sambum

Napalm the island? That will incinerate everything very quickly!

Oh, have the people leave first.

Naw the people don't get to leave first... That way you get rid of all the garbage.

https://youtu.be/bPXVGQnJm0w

Sometimes sometimes people just post to see their words in print without thinking how ridiculous they sound - go to blazes!

I can't see how a normal size taxi with LPG cylinder taking up half the boot space, can possibly fit in luggage for 4 overseas passengers.

When the driver assists me with some of the heavier items, I always give him a bit extra.

I know many of these guys are vultures, but if they use their meters, a bit extra for loading up luggage seems only fair.

Why?

It's as much a part of their job as driving and using a meter.

All they are doing is trying to find little scams to extort more money for doing nothing extra.

If they don't like what the job entails then they should choose another career.

I always have and always will give a tip to a taxi driver who is helpful, and agree with masuk in that respect. In the UK some of the cab/taxi drivers won't even get out of their seat to help you with shopping or luggage etc, so I don't think that doing so is in their "contract of employment". However, if they don't help, they are not going to get much in the way of tips! I don't think that helping with the luggage is " trying to find little scams to extort more money for doing nothing extra".and I am sure that most of them realise that if they help with the luggage, they are more likely to get a tip than if they don't. It is on a par with the guy in the hotel who takes your bags to the room, and shows you how the fridge and how the a/c works - if he just dumped your bags outside your room you would be less likely to tip him.

All Thai Taxi (Nakorn Chai Air bus company) starting 1 may!

Passengers call and book a cab. Company owns the vehicles and the drivers are employees of the company.

Drivers not allowed to add anything or dismissed, charge based on standard Land Transport Dept., rates plus 20Baht to book by phone. Regular follow up to ensure customers fully satisfied.

All the cars are Toyota Prius hybrid, no gas tank, large luggage space.

http://www.richardbarrow.com/2015/02/first-look-at-all-thai-taxi-launching-in-may-2015/

Their advertising says they pick and return to airports.

Starts 1 May!!!

I like it! But I'm surprised the Moderators allowed this post! (Advertising)

bigger car uses more petrol, cost more

you should all know

i find this request reasonable

the price paid should be pro rate to the service

in many cities taxi charge extra for big baggage's

it should be regulated and metered

"regulated and metered"? I thought they were already regulated - that's why they have to have a taxi operator's licence? I thought they were already metered - that's why it says "Meter Taxi" on the top!

How about in Pattaya/Jomtien, I would bet that 98% of the meters have never even been turned on.

You should try Koh Samui! 50 baht minimum charge,AND 50 baht surcharge for using the meter!

I was just wondering - what is an ILLEGAL Execution Department? Sounds like they're both the same to me!

Thai law resticts or bans many things - the problem is of course selective enforcement. You can walk down Sukhumvit Road any day and purchase pornography, prescription drugs (mostly fake), knives, tazers, and a plethora of counterfeit goods - all of wich are illegal, and all of which the police turn a blind eye to. Yet, dare to accidentaly drop a cigaret but on the already filthy sidewalk and you will immediately be fined 2,000 Baht on the spot!

Moral - those who can afford to be fined will be fined, other are time wasters and are no use to police coffers.

Question - Did you EVER see a Thai fined for "littering" of any kind, cigarette butts or any other kind of rubbish - anywhere, not just Bangkok?

No, because they pay the usually tea money to the nice officers who come by every few weeks. Mister Ozawa Curry probably refused the bribery.....

Ah, now I understand - silly me! The Thais have effectively already paid their fines for dropping rubbish/littering, or whatever you care to call it, so they can dump their smelly garbage wherever they like without fear of repercussions from the BIB?

So how do the BIB differentiate those who have paid from those who have not, or your average Thai who is not a business owner but merely a city worker on his way home? If, for instance a Thai shop worker lights up as soon as he is outside, and drops the butt a hundred yards/mertres down the street, does he/she get jumped on by the "litter police"? I think not, but that is probably because his/her employer has already paid the "tea money" right?

I saw another photo of this" miss" and " she" certainly looked like a boy , moustache and all.

See post #38

I guess that is the way things are done in Pattaya , get permission for an acceptible 7 storey hotel and then change it to 13 storeys by sleight of hand .

Demolition of the ground floor by the army cannot be disputed and makes the hotel inoperable . The owners have to spend money to demolish the rest .

Or, since the army will not be demolishing the supporting columns, simply build the ground floor walls again when the army leaves and open the hotel. I am guessing that will be both cheaper and more profitable for the owners.

And what's to stop the Army coming back and repeating the procedure as many times as it takes?

Thai law resticts or bans many things - the problem is of course selective enforcement. You can walk down Sukhumvit Road any day and purchase pornography, prescription drugs (mostly fake), knives, tazers, and a plethora of counterfeit goods - all of wich are illegal, and all of which the police turn a blind eye to. Yet, dare to accidentaly drop a cigaret but on the already filthy sidewalk and you will immediately be fined 2,000 Baht on the spot!

Moral - those who can afford to be fined will be fined, other are time wasters and are no use to police coffers.

Question - Did you EVER see a Thai fined for "littering" of any kind, cigarette butts or any other kind of rubbish - anywhere, not just Bangkok?

When does a PM of a country get to tell the police what to do? This guy still thinks he is a general

Article 44? Absolute power? You haven't been paying attention, have you?

"Thammarat gave up the name of his dealer to police after being questioned."

Can we have a recent photo please?

"Police then searched Amporn at her home and found 20 grams of crystal meth."

"Her" home? Sure about that?

You can not legislate self discipline. Looking at a Beer Girl, picture of a beer can/glass is not going to make someone drink too much, it is a lack of self discipline that does it.

Where do they get all these stupid rules from, ignorance ?

One of the big problems Thailand has is that too many of those in positions of responsibility have a very bad lack of "Circumspect", they have not opened their mind and do not want to respect opinions of non Thai's.

Enough, I do not need a knock on the door !! I have lived here as a guess for 11 years, I also respect many Thais I have met, but they have some very basic problems they need to deal with.

By the way, Dear General/PM keep flushing the devise, the water is not clear yet !!

And girls are not to wear bikinis on the beach after dark!

This is a run-down of what is banned (from http://www.establishmentpost.com/junta-ordered-thailand-law-enforcement-signals-end-happy-hour/):

• Alcohol sales to anyone under the age of 20 is banned.
• Alcohol can not be sold to anyone who is visibly drunk.
• The promotion of wine or beer tastings is banned.
• Enticing or encouraging someone to drink alcohol is banned.
• Drinking after midnight in bars or restaurants, even though alcohol sales have stopped is banned.
• Photographs of glasses or bottles in the media must have any brands or logos blurred.
• Drinking while riding a bicycle, motorbike or in a car, whether driving or not, is banned.
• All alcohol products must carry a government health warning – a choice of five approved health warning messages are available to chose from – and list all of the ingredients.
• Promoting alcohol sales through methods such as happy hours, free ice and mixers, buy two get one free, and the use of ‘beer girls’ is banned.
• Glasses, ashtrays and other restaurant or bar paraphernalia cannot carry alcohol logos.
• The display of posters or bottles with alcohol company logos, even old posters or empty bottles, is banned.
• Bar and restaurant staff are forbidden from wearing clothing embossed or printed with alcohol logos while working.
• The use of images that are associated with alcohol products, such as red stars for Heineken or a black bat on a red circular background for Bacardi, in promotional literature is prohibited.
• Promoting alcohol by word of mouth is illegal (a waiter would be breaking the law if he/she suggested a particular brand of wine or beer).
• Drinking is banned in government buildings, including education centres, public parks, petrol or gas refueling stations and temples or religious venues.
• Alcohol cannot be sold by vending machines.
• Promoting alcohol by offering points, prizes, discounts, incentives or rewards is banned.
• Television advertising is only permitted between 10pm and 5am while the amount of space alcohol logos can occupy in printed or online advertising is limited. In addition audio health warning must be clear and legible down to each syllable, while printed health warnings must run the full width of the advertisement, whether electronic, printed, or online and occupy no less than one-quarter of the advertising space.

Can I tell somebody I like it?

This silliness is the extreme end result of a totalitarian government, now the question is , what else are the silliness administration going to ban or introduce next, that is the question. perhaps the banning of alcohol , now that would be interesting and quite on the cards.

Ah, yes, you haven't QUITE said it, but you have put it in their minds! Let's ban PLAYING CARDS, because they encourage gambling!

So you can't have logos in a menu, but it's ok to be seen from miles away?

Showing the brand is perfectly ok. It's showing what's termed a 'pack-shot' - product, glass with contents - that's illegal here.

But WHY?

By the way, Samui is a safe place now. The next bomb will explode elsewhere.

+1

The horse bolted already.

Terrorists are not like lightning strikes: they bomb a place and move on to the next whilst the stupid authorities run around the scene like a disturbed ants nest. Almost for sure the next bomb will not be in Samui irrespective of the security there now.

"The horse bolted already" leaving behind the usual knee jerk reactions, and step ups in security measures. However, in this case, if it makes things safer, and gives some people a proper job to do - fine by me.

In response to the comment from the People’s Democratic Reform Committee Chief Suthep Thaugsuban that only a person who lived abroad could have funded the bomb, Kongsheep said that he believed that as "he did not think that Thai’s would hurt one another because of different ideologies."

Can I have some of what he's been drinking? From somebody in his position, I think that must qualify as this New Year's most idiotic comment!

"And this year's Buffoon of The New Year award goes to ............."

"As a Buddhist monk, Phra Suthep should refrain from lying, as speaking an untruth was a sin under Buddhism".

The Brit was way out of order. The most common complaint from all the expats here is "the problem is that a lot of guys who come here think all of the girls here are available and go about treating them like they are". You don't grab any female off the street and physically touch them, in your home country you would be charged with assault for doing just that. Be a bit more respectful guys, not all women are available and keep your hands to yourself and maybe you will enjoy Pattaya incident free just like all the other long term expats do.

Fully agree - and it shouldn't matter whether it's Pattaya, Bangkok, or Phuket. The girl in the street may be somebody's wife/girlfriend/sister who is merely on her way home, or to meet somebody, or any number of reasons that should not warrant a "groping" from a drunken foreigner, whereas the girls in the bars will soon let you know if they are "available" or not.

Unfortunately,(in my neck of the woods in the UK ), a great percentage of the people tend to think that anyone who comes to Thailand on holiday is some kind of pervert, anyway, so if they do decide to come here, then they decide to act the part!

Pumpin area of Surathani. It's all over the TV at the moment.

What - 2 bombs - one in Surat and one on Samui?

This is really crazy - all that stuff in the south has forever been about Muslims asking for the right to follow their religion in schools where not even one teacher was Buddhist.

Dozens of schools where there were all Muslim staff and children but they had to have Buddhist rites because this was Thailand.

How does that translate to car bombs on Samui and in Surat Thani?

R

I am not religious, but how do you know Muslims were responsible?

This image used to be on the Ministry of Culture website (until the 2011 Songkran episode):

That image was a portion of this original painting by the Thai artist Sompop Budtarad:

The offending image was changed after the MoC condemned topless revellers during the 2011 celebration and a flurry of people pointed out that the MoC had an image of topless girls on their website !

Perhaps what is "appropriate" depends largely on how it looks when you wear it (or don't) yourself !

I never have, and never will, understand why so many people think it is bad to show the female breast and or nipple!

Some sort of strange puritan, victorian perversion I guess.

Before western influence interfered, it was common for Thai women to not cover their breasts.

Breasts and nipples are not all about recreational sex.

If they were not kept hidden and secret, those who are so excited about them, would not be nearly as interested in them.

I was told by a japanese girlfriend once that when Japanese women were prohibited to expose the back of their neck in public, Japanese men considered the nexk the most erotic part of the female body!

Why are male nipples not taboo to display in public?

IMO..the whole concept of bad breasts is ridiculous!

Can anyone please explain to me what is so bad about a nipple?

We all have them!

The showing of bare female breasts in the media is considered "obscene", yet showing photos of mutilated dead bodies seems to be totally acceptable. I know which one I consider "obscene"!

Claimed Mr Hunnington threw the first punch.

Of course.

Funny. The farang always initiates these 'gang' attacks.

Bad farang.

He's drunk, he's a Brit, he groped a Thai woman . . . sorry, but he probably did throw the first punch. He allegedly punched the farang boyfriend of the woman he groped, not a gang of Thai men. The Thai men apparently came to the defense of the Finnish man.

Yes, of course the South Koreans have never had problems with their boats. Unless you count the captain who abandoned ship leaving hundreds of school children to die last year. Costa Concordia....oh so sorry didnt see the sandbank. Townsend Thoresen....oh awfully sorry old chap didn't realise we had to close the doors. Those whinging about Thai marine accidents should look closer at home methinks.

Not to mention the number of ferry disasters in the Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, (especially that country) India and Egypt, (I've dived of a sunken ferry there) And there are plenty of others. When we put to sea, we are at risk.

And no, equalizer, it is not normal practice to don life jackets on this type of vessel unless and until an emergency occurs. Praise is due to the crew, the rescue services, both professional and willing amateurs for what was, overall a successful outcome.

Well said! And can you imagine the chaos when the ferry reaches its destination, and everybody is trying to hand their life jackets in? It's pretty much a "free for all" already with everyone trying to be among the first off.

seatran.jpg This was a tourist ferry leaving from Koh Tao a few days ago . I thought it was on fire ! until I saw it do the same thing the next day . the engine is clearly in a bad condition for it to create this much smoke !! how long before it blows up and sinks just like the Krabi boat ? I decided not to use this ferry company when I left the island !

Another reason (as if there aren't enough already!) not to visit Koh Tao!