outsider

That's it? Just apologise and all will be forgiven? No criminal charges, court martial... really? I have never been in the service so I don't know how these sort of things work, but surely, if these idiots were responsible for the death of the private, something more than an apology is necessary? Or is this just Thailand?

The CCTV wasn't working. Of course it wasn't. The exception is one that does, no?

Credit where it is due. Great work and an even greater save, else more lives would be unecessarily lost.

This man is the wettest of the wet towels (and he looks like one too!). And has no idea what he's talking about. The girls in the pic are scantily dressed, yes. But, inappropriately? Why don't you take a walk down cowboy, nana, and some other Thai haunts? Some of the girls there are not just inappropriately dressed, they have literally no clothes on! And not just on Songkran, but on almost all nights throughout the year. Arrest the lot of them, why don't you? And the bar owners. And the westerners who frequent these places. By the way, some of the 'luktung' singers and dancers are doing a swell job dressing 'inappropriately' and dancing 'provocatively' on their own, without the need for any influences. It has nothing to do with the west. If you are so against 'western influence', then set an example of not following it and for a start, stop wearing suits. Sheesh... really can't see how such an unhappy man can 'bring happiness' to the populace.

Thai officialdom. Trust at your own peril.

You need to be very confident in the apathy or low intelligence of the general population to be this obvious with corruption.

This and all the other Hi-So vehicular homicide cases.

Well said. And they wonder why the are laughed at. The lot of them. The brown idiots and the whole low-intelligence lot.

Disguting insult of people's intelligence. And blatant displays that money does buy everything here in the LoS, and that the hiso-elites are well above and beyond the law.

You brown clowns are really doing a fantastic job making people laugh at your stupidity.

If this guy walks, it will be a very sad day for Thailand.

I'd say, it won't be a sad day for Thailand but rather, it will underline the sad state of affairs here, because the fact is, many have walked before him, don't you think so? A rich brat driving a Ferrari comes to mind...

The suspect has the right to refuse tests??? After he killed two people? Really? What law is this?

Would have walked away a free man had his dad dabbled in energy drinks instead of luxury cars. Just saying...

Really? They can't live without sticky rice and (presumably grilled) pork for a few days? Sheesh...

"Face melting weather" ? A good time for people to lose face and blame the weather.

All the pasty whites will be huddling in the malls.

'Pasty whites'... that is a very, very apt description... LOL

I call them 'hemocytes' or Darkseekers' (from the movie 'I am Legend').

Ok for him to cheat, but when the girlfriend does the same, it's death. What a <deleted>, idiotic scum.

Wow, that was quick!

Any news on how mother nature is trying to heal itself (and without jeopardising the life of fragile humans) is good news.

Just leave them gentle beasts be. That's celebrating them already. This elephant day farce is just unnecessary.

And, if elephants are as sacred as you say, and represent Thai kings, then all the more reason they should be left alone and not be made to carry stupid tourists on their back. Is that so hard to understand, especially in a nation that reveres its kings and royalty?

This is a joke, no? Quote "Taking good care of all tourists is the main policy of Immigration officers. Every immigration officer has to serve all tourists from all nationalities in the same, polite with service-minded." Unquote.

Polite?

If one can call greeting visitors with a sullen and unsmiling face, not even looking at the visitor when taking/handing back his/her passport, as 'polite'. I use swampy often and I can count with one hand how many times an officer has actually acknowledged (never mind reciprocate!) me when I said 'sawasdee krub' and 'kob khun krub'. I have stopped doing it already. They just look like they have a stick permanently up their behinds. Land of smiles my ****.

To any immigration officers, or those with friends in the immigration department, reading this - if you hate your job so much, or hate visitors to your country so much, why don't you just get a job where you don't have to face visitors or even the outside world? And save the rest of the world the unpleasantness.

OMG, what a heavy punishment for what I guess isn't even considered 'a crime'. Poor bus driver

No competent folks setting it up, I reckon. It's like those times when you return home and see some repairman in shower shoes and shorts repairing the lift in your 20 storey apartment building.

And why no officials tasked to check the equipment before it starts taking riders?

'Health and safety' and 'Thailand' has never and, dare I say, will never, appear in the same sentence.

Violation of human rights occurs in some regions? I thought it was nationwide.

The supreme leader also said, back then, that he had no intentions of becoming the PM.

After you start charging foreigners. Idiot.

'because she is attractive'??? What a lewd and stupid statement. Goes to show what you and your boss think about women in general.

Told other taxi drivers to take the man to the nearest police station. Why didn't YOU do it, Mr. Witoon. Idiot.

However, this brings to light the bigger problem with the auto queue system at Swampy's taxi stand. When it used to be manned booths, at least the staffers at the booth also acted - unwillingly and mostly with a sour face I must add, second only to the immigration officers' unsmilling way of greeting arriving guests to the Land of Smile - as 'translators'. At least they asked where the passengers were going and informed the waiting driver of the destination.

The new system puts the customers in direct contact with the taxi drivers who, for some reasons, expect everyone arriving from every corner of the world to speak Thai the moment they land. Do these cabbies know that there is a great chance they'd pick up a foreigner who speaks no Thai at all, given this is an international airport and all?

Something should be done to bridge this gap. For a start, cabbies plying the Swampy route should learn basic English, at least. On the other hand, some form of service/aid/tool/whatever should be put in place to help tourists communicate with taxi drivers.

70 percent out of 1,252 people polled thought the surpreme leader was great. That's less than 1,000 people, in a population of almost 70 million!!! And this is news. The sample size is but a drop in the Gulf. Never mind the proverbial 'ocean'