Asiantravel

Sure, investigate it. Israel's legit beef with the UN is the obvious lack of balance in their actions against Israel compared to many other much worse global offenders.

Dont blame the slow-moving bahtbus: blame the person behind who is too close and going too fast to stop in time.

How many more accidents/deaths before they ban rental motorbikes completely? They are a menace.

People on motorbikes should be travelling at a speed that will allow them to stop safely depending on road conditions.

huge numbers of people go far too fast to allow them to do this and many don't bother to wear helmets at night time.

I wonder if this guy was wearing a helmet?

One suggestion for a relatively short journey is on Lao Airlines to Savannakhet.

It's a relatively short airline airline trip flying over Isan.

Savannakhet is a delightfully laid back little city with not many cars and great for cycling around.

Didn't like visiting Cambodja at all 5 years ago. It's edgy, poor, no infrastructure and a general feeling of despair from the locals. Not to mention I don't like not knowing who were Khmer Rogue in the past. It would be like walking around in post war Germany and not knowing who were Nazis. The 'Highway 4' is a dirt road with massive potholes. Only other foreigner I met on a bus was toothless weirdo. Sihanoukville is incredibly boring. Most of the countryside is an ugly flat tundra since they cut down all the trees.

No thanks to Cambodja. I'd much sooner move to the Philipines.

It has got a lot of good things and I do enjoy the place for many reasons and I love the architecture.

But you have really knocked the nail on the head and is probably the reason why I have sat on the fence myself for about 8 years. I suddenly have a burst of " ok I'm moving there " but then I get doubts.

I think it just comes down to the overall atmosphere of the place which lingers from the past. And you have quite correctly raised a very salient point. In fact I have never understood how they can even reconcile having a Prime Minister, who was part of the previous regime?!

I mean, you don't just wake up one morning and just say I've changed my perspective and what the Khmer Rouge did was wrong!

I think the bottom line is it will take at least a generation before things can get back to normal.

Actually I have seen this woman on Beach Road! I thought then she looked a little bit crazy and angry. Very scary

I love biking and ride my bike everyday in Thailand. Yes, it is dangerous, but for a great part of the way from my apartment building to Lumpini on weekdays, traffic is bumper to bumper, and I can zig-zag thru just like the motorbikes. On weekends and holidays traffic is light in the morning, and not too dangerous. Is Bangkok polluted? Sure, but you breath the same air by walking, or jogging. It would be very nice to have bike paths to and from parks, but before that can happen, can someone at least do something about the idiots walking or jogging on the bike paths in Lumpini? The park is open for bicycles from 10AM - 3PM, and yet no one respects the bike path rules, and the guards at Lumpini don't give a #%@*.

" If you ride you know those moments when you have fed yourself into the traffic, felt the hashed-up asphalt rattle in the handlebars, held a lungful of air in a cloud of exhaust. Up ahead there are two parallel buses. With cat's whiskers, you measure the clearance down a doubtful alley. You swing wide, outflank that flower truck. The cross-street yellow light is turning red. You burst off the green like a surfer on a wave of metal. You have a hundred empty yards of Broadway to yourself."

~Chip Brown, "A Bike and a Prayer"

Cycling for exercise should be encouraged but definitely not at the expense of pedestrians, Bangkok pavements are already poorly maintained and clogged with vendors etc and having to dodge cyclists would be a very dangerous prospect.

The majority should not be inconvenienced - much less put at risk - merely to indulge the hobby of a few.

Anyone who cycles in Bangkok as their main form of transport however is, frankly, fairly idiotic.

A few months ago I hired a private Math teacher (a Farang) for my daughter - the fool arrived at my door having cycled from Ladprao to Soi Asoke covered in sweat and stinking of traffic fumes; he was puzzled and quite offended when I refused him entry and cancelled the lessons.

Patrick

Prejudice personified

Isn't it remarkable that a motorcyclist or motorist following the vehicle didn't see what was going on and alert the driver?

And if there wasn't a guard sitting with the prisoners in the compartment surely the driver of the police van would have the means to look to the rear occasionally and monitor the behaviour of the prisoners?

It all seems too extraordinary for words, and I wonder if someone was paid off not to notice what was going on in the back?

Oh dear. And it is possible there is another casualty one floor below called The Car Park pub with 2 old cars on the balcony. I noticed just this week it was all boarded up. I knew a member of staff there and one evening they told her about three weeks ago not to come back for 14 days because it was so quiet. Then she didn't receive any more salary. She told me they had spent quite a lot of money on the fit out, but maybe they simply didn't have enough cash set aside?

Businesses in that complex do seem to be jinxed, don't they?

I am in Pattaya and just as I was reading this thread about one hour ago guess what ? We had a power cut!

As far as the quality of the surgeons concerned I would have far greater faith in Sri Lankan doctors than Thailand if they could only attract more investment in clinics and private hospitals. I have seen a full list of the Sri Lankan medical Association and virtually all of their surgeons have worked and trained in USA or UK.

Nawaloka Heart Centre is just one example

http://www.nawalokaheartcentre.com/

I was amazed to find out South African does not have the jury system . So a single judge will decide whether he is guilty or not. I wonder how much corruption they have?. The more this case unfolds, particularly with the scandal around the lead detective their system looks a bit shambolic.

 

I visited Numchai today based on all the positive feedback. As mentioned there are 2 shops but the one by the pedestrian walkover is bigger and has a very large selection. I went specifically for a Trek bike but the owner (Neung)said they were not a Trek dealer and had no bikes. Being tall I require a large size and he had a few bikes that would meet my needs. They had Giant, Haro, and a few brands I have never heard of. One was called Wheeler which caught my eye but at 30,000 baht I want to do more research. Anybody know anything about this brand (Wheeler), it had a full compliment of Shimano components with an Italian (Marzocchi) front fork/shock?

 

Trek bikes at SV bikes.

middle of thepprasit road

http://www.wheelerworldwide.com/aboutus.htm

people usually declare that they had no sex before marriage at the police interview -

I have often wondered how a country next to Thailand could think so differently?

I remember going there for the first time about eight years ago and seeing the signs on the back of the hotel door that it was strictly illegal for anyone to be in your room unless you are married.

How did they ever get to be so prudish?

Just like the English nurse didn't kill herself over transferring a phone call, this guy is unlikely to have killed himself solely over gf issues.

People generally kill themselves because they have massive depression. It's a mental health issue and affects some much more than others.

It boggles my mind people passing judgement on these poor souls who feel they are left with no choice. You have no clue what has happened in his life, you have no clue of the chemical make up of his brain and his predisposition to depression. Basically, you have no fookin clue

I agree some people have more mental strength. than others it's impossible to put yourself in others shoe's. It's bloody sad

“He thought his girlfriend had somebody (in the room) and has a broken heart,” a Thai staff member said.

Maybe to some people it would feel like drowning.

Did anyone hear what Alan Greenspan said last night about the US stock market? I'm wondering if the same sentiments apply here and how many agree with him?

"the stock market is the key player in the game of economic growth."

change the words "the key player" to "a key player" and I'd agree

Fletch

http://www.thaivisa....alen complaint

Here you are, this one for example. But there were many other posts by satisfied students over the years.

Why do you think your competitors do not generate the same level of dissatisfaction as your school? If students are unhappy with the service they receive from Pro Language say or any of the other schools you never hear anyone afterwards complaining about them with such passion as they do about your teaching methods?

I guess those other schools do not have many students that is why very few ever mention them. Like there is nothing much to discuss about them. There must be a good reason why Walen is a number 1 Thai school in the world. So many people cannot be wrong.

Wonder how many "students" Walen would have if they would not give out those ED visa's.....

http://www.thaivisa....alen complaint

Here you are, this one for example. But there were many other posts by satisfied students over the years.

Anyone know what happened to this "new" service?

They haven’t even got a web page up and running yet ?

I noticed in another thread people were talking about how many Chinese are to be seen out and about. Does anybody think Chinese will start to invest in these new developments?

Hmmm......50 kilo each. Would it be possible to dump some 'unnecessary' items and take the flight?

Hehehe... great idea, Semper.

But this is our "grand migration" to C.M, so we're taking our most treasured worldly possessions -- the stuff we couldn't sell, donate or dump.

We decided on the NCA 1st class bus. I read somewhere it can be booked online and then pay at 7/11. On their website, I didn't find any way

to book. Anyone have a link for booking the NCA bus?

We'll be in BKK a few days so we could book early.

Thanks to everyone for all the helpful advice.

Sometimes TV is worth its weight in gold...