sambum

"British and Russian tourists accidentally crashed their motorbikes into each other on Soi Khao Phra Tamnak 5 in Pattaya on Thursday, January 11th." So?

"...it results in increased consumption and drunkenness,...." Completely wrong! This was proved in Scotland many years ago, and without going in to a long explanation, basically, people only have so much money to spend on alcohol, so they tend to drink slower when they have a longer time to drink, hence drunkenness actually goes DOWN!

Well put! I am 187cm tall and have to be constantly aware of low signs, low poles holding up shop shutters/blinds, low doorways etc. ("Duck or Grouse"? ) Once in Surat Thani I turned a corner and could have been blinded by the cross bar sticking out from a street light. OK, this is Thailand, their country, and all things are constructed by Thais with Thais in mind, and head height to them is quite often eye height to visitors or tourists, so a little bit of foresight would not go amiss when they are constructing the shops/stalls etc. As already mentioned, often the pavements are in such a bad state of repair that you need to have eyes like a chameleon to stay safe!!!

"What does Thaksin have to do to get sister Yingluck home?" Get her pregnant? (Not him personally!)

Wrong! The last election results showed that the majority of people were not happy with the state of affairs! But they also are unprepared to risk their lives with any sort of meaningful protest on the streets. We all know what happened last time they protested - they ended up with 150 illegal senators placed in the Upper House to determine how things should be run in the future, and the last "democratic" election proves it.

"..........to confirm whether convicted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is still there,............." Stable door - bolted?

Anutin campaigned for years to get it legalised - whether for medical purposes or not - because he had invested a substantial amount of money into the project!

Just one of many "miscarriages of justice" favouring the rich and privileged- e.g. Prawit and his watches fiasco, Red Bull "Boss", and one of the worst IMHO, the complete illegal installation of 150 military senators ensuring the future of any "democratic" government in this country.

It screams out for a caption, doesn't it? How's about "Where's that bloody bus got to?"

"Mysterious mass death at Chiang Mai Night Safari shocks Thailand" Very misleading headline - it sounds like a nightclub! I was envisaging dozens of partygoers affected by the results of dodgy yabba or something similar!

The alternative would have been to jump off the tuk tuk and "shoot off" up the nearest side street/soi, but in this case it doesn't appear to be an older man with an enlarged prostate!

"I don't even tell my friends my real name." Paranoid or what? How do you deal with your visa or passport applications? Do you make sure all the windows and shutters are closed and all the doors are locked while you are filling in the details?

Maybe got a "Big Bike" as well? Yawn!

And where would you suggest she carries her no doubt large bottles of expensive perfume?

And if I should have to pay TAX in Thailand, presumably I will also be entitled to subsidised HEALTH CARE?

And I presume that the photo of a tuk tuk has something to do with the stupid laws on advertising alcohol?

"To make up for the lost tax revenue, they're going to have to rely on increased consumption." Count me in on that one!

You ain't seen it yet! "The cheque's in the post" etc etc!

Put it on cigarettes and tobacco products!

Ditto! A reduction of 50% was talked about a few years ago, but came to nothing, Mind, it will be very nice if it happens as I have a medical condition that means I have to avoid carbonated drinks (beer/lager, soda water etc) so my main alcoholic drink of choice is wine, and in many bars even a glass of house wine is almost twice the price of a bottle of beer!

See my post a little bit further down - 5 below this one!

Correct, but we have to keep giving the Brit Bashers some fodder, don't we?

"Ay, there's the rub"!

".........but it was unclear why he was shaking the gates of the condo or climbing condo walls." Possibly because he was a tenant and the security guards wouldn't let him in?

".............doctors there have confirmed that the former prime minister is suffering from numerous illnesses." Which seem to have manifested themselves after the party he attended the day before his return?