peterbkk9

"Red-shirt followers in the Northeast have set up a 500,000-baht bounty for the arrest of protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban."

What? Are they the police? Do they represent the law? What legitimity do they have to issue such a statement??

Problems in this paradise started the day Thailand was "colonised" by the thai chinese. Period.

You are short on history. The Chinese have been here for hundreds of years, participating and contributing to the Thai economy.

Nah... Thailand has been colonized by American TV/movies and by Steve Jobs (R.I.P.)

"The Chinese have been here for hundreds of years" => colonized nevertheless

"... participating and contributing to the Thai economy." => contributed also to the arrogance of the Thai people and this "me first" and "my sh*t don't stink" attitude

I am not surprised but at the same time the other non muslim ASEAN countries are very close behind (6.38, etc...)

The figures don't mean a lot.

I mean, next year Vietnam or the Philippines could well be #1

Yes I noticed the same thing. Pollution is a bit worse than usual these days.

I live in Bangkok. People in my area are lighting up fires, probably because of low temperatures. Early in the morning you can clearly smell it.

I think this is contributing to it.

Also The Bangkok Post has a daily pollution index on page 5 or 6. PM10 measurements stand at around 100 micrograms / cubic meter on average these days.

It was more in the 50-70 range a few weeks ago.

But the worst thing is that locals dont really care.

Some 611,600 cars and vehicles were inspected ... Infractions included 31,020 drivers without a licence

The situation is hopeless.

If the government wants to increase excise tax collection, why don't they start by lifting the ban on mid afternoon alcohol sale?

I don't understand why shops can only sell alcohol at specific times (11am to 2pm and 5pm to midnight).

Living out in the sticks we have to burn garbage , probably 50% of the people in Thailand do the same .

There is no garbagetruck neither a place to bring ur garbage .

People living along a river just dump it in the river so it floats to the sea .

Many western country's recycle there waste and make a lot of money of it , would be great if Thailand would have a look into this industrie .

Even if there would be a lot of corruption in this bussiness .

Woulden't mind to pay for cleaner air , rivers , and the sea .

Here on Phuket the locals are great at recycling, but only the lucrative bits. Cans, bottles etc. The plastic bags, old mattresses and building rubbish are left in the once lovely sois. The local OrborJor did put up ONE sign threatening a 10k fine, but of course everyone ignored it. Some Thais have put up their own hand made signs. I believe the problem lies squarely on where to dump larger objects, as in Europe. The UK charges and the Thais wouldn't want to pay the cost of gasoline to take it to a designated dump, let alone pay an administration fee. solution? Dunno. But I still get the chills when I see some lazy arse throwing their plastic bags into the surrounding woodland from the pillion of a bike, or most recently, an elderly neighbour when on his daily walk. You'd think at least he'd have known better.

Education and penalties (strictly enforced) worked in the West, why not here?

In my soi I regularly see old mattresses, furniture and other large objects being dumped here and there.

Sometimes it stays there for months. I often have to hire someone with a pickup to remove it. And it only makes the matter worse because people think they can dump it there again as someone is taking care of it. And usually the next day it happens again. I see another bizarre large object (car windscreen, bidet...) dumped at the same location.

and to complete my last post, the last time I hired a pickup to clean the mess, the guy told me it would cost 1,000 baht because he had to drive quite far to dump it at a dump site near On Nut. Ok, fair enough, I pay. Then the next day I was driving around the block and discovered he dumped it in a nearby soi. He took my 1000 baht and never went to On Nut.

Living out in the sticks we have to burn garbage , probably 50% of the people in Thailand do the same .

There is no garbagetruck neither a place to bring ur garbage .

People living along a river just dump it in the river so it floats to the sea .

Many western country's recycle there waste and make a lot of money of it , would be great if Thailand would have a look into this industrie .

Even if there would be a lot of corruption in this bussiness .

Woulden't mind to pay for cleaner air , rivers , and the sea .

Here on Phuket the locals are great at recycling, but only the lucrative bits. Cans, bottles etc. The plastic bags, old mattresses and building rubbish are left in the once lovely sois. The local OrborJor did put up ONE sign threatening a 10k fine, but of course everyone ignored it. Some Thais have put up their own hand made signs. I believe the problem lies squarely on where to dump larger objects, as in Europe. The UK charges and the Thais wouldn't want to pay the cost of gasoline to take it to a designated dump, let alone pay an administration fee. solution? Dunno. But I still get the chills when I see some lazy arse throwing their plastic bags into the surrounding woodland from the pillion of a bike, or most recently, an elderly neighbour when on his daily walk. You'd think at least he'd have known better.

Education and penalties (strictly enforced) worked in the West, why not here?

In my soi I regularly see old mattresses, furniture and other large objects being dumped here and there.

Sometimes it stays there for months. I often have to hire someone with a pickup to remove it. And it only makes the matter worse because people think they can dump it there again as someone is taking care of it. And usually the next day it happens again. I see another bizarre large object (car windscreen, bidet...) dumped at the same location.

Apparently 1.7 million tablet computers distributed this year did not help

The education on driving are 0.

Blind people in useless cars in the traffic!

I nearly had an accident yesterday when a driver of a Toyota came from a joining road. Just crossed over in front of me by 1 meter from an accident. Also a pickup overloded with junks going to fast and had a rear tyre puncture, rolled ower, but driver was able to climb out unhurt through the door window. Something have to be dunn to the traffic situation in Thailand

"Also a pickup overloded with junks going to fast and had a rear tyre puncture"

It was the tyre's fault

The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts. Bertrand Russell

It just irritates me when they say boat "captain". Boat driver is the correct word.

This certainly exists, and has to be condemned.

But the other way round (women abusing men) is more prevalent in Thailand in my opinion (and experience)

Isn't verbal, emotional abuse a form of violence?

It's a shame that in the second decade of the 21st century that electrical wiring is still supported on ugly concrete poles, completely spoiling the appearance of those rather bland looking structures.

They were running electrical cables underground 100 years ago in the UK I believe.

Is there a good reason for overhead wires? Floods?

completely spoiling the appearance... they could not care less.

Also Silom Road is to my knowledge the only road in Bangkok with underground cables.

If the court ruling suits them, they will follow it.

If the court ruling doesn't suit them, they will reject it.

it is that simple.

I don't think Thais would use the high speed train anyway.

They prefer to use their cars.

The train would bring them to Hua Hin train station, and what happens next? how do they travel around in Hua Hin?

They would have to rely on Tuk Tuks or song theo, or motasai... I don't see this happening

all this for 210 baht???

If I was the shop owner, I would not even call the police for that. This is ridiculous.

It is not about the money, it is about the principle!

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

I understand what you are saying

But to be practical, if I was a shop owner, I dont think 210 baht is worth the hassle and the time to bring the story to the police.

And come on... this is reported in the newspapers??

You don't get it. Best is gonna get a lot more than 210 baht now. So will the police, friends of Best. Why leave good money sittin' on the table?

He denied he stole the cheese. If she didn't call the police, he'd have just gotten in his car and rode away. If him, why not all the other shoplifters too? Why sell, why not just give everything away? That's what many here would advocate, right?

"Best is gonna get a lot more than 210 baht now. So will the police, friends of Best. Why leave good money sittin' on the table?"

I don't know. We are in Thailand. Their mind can't possibly be that twisted.. or maybe I am too naive

all this for 210 baht???

If I was the shop owner, I would not even call the police for that. This is ridiculous.

It is not about the money, it is about the principle!

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

I understand what you are saying

But to be practical, if I was a shop owner, I dont think 210 baht is worth the hassle and the time to bring the story to the police.

And come on... this is reported in the newspapers??

all this for 210 baht???

If I was the shop owner, I would not even call the police for that. This is ridiculous.

But Thais are quick to report the crime. Farang did wrong. Farang must pay. And don't forget the finger pointing!

I lost a cat for 2 weeks and she came back by herself.

I can understand how you feel.

I would suggest to print flyers in Thai + English with a picture of your cat and distribute it around.

For the reward I think 5k would be more appropriate. In my opinion it would be enough to motivate the locals to contact you if they found your cat.

You might also contact http://cats4youinpattaya.webs.com/

Quality tourists welcomed by quality locals!!

what makes a quality tourist ? coming from western Europe ? Australia ? US ? so the people of other countries are not good enough ? could be interesting to know according to your opinion what define a Quality tourist.

There is no mention in the article of the quality of the tourists.

Being from Russia, Australia, India, France, the US or the Middle East does not in itself make you a good or a bad quality tourist.

I often go to Pattaya and I feel less and less comfortable with the place. The locals are not really welcoming and I feel there is a lot of contempt for foreigners.

Try having the slightest argument with them

It's not that bad. Appearance is more important than substance.

I cant believe it. Shame on the PTP

I just had a conversation with my Thai GF in the car this evening about the whole situation. The problem is that most of the voters here are too dumb to see what is happening. That is the reason this government got elected in the first place.