Ridler

What a croc of <deleted>!

In Chiang Rai I pass through a police checkpoint at a major intersection several times a week. While sitting at the stoplight I watch them pull over motorbike after motorbike to check documents or no helmet. I see them pull out a big ticket book and write tickets day after day. Not ONCE have I ever seen any money change hands.

While I have no doubt there are some crooked cops in Chiang Rai this particular bunch sure seems to do it by the book....in fact I have never even observed anyone appear to offer them a bribe which tells me that the locals somehow know that at least at this one intersection that won't work.

Where on earth do you think all the money collected goes? Just because they are not collecting in the streets doesn't mean they aren't pocketing all the fines that are paid.

I was in an Immigration office recently and one of the female officers went round the room and handed each officer a wad of notes, not 100's but 1000's, in sight of everyone who was there.

Salaries are not paid in cash so it could have only been 'tea money'.

The heading did give me a laugh.

Tip of the iceberg. Consider how many similar incidents are not reported to police or so called press.

Baht bus drivers often have short fuses. Yes their jobs probably crush their souls, but so many jobs are like that.

Take care out there.

Do not confront the drivers in any way.

By all means, do not flip the finger at them or say the F word at them! That is taken much more seriously by Thais ... to westerners it is minor.

If you encounter an obviously crazed driver (you can often tell by their driving and braking style) take extra care ... and consider AVOIDANCE of conflict or even engagement with them in any way ... even eye contact.

Yes, be aware that some indeed may be armed in some ways ... such as knives, stun guns, or worse ...

If you get into a conflict with a driver, you can't win. They have friends on the streets which can be summoned on a moment's notice and you are the outsider.

Please take your nose out of the Do's and Don't section of your travel guide.

Assault is assault, no matter where in the world, or what culture you are in. Just because someone does a soul crushing job, does not mean they can assault someone.

It annoys me when people continue to go on about thai culture like it is backward and uncivilized, and forgiving anything they do wrong as being 'the thai way'.

Always I think ,why now why did they not tell anyone 30 or 40 years ago?

If you were a young boy 30 or 40 years ago and you said you were bring abused by an MP, do you really think you would be believed?

Read what Nick says about the abuse what went on, Peter Hain, head of MI5 was a peadophile, would anyone take your word over his?

Maybe this is because the whole case is such a cluster that it's virtually impossible for anyone be it British Police or anyone else to make head or tail of the 'evidence' collected by the Thai police.

This is already a much talked about subject but what I still don't get and what I don't believed has been mentioned is how have no witnesses have come forward claiming to have heard a commotion, the screams of the victims on the night of the fatal attack.

Presumably there would have been some noise from the victims. I imagine someone in their position would literally be screaming for their lives, yet it seems no one heard this in the dead of night on a quiet island? No local resident, fellow tourist or no body staying in a bungalow nearby heard a single thing of this horrific and fatal attack and double murder.

Nobody was woken up or heard of the commotion as the two innocent victims were being murdered?

I find that hard to believe.

Yes and looking at details of the place where David and his friends were staying, Ocean View Bungalows, it seems that most rooms don't have aircon which is probably the same for other guest houses nearby as this is a backpacker resort. Therefore only the sound of ceiling fans to block out the blood curdling screams of the victims being systematically bludgeoned to death by murderers for whom this is probably a well worn routine. Given reports of the number of battering following by drowning deaths of foreigners on these islands, we can only surmise how many loso Thais and Burmese die the same way at the hands of serial killers at large in the area and nobody dares complain.

'Blood curdling screams' and 'being systematically bludgeoned to death', I think you have been reading to many Miss Marple stories.

Lets nominate him for the Nobel Peace prize for next year.

I can't believe this is even a story on Thai Visa, really, cop doesn't run over a cat!!!

I eat chicken, duck, pig, cow, fish, shellfish. If it wanted to eat dog, then I should have the right to do so. No one who eats another animal has the right to say that I can't.

If people want to eat dog, then let them, whose business is it anyway.

No doubt Ambassador Kent will be spending several hours teaching the British police how to wai correctly.

It's a racial slur. Punishment is well-deserved.

How is it a racial slur? Never mentioned anything about their race.

We all want the murderers caught. But what if it was those two Burmese men, can you imagine the size of Somyot's head? He will think he is the new Sherlock Holmes, and will never be off the TV.

So, Chiang Mai is to host the Chiang Mai Golf Classic. This must be the most stupid headline of the year.

Are people really so stupid? Of course it was the immigrants to murdered the Brits, who else could it be? Local Thais? how dare anyone suggest that.

56? Life has treated him badly

And now watch never seen relatives come out of the wood work

Well I thought she was very funny, no matter what you all think

What a miserable bunch of old farts the members of Thai Visa are. Yes, we all know it was wrong, but did you all forget that you were once teenagers?

Chalerm has 171 billion, that's 3 billion dollars, not bad for a policeman and a politician who earns 70,000 baht a month.

Go home, stay indoors and wrap yourself in cotton wool,you poor soul.

A top international school in Bangkok is paying 30,000 Baht? I doubt it is so 'top'. In Pattaya the international schools demand a teaching degree and pay salaries equal to schools in the UK.

If it was any decent school you would be nowhere near it. Sorry, but that is the truth

Another thing, if you are only getting thirty thousand, who else is getting the rest of the money?

Don't know what al the fuss is all about. If you want to eat dog, then eat it. And to all these 'dog lovers', if you really liked dogs you would not keep them as pets, drag them through the streets on a lead and treat them like humans

The US can no longer afford to take part in the Cobra Gold exercises, but can not withdraw as it would be a humiliation for them. Also, they do not want China to move in and take their place as Thailands friendly super power.

This remark about moving to Australia has backfired, and unfortunately the US would not be missed if they withdrew.