NongKhaiKid

Asian gecko threatened by medicine trade

...and my kitty cat

Are Thai politicians involved ?

The fines are so so so low that they are no deterrent at all. And if caught drunk, just sat at side of road until semi-sober

I've a couple of friends who were caught, paid an " on the spot " fine and drove away still unable to bite their own fingernails

How do this year's figures so far match-up to last yr's..?? Or do we have to wait till the end of the '7 days'?? (no comparison seems to have been made yet).

The Monday edition of the Bkk Post reports the government fears the final figures will top last year's " record " levels so the Interior Minister has ordered provincial authorities to step up preventative measures. However he has also stated that there will be no punishment for failure which is a very Thai cop out and might encourage some to do little or nothing other than have a couple of excuses handy. Come Thursday morning as the national statistics start to be compiled I wonder if the truth will be told especially if worse than last year considering all the pre-Songkrn hot air from officialdom

It might be a bit early for them to guess if the numbers will top last year but if they do it will be very sad since last year the number went up considerably from the previous year. One thing that might be skewing the numbers right now is the first three days this year (173 Dead) were Thursday, Friday and Saturday while the first 3-days last year (144 Dead) were Wed., Thurs & Friday. However, the fact it did fall closer to the weekend this year could mean more people traveling and with the big increase in the vehicle sales the past year it might mean more people are choosing to drive themselves and their family ... not to mention the numbers last year were up after a year that had an incredible drop. My guess is the number will fall just short of last year.

Also, last years numbers were a bit interesting too as compared to the previous year in that there were actually less reported accidents last year but about 50 more fatalities.

.

Bottom line very sad if there is another year of moving in the wrong direction.

Edit: Last year wasn't a "record" number and believe it was the 2nd lowest number in the last decade.

I believe these numbers were based on counting 10 Days of Songkran

2003: 668

2004: 654

2005: 522

2006: 476

These numbers are definitely counting 7 Days of Songkran as is the standard now

2007: 361

2008: 368

2009: 373

2010: 361

2011: 271

2012: 320

Wow, great research ! My problem is how the government shifts the goalposts to suit as in - X days are holidays but not official holidays so not holidays to be counted for accident figures. Oh my brain hurts

I would be surprised if even 25% of the loan money went into the actual projects.

One of my Thai neighbours told me that every government project in Thailand has corruption payments factored in and that the percentages have gone up but this is only for politicians and civil servants who sign off on the contracts. Then comes the corner cutting by suppliers and other contractors to maximise their profits.

If one of your Thai neighbours told you, then it must be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!

working for provincial government i would believe her more than a foreigner speculating

Do not know about this monk but many are as corrupt as the politicians, stealing land from villagers,and corrupt use of Wat money

I would suggest that he and his temple have landed a large " donation "

Overworked? PMs of countries with far larger area, population and economy still manage to appear in parliament to put forward policies and answer the opposition's questions. OTOH most of them have had actual experience of "work" without the advantages of nepotism and cronyism.

Overworked keeping track of her frequent flyer miles maybe

A lot has been said about the roadside safety tents and I have to say that when I passed my local one today one of the inhabitants was actually awake BUT she was arranging the rice boxes

I guess there comes a time when the Gov't has to hold there hands up and

say .... we are too stupid to stop stupid people from doing stupid things.

Peoples habits will not change unless there are strict penalties

such as immediate loss of certain privelages, confiscate cars and mopeds

and do not let people of with warnings do not let people off with 100 baht tea

money.

Saying you will do something and actually doing something are two different things

Spot on LL but this is what we are used to here, long on talk and short on action. Officialdom seems to think that saying the right thing is enough. I see from The Post that provinces have been ordered to step up road safety for the last few days of the holiday but no one gets disciplined if casualty figures remain high

How do this year's figures so far match-up to last yr's..?? Or do we have to wait till the end of the '7 days'?? (no comparison seems to have been made yet).

The Monday edition of the Bkk Post reports the government fears the final figures will top last year's " record " levels so the Interior Minister has ordered provincial authorities to step up preventative measures. However he has also stated that there will be no punishment for failure which is a very Thai cop out and might encourage some to do little or nothing other than have a couple of excuses handy. Come Thursday morning as the national statistics start to be compiled I wonder if the truth will be told especially if worse than last year considering all the pre-Songkrn hot air from officialdom

It's Songkran and it's the " right " thing to say and that's about all. He is known for his ruthless and vindictive streak and if he ever get back to Thailand a lot of people will be running for cover as he has scores to settle

His attitude is also prevalent amongst his sycophants too. Didn't Chalerm make a speech in Parliament saying if ever he was PM a lot of people had better watch their backs ?

What's this the "Forgive & Forget speech" just more diretribe for the masses to be forgotten tomorow ............

What's this the "Forgive & Forget speech" just more diretribe for the masses to be forgotten tomorow ............

It does give his puppets something to quote though in a " see how reasonable he is " context

Saw something tonight that was interesting.

In Hua Hin, a cop that stopped to chat with fellow revelers tried to get back on the pillon side of the bike and completely fell off...while the bike was still.

Obviously, cop was hammered. But when he fell, peopke wanted to laugh but didn't....sort of a held back laugh.

Eventually, a few Swedish guys helped the cop back on his bike and he fell off again....

T.I.T.

It must have been hilarious. Pity no one filmed it and posted to YouTube.

How quickly would it have been blocked I wonder ?

"... Corruption, drug and people trafficking, individual crimes etc. If you are powerful and have the necessary connections, the fact you will never be punished is a given of this society, and that person's position in it...."

Well said and of course absolutely true. Lip service by Thaksin over the loss of his red brothers - what a joke. He is the one who should be indicted for their deaths. But Thailand will just continue to bump along the bottom in spite of itself as rule of law here has no meaning. The rules keep changing whilst the ball is in play.

I notice he never says anything about his red shirt brothers setting fire to Bangkok

Just how do people sitting in an office limit road accident casualties ? Big talk but no action where it really matters out on the roads. The annual road safety tent is out on the main road near my home and as usual those manning it treat it as an " inactive post " on O/T. Bonus time too for the BIB, with all the drunk drivers there's more " on the spot " fines and off go the drivers just as drunk.

After the holidays the authorities will do what they are best at, the casualty figures will be reduced and " success " claimed. Nothing ever changes

Truth to this story or not it does seem Yingluck puts more into looking good in public than to her job, well that's when she's actually in the country. I suppose it doesn't matter too much though as she's only a puppet anyway

IN Channel has just shown footage of the accident scene which unfortunately showed a shot of the deceased with out the usual blurring and that's totally inappropriate.

According to IN the driver of the 2nd pick up had five relatives on board and they were on their way home to Mahasarkham for Songkran. The female driver supposedly said she had overtaken a bus on the nearside because it was " driving too slow " and didn't see the parked vehicle.

Seems we have heard this all to often

I saw the story. How does one NOT see a parked vehicle on the hard shoulder and drive straight into the back of it? I don't bother to go down how good or bad the driving is in Thailand anymore, they can drive, it is just there is little understanding of even the basic rules, little understanding of the risks involved in a manaoeuver, and often a complete lack of common sense.

She was on a dual carriageway and if in the nearside lane with the bus in the offside she should have had an extended view ahead even with other vehicles in front. If she was in the offside lane right up the bum of the bus, got fed up moved left and put the foot down...! Add in the factor of 5 chattering relatives, where was she looking ?

IN Channel has just shown footage of the accident scene which unfortunately showed a shot of the deceased with out the usual blurring and that's totally inappropriate.

According to IN the driver of the 2nd pick up had five relatives on board and they were on their way home to Mahasarkham for Songkran. The female driver supposedly said she had overtaken a bus on the nearside because it was " driving too slow " and didn't see the parked vehicle.

Seems we have heard this all to often

I'm sure this is a problem that many don't really want solved as there are skeletons in everybody's cupboard so in Thai fashion do nothing or at least as little as possible.

I do love the DSI being painted into a corner as they can hardly upset their government paymasters by finding against red shirts and nobody likes to upset the army.

best news of the day so far

So no change in the country then, meatballs in Ikea and meat heads in the cabinet

Oh yes I'm sure the public will be glued to their TVs over Songkran

I should qualify my last post that recently I took a VIP coach from Khon Kaen to Bkk and was pleasantly surprised. The coach seemed quite new, was clean and well appointed. Believe it or not i actually thought the driver was going too slow but we were on time however he sat in the offside lane most of the time forcing overtaking on the nearside and that unnerves me especially as i was seated in a nearside seat.