bheard

You mean if they were real officials they would not be conducting scams?

10,000 baht fine. Inadequate.

That amount of money is not a deterrent for big operators. How about they multiply it by 10, then it's starting to look like a deterrent.

Until the Govt give officers something better than a pickup to carry out their duties in what is effectively a war zone this tragic waste of life will continue.

Quite so. Another tragedy in the country, the government doesn't seem to be onto it.

The army has plenty of Hummers (seen 'em in Korat), are they using them down south?

Definition of criminal gangs:

Those people that we can arrest to divert attention from our own profitable criminal activities.

Angry mobs - beware. The product of an angry mob is usually injustice happening.

Give them the punt if there illegal.

Hey hey, not so fast. Give them a chance to defend their position. One month to find new digs is very unfair.

They have been there for several decades - that means the whole lives of a large percentage of the community.

And, while the authorities are about it, how about a little reflection on how these people were allowed there in the first place, and find and penalise the people who have been milking the situation ever since.

Sad for the family.

Unfortunately Thai farmers still keep burning their stubble. This should not happen.

The stubble is a resource for soil regeneration, don't set fire to it!!

NCA has just about the best maintained fleet of buses in Thailand.

Hard to believe it was poor tyres, more likely driver error, not driving properly due to weather conditions.

While I believe what you say, most likely driver error - IMO these cowboys always drive outside the limits of safety for a normal sane person, I'm not so sure about your assertation that the buses are well maintaianed.

I thought so too, but my GF told me they are often just tarted old buses, and after travelling in one of those white things recently I believe her. It was a rattly heap, uncomfortable, and definitely in need of some TLC.

I'm not aware the rail system in Bangkok is inefficient, or falling to pieces. In fact, a lot of Victorians ( Australia ) wish their railway system was half as good. Don't get me started on the Myki ticketing system there. I feel sorry for any tourist in Melbourne that attempts to use public transport.

While I know Thai-bashing is a popular sport among all the super-intelligent falangs, perhaps it would be wiser to let the Thais get on with it, and see what the outcome is.

While I agree that the myki system must be a serious problem for visitors to my state, once you get to know how it works it's quite good. Your card works on trains, trams and buses. cf BKK for example - try using the same ticket on BTS and MRT and see how far you get.

As for country trains, Victorian country trains are crap, yes, but if you want real crap, just try the Thai country services.

How about take this money to improve existing rail lines, add/improve rail lines to container ports, establish container handling yards at the larger Issan cities and the border crossings to Laos and Cambodia. Then ensure the transport rates are low enough that a majority of the current heavy truck traffic is reallocated to rail transport. This would greatly reduce the amount of non-agricultural heavy traffic from the roads reducing bus and passenger vehicle travel times while improving road safety. It would also reduce the damage to road surfaces that is currently being done by overloaded trucks.

In all honesty how many Thais headed home to Issan for songkran will be able to afford a high speed rail ticket and how many wealthy Thais go to Korat?

This could not have been said any clearer. Best bang for their buck.

Quite so. Expand the current service, fix the current lines, add new lines, new rolling stock. In short, look at all the reasons why the current system is so crappy and fix it.

Oh, and then maintain it.

Much better value for Thailand and it's people to spend money in that way than a few "trophy" high speed trains.

"I do not really see why everyone is so negative, this can only be good for the country."

Actually not good for the country. Who will travel on this train? Only people with plenty of money.

What the country needs is an expanded rail system that works well and provides transport for all Thai people and freight.

What it does not need is a few fast trains which cost vast amounts of money.

At my Honda-dealer they even can't pump a tire, also they don't have a manometre in the shop...They have 3-400 new Honda's though and loads of "engineers".

Also they even can't tighten a nut properly, it will come loose within a day.

When they repair or change a tire they use screwdrivers to put it on the wheel.

I can understand the Japanese get tired of that.

My woman bought herself a nice new E Sport Toyota and insists that the technical staff in the dealership (in Korat) told her to switch off the accessories, especially the aircon, before switching off the engine. So we have this weird routine happening each time we stop.

I'm given a sad face when I drive and switch off the engine without any of that nonsense.

It's a little bit like whan she cleans her teeth before breakfast . . . don't know where she got that from.

Doesn't sound too crazy to me.

She's doing her bit to keep the pest level down.

BRAVO!!

Nice to hear that the boy's parents got involved and his father took a stick to him.

I was expecting to see that the parents protected him and denied any wrong doing.

So much Thainess.

From the jealousy.

Rage.

Cowardly attack.

No one helping.

The laughing.

It's a like school for mentally deranged, spoiled, 5 year olds with anger issues.

i live in a village and youre looking at what i see is the "normal mentality" of many villagers

Sadly, you're correct. They have a way to go. That said, there are plenty of places in this world with the same mentality.

Sad case.

But what's with the pixilated toilet?

Is a toilet too much for the Thai mind these days?

It's crazy enough to pixilate cigarettes (but not the gun the smoker is holding), but a toilet?? Beyond comprehension!

Slow reaction time - that bus moved more than it's own length before he managed to find the "right" brake . . .

Ha ha, who can believe it. no financial damage.

There was certainly a lot of reputational damage - once again the govt looks to be totally inept.

"SRT governor Wuthichart Kalauarnmitr revealed that the SRT has plans to invest in a further two 1 meter dual-track lines for two new routes."

Come on, make it standard gauge (1.435 M) . They don't consider comfort with this choice - the trains rock from side to side much more on a narrow gauge such as this.

Less chance of them falling over on poorly maintained lines with a wider spacing between the lines as well.

Best place to sit in a Thai bus is further back than the centre, and the ailse seat.

If the bus has two levels, get in the bottom if you can!

Loyalty is to the blood relatives, not the husband who has worked hard and provided her with security and a lifestyle for many years.

Nothing to do with loyalty, all to do with saving her own skin. She's next if she makes any sound at all!

By most measures Thailand is not 3rd world these days. Certainly not economically.

However in my estimation it's still 3rd world.

My criteria?

If you've got dogs running free, some of them rabid even, and you do nothing about it, then you're 3rd world.

End of story. It's about mentality.

Why does a public holiday mean a toll holiday? Hard to figure that one!

"Two people inside died instantly."

I reckon the reporter got that right, what a mess!

In this and similar raids, who is it that estimates the apparent value? And on what basis are they valued?

Let me see. Tot up the various different items, assign a value to each type of item. And add it all up. To, in this case, a nice round 10M baht. Lovely headline!

Value? Take the Apple headphones for example. Is the "estimated" value used the price of Apple headphones in an Apple store - clearly this would be wrong because you are going to the market to buy it, not the Apple store. So is the value used in the estimated 10M baht what they would be sold for at the market? This would mean they have to send a minion down to the market to ask the price at stall A, haggle a bit and come up with a real price. Then off to stall B and repeat the process, etc. Obviously the result of that little survey would be a value that is much less than the Apple store sales price, and a value you could use to "estimate" the value of the total haul.

You know, I think it's all a big load of rubbish! I'm sure they don't do that. I'd reckon someone just grabs a number, any number, and that's the value!