outsider

"Police said that after watching security camera footage and examining two photos taken by one of the witnesses they will track down and arrest the four “in the hope of restoring the [island’s] tourism image."

That's all they know, or worry about, isn't it - face, image, white skin... They get stupider and stupider by the day.

Sure! How many of these actually work... i.e. are actually connected to something?

What if this case happened in BKK? There will be what... more than 10 million DNA samples. Seriously, in a society big on face-saving, the BiBs are doing a damned good job carving up their own faces.

Oh come on. Stop blaming everything under the sun (including the sun) and look in the mirror. Each passing day shows more evidence that the Police, under the watchful eyes of the army or not, are but a bunch of bumbling muppets. A farce. Honestly, it is beyond funny.

Hmm... should've been more careful eh.

Thai way or the highway. Who comes up with such headlines/titles???

No 'mafia big boss' on this island... really?

The police will eliminate all these mafias. Doesn't make sense. How does one eliminate oneself?

Anyway, hope the perps are the real deal and closure for this can be had, so the families can hopefully move on from this painful episode.

Its like every where else, "tell me the answer! ". They are hanging all their hopes on these DNA tests, and will pin it on the first match they get - whether its the culprit or just someone who happened to be in contact with them that night. All actual investigation is off the table.

Press statements from children, Cya, find a farang to blame it on. God damb disgrace all around.

Yep..... She could have merely been looking after his sperm for the night and was due to return it to him the next day.

What hope is there for the truth to come out when 2 Thai men threaten to kill another tourist on the island and the police question them and let them go... Of course in Kho Tao it is legal to threaten to murder tourists while the world media is there covering the murder of two tourists, and this whole matter is linked to these threats to murder and the actual murders.

Great going Royal Thai Muppets.

Yet another scathing fact pointing to your lack of desire to bring any Thai to justice.

This sort of thing is more damaging to tourism than the actual murders.

Royal Thai Muppets... well said!

May not be a completely bad idea. Something needs to be done to... err... unlock the gridlock, as it were, before it gets worse. Actually it is bad enough already. However, they should make sure the public transport system is up to mark - reliable, efficient, on schedule and safe - before implementing congestion charges.

love the photo. Forensic police examining the crime scene whilst members of the public stand around them watching. Never heard of containing and isolating a scene?

First they'll need to know what a 'scene' is :-)

How can the announcement help if the culprits are not caught yet?

Doesn't matter that it actually doesn't help. Fact is they believe in their own crap and that's what matters to them.

Adul, the never-ending congestion on Narathiwas road is NOT caused by cars stopping to pick up somtum from roadside stalls! Try again.

Knee jerk, as usual.

Once again, good morning. I have said this before and I will say it again. Look at the Malaysia's KLIA Express.

What ARL and anyone involved with it should do - take a flight, land at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, take the KLIA Express to KL Sentral (the hub of most rail transport in the city of KUL - a REAL hub, I must add!), take some connecting trains for good measure, and then return to KLIA the same way. You WILL realise what an ugly farce the ARL really is. I am curious to see how anyone is going to 'save face' on this huge FAIL!

Your point is a good one regarding the excellent KLIA and the connectivity at KL Sentral (especially with the new MRT Klang Valley lines being built)

However, as I've mentioned to you before elsewhere your view neglects a few realities about the future.

1) The ARL was also planned to be extended to DMK airport (that extension is currently 2 years late, the tender has yet to go out),

2) The new huge SRT Intercity Terminus that is being built at Bang Sue - the ARL ext will connect to this

3) The huge Makkasan Railyard redevelopment which make Makkasan a hub of transport with the ARL as the most important transport connection after the MRT,

4) Makksan (CAT) station was built with the idea that it would become the main future station for the Eastern HSR line (the most viable of the HSR lines). That is still planned to be the case,

5) The future light Blue line will run through Makkasan station

6) The ARL will eventually connect to the following lines (look at the map below);

a) Yellow Line,

b ) Grey Line

c) Light Blue Line,

d) Orange Line

e) Dark Red Line,

f) Light Red line,

g) Brown Line,

h) Pink Line

Is that enough connections for you??? (I've left out the current MRT subway and BTS connections).

See how the ARL provides a pivotal and useful main corridor of connections to other metro and commuter lines and all of BKK. As a commuter line is enables people to travel from one side of the city to another. The future Airport Express (DMK- Bang Sue-PT-Makksan-BKK) will be a quick transfer between both airports.

None of this is to say that the ARL is perfect, nor that the CAT is well designed. There are plenty of flaws with both. In a short term view the ARL seems to isolated and Makkasan looks too big. Fast forward 10 years and the ARL connects with 10 lines!!! And go forward 20 years and Makkasan station will be a hub of transport and will probably be regarded as not big enough.

The Makkasan Railyard redevelopment plans (middle render)

Future network (more info, http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/406991-the-new-skytrain/page-12)

Thank you for the detailed plans on Thailand's future. However, like your previous crystal-ball efforts elsewhere, I'm afraid your good and kind efforts are somewhat wasted. I approached the subject from a consumer's perspective. That is my view as a consumer. I don't 'know the future' as I am obviously not an industry expert like you. Well I hope you are - you make a good job trying to sound like one.

Let me try to bring it down to your level - if you had bad service at a reputable restaurant, you will be unhappy and 'neglect a few realities' about how the server had a bad night with his/her partner which resulted in the bad service. You will 'neglect a few realities' that the cook is in a bad mood and hence the food is less that what you expected it to be. If you bought a car, and it broke down often, you will complain/change it and 'neglect a few realities' such as how the manufacturer is actually upgrading its production facilities, and that cars from this manufacturer will be examplary in 10 years time, while at the same time taking into consideration some realities about the manufacturer's operational parameters and future expansion plans. I hope you get my point. Can't bring it any lower.

The fact is, ARL is a failure now and that's that. A fact. Get it??? I will continue to make parallels between ARL and KLIA Express in the future if such threads exist, and you are free to scroll past my post. If one day ARL becomes more efficient than KILA Express, I will admit so. As a consumer. But right now, it is a massive FAIL, so try your best to deal with the fact.

I will not try to stop you from trying to sell Thailand's rail transport plans here on TVF but please stay on-point in a discussion. Else, try to find a more appropriate platform for your presentation on 'Thailand's Rail Transport in 20 Years Time'. Go play with other people's posts. Try to sound smart elsewhere.

A few things, and this is from a regular user (consumer as you term it).

Firstly, I'm not giving or selling you detailed plans on Thailands future. I'm limiting my response to Bangkok and the future metro & commute network. Attempting to put the ARL in a context. You basically expressed that the ARL doesn't connect with a hub or anything transport wise. That is incorrect. As I explained, Makkasan will be a future hub for the east, Bang Sue for the north and south, DMK and the ARL will connect to 10 lines. So clearly your lack of connectivity assertion is completely wrong and patently you don't know what is being built or planned for the next few years.

When one takes a medium term view rather than being short sighted that cannot see the whole picture. You seem ot be doing what most TV members rightly criticize Thai decision makers for, short term thinking and a lack of integration. By any measure, once the extension is complete, the ARL will be connected to all transport lines. If as a consumer you don't want to buy into a product that will have such ubiquitous connectivity just because of narrow, short term thinking, then that is your choice.

You are making the mistake that former BMA Gov Samak did back in 2001 when he said that 'the BTS was ugly, noisy and no one was using it (back in 2000 hardly anyone was) and that it didn't connect to anything important'. He completely neglected to think about the future planned BTS extensions or that the BTS would connect with other future planned lines.

Secondly, the ARL is not a failure. You are entitled to your opinion and you don't have to obviously use it anymore than you are compelled to return to a restaurant or use that same car with mechanical problems. The reason it is not a failure is that pax growth has been greater than projections which is why peak hr services have been packed well before the maintenance issue and reduced rolling stock. Plenty of people use it, it carries 1.5m pax a month. By any logical reasoning that is not a failure as a transport system.

Now that doesn't at all mean that the ARL doesn't have flaws, as I stated there are many, or had not been mismanaged, which it has. Clearly, the long maintenance scheduling has been severely mishandled. Though the reasons are more complex than given in the article. It comes down to combination of dysfunctional management, a lack of planning, previous parts shortages impacting inventories but is actually more about adequate finances not being available due to MOF restrictions and the change of govt. However, the buck has to stop with hopeless SRTET management who should be held accountable regardless of all of the reasons.

And your car analogy is actually missing the point completely, there is nothing wrong with the ARL rolling stock. You are complaining about the ARL which is a transport system involving different components and the way it is managed. In this case in relation to maintenance issues. You are are not complaining about the quality of the Siemens trains. A better analogy may have been about a poorly managed new expressway that is half built in length and which is causing damage to vehicles due to a lack of maintenance, thus requiring lanes to be progressively shut down. Or an airline having to reduce services due to mismanaging their long haul maintenance schedule which is actually more on point to this issue.

Thirdly, I agreed with you that the KLIA Express (ERL) offers an excellent service. However the comparisons may not be so useful - there are many other airport lines in thw world which would be a more suitable comparison. The ERL operates for an airport that is 60kms away from Sentral. The ARL is half the distance. The KLIA Airport line also opened later than planned (as did the recent extension to KLIA 2) and had some initial teething problems related to signalling and ticketing. It has also had a major accident with two trains colliding in 2010, the ARL has not. (Though in fairness the ERL opened in 2002 and the ARL in 2010 and give it time and it could have an accident).

So your wonderful KLIA ERL is not perfect either. BTW, botht he BTS and MRT has major accidents in their first 4 years of operations - train colliding. The ARL has yet to experience such. That doesn't make the BTS or MRT a failure anymore than it makes the ARL absent of problems.

The summary is that it is fine to criticise and there is plenty to be critical about in relation to the ARL. However, good critical analysis takes some attempt at insight as to what are the specific problems and why have they occurred and importantly what is the context. None of which you seem that concerned about as you just seem to want to neglect facts and reality. I was attempting (in vain it seems) not so much to sound smart but just to provide a degree of contextual analysis for you in addressing your baseless issues.

You actually completely missed all of the main problems with the ARL (of which there are many) and made irrelevant assertions which have no basis in fact.

I am makling a comment from a consumer standpoint - mine. I'm happy to note you don't see the ARL as a failure. Good for you. Congratulations. Let it be on record I am NOT refuting, belittling or countering your argument. You may or may not have a point, and I'll leave it at that. I shall not, will not and have no reasons to try to convince you otherwise. We are entitled to our own opinions - this is something I am sure we BOTH agree on. Now leave me to mine, instead of trying your darndest to convince me to see your point when you can't even stay on mine. You have considerations different from mine, leave it as that. Sheesh... I'm thankful I don't have you as a dinner companion. Have a nice day now.

Once again, good morning. I have said this before and I will say it again. Look at the Malaysia's KLIA Express.

What ARL and anyone involved with it should do - take a flight, land at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, take the KLIA Express to KL Sentral (the hub of most rail transport in the city of KUL - a REAL hub, I must add!), take some connecting trains for good measure, and then return to KLIA the same way. You WILL realise what an ugly farce the ARL really is. I am curious to see how anyone is going to 'save face' on this huge FAIL!

Your point is a good one regarding the excellent KLIA and the connectivity at KL Sentral (especially with the new MRT Klang Valley lines being built)

However, as I've mentioned to you before elsewhere your view neglects a few realities about the future.

1) The ARL was also planned to be extended to DMK airport (that extension is currently 2 years late, the tender has yet to go out),

2) The new huge SRT Intercity Terminus that is being built at Bang Sue - the ARL ext will connect to this

3) The huge Makkasan Railyard redevelopment which make Makkasan a hub of transport with the ARL as the most important transport connection after the MRT,

4) Makksan (CAT) station was built with the idea that it would become the main future station for the Eastern HSR line (the most viable of the HSR lines). That is still planned to be the case,

5) The future light Blue line will run through Makkasan station

6) The ARL will eventually connect to the following lines (look at the map below);

a) Yellow Line,

b ) Grey Line

c) Light Blue Line,

d) Orange Line

e) Dark Red Line,

f) Light Red line,

g) Brown Line,

h) Pink Line

Is that enough connections for you??? (I've left out the current MRT subway and BTS connections).

See how the ARL provides a pivotal and useful main corridor of connections to other metro and commuter lines and all of BKK. As a commuter line is enables people to travel from one side of the city to another. The future Airport Express (DMK- Bang Sue-PT-Makksan-BKK) will be a quick transfer between both airports.

None of this is to say that the ARL is perfect, nor that the CAT is well designed. There are plenty of flaws with both. In a short term view the ARL seems to isolated and Makkasan looks too big. Fast forward 10 years and the ARL connects with 10 lines!!! And go forward 20 years and Makkasan station will be a hub of transport and will probably be regarded as not big enough.

The Makkasan Railyard redevelopment plans (middle render)

Future network (more info, http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/406991-the-new-skytrain/page-12)

Thank you for the detailed plans on Thailand's future. However, like your previous crystal-ball efforts elsewhere, I'm afraid your good and kind efforts are somewhat wasted. I approached the subject from a consumer's perspective. That is my view as a consumer. I don't 'know the future' as I am obviously not an industry expert like you. Well I hope you are - you make a good job trying to sound like one.

Let me try to bring it down to your level - if you had bad service at a reputable restaurant, you will be unhappy and 'neglect a few realities' about how the server had a bad night with his/her partner which resulted in the bad service. You will 'neglect a few realities' that the cook is in a bad mood and hence the food is less that what you expected it to be. If you bought a car, and it broke down often, you will complain/change it and 'neglect a few realities' such as how the manufacturer is actually upgrading its production facilities, and that cars from this manufacturer will be examplary in 10 years time, while at the same time taking into consideration some realities about the manufacturer's operational parameters and future expansion plans. I hope you get my point. Can't bring it any lower.

The fact is, ARL is a failure now and that's that. A fact. Get it??? I will continue to make parallels between ARL and KLIA Express in the future if such threads exist, and you are free to scroll past my post. If one day ARL becomes more efficient than KILA Express, I will admit so. As a consumer. But right now, it is a massive FAIL, so try your best to deal with the fact.

I will not try to stop you from trying to sell Thailand's rail transport plans here on TVF but please stay on-point in a discussion. Else, try to find a more appropriate platform for your presentation on 'Thailand's Rail Transport in 20 Years Time'. Go play with other people's posts. Try to sound smart elsewhere.

Good morning! Finally you're awake!

Quotes:

"His statement appeared to echo others made to reporters on Tuesday in which he questioned the behaviour of the murder victims as well as the perpetrators.";

"Thailand is desperate to avoid further damage to the nation's lucrative tourism industry, which has been battered in recent months after a prolonged political crisis ended in a coup.";

"Prayut on Tuesday urged investigators to conclude the cases "swiftly" and raised concern over the impact on the country's image.";

"With the start of the tourist high season just two months away, the junta had vowed to restore the nation's reputation as the "Land of Smiles", embarking on a clean-up of resorts after a series of complaints about scams, assaults and even police extortion."

Really, are these your only concerns, General, Sir? Would you have said the same things if you personally knew the victims, sir?

"Panya said an extra 150 members of the Tourist and Marine Police had been deployed on Koh Tao and at piers on the coast of neighbouring Chumphon province to heighten security and boost tourists' confidence."

Boost tourist confidence?

What a stupid and insensitive thing to say.

I find vendors who overcrowd sidewalks just as annoying as anybody else but vendors and street markets are also part of what makes Bangkok unique.

I do agree with enforcing location and placement rules, allowing enough space between stalls for them to set their stools so they are not sitting in the middle of the side walk and not allowing vendors to be on both sides of a walkway.

I hope a happy medium can be achieved, I'd hate to see Bangkok become a sterile clone of Singapore.

+1

Its still a bit steep, 35% for earnings over 4M/year.

For the same earned amount in the following countries.

Malaysia = 26%

Singapore =17%

Then again 35% is better than 37%.

Really? 'Only' 26% in Malaysia? I honestly thought it was higher, and am happy to note that I am wrong :-)

And how many more years to clear the roads of the sudden rise in number of vehicles, thanks to another populist policy. If clearing the roads is at all possible

No surprises. Thailand is the hub of everything, isn't it.

The world is breakling into bits and this makes the news. Really???