I Like Thai

They cannot make eye contact with you if you don't make eye contact with them. You are so nervous of this situation that when you go out, you are the one that is initiating the stares. The Thais see you looking at them and stare back probably thinking "why is that guy staring at me". My advise is for you to stop looking to see who is looking at you, then the problem will go away.

Thanks @Semper

Section 34 (500B)

[if the road is divided into two or more traffic lanes in the same direction, the driver shall

keep to the outermost left-hand side lane. If the outermost left-hand side lane is a bus

lane, the driver shall keep close to the bus lane. Except following situations:

a. there is obstruction on the road

b. the road is prescribed as one-way

c. it is necessary to enter the correct lane upon approaching a junction

d. when overtaking another vehicle

e. when driving faster than vehicles in the left-hand side lane.

and for benefit of others, here is the unlocked pdf.

And btw, if thailand have other traffic regulations than the rest of the known world,

then why is international driving license valid ?

and it was right before pattaya, coming from bang saree

Do you indicate ?

Section 36 (500B)

[When a driver is to turn the vehicle, let another vehicle to overtake, change traffic lane,

reduce speed or stop the vehicle, he shall display hand signal (Section 37) or light signal

(Section 38). When the condition doesn't permit the visibility of hand signals (like at

night), he must use the light signal.

The driver must display the hand signal or light signal not less distance than 60m before

turning the vehicle, changing traffic lane, or stopping the vehicle.

The hand signal or light signal must be visible to other drivers at not less distance than

60m.]

Section 38 (500B)

The driver of an automobile or motorcycle shall display light signals as follows:

a. to stop the vehicle, ..

b. to turn the vehicle or change traffic lane, ...

c. to let another vehicle to overtake, the driver shall display amber light signal for

turning or blinking red or amber light signal at the back and to the left of the

vehicle.

By the marks on the back of the van looks like the speed difference was quite high. I'll put my bet on drunk&flat out.

The photo's beg a number of questions. If the bike was travelling at speed how come the two people on the bike were not thrown off? Over the handlebars with the passenger up and over the back of the rider? They are shown to still be on the machine as though they had hit the corner and/or had been hit by the corner of the minibus then fallen sideways at the point of collision.

They probably hit the back of the van judging by the large impact mark on it. They were prevented from being thrown off by the back of the van and the bike holding the victims pinned for a second or two. That is then why the victims and the bike are together just at the back of the van.

It is possible they were approaching the minivan in the blind spot of the rear view door mirror so the driver didn't look or see them behind. Consequently if they were not able to take avoiding action due to passing vehicles then that would make sense, being in the wrong place at wrong time.

From the photos it looks like they were taken at the collision site and nothing has been moved. The van appears to be parked in the hard shoulder of the road on the far right of the road. There doesn't seem to be any justification for the bike driver to have been in that lane.. There also appears to be a long stretch of road, where the bike driver would have had a good unhindered view.

What I like so much about TV is the way all the clever posters place the blame on drunk driving when none of you know anything about the circumstances. Quick off the mark with unsubstantiated claims and nothing to back them up with. You could always wait until there is some factual evidence available but I won't hold my breath!

Maybe you were fined for not using an Indicator when changing lanes, while you were overtaking.

Why this only happens in Pattaya? Why not Chiang Mai or Bangkok ?

Does Chiang Mai or Bangkok have a local English newspaper that reports on most beer bar brawls or incidents ?

Or are you trying to suggest that there are never bar brawls in those areas ?

If the girls are nice and give you that great Thai smile, it's hard not to want to give them a few baht. It usually won't make much difference to you at the end of the month but it does spread goodwill.

The next time you are in the 7/11 where you have spread some goodwill. Tell the cashier that you are 5 baht short for your purchases. See how far your goodwill has gone

With the Honey bee populations collapsing in USA and Europe by up to 50% due to parasitic infection, maybe honey production could become lucrative in the next few years, but more than likely the parasite will spread worldwide and affect Asian bee populations also, if not already there.

Looked around town quite a bit this lunch time and found very little. Disappointing. I wonder if i'm looking in all the wrong places? I"ve yet to try gad suan gaew, but so far i'm very surprised at the lack of participating places.

Incidentally, referring back to your original comments on going veg during the festival to help your digestive problems: despite the disappointment of a lack of places joining in, chiang mai generally does very well for vegetarian restaurants. The food is so good in so many places that it really helps people who find it hard to give up meat, or even to reduce it. My point being that you could continue your 'going veg' for longer than the festival!

Hoping to hear from other posters of some other places participating.

Rather than looking for new places that are serving vegetarian food for the festival, why not go to the vegetarian restaurants that you know about and list them in your thread. Surely the existing dedicated vegetarian restaurants should be the places to benefit from this festival, rather than regular meat/veg restaurants jumping on the bandwagon for a week.

If I have the wrong end of the stick and what you are looking for is dedicated vegetarian restaurants that you are unaware of, then that would be a good idea. But don't overly support vendors that will just supply vegetarian food for the duration of this event.

The guy came with the last bill and it was about 4 times the usual amount. We checked the meter and could see that the reading was wrong. He jotted down the correct reading and told me that I did not have to pay right now.

It was straightforward until you made it otherwise

Hi

As the rules stand at the present if you are married in the eyes of the UK government she will get a state pension, based on your contributions, when she reaches state pension age,

Your wife will also on your death be entitled to bereavement payment (a one off lump sum of £2000) and bereavement allowance if she is over 45 ( a taxable weekly benefit. It is paid for up to 52 weeks from the date of your death, ranges from £32 at age 45 to £106 at age 55+)

see here bereavement payment - http://www.direct.go...ved/DG_10018703

and bereavement allowance here - http://www.direct.go...ved/DG_10018684

claim form, national insurance number will be issued as part of the claim here - http://www.dwp.gov.u...s/bb1_print.pdf

there are separate rules if there are any young children.

it may be useful to fill in the form bb1 as far as possible and leave it with any legal docs, etc.

sorry billd766 missed your attachement

Steve 187 has got it right as far as he goes.

Your wife will be able to claim bereavement benefits and her own state pension once she reaches pensionable age as the rules stand today. However it is quite likely that the rules will change over the next 5/10 years, and not only will your wife not be eligible to your pension, but maybe all us Brits will not receive a penny unless we are actually living in the UK

Also Rubba Johnny note that currently upon your demise, should your wife have a child under 20 and still at school (need not be fathered by you) she can also claim Widowed Parents Allowance.

Divorce the wife and marry her mother or Grandmother. Keeps it in the family

That pormax guy has you lot sorted.

Whats a 'mensa'?

Mensa is the Italian word for Toilet. It is derived from the Latin "Menses" (menstruation). Toilets were originally built as small rooms for Ladies to clean themselves during menstruation and the word has passed down in Italian

Here is an example of it in Italian.

Ware iz da Mensa pleaze

You post a photo of the ticket online, then accuse the policeman of being a thief. You might want to be a bit more careful

Edinburgh 0-45 Saracens

Racing Metro 92 22-17 Munster

Zebre 10-19 Connacht

It came up on the bottom of my screen also, but I declined to take part.

Do they still show the Heineken cup games on Eurosport ?

Edinburgh 0 - 16 Saracens (HT)

Racing Metro 13 - 10 Munster (HT)

Zebre 3 - 9 Connacht (HT)

I am an Australian who have played golf for 40 years.

I have NEVER heard of this person.

So why say he is a FAMOUS AUSTRALIAN golfer.

Also he is a ITALIAN national, maybe with an Australian passport.

Pisses me off when they give us a bad name.

It says he is a well known expat golfer

Meaning that he is a well known expat who is also a golfer

aren't the Jomtien guys generally better then the Pattaya beach guys.. or are they all the same.... it's just we always hear about Pattaya beach but rarely about Jomtien.

I've never heard any stories about the Jomtien jet ski operators swindling anyone either. Does anyone have any stories about an actual scam they operate, rather than just taking the usual line of knocking everyone and everything Thai

Are you saying that if a British teacher aged 30 started a sexual relationship with a 10 year old girl in France, then he can't get into trouble ?

No, I'm saying a 30yo man having sex with a 15yo woman in France is not against any English, French (or international) laws.

This might say otherwise

Article 227-27 prohibits sexual relations with minors over age 15 (aged 15, 16 or 17) " 1° where they are committed by a legitimate, natural or adoptive ascendant or by any other person having authority over the victim; 2° where they are committed by a person abusing the authority conferred by his functions

Yes. But in this case, the teacher was not relying on his 'heart' - he knew exactly what he was doing and the consequences, which is why his BRAIN took over, and he took her abroad....

If his brain was working, he should have traveled to France on his own, and allowed her to meet him later. Then he wouldn't be in trouble, no abduction, no extradition.

Are you saying that if a British teacher aged 30 started a sexual relationship with a 10 year old girl in France, then he can't get into trouble ?

I also object to being filmed ,the other day my wife and i were having a coffee in central and noticed this guy filming two ladyboys ,he then continued filming and as we left started to film us , i have nothing to hide ,but on the other hand dont want to end up on the internet.

If you have nothing to hide, why do you care if you are on the internet?

Why do you use a fake name and an Avatar photo on the Internet that is not of yourself, if you have nothing to hide ?

Ex-pat Golfer arrested by Pattaya Immigration

Where does it say he's Irish?

If he was Pat, he might be Irish. But being an Ex Pat, then maybe he was Irish, but not any longer.

Another young desperate going to lose her life to incarceration over drugs. Drugs are the total degeneration of our society here and abroad. The manufacturers should be summarily executed as there will always be people willing to transport it and they care nothing about either them or the end user. This is a form of human trafficking in its own right.

"The manufacturers should be summarily executed" I agree wholeheartedly!

All well and good but they never catch them do they? only the mug mules.

Very true, unfortunately. I wonder why that is?

This might be one reason

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56XpRyNkf6w&feature=related

I had a teacher "retire early" after taking a pic of him with his hands up a p2 boy´s thighs. They are not as untouchable as you think.

Yes, the directly begged me to delete the pic. So I did, after uploading to Dropbox. A C.Y.A. just in case .

Why didn't you report him to the police ?