nikster

Increase the educational standard of Thai children by reducing school hours. Typical Thai logic like the faster I drive the more I'll miss all the accidents.

The actual problem is that this kind of attitude is too prevalent - kids are innocent, the parents perpetuate the insanity.

Imagine a school where the kids do whatever they want. All day long. There are lots of options to do school-like stuff - but you don't have to. You can sit around twiddle your thumbs all day if you like.

I'm sure you'd be shocked. You'd say - hey, no, this cannot be. They need to learn that life is not fun. They need to learn that they have to do things they don't want to do in order to make money, so they can send their own kids to a school where they learn how to do things they don't want to do.... and so on....

Well this school exists, it's in the USA, look up Sudbury Valley School. They have higher than national average college attendance rates. Kids are much happier too. And they grow up to be happier adults.

The current school system is broken, and the less there is of it, the better. How much of what you learned in school do you remember? I remember learning to get passing grades with minimal effort - didn't need 12 years of school for that though. Nowadays where your test scores are so important, I'd probably learn how to get optimal test scores with minimal effort - test is over, forget everything.

True story: I was talking to one of the traditional but elite international school principals. She told me that there's a lot of Chinese and Korean kids and they need special English classes. Except that one Chinese kid, he arrived speaking perfect english when he was 13 years old. She asked him how he'd learned English so well. Answer: He wanted to learn English, so he hit up free classes on YouTube. I am not sure why she told me this - but that's the way it is now.

The best course programs in the world are online and free. If you want to learn Computer Science the way it's taught at Stanford University in California - it's all online. You can do that. So the purpose of a school is now social interaction, and getting kids interested in different topics. Developing a love for learning - or since kids actually love learning to begin with, not crushing their love for learning by demanding they learn useless stuff that doesn't interest them.

Yes I agree with you that if you really want to learn just about anything now can be found online.

The problem I see with that is it gives teachers a good excuse not to teach properly, and tell the students to go on the web.

However many families cannot afford a computer and internet. Many rural areas have no internet connection.

Unfortunately you can't make children learn if they do not want to and many don't. They are lazy.

However social media networking and games are what the kids want to do on their computers and this in itself causes problems.

Therefore the teaching quality in schools has to be improved.

One thing to do is ban mobile phones in school, this for the teachers aswell as the students.

Also note that there are no parent evenings where you can go and discuss your childrens development.

No doubt this is because teachers do not want to be confronted by parents about the poor teaching.

I would also suggest, throw out the calculators as most high school children cannot ad 5 and 8 together without one.

Banning phones would be good for sure.

I disagree with one thing: Children are absolutely not lazy! Maria Montessori observed this over 100 years ago - children have a deep inner desire to learn. The entire montessori school system is based on that, and it works. As an example, my son learned reading at age 5 without anyone promting him to. He was given the opportunity in school - and at some point he realized how interesting books are and he spent entire days and weeks going through the reading learning materials at the school. Pretty soon he was reading books. Other kids only get interested in reading later - they learn other things at that time.

If they appear lazy in school it's because they are made to learn things they are not interested in; rather than encouraging them to explore the things they want to explore - like a Montessori School does, or the abovementioned Sudbury schools - the normal schools squash their creativity, their inquisitiveness, their curiosity. It is an epic waste of everyone's time. And actually detrimental to child development.

I remember there were a few interesting classes in my highschool - and they were interesting despite the system, and solely because of fantastic teachers who would go and teach kids despite all the obstacles the school and school system threw at them.

Increase the educational standard of Thai children by reducing school hours. Typical Thai logic like the faster I drive the more I'll miss all the accidents.

The actual problem is that this kind of attitude is too prevalent - kids are innocent, the parents perpetuate the insanity.

Imagine a school where the kids do whatever they want. All day long. There are lots of options to do school-like stuff - but you don't have to. You can sit around twiddle your thumbs all day if you like.

I'm sure you'd be shocked. You'd say - hey, no, this cannot be. They need to learn that life is not fun. They need to learn that they have to do things they don't want to do in order to make money, so they can send their own kids to a school where they learn how to do things they don't want to do.... and so on....

Well this school exists, it's in the USA, look up Sudbury Valley School. They have higher than national average college attendance rates. Kids are much happier too. And they grow up to be happier adults.

The current school system is broken, and the less there is of it, the better. How much of what you learned in school do you remember? I remember learning to get passing grades with minimal effort - didn't need 12 years of school for that though. Nowadays where your test scores are so important, I'd probably learn how to get optimal test scores with minimal effort - test is over, forget everything.

True story: I was talking to one of the traditional but elite international school principals. She told me that there's a lot of Chinese and Korean kids and they need special English classes. Except that one Chinese kid, he arrived speaking perfect english when he was 13 years old. She asked him how he'd learned English so well. Answer: He wanted to learn English, so he hit up free classes on YouTube. I am not sure why she told me this - but that's the way it is now.

The best course programs in the world are online and free. If you want to learn Computer Science the way it's taught at Stanford University in California - it's all online. You can do that. So the purpose of a school is now social interaction, and getting kids interested in different topics. Developing a love for learning - or since kids actually love learning to begin with, not crushing their love for learning by demanding they learn useless stuff that doesn't interest them.

Devil's advocate - BMW started assembling the S1000RR in Thailand. It's now 820 / 840k - pretty competitive with the 899, but more bike.

Doesn't look as good of course

Waiting for the Hypermotard 939 and sincerely hoping the SP will be made in Thailand this time. OMG that could get expensive.

giving children more leisure time is not an answer in the west school hours are from 9,0am till 4,0pm

1 hour for lunch cutting school hours just means giving children more time to think of what to do next and that could mean mischief .

yes it is an answer, and more mischief may be just what the doctor's ordered

this education system is a relic of the past - it was invented to create compliant worker drones who do not ask questions, and who do not under any circumstances have any ideas. and i am talking about the west as well as the east - it's a prevalent madness.

abolish homework next and I'm happy

PS OK so we have to think what to do with our kids for that 1 extra hour - that's a bit challenging to be honest. school isn't just for learning it's also to socialize and to get the little ones out of our hair for the day. as they say it takes a village to raise a child.

There's apparently a classic style version of the MT-07 coming. Looks fantastic

More here https://rideapart.com/articles/yamaha-introduces-xsr700-awesome

I think we compare similar priced motorcycles, that are available in LOS!!!

You did that possibly.

For me it is only one Ducati model which was, is interesting for me,

a possibility for me to buy and that is the new Monster 821.

Therefore our different opinion.= High maintenance cost - or not so high maintenance costs.

I have a Hypermotard 821. Best bike I've ever owned, and it's still super fun 2 years down the road. It's slightly overpowered for the city, as the times and places where one can open up the throttle are few and far between (they do exist though, and I know them... hahaha).

Maintenance costs are not an issue. Same or less than the Kawasaki 650 I owned - it's insignificant. I am coming up on the desmo service at 30k but service interval of 15k means you really don't do this very often. I love the Ducati dealership in CNX too, very competent mechanics.

If I had anything to say about a Japan-built Japanese bike like the MT-07 vs. a Ducati - QUALITY is going to be better on the Yamaha. No doubt about that. I've had this and that go wrong on the Hyper, all fixed in warranty, and nothing in the last 6 months, knock on wood. But over the years this is the difference between an obsessive attention to detail like you'll see on Japanese or German brands, and all the others. Ducati engine is rock solid and sounds amazing, but there are many parts on a bike...

Example:

- Rear tail light stalk broke

- Headlight overheats and broke twice already

- Seat stitching is coming off after 2 years of .... sitting on it...

The Versys never had any of these minor issues even thought it's not exactly a high priced bike. It's the price you pay for the amazing styling and amazing performance and character on the Duc. I am also cleaning this bike more than any before it, but that's another story...

I agree, I told my step daughter's husband to take care of this, which was a mistake I should have predicted. I sent him the attached image that no misunderstanding could occur. I'll correct this when I come down in January.

Nice but very impractical and dangerous in my opinion.

Tint01A.jpg

Well, with guidance that unclear, what do you expect? 555 You even shaded the film on the picture pretty much accurately, LOL.

Looks to me like you got 95% all the way round.

You have almost right, 60% in the front and 80% in the rear part

His response when I wonder if it was dark in there was

"I've driven cars with similar films for 15 years and never had any problems, just nice and cool"

Whatever, it was only the film that was included free.

I plan to put on ceramic film.

sixty percent at the front is way too much for driving at night time. 20%, like you said, for the windscreen, and 40% for the front doors. I've almost ran into a bike on a dark road with 40% at the front and sides. Best to go lighter as you know.

Just use any of the more expensive films. I've had V-Kool put on the Fortuner, never regretted it. It's visually very light, maybe 20% or so, but it blocks 99%+ of UV and it keeps the car as cool as it can be. Drove a rental car with one of those cheap super dark films, it's just dumb, you can't see anything at night.

Why did the rider not slow down? He had plenty of time.

I assume he thought he could make the gap but did not work out the trajectory of the trailer?

I think it's pretty obvious what happened.

- Biker sees truck making a U-turn and blocking his entire lane

- Tries to smoothly sail around the truck on the right without slowing down - this is the mistake - you have to slow down if a big truck blocks the road AND also your view.

- Just at the moment where he can narrowly pass the truck on the right, there's an oncoming car passing really closely. I am convinced the biker couldn't see the car and vice versa - the truck was blocking both their view

- The car tries to avoid the biker and swerves off

- Biker tries to avoid the head-on collision and hits the back of the truck (some trucks also have bits sticking out the back, maybe that too)

The guy was very lucky to be alive. He's able to still run (!) away from the crash. Then he's on fire, and luckily there are bystanders who douse the flames within seconds. I saw some pictures of the aftermath - the rider was sitting there, conscious, but with what appeared to be pretty bad burns all over his upper body and face. But he was alive! He'll make it but he will be in hospital for quite some time.

Edit: The very best part about this entire incident is how many people show up to help, and how fast they act. Their quick and unselfish reaction certainly saved the driver's life. I will have to remember the hit-it-with-a-jacket trick for dousing fires... I wouldn't even have thought of that.

"I might be paranoid, but I feel like it would be my fault if anything happen to him"

Utter nonsense. It wouldn't be your fault, nor should you feel like it would be.

If he can be convinced by statistics, there are numerous ones that show how dangerous Thailand's roads are. The death rate is staggering - IMO much of that has to do with not wearing helmets, and driving drunk.

I've seen a kid lying in a pool of blood on the road after falling over on his bike - I am not sure he was actually dead but if not then very close to it. the same accident with helmet would be a couple of scratches and no hard feelings. If you happen to come off the bike at normal speeds, which can happen, and bump your head on the road then a helmet makes the difference between death and walking away. So that's my reasoning.

That said if you go to the local 7/11 through a few sois then you don't need a helmet, clearly. Use common sense.

still new to the scooter gig - so the small wheels are a problem is that right?

Only in people's imaginations... it's a myth that never seems to go away. Some people swear by it and others, like myself, never had any issues at all with those "terribly small wheels" - also we enjoy the better turn radius and such. I love Scoopy, Vespa, never any issues.

Once you go off road, once you hit the jungle paths, that changes - then you need bigger wheels. Honda Dream / Wave is very practical there. Dirt bikes have 21" wheels which is super useful in gnarly terrain. On the road it hardly matters, and it comes with downsides.

I wonder why they called in NMAX when PCY would have been the obvious name choice...

That said more choices are never a bad thing. I like the styling of the grand filano - I actually thought that was their PCX competitor, but guess I was wrong.

I've heard - straight off the street so no sources - that the excise tax on bikes will be reduced next year, for big bikes. Something along the lines that the current 5 / 10 / 15 / 20% tax brackets depending on engine size will be replaced by a new universal 5% tax on all bikes. So big bikes in particular would drop in price.

I really don't know where this is coming from but ... google it. Chances are it's going to be mentioned in places

* pause internet rage*

All this article says is: CAT is building an international gateway.

So what? They're already operating one (or a few). They need to build more international bandwidth. That, people, is a good thing. I am not seeing anything about establishing a monopoly, or preventing others from investing in their own international gateways.

* unpause *

keep on raging, guys *

upper part of the country? Which 32 places would the storm hit??

Please look AT THIS WEBSITE.

It will show you where the storm is in pretty much real time.

..........And Ratcatcher's map is pretty cool too.

stunningly beautiful - wow

"It is to be done on a volunteer basis when we develop the infrastructure. It is not to force them. That is impossible,"

The bold above is about the only thing i believe in the entire OP.............................

Really one can only read between the lines. This particular statement seems like it's a way out for everyone without losing face. I also think a single gateway would be impossible - the cat is out of the bag, and it can't be stuffed back in - or doing so would require a huge effort and go against the interests of all the red-colored stakeholders.

The only reason the military wants a china style firewall is to control news. So I can imagine them saying "hey lets just do what they're doing" without giving it much more thought than that. But if you look into the details, it's not practical. News get through in China too - even China, with a huge effort, and an effort that started on day 1, they can't block all news.

Technically, any time new blocks go into effect in China, programmers go wild finding ways around the blocks. It's always going to be a cat-and mouse game. Surely, news are more difficult to access in China than other places. But there's no way to block it all.

And then, most news spread on social networks and the government already has first hand experience with that - it's impossible to block social networks. They can't just block Facebook - that would impact like 80% of the population.

So the next time you see Thais excessively take photos of their food, or see them running around with selfie sticks - this is what is currently saving freedom of internet access, so you should applaud that activity

Video footage is here. IT's obviously edited but ... the guy does clearly leave his backpack there, then leaves quickly

^ Yeah I used to have both rear seats out but now we have a big family so we occasionally have more people in the car. Easy enough to get in/out - these seats are clearly an afterthought.

Battery isn't repairs, I've had to change mine pretty much exactly every 2 years, like it says in the manual

Talk down the Fortuner all you want, IMO it's pretty competitive the way it is. Yes, Toyota hardly changed it, but that's Toyota, they make only small incremental changes each time.

Perceived quality is one thing to say, quite a different thing when you've experienced it yourself. The only major issue I've had was the turbo, well some engine cleaning, actually, and I think both happened because we did not take care of the motor well at all the first 6 years. We'd just floor it on a cold engine, and we'd just turn it off when it was really hot - mistakes on our part. But with both issues we never were stranded. We just lost some power.

Other than that - this car looks nearly the same as it did 9 years ago. Given the number of things that could fail, it's been pretty spectacular in reliability. In fact keeping our 9 year old Fortuner seems to be a much better deal than selling it and getting a new one... appearances aside the new one doesn't really do anything the old one doesn't. And this car keeps on running...

From hearsay, Mitsubishi is pretty good too. Never heard major complaints. Ford is another story... I'll stay away from that.

Also - the faux burlwood dash was a good investment. Looks as good now as it did on day one. The dash looks better than the cheap versions of the brand new Fortuner. We also have climate control and full time AWD. Removed one rear seat, keeping the other for occasional people hauling.

BTW I think that Thailand and its dear leaders are *not* focusing on solar / battery tech / electric cars is a huge failure.

They're currently investing big in all the wrong technologies, in pick-ups (tax breaks), in coal and nuclear plants (according to a recent news release).

This country could be a world leader in solar. But, no. Entrenched interests keep that from happening.

Total rich people's toy here in Thailand, like a high end BMW or Porsche. They're $100k over there, so over here probably $300k? And no supercharger network in Thailand so that's a problem.

Can't imagine the A/C would be a problem but who knows. Motors should generate less heat than an ICE and they're a lot smaller so that might be an advantage. I don't know if Tesla has passive cooling, like insulated roof and so on but would not surprise me. Some places in the USA are pretty hot too, Texas, AZ, NV, SoCal - I don't think this would be an issue.

I'd love to have one too. They make all other cars look old and stupid.

Copy of registration is good enough.

The OP case sounds like the police decided to keep that bike. Get somebody with police / army connections and get the bike back. Or if you don't know anyone keep making a fuss until they return it - if you're annoying enough you might get it back too. Edit - I'd get the lawyer to make a call and / or go there too.

Good idea to never let the police take your bike in the first place. Pay the fine on the spot or at the station.

In Chiang Mai they don't take your keys but the cops are nicer up here. In fact they're ridiculously nice. Last time I was stopped I had a helmet, a new-ish bike and a driving license, and registration, and a copy of the book with me. I was starting to get a little annoyed with the cops trying to find something they could fine me for but the older cop speaking broken english was so charming I could't help but ride off with a smile. He asked where I was from and sent me on my way with the sweetest smile. I know he was honeydicking me but - it worked.

Sure, he was shot 4 times. But how many bullets missed?

Really in bad taste to joke about a murder. But that was funny 555

I imagined he promised someone bulletproof tattoo and the customer decided to test if it works first?

 

RIP. But one of the trucks was in the wrong oncoming lane. Which truck?

 

very sad, but you don't need to ask that question. One could postulate that if one of those drivers holds a British license they have been taught and trained to operate the vehicle safely. ...

Sorry this is utter nonsense. Accidents happen the world over. 2 motorists die on Britains road every day, on average.

What happened in this tragic accident is that one person turned across the oncoming traffic lane without looking. It was 5 in the morning and they'd left 11 hours prior. It's reasonable to assume bad visibility and tired driver played a part in this. Clearly the fault of the person making the turn. No training in the world can prevent you from crashing into someone suddenly turning into your lane.

I do believe that in almost all cases, accidents are caused by both parties, regardless of legalities, but this is the exception.

RIP and condolences to the family.

The main positive of this is to serve as a warning to other girls about to go to "country X" to work as "_______ (fill in the blank)"

If this is in the Thai news enough, girls will know better than to follow these scams. IMO the most effective way to solve this problem. Right now these girls go on their own free will - they're being set up, just like tourists are being set up in a Bangkok gem scam. Promises of riches, and victims are quite possibly aware that it smells fishy but they do it anyway as greed wins over reason.

The scams run the gamut: From promising factory/restaurant jobs to promising lots of money from illegal sex work - what the victims don't realize is that they sign away their freedom as soon as they cross the border. Then they're illegals with no rights, the traffickers tell them they now owe a large sum of money which they have to make back (the stick). And they can split their income 50/50 once that is paid off (carrot). It's not complicated, really. Best way to reduce this is information and education.

Nice chart there. Is it really true that the Ford doesn't offer GPS or rear seat entertainment. If so I feel that is a huge oversight for the thai market. Yes it seems better in every other way than say the mu-x but I feel missing those 2 features will still drive many Thais away.

When I met 'those involved' and asked WHY no GPS ... they said ... "so that we can give you something else" ... "anyway people use their phones now". I think 'somewhere' someones IQ slipped ....

I agree with those involved.. car GPS has become a niche product pretty quick. I use GPS once a year - let's face it you're not going to drive brand new routes every single day - and in those times phone handles itself very well. Car Navi system is a bit like a car phone - remember those? Yeah...

What is bizarre on the new Everest - no LED lights.