Old Croc

Laos police detain owner of backpacker hostel where Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles were staying before methanol poisoning - ABC News

Where do you get your crystal ball?

When I came to Thailand, I was ambulatory. I had made a permanent home and relationship here before becoming disabled. These vehicles are appropriate and suitable in any reasonably civilized country. Now you on the other hand...

For the record I'm no longer able to walk or drive a vehicle with pedals. I live on a remote farming property with multiple fields most of which are not connected to the main property. I designed the house and property with large verandas and pathways to enable me to get around with either a wheelchair or mobility scooter. I own 3 of the latter, one suitable for off road, one a little faster for longer trips on road, and one inevitably not working. These 3- or 4-wheel devices enable me to have a little Independence to escape being house bound. I managed to get one to hit a blistering 20 kph downhill on one occasion but most are designed to stay under 10kph. Our street, the nearest village and the highway between, do not have anything resembling a footpath, I ride on the roads when venturing away from the house. Very carefully on the highway. Here in Isaan there are increasing amounts of electric scooters and devices being used by locals to give them a better quality of life. One local here has a 3 wheeled bicycle fitted with an electric (washing machine?) motor that moves at a good pace. There are many other homemade contraptions chugging around the streets that need to be seen to be believed. None are licensed nor taxed, but all are valuable for the users. Most road accidents in Thailand occur because of driver error or incapacity, road conditions or speed. The method of propulsion, nor mandated licensing rules, have nothing to do with cause. There is a selfish army of posters on this forum, most of whom have an American redneck attitude that speed and oil rules the road, who flock to attack the type of vehicle whenever someone stuffs up in an electric vehicle. Very petty!

I'm not sure if the scooter being licensed, taxed or insured would have prevented the collision with some pallets left in a roadway. It could just as easily have been a motorcycle ridden at a much faster speed by a drunken farang that came to grief on the obstacle. Or perhaps a child on a bicycle. This had nothing to do with people's prejudices against electric scooters.

Thailand should follow first world UK with safety standards:

Family of three travelled. The 17yo has a different last name. Perhaps a second marriage? Perhaps wife too distraught to identify?

The above waist high railings are as good as I've ever seen erected in Thailand to protect earthworks. In past years I've seen video of people duck diving in an unprotected, flooded hole in Patong to retrieve motorbikes completely under water. I remember a woman dying when she drove her car into a cutting across a street that was only protected by a tree branch on the road, Who knows what this guy was thinking or trying to do when he climbed over the barrier. There was no foul play, and he didn't trip over anything, He climbed in as shown on CCTV. Whether he was drunk, drugged or not can only be confirmed by an autopsy.

Was she trying to escape from the kitchen to vote for Hillary or Kamala?

Amazing, AI came up with pretty well every thought I had on the situation! It even covered the possibility of paying a fine remotely. I had already decided to put in a late report online, get the refusal and use that to indicate my attempt to comply. The one big unknown is the attitude of the Immigration individuals making decisions. Thankyou LosLobo, for this

Thanks for your comments. I seriously considered this having read that someone else has claimed he doesn't do reports, just pays the fine with his extension each time. I'm not sure this is a sustainable solution to the idiotic reporting regime, but interesting. However, as I've just realized my new bank debit card may not find its way to me, and I can't fix it online, it makes sense to find a day to sort the issues. Lazada and a small angry Thai lady would be very upset if I couldn't access my account.

Thanks for your input. It might be interesting to hear what AI suggested. I don't expect any contact from the member you mentioned. I will just have to find a free day to get to the Immi office to sort it out. I'll combine it with a bank visit to fix some address issues before my new debit card is issued in a month or so. My nearest bank branch is also hours from my location. In the meantime, I'll try to avoid arrest!

Thanks for the suggestion, it does seem a bit quiet here. I rarely ask for advice on the forum any more as there are too many who respond to genuine requests with unhelpful advice, weak jokes or criticism of spelling errors. I'll give it a day or two and see what happens,

The over-the-top gloating and hatred continue. Not a sign of a forward-looking vision of the promised Greatness when their esteemed leader takes the reins. Perhaps they too are aware of the looming autocratic chaos when the cabinet of loonies start the purge.

The reminder system didn't work for me for the first time since inception, which has resulted in me being about 3 weeks overdue. I know I should have had a backup system in place. My problem now is how to proceed. I believe I can't now submit it on-line, instead must visit my IO in person. While a fine is annoying, the main pain is the 2-hour drive (130 kms) to my IO just to sort out this petty matter. My driver is busy at the moment with harvesting. There are no agents anywhere in my vicinity. My next extension is in April. Does anyone know of a way to sort it without a visit? Perhaps leave it until April, they can only fine me once? Hope the rumored non-Immi visa changes make frequent reports redundant. Lodge it on-line and hope it is accepted - unlikely. Thanks for any suggestions.

Using the word GOSH at the beginning of the sentence (or anytime really) doesn't do much for me either.

I repeat, you should try research.

What a silly little attempt to justify your flawed interpretation of my words. You didn't need an invitation to become a nit-picking Nazi, you did that all by yourself. Despite studying French for numerous years in school, I have never found it necessary to attempt self-aggrandizement by its use in this English-speaking forum.

Your initial intentions were to insult, but you have accidently come to a correct conclusion here. The Australian Labour party are floundering in a sea of PC. Always made more difficult by the fringe parties, with whom they are forced into coalitions, with their often-impractical ideas and policies. The Australian conservatives are closely following the MAGA playbook in the hope that their base is just as gullible as the Americans. It may well happen.

Perhaps you need a lesson in reading and comprehension. Where did you find the term "numerous occasions" in my post? If indeed your initial attack on my spelling was meant to be humorous and not just a poor MAGA attempt to avoid the actual theme of the post, I apologize for not recognizing it as such. Actual humor is not common, nor well executed, in this particular forum.

You should research the word you used here. It specificity relates to the extreme right. Just another example of projection, a tool used by the afore mentioned feeble minds.

Not the first time I've misspelled ludicrous. Fortunately, a small, minded spelling nazi is on the job. A different version of a title I'm sure you've worn before.

Most religions stopped the whole "Love thy Neighbor, Good Samaritan " thing decades ago. It's now all about, "be the same as me or die and go to hell". Forgiveness is about turning a blind eye to the criminal excesses of their own people. Their version of inclusion and graciousness in victory, is over-the-top gloating and a vicious need to extract violent revenge on those from the other side by inventing high crimes and meting out harsh punishment, including execution, for the free speech and the opposition to their criminal leader, whom they have elevated to God like status. They desire a military dictatorship in the "land of the free" to control those who don't fit into their version of self. Religions thrive within low educated, low IQ communities when increasing hordes of people are unable to think logically for themselves, and are in need of a strong personality to tell them what they should believe in. Ludacris conspiracy theories take root in feeble minds. Any thinking adult can't believe exactly how ridiculous these beliefs are. Some cultists in America actually think teachers are performing penectomy on children in school between classes. As an outside observer, I have trouble believing much of what is happening in the USA in the name of religion. As a child in the 50s and 60s America was considered a nirvana. Great things emanated from there like cocoa cola, hamburgers, rock music, radio, space travel, next level electrical appliances, and much more. Now with the emergence of religious zealotism and its leading role in the judicial and political systems of the country, I just see the US as another version of Pakistan.

Past the rioting, if Trump loses civil war will come, If Trump wins, the world will have to brace for President Vance sooner rather than later.