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Can only react to facts and not conjecture or undeclared details . Fact is that he is in an expensive hotel namely "Bangkok Hospital in Phuket " and they know how to charge farang fees . Question is could the further pelvis repair operations be carried out in a government hospital at reasonable rates . Indeed was the Bangkok hospital the only choice and they maybe rewarded the carrier who took the injured man there ? Goverment hospitals in Thailand have a duty of care where the patient is treated first and payment is secondary , unlike private hospitals where it is the other way round i.e. show proof of finances before we start taking care . All travel policies that I have had do not exclude alcohol at a reasonable level but do exclude it to an excess along with any recreational drugs . If a policy excluded alcohol it would have very few takers . To those who crticise travellers for not having insurance ( I agree ) , just take a look around the expat communities in Thailand that have many over 70 year olds without health insurance because of the high ins; premiums and live here on month to month pension incomes .

Almost anywhere ? not up here is Issan but I will try Tops as suggested by phetphet

I am used to eating frozen garden peas that are sweet , soft and tasty but here in Thailand , despite where I buy them from , they are not really a good green colour and when cooked are always on the hard side . I have cooked by simmering in water for various lengths of minutes and also cooked them in butter with a touch of sugar and garlic as per a Google recipe but the results are always disappointing . In the UK it would be either a Birdseye frozen peas or supermarkets own name peas and all gave decent results by simple simmering for say 5 minutes . I would like to hear if anyone can buy good quality frozen peas in Thailand and the method of cooking . I have seen mushy peas in cans here in Thailand and Macro sell Palley peas that look good on the packet but not when eating . Looking at the drop down topic list , I did not see a listing for foods or recipes which I think may be of interest to a few readers .

100% true and yes the IO was out of order , or was he ?

Indeed , a tourist visa is meant for real tourists and not for regular visitors to see their spouse etc . Friend of mine , last year was refused entry at Don Muang because IO looked at his pp and saw that he was coming to Thailand every 3 months and staying at least 1 month . IO asked him where he was travelling to in Thailand and friend told him he was going to see his long term g/f and stay in her house . He was put on the next flight back and told to get a proper visa .

Bidens visit has triggered a visit to Russia by China president XI . There is speculation that China may supply arms to Russia , despite a previous refusal . Some reasoning is that China tried to be the peace maker but Zelensky did not want to know . If the Chinese do supply weapons to Russia , that will start another cold war and heighten the tensions between the U.S.A. , Russia & China . I am not sure when the XI visit is scheduled for as it was announced early today . Looks like the war may not end any time soon and defeat for Putin has severe consequences for the world .

My lady was hit by a motor bike taxi , in her car . Taxi had no insurance . People shpuld think twice about using taxis in Thailand as it seems there is no requirement to hold insurance that would cover innocent passengers

I guess that not all hospitals are hitting foreigners but my local ones do . Also some private doctors , in their walk in surgeries , will have a foreigners rate . Last year I had a lengthy eye test in the local gov; hospital . I was sat next to a Thai lady all the way through the tests that we both had . Went for our prescriptions ( we had same eye drops ) . My bill 2200bt , hers 300 bt. BTW , you were asked for 10,000 baht up front . This goes to prove my point at hitting the foreigner with as much as possible if they can , not only hospitals but many commercial outlets

First , thanks for the link which would be really benefcial to all travellers to Thailand if they could be made aware of , or given the link at the time of booking a flight or holiday to Thailand . You have missed the point that I made concerning the humanity issues , i.e. a badly injured person taken to a hospital which then refuses to administer possible life saving or life changing medical aid , unless there is proof of adequate funds . Secondly the £40,000 bill is way over the top to treat a broken arm and lacerations . Its all about making money out of foreigners . Even government hospital have a 3 tier billing scheme that is 1/ Thai patients 2/ non-Thai Asean patients 3/ non Asean foreigners . In my experience and also that of friends , if you are an in-patient you will probably be presented with a daily itemised bill which will even show the costs of minimal treatment e.g. nurse taking your temperature / blood pressure , all to drive up your bill . In summary it should be treatment first ( for accident & emergency treatment ) , reasonable costs for treatment to be agreed and maybe the patients passport held until payment in full has been made . Maybe mandatory holiday insurance could help , with drawing attention to activities which are not covered such as riding motor bikes etc .

I agree . Thai government hospitals will hit you with a farang price , even as an out-patient and often charge 5 times or more to a farang than that of a Thai person . Farangs are seen as an easy target for extortion .

Had she not paid up or not had the means to , would the hospital do nothing and maybe let her die ? Would a Thai be hit with the same bill ? I think not because she is being charged the falang price . This disgusting tactic has to stop , even if by international intervention that would expose Thailands corrupt nation . I am not too interested if she had insurance or not because insurance companies will always try to find ways to refuse to settle and even if they do they often drag their heels . We all know the dangers of riding motor bikes in Thailand but crossing the road is also a danger with pedestrian crossings included . 2 week tourists are not so informed as well as long stayers and are not aware of the perils of Thailand . That 300 baht on arrival levy could have taken care of tourists insurance but once again money is number one in Thailand , even at the expence of a human life . There should be a health warning given to potential tourists to Thailand .

70% chance of rain , who is the weather forecaster ? The TMD only gives 20%

There are many fake / copied products for sale in Thailand , from many outlets including Lazada who do not seem to vet their vendors . The Darlie tooth paste is being sold on Lazada by 58 vendors with quite a varience in price . It would not surprise me if the fake Darlie tooth paste has been sold in shops for a long time , along with other fakes e.g. Olive oil , honey etc . Its about time that manufacturers came up with a code for tracibility for their products which would give customer confidence . Or is it beyond the wit of man ?

Main concern for me in vaping is the vaping liquid/ juice which is not regulated and often made in the back streets of China

If no tax but have insurance , would the insurance pay out if you have an accident , cos in the UK the vehicle must have its annual vehicle inspection ( M.O.T. ) , road tax and without either your insurance is invalid but in Thailand ?

Don't know if in Thailand that if you do not pay a disputed bill but in the UK it can result in giving you a black marker against your name or address for your credit rating which makes borrowing or mortgages difficult . I recently cancelled a 3BB internet service as I was paying for 1 gb but only getting between 30 & 100 mb . Many visits by their technicians , to no avail ( said it was my devices ,BS ) . We called their call centre to cancel and they said we must go to our local 3BB shop and hand over the router along with the contract and show I.D. card but wait for them to phone you first to allow the cancellation . It took a week for them to call followed by a tech who collected the router and no further charges. Internet here in Thailand is pot luck . I once had TOT by signal that was up & down , 3BB fibre but often a problem . Now have a local company at half the 3BB price and a guaranteed 200 mbps . So far so good .

The code is ambiguous and open to interpretations , yet the final decision is given by the Prime minister who is a good pal of Zahawi . IMO Sunaks wife's non domicile tax case was more out of order than Zahawi's .

Indeed , a breach of the ministerial code would include tax evasion , if it can be proved that it was evasion and not carelessness or avoidance

Liptons tea , I would rather go without than drink that weak rubbish . Yet every hotel that I have stayed in Thailand , will serve Liptons tea , be it in your room or restaurant . Its either Liptons or 3 in 1 coffee which is loaded with sugar , ugh . Lazada is a mine field when trying to buy a genuine brand name item and often faced with a wide range of prices for the same article . Friend , in Thailand , had a Samsung TV which broke down 2 months outside of the 1 year guarantee . When he researched the model he found it was only produced and sold in Thailand and was no longer available .

Evaded taxes ? There is an ongoing enquiry into his tax affairs that will reveal the nature of his failings to comply with HMRC tax rules even though he has settled with a penalty . So will the outcome be avoidance , evasion or carelessness ? At the moment you have jumped the gun with saying " evaded taxes "

How many times in 1 year are you allowed a 45 day visa exempt arriving by air from the UK ?

You say , The UK could learn so much from Europe ? Please click the link below that shows the UK to be the 2nd safest in Europe https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/motoring-news/uk-roads-revealed-to-be-second-safest-in-europe/

Tax avoidance seems to be a grey area but if supported by a well known accountant to the tax collector , it is often successful .

It seems that the Thai people including the authorities are content to let things stand as they are and must be aware of what could be achieved if adopting western standards of road safety . What should be happening is that foreign governments should be advising all travellers to Thailand , of the countries high accident rates , deaths and low road safety standards . Most tourists are unaware , especially when it comes to hiring and riding motor cycles .

In reality there is little consideration for pedestrians trying to cross roads , here in Thailand . As an e.g. in the UK a vehicle cannot park near a crossing or within the zig zag lines which are 15 meters before & 5 meters after the crossing . That gives clear vision for both drivers and pedestrians . Up here in Issan , vehicles sometimes park on the crossing , will overtake approaching a crossing , often at speed . Yesterday when at the front of the queue on a crossroads the light turned to green and as I moved off a large truck and trailer fully laden with stones , came hurtling through 5 seconds after green on my side . This red light jumping seems to be a regular happening and last year a friend was hit my a red light jumper but luckily only minor injuries to him & daughter plus he had a dash camera to prove his innocence but was inconvenienced for 4 months while his 1 year old car was being repaired . ( would have been a right off in Europe but ins; company could save 50K baht by repairing ) . Also happened to another friend 3 years ago and the insurance company replaced the whole cab on his pickup to save a few thousand baht . It took nearly 5 months to repair and no free temporary replacement .