Traveling Sailor

Having been on boat trying to moor up when the sea is choppy, I would say the balustrades are far to flimsy.

Seems to me instead of budgeting for wear and tear in the harbour fee's they are going to pin the damage on the boat operators for damage to a pier that really was not built to handle boats of the size that uses it on a choppy days, same logic as the Jet Ski operators.

P.S. the boats are wooden and the pier is reinforced concrete and pier comes of worst, says a lot for the pier construction.

While I agree with most of what you say, I do believe that if every "captain" who rams the pier were fined 10 or 20 K baht, it would cut down on the number of hits, and provide money for repairs. Better yet even, have every boat "captain", pay the total cost for instant repair. I bet the number of "rams", would go down really fast.

How hard is it? Foreign embassy reports name, passport # and criminal allegation to Thai immigration. Thai immigration flags the foreigner in their computer database. Next time foreigner appears at immigration, either for visa renewal, entry at border/airport, or 90-day report, officer enters info and if it is flagged, detain him or her. It's not rocket science.

I suppose the same could be said for the police and immigration people in the criminals' home countries who couldn't manage to notice them fleeing their countries.

Seems incredibly often that Thai police need to do the leg work for the incompetent authorities in Farang Land.

There could be a method to their madness. I mean, really. Who wants all the bad guys to stay in the country?? Perhaps the thinking is, "Let them leave and do their dirty work somewhere else". Just saying.

How hard is it? Foreign embassy reports name, passport # and criminal allegation to Thai immigration. Thai immigration flags the foreigner in their computer database. Next time foreigner appears at immigration, either for visa renewal, entry at border/airport, or 90-day report, officer enters info and if it is flagged, detain him or her. It's not rocket science.

So true. They just have to make sure they have a couple of weapons and a stash of handcuffs available to prevent criminal escape. Here's hoping they are also being trained to shoot accurately, since "detaining" is not always a simple matter. I can just imagine the chaos in a crowded immigration office. Not a pretty picture.

Still doubt this will happen ...

Yup, just like Face Club in Pattaya doubted.

It will probably take quite a while before most people believe that, even sometimes, this government means what it says.

Like the fishermen who cannot leave port right now.

"The 43-year-old suspect hasn't been identified, but police say he will be charged in the slaying after he recovers from his wounds, which they believe were self-inflicted. He was in the hospital Sunday after undergoing surgery."

"The suspect was arrested in 2003 after being accused of attempting to kill an unidentified family member."

So, they know he is 43 years old, they know he was arrested in 2003, but he has not been identified? I find that very hard to believe.

This sounds more like Thai reporting, than American reporting.

Obviously, they are waiting another month or so until they can proudly say,"It's all rotten".

Looks like they are expecting bad news.

They still have 60 days to implement reforms and changes, I would have thought that is enough.

It would be for a normal country, but TIT. All these people do is talk, talk, talk until their back is against the wall. Then they will try to blame someone else. Only after all of that does not work will they actually do something. And even then, they will do a 1/2 assed job and need to redo it a couple of times before they get it right.

I am reminded of the report here on TV a couple f months ago that talked about the decreasing average IQ scores here in the LOS ( Land of Scams).

Bye Bye Thailand. This is the straw that breaks my back. I will do my retirement extension next month for the 5th and last time.

I will move to a country that actually likes expats. This one obviously does not. What a bunch of idiots. Killing the geese that lay the golden eggs.

Bye TS .

A couple of questions f I may......

1. Why bother with the extension ?

2. Which country has more to offer and what is the cost ?

1. Because I've been here 5 years and need time to get rid of accumulated stuff. I'm in no rush to leave. Just won't put up with the new income rules. Dealing with Thai banks is dicey enough now.

2. I need to do the research. I know that Mexico has very favorable climate for retired expats, but don't know the costs.

I may just go back to America. I really love the Bay Area.

Mexico ?

That would be a nice peaceful country to retire in

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/22/mexico-firefight-drug-cartel-region

Like I said, research is necessary.

I still consider the requirement to bring the same amount of money into the country every month as dumb. As far as I am aware, the rule now states that one must bring in a minimum of 65,000 baht per month. I transfer around $2100 from my American account to my Bangkok account every month. It automatically gets converted to Thai baht in the process. I never know how much baht will arrive because the exchange rate is never the same. So, bringing in the same amount of baht every month will not work for me. Plus, I need the flexability of bringing in more, if and when I need it. But then, the ability to think and reason is required.

Bye Bye Thailand. This is the straw that breaks my back. I will do my retirement extension next month for the 5th and last time.

I will move to a country that actually likes expats. This one obviously does not. What a bunch of idiots. Killing the geese that lay the golden eggs.

Bye TS .

A couple of questions f I may......

1. Why bother with the extension ?

2. Which country has more to offer and what is the cost ?

1. Because I've been here 5 years and need time to get rid of accumulated stuff. I'm in no rush to leave. Just won't put up with the new income rules. Dealing with Thai banks is dicey enough now.

2. I need to do the research. I know that Mexico has very favorable climate for retired expats, but don't know the costs.

I may just go back to America. I really love the Bay Area.

Trying to educate the ignorant and ill-informed is like trying to clean the Augean stables, especially when equine anus' keep feeding them more horse shit. Allowing them to interfere with decisions regarding which they have plenty of opinions about exaggerated and unlikely effects, but very little knowledge, is simply a waste of time and money and one of the worst facets of a so called "free society".

Everybody should be allowed an opinion, and it should be given weight commensurate to the level of knowledge that led to it. Qualifications, experience and scientific studies add a lot more weight than claims of "the sky will fall" or "we'll all be ruined" no matter how many take up the cry. Not so long ago, the vast majority believed the Earth was flat and the sun revolved around it.

EGAT's position is that new power stations are required to replace older stations and to meet growing demand. Natural gas reserves are being depleted. Coal fired power stations are still the cheapest and most reliable way to generate electricity, and until richer countries can develop better technology, must be high on the option list.

Where are they wrong?

To answer your question, "Where are they wrong?", they are wrong when they proclaim that the plant will use "Clean Coal". There is no such thing. They are also wrong to ignore other, renewable forms of electricity because "Coal fired power stations are still the cheapest and most reliable". Solar has come a very long way in the last 30 years. At this point in time, if you care to believe recent news reports, solar power now compares favorably with coal and is 1000 times more environmentaly friendly. Egat is wrong to assume that they are the only ones in the country, or in the world, who know anything about electricity generation. There are many experts out there in the big, wide world. Egat is just too Thai to acknowledge their existance or admit that they don't know everything. The Dinos at Egat need to get out of their 19th century thinking and join the rest of the world in the present. There are countries that have done wonderful things with solar, wind and bio technology. There is no need to make the citizens of Krabi provence suffer any more from polution than they already have. The old war horse has promised "happiness to the people". Well, here is a chance for him to "put his money where is mouth is".

I live on Koh Samui and hear it, or them, outside my window, all hours of the day and night. I sometimes respond to it to have a conversation but I don't think it works. I have never seen one. They seem to be shy. Since my windows have screens and I have never heard one inside, I doubt that they are in my house. Gekos, well I seem to have a family of those. They are welcome because they eat bugs.

This is a partial quote from Dumbastheycome.

"Thais do think !

Unfortunately many only think as far as the last setang in the hand. Past that point life becomes a lottery and there are few winners.

Those who deride Thai for that forget that a huge percentage of long stay farang came here not for the love of Thailand but to eke out a cheaper lifestyle. Financial wealth is relative to the percentage of the haves and have nots. That is the basis of the capitilist system. If all were rich it would mean we would all be poor(er).

At least Thailand has been successful in avoiding what its neighbours have.

No?"

While I agree with most of what you say, I don't believe that, "many only think as far as the last setang in the hand. Past that point life becomes a lottery and there are few winners." would be considered "Thinking" by western standards. The kind of thinking I am refering to is the kind that is not taught in Thai schools. The "no fail" rule and the punishment that results from asking a teacher a question, added to the lack of a "continued education" policy for teachers, leads to the inability to think critically. The kind of thinking that is required for planing and understanding that if you want different results, you must do something differently than you did last time.

So, I must ask, what has Thiland been successful in avoiding? Besides learning good English, taking advise from those that are successful in other parts of the world and providing their citizens with quality health care, to name just three?

"Surasak said both peritoneal dialysis and haemo-dialysis yielded good results and prolonged the patients' life span, while noting that a patient's treatment depends much on a doctor's diagnosis."

Based on what I have witnessed in the 5 years that I have been here, unless a Thai doctor does some training outside of Thailand, their diagnostic skills are almost non-existant. No doctor that I have had any dealings with,either for myself or a Thai friend, south of Bangkok, has shown even the slightest ability to diagnose. This includes an "International" hospital on Phuket island. Also, the Thai doctors that I have met have no inclination to colaborate, consult with other doctors or give a crap about finding a cure for a patient.

If anyone knows of a hospital south of Bangkok that employs doctors who really know how to diagnose, I would love to get the name of the hospital and the doctor.

Changes required in Thailand are of a magnitude that only a prolonged period of blood and fire will bring the change.

When all is done the French can send a statue as a gift.

Perhaps Thailand needs a French style revolution?? Off with their heads!

Might not take too long to arrive at a conclusion.

No need to take a boat. There are plenty of Non-Thai carriers that touch down in Bangkok.

Maybe its time to rethink the idea to run an entire country's agriculture solely on rice which needs much more water than most other plants.

Ya think?? Thais don't.

If you suspend a bus drivers license, do you really think he will stop driving?

Probably not. And, the listed fines should be mandatory minimum, not maximum, enforced nation wide.

109 passengers?? How many does a C-130 carry comfortably? I have no idea, but 109 seems like a lot to me. Just wondering. 141 bodies. 12 crew plus 109 passengers equal 121 on board. 20 people killed on the ground?? Is this Indonesian math??

Absolute disregard for family cohesion and understanding. Thoughtless scum.

I hope their faces and the story are posted on facebook and elsewhere so that everyone knows what they did .....

Yes! And where they did it and where the woman now lives. Perhaps she will have an "accident". Poor thing.

Why would anyone miss these clowns? Let them exit the industry and sell their boats. Someone will be happy to step up and follow the rules. Do they really think anyone will care if they are on a stop work protest?

Amen, brother. These dummies are only taking money out of their own pocket. They have had six months to get with the program. Let them and their families suffer for a while. Eventually, reality will sink in and they'll realize there is a new game in town. And, if they don't, so what? Others will soon take their place.

"...Fishermen also complained that shrimp have migrated away from Surat Thani waters, because of the disruptive water sport..."

Thai fishermen = Marine biologists? Wow...and I thought the education system here was bad. I'll have to rethink that.

Do try to expand your mind a little. Is it too far a stretch for you to imagine that a shrimp fisherman might know something about shrimp migration?

I second the emotion. And, you see, there are some Thai folks that can add 2 and 2, and come up with 4. More jet skis, less shrimp. Duh..............

So that's what it takes to get the army involved.

Take note; Samui, Phuket, etc.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/836530-thai-officials-on-the-graveyard-shift/?utm_source=newsletter-20150629-0757&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news

The above story is about the displaced civil servants.

The growing number of civil servants need to be managed under an easy to employ disciplinary action for corruption and for poor work practices.

The other half of the problem is that these bureaucrats have no motivation to do their jobs properly. Where are the performance standards they need to meet?

Start sacking them and see how fast they decide to up their game.

I'd like to see the dept of Immigration as the first target.

Those lazy slackers need a hard kick in the work modes.

Not all immigration officers are slackers. I go to Samui Immigration every three months. They are always busy and very patient with the clueless, ill-dressed folks that show up with their holier-than-thou attitudes. I give the Samui Immigration staff kudos for working in such cramped quarters and having to put up with all the euro-trash, ugly americans, etc. that show up.

Yes they might be less busy if they weren't leaving the lower orders to do all the work, as well as processing all the bulk orders for visas sent from outside Samui.

You know the ones, those where the passports are unaccompanied by owners and large amounts of cash change hands.

Sorry Manbing, I wasn't aware of any of that. I just go there because I have to file my 90 day and yearly renewal. I smile, be respectful, shower & shave before I go, dress respectfully, say "Thank you" and leave. I don't, and don't want to, get into their politics, work habits, etc.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/836530-thai-officials-on-the-graveyard-shift/?utm_source=newsletter-20150629-0757&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news

The above story is about the displaced civil servants.

The growing number of civil servants need to be managed under an easy to employ disciplinary action for corruption and for poor work practices.

The other half of the problem is that these bureaucrats have no motivation to do their jobs properly. Where are the performance standards they need to meet?

Start sacking them and see how fast they decide to up their game.

I'd like to see the dept of Immigration as the first target.

Those lazy slackers need a hard kick in the work modes.

Not all immigration officers are slackers. I go to Samui Immigration every three months. They are always busy and very patient with the clueless, ill-dressed folks that show up with their holier-than-thou attitudes. I give the Samui Immigration staff kudos for working in such cramped quarters and having to put up with all the euro-trash, ugly americans, etc. that show up.