. What do they do? Too much beaurocracy or too many emails to answer.

This is bank robbery...in reverse...the bank is robbing the individual...should definitely be held accountable for their colossal screw-up...

When I was young 1970 or so, it was part of growing up to get your driving license and your first bank account even without money, except for the 5 pounds it took to open it.

Then, banks were establishments. I got paid monthly instead of weekly and my 7 quid a month was paid into a bank instead of me getting a weekly wage packet with so many deducations you could blow it all in the pub on a Friday night.

I was proud to have a bank account then. Since then I've grown up and banks are not what they used to be.

I'm surprised people still use banks anymore. We're so afraid of someone nicking the loot from under the mattress that we allow banks to charge us every time they write to us to tell us how little money we have. We keep our stash in their safe keeping and when some body takes it, they blame us. No wonder they can give their management such big salaries and bonuses. Who else could give to the rich by robbing the poor?

In order to encourage people to travel the country by bicycle...

Once again, YMBFJ:

Thai truck driver who knocked down and killed British couple fined just £18

I was finally knocked off my bike in Chiang Mai but it was to be expected. Cars have no consideration for small motorcycles and especially bikes.

In Germany where they have very good bike lanes, the law says any accident involving a bike is automatically the car drivers fault. They probably would loose their licence though.

What are those black and white lines supposed to do. I've tired crossing with my bike only to find cars whizzing past me on both sides at high speed missing me by inches.I gave up biking after my inevitable accident.

Wish they would offer the same reward to citizens who report officers extorting bribes. Definitely could improve the median household income level in Thailand.

Citizens shouldn't need paying or are you one who does?

Dream on Jail time ......LOL

War crime tribunals take place long after the crimes take place. Surely we can look forward to rice crime tribunals before we all pass on?

We need somebody like Elliot Ness with infinite powers to sort out the corruption.

First, wrong diagnosis.

Second, try to cover up, although 27 more soldiers have the virus.

Third wrong message given to the public.

Should we be worried????????

Sounds like a comforter response to me. We're not all Americans

So they had a mishap. A contract is a contract. The contract should have been cancelled immediately and renegotiated with other bidders. There were other bidders, right?

Did the buyers check out the manufacturing facilities (fire standards etc) before signing the contact?

"The Chinese firm explained that a fire had hit the plant of a parts manufacturer, a DRAM manufacturer," the source said.

Ah, the old, the dog ate my homework ploy.

That bit is actually true - it was a Hynix plant in Wuxi, and it was responsible for about 15% of global DRAM production.

But it was back in September, and within about 2 months production had been ramped up in other locations to pretty much make up the shortfall.

The last thing I heard, one half of that plant was back in production, but the date for the restoration of full capacity kept on getting pushed back.

In any contract, you have delivery clauses which it looks like this one did. Such a big contract should have had lawyers. As soon as the contract was broken, (after 30 days) i.e. delivery schedule not met, the contract should have been cancelled.

One of the fundamental things about a contract is making sure that the supplier has the means to meet the terms, delivery, quality etc. Not just to choose the cheapest bid and leave it at that. How many visits to the manufacturers facilities too place?

Another way, is to choose the best terms for "my share". It's because the contract wasn't cancelled after 30 days that the students suffered, no other reason. That's purely the fault of the buyer.

It does make you feel guilty though when you have already started building your house with your share, paid up front. You are not going to cause a fuss and so will let things go on and one which gives enough time to find someone else to blame. This is corruption in it's worst form; the sort that has diar consequences to other people. Castration isn't good enough.

Years ago, I used to come back from meetings in Chatuansao. Sometimes I'd be 3 hours without moving. Fortunately I could close my eyes and listen to the news in English while my driver sat at the wheel.

I wouldn't have said no to a luxury car where you could shut out the noisy world, watch tv, drink some wine, play on the Internet, play with my secretary? Come on, I know which I'd choose without a second thought

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

There's a culture in Chiang Mai not to peep the horn. The only motorbike horn I've ever heard is mine. I wish drivers would peep their horns more often for safety reasons.

But that goes for indicators and lights also.

Live in China for a few months and you'll be dreaming of ways to put their horns where the sun don't shine. Sideways.

It was such a treat to deal with drivers in Bangkok after 10 years up there.

Was going to say the same thing about middle east. Mostly due to the Pakis and Indians.

Driving here isn't as bad as there, save for the hordes of motorbikes, but at least no horns.

At about the same time in the evening in Abu Dhabi when the traffic starts to grind to a halt, the locals take out some of their daily frustrations by fisting their horns until they start to move again. This is the arrogant locals who can get away with it. Of the few Pakis and Indians who own cars, most would be afraid of doing this. The culture there is, don't rock the boat and risk getting thrown out.

However, driving in India, Indonesia, Iran and many other places in Asia is a constant adrenalin flow. Even if YOU don't overtake there are vehicles that constantly (every few seconds) pull out of line in front of oncoming buses and trucks knowing they've no chance and then try to squeeze in front of you or push you off the road.

On my recent bike trip down south, this only happened one time so I must say that the driving in Thailand is really really good by comparison.

However, there are still those who flaunt the rules and cause the high accident rate.

Think twice Red shirts! Yingluck might not have THB 780,000,000,000 to spend anymore on populist policies...

Yes, the north would be more like Laos and Burma without Bangkok and the south. But if that's what they want, why not. Both side should happy. Other countries have split amicably. e.g. Czech & Slovakia.

Yeah why not? Thoughtless Morons! Where does the oil come from to feed the power stations? Where does the food and beer come from. Already forgotten the floods when basic foods, sugar, even bottled water wasn't available.

Why do so many people talk total absolute unqualified rubbish on Thaivisa?

I suppose that's the basic idea. Let the loonies have their say.