chdailey

'Airbagwill' makes some valuable, salient points.  I suspect he has some transportation safety or industrial safety background. So the question would be..How do we get a government to listen / respond / learn from individuals or organizations that are not part of the established institutions?  There have been a lot of (physical) transportation improvements over the past several years in my area around Chiang Mai.  There is evidence that more cameras are being placed strategically all over the country to catch speeders (I suspect this is more in the interest of revenue generation than public safety, much like similar tactics used around the US).  Running red lights is still a very big problem where I live in Hang Dong and one can only hope that camera deployment at intersections will start to put a dent in those deadly circumstances.  Poor driving skills and understanding / following general traffic regulations on the part of the public and commercial drivers seem to account for the high (highway) traffic fatalities during the holidays (as opposed to poor road conditions).  Accident and fatality numbers during these times really point to a lip-service-only approach to serious traffic law enforcement.  As the saying goes..."the proof is in the pudding".  Again, the challenge is to convince Thai institutions that there are some valuable assets that could be tapped to improve the situation with little or no cost to the government.  Most of us that live in this country have a strong desire to see it progress and thrive, I think. If the Thai government is monitoring sites like ours (and I'm fairly certain they are), why not try to open a channel to forward positive, productive suggestions with an official government receipt acknowledged through the channel?  You know, strength in numbers and all that.

I am an American who shipped stuff from the US (Thai wife, early retirement, etc.).  I think the decision to ship vs. buy here depends largely on lifestyle.  If you plan to have a house and some property to maintain here or have hobbies involving working with materials or gardening, I recommend you ship (non-heavy-motor-electrical) stuff if you have used it in the US.  As mentioned above, most tools and hardware here are of lesser quality and won't perform or wear like you are accustomed .  If you have saved hardware items (nuts, bolts, screws, fixtures, etc.) for odd-jobs around the house or for use on machinery, those are of real value over her as well,  Hand tools of all types with good solid hard-wood handles and solid attachment are also at a premium over here.  Again, it depends on what you do with your time and what your lifestyle is.

I pay for my TOT internet service using a Kasikorn electronic debit account obtained to make internet purchases. You don't get a physical card, just the card number, expiration date and CVN to apply to purchases. The purchases are debited from whatever account you tie the service to. I then use TOT e-service to pay online on my computer, referencing the Kasikorn e-debit number, etc. It works just fine and I've used it to pay my bill consistently for the last 7 months.

I also have that card number from Kasikorn , the problem is that TOT e-service only accepts bills with fixed telephone lines , not internet bills.....

Understood. I called TOT with the same problem and they explained my internet service (a wireless service using a dedicated receiver at the house) is listed as a fixed line. I used my TOT billing reference number and found it to be the case. I have no fixed line or cable coming to my house from the street, just the wireless receiver pointed at their transmitter / cell tower.

I pay for my TOT internet service using a Kasikorn electronic debit account obtained to make internet purchases. You don't get a physical card, just the card number, expiration date and CVN to apply to purchases. The purchases are debited from whatever account you tie the service to. I then use TOT e-service to pay online on my computer, referencing the Kasikorn e-debit number, etc. It works just fine and I've used it to pay my bill consistently for the last 7 months.