SS1

The biker victim-blaming culture is serious. It's an ongoing joke on social media: biker at fault" even when there is are no bikes involved. 100% car's fault, the rider is probably going 60km/h.

So if they stopped selling alcohol at 2 am or midnight, everyone would be sober on the way home? If you want something to blame; if the cops would just stop the taxi mafia and force meter taxis all over the island, the temptation to take your own bike on nights out would be much smaller.

I wonder how they define the main cause of accidents as "speeding".. as in they drove so fast they shot out of a curve, but on a straight road? I wonder what % of accidents was caused by the right lane hoggers, who force those who wish to keep a decent pace to undertake and slalom around them.

I'm also confused about what was the crime here (in Thailand), which wasn't stated in the article. I assume cannabis needs an export license, or something like that?

While there is no excuse for drunk driving, the Thai police allow the taxi mafia to operate with rip-off prices, making using your own vehicle the only viable option for many.. Some of my friends in Phuket have started booking hotels for the night instead of going back home because a taxi costs more than a room!

The women whining about it must be "not delicious" ones.

Not really an excuse for drunk driving.. but how about fixing the taxi mafia problem? It's quite tempting to take your motorbike to the bars when the taxis are allowed to rip you off and it costs more to take a taxi to Patong and back than just booking a night at a hotel there.

It's a good question. I don't have any and have been wondering why. My only real Thai friends (without any "benefits" ), for some reason, are female too. I know them through a mutual hobby, which is riding big bikes. Sometimes we go on bike trips together, typically mixed farang/thai group.

So was it proven that she actually charged the tourists money for the transportation, or just helped them out of goodwill? In the latter case, I don't see how that would be interpreted as offering a taxi service (which obviously would be illegal).

Having seen all the videos of the incident, it's obvious that the car driver is at fault. It almost looks like she rear-ended him on purpose. There is no reason she'd be coming at the speed she did considering the traffic was stopped ahead. If she was intending to turn left, she was in the wrong lane. Now whether the Aussie guy's actions are justified, that one is another discussion.. a bit too hot-headed behaviour, although I do like when people confront bad drivers here.

There is no doubt that inhaling any foreign substance into the lungs is always somewhat bad. However, there are plenty of studies suggesting that vaping is much less harmful than smoking cigarettes, making it a great alternative for someone who wishes to stop smoking. Just some NHS guidelines for example here: https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/quit-smoking/vaping-to-quit-smoking Other than that, it's a personal choice. The only reason for any crackdowns in Thailand is due to pressure from the tobacco monopoly. Vaping is legal in most developed countries. Oh and let's not even mention the current pm 2.5 problem.. where most people have no choice.

The owners of the tobacco factories must be getting angry that the new generation is more health-conscious. Smoking cigarettes is really starting to be out of fashion and that must show in the tobacco companies' profits.

I tried it a few times - works great as a painkiller. It feels like more of a body high without psychedelic effects, compared to cannabis. However, it seems easy to "overdose" on it, with a sweet spot being somewhere around 7-10 grams for me when making tea. Any more than that and it makes me feel nauseous.

That may be true for the LTR visa types, but I see that as the opposite for the tax-free gifts. This is a considerable loophole, that would easily allow both lower- to upper-income class expats to keep transferring enough funds to Thailand to live comfortably tax-free. Note: gifts under 10m THB per tax year to a non-relative friend seem to be also tax-free.

This statement is wrong - AirBnB has never been illegal in Thailand. The law has nothing to do with the platform, it's to do with the nature of rentals in general. There are plenty of scenarios where using AirBnB can be fully legal such as: Renting any room for more than 30 days A resort with a hotel license using the platform Renting a villa with 4 bedrooms or less (or whatever the nr. of rooms under the exemption of hotel license requirement)